Topic: Nintendo Breeding Electroplankton for DS

[StrikerObi]

Nintendo's new game is barely a game.

GameSpot is reporting that Tokyo retailers are getting the buzz on Nintendo's latest DS title. It's called "Electroplankton" and has quite an out there concept.

The game, which will be released April 7 for a price of 4,800 Yen ($45), is a hardly a game at all. Electroplankton is more accurately described as a digital jukebox. Created by Japanese multimedia artist Toshio Iwai, the "game" shows soothing graphics on the Nintendo DS' dual screens, and plays music to accompany the visual display. There are ten different "digital planktons" in the game that react to the player touching the screen and speaking into the microphone. These plankton will respond to players with their own movements and noises. Electroplankton will also record noises picked up by the microphone and mix them back into the music. Also, an "audience mode" has the game create it's own original music

A complete song list is not available, but it is known that the game will feature several classic Famicom tunes, including some from Super Mario Bros. The game's creator also created a music game on the Famicom titled Otocky, so songs from that game are likely suspects to show up in Electroplankton.

Is this all worth almost $50? Probably not, except that Nintendo is including a pair of headphones with the title, to take full advantage of Electroplankton's unique premise.

Update: Nintendo already has a website up and running for this title. The site features videos of the game itself, as well as video of people playing it and their reactions. In addition to these videos, the site has what appear to be bios for the different plankton. There are also a couple wallpapers for download. The site also confirms that the song from Super Mario Bros included is the invincibility theme.

[Hostile Creation]

Holy crap.  I don't know if it's worth that much, but this sounds like nothing short of freaking awesome.  I can't wait to see what it has to offer, it could be really cool.
Jeez, I'd never thought I'd be excited about something like this

[Nephilim]

sounds cool
be funny thu
Put speedcore on, 500bpm.....leave it looping for 6hours
then listen to the speedcore version of the mario tune later on

[Bill Aurion]

This will never leave Japan... ;_;

[Thrakkerzog]

It reminds me of the "demo scene" from the early 90's, but better.  

[vudu]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't games more expensive in Japan than they are in the US?  What's the average price for a new DS game in Japan?  I'm wondering if this is retailing for more than a "normal" game.

[couchmonkey]

Mmm, looks a little short-lived to me.  It seems like a fun thing to play with, but if I'm reading it correctly there are basically 10 pre-set movies that you can modify by playing with the stylus.  Neat, but not a full product, in my opinion.  Now, if each Electroplankton worked with multiple songs, and maybe you could even download and save new songs through Nintendo's online service...that would be very cool!

[MaleficentOgre]

that website is still blowing my mind

[bubicus]

If only it had connectivity with Jeff Minter's canceled "Unity" project...   Would've been psychadeleriffic!

[Savior]

Sounds like Seaman from the Dreamcast

[Infernal Monkey]

Quote
Originally posted by: Bill Aurion
This will never leave Japan... ;_;

Probably, even though the tired old 'it won't sell anywhere else, only Japan can understand it!!11' crap can't apply with DS.

[Bloodworth]

Quote
Sounds like Seaman from the Dreamcast

Either you
A: Didn't play Seaman
or
B: Didn't check out the Electroplankton site at all

[Caustic Saint]

Quote
Originally posted by: kingvudu
Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't games more expensive in Japan than they are in the US?  What's the average price for a new DS game in Japan?  I'm wondering if this is retailing for more than a "normal" game.

That's the MSRP of most DS games here. Few shops sell them for that much, though. The shop I buy a lot of stuff from (Bic Camera) has most new DS titles at about 4,300, and if you have a loyalty card you can get 10% of the purchase price in store credit, which makes the price (effectively) 3,870 - which isn't so bad.

[kennyb27]

Did ya'll see the first wallpaper on the website.  It's sweet.  That is my new background.

[GoldenPhoenix]

Ah Seaman was a great game, too bad I will never see a sequel

[couchmonkey]

On a second read, it looks like maybe there are more songs than planktons, so presumably you can mix and match them.  In which case, I'm a little more excited.  I'll check it out if it ever gets over here.