Square Enix’s upcoming Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time employs quite a little gimmick: simultaneous Wii and DS play. That is, while you’re playing the DS version, you can pal up with your friend who’s playing the Wii version. This strange mestiçagem works by essentially “porting” the DS version to the Wii, which then translates the DS top-bottom alignment into a Wii left-right alignment.
How’s that for DS/Wii connectivity? The next thing we know, cats and dogs will be living together in perfect harmony.
More and more info is trickling out relating to Nintendo of America’s plans for the just-announced DSi. One of the bigger nuggets of information to come out of Wired’s interview with NOA’s Cammie Dunway (you may remember her from the company’s so-so E3 press conference) is that, as it stands right now, the DS Lite and DSi will “coexist.” That is to say NOA doesn’t have any plans to kill the DS Lite as soon as the DSi is released.
She says:
Right now we’re still working through what the strategy’s going to be here. But we think that there’s huge untapped potential for the DS Lite…. So I think there’s opportunity for both of them to coexist for some period of time.
Right, well how many people actualy thought Nintendo was going to kill the DS Lite right away? The same thing happened toward the end of the GameBoy Advance’s life: the DS shows up, both “coexist” for a little while, and before you know it your SP is collecting dust.
September was a monumental month for Microsoft in Japan. The Xbox 360 console sold 53,547 units to Sony’s 33,071 units sold. But Nintendo’s Wii sales practically doubled that of the 360 with 109,548 units sold. The boost in sales for the 360 had a lot to do with the recent price cut and the launch of Square Enix’s Infinite Undiscovery, says Reuters.
The now outdated DS sold 234,477 units to PSP’s 109,274 units, but that has a lot to do with the fact that the new PSP-3000 is slated for an October 16th launch in Japan. But then again Nintendo’s new DSi is coming out November 1st, so I’m sure sales of the current gen DS will drop this month.
I’ve ganked ‘em straight from the source just so you don’t have to guess which button it is that takes you to the good stuff. The new DS stuff looks fun, of course, but the Wii lineup is looking hot as hell. Punch-Out looks filthy, space exploration game looks awesome, whatever Tales game that is looks phantastic, and I’m sorry but I may have to buy a Wii solely on the strength of Harvest Moon. I love me some Harvest Moon. Click below for the Wiideo.
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Another report from a Japanese source shows, well, a pair of screens. What matters is that these screens seem to be about DS-sized, and after this weekend’s “new DS” rumor and Nintendo’s non-refutation, there’s a good chance that these may actually be the real thing. Notice that the bottom screen has a different type of ribbon coming out of it. So, to summarize, these screens could be
- A The new DS screens, touch screen with the white border
- B Two random small screens someone took a picture of
We’ll keep you updated. [via GoNintendo]
I don’t know, Scoob. Seems kind of fishy to me! But after seeing Wii Music, I’m beginning to think that all this time at the top has left Nintendo a little, shall we say, oxygen-deprived. The rumor comes from a scanned Nikkei newspaper article over at the NeoGAF forums. If anyone reads Japanese, feel free to confirm what it says by checking the images after the link, but click through for the highlights and what we think of it.
Update: Our man in Japan says the camera, music, price and timing are almost certainly true, though the SD and screen size may not be. Ridiculous!
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Ah, the circle is completed. The GTA that we knew and fell in love with back in the ’90s is making a comeback in spirit with GTA: Chinatown Wars on the DS. Yes, the cel-shaded look is trendy but the isometric viewpoint and map/minigame screen are very suited to the DS (more natural than the Wii, apparently).
Somehow I doubt it will have the same level of ultraviolence that GTA and GTA II had (gouranga!), but the screens (here and here) are encouraging otherwise. [via Kotaku]
If you’re a fan of the Nintendo DS, Daft Punk, synthesizers, papier mache, Adobe After Effects, and the theremin, then boy oh boy do I have a video for you. Here’s a guy doing a cover of Daft Punk’s Something About Us using a Nintendo DS and a bunch of that other stuff I just mentioned. The helmet he’s wearing, interestingly enough, weighs about a pound and is made of papier mache. All the text you see on it was put in during post production using Adobe After Effects and Softimage XSI coupled with some motion tracking and animation wizardry.
[via Make]
Wow, this is a pretty cool setup right here. A professional photographer was sick of lugging his laptop around to photo shoots, so he rigged up his Nintendo DS and custom-coded some software to do the heavy lifting instead. He even leveraged the microphone on the DS to make his camera snap photos when triggered by sound.
It also does other stuff that I don’t understand like providing unlimited shot brackets, acting as a very-precise intervalometer, and working in bulb-mode. He’s thinking of selling kits for $100 (DS not included), which seems like a pretty good deal.
[via BBG]
Won’t these silly DS rumors end anytime soon? They just might now that IGN seems to have the scoop on the upcoming dual touchscreen DS that’s said to be coming out in April or May of 2009. But it’s unclear whether this will be a complete hardware overhaul or an upgrade to the existing hardware.
Furthermore, IGN is claiming that the new DS will have widescreen aspect ratios on top of the dual touchscreen functionality, which may lead to your old titles becoming obsolete forcing you to purchase all new DS titles. This makes complete sense considering publishers will have to start programming for a new platform altogether. But IGN doesn’t seem to believe this will be the DS2 based on launch date. TGS is, after all, in October and that would more than likely be the prime place for such an announcement.
Remember way back when the Nintendo DS launched; the original, not the Lite. ‘member what color it was? Yeah, silver, and now the same metallic silver is making a come back on the DS Lite. So if your Polar White model is getting a bit grimy, you can pick up the new color after September 7.
This month’s NPD numbers don’t officially come out until Thursday, but a single note written by Lazard Capital’s Colin Sebastian has prompted all sorts of knee-jerk reactions. Lazard says it’s possible that the Wii could see a decline in sales for the month of July. Now, that’s not necessarily because demand has gone down, but could merely be a function of pre-holiday retail wizardry (read: retailers are stocking up for expected holiday demand).
More interesting is Lazard’s expectation of some sort of DS and PSP “enhancements” this fall. What that even means, who knows. Besides, I’m pretty sure like 10 of us could get together and form our own research group based on random Digg comments and Web comics. We could call it CG Research 4 Real, or something equally silly.
According to Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter, Nintendo has a handheld gaming device in the works ready for launch by year’s end.
“We think that the timing of a new product introduction will depend upon the sales profile for the DS, and believe that lower than expected DS hardware sales could trigger an earlier launch for the new device,” Pachter said in an investor note.
“DS sales are solid worldwide, but are weak in Japan, leading us to expect an introduction of a new device in Japan before the end of the calendar year.”
He said that Japanese DS demand will likely continue to decline. He adds, “We think that Nintendo has a new handheld device ready for launch in [Japan] before the end of the calendar year.”
What new wonders might this handheld from Nintendo hold?
Ah, Duke Nukem. You bring me back to a simpler time. A time when you and Commander Keen were my two best digitally-rendered friends. You two, along with what’s-his-name from Wolfenstein 3D.
According to Spong, Apogee Software is currently working on the Duke Nukem Trilogy, a trio of Duke Nukem-based games for the Nintendo DS and Sony PlayStation Portable. The games will be available next summer.
The three games will be called Critical Mass, Chain Reaction, and Proving Grounds. They’ll each be developed to take “full advantage of each platform’s strengths…while staying true to the storyline.”
Japanese interactive content providers am3 [JP] and DaiNippon Printing started DSvision [JP] today, a fee-based service bringing anime and manga to owners of the Nintendo DS. DSvision was announced last year but pushed back a couple of times since then.
DSvision requires a hardware package for $38, which includes a 512mb microSD card, a DSvision card adapter for connection to the DS and a USB reader/writer. Users can download content with a PC onto the microSD card, and watch or read that content on their DS later.
DaiNippon Printing and am3 sell manga, anime episodes and text novels for prices ranging from 94 cents to $9.40 per download. There are 9 novels, 34 manga and 8 anime available at the moment but new content is uploaded every hour. The site will eventually offer 1,000 different titles within a year. DaiNippon Printing and am3 are hoping to win 2 million customers in the same time frame.
Unfortunately, DS owners living outside Japan cannot use DSvision and the site doesn’t mention any plans regarding the possibility of an international version.
If Indiana Jones can come back, why not the first real handheld console?
It’s a Game Boy, on a train to Philly, but it’s not one of the Game Boy Advances or even one of the ones that came after that, it’s just a Game Boy. Green screen, janky volume knob, and two hour, AA-battery-eating life.
You can have your Guitar Hero for DS, or even your iPhone as a game platform. In ten years time, I highly doubt you’ll see people using those in the wild.
What’s better, the Game Boy was being played by a girl. If anyone knows who she is, please give her my email address. I’m single, after all, and she seems to be just my type.
Set to launch June 22 is Activision’s DS Lite version of their popular Guitar Hero series. I’m a big fan of the game, but like I said in a previous GHOT post, I’m not at all impressed by this version. At least there’s a special edition silver and black DS. The bundle will retail for $180.
via 1up
Who knew BAPE was struggling this bad in Japan. The once iconic label has seen its popularity dwindle in its homeland and apparently the only way to get kids back in stores is to release these special edition DS Lites with Milo plastered all over it. Whatever works, I guess. The white version sold like hot cakes smothered in crack and it appears that the gold edition is available for sale. So you best act now before these sell out too.
Mr. Miyamoto, tear down this wall! DS and 360 gamers may soon be united by their hatred of Viva Pinata: Trouble In Paradise, a game that simulates brain death.
The game uses the 360’s camera to track and decode trading cards. These cards can also appear on devices like Zunes, cellphones, iPods and… DSes. MTV is positing that the upcoming Viva Pinata title for the DS may include electronic cards in the game to unlock features on the 360. It’s not quite real connectivity and it’s a pretty far stretch but hey, who are we to judge gaming reporting produced by the network that brought you The Hills.
Tecmo Bowl! It’s coming to the Nintendo DS sometime this fall. EA has a lock on NFL licensing until 2012, so the teams and players in “Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff,” as it’ll be called, will likely have names like the Las Vegas Legends and the New York T-Bones or what have you.
Details are scant, except for the gorgeous logo shown above. Ars Technica reports that…
“Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff will include a number of different features released, including: customizable teams (colors, emblems, player names,etc.), WiFI multiplayer, stylus control, 32 different teams, cutscenes, and more. Unfortunately, like the original game, this version will not have an NFL license. But with what looks like some in-depth customization features, players should be able to recreate whatever teams and leagues they want to play as fairly easily.”
…while I report that sometime this fall, I’ll be trying find my DS so’s I can play me some Tecmo Bowl.
