Nintendo Partners with JiWire to Help Nintendo DS Users Quickly Find and Connect to Wi-Fi Hotspots So They Can Play Games Anytime, Anywhere
SAN FRANCISCO – JiWire, the leading provider of information and services to help people connect to the Internet without wires, today announced that Nintendo has licensed JiWire’s hotspot directory for its new wireless gaming service, Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. The partnership with JiWire will allow Nintendo DS users to quickly find free hotspot locations, so they can connect and play Nintendo’s cutting-edge portable games anytime, almost anywhere.
Nintendo DS users can search for public hotspot locations by country, state, region, street address or zip code at the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection website (http://www.nintendowifi.com). This service is available for users in the U.S., as well as Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Panama, and Chile.
“Through our partnership with JiWire, we are able to offer thousands of Nintendo DS users an easy way to quickly find free hotspot locations,” says George Harrison, senior vice president of marketing at Nintendo of America. “By making wireless gaming more convenient, we make Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection accessible to a wide range of gaming fans.”
“With the number of worldwide hotspots growing another 100% this year, Wi-Fi is more accessible than ever and many new devices are truly beginning to leverage this,” says Kevin McKenzie, CEO of JiWire. “Just as individuals now expect music to be available anytime on their portable players, online gamers are taking advantage of the growing number of devices that allow them to play anywhere by leveraging wireless broadband connectivity.”
According to In-Stat/MDR, almost 50% of the U.S. population will participate in online gaming by 2008.
About Nintendo
The worldwide leader and innovator in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its popular home and portable video game systems. For more information about Nintendo, visit the company’s Web site at http://www.nintendo.com.
About JiWire
Founded in 2003, JiWire provides information and services to help mobile professionals and computer enthusiasts find and connect to the wireless Internet. Through relationships with 400 Wireless Internet Service Providers (WISPs) and thousands of independent venues, JiWire offers the most comprehensive and up-to-date guide to free and commercial hotspot locations around the world as well as unbiased how-to guides, product reviews, and industry news. This critical information, combined with services to manage and securely connect to any wireless network, offer users everything they need to safely and easily connect without wires — anywhere. Customers include AvantGo, CNET Networks, iPass, USATODAY.com and the Wi-Fi Alliance, among others. JiWire.com was named one of the “50 Coolest Websites” by Time Magazine and is a recipient of a 2005 Mobility Award presented by MobileTrax. With over one million people using JiWire’s services, the company has created one of the world’s largest Wi-Fi communities. To learn more, please visit http://www.jiwire.com.
