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Via Daily Tech

To this day, Nintendo remains quite cautious about jumping into online-enabled games. Seemingly unfazed by Microsoft’s (and to a lesser degree, Sony’s) move to take multiplayer gaming to the Internet, Nintendo was criticized by some as not embracing ‘the wave of the future.’ The built-in Internet capabilities of the Wii thus far primarily served to bring simple weather updates and old virtual console games. But today, Nintendo is taking a step into the online arena with news of its online matchmaking technology.

As part of an ongoing partnership with Nintendo, GameSpy is developing middleware technology to enable Wii titles to offer community features, such as friend rosters, advanced matchmaking capabilities and comprehensive rankings data. Prior to this development agreement for Wii, GameSpy and Nintendo collaborated on online gaming with the Nintendo DS.

“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, launching on June 25, will be the first Wii game to utilize the technology.

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