# Nintendo DS and the internet **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 23, 2004, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nintendo-ds-and-the-internet/276316 "2004-11-23T17:59:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Electronic\_Chaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Electronic\_Chaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electronic_Chaos)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nintendo-ds-and-the-internet/276316/1 "2004-11-23T17:59:49Z")
Well, the Nintendo DS came out on Sunday (or so I’m told. I’m assuming every store sold out of them in two hours which is why I haven’t seen any stocked), and I still haven’t heard much about what I percieve to be its greatest feature: Wi-fi. Technically, this would allow it to connect at wireless hotspots, or your home wirless router and get online to play over the internet, or even browse online with it. It really wouldn’t be that much of a stretch for its abilities, I don’t imagine. However, I haven’t heard of any software released or being released that would allow it to take advantage of it. Have I just not been paying enough attention to the right news outlets, or have they just decided it would be too much of a hassle to deal with and decided not to do it? ---
**Author:** ![borschevsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/97f17d/32.png) [@borschevsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/borschevsky)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nintendo-ds-and-the-internet/276316/2 "2004-11-23T21:18:22Z")
As far as I can tell, Nintendo has announced that such a network connection is possible with the DS, but has not gone any further than that. > [@Gamespot](#): > > The DS can also connect to a wireless LAN, but, again, Nintendo has yet to reveal how to actually create the connection. Nintendo has hinted that DS players may be able to play one another online in the future, but we’ve only been able to test the multiplayer modes for all the launch titles over a local DS network. From: [http://hardware.gamespot.com/Story-ST-11722-1231-x-x-x&body\_pagenum=2](http://hardware.gamespot.com/Story-ST-11722-1231-x-x-x&body_pagenum=2) ---
**Author:** ![Uvula\_Donor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e19adc/32.png) [@Uvula\_Donor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uvula_Donor)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2004, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nintendo-ds-and-the-internet/276316/3 "2004-11-23T22:47:00Z")
My daughter and I each got a DS Monday (we had put in a pre-order back in August at EB Games.) The DS supports 802.11 and a Nintendo proprietary communications protocol, but there is no internet connectivity _built in_. There is a chatroom-style software package - a very cool chat program called Pictochat - but it’s a local DS “network” that is created every time a bunch of people start up Pictochat in the same area. I would like to see some kind of wireless browser for the DS; the range and reliability of the communications is excellent from what we’ve done so far (this includes a chat in a school building with concrete block walls, steel-framed ceilings, and other signal blockers between DS units.) A basic browser and a small email program would be ideal for it. And if Nintendo came up with an organizer cartridge (ideally, one that would plug into the GBA slot, leaving the DS game slot open) I would dump my Palm in a heartbeat. ---
**Author:** ![GameMaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9f8e36/32.png) [@GameMaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GameMaster)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2004, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nintendo-ds-and-the-internet/276316/4 "2004-11-24T03:20:21Z")
They’ve said they’re working on it (and have hooked up 32 players over the connection), but aren’t done bug-testing it yet.