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Nintendo Announces Western DS Game Line-Up
Thanks to Nintendo's press site for a release listing the Nintendo DS dual-screen handheld titles currently in development for a Western release. Although sharing many games with a recently announced Japanese listing, it's explained: "Many of the industry's biggest software companies confirm that they will deliver names like Madden NFL, Viewtiful Joe, Rayman and SpongeBob SquarePants to the Nintendo DS", and other new/surprising DS titles include GoldenEye from EA, an Atari Classics pack from Atari, and a Western release of the previously mentioned Caduceus surgery game from Atlus.
On one hand, the first-gen games on a system don't usually stretch the hardware's limits, as the devs are still learning the system. On the other, collections like Atari Classics would be more suited for other consoles (unless these are some old multi-screen games, there's no good reason to dump them on the DS).
You're right, there do need to be more original ideas. I was disappointed that Nintendo didn't have any impressive and unique ideas for the second screen at E3. Maps, stats, inventories...we've all thought of those. Surely there must be more possible uses out there.
It seems to me that a lot of these games should probably be GBA games instead of DS games. The DS can play GBA games, but the GBA can't play DS games, so it doesn't make sense to release a DS game unless it actually makes use of some of the DS's new features. Granted, the features include the larger media and the extra buttons as well as the two screens and the touch screen, but some of these games don't sound like the sort of thing that need any of those features.
Of course, it could be that I'm too cynical and these developers all have great new ideas. Certainly, many of them do. Even some of the games that at first prompted me to type this could, on second thought, make good use of the DS. Atari Classics, for example, sounds like nothing special at first, but then I realized that the touch screen could be used to emulate the trackball from such arcade classics as Centipede.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that I really don't have faith that these companies will make the best possible use of the DS, which will ultimately be what determines whether the DS is a gimmick or a revolution. I'm hopeful, though.
The current battle seems to be that Nintendo is going for original gameplay (rayman in the lineup does not bode well for that that) and Sony is going for graphics. Who will win? Well depends. You see sony is free to add original intresting games to match the best of Nintendo but Nintendo will be unable to match the graphical splendor of Sony.
The ball is now firmly in Sony's hand. Nintendo is just doing what it has always done. Cheap low price crappy hardware but fun. Sony is/seems to be doing quality good pricey hardware. Can it add fun? Handhelds are not consoles. You need a game that can be played for a few minutes, then you transfer to the next public transport and play again. One of the worst gba games was a racing game whose saves consisted of a lengthy char sequence.
So will sony screw up like everyone else or will Nintendo finally be beaten and forced to use some modern tech and good design in their handhelds? Lets face it both GBA's were crap. The first had no light meaning it couldn't be played outside and the second doesn't have a headphone. Clear "duh" designs. They sold because they were fun and there was no real competition. With the PSP I think Nintendo might be in for a rude awakening. Just as nintendo was not ready for sony in the console market I think they may not be ready in the handheld market.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
You're confusing originality with... I'm not even sure there's a word for it, but something along the lines of "lack of franchises." Just because something sports the name of a franchise doesn't necissarily that it'll be old-hat, nor does it mean it won't have both new content and novel concepts. To whit, Super Mario 64 was completely off from the previous games in the franchise. Sure, it was still a platformer, but the way it played was so completely different. Difficulty could no longer come only from enemy placement, everything had to be more non-linear, and so on and so forth. So what you saw was a game that could have been old hat do a lot of crazy things to take advantage of the new system instead of simply trying to recreate previous incarnations.
So, if the only test you have for originality in a game is whether or not it is in a series, than yeah, sure, a lot of the list will upset you. I think that most of us, however, are going to wait and see what the developers DO with the new hardware using the franchise they've already built up. I, for one, am looking forward to what a touchpad can do for some of these franchises (maps and menus in castlevania, minigames in goemon, control in metroid, and whatever else they thing up), because I realize that innovation, while many times is running around in left field, is also taking what you have and making it new and exciting with new capabilities and ideas.
Exactly. What if in that football game you could draw your own plays using the touch screen and then the game would interpret them and run them out for you. Just because you've heard the name of the game doesn't mean it can't be innovative, as my parent comment pointed out.
Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
I find the lack of Metroid Prime: Hunters on that list disturbing.