The folks at GameCube Advance had an interview with Gamespy president Jon Epstein, where it was confirmed that Gamespy will provide middleware technology for online Nintendo Games.
Their tools will be flexible enough for Nintendo or its developers to support any peripheral of their choice, such as keyboards, headsets, so their limit will be only the developer"s needs.
They will be included in games with online play modes, and will take care of all online related applications, such as player matchmaking, text and voice chat, instant messaging, online storage and others.
Using Gamespy services won"t require players anything more than the broadband adapter that is already available, and Nintendo is free to plan any marketing strategy that seems fit, even one without monthly fees.
The tools aren"t ready yet, but the first games using them should be out Q4 2003 or at least Q1 2004.