Mario Kart DS -- A Whole New World.

The Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector arrived today. It allows my Nintendo DS to be connected to the Internet via the USB port of my computer. It's the only real solution for those of us who want their NDS online and aren't willing to fork over the cash for a wireless setup when the wired one we already have works so well. And for those of us who wouldn't be caught dead in a McDonald's using a NDS, or even worse a Starbucks. I was a little worried about it because when I ordered the connector which is only available through Nintendo's online site store there was a connection test Java application which my computer decidedly failed. The UPS man or woman left it on my doorstep while I was out collecting Dragon Quest VIII and Sonic Rush. Upon my return I immediately set about installing it, which proved quite simple. You simply load up the CD-ROM that came with the connector and click that it's okay to begin installing. It'll ask for your language selection, English of course. It'll begin installing the drivers. It will then ask for you to plug in the connector. The connector comes with a very nice USB extension cable for those people with the USB ports in the rear of their computers.  My computer has some USB ports in the back and a couple in the front. The ones in front are angled at forty degrees hidden behind a panel. My computer tower is also hidden away within the desk. The extension cable allows me to close the panel on the front of the tower, which allows me to close the panel hiding the tower within the desk. Without that cable I would have to connect and disconnect the connector each time I wanted to use it. With it, I can leave it eternally connected. It's a nice touch that personally saves me a lot of hassle. Once you've plugged in the connector the computer will recognize it as what it is instead of an ordinary USB device. It will then begin the setup of the computer so the device will work correctly. You'll then be asked to register your NDS. This is registering it with the computer and not Nintendo. It let's the computer know that it should allow the NDS to interface with it instead of blocking it. There will be an icon for the Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connection Registration Tool in your taskbar. Clicking on that brings up the program. You'll need to load up your NDS with a Wi-Fi enabled game and go to the game's Wi-Fi menu. There will be an option there to connect. Instantly the PC noticed the NDS which I originally named Searren. Searren appeared listed in the program on my PC. Right-clicking on Searren brings up the options to grant permission to connect or to block from connecting. I selected to grant permission of course. After the configuration the NDS will ask to run a test. I clicked okay and a few painfully agonizing seconds later it connected successfully. That's it for the installation. It was really quite simple and painless. I'm sure Nintendo's tech support lines are working overtime with this one though just because people are stupid after all. After that I reloaded the game and went to connect to Nintendo WFC, which is what Nintendo calls its network. Once connected it had me save some information to my NDS and the game cartridge. It created my Friend Code. The Friend Code is how Nintendo sees me individually. With the Friend Code I can meet up with specific people online.  I have to give people I want listed as friends my Friend Code. They'll have to send me their Friend Code to get them on my list. I'll enter their code into my NDS via the game cartridge. It will be save both on the NDS and the game cartridge. Once I've entered the code and I have someone on my list, I can choose to play in the friends mode. It will connect me to only those people on my list who have me on their friends list. Mario Kart DS offers four modes from which to join games online. The before mentioned Friends mode. There is also Rivals, where you'll be matched against those players of comparable skill level. Regional Races allows for you to be matched with only people from your own country. Worldwide Racers allows for you to be matched with anyone from anywhere in the world. I must say it was rather impressive to be playing online versus other people from around the world from my portable Nintendo DS. Nintendo's system is rather primitive compared to Xbox Live but it seemingly more than gets the job done. Consider me impressed with Nintendo at this point. Now I just need to wait until I can make some friends...