Nintendo Wifi reaches 2 Million Users

Quote:

AT 2 MILLION STRONG, NINTENDO'S WIRELESS GAMING COMMUNITY GROWS LARGER THAN 15 U.S. STATES Numbers Expected to Soar with Release of New Star Fox Command Dogfight Game REDMOND, Wash., Aug. 28, 2006 - Late on Thursday, a Nintendo DS™ owner logged onto Nintendo® Wi-Fi Connection for the first time. That person unknowingly became the 2 millionth unique player to use Nintendo's wireless gaming service. To put that number in perspective, the population of Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection users now surpasses the population of 15 different U.S. states, including Montana, Nebraska and New Mexico. In addition to Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection surpassing 2 million unique players, the service has also logged more than 70 million individual game sessions in just more than nine months of operation, a number expected to soar as more and more Wi-Fi-enabled titles are released. "Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection continues to set the standard for easy, fun and safe wireless gaming," says George Harrison, Nintendo of America's senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications. "Our hand-held leadership will continue unabated with today's launch of Star Fox Command and the anticipation of our upcoming Wi-Fi titles." Today the hugely popular Star Fox series goes wireless with Star Fox® Command for Nintendo DS. The sci-fi space combat game marks the first-ever portable, Wi-Fi-enabled Star Fox game. Up to four players, be they friends or strangers, can meet up on Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection to blow each other out of the sky in white-knuckle dogfights. In addition to multiplayer Wi-Fi dogfights, the 3-D space shooter Star Fox Command also lets players use the DS touch screen to draw out their flight plans, steer their Arwing fighters and drop bombs on enemies. Rubbing the touch screen sends the fighter into a barrel roll. The game uses elements of both real-time combat and turn-based strategy games, and includes a familiar array of popular animal characters from the Star Fox universe, including Fox McCloud, Falco Lombardi, Krystal and Slippy Toad.

It's a pretty impressive statistic considering there are really only 5 games that are compatible with the Wifi system. I done my fair share of contribution to the 70 million individual game sessions, with Metroid Prime: Hunters being the main culprit. The success of this model for Nintendo will probably result in a similar model for the Wii online service and the continue of the friend code in an attempt to keep the Nintendo system a bit cleaner and kid friendly than the Xbox Live world.