Topic: Nintendo Announces Online-Enabled Tetris DS

[Jonnyboy117]

This new version of Tetris includes six modes based on Mario, Zelda, Metroid, and other Nintendo series, as well as touch screen controls and Wi-Fi multiplayer.

Update: PGC has confirmed with Nintendo that Tetris DS is an internally developed title, though we don't have details of which internal studio is responsible for the game.    

Touch-Controlled, Wi-Fi-Ready Tetris DS Falls into Place on March 20    

The long blue bar. The yellow block. And those darn zigzag things whose   images stay on your brain.  These familiar Tetris shapes started a generation   of video game fans.  Now Nintendo is putting a new spin on the classic with   Tetris(R) DS, available March 20 exclusively for Nintendo DS(TM), which   incorporates the use of Nintendo(R) Wi-Fi Connection, Nintendo's wireless   gaming service.    

    Hard-core and casual gamers alike became obsessed with the original.   Tetris DS builds on that emotional attachment by combining the original game   with new types of game play that could only be possible on Nintendo DS.    

    Each of the six modes of play features a theme based on a classic   Nintendo game, such as Super Mario Bros.(R), The Legend of Zelda(R) or   Metroid(R).  The traditional Tetriminos (falling blocks) and line-clearing   strategy remain the staples of the game, but the touch screen adds a new   element of interactivity.    

    Some modes give players special Tetris puzzles to solve.  Others feature   head-to-head action between two players, or massive wireless battles between   10 DS users, even if only one player has a game card.  Players also can log   onto Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection to compete in two- or four-player battles.    Tetris DS even includes a point-based rating system based on players' battle   results.  Opponents can see one another's ratings, which indicate their skill   levels.    

    Every gamer, whether competitive or casual, will find a way to reconnect   with one of the most popular puzzle games in history.

[Pale]

Queue all the people bitching about Nintendo milking their franchises...

I think its awesome, and it could mean a whole new sector of DS owners...  The same group that bought the brick gameboys to play only tetris.

[Mario]

Whoa... new killer app out of nowhere.

[Pryopizm]

I like it.  This excites me.

[UncleBob]

Damn you Nintendo...  I need to stop buying games!

I still need to finish Kirby(DS), Mario Kart (DS), Metroid Prime Pinball (DS), Polarium (DS), Geist (GCN), Metroid Prime 2 (GCN), Pokémon XD (GCN), Mario Tennis (GBA), Wario Ware Twisted (GBA) and DK:King of Swing (GBA)....  And I can't stop playing Animal Crossing Wild World long enough to play *ANY* of these games!

Then there's Odama and Twilight Princess coming out...  and now this?  Damnit.

[Jonnyboy117]

Handheld Tetris
Franchise Nostalgia
Online Multiplayer

Insanely good decision by Nintendo, as long as one of the six modes is normal Tetris.

[optimisticlimbo]

I agree with UncleBob, too many great games coming out and I as well can't stop playing Wild World long enough to play other games.  But still, I EAGERLY await Tetris with it's online goodness.

[WindyMan]

The only thing touch screen control will be good for in this game is to quick-select the person you want to attack in multiplayer games.  If it' required to be used for anything else, I'm going to hate Nintendo for it.

But hey, with the stuff they're already promising, this one can't miss.

[Strell]

Wayne the Brain> YES, YES, OH GOD YES

[Ian Sane]

It's about time Nintendo got to work on Tetris again.  They're really the best at it and there's going to be a million Tetris games anyway so they might as well get someone who knows what they're doing working on them.

I hope though that "normal" Tetris is included and can be played without the touchscreen.  I'm pretty annoyed when the unique DS features are blatantly shoehorned into a game that doesn't need them.

[Nosferat2]

Killer app?? umm doubt it.

Sounds good anyway, i just hope %ucking nintendo keeps Metroid out the game. I care less if the whore out mario or link, but please save Samus from the milking, raping and whoring of Nintendo.

[KDR_11k]

Queue all the people bitching about Nintendo milking their franchises...

Tetris isn't Nintendo's franchise, they have to license it like everyone else.

[Pale]

I realize that, I was pointing to the fact that mario, zelda, metroid, etc. were being put into it.

Baseball isn't Nintendo's franchise either.  Neither is soccer, or tennis.

[Arbok]

Tetris, tons of modes, Wi-fi = Instant purchase.

I really can't wait for this title.

[Hostile Creation]

"Sounds good anyway, i just hope %ucking nintendo keeps Metroid out the game. I care less if the whore out mario or link, but please save Samus from the milking, raping and whoring of Nintendo."

Give up all hope, whiner.  The release specifically says that a Metroid mode is in it.

[couchmonkey]

To me, this isn't such a bad example of franchise milking since Nintendo is using characters from all of it's franchises to spruce up a straightforward puzzle title.

The Mario sports and Mario Party games are a more appropriate example of franchise milking because they slap Mario in the game title, and throw in the Mario cast where a brand-new cast could have been just as good.  Then they put out new games in the line every single year.

If they called it Mario Tetris and replaced the blocks with pictures of Mario characters, then I'd be complaining.

[Pale]

Haha, they haven't released a title yet.

Gotta love the convenient re-definition of franchise milking.

I can't wait for the Rev version of Super Smash Tetris!

[Ian Sane]

"To me, this isn't such a bad example of franchise milking since Nintendo is using characters from all of it's franchises to spruce up a straightforward puzzle title."

I somewhat agree in that this doesn't feel as much like milking though I think it's because it's a crossover.  People like Tetris and people like the Nintendo franchises so combining them creates somewhat of a "dream" scenario.  I didn't have any problem with DDR Mario either.  It seemed like a good fit.  There was no DDR game on the Cube so we finally got one and at the same time there's a dream scenario of combining the two franchises.  Super Mario RPG again is the same situation.  Nintendo and Square working together made it a dream game.

Without the dream situation however spinoffs seem forced and uninteresting.  So the "milking" feeling is justified.  I think the big difference is whether or not people really are asking for it.  No one really cares if Nintendo makes any Mario sports games or Mario Party games.  They might buy it but when people think of games they wish would get made Mario Party 25 or Mario High Diving doesn't make the list.

Think of it like a comic book special.  A Spider-Man mini-series or spin-off isn't that interesting because there's already a regular series.  But a Spider-man vs. Superman crossover is interesting.

[vudu]

Quote
Originally posted by: Jonnyboy117
Insanely good decision by Nintendo, as long as one of the six modes is normal Tetris.

I hope one of the five remaining modes it Tetrisphere.

Quote
Originally posted by: WindyMan
The only thing touch screen control will be good for in this game is to quick-select the person you want to attack in multiplayer games.  If it' required to be used for anything else, I'm going to hate Nintendo for it.

Not true, see above.

[Pale]

Quote
Originally posted by: Ian Sane
"To me, this isn't such a bad example of franchise milking since Nintendo is using characters from all of it's franchises to spruce up a straightforward puzzle title."

I somewhat agree in that this doesn't feel as much like milking though I think it's because it's a crossover.  People like Tetris and people like the Nintendo franchises so combining them creates somewhat of a "dream" scenario.  I didn't have any problem with DDR Mario either.  It seemed like a good fit.  There was no DDR game on the Cube so we finally got one and at the same time there's a dream scenario of combining the two franchises.  Super Mario RPG again is the same situation.  Nintendo and Square working together made it a dream game.

Without the dream situation however spinoffs seem forced and uninteresting.  So the "milking" feeling is justified.  I think the big difference is whether or not people really are asking for it.  No one really cares if Nintendo makes any Mario sports games or Mario Party games.  They might buy it but when people think of games they wish would get made Mario Party 25 or Mario High Diving doesn't make the list.

Think of it like a comic book special.  A Spider-Man mini-series or spin-off isn't that interesting because there's already a regular series.  But a Spider-man vs. Superman crossover is interesting.

Well then why are Mario Sports titles bad?  They seem like a good crossover to me.  You can't pick and choose which ones are and aren't milking a franchise based on which games you like personally.  Because you like the idea of Mario DDR or Mario RPG Nintendo will continue to make the Mario Party games.  People have different tastes.  

[mantidor]

Quote
Originally posted by: Hostile Creation
"Sounds good anyway, i just hope %ucking nintendo keeps Metroid out the game. I care less if the whore out mario or link, but please save Samus from the milking, raping and whoring of Nintendo."

Give up all hope, whiner.  The release specifically says that a Metroid mode is in it.

Im glad, Metroid needs more exposure, nothing annoys me more than the question "Samus who?"

[Jensen]

You could put the other player's games on the bottom screen, and use the touch screen for special attacks.  You could  get a power-up that lets you remove blocks from opponents by touching them.  Or maybe a power-up that puts a shadow over an area of the screen.  Maybe it will let you rotate another players display by spinning it on the touch screen.

[Ian Sane]

"Well then why are Mario Sports titles bad? They seem like a good crossover to me."

It's not a crossover.  There's nothing exceptional about their existence.  In my previous examples there was Nintendo + Tetris, Mario + DDR, and Nintendo + Square.  A Mario sports game isn't exceptional at all.  Nintendo can bang one out at anytime.

[Pale]

Firstly, are these real screens?



Secondly,
In your 3 examples Ian, the second two require cooperation from another company, so I guess I can see how they are "different" from sports games, but Nintendo and Tetris doesn't.

Also, there are many people in this world who think there is something exceptional about the existance of a sport.  

[Bill Aurion]

They are on Ninty's press site, so yes, they are very real...The game looks and sounds fantastic, but I now hate Nintendo for making me buy so many awesome games... >=|