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Mario Karters take the race online in droves

DS Wi-Fi Connection put to immediate use as nearly half of all Mario Kart purchasers kick the online service's tires in the first week of release.

When Nintendo released Mario Kart DS for its dual-screened portable system last week, it was also launching the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection wireless gaming service. By Nintendo's reckoning, both were a roaring success.

Nintendo today said that in the game's first week of release, more than 112,000 copies were sold. In addition, 45 percent of those who bought the game, around 52,000 gamers, logged onto the Wi-Fi Connection to play against each other.

Nintendo emphasizes the ease of use of the Wi-Fi Connection, which lets users connect to the service using wireless home networks and some Wi-Fi hotspots. Current titles supporting Wi-Fi play include Mario Kart DS, Tony Hawk's American Sk8land, Animal Crossing (due December 6), and Metroid Prime: Hunters (scheduled for a March 2006 release).

53 Comments

  • dadesigner

    Posted Nov 23, 2005 2:18 pm GMT

    I am getting my Mario Kart DS bundle next week on Tuesday so yeah!!!!

  • gold163

    Posted Nov 23, 2005 1:39 pm GMT

    Of course DS online isn't better than console online. Why? Because the consoles have been around longer than the ds, and thus, have a larger fan base. You just wait for the ds to catch up though- Metroid Prime Hunters ought to be a real treat. Just don't call us idiots for thinking so, just because our opinions differ.

  • Mitazaki

    Posted Nov 23, 2005 12:57 pm GMT

    its no problem i love playing games as much as the next person but hell living in the uk for a nintendo fan shops not stocking as much nintendo games as they could some shops either stopped selling gamecube games or just have a shelf just to make space for xbox 360 the only problem i have is when people moan to others about the choice they made.

  • Mitazaki

    Posted Nov 23, 2005 12:54 pm GMT

    [This message was deleted at the request of the original poster]

  • Mitazaki

    Posted Nov 23, 2005 12:52 pm GMT

    i am a nintendo fan and even i can say ds wont have the best online service we all know pc has that title always has always will the only problem i can see with ds online service its not really the ds its self that plays the online games but the game itself, it holds your friends list and stuff theres still alot more they could do with it but right now its only done a week and a good week aswell true ds has out sold psp since it all started that mainly due to the fact psp game list is not all that great sure a few good games but it has more movies than games out seems kinda stupid nintendo know what they are doing if they did'nt they still would'nt be in the race after 20 years

  • jancotianno

    Posted Nov 23, 2005 12:49 pm GMT

    Sorry. I wasn't just coming in here to start a fight, honestly. I was interested in the artice and when i saw that first comment i was like, "hold on a minute". I mean i applaud nintendo for getting the DS online. Good Job! but i just don't think it is better than the PSP's. Sorry Mitazaki. Please don't take what i say personally. I'm not saying that DS sucks, but for me, PSP it the best. Well I hope you have fun with it and i will have fun with my PSP and we can still be friends cause we both love games, right?
    I repeat, i didn't just come in here to fight with you - i was reading the article and the first post caught my eye and it all went on from there. Good day to you.

  • sergioalb64

    Posted Nov 23, 2005 12:45 pm GMT

    DS outsells PSP; true.
    DS online service better than PSP's? Too early to tell.

  • Mitazaki

    Posted Nov 23, 2005 12:41 pm GMT

    look say all you want to say you may know all the facts great you must be so happy but to me it just seems sad to come here when ds fans are just talking about what they like and how they feel maybe they are right or wrong thats so what but to come on and correct them like you are the master just says to me you need some help sure i did make one mistake i was not aware of psp online gameplay so ill admit my bad but no matter where you go theres always psp fans on ds forums saying ds sucks graphics this sound that do you seen any ds fans do that no sure we may do it in ds forum but thats what the ds forum is for same with psp who ever has the better internet play great dont care so no voice chat on ds games so far wow no one else seems to be bothered with it maybe there will be voice chat games soon i dont care nintendo never said it was going to be the best either they just do what they always do try and change the way games are played everyone has their own opinion i just cant stand people coming into forums just to tell people that what they bought sucks and cant do this and that

  • jancotianno

    Posted Nov 23, 2005 12:30 pm GMT

    This is what i was talking about:

    8bitCrazy
    Not too long before the EU release! I cant't wait to play my friends on this amazing service! Nintendo have apparently made something on Par with Xbox LIVE, yep, destroying PS2 internet with one game! Still, nothing beats playing the Dreamcast Online either.

    I didn't say YOU said it but if you want to jump in the conversation halfway into it, thats fine, but i am assuming you are taking my oppositions side on the matter. Understand? I meant "you" as in all you people defending the DS. Once again all i get in response is "shut up" or "go to the PSP forum" or anything but the facts. Which is fine. You all are living in the matrix and i am Neo. Im trying to show you the light but you are so misguided that now you just resort to thrashing out at me cause you have no other option left.

  • Mitazaki

    Posted Nov 23, 2005 12:18 pm GMT

    i dont know what i am talking about please psp may have some fans did i say it was better no i did not so where you got that idea i dont know but for you to come on and star cos it has no chat thats just sad no one can say for sure what is the best its just impossible they can go by sales but that does'nt all ways give the true answer ds internet play has only had one week and so far its had a better start than what ps2 and xbox online play did that does'nt mean to say i said it was better so im finding it hard where you got that from will ds wi-fi do better i dont know but if they can keep up with the good work maybe they will maybe they wont who knows to be honest i dont care what is the best or not i just go with what i like but to just comeone and pick out stupid sill things about what the ds cant do thats sad do you see me going to a psp forum saying the psp cant do this haha no so do us all a favour and shut up

  • jancotianno

    Posted Nov 23, 2005 12:02 pm GMT

    Mitsubishi, Mitsubishi, Mitsubishi....What are you talking about? The PSP is not online maybe it will maybe it wont.?!? I don't understand. The PSP is ALREADY online. And I don't have to play a pc game to chat....I can do it on the PSP. That's all i was saying. And I'm not moaning. I really do think its cool for you DS owners to have WiFi internet play, but I think you are going way too far saying it is better than not only PSP internet (which it is not) but also better than PS2 internet and Xbox LIVE. That is the root of my posts. Trying to get that point across is impossible because you all started to attack me and say I didn't know what i was talking about. Turns out that it was you people who don't know what you were talking about, right? I seriously hope you all have lots and lots of fun with the DS, but please don't say it's better than this or that or you open yourself up to a debate. Which is what I did...debated. Now you can't take it and you're telling me to leave this forum. Fine. Looks like i won this debate cause you can't come up with any real arguments orther than the whining response, "Go to a PSP forum, you don't know what youre talking about....wah wah wah."

  • Mitazaki

    Posted Nov 23, 2005 11:27 am GMT

    if you want a game where you can chat go play a pc game and stop you moaning serious do you sit there all day looking for the minior problems if you dont like it thats good but go somewhere else i dont see anyone else having a problem with ds's wi-fi and psp is not online maybe it will maybe it wont dont know dont care but if you want to moan about it go to psp's forum

  • The_Bunkhouse

    Posted Nov 23, 2005 9:38 am GMT

    If your finding you get disconnected alot it usually due to a bad router or your internet connection. You shouldn't have any problems if your router has the WI-FI logo on the box. (I bought mine 1 year ago and it did).

    The service is fast and responsive, after connectting it takes 10-20 seconds before you start a race. Don't forget the red DS mario kart bundle is out soon, so expect that numer to increase, plus lots of parents buying it for X-mas will result in less people using it online "stat wise" before X-mas.

  • jancotianno

    Posted Nov 23, 2005 8:34 am GMT

    So Mitsubishi or whatever your name is....
    Do they have punctuation in your country? Anyway, The chatting i was referring to was VOICE chat. Does the DS support this? I think not. Perhaps in the future it will...And your point about only 2 games for online is well taken. So how could you sit there and say that the DS WiFi service is better? It really does not compare to the PSP's WiFi. 16 players online in one game, VOICE chatting vs. 4 players in one game, no chat. It's not my opinion, its a fact, Mistubishi. And please don't use profanities. They really hurt my feelings.

  • Mitazaki

    Posted Nov 23, 2005 8:24 am GMT

    [This message was deleted at the request of a moderator or administrator]

  • jancotianno

    Posted Nov 23, 2005 7:49 am GMT

    hey dossaer. Its hard for me to take anything someone says seriously when they say that Tetris is the best game ever made. Talk about loyalty to a company - you got it real bad.....
    And you call me a fanboy...Haha! BTW, I didn't design a system. So does that mean i can't have an opinion?

  • jancotianno

    Posted Nov 23, 2005 6:38 am GMT

    Can I chat online? Not all games will contain a chat feature. Each individual game developer determines if chat will be in the game and how it will operate. Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection games that contain a chat feature will work as follows: "Open" chat is allowed between friends who have exchanged Friend Codes. "Closed" chat may be available during play with others who you have not exchanged Friend Codes with. "Closed" chat means you can select from a set of phrases to send to an opponent but you may not type whatever you want. One of the great features of the Nintendo DS is Pictochat, which allows players to chat using the local wireless mode of the system. At this time, Pictochat is not a feature of the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Keep checking Nintendowifi.com for news of any future uses of the Pictochat feature. ..........sounds like fun. Pre-written chat messages. Nothing about voice chat. This is straight from the DS WiFi site. Like i said, have fun.

  • bryehngeocef

    Posted Nov 23, 2005 6:19 am GMT

    i gotta say...i'm pissed.

    takes the ds a couple tries to connect, EVERY TIME. 4 out of 5 times I get error "You have been disconnected from Nintendo WFC, please press A" while trying to find someone to race. After that, the DS won't even pass the connection test.

    I updated my router's settings to match what Ninty said, but the connection still gets disconnected when looking for matches.

    when it does get through...takes at least 5 minutes to find 3 people to race with.

    mostly alot of disconnections, and false hope.

    i was really looking forward to animal crossing, but this experience really soured me on the Nintendo WFC. It's great that they have a centralized service that works in major US centres, but up here in Canada, we get left out in the cold, with spotty connections at best.

    Same thing happens with Tony Hawk.

    If there's 50+ thousand people playing, why is it so hard to find a match?

    I think those numbers are people like me that get connected 1-2 times a day if they're really lucky, then get disconnected after "logging on" to WFC.

    I'm a huge DS fan, and love the games i've bought for it, but even a 20+ year Nintendo customer has to be disappointed in the service being offered, even if it is free.

  • jancotianno

    Posted Nov 23, 2005 6:16 am GMT

    Hello people. Goodness you are all very opinoinated. Unfortunatley, I can no longer post my opinoins because someone reported me as my score was reduced. (not that i care-what good is the score anyway?) Thanks to whoever reported me...I hope you all realize that most of you posting on this topic could get reported if I did. I don't get what the big deal was anyway...I just sparked off a heated debate. Whatever.
    And yes i agree, the psp has sucked for a while...mine was collecting dust. But then Socom came out for it.
    And it couldnt be easier to use.
    And i HAVE played ds and NO YOU CANNOT CHAT ONLINE DURING GAMES!!!!!! You who said that was lying! Lies I tell you. LIES!!!
    (At least you can't yet- and yes i know there is a mic on the DS) Nobody seemed to attack my main point though - the DS will not now or ever beat out the console versions of onliine play. You all seem to think i know nothing about the DS "sistem" but i almost bought one. Thats right, i was going to get nintendogs until i realized i had a REAL dog at home that was actually cheaper. Have fun with your gimmicks and sub-par graphics, DS owners.

  • darcybaston

    Posted Nov 22, 2005 9:49 pm GMT

    My LotR: Return of the King PS2 online experience was very unfavorable. People kept quitting 1/3 through levels, were obnoxious and elitist in public chat rooms, and would throw more insults if they knew you were typing text using the default controller and not a qwerty add-on.

    I hope to check out MK this weekend.

  • woohooforme

    Posted Nov 22, 2005 7:42 pm GMT

    Uhh, Nintendo didn't make the mistake, looks like GameSpot did. Notice the first paragraph says, "DS Wi-Fi Connection put to immediate use as NEARLY half of all Mario Kart purchasers kick the online service's tires in the first week of release. GameSpot just made a mistake by typing more.
    As for the DS and it's online accomplishments I'm not surprised. There are a lot of DSes out there, and who doesn't love Mario Kart? It only comes natural that 52,000 people are online already.

  • woohooforme

    Posted Nov 22, 2005 7:40 pm GMT

    [This message was deleted at the request of the original poster]

  • dossaer

    Posted Nov 22, 2005 7:38 pm GMT

    [This message was deleted at the request of a moderator or administrator]

  • Paul_TheGreat

    Posted Nov 22, 2005 7:22 pm GMT

    And the DS still sucks.

  • yukine

    Posted Nov 22, 2005 6:35 pm GMT

    Considering this is Nintendo's first foray into online gaming, it really makes these results even more impressive. If Nintendo continues to be this successful (in regards to sales-to-online participation ratio.) I think the Revolution could potentially give the Xbox Live service some stiff, and much needed competition.

  • Bladex2k

    Posted Nov 22, 2005 6:29 pm GMT

    What is all this argument about who has the more users. Nothing can compare to the computer for online gameing 2 million for wow alone

  • Lloid_Aurion

    Posted Nov 22, 2005 5:21 pm GMT

    If only we could change the people that think that xobx 360 this and that. Just because it just came, doesn't mean its a GOD concel. My friends are braging to me that "Omg this is the best thing since cocain" "Omg, are you still playing with your gc and ds? Throw those pices of crap away and get your self a true concel". *Sigh* If only nintendo would make up their mind as to what their going to do to the revolution......Too bad that it looks like they are going to leave it all to the last min like they did with nintendo dolphin where at the very last min tehy decided to release it later because:
    1) they were going to change the name
    2) they didnt like the specs
    3) they didnt like how it looked
    They also did the same with zelda.....They are delaying it because they wanted to add more to it. More graphics, more dungens and such......I guess that can be both good things and bad things:
    Good because ok better graphics = more sales and more people braging to their stupid friends because their stupid friends piss them off by saying xbox 360 this and that.
    Bad thing because I wanted it as a chrismas present >.

  • BoardingKid07

    Posted Nov 22, 2005 4:00 pm GMT

    Wow! Talk about addicting. I love the internet play.

  • gabok84

    Posted Nov 22, 2005 3:34 pm GMT

    poor jancotianno..don't you know that nintendo have been ruling the portable world since early 90's?? don't you know from real facts, not opinions, that the ds is outselling the psp in a relationship of 3 to 1?? didn't you read that most of gamespot and ign editors said that they are using their psp only to play movies or music because the lack of games on the sistem and the poor quality of most of them in comparisson to the already great games that are available on ds and the ones that are coming right away?? (it's not a personal opinion, you can read the reviews about games on the two sistems and you'll noticed that). So the next time you start to talk please check the facts firts....and i'm not a ds or nintendo fan, i've got the two sistem (ds and psp) and i'm very dissapointing with sony for the moment.

  • CyphenX

    Posted Nov 22, 2005 3:09 pm GMT

    Well, it seems better that the PS3 strategy...

  • Jon7284

    Posted Nov 22, 2005 2:47 pm GMT

    Nice job, Nintendo, I'm impressed. This is especially good considering a lot of people are waiting for their USB adapter to arrive so they can go online.

  • Aegon

    Posted Nov 22, 2005 2:32 pm GMT

    "Nintendo today said that in the game's first week of release, more than 112,000 copies were sold. In addition, more than half of those who bought the game, nearly 52,000 gamers, logged onto the Wi-Fi Connection to play against each other. "

    Who did that math?

    112k divided by 2 would be 56k. Thus, 52k is not over half, but indeed, under half.

    Yeah, call me a geek. : )

  • LanceK17

    Posted Nov 22, 2005 2:00 pm GMT

    definetly gonna get Mario Kart DS bundle

  • Nin10dude

    Posted Nov 22, 2005 1:59 pm GMT

    To all people saying the DS will never beat PS2 Online, or Xbox Live... why is it that it already did, percentage-wise? Sure, it hasn't beaten it in number of people using it, but do you honestly expect it to beat it already, if it's only been out just over a week?

    If you're going to post fake "facts", don't post them in the comments section of an article that has the real facts...

  • mikepu

    Posted Nov 22, 2005 1:46 pm GMT

    I'm not that bright, but 52,000 is not more than half. And if there's 52,000 people who've gone online, why does it take so darn long to get a match going.

  • blackdamage

    Posted Nov 22, 2005 1:45 pm GMT

    It would be the top game on my wish list, if I had someone to play against Europeans apparently aren't too excited about games. Maybe that's why we get everything last.

  • snarple_basic

    Posted Nov 22, 2005 1:42 pm GMT

    Honestly I have never had a problem. Socom 3 32 players, runs smooth, seems o.k. to me.

  • curlymccluskey

    Posted Nov 22, 2005 1:40 pm GMT

    i just cant want anymore for mario kart ds. why do we Europeans always get everything last

  • shadow_mirage

    Posted Nov 22, 2005 1:23 pm GMT

    [This message was deleted at the request of a moderator or administrator]

  • snarple_basic

    Posted Nov 22, 2005 1:19 pm GMT

    Hey for the ps2 online, all i have to say is that I have been enjoying it since it came out, and haven't had to pay any money for a membership. Xbox Live people cant say that. I think everyone is a little hard on it, and still cant understand why, its FREE.

  • Lloid_Aurion

    Posted Nov 22, 2005 1:14 pm GMT

    [This message was deleted at the request of a moderator or administrator]

  • tienchiha

    Posted Nov 22, 2005 1:05 pm GMT

    Jancotioanno, that really doesnt make any sense. You sound like you've never even picked up a DS game in your life. You remind me of Squidward and his hate for Krabby Patty's. Why dont you do yourself a favor and pick you up a DS and Mario Kart and then your life will be complete. But until then, dont come posting messages about something you know nothing about.

  • hotrod4399

    Posted Nov 22, 2005 12:56 pm GMT

    ^ 1 word..... fanboy

  • jancotianno

    Posted Nov 22, 2005 12:43 pm GMT

    [This message was deleted at the request of a moderator or administrator]

  • Gr33nHippo

    Posted Nov 22, 2005 12:36 pm GMT

    cant wait to get the ds mario bundle for christmas

  • Jake_Fry806

    Posted Nov 22, 2005 12:33 pm GMT

    [This message was deleted at the request of a moderator or administrator]

  • snarple_basic

    Posted Nov 22, 2005 12:29 pm GMT

    Hey come one now I wouldn't say they totally destroyed PS2 internet with 1 game. Remember the broadband adapter for the gamecube? Oh and Mario kart for gamecube? Yep there is internet on the gamecube but does anyone use it? I think they learned from that huge mistake.

  • LotusboyRock

    Posted Nov 22, 2005 12:19 pm GMT

    cool im definitely gettin a DS sometime real soon... i dunno bout animal crossing but Metroid and Mario kart sold me already (where are the new screens and vids for Hunters???)

  • nflsonic

    Posted Nov 22, 2005 12:15 pm GMT

    Nintendo WiFi is an amazing service. I was pleasantly surprised how easy it was to access my heavily restricted wireless internet with just a password (which took longer to get by waiting on hold for TimeWarner!). My only complaint is not being able to play against your friend and 2 other strangers. Other than that, it's an easy, smooth, and ultimately a fun experience.

  • nosedive51

    Posted Nov 22, 2005 12:02 pm GMT

    It's a good service and all (better than the Sony non-service) but no where close to the Xbox Live.

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