Nintendo and McDonald's Add Wi-Fi Deal to Menu

McDonald's Corp. is adding free wireless service to its menu for Nintendo DS handheld consoles under a new deal with the video game-maker.

Under the deal, Nintendo DS users can enter a participating McDonald's and play Wi-Fi-enabled games with others on the service. No setup is required. Players just launch the game that supports Wi-Fi, and play against others.

The online gaming service is expected to launch on Nov. 14 in nearly 6,000 restaurants. McDonald's offers wireless Internet access in many U.S. restaurants, but charges a fee for the use.

Wireless Internet provider Wayport, Austin, TX, supplies the service and access points. Financial terms were not disclosed.

"This agreement with Wayport will bring countless people together to play games in a single, simultaneous wireless community," said Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo of America's executive vice president in a statement. "Beginning with free access at participating McDonald's, we have removed one of the major barriers that have kept people from going online to play games."

Details about the Nintendo Wi-Fi connection and participating Wayport/McDonald's hotspots, will be online soon at NintendoWiFi.com.

Nintendo DS is the first Nintendo system to connect via Nintendo Wi-Fi connection. The same service will be added into Nintendo's next-generation home video game console, code-named Revolution, scheduled for release in 2006.