Nintendo and McDonald's have announced a deal to offer gamers free internet access for gaming in restaurants across the United States. The service will allow users of the Nintendo DS console to play games against other people around the world for free.

McDonald's is currently offering wireless access for laptops in 6,000 of its US restaurants, but the Nintendo offering is the first of its kind for gamers. Wayport has been selected as the access point supplier, and has been paid an undisclosed amount for their products and services.

Nintendo's online gaming service is due to be launched in the US on 14 November and then in Europe on 25 November. The launch will coincide with the November release of the first DS online games, Mario Kart DS and Tony Hawk's American SK8Land. [Read full article here]