It’s the bottom of the third inning. Ichiro Suzuki is on deck, and he is about to walk to the plate just as you finish your first $8 beer. There is no way you are missing this at bat to stand in a 15 minute line to get your second brew of the game. Luckily, you packed your DS with you in case of a rain delay. Now you and every other baseball fan with a DS at the Mariners’ Safeco field can check real-time stats, watch a live TV feed of the game, play online trivia with other fans, order food, and YES, order beer right from your seat!

“Nintendo Fan Network” utilizes the DS’s wi-fi connection, and it is being piloted during Mariners games this season. Using Safeco field to test the network should not come as a surprise considering Nintendo executives co-own and sponsor the ballclub, but this latest effort is more evidence that Nintendo continues to pursue the “non-traditional” gamer. Unfortunately, all of this awesomeness does come with a price tag. Fans have to bring their DS to a kiosk in the stadium and download the network software (including providing credit card information) at a cost of $5 a game or $30 for a ten game pass.  As if shelling out 80 bucks for tickets, $30 more for dogs and peanuts, and God knows how much on beer wasn’t enough, now fans can throw another 5 bones on top to get the Nintendo Fan Network. With as much punch as the Network packs, it may be worth skipping a beer to add it into the game budget...ok ok, skip the peanuts instead.

The live TV feed on the network provides additional replays that are not shown in the stadium that will be sure to have all of your buddies looking over your shoulder on close plays. Also, gone are the days of recording the game with pencil and paper (who did that anyway?) Nintendo provides real-time statistic updates via www.mlb.com. Fans can also play a live baseball trivia game with every other DS owner in the stadium on the “Fan Network". Now if the DS could only let me bet the spread on football games (give Vegas a call Nintendo!) These features alone justify dropping Lincoln for the service.