Nintendo and Telstra have joined forces to provide free wireless access to all Nintendo DS users across Australia, in an Australian first that will allow wireless gaming at over 1000 hotspots.

The hotspots include McDonald’s Restaurants, Starbucks Cafés, airports, hotels and city hotzones throughout Melbourne and Sydney.

Rose Lappin, director of sales and marketing, Nintendo Australia said the company has removed one of the major barriers that have kept people from going online to play games.

"This agreement with Telstra will bring countless people together to play games in a single, simultaneous wireless community," she said.

Telstra’s director of Internet products, Craig Turner said: “It introduces a completely new consumer audience to Australia’s largest wireless hotspot network that until recently has predominantly attracted corporate users.”

No setup is required, users can simply launch a Wi-Fi-enabled game in Nintendo Wi-Fi connection mode when in a hotspot. Home users on a Wi-Fi network, can also connect with minimal setup procedures.