I've come across a few limited attempts at integrating online connectivity with the NES, which got me wondering: is anyone out there working on a WiFi-enabled cartridge, or is such a thing feasible? A cartridge-based solution seems nearly ideal to me: it wouldn't require you to take up a controller port (as with the ConnectedNES), you wouldn't need a NES with the expansion port (as with the ENIO products), and you wouldn't need to buy the AVS (as with the AVS scoreboard). All you'd need is the cartridge. And this kind of connectivity could open up a lot of interesting possibilities, such as:
I am emphatically not a hardware guy, so I have no idea if this idea is prohibitively difficult or expensive. I think about it a lot, though.
- Online user profiles for granular in-game achievements across games, as well as global game stats.
- Turn-based online play, either with friends or with random strangers.
- Downloadable content.
- Integration of semi-real-time content.
- Bugfix rollouts.
I am emphatically not a hardware guy, so I have no idea if this idea is prohibitively difficult or expensive. I think about it a lot, though.