Nintendo Announces DS Download Stations; Free Game Demos, Trailers Offered Nationwide

Nintendo DS owners will soon be able to download free game demos and trailers from thousands of kiosks located nationwide.

Today, at the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences' D.I.C.E. conference, Nintendo of America announced a free service that will allow players to download DS game demos, game videos, and other content from DS Download Stations located inside retailers nationwide.

But how many DS Download Stations will be in the US? According to Reggie Fils-Aime, a senior executive with Nintendo of America, "thousands." Fils-Aime told GamePro that every Nintendo retail partner is on board, including juggernauts like Target, EB Games, and Wal-Mart.

The content will always be free, but there's one catch--the data will be temporarily saved to the DS's internal RAM. That means that you'll be able to keep playing as long as you don't turn off your DS. Once you power down your DS, the downloaded content will disappear.

Because the content will be temporarily stored in the Nintendo DS's internal RAM, there's no special cartridge or chip to buy--the service is free in every way.

For the short term, Nintendo is focusing on two main content types: game demos and game trailers, though other content types may be available in the future. Fils-Aime didn't rule out functionality beyond just game demos and game footage, saying that "there's all types of other applications...could I imagine that we download our advertising, our partner's advertising? The possibilities truly are endless."

Other interesting twists include the fact that some game demos will enable wi-fi multiplayer features. And allowing for extra content in the form of game upgrades or enhancements isn't out of the question, either--Fils-Aime noted that "special content" was being offered to Mario Kart DS players in Japan who used a similar service.

DS owners can check Nintendo.com for a full list of DS Download Station retailers. A large-scale rollout of the DS Download Station service is expected in April, not far from the release of Brain Age for the DS.

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