Wi-Fi DS Launch Shows High Online Connection Rate

Officials from Nintendo of America have announced that more than 45 percent of customers who purchased Mario Kart DS in its first week on sale have played the game online. The game launched in North America on November 14th (the European launch is scheduled for November 25th and the Japanese for December 8th) and sold more than 112,00 units in its first week on sale. Nintendo officials claim that 52,000 unique users have subsequently logged onto Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, either from home, office or school Wi-Fi hubs or from free to use hubs at participating McDonald’s restaurants. Already praised for its ease of use, albeit it at the cost of some online functionality, consumer website IGN claims that the previous record for online uptake for a console game was 18 percent in three weeks, for the Xbox’s Halo 2. Nintendo has a chance to capitalize on the apparent success of the game’s Wi-Fi support with the even more online orientated Animal Crossing: Wild World due for release in North America on December 5th (March 31st in Europe and November 23rd in Japan) and Metroid Prime: Hunters set to debut on March 20th in North America. The success of the online option in Tony Hawk’s American SK8land, the Nintendo DS’s other online title which includes features such as online chart unavailable in Mario Kart DS, has not yet been revealed by publisher Activision.