7,500 Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection hotspots in the UK alone

By Tom Bramwell Published 4 November, 2005

Ours is in our local. Seriously.

Nintendo's announced that it will have over 7,500 Wi-Fi Connection hotspots active in the UK from 25th November when Mario Kart DS launches, and will be rolling out the service across the rest of Europe at the same time.

In the UK, the announcement owes a lot to deals with BT Openzone and The Cloud. Piggybacking their infrastructure, Wi-Fi Connection will allow gamers to play Wi-Fi-enabled multiplayer games like Tony Hawk's American Sk8land (Nov 18) and Mario Kart DS (Nov 25) from all manner of locations.

Those named include McDonald's restaurants, Coffee Republic, Hilton and Ramada Jarvis hotels, Road Chef and Welcome Break service stations, First Great Western railway stations, over 25 student unions and city centre BT Payphones and airports, football stadiums and the British Library and Canary Wharf.

An American version of the press release suggests that pay-service Wi-Fi hotspots, such as those at airports, will require use of a laptop and USB dongle to act as a bridge, but that the actual gameplay will be free - you just won't be able to access any of the other paid services. Presumably this is down to the specific log-on processes of pay-services.

UK gamers can establish the location of their nearest Wi-Fi gaming spot by plugging a postcode into www.thecloud.net or www.btopenzone.com. According to The Cloud, there's one in this writer's local pub. Good bit of PR there!

Nintendo says it will also be installing hotspots in major game retailers and other outlets throughout the land.

Those who would rather play at home can do so through a broadband connection, either connecting directly to their wireless routers or access points using the DS, or, in the absence of a home wireless network, using Nintendo's £30 Wi-Fi USB Connector device plugged into the back of a PC.

However it's done, Nintendo's keen to stress that there are no fees or subscription costs for playing, and no risk of harassment as players will not directly communicate with each other while playing.

In terms of in-game options, games will allow players to play with friends - specified using unique identifier codes entered into the DS's memory - or people of a similar skill level worldwide, and Nintendo's confirmed that games will work across borders, so the US version of Animal Crossing: Wild World, for example, which is due out on December 5th, will work fine if you bring it back home from abroad.

Wi-Fi Connection launches on November 25th then - and Nintendo adds that Revolution, whenever that launches, will use the same technology.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (27) Latest comment 6 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Shinji #1 6 years ago

    Bah - there used to be a Cloud hotspot in my local until it was refurbished. I never cared about the lack of one until now!

    There's one on the riverbank pub on the other side of Vauxhall Bridge, though... Hmm :)

  • HarryB #2 6 years ago

    cant they just make a giant mast that covers the whole country??
    then if, like, i wanted to do some msn chat with my laptop on the toilet it would be grand anywhere i was, uni, work, nightclub, whorehouse etc. nice one nintendo yayyayayayyayay rev #1

  • absolutezero #3 6 years ago

    I just did a search, the neasrest hotspot is around 30-40 miles away in either direction.

    woo hoo

  • gibbondrives #4 6 years ago

    bah. only 45 hotspots within 10 miles of me.

    i demand MORE.

  • DaM #5 6 years ago

    Crikey, there are loads in dodgy pubs - are they embedded in lager barrels?!

  • Lothar Hex #6 6 years ago

    "no risk of harassment as players will not directly communicate with each other while playing."

    God forbid the children should hear a dirty word that they use in the playground all the damn time.

    Talking with players is part of the fun. Admittedly Halo 2 has been ruined for me by the annoying childish yanks, but team games are made better for it. And you do get the odd good game. And if it bothers you, just unplug your headset. But when you've had a good game it's great, and even the odd bit of smack-talking doesn't bother me.

    One game with Halo 2 comes to mind where me and my friend were playing another loads of brits. My level was much lower than theirs on team slayer, and the guys started talking about how we did this delibratly so they could play people of a lwoer level. A little smack talking but at the end of it all we all had a good game, and they said "thanks for the great game lads" before signing off. Hell I;ve got a couple of them on my friends list now.

  • Derblington #7 6 years ago

    Mine is the pub 5 mins up the road too :)

  • HarryB #8 6 years ago

    £4.50 an hour!?

  • KingOfSpain #9 6 years ago

    wireless router in my house
    Hotspot in my local....

    im sorted them.....

  • Scurrminator #10 6 years ago

    I'm going to have to buy a DS for this, or xmas methinks... :p

  • RedPanda #11 6 years ago

    Post deleted at 14:31:59 28-01-2012

  • PearOfAnguish #12 6 years ago

    £4.50 an hour!?

    Yeah, that's taking the piss. Can someone clarify how you would actually go about using this? Do you have to pay stupid money and do you need to lug around a laptop? I'm hardly going to take my computer round with me as well as a DS on the off-chance i'll stumble across a wi-fi connection.
    Edited by 1 at 04/11/05 @ 11:09

  • smelly #13 6 years ago

    My understanding (well the way i read it) is that (apart from airports), where you'd normally pay (for web surfing, etc) you wont have to if yer using the ds/revo.

    So if yer lucky enough to live practically next door to said pub (like i do.. yay!), you've in effect have absolutely free online gaming.


  • BLACKSHEEP #14 6 years ago

    What ever happened to sony and it's PSP hotspot rollout???

  • Lubey #15 6 years ago

    42 hotspots in my area, not bad.

    Of course im too lazy to go down the pub when i can play mario kart from my bed, go go wireless router.

  • Mr_Whacker #16 6 years ago

    Wow - one in 'the local pool club you just don't want to go to unless you enjoy being stabbed'.

  • Bitkari #17 6 years ago

    no internet pictochat then?

    :(

  • Lynchman #18 6 years ago

    Will other European countries be gettin this too? Like Ireland???

  • Carrybagma #19 6 years ago

    Would anyone seriously go the pub and pull out a DS? It doesn't seem proper pub behaviour to me - like putting empty crisp packets in ash trays. Tsk.

  • smelly #20 6 years ago

    >Would anyone seriously go the pub and pull out a DS?

    Depends... surely a kid would if mum and dad are out for the evening, and they bought bored old little johnny along...

  • Sko #21 6 years ago

    Oooh, mines just up the road in one of the roughest pubs in the area. Enjoy a nice evening of multiplayer gaming and round it off with a lovely glassing. Hurrah.

  • Mr_Brown #22 6 years ago

    Got a few....but they are all pubs. Hardily the ideal place the play a DS surely? Considering the DS is a family orientated machine.

  • Sid-Nice #23 6 years ago

    The British Library? OMG I thought silence was called for in a library? :)

  • louyfitz #24 6 years ago

    I just hope it works on my router, dunno how well it's set up, ah well I'm typing this through it, can't be too bad. Bring on online Tony Hawks and no annoying little voices screaming on about ss/bs/ts/revert/out all the time. Although I think voice should be an option, I mean I can't imagine playing Doom3 of XB without a comm, wouldn't be as freindly at all.

  • oerhoert #25 6 years ago

    The DS is <em>not</em> a family orientated machine. It's orientated towards everyone. That means your average pub-goer as well.

    Also, I myself love to go a café or pub for a round of multiplayer goodness. Actually, I don't see why you would insist to stay at home instead of going out with the machine, it being handheld and all that.

    But I guess that may be up to personal preference.

  • mal #26 6 years ago

    I put playing on portable gaming devices and using laptops in the same category perhaps as reading books. Fair enough in a cafe, particularly the more cosmopolitan sort, you'd not feel out of place whipping out Mills&Boon's latest opus, and neither would you feel especially odd flipping open your DS to partake in a modicum of Miyamoto's juicy outpourings.

    But in a pub? In a PUB?!!?!?

  • TR421 #27 6 years ago

    I still don't quite get this hotspot thing, how's it going to be funded?
    Companies are not going to provide free access even just for the DS, I presume you have to pay to access the hotspots or have some kind of subscription.