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While some may have expected the Revolution to rule the Nintendo booth this year, the real heavyweight was the Nintendo DS, with more than it?s fair share of games around the show floor. Nintendo did everything that it could to tout the success and features of its new portable system, and the crowds seemed to enjoy it.
Aside from the physical game demos, there was a wireless kiosk in the center of the Nintendo booth that allowed those who were around it to download one of several demos that included games like Meteos and Polarium. The wireless downloads also included a DS version of the Zelda: Twilight Princess trailer, and a gallery of shots from the game.
The highlight of the Nintendo DS demos, however, were the online demos of upcoming Nintendo DS games, which you could play and even earn prizes for winning first place. There were quite a few people lined up to take part in playing the games Nintendo had on the show floor for the DS. Overall, I would say the DS made an excellent showing this year at E3, proving that there are many good things to come in the near future.
Metroid Prime: Hunters
Six months ago, when the Nintendo DS was first released, the potential of the system was shown in an included demo for the game Metroid Prime: Hunters. This multiplayer demo allows for up to four players to connect to each other and shoot it out as the bounty hunter Samus Aran. The demo has several different control styles, including a touch mode where you touch on the DS?s touchscreen in the direction you want to shoot. However, the most exciting control style for the PC users among us (easily the largest market for FPS style games) is very similar to the mouselook control scheme that controls PC shooters. This control scheme essentially uses the left crosspad to strafe, similar to using WASD on the keyboard, while using the right thumb on the touchscreen to look around, with the right trigger finger on the fire button.
While the multiplayer demo shown on the show floor at E3 was similar to this, it had some highly enhanced features added. In the demo, you can choose from six new bounty hunters, including the characters Noxus, Spire and Kanden, all of whom are new to the series. The final game will also have several different modes of play that should be familiar to veterans of the first-person shooter genre, such as Deathmatch and King of the Hill.
Even though the demo on the floor was a pure multiplayer experience, we were promised that the final game would include a single player story mode on top of the multiplayer game already played by many who own a DS. The choice of a multiplayer demonstration for the game may have been to show off the strengths of the DS, however it brings to light a few worries on whether or not the finalized single player game will stick with the traditional Metroid gameplay style, or if it will become purely an FPS game. These worries won?t be quenched until after the single player version of the game is shown.
The graphics in the demo were quite good for the little portable. There really was never any slowdown, and with that small of a screen, the DS easily pulled off some high framerates, which is good for playing shooters. The action in the multiplayer demo was very intense, even with only four characters on the stage. This is more than likely caused by the design of the stages, which usually include some kind of center room where most of the powerups are, surrounded by a few tunnels on the sides.
In all, Hunters looks to be a very promising game which will be very forgiving to both people who are used to the console shooter control style, and also veterans of PC shooters. This could definitely be one of those games that draws in a large crowd of people not used to buying handheld machines. Look for Metroid Prime: Hunters to be out in stores in the fourth quarter of 2005.
Advance Wars: Dual Strike
Following the line of highly successful Advance Wars games on the Gameboy Advance, Advance Wars: Dual Strike offers some new gameplay opportunities allowed by the Nintendo DS handheld system. Returning to Dual Strike are all of the COs from the previous Advance Wars games, and several new ones as well, each with their own unique CO powers. Dual Strike is based after the last Advance Wars for the GBA, when the Black Hole army is now looking for revenge from it?s last defeat. Under the control of a much more fearsome commanding officer, the Black Hole army returns to attack the different countries of War World, and must be stopped at all costs.
In Dual Strike, the top screen can be used as a quick reference for battle intelligence, or it can also be used as a second battle screen for more view of the action. New to the Advance Wars series is a real-time combat mode, in which you can lead your army into a more fast-paced action oriented battle. In this mode, instead of controlling large armies in a turn-based fashion, you will take control of a single unit, allowing you to be closer to the battle. There are also dozens of new battle maps, as well as a good few from the older games.
Battles are also split into two different types: normal and DS battles. The normal battles are just like those in previous Advance Wars games ? you use the touch screen to control the battle while some information is displayed on the DS?s second screen. The DS style battles allow you to control two different conflicts at once, and can even provide support between the two different battles by sending troops or tanks to lend a hand where it is needed.
At the end of the day, Advance Wars: Dual Strike looks to be a very promising game from a highly successful series. The inclusion of the touchscreen on the Nintendo DS allows for a much more natural control of turn-based and real-time strategy games, which allows battles to go quicker and smoother, without all the scrolling around with a digital crosspad. Advance Wars: Dual Strike should be a good game for both those who have played the first two games, and those who are new to the series and are just looking for a good turn-based strategy game to play. The expected release date for Dual Strike is August 22, 2005.
Nintendogs
Released earlier this year in Japan, Nintendogs has taken DS gamers in that country by storm. Nintendogs is actually a very simple concept. So simple, in fact, that there are those who don?t even call it a game, but rather a simulation. What is Nintendogs, you ask? Why, it?s a pet simulation game. Don?t let that fool you, though, because there is some real complexity going on under the hood of the game.
In Nintendogs, you can pick from more than 15 of the top dog breeds, including Labs, Chihuahuas, and beagles. Then, you can train your dog using the touch screen and microphone to do any number of things. There are over 100 items in Nintendogs that allow you to interact with your pet, including toys like tennis balls and Frisbees, and even clothes to put on your dog, such as the Mario hat. With built-in voice recognition, you can train your dog to do tricks that he or she will execute based on your own personalized voice commands.
If you are tired of training your dog, you can also walk around town to meet other dogs in the neighborhood or even interact with other players? dogs wirelessly. If you put your DS to sleep while you have the game on, and another person comes near with their DS and Nintendogs, the DS will bark, and your dog can play with the passerby?s dog. There are also a number of obedience and agility trials that you can put your pup through when he or she is ready. Using the cash earned from these competitions, you can buy more dogs to play with, and to keep your first pup company.
Nintendogs also reaches out to those who aren?t exactly common targets for videogames. People who aren?t into the normal style of gameplay can still reach out and embrace Nintendogs, because it doesn?t follow the path of a normal game. This is just another example of how the Nintendo DS can bring new types of players into the videogame industry, and help it to grow beyond what it is today. For those of you who want this game for yourself, the expected release date is August 22 of this year.
Electroplankton
Another game that is more like a simulation is Electroplankton. Instead of being a physical simulation, Electroplankton focuses on simulating music and art. Using a very interactive system, players can rub, poke and draw using their touch screen as sort of a musical canvas, creating wildly different sounds and visuals. Each of the 10 different Electroplankton has its own distinct sound, ranging from a haunting melody to up tempo beats, and even one that you can record your own sounds and play them back.
With a very unique type of gameplay and style, Electroplankton blurs the line of what can be done on a system. Each time you play, you will make something interesting and unique, allowing for tons of replay value. Of course, this type of game is not for everyone, but because of it?s ease of use, it is a game that anyone can reach out and play.
Kirby: Canvas Curse
One of the games to rely more heavily on the DS?s touchscreen is Kirby: Canvas Curse. In Canvas Curse, you use the stylus to essentially do everything, from drawing Kirby, to making him move. In the game, Kirby has been turned into a ball, so the only way that you can get to the end of each stage is by drawing rainbow colored paths which guide Kirby on his way to the exit. Of course, there are several obstacles along the way, including your typical Kirby fare of bottomless spits, spikes, and various enemies.
But there is more to the game than just drawing paths for Kirby. There are a few things that you can draw that allows Kirby to do different things. Drawing a loop allows Kirby to accelerate on the track, and you can also draw walls to block projectiles and lasers fired at Kirby. If you draw a ramp, Kirby can jump over obstacles in his way.
Like all Kirby games, you can copy the enemies? abilities by swallowing them. If you tap enemies in Canvas Curse with the stylus, they are temporarily immobilized, and then you can tap Kirby to make him dash into these enemies.
The top screen on Canvas Curse is used to show various stats, such as how much ?paint? you have left to draw lines. This, of course, means that you must be conservative with how much you draw, so that you don?t run out and put Kirby in a tight spot. There is also a map displayed on the top screen, showing you what is coming up ahead so that you can prepare.
Overall, I think Kirby: Canvas Curse has the potential to be a really neat game, very similar to Yoshi Touch and Go. Canvas Curse is set for release on the 13th of June for the Nintendo DS. |
