Wired says the Nintendo DS handheld, the first gaming device to incorporate dual screens and built-in wireless capabilities are being modified by users.
In the early going, at least three DS games have already incorporated wireless. More interesting is what is coming down the pike, both from authorized developers and from hackers.
“The wireless LAN capability of (the) DS is great for head-to-head games between units in range,” said Karthik Bala, CEO of Vicarious Visions, which co-developed a Spider-Man 2 game with Activision. “The truly exciting future comes from its use of the Wi-Fi 802.11 capability … for broader communication and online-based handheld games. This could really bring about some unique games and online handheld game communities.”
Nintendo’s first wireless-enabled entrant is PictoChat, a game that allows up to 16 users to communicate simultaneously using multiple DS units.
“In the immediate future, we’re taking advantage of the local area,” said Beth Llewelyn, senior director of Nintendo’s corporate communications. “PictoChat … is just a fun communication package that’s in the system.”
Peter Kennedy, a brand manager at game developer THQ, said his company’s DS game, PingPal, has also implemented wireless gameplay.
He said the title, in which players buy, trade and collect various items with which to decorate their avatars, includes two multiplayer games that are played wirelessly.
One area of wireless DS gaming that is sure to be a hotbed for development is the ability to play such games over the internet.
“Down the road, you’re going to start seeing people playing over wide area networks,” Llewelyn said. But “the bottom line is, (how long that takes is) up to the developers and how they choose to take advantage of that.”
The official, authorized path to such innovation is often not the fastest. And development of the technology to enable DS gameplay over the internet is no exception.
Already, hackers have taken the first rudimentary steps to what they call “tunneling” DS games over the internet.
On a developer forum, a group of hackers known as Team XLink claims it has already passed the first hurdle. They say they have already figured out how to communicate over the internet using two devices playing Metroid Prime: Hunters, a DS game by Nintendo.
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