How Nintendo Is Bringing Free WiFi to the Masses
Company makes good on its promises of making it easy and free to go online.
After dismissing online gaming as unviable, Nintendo has boldly stepped into the arena. The company is hoping to take the current number of Nintendo system owners online - that would be zero - and boost it to 90 per cent. The key: simplicity.
The first prong in the attack is the DS. Already, killer apps such as Mario Kart and Animal Crossing are being prepped to motivate gamers to get online. Nintendo is going to make that decision easier by not only waving any of the fees you pay on other platforms but also making it easy to get online in the first place.
Not everyone has wireless Internet access at home, so Nintendo has come up with a scheme to get gamers online by other means. In Japan, Nintendo will have its own kiosks in stores and it will also team up with retailers.
Nintendo has also signed a deal with McDonald's in the US that will allow children to go online for free in 6,000 stores across the country.
So far Nintendo has yet to talk of what's it's planning to do in the UK, but a source close to the company told Kikizo that we can "expect similar types of deals in the UK announced before the end of the year."
Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games
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