NWC hits 2 Million
The DS online service, Nintendo Wifi Connection, registered its two-millionth unique user recently, setting a landmark for the fledgling service. With more Wifi enabled games coming out left and right, Nintendo's online initiative is showing no sign of slowing down. Let's just hope the Big N expands the service for the Wii, and takes full advantage of it with innovative software.
Late on Thursday, a Nintendo
DS(TM) owner logged onto Nintendo(R) Wi-Fi Connection for the first time.
That person unknowingly became the 2 millionth unique player to use Nintendo's
wireless gaming service. To put that number in perspective, the population of
Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection users now surpasses the population of 15 different
U.S. states, including Montana, Nebraska and New Mexico. In addition to
Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection surpassing 2 million unique players, the service has
also logged more than 70 million individual game sessions in just more than
nine months of operation, a number expected to soar as more and more
Wi-Fi-enabled titles are released.
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060828/LAM045)
"Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection continues to set the standard for easy, fun and
safe wireless gaming," says George Harrison, Nintendo of America's senior vice
president of marketing and corporate communications. "Our hand-held
leadership will continue unabated with today's launch of Star Fox Command and
the anticipation of our upcoming Wi-Fi titles."
Today the hugely popular Star Fox series goes wireless with Star Fox(R)
Command for Nintendo DS. The sci-fi space combat game marks the first-ever
portable, Wi-Fi-enabled Star Fox game. Up to four players, be they friends or
strangers, can meet up on Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection to blow each other out of
the sky in white-knuckle dogfights.
In addition to multiplayer Wi-Fi dogfights, the 3-D space shooter Star Fox
Command also lets players use the DS touch screen to draw out their flight
plans, steer their Arwing fighters and drop bombs on enemies. Rubbing the
touch screen sends the fighter into a barrel roll. The game uses elements of
both real-time combat and turn-based strategy games, and includes a familiar
array of popular animal characters from the Star Fox universe, including Fox
McCloud, Falco Lombardi, Krystal and Slippy Toad.
Star Fox Command, Rated E10+ for Everyone 10 and Older, blasts off today.
For more information about the game, visit
www.starfoxcommand.com. For more
information about Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, visit
www.nintendowifi.com.
The worldwide innovator in the creation of interactive entertainment,
Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and
software for its Nintendo DS(TM), Game Boy(R) Advance and Nintendo
GameCube(TM) systems, and upcoming Wii(TM) console. Since 1983, Nintendo has
sold nearly 2.2 billion video games and more than 375 million hardware units
globally, and has created industry icons like Mario(TM), Donkey Kong(R),
Metroid(R), Zelda(TM) and Pokemon(R). A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of
America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo's
operations in the Western Hemisphere. For more information about Nintendo,
visit the company's Web site at www.nintendo.com
