An announcement is coming very soon regarding a Nintendo online based infastructure:
Iwata to MSNBC:
"Network technology is not incompatible with gaming, but there is still no online killer-app. Nintendo will continue to research online gaming, without having to charge a structured-online fee. We will announce this in the near future."
"I don't think its reasonable to make someone pay for a game and then make them prepare a network connection and charge a monthly fee. In the near future we are hoping to announce something that addresses this issue."
What is it? It's actually not that secret. Nintendo signed a deal a year ago with GameSpy for this.
Per the press release here are some of the features to be supported:
* In-Game Player Matchmaking Text Chat, Instant Messaging, and Buddy Lists
* Online Competitions and High Score Ladders
* Online Data Storage (for virtual memory card applications)
* Usage and Game Statistics Reporting and Analysis
* Data Transfer to and from the Internet
All you need is apparently a broadband adaptor -- no tunnelling, it's a custom solution developed by GameSpy with Nintendo.
"By working with GameSpy, we're able to bring our developers proven technology, a fully-outsourced back-end solution, and years of expertise in making the best online experiences for game players." said Jim Merrick, Network Marketing Director, Nintendo of America Inc.
The multiplayer stuff is totally rad. Most people will be playing it on split screen, but those fortunate enough to have multiple televisions and multiple GameCubes in the same household will really enjoy the LAN races. This game screams for online play! Hopefully our GameSpy brethren will take care of that (Hint, hint. Nudge, nudge).
That's from Gamespy's E3 Awards Mario Kart impressions, including the hint,hint nudge,nudge part.