Disney pushes DS online services with DGamer

Depending on your point of view, the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection online multiplayer service is either something lots of DS gamers are using - mainly to play Pokémon and Animal Crossing - or an as-yet to-be realised opportunity because the vast majority of DS owners haven't tried it.

Disney seems to agree with both viewpoints because it's planning to launch its very own online gaming service. Called DGamer, it's based on the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection's technology but will provide more focused features that will be available across all Disney's DS games.

For example, as a member of DGamer you'll be able to create a customised personal avatar, communicate with people using preset phrases and answers, make new friends, voicechat with people on your friends' list, view your friends' high scores and vote in polls. You'll also be able to earn DGamer Honors by completing in-game challenges, which will then be used to unlock exclusive content, whether in the game you're playing or within the wider DGamer community. These features will be integrated into the DGamer Channel on Disney's main Disney.com website too.

It's not the first time Disney has got excited about the potential for online DS gaming either. Its Spectrobes game offered some of the most extensive online functionality to-date for a DS game, including the download of new creatures, a global highscore table and organised tournaments for up to 16 players.

The newly-announced sequel, Spectrobes II, is expected to build on such features, while the DGamer service itself will launch in North America with the release of The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian in May 2008. The timing of a wider international rollout has yet to be announced.