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January 08, 2006
Pulver Kids on the Net: Dylan and Jake on the Nintendo DS
When my kids Dylan and Jake heard I was going to CES 2006, they asked me to search for the latest and greatest updates when it came to things they care about, namely: Nintendo DS, Nintendo Revolution, Xbox 360 and Sony PS3. While I managed to photograph the PS3 and find some new titles for the Xbox 360, I struck out when it came to learning more about Nintendo Revolution. Looks like I may be heading to E3 Expo 2006 for the updates they were really looking for.
Last month, after months of anticipation, Nintendo finally released their first set of Wi-Fi enabled DS games for the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Turns out that unlike other vendors, Nintendo does not charge anything for people to communicate via the Internet. Personally I’m amazed that whenever my kids find an open Wi-Fi hotspot, they can find other kids from around the world at that moment in time waiting to play against them. I have to give Nintendo credit for delivering an easy to use “Wi-Fi” Hotspot finder in the Nintendo DS firmware.
(Note: Turns out that like most first generation Wi-Fi SIP phones, the user interface on the DS expects to be communicating with an open Hot Spot. But unlike other devices, all is not lost if the Hotspot is closed. All a kid needs to do is find a willing parent running Windows XP on their laptop to log into the hotspot, register for the internet access and then connect Nintendo’s Wi-Fi USB Connector between the PC and the Nintendo DS. This is a device that for US$ 39.95 turns your PC into dedicated wireless access point. The catch is that the Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector will only work with the Nintendo DS.)
This weekend I asked my kids to write about their Nintendo DS experience and here is what one of them had to say:
“Hi, this is Jake, and today I’m here to talk about the Wi-Fi support of Nintendo DS. You see, Nintendo is going Wi-Fi! If you have access to a wireless router or are in an open hotspot, you’re set! This is called the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection or Nintendo WFC for short. So far, Nintendo has released four Wi-Fi compatible games and are releasing more. My fave so far is Mario Kart DS. I really like to play Wi-Fi since I’m able to compete with people from all over the world, competing over the public internet is free, so no extra costs for anyone. I recommend to go out and buy a DS and get Mario Kart DS right now. Look forward to competing with you on the Net!”
Tags: Nintendo DS, Jeff Pulver
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Posted by jeff on January 8, 2006 11:54 AM | Permalink
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Comments
Just to point out how long a lead time this took, when I started working on my ill-fated handheld gaming device in the summer of 2003, we decided to include WiFi in it.
At the time, MANY U.S. patents (3-5 year lead time) had been approved with many more in progress (applications are not published until after 18 months) on "wirless gaming".
We had a working proof of concept unit in December 2003, and a second version with WiFi in January 2004. As we went to try to get funding later that year, we found that there was simply no demand for WiFi. There were no networks available except places like StarBucks or Kinkos which charged for them and a few independent coffee houses on the west coast of the U.S.
I started a company to provide free, advertiser supported WiFi to gamers and other users, hoping to have a network available when our device came out.
Unfortunately, Intel convinved the city of Jerusalem to pay for a free WiFi network and my investor backed out. While Intel provided the hardware for free, the taxpayers payed for the deployment and operation of the network, which has never really taken off.
WiFi was not available here in Israel at all due to government regulation until November of 2003 and it is restricted to 5 channels (of 14) and very limited transmitting power.
It's good that Nintendo was able to produce the games and now the timing is good for them. Like many of the other things you advocate, infrastructure is far more important than raw technology but both have very long lead times and there are always regulatory obstacles (such as E911).
So while I understand your desire to see developments appear in hardware at the speed you think of them, the world is not yet able to keep up.
Perhaps the people who read this in the V.C. "space" will keep this in mind and strive to improve the idea to product time.
You might even consider expanding PulverMedia beyond advocacy and free proof of concept e.g. FWD, FWDout, Pulver Radio, Pulve Communicator; products to a more formal development and licensing organization for your ideas.
As an example, I received a call last week from a friend I have not spoken to for years, who called me from the U.S. on my Vonage line. Without your foresight, I might still have some crude VoIP system that "only a hacker could understand".
Geoff.
Posted by: Geoff Mendelson at January 9, 2006 03:48 AM
Rock on, Jake!
Posted by: K² at January 8, 2006 07:27 PM