The DS/PSP WiFi and Wireless Blog.: December 2004

December 8, 2004

Conspiracy theories abound

There's a heated debate in a couple of threads about the DS going online and not being "WiFi Certified" on the Nintendo Nsiders forums. If you don't know the DS is not WiFi certified which may or may not be a good thing depending on how you look at it. I think there may be several reasons why the Nintendo didn't get WiFi certification for the DS. The first reason is WiFi certification probably costs a ton of money, Id like to see Nintendo spend that money on development of games and systems than certification. The DS confirms to IEEE standards for the 802.11 standard. The second reason they didn't get certification was because if they did it would be open to hackers therefore Nintendo couldn't control the quality and standards that Nintendo is known for (not that its a bad thing). Third is where Demasked comes in, maybe the reason Nintendo set the DS the way they did was to provide only one way onto the Internet with the DS through Demasked. Now on to my conspiracy theory Nintendo says that the DS is compatible with any Wireless router yet Demasked is supposed to use only your DS to get online see the contradiction there. I don't know I suppose like most are speculating developers can and will build in support for WiFi games that will work on Wireless routers.

December 7, 2004

Chad speaks................again

Well I dont know what to make of this it looks like there may be some Demasked commercials hitting the airwaves.......when no one knows. Click on the link above to read more about it.

Sony PSP - Working Right Now on Kai

Hey guys,

Thanks to some information recently received by Team XLink, I'm happy to annouce that I just made kaiEngine 7.0.5.3 live - with full support for the Sony PSP handheld console.

Obviously, at present we have very little knowledge of how this unit actually performs when being tunnelled - although I know a few Japanese gamers are starting to get their hands on these devices as we speak - I call on them to help test the new kaiEngine, and provide me with feedback.

Over the next few hours, I'll be creating game arenas in Kai for all the confirmed-LAN Japanese launch titles, but be warned - some of the information may be shaky, so don't take it as gospel that all those games actually support WiFi play. Also, supporting documentation will be written, in a simple form, tonight - it's basically just like using a PS2, with a couple of extra conditions.

Finally, I'd just like to say that somebody should really send a PSP unit to whoever designed the WiFi module for the Nintendo DS - it's a very, very nice implementation - and adheres correctly to the recognised standards for wireless networking. I know others may argue that Nintendo uses their non-standard wireless architecture to "save power" - I'd like to officially confirm that as a crock-of-shit - Nintendo use their own "proprietary protocol" - because, it seems, they couldn't be bothered to / ran out if time trying to write a proper IP stack for the DS - so they used some horrible thrown-together frame format, used a very low-range tranceiver, and called it innovative. Anyway - my views on the DS hardware aren't relevant - what is relevant is that Kai will support both of these devices - one now, the other later - once I've finished jumping through all Nintendo's hoops.

As usual, us European guys won't see this thing for a good while (don't suppose any Japanse guys wanna import me one :P ? ) - but when we actually get them, rest assured that they will work on Kai :)

IGN plays with WiFi on the PSP

WiFi PSP

Multiplayer impressions from Ridge Racers and Minna no Golf

December 06, 2004 - We all know the PSP is going to be hot for single player games (our single player test of Ridge Racers yesterday confirmed that much), but how will the system hold up when playing against others? Today, we got in some more play time with the final PSP hardware and put Ridge Racers and Minna no Golf Portable to the WiFi test.

Here's how we set our games up. We had two people make use of adjacent PSP units running the same game. We, of course, made sure to have the WiFi switch on. The game actually warns you if the WiFi switch is off when you try to enter a multiplayer mode, although turning it on is as simple as flipping the switch (without having to restart or anything).

Our first WiFi experience was with Minna no Golf Portable. The game has a "Minna De Golf" (Golf with everyone) mode that allows for eight players to play together simultaneously. Go into this mode and you're given two options: one option to create an multiplayer game session and one to select an existing game session and join in.

Read more by clicking on the link above

New look new title

Yup thats right I'll be covering news on anything WiFi and Wireless on the PSP as well. Since Im planning on getting a PSP in March (seems so far away doesent it) I thought it would be cool to have some coverage on the PSP as well. Also you've noticed the color change of my Blog that may change depending on how I feel about it. As alway if you have any questions or comments feel free to post them or email me about it.

December 5, 2004

DS Online Homebrew Overview

Since the race to get the DS online is growing bigger and bigger day by day I thought I do a brief synopsis of their origins.

Warp Pipe aka Demasked

Warp Pipe Technologies started in early July of 2003 with the intent of allowing all LAN-enabled GameCube games to be played over the Internet. Since the birth of the Internet, Nintendo fans have been able to congregate and share their passion for gaming and the deep Nintendo culture that dates back to Donkey Kong. With the advent of Warp Pipe, Nintendo fans can take their online community to the next level by sharing the raw Nintendo experience that is playing great video games. No longer will you have to worry about friends who may have lost interest in video games, as Warp Pipe both extends and redefines the online community of Nintendo fans. We are dedicated to bringing you the most comprehensive and easy to use solution to bring your GameCube online and experience a whole new opportunity to share the Nintendo experience.

Team XLink

Created on March 13, 2003, XLink was a pet project between TheDaddy and TeXLink. It came about after the current alternatives were full of advertisements or 12 year olds spamming in chat rooms. Did we even mention the lag? The first build of XLink only contained a simple messenger style mode and was originally just for TheDaddy and TeXLink to play their XBoxes online with. After showing a couple of friends, a few more people showed interest and began using it. At the time, it was 90% ideas, 10% software...

Nitro Online Newest Online Hombrewer for the DS

Well since the DS release here in the States theres been a race to see who will be the first to bring the DS online. All I can say is that is like the race to be the first man on the moon, exciting yet disheartning as well. I mean we all have a common goal in mind to bring the DS online. Enough of my ranting let the news overflow.

Click the link to read more about the newest addition to the DS Online race.

Below is a plausable scenerio of what may have already occured or will happen when you want to go online with the DS.

MIKE'S SIDE
Mike turns on his Nintendo DS and goes to Metroid Prime: Hunters [First Hunt]. He starts his Nintendo DS as a server on Metroid Prime: Hunters [First Hunt]. Then, Mike fires up the Nitro Online excecutable on his laptop. Nitro Online then uses the crossWireless function collection, a wrapper for Nitro Online, to find his Nintendo DS, which is constently sending 3,000 beacon packets per second. Nitro Online finds three MAC addresses. crossWireless, the wireless wrapper, then passes the three MAC addresses to Nitro Online. Nitro Online then checks for a MAC address starting with 00:09:BF. Once found, Nitro Online stores the MAC address in an unsigned char of an array of six. Mike is then notified that his Nintendo DS' MAC address has been identified. He jumps for joy, repeaditly thanking god that his new Prism2 wireless adapter was worth it (How right he is). He is then prompted with the menu if he hasn't already supplied command-line arguments. This is done to keep the application user-friendly, people. He instantly hits the number 2, which starts a server. Nitro Online starts two POSIX sockets. One is a TCP server socket, and the other is a UDP socket. He waits for his good buddy Dan to connect.

DAN'S SIDE
Dan flipped his Nintendo DS opened which booted into the Metroid Prime: Hunters [First Hunt] main menu. He then hits 'Join a game' after touching Multiplayer. His Nintendo DS finds no games avalaible, no surprise. He sets his DS down to the side of his USB Netgear wireless adapter. He then executes Nitro Online. Nitro Online finds his Nintendo DS, and notifies him. This is no surprise, as he developed Nitro Online in the first place, seeing that his DS was found over countless nights of testing with trial-and-error :-). He commands his computer by typing a 3 after being prompted for user input. He is then prompted for an IP address to connect to. He enters Mike's IP address, and hits return. Behind the scenes, Nitro Online instanciates two sockets, a TCP client and UDP socket. Now this is where Dan gets stupid :P

THE FUN
Oh yes, the part we've all been waiting for. Mike sees that a client has connected to his server through TCP. "w00t!" Mike's Nitro Online and Dan's Nitro Online then exchange the MAC addresses of their Nintendo DS' through TCP. Mike's Nitro Online spoofs his wireless card's MAC address to Dan's DS' MAC address. Dan's Nitro Online does the same to his wireless card, but with Mike's DS MAC address. Because they just spoofed their wireless card's MAC address to the Nintendo's registered one (00:09:BF) the Nintendo DS' will communicate with their (Mike's and Dan's) wireless cards. The Nitro Onlines then intercept Nintendo DS MAC data sent by the DS', wrap them in a UDP packet, and send to the other party. TCP then confirms the arrival of the MAC packet. Once the packet's arrival has been confirmed, the other party then uses their wireless card to send a MAC packet to the Nintendo DS.

Nintendo, Square Enix.......Online with the DS soon

Comments attributed to Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto in this week's Famitsu magazine indicate that the company is planning to bring its systems online within a three to four year timescale, with DS leading the way.

Miyamoto, credited as the design genius behind key Nintendo franchises including Zelda and Mario, told the magazine that online gaming will reach the mainstream within three to four years, and that Nintendo will be moving in that direction as a result.

In the current generation of console hardware, only Nintendo has shied away from providing online gaming services on their system - arguing that online play is not of interest to the majority of consumers as yet.

However, a translation of Miyamoto's comments in Famitsu which has been posted on the Internet reveals that he expects the Nintendo DS to get online games in the near future, which would lead Nintendo's movement into the online space.

DS online functionality would presumably use the system's wireless LAN capabilities to hook up to the Internet. At present, these functions can be used to communicate between DS units for wireless multiplayer or chat.

Intriguingly, Miyamoto implied that Nintendo is working with Square Enix on developing the online system for the DS. Square Enix formerly developed the PlayOnline system for the PlayStation 2, which was used as a launcher for Final Fantasy XI but had the capability to be used as a more comprehensive online gaming system.

Square Enix has confirmed that it is working on titles for the Nintendo DS, with a handheld version of its GameCube multiplayer RPG title, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, expected to launch next year. As yet the publisher hasn't commented on the possibility of this title having online functionality.

Elsewhere in the interview, Miyamoto also confirmed that a new Mario title, which is still being called Mario 128, is still in development for the GameCube - not for the company's next-generation Revolution console, as had been rumoured previously.

He also mentioned that Nintendo is working with "strong allies" to create a new Pokemon title for the Cube, but could not reveal further details of what this title would be.

NiFi, WiFi..................Shoofly?

Whats NiFi youre asking yourself, well NiFi is the newest slang for Nintendos wireless protocol which is kind of like WiFi. I think its got a nice ring to it, dont you.

December 2, 2004

Picto Chat Tunneled

Well it looks like someone or persons has tunneled Picto Chat. The quote below is from a Warp Pipe member. It looks like the teamxlink site is down at the moment so I cant confirm or deny this post for truth.

http://forums.warppipe.com/viewtopic.php?t=13283

Over the last few days TheDaddy was successfull at tunneling pictochat.
Some of you might have heard about it before. Alot of work still needs to be done to get Metroid/marioDS working, and raise compatibility, but its looking promissing.

HOWEVER,
so far we only have it working on a very specific type of setup.
Thats why it is etremely important that no one buys *any* hardware yet; no routers, no PCI cards, nothing.

I'm stressing this once again because we want to avoid having people waisting their money on hardware witch wont work for ds tunneling in the end.

I'm sure TD will make an official announcement soon

The DS/PSP WiFi and Wireless Blog.