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A DS In Every Pot
At last year's GDC Nintendo President Iwata made the claim that the company was reaching out to everyone, in an attempt to expand the gaming market. They were planning to appeal to hardcore gamers, folks who used to play games, and folks who have never played a game in their lives. At the time, it sounded like a tag line. Today, I have impressions from three titles which suggest they've got what it takes to make us all into gamers. Hardcore players can sink their teeth into Metroid Prime Hunters, and have one of the most intuitive FPS experiences ever to come to a console. Folks looking for some nostalgia can enjoy Tetris DS, blockstacking like it's 1985. Even your grandmother can try Brain Age, proving to her bridge club that even though her license says she's 80 she's got the brain of a 20 year old. Read on for my impressions of three titles that give powerful evidence to support Iwata's grand claim.
What results from this fusion of simple control and Metroid trappings is nothing less than a grown-up shooter on a very small console. Single-player mode has sort of 'mini-Metroids' scattered around a small part of the galaxy. You head into an area, explore, fight a boss, and move on. It's not much compared to some of Samus' other epic adventures, but it is a good way to learn the controls. Despite the size of the single-player missions, they also manage to fit in some nice puzzling.
If you're wifi connected, you can get your ass handed to you by the thousands of people waiting to personally destroy you online. Just like with Mario Kart, the system just works, resulting in a lightning fast asshanding that will leave you wondering why you opened the DS's lid in the first place. There are numerous maps to play on, and many other bounty hunter personas available to change things up from the normal Metroid experience. Online play is wicked fast, with smooth framerates aiding in the sense of speed and danger.
Folks who dislike FPSes will not like this game, and even folks who enjoy the Metroid Prime titles on the GameCube may be turned off by the game's unrelenting speed. Quake 3 really is the best PC comparison I can draw, and being fragged moments after you've spawned is not out of the question. PC gamers who have avoided console shooters may actually be the real winners here, as you're going to find a lot to love in the 'touchpad look' system they've come up with.
I see this title as not only a great game in the here and now, but a preview of what's going to be possible in the DS's future. The control scheme and graphics (which simply should not be possible on a Nintendo handheld) speak of far-off games that will keep the hardcore coming back again and again to Nintendo's twoscreened juggernaut.
The vivid displays on the DS play gracious host to the new game. Your first impressions of Tetris DS will be of crisp imagery and bright sound. The game manages not only to be a small shrine to the blockstacker itself, but almost every classic Nintendo title. The Mario theme accompanies the Standard mode, while a Metroid background scrolls past in Catch mode. The only drawback to this is that, if classic Nintendo isn't your cup of tea, the music is going to get grating sooner rather than later.
The sheer number of modes can be intimidating at first. Besides the original game (playable both by yourself or vs. other people wirelessly), there is Catch (a strange mode that has you creating four-squares while flying through a Metroid level), Push (a competitive classic Tetris mode), Mission (which has you completing specific objectives), Puzzle (which has you complete a screen with specific pieces), and Touch. Touch is the only mode that takes advantage of the touch-screen, and requires you to move block around in a tower of Tetris pieces. You break down the foundation of the tower, eventually freeing the trapped balloons at the top of the heap. Touch and Push are very fresh experiences, requiring you to use Tetris thinking in lateral ways. Catch is kinda funky, and I didn't get as much out of it.
Even if you're playing the classic game on your cell phone every day, this game is well worth experiencing on the DS. Like all Wifi-enabled DS games, it's seamless to fall into an online match, and the polish level displayed here is going to please every puzzler you know. Nintendo hit it right on the money with this one: Not too much newness, just enough to keep you interested. The only real complaint I have is the title's price. Thirty dollars for the cart is enough to ensure that not everyone that gets a DS will end up with this in their library. Which is a shame; The ubiquitous presence of Tetris for the original GameBoy was one of the pivotal moments in classic gaming. (Or so says my mom.)
All of these simple games are intended to be completed on a daily basis. You do one or two each day to 'Train Your Brain', and after finishing up the game assigns you a 'brain age'. The younger the better, with 20 being as low as you can go. The amusement factor of the game doesn't sound very high, but the presentation sells it with gusto. The floating head of Dr. Kawashima (the man whose research the game is based on) is a very personable character, turning the DS sideways makes for a different feel to the game, and the cheerful attitude of the interface is hard to ignore.
I have some minor complaints with the title, but they don't detract at all from the enjoyment of the title. Specifically, the handwriting recognition can get a little confused at times. Even a few extra seconds writing out a '9' will seem like forever when you're on the clock. Similarly, I found the voice recognition would occasionally spaz out. I particularly had trouble getting the game to understand me when I said the word 'blue'. Be sure to enunciate your words so that the game understands you.
Those minor quibbles aside, the package is a great, simple, time-waster. For folks not used to playing games this is the perfect setup. Brain Age offers a series of discrete, approachable tasks that only have to be completed once or twice to feel that you've accomplished something. If you play daily, you only have to invest about 10 minutes to get your stamp from the Doctor. If you want to play more, for American audiences a Sudoku game was added. I don't play myself, but I'm told by accomplished players that it's a challenging set of puzzles. They're also convenient, allowing you to write down your guesses on the side of a box before committing yourself to an answer.
While Tetris and Metroid are great games, I'm most impressed by the reaction I've seen from non-gamers sitting down to Brain Age for the first time. There's a smile they get, and a light in their eye. When I talk to them about it, there's an understanding there about games and gaming that wasn't there before. That's the reason President Iwata gave away the title at his GDC Keynote; It's a subversive recruitment tool. You may not get your grandmother playing Unreal Tournament, but Brain Age can be a starter experience for an entire new multi-generational crop of gamers.
- Title: Metroid Prime Hunters
- Developer/Publisher: Nintendo
- System:DS
What results from this fusion of simple control and Metroid trappings is nothing less than a grown-up shooter on a very small console. Single-player mode has sort of 'mini-Metroids' scattered around a small part of the galaxy. You head into an area, explore, fight a boss, and move on. It's not much compared to some of Samus' other epic adventures, but it is a good way to learn the controls. Despite the size of the single-player missions, they also manage to fit in some nice puzzling.
If you're wifi connected, you can get your ass handed to you by the thousands of people waiting to personally destroy you online. Just like with Mario Kart, the system just works, resulting in a lightning fast asshanding that will leave you wondering why you opened the DS's lid in the first place. There are numerous maps to play on, and many other bounty hunter personas available to change things up from the normal Metroid experience. Online play is wicked fast, with smooth framerates aiding in the sense of speed and danger.
Folks who dislike FPSes will not like this game, and even folks who enjoy the Metroid Prime titles on the GameCube may be turned off by the game's unrelenting speed. Quake 3 really is the best PC comparison I can draw, and being fragged moments after you've spawned is not out of the question. PC gamers who have avoided console shooters may actually be the real winners here, as you're going to find a lot to love in the 'touchpad look' system they've come up with.
I see this title as not only a great game in the here and now, but a preview of what's going to be possible in the DS's future. The control scheme and graphics (which simply should not be possible on a Nintendo handheld) speak of far-off games that will keep the hardcore coming back again and again to Nintendo's twoscreened juggernaut.
- Title: Tetris DS
- Developer/Publisher: Nintendo
- System:DS
The vivid displays on the DS play gracious host to the new game. Your first impressions of Tetris DS will be of crisp imagery and bright sound. The game manages not only to be a small shrine to the blockstacker itself, but almost every classic Nintendo title. The Mario theme accompanies the Standard mode, while a Metroid background scrolls past in Catch mode. The only drawback to this is that, if classic Nintendo isn't your cup of tea, the music is going to get grating sooner rather than later.
The sheer number of modes can be intimidating at first. Besides the original game (playable both by yourself or vs. other people wirelessly), there is Catch (a strange mode that has you creating four-squares while flying through a Metroid level), Push (a competitive classic Tetris mode), Mission (which has you completing specific objectives), Puzzle (which has you complete a screen with specific pieces), and Touch. Touch is the only mode that takes advantage of the touch-screen, and requires you to move block around in a tower of Tetris pieces. You break down the foundation of the tower, eventually freeing the trapped balloons at the top of the heap. Touch and Push are very fresh experiences, requiring you to use Tetris thinking in lateral ways. Catch is kinda funky, and I didn't get as much out of it.
Even if you're playing the classic game on your cell phone every day, this game is well worth experiencing on the DS. Like all Wifi-enabled DS games, it's seamless to fall into an online match, and the polish level displayed here is going to please every puzzler you know. Nintendo hit it right on the money with this one: Not too much newness, just enough to keep you interested. The only real complaint I have is the title's price. Thirty dollars for the cart is enough to ensure that not everyone that gets a DS will end up with this in their library. Which is a shame; The ubiquitous presence of Tetris for the original GameBoy was one of the pivotal moments in classic gaming. (Or so says my mom.)
- Title: Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day
- Developer/Publisher: Nintendo
- System:DS
All of these simple games are intended to be completed on a daily basis. You do one or two each day to 'Train Your Brain', and after finishing up the game assigns you a 'brain age'. The younger the better, with 20 being as low as you can go. The amusement factor of the game doesn't sound very high, but the presentation sells it with gusto. The floating head of Dr. Kawashima (the man whose research the game is based on) is a very personable character, turning the DS sideways makes for a different feel to the game, and the cheerful attitude of the interface is hard to ignore.
I have some minor complaints with the title, but they don't detract at all from the enjoyment of the title. Specifically, the handwriting recognition can get a little confused at times. Even a few extra seconds writing out a '9' will seem like forever when you're on the clock. Similarly, I found the voice recognition would occasionally spaz out. I particularly had trouble getting the game to understand me when I said the word 'blue'. Be sure to enunciate your words so that the game understands you.
Those minor quibbles aside, the package is a great, simple, time-waster. For folks not used to playing games this is the perfect setup. Brain Age offers a series of discrete, approachable tasks that only have to be completed once or twice to feel that you've accomplished something. If you play daily, you only have to invest about 10 minutes to get your stamp from the Doctor. If you want to play more, for American audiences a Sudoku game was added. I don't play myself, but I'm told by accomplished players that it's a challenging set of puzzles. They're also convenient, allowing you to write down your guesses on the side of a box before committing yourself to an answer.
While Tetris and Metroid are great games, I'm most impressed by the reaction I've seen from non-gamers sitting down to Brain Age for the first time. There's a smile they get, and a light in their eye. When I talk to them about it, there's an understanding there about games and gaming that wasn't there before. That's the reason President Iwata gave away the title at his GDC Keynote; It's a subversive recruitment tool. You may not get your grandmother playing Unreal Tournament, but Brain Age can be a starter experience for an entire new multi-generational crop of gamers.
A DS tactical RPG, a la Final Fantasy Tactics.
Seriously, FFT:DS would be an incredibly good idea. A whole extra screen for data readouts? Touchscreen movement rather than awkward scrolling over terrain and through menus? All combined with the awesome portability of FFT:Advance? Sign me up!
[Disclaimer: I'm a Nintendo whore]
:) )
However, recently i haven't been playing as many games as I used to. I actually own Metroid Prime Hunters, Tetris DS, and Brain Age comes out today and I'm going to go pick it up tonight.
The thing with the DS is variety. And by variety, I don't mean 10 different kinds of FPSes. These are truly DIFFERENT games. It's not just these titles, things like Nintedogs (as mentioned in the summary) and Kirby's Canvas Curse that has brought me back to my handheld. They keep managing to release games that are actually interesting. The last few months, I'd saying my gaming has been split like so: 95% DS, 5% PC (CS, FarCry)
(I cancelled my WoW subscription, not because I don't love it, quite the opposite. I love it too much
Maybe I'm just getting old? Oh well. As long as I keep getting my variety of games, I'll be happy. Probably why I'm most excited about the Revolution, just like a lot of others seem to be. I can't wait.
The gaming industry might be in decline, but Nintendo is showing that it's more resilient than the gaming industry as a whole. (Past AND present!)
AirSpeak - http://itunes.com/apps/AirSpeak
Funny thing is, I got almost the exact opposite multiplayer impression from my time spent reviewing Metroid Prime: Hunters on the DS. It's really nothing like Quake 3 or Unreal at all. The difference? amount of health. It takes a lot of whittling to bring down a fully charged bounty hunter in this game. Also, the weapon affinities and alternate forms add layer upon layer to the strategy of your typical deathmatch. Check out my multiplayer play rating at The Game Chair for the full story.
only one everything
I just bought a DS this past weekend along with Castlevania and Advance Wars. I also wandered into a Best Buy and played a bunch of the free demos from their download center and have tried a few of my friend's games. I must say that so far, this is shaping up to be the best console purchase I've made, especially for the $200 total I spent on it with two games and a couple accessories :)
When I first got Tetris DS, I bought it on somewhat of a whim... I knew there wasn't really anything too special about it, it was still the original tetris... just made a little prettier.
But once I played it, first I was amazed by the controls. The speed of playing just couldn't happen the same way on the original game boy... the feel of the d-pad and buttons just feels right.
And once online gameplay was put into the equation, I was blown away. I've totally fallen in love with Tetris again, and I hadn't played it at all in probably 15 years. I forgot how simple, yet addictive, a game it is. I never realized how great multiplayer Tetris could be.
600 wins online later, I realize it's the best 34.99 I've spent in years...
Its like the developers were sitting around scratching their heads on how to use the touch screen and picked the worst control scheme imaginable. Is there some law that requires all DS games to use the touchscreen? Just because its there doesn't mean you have to use it, especially if you don't have good reason to.
:)
I don't know - the thing about using the touchscreen for aiming in Metroid is that it gives you a level of control on par with mouse-look on a PC FPS. That's not something you can attain with a normal console controller - certainly not a D-pad, but not even an analog thumbstick will reliably give you that level of control.
I think that is a damn good reason to use the touchscreen. If you don't want to use the touchscreen - I believe there is an option for that, too.
The only time touchscreen control has really bugged me is in Mario 64. The game was made for analog controls, so there are places where not using the touchscreen is a major handicap. But using the touchscreen is awkward because of the way they set it up - the "center" position of the control is not stable, but rather follows your stylus around the screen.
But, yes, there is a law that requires DS games to use either the touchscreen or the microphone for something. An inordinate number of DS games include play challenges which in some way involve blowing on something, scratching something, or operating a slingshot.
---GEC
I'm but the humble pupil, seeking to snatch the scratchbuilt pebble from the master's fully articulated hand
Don't listen to these haters, I think the reviews were spot-on. I've been trying to tell everyone that Hunters is basically Quake 3 on a handheld, and as a long-time Quaker I really love what Hunters has to offer. Finally, with the power of /. people can appreciate this game for what it is.
Hmm... I'm a 21-year-old woman, and I own a DS. Oddly enough, in my travels to and from work, I don't think I've ever seen anyone UNDER 20 carrying one, and plenty of guys that I've played Mario Kart with on the bus have got to be at least 30. Admittedly, I live in an area dominated by game companies (especially EA, which has a studio near my usual bus route that specializes in PSP/DS ports), so there are a lot of adult professionals around who are interested in games, but even so. For games that are supposedly "childish", there are a hell of a lot of adults playing them. Isn't it possible that some adults don't require excessive blood, gore and sex to enjoy a game? I mean, I know I can legally look at that kind of stuff, but that doesn't mean I want to all the time. It gets boring after a while, and when you can just walk into any adult video store and rent a porno flick, even the most elaborately-textured pixel boobs just aren't enough to hide the embarrassingly bad gameplay that so often goes with them.
Also... the whole games-are-for-kids thing doesn't hold true everywhere in the world. The DS in particular has made significant headway in the Japanese middle-aged woman market (thanks to games like Nintendogs), and really, Japan is where Nintendo makes a lot of its money. I've read about thousands and thousands of people from all walks of life lining up for at least a day to get a blue DS lite... and this was the week after the regular white DS lite launched. Sure, a few thousand people in Japan is still the minority, but that still beats the hell out of the XBox 360 launch.
Personally, I play Nintendo games because I find them fun. If I want something realistic, I play on my PC, but for a handheld I want something that's bright, colourful and entertaining. Realism doesn't work very well on any kind of handheld these days (yes, I know the PSP has better graphics, but they're not that good), so Nintendo's cutesy cartoony style works well. Realistic racing or fighting games don't work very well either -- you're too limited by the controls, and the game has to be severely simplified to fit in such a small amount of space. Nintendo just fills a different niche than the other platforms, and it does a damn good job of it.