Two Sides: DS Download Service

While there are perhaps some benefits that can be realized if the service is based on Wii, I think both Nintendo's and customers' best interests are far better served if the service's primary form exists entirely and unumbilically on the rumored DS flash card.

Such an animal would require no measure of convoluted thinking. Indeed, it would be the utter model of simplicity: if you want to deal with Nintendo's DS download service, you put in the card. Once it's started up, you'd have a scrolling list of titles on the card on one side, and three buttons, reading "Play", "Delete", and "Download". The first two are, of course, self-explanatory.

"Download" would take you into a small-screen version of the Wii Shop Channel, except (obviously) with titles for DS. The DS has a unique identifier, much like Wii; this identifier would be the basis for licensing downloads, allowing you to redownload them to your own DS at will. One especially cool knock-on effect is that you won't need to be home to buy a new title: you can pick up new titles wherever there's Wi-Fi—an airport, a hotel, a coffee shop.

Perhaps the most convincing argument, though, is that the cost of entry can be as low as Nintendo cares to make it, letting it tap into DS's vast installed base in the most efficient manner possible. Regardless of how rapid Wii's ascent to heaven is, its numbers still pale compared to DS. People—nay, lost customers—are going to balk about having to buy a Wii to get into this service.

That said, I'm open to the notion that the DS flash card could be accessed by Wii, or DS Download Stations, to put any sort of content on it that the host system wants to. We could easily have both Cory's Wii-centric solution and mine coexisting in such a situation, if Nintendo cared to put in the effort. Wii Shop Channel accounts could be tied to DS Download Service accounts with no user-side pain, sharing Points, download history, and the like. The aforementioned Everybody's Nintendo Channel could make use of it for some expanded demos, as well.

But if I'm only going to have one or the other, I'd much rather have it stick to the DS. It only makes sense to keep it simple. If you want people to buy things, don't make them jump through hoops.


Cory: I'll gladly concede that an entirely DS-based service would be able to reach more people, and potentially be more convenient when it comes to the actual mechanics of acquiring games. I don't think Nintendo will necessarily see it that way, though. The DS has already sold to virtually every individual on the planet—it may be more important to them to use a DS-download service to help promote the Wii. As a console, especially one with an established exploratory interface, the Wii is already more appropriate for a software distribution network. Having a central location for managing financial transactions, including the acquisition and storage of Wii Points, would also be advantageous.

I also think Wi-Fi hotspot downloads—one of the perks of a DS-centric system—would likely be rare. Besides, if you're going to head out to a hotel or an airport, you could easily populate your DS with downloaded games ahead of time. It's a neat notion, sure, but hardly the deciding feature.

Matt: Wii Points are a real problem with a separate system, to be sure—and, of course, the real problem here is Nintendo's choice to tie downloads to a system instead of a person. Regardless, I think the ability to tie the accounts together like I proposed above would deal with that quite nicely. As far as downloads on the go, I think there are some real market-expansion possibilities here, and as such, I'll continue to cling to it. Finally, I'd just like to note that Nintendo's last effort to use one system to promote another by requiring them to be used together—connectivity—wasn't exactly a real winner for either customer or Nintendo.

Regardless of what they do or how they build it out, I don't think I've been as interested in a move Nintendo is rumored to be making in some time. Provided this isn't on the usual rumor level of the "orange port", there are some real neat possibilities here, beyond even dipping into the Game Boy catalog—think "DS Ware". I, for one, will be staying tuned to see if there really is any substance to this particular tidbit.