Nintendo and O2 have teamed up to allow anyone sporting a 3DS or 3DS XL free wifi access from any of thousands of O2 hotspots scattered around the UK. These include highstreet locations such as McDonalds, Debenhams, Pizza Hut, Costa Coffee, House of Fraser, Toby Carvery as well as public venues such as The O2, Twickenham, Bluewater and the Central London boroughs of Westminster and Kensington & Chelsea.
The great thing is you also wont have to scramble your way through all the tedious form filling, password, email address registering nonsense on your 3DS normally associated with hotspots every time, as once you are registered you will automatically connect once in range of absolutely any of them. How do you know you are anywhere near a hotspot? Nintendo say, as long as you have the most recent update on whatever version of 3DS you have, your Nintendo Zone icon will blink to let you know you are near in range of a hotspot.
So whether you are at home or on the move, anywhere there is a bench, or a lampost to lean against and a hotspot nearby you wont have to sacrifice the online side of your 3DS in exchange for the increasingly brilliant weather. Once you are outside in whatever weather you are granted that day Nintendo Zone will enable you to use the internet browser, play any online multiplayer games you may own, download trailers, receive SpotPass content (the most exciting for me personally), access the eShop and receive updates – even if you’re machine is on standby.
Nintendo video is going to offer some interesting additions soon enough including trailers for Iron Man 3, Monsters University and Epic. They have also stated some animations featuring everyones favourite bubblegum-coloured and everything-shaped pink blob, Kirby. There will also be some Red Bull extreme sports action, so you can be the first to see if they ever top jumping to the earth from space. I don’t know how they’ll do this, perhaps extreme bungee jumping with a collection of Norse Gods on a crane above a car park with no bungee rope.
“We’re always looking at ways to improve the user experience for Nintendo 3DS owners. This partnership with O2 means that gamers will now have access to all of the unique online features offered by Nintendo Zone in more locations than ever before.”
– Shelley Pearce, Marketing and PR Director, Nintendo UK.
“Nintendo is a leading brand in the gaming world and have shown real innovation in the industry, making them an ideal partner for O2 Wifi. With the popularity of online multiplayer gaming continuing to rise, customers are looking for a fast, free accessible Wi-Fi connection when they’re on the move – something that we know is becoming perceived as a right, rather than a privilege. This deal will enable Nintendo 3DS gamers to automatically connect their device to O2 Wifi whenever they are in over 7,000 hotspots across the UK’s top venues, restaurants and retailers. It’s a great example of how we’re delivering brilliant digital experiences for our customers.”
– Gavin Franks MD of O2 Wi-Fi.
Despite having only launched just over 2 years ago, O2 Wi-Fi have added over 7,000 hotspots for you to do all your Nintendo business on, soon it’ll be like what they say about rats in the London Underground. Except much more of a positive thing. This information means that O2 Wi-fi are the fastest growing Wi-Fi operator in the UK. It essentially means your 3DS or 3DS XL will never be offline, but as a gift to you, not a Orwellian insistence.
The new partnership is live in many selected areas and will merge into all 7,000 hotspots in the coming weeks. For anyone with a both a 3DS and any interest in the online features this is fabulous news.
For more information:
Nintendo 3DS Guided Tour: http://guidedtour.nintendo.co.uk
Nintendo UK on Twitter: https://twitter.com/nintendouk
Nintendo UK on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/nintendoukofficial
Nintendo Zone: http://www.nintendo.co.uk/Nintendo-3DS/Download-Content/Hotspot-Finder/
O2 Wi-Fi: https://www.o2wifi.co.uk
