Nintendo incorporates GameSpy into Wii gaming console

Nintendo, one of the largest console manufacturers, has announced that the GameSpy multiplayer technology will now be incorporated into the Wii gaming system. GameSpy is a division of IGN Entertainment and is headquartered in Costa Mesa, California.

IGN Entertainment operates a series of online gaming sites and provides online game software. GameSpy includes coverage of various other play stations such as PSP, Xbox, Xbox 360, Retrogaming, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3.

GameSpy has developed middleware technology, upon whose integration into games, will bring forward a host of new features. Community features such as friend lists, matchmaking capabilities, and leader boards will now be incorporated.

The Wii is Nintendo’s seventh generation game console. Previously known by its code name, Revolution, Wii is the successor of Nintendo GameCube. The Wii competes with Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Sony’s PlayStation 3 in the game console market. The console has won several awards as well. Special features of the Wii include a Wii remote, which is a handheld pointing device that can detect motion in three dimensions. Wii can also receive messages and updates over the internet.

The first set of games to be released with GameSpy technology includes the recently announced Pokemon Battle Revolution, slated for release on June 25. The first game to be released on the Wii, it is also the first game to use Nintendo Wi-Fi connection. It is able to connect, wirelessly, to the Nintendo DS handheld device.

The Nintendo DS already incorporates GameSpy for its huge multiplayer community.

According to Reggie Fils-Aime, President & COO, Nintendo America, “This partnership will expand our wireless community of players on Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. 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, now a multinational corporation, was founded in 1889, in Kyoto, Japan by Fusajiro Yamauchi. Apart from being one of the major manufacturers of video games, Nintendo is also the majority owner of Seattle Mariners, a Major League baseball team in Seattle, Washington. It also partially owns Atlanta Hawks, an NBA team in Atlanta, Georgia.

“Nintendo has been an invaluable partner and we look forward to expanding our relationship with them in the future. 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,” said Jamie Berger, Senior Vice President of Consumer Products and Technology for IGN Entertainment.