GameSpy Fuels Future of Wii Online Games

Pokemon Battle Revolution is due June 25 on Nintendo Wii and it will be the first online multiplayer title for the system. Already released in Japan, it supports the dreaded “friend code” system that makes pairing with friends and keeping track in game much more difficult than in the firmware available for Xbox 360 or Playstation 3.

That may change now. GameSpy, who not only are a video game news site, but also a middleware developer for online games, have been charged with turning the Wii’s online capabilities into a full functional network. They developed the software that governs existing DS WiFi titles, but promise something more robust for the console. Full press release after the jump, but I’ll spoil it for you right here with the important parts

• Friends Lists
• Ranked Matches
• Matchmaking

Of course, all of those have been in place since Mario Kart DS became the first Nintendo online title, but the promise of keeping a list using the console’s identity rather than each game’s is enough to give us hope for the future. Launching 7 months after the Wii’s debut and a year and half after the Nintendo WiFi service launched on DS, they’ve had plenty of time to get this right.

Still no word if this GameSpy middleware is being sent to 3rd party developers.

NINTENDO’S Wii TO LEVERAGE MULTIPLAYER TECHNOLOGY FROM IGN ENTERTAINMENT’S GAMESPY

Leader in Multiplayer Technology Enables Exclusive Community Functionality for Nintendo’s Hit Console

Los Angeles, CA- March 13, 2007 – GameSpy, a unit of Fox Interactive Media, announced today that it will provide multiplayer technology to game publishers developing titles for Nintendo’s Wii™ video game system. As part of an ongoing partnership with Nintendo, GameSpy has developed middleware technology to enable Wii titles to offer community features, such as friend rosters, advanced matchmaking capabilities and comprehensive rankings data.

“This partnership will expand our wireless community of players on Nintendo® Wi-Fi Connection,” said Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime. “Millions of Nintendo DS users have already logged on using GameSpy’s technology, and now Wii owners will be able to do the same in a fun and easy-to-use environment.”

“Nintendo has been an invaluable partner and we look forward to expanding our relationship with them in the future,” said Jamie Berger, Senior Vice President of Consumer Products and Technology for IGN Entertainment. “Our goal is to extend our ground-breaking work on the Nintendo DS to provide Wii users with the social, community and multiplayer tools that we believe will expand the online gaming experience to the mass market.”

Pokémon® Battle Revolution, the first Wii game to utilize the technology, launches on June 25, with multiplayer features similar to those leveraging GameSpy technology in several Nintendo DS titles.

Prior to this development agreement for Wii, GameSpy and Nintendo brought gamers wireless community options for Nintendo DS™. The service provided an innovative network for portable video games, allowing people around the world to link easily and wirelessly to play games. The partnership represented GameSpy’s first foray into portable games.

About GameSpy

GameSpy, a division of IGN Entertainment, is the leader in multiplayer gaming technology. Utilized by each of world’s top ten publishers, GameSpy’s technology is accessible on eight different platforms and featured in more than 400 current titles.

About Fox Interactive Media:

A division of News Corporation (NYSE: NWS), Fox Interactive Media (FIM) offers a global, border-free online network that caters to consumers by giving them the platform and tools to express themselves, communicate with each other, and engage with the best music, TV, film, sports, information and more. The company’s worldwide network includes such category leaders as MySpace, IGN Entertainment, FOXSports.com, RottenTomatoes, AskMen, AmericanIdol.com and more that together comprise one of the largest and most engaged audiences on the Web.

About Nintendo

The worldwide innovator in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii™, Nintendo DS™, Game Boy® Advance and Nintendo GameCube™ systems. Since 1983, Nintendo has sold nearly 2.2 billion video games and more than 387 million hardware units globally, and has created industry icons like Mario™, Donkey Kong®, Metroid®, Zelda™ and Pokémon®. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo’s operations in the Western Hemisphere. For more information about Nintendo, visit the company’s Web site at www.nintendo.com.