Nintendo's Interactive Novel Puts Players in the Middle of a Mystery

Femme Fatales and Shady Bellboys Bring This 'Video Game Book' to Life

REDMOND, Wash., Jan. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- The date is Dec. 28, 1979. Disgraced

New York detective Kyle Hyde checks into the seedy Hotel Dusk in Los Angeles

and suddenly finds himself embroiled in a 30-year-old murder mystery. This

is the story of Hotel Dusk: Room 215™, available exclusively for the

portable Nintendo DS™ on Jan. 24. The dual screens of a player's

Nintendo DS display stylized sketch animation evoking a comic-book-like film

noir. Conversations with more than a dozen characters help players piece

together different story elements as the mystery deepens. Players decide

where the story goes next by weighing their options and tapping their

decision on the touch screen using the stylus.

"Hotel Dusk: Room 215 could be considered a new genre for both video games

and storytelling," explains George Harrison, Nintendo of America's senior

vice president of marketing and corporate communications. "Just as audio

books brought the printed word to a new medium, so does this new 'video game

book.'"

Hotel Dusk: Room 215 features deep characters, grown-up themes and an

engrossing plot. It has more in common with a gritty crime novel than a

video game, and appeals to mystery lovers and video game fans alike. As the

plot develops, players must make choices before they begin each

conversation, like deciding whether to strong-arm a subject or play it cool.

Players hold the portable Nintendo DS system sideways like a book, and the

touch-screen controls make it easy for newcomers to pick up and play, even

if they have never played a video game before. Nintendo's aim is to expand

the world of video games to new audiences through creative new interfaces.

Hotel Dusk: Room 215 is available on Jan. 24, and is Rated T for Teen. For

more information about the mystery, visit HotelDusk.com.