Baseball is in the air, and that means that Mariner fans can once again take part in the hallowed spring tradition of being enticed with the carrot of optimism and hope, only to be bludgeoned with the reality of a shaky bullpen and a big hole at first base. Last season, Nintendo and the Mariners teamed up to offer fans a fun distraction from the painful action on the field, the Nintendo Fan Network. Anyone who attended a game at Safeco Field could use the DS's wi-fi capabilities to download a program that included a variety of games and services. For $5, fans could play trivia games, look up player stats, and even watch an almost live network feed of the game. If you forgot your DS at home, or if you didn't own one, you could even buy a fancy new limited edition DS with a snazzy Mariners logo on the cover.

Unfortunately for M's fans, a promising surge at the end of the season fell short and the team missed the playoffs yet again. The Nintendo Fan Network was not a big hit either, thanks to the hefty $5 a game price tag. But this year is different, not only will the M's seriously compete for their division title (shaky bullpen and huge hole at first notwithstanding), the Nintendo fan Network service is now available free of charge!

Our brave investigator discovered this exciting piece of information while on a fact-finding mission earlier in the week to Safeco Field. Much like last year, neither the Mariners or Nintendo seem too interested in actually advertising the Fan Network. The only pieces of evidence were a few Nintendo download kiosks and one large sign in the outfield. (People who don't go to very many M's games probably don't even know that the Fan Network exists.) We also learned that those cool Mariners Logo DS's from last year are still available for purchase. Although it's likely that the limited edition run of 2000 is almost gone so we suggest you run down to the ballpark right away if you want one.

The Fan Network offers users a variety of interesting features. The trivia and puzzle games are the highlights of the service and are a nice distraction between innings and while waiting for Vicente Padilla to actually throw a pitch. Stat junkies can access a database of player statistics, which is great if you suddenly feel the urge to look up Gil Meche's ERA. One of the cooler features is the ability to order ballpark food and have it delivered right to your seat. (But be warned, there is a hefty gratuity charge on top of the already obscene food prices.) You can even watch a slightly delayed Fox Sports live video feed of the game, although the picture is way too small and a bit grainy.

The Fan Network is definitely a very promising service. The powers that be are most likely still testing and tweaking the system for what we hope will be a nationwide expansion to all big league ballparks. Eliminating the $5 user fee is definitely a step in the right direction for Nintendo. While the service may be interesting, it's not quite polished enough to be worth such a steep price. We're not a big fan of user fees, but if we have to have them, perhaps something like $1 a game or even a $10-15 season pass would be a bit more reasonable.

If you're a baseball fan and live in the Seattle area, it's definitely worth a trip down to Safeco to try out this unique service. Hopefully this is just a preview of what we hope will soon be an exciting world full of venue-specific downloadable content.