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Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection
Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection (sometimes shortened to Nintendo WFC) was an online multiplayer gaming service run by Nintendo that formerly provided free online play in compatible Nintendo DS and Wii games. The service included the company's Wii Shop Channel and DSi Shop game download services. It also ran other features for the Wii and Nintendo DS systems.
Games designed to take advantage of Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection offered internet play integrated into the game. When promoting this service, Nintendo emphasized the simplicity and speed of starting an online game. For example, in Mario Kart DS, an online game was initiated by selecting the online multiplayer option from the main menu, then choosing whether to play with friends, or to play with other players (either in the local region or worldwide) at about the same skill level. After a selection was made, the game started searching for an available player.
On January 26, 2012, Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection was succeeded by and absorbed into the Nintendo Network. This online system unified the 3DS and Wii U platforms and replaced Friend Codes, while providing paid downloadable content, an online community style multiplayer system, and personal accounts. On May 20, 2014, Nintendo shut down Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, except for Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection Pay & Play branded games for the Nintendo DSi Shop and Wii Shop Channel services, both of which were shut down separately in 2017 and 2019. After the service's closure, there have been various fan-made services to restore online functionality to games that Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection supported that remain operational, most notably Wiimmfi.
On November 14, 2005, Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection was deployed with the release of Mario Kart DS. Having been developed under the direct supervision of president Satoru Iwata, Nintendo's Takao Ohara lamented that Nintendo's long history of online strategies had each quit due to unexpectedly insufficient userbases, but that Nintendo WFC had in four months garnered 2.9 million connections from over one million unique users. To achieve the goal of a truly sustainable online userbase with the most-used network service in the world, Ohara described a new strategy for identifying and relieving four main barriers. The proposed four barriers are difficult setup procedures, the psychological barrier preventing newcomers from joining in games, the unpleasantness of receiving abuse from other players, and the cost barrier. The company's proposed online strategy at this point was called "simple, safe, free". Nintendo believed that the online platform's success directly propelled the commercial success of the entire Nintendo DS platform. Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection then served as part of the basis of what would become the Wii.
Services and apps discontinued prior to May 20, 2014:
Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection was developed to be easy to connect to, safe for anyone to use, and free of charge. Games designed to take advantage of Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection offered Internet play integrated into the game. The Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection supported up to sixteen players on the Nintendo DS and thirty-two players on the Wii. Basic features of the Wi-Fi Connection included worldwide matchmaking, leaderboards, tournaments. Additional features were available between friends who exchanged Friend Codes.
Each game that used Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection generated a unique twelve-digit Friend Code that could be exchanged with friends and be used to maintain individual friend lists in each game. Though certain games could be played online without a Friend Code, a Friend Code was required to play with a specific person. Friend Codes were generated from an identifier unique to a copy of a game and the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection ID of a DS or Wii system. Using a different copy of a game or loading the same copy in a different system generated a new Friend Code. If users wanted to become "Friends", they had to mutually add Friend Codes and be authenticated as Friends once both of them were online. Nintendo introduced these features as conscious steps to preserve users' privacy. If a DS or Wii game was sold, but not the system, there was no risk of the purchaser impersonating the seller. If a user needed to replace his or her DS system, then the old system's Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection ID could be transferred wirelessly, in order to maintain the user's original Friend Codes on the new machine. Some games required that the user had to use Friend Codes to use any online functionality.
Many games have additional features that are enabled between registered friends. These may include customized matchmaking options, cooperative play, friend lists, text chat, and voice chat. Certain Wii games use the 16-digit Wii Number to share some data passively between mutually registered users via WiiConnect24 instead of using independent Friend Codes. Although, some of these games may use both the 16-digit Wii Number and its own 12-digit Friend Code, depending on whether the online connectivity requires either passive data-sharing or active multiplaying respectively.
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Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection AI simulator
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Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection
Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection (sometimes shortened to Nintendo WFC) was an online multiplayer gaming service run by Nintendo that formerly provided free online play in compatible Nintendo DS and Wii games. The service included the company's Wii Shop Channel and DSi Shop game download services. It also ran other features for the Wii and Nintendo DS systems.
Games designed to take advantage of Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection offered internet play integrated into the game. When promoting this service, Nintendo emphasized the simplicity and speed of starting an online game. For example, in Mario Kart DS, an online game was initiated by selecting the online multiplayer option from the main menu, then choosing whether to play with friends, or to play with other players (either in the local region or worldwide) at about the same skill level. After a selection was made, the game started searching for an available player.
On January 26, 2012, Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection was succeeded by and absorbed into the Nintendo Network. This online system unified the 3DS and Wii U platforms and replaced Friend Codes, while providing paid downloadable content, an online community style multiplayer system, and personal accounts. On May 20, 2014, Nintendo shut down Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, except for Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection Pay & Play branded games for the Nintendo DSi Shop and Wii Shop Channel services, both of which were shut down separately in 2017 and 2019. After the service's closure, there have been various fan-made services to restore online functionality to games that Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection supported that remain operational, most notably Wiimmfi.
On November 14, 2005, Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection was deployed with the release of Mario Kart DS. Having been developed under the direct supervision of president Satoru Iwata, Nintendo's Takao Ohara lamented that Nintendo's long history of online strategies had each quit due to unexpectedly insufficient userbases, but that Nintendo WFC had in four months garnered 2.9 million connections from over one million unique users. To achieve the goal of a truly sustainable online userbase with the most-used network service in the world, Ohara described a new strategy for identifying and relieving four main barriers. The proposed four barriers are difficult setup procedures, the psychological barrier preventing newcomers from joining in games, the unpleasantness of receiving abuse from other players, and the cost barrier. The company's proposed online strategy at this point was called "simple, safe, free". Nintendo believed that the online platform's success directly propelled the commercial success of the entire Nintendo DS platform. Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection then served as part of the basis of what would become the Wii.
Services and apps discontinued prior to May 20, 2014:
Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection was developed to be easy to connect to, safe for anyone to use, and free of charge. Games designed to take advantage of Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection offered Internet play integrated into the game. The Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection supported up to sixteen players on the Nintendo DS and thirty-two players on the Wii. Basic features of the Wi-Fi Connection included worldwide matchmaking, leaderboards, tournaments. Additional features were available between friends who exchanged Friend Codes.
Each game that used Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection generated a unique twelve-digit Friend Code that could be exchanged with friends and be used to maintain individual friend lists in each game. Though certain games could be played online without a Friend Code, a Friend Code was required to play with a specific person. Friend Codes were generated from an identifier unique to a copy of a game and the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection ID of a DS or Wii system. Using a different copy of a game or loading the same copy in a different system generated a new Friend Code. If users wanted to become "Friends", they had to mutually add Friend Codes and be authenticated as Friends once both of them were online. Nintendo introduced these features as conscious steps to preserve users' privacy. If a DS or Wii game was sold, but not the system, there was no risk of the purchaser impersonating the seller. If a user needed to replace his or her DS system, then the old system's Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection ID could be transferred wirelessly, in order to maintain the user's original Friend Codes on the new machine. Some games required that the user had to use Friend Codes to use any online functionality.
Many games have additional features that are enabled between registered friends. These may include customized matchmaking options, cooperative play, friend lists, text chat, and voice chat. Certain Wii games use the 16-digit Wii Number to share some data passively between mutually registered users via WiiConnect24 instead of using independent Friend Codes. Although, some of these games may use both the 16-digit Wii Number and its own 12-digit Friend Code, depending on whether the online connectivity requires either passive data-sharing or active multiplaying respectively.