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DS Games To Be Downloadable to the Wii
In a New York Times article generally discussing Nintendo's gangbuster success with the Wii and DS, Reggie Fils-Aimie reveals that in the future the DS will more tightly integrate with the console. Full games will be downloadable to the Wii platform, and then transferable via wireless to the handheld. "In Japan, the DS's functionality extends beyond its game-playing ability. There the device is used to give information during museum tours, and to download content from the Wii. Some of those features will eventually be introduced into the North American market as well. 'To aggressively drive DS business we need to provide other forms of entertainment to excite the consumer,' said Mr. Fils-Amie."
DS games are already downloadable on the PC.
the nytimes article has no direct quote of reggie about downloading full games from the wii. it is possible that it could be a misinterpretation on the nytimes part.
Sounds cool, considering current integration of the two devices is about zero, and they both have wireless capabilities. Actually, what I'd really really love to see is the ability to play and store Virtual Console titles on my DS.
it's cool to see such a small device able to pack so much punch. It seriously behooves me to understand why other companies can't get this right. I give credit to Nintendo not just because of their longevity but their total ability to think outside the box and give the public something worth oggling
some people are a "glass half empty" some are "glass half full" i'm a "there is something in the glass be happy" person
The integration between a PS3 and a PSP (both abilities available at launch and things that have been talked about coming around int he future) is what made me want to get a PS3...it has maybe acouple of good games for it, and getting a Blu-Ray player is kinda cool I suppose (never use it), the different things I can do with my PSP and my PS3 was enough of a selling point for me.
But I digress. This would certainly be awesome, as there are plenty of possibilities. As someone has already mentioned, the ability to either play or even store and play VC titles on a DS would be awesome. It sounds silly, but Nintendo definately needs to get DVD playback on the Wii going (I heard something about them planning on doing this for North America, although I don't know any details.) DVD playback and first-party rechargable batteries are what Nintendo should (in my opinion, of course) focus on getting out there next.
Oh and Tetris on the VC. I mean, Bubble Bobble didn't even make it until a couple days ago, that was a bad enough travesty...but not having Tetris in any way, shape, or form on the VC is downright blasphemy.
Living With a Nerd
from tfa "(The DS does not play movies.) "
Maybe not ones in a $25 proprietary format, but with a decent memory card it will. The Games'N'Music card you can pick up in wal-mart for $20 comes with some video samples and conversion software (and I know there's lots of other stuff out there). Saying the DS won't play movies is silly. It just doesn't have it's own media format specifically for movies.
They need to add a Wii app that lets users vote on priorities for VC game porting. I want Blaster Master, dammit.
Bought my first one this Christmas - and promptly went out to buy a second. I am impressed by some of the software to utilize the stylus. I like handwriting and speech recognition, the split displays works out better than I had thought, wireless is seamless. It wouldn't take much to make the DS the uber-pda. I would like to see some accelerometers added for additional control mechanisms in games, and some traditional wi-fi surfing.
With Nintendo's online services finally getting off of the ground, I'd like to see more games take advantage of local play between multiple consoles. Every one of the darn things have built-in wireless, so why should console LAN play be so unheard of with them? Just so long as I don't have to have a disc for every system, it'll be alright. The DS has quite a few games that provide smaller clients for temporary multiplayer. I remember when PC games used to have Spawn Installs even, now I have to break the law if I want to play Half-Life on my network without buying three different copies!
"He who can destroy a thing, controls a thing." --Paul Atreides, Dune
I remember reading about plans for said integration when the Wii was still being called the Revolution.
Then again, maybe they were talking about downloading DS demos from the Wii to the DS, as opposed to full games.
With the first link, the chain is forged.
That's one of the things I love about the PS3-- it works with standard UPnP servers, like Media Tomb. I like having all my music and movies on a single server, accessible from any place in the house, from any computer (including the PS3). I can even get them to my PSP via the remoting of the PS3 to the PSP, which is great for playing music remotely. (It'd be even better if the PSP could work as a UPnP client as well.)
But, I disagree with the Wii and DVDs. I currently have two systems connected to the TV in the living room: a PS2, and a Wii. The PS2 is used exclusively as a DVD player. I'd ditch it in a heartbeat if the Wii played DVDs. Then there'd be one device connected to the TV. Yes, I'd also like to see a UPnP client, just like the PS3. But a DVD player seems so... fundamental.
Microsoft is to software what Budweiser is to beer.
I promised someone a DS for Christmas, but when I went out to buy it on the preceeding Saturaday (the 22nd), every place I went was sold out (Gamestop, Toys-R-Us, Target, Walmart). I did eventually find a place that had five or six left in stock, but it took a bit of driving to get it.
Nothing for 6-digit uids?
So THAT'S why they started cracking down on mod chips. I know about 2 dozen people with DS mod chips who turned their DS's into a PDA/VOIP Phone/Media player/etc. It's absurd that they spend money in one country developing a product, then spend money in another country stopping the equivalent product from hitting the market. But now it makes sense -- they probably fear that by opening this line of communication between the Wii and the DS will make it easier for the mod chip makers to become mass pirates. If download ability is there, it suddenly becomes much simpler to download/upload games without requiring leet hacker skills.
I live with several people, and all but one of us enjoy Animal Crossing, which got me thinking as to how I would like to see the next version of that work.
I loved the Gamecube version of AC, but having to share the console when someone else wanted to play caused problems, such as having to rollback the time so you could all get certain items or witness specific events.
The DS provided the connection to have two people in town at the same time, or more, and still allow for independent activity.
I'd like to see a Wii/DS connection utilized much the way Zelda: Four Swords worked with the Gamecube and Gameboy Advance: Have a central screen that is shared by all players (via the Wii) but have indpendent action dictated by the DS serving as a wireless controller. That way, when one player steps inside someone's home, everyone else can continue on with whatever they wanted to do.
Unfortunately, I'm probably wrong and we'll end up using a WiiMote for the controller and having to use our Miis. (I'd miss the weird looking puppet people.)
Those who believe the Internet is private,
find their privates are on the Internet.
Does this mean they are going to come out with some addon storage because the internal storage for the Wii is already lacking just from saved games and retro game downloads? Couple that with not being able to load games from the SD cards and I see huge issues with squeezing my DS games in there.
This is all fine and dandy but until Nintendo fixes how the VC DRM works I won't be participating. I have a Wii but I refuse to buy any VC content because Nintendo insists on locking the downloads to the machine and not the user. Currently the only way you can transfer VC games/applications between Wiis is if you send it in for repair (note you can't use Nintendos express replacement option either, you have to physically send it in and wait for them to return a repaired or fixed version). In other words, if my Wii is stolen/lost/destroyed I have no way of recovering any of the games or apps I have bought and downloaded from Nintendo. I can't re-download them or restore them from an SD card. All the Wii points I've spent will be lost. Unfortunately I didn't realize this until I got the machine. I was really looking forward to playing the VC but when I found out how it really works I basically had to give up on it. Oh well, live and learn. At least Mario Galaxy and Metroid are fun.
My "DVD Player" is my Mac mini. It's remote has exactly six buttons -- play/pause, forward, reverse, up, down, and menu. With these I can play, stop, forward and reverse through the content, select and click menu items, and control the volume. Pretty much all I need.
:-)!
Maybe I'm not getting the most out of the DVDs I watch (I usually just want to see the movie/episode and the extras) but I think a 100-button remoter would really be overkill. Heck, the 20-30 button remote that came with my TV is hardly ever used and I can't imagine trying to keep straight the functions controlled by all those buttons with obscure labels. Guess I'm of the "less is more" crowd
Interested in a Flash-based MAME front end? Visit mame.danzbb.com
'LAN gaming' makes sense with handhelds and computer systems, which have displays and interfaces designed with per-person monitors. But when your targeted output device is a TV (which tends to be shared and larger), things get tricky. For many Wii games, the possibility of smaller dedicated displays is worked against by the style of the controller (with some exceptions, the general point of the Wii is to wave the controller around like a madman with plenty of space between the player, other players, and the screen).
Sure, you could have console LAN parties with more conventional joystick interaction, but Wii isn't focused on that. For other consoles, LAN party is fine but everyone has to bring their own copy. It doesn't buy anything special networking wise, just socially, since the LAN party in that case is just a special case of online play where everyone happens to access from the same place.
The console experience has been focused on shared displays for all gamers, and if you want to play a first-person shooter or something similar where a dedicated screen is essentially mandatory, you're still better off with a PC (which also has a much better interface than a joystick for shooters and RTS, though the Wii gets closer than other consoles to having a decent interface).
XML is like violence. If it doesn't solve the problem, use more.
It's OK (a little like Safari on the iPhone--a browser was never intended to share scree real estate with a virtual keyboard) but the Flash player isn't the latest and greatest and there doesn't seem to be a way to get a newer version on there. My wife and I were going to watch the Rose parade on our TV (we don't have cable, the TV is connected to the Wii and a Mac Mini which serves as our DVD player) but when we went to the KTLA site, the streaming video wasn't supported. So I started looking around (based on my incorrect assumption the KTLA was streaming using Flash) and some Flash games played while others didn't. YouTube seemed to work OK.
Anyway, it would be cool if there was a separate "channel" for video, I think. But the browser's Flash support doesn't seem to be 100%.
Interested in a Flash-based MAME front end? Visit mame.danzbb.com
I'm pretty sure there is a back up option under the data settings to back up VC games to SD. I think of done it before, but I may be wrong. so there is a way to back up games, but like you said you cant then load them onto a new machine if yours is broken/lost etc.
Geometry Wars on the Wii features an option for you to let DS users download the DS version of the game for them to play. It is lacking the co-op mode though which is featured in the off the shelf version of the DS title (this is also needed to unlock a bonus level on the Wii version). The best thing is that it made me and my kids aware of the quality of the DS title, so now it's on the list of games to pick up.
What on earth is the point of making a backup, if DRM subsequently prevents you from restoring it?
Do you refuse to buy normal games because if they are stolen/lost/destroyed you are screwed?
The VC just buys convenience. Sure, perhaps it could be a bit more convenient but it's not that bad.
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With normal games, you can put them away for safekeeping. If a power surge blows up your console, your game discs won't be affected.
With VC games, however, their fate is tied to the fate of your console. And unlike other digital purchases, you can't get around that by making a backup.
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When my kids take their DS to the MLB ballpark, they pay $5 and they get team info and live video on their DS while they're in their seat. They can also order pricey food and stuff with the DS that is then delivered right to their seat, as I unfortunately found out :(.
Its nice to know that Sony got it right by tying downloads to the user account, and even letting you download the same item to multiple PS3/PSPs and have it active at the same time.
No idea how MS handles downloaded content. Can anyone out there shed some light?
Right: "Your backup is in this case. WARNNG: if you open it, it will explode."
-- http://frobnosticate.com
An 8 MiB expansion card comes with Nintendo DS Browser (powered by Opera), which is more than enough to run several games with their streamed soundtracks and/or FMVs stripped out. I imagine that should Nintendo start selling DSWare through Wii Shop Channel, Nintendo will start selling this expansion card separately. Or if the player remains within Wi-Fi range of a Wii console, the DS can SMB-mount[1] the channel and stream the game data at a slight cost in loading time.
In this case, would "SMB" mean "Server Message Block" or "Super Mario Bros."?
- Infinite spin (explained
- Spin triples (explained
- Exploitable randomizer (explained
People have even resorted to making fan games such as Heboris Unofficial Expansion and Lockjaw that let the user specify exactly how "broken" or not-broken he wants the game to act.I agree. However, most, if not all, of the VC games are easily playable via emulator on a PC. Personally, I'd have no problem buying them via VC, but they are charging way too much for them. $8 for super, $10 for n64? Seems overpriced for 10-15 year old games.
you can go to best buy or where ever and pay $39 or sumpin like that. It comes with software to convert, it's PC only, but whatever. The point is it's not that hard. stupid misinformation gets modded up these days on slashdot, i wonder if i can remember my password. well here's a link that gives a review:
http://www.gadgetspage.com/audio-video/games-n-music-for-the-nintendo-ds.html
I bought my copy In November from Amazon.
Problem is it is too slow; particularly for a browser known to be fast.
It is worse than the Wii version, which at least is tolerable.
I believe they're tied to your Nintendo account if you register at Nintendos website.
You're obviously right, but that doesn't mean we can't do better. Steam has pioneered an excellent business model that allows redownloading, with games tied to accounts and not computers. There's no reason the Wii can't do the same.
Dude,
You're playing a closed game on a closed platform. Jerky DRM is just the cherry on top.
If you really want to "vote with your dollar", commission an open game we call all enjoy. May I recommend something contra-ish?
You suck at analogies.
If I lose my PS2, I lose the console and possibly the game sitting inside it. If I lose my Wii, I lose all my games, too. Reasonable difference there. Hasn't stopped me using the Virtual Console, but should anything happen to mine, I'm gonna be right pissed about it.
Well this way you can sell your Wii + games downloaded legally. And if it gets destroyed you can send it in.
There are 2 angles on that...
I don't like both b/c of DRM.
Of course the extra convenience you have with storing your VC games on console (ie they are easily available just by turning it on) is also an added convenience for a thief!
I agree it could be better, digital goods allow the possibility for a merchant to do all kinds of good things. However I think the OP overstated how "bad" the situation is, the risk of losing a VC product isn't any more than any normal product and therefore isn't worth getting particularly upset about.
A more interesting question might be what happens when Nintendo release their follow up to the Wii. Will my VC titles be transferable then?
Boffoonery - downloadable Comedy Benefit for Bletchley Park