Topic: DSi Retail Games to be Released This Fall?

[Flames_of_chaos]

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/blogArt.cfm?artid=19888

 

Earlier this year NWR reported that Nintendo is planning Nintendo DSi enhanced game cards. As of now, DSi exclusive games have been bound to the DSi Shop, though this may be changing in the fall.    

Currently, a rumor is circulating that various third party publishers will be releasing games that can only be played on the DSi this fall. These games differ from regular DS games in that they will take use of certain DSi exclusive features.    

In order to distinguish these games, they will be packaged in a white game case instead of a standard black DS game case. The game cases will also have a warning letting consumers know that these games can only be played on the DSi. The DSi game cards will also have a white plastic enclosure matching the exterior packaging.    

Presumably these games will take advantage of the DSi's stronger processors and increased RAM. It is currently unknown if the games will take advantage of the DSi cameras or SD card slot.

[Nick DiMola]

Very interesting. I can see Nintendo doing this to tie their products more closely together. The white branding is now distinctly Nintendo (in the game space, of course) so it only makes sense.

The DSi seems to be shaping up to be a successor to the DS rather than just another redesign.

[GoldenPhoenix]

Exciting stuff, I want to see what companies can do with the added power of the DSi.

[Flames_of_chaos]

The biggest DSi enhanced game (playable on both DS and DSi) is KORG DS-10 Plus where you can have double the tracks due to the DSi specifications, if you play it on a regular DS it will be like playing KORG DS-10.

The DSi has double the processor speed and four times the RAM. So there may be some exciting things to come out of this. DSi is truly the next GameBoy Color.

[UncleBob]

The biggest DSi enhanced game (playable on both DS and DSi) is KORG DS-10 Plus

No!  Ghostwire

[Mop it up]

Would the games really be different enough to warrant releasing them to such a limited audience? Unless a game uses the DSi camera then it seems pointless to make them DSi-only.

[UncleBob]

Processor with twice the speed and four times the RAM and the only thing you can think worth taking advantage of is the camera?
(not to mention the SD card which - I wonder - could be used for DLC).

As for "limited audience" - isn't the DSi selling pretty darn well?  Hasn't it outsold previous DS releases (in comparison to the time on the market)?

[Mop it up]

What does that equate to in real-world performance? All I can think of is that would allow for slightly better graphics. Unless the camera is to be used I can think of no type of game which would be possible only on the DSi and not the DS.

The DS Lite sold over 80 million worldwide and the DSi has sold over 6 million. So, yeah, if one were to create a DSi-only game, it'd be limited to 6 million potential customers instead of 80 million.

[UncleBob]

You know, there was a time when there was only 6 Million DS units out there and, what, a hundred gazillion GBAs?  Man, those people were fools for making DS games...

[Mop it up]

But the DS was the GBA's successor and the DSi is just a hardware revision like the SP or Lite.

[UncleBob]

I wasn't aware that the SP or the Lite actually increased the specifications of the previous hardware.

I would say the DSi is more akin to the Game Boy Color.  Which sold quite a bit.  And had it's own software.

[Mop it up]

That remains to be seen, I think. They certainly aren't pushing the DSi as any sort of successor, seeing as the only exclusive games for it are tiny ones on the download service, which are only exclusive to the DSi because of how they are distributed rather than because the DS couldn't handle them.

Even the Game Boy Color was a more significant hardware upgrade than the DSi is to the DS.

Seems like another case of Wii vs. GameCube. Any Wii game which doesn't use Wii controls, Miis, or online features is no different than a GameCube game. Any DSi game which doesn't use the camera or SD card slot is no different than a DS game.

So, yeah, I guess we'll see what it can do, but all I'm expecting is games with very slightly improved graphics which exist only to get people to buy the same system again.

[Caliban]

The DSi has double the processor speed and four times the RAM.

Wow. I didn't know this. Cool.

[that Baby guy]

I don't think the GBC was really pushed too much as a genuine system, was it?  I know it was my first GB system, but I don't even recall the kind of marketing it had.  I thought the Super GameBoy was promoted more than it was :/

Regardless, I'm happy with a DS Lite right now.  Don't need a DSi unless an awesome game comes out for it, or it's price drops dramatically.  As it stands, I believe the DS Lite is overpriced, with how old a piece of hardware it is.

[Ian Sane]

The DSi has double the processor speed and four times the RAM. So there may be some exciting things to come out of this. DSi is truly the next GameBoy Color.

I agree.  And because of this I'm not buying a DSi.  The GBC had a very short shelf life.  It came out in late 1998 and the GBA came out in early 2001.  The system's life was shorter than three years so it was clearly just a stopgap before Nintendo could get the "real" Gameboy successor ready.  Now the GBC had some amazing exclusive games but since the GBA was fully backwards compatible I never felt like I missed out by not having one.  Playing a game two years late is no big deal to me.  Nintendo's next portable will almost certainly be backwards compatible with the DS.  And if not, oh dang, I'll just buy a bargain bin used DSi.

Seems like another case of Wii vs. GameCube. Any Wii game which doesn't use Wii controls, Miis, or online features is no different than a GameCube game. Any DSi game which doesn't use the camera or SD card slot is no different than a DS game.

It does seem very similar.  If you rely on a new feature as the sole excuse for a system to exist then you look like a conman jackass when you make games that don't use it.  Imagine if the only really upgrade for the SNES was the controller.  Tons of classic SNES games that don't really use the shoulder buttons would have come across as glorified NES games.  But instead they had this huge increase in graphics and sound and all sorts of nifty Mode 7 effects that affected gameplay.  You couldn't say "this could be done on the NES".  And until recently, with the exception of the GBC, you couldn't say that about any Nintendo system.

The irony is that if the DSi isn't a stopgap and really is the DS successor than it's an even bigger rip-off than any stopgap would be.  This is a screwjob product.  They either screw us with a system with no shelf life that they know they're going to replace in like two years or they screw us with a laughably minor hardware upgrade that does not provide a significant enough advantage to justify buying a new system.

Are these obviously dirty tactics not going to catch up to Nintendo in time?  You can talk about all the profits they're making right now but I think they've been digging their own grave to do it.

[Stele]

I love my triforce DS Lite.  Until there's a DSi remotely as cool looking I will not get one. 

Just like I still have my NES style GBA SP. 

[GoldenPhoenix]

Yeah that DS, none of those games like Professor Layton, Chrono Trigger, and other 2D games could NEVER have been done on GBA!

[KDR_11k]

Professor Layton would suffer massively from being on the GBA, especially for puzzles that require answering in unusual ways (e.g. "which do you light first?"). I think many of the later Cvs use effects the GBA couldn't use to have stuff like Abadon's swarms.

[GoldenPhoenix]

Professor Layton would suffer massively from being on the GBA, especially for puzzles that require answering in unusual ways (e.g. "which do you light first?"). I think many of the later Cvs use effects the GBA couldn't use to have stuff like Abadon's swarms.

The Kirby games, Henry Hatsworth. I'm just saying that Ian's statement about a system having to do so much more then the previous one is ridiculous. Many of the best 2D games could be done on it (though with slightly scaled back visuals for the most part)

[vudu]

Kirby Canvas Curse could not be done on the GBA.  Neither could Henry Hatsworth--the ability to see the puzzle screen while playing on the action screen is too important.

[GoldenPhoenix]

Kirby Canvas Curse could not be done on the GBA.  Neither could Henry Hatsworth--the ability to see the puzzle screen while playing on the action screen is too important.

I don't recall even mentioning kirby canvas curse. You can't tell me the Kirby games in general released on DS couldn't be done on GBA. I know I'm forgetting some other 2D platformers as well (so many DS games it gets overwhelming).

[vudu]

You said the DS Kirby games could be done on GBA.  There are two Kirby games for DS.  Half of them couldn't be done on the GBA.  You, ma'am, were wrong.

[GoldenPhoenix]

You said the DS Kirby games could be done on GBA.  There are two Kirby games for DS.  Half of them couldn't be done on the GBA.  You, ma'am, were wrong.

Well I usually hesitate to consider Canvas Curse a true kirby game so SORRY about that. I'll point to Squeak Squad and Kirby Superstar Saga (Oh BURN, there are 3 Kirby games now 2!). My point is still you can have good games that don't really take advantage of the special features of DS, it doesn't necessarily make them inferior either. While I realize the CV games have touch features, they are pretty tacked on so I'd point to them as well.

[vudu]

PHOENIX WRIGHT COULDN'T BE DONE ON GBA

[Ian Sane]

The Kirby games, Henry Hatsworth. I'm just saying that Ian's statement about a system having to do so much more then the previous one is ridiculous. Many of the best 2D games could be done on it (though with slightly scaled back visuals for the most part)

Not literally EVERY game would need to meet this criteria.  For some of these game the reason to use the DS as the platform is entirely because that's the system that's current.

But the DS has multiple features that expand upon the GBA.  The touchscreen is there obviously and it has two screens and more buttons.  But there is also a very obvious upgrade to the specs.  The DS is capable of full 3D polygons which is a clear advantage over the GBA.  Any 3D game on the DS could not be done on the GBA.  Even if you stripped out the touchscreen (which I think is a silly gimmick anyway) the hardware upgrade alone would justify the existence of the DS.

If the Wii didn't have the remote it would be an outright INSULTING excuse of a successor to the Gamecube.  If the Gamecube was more successful Nintendo probably could have just made the remote an accessory for it and released largely the exact same games for it.  The Wii ____ series certainly could be done on the Cube hardware.  All the DSi really has over the DS is the camera (which is why I see it more like the GBC) and if portables were better able to handle accessories like a console does THAT could have been a DS accessory (and maybe still could have, using the GBA cartridge slot).

When you significantly up the specs of a machine you improve the preceeding console in all categories.  When you do like what Nintendo is doing it's like if Sega had made the Sega CD the Genesis successor, instead of just an add-on.  If the only excuse for why the enhancements were not done with an accessory is because the manufacturer decided not to, that's a borderline swindle.  A new system should be such that making it an add-on would be seen as redundant and inefficient.

PHOENIX WRIGHT COULDN'T BE DONE ON GBA

Actually Phoenix Wright was originally a GBA game in Japan.  The first three games are enhanced ports of Japan-only GBA games.