Nintendo DS Puts New Experiences Only a Touch Away

November 20, 2004, 10:04 pm EST
Total comments: 22

Nintendo DS launches today.

Nintendo DS Puts New Experiences Only a Touch Away

On Nov. 21, the First Nintendo DS Owners Step into the Future of Video Games

REDMOND, Wash., Nov. 18, 2004 - If you've ever enjoyed video games, you've likely played Mario™, Madden or Metroid®, The Sims™ or Spider-Man™ - but you've never played them like this. The names and characters might be familiar, but now you can interact with them in completely new ways.

On Nov. 21, just in time for the holidays, gamers across North America will begin snapping up the most innovative game platform in a decade, the Nintendo DS™. Boasting dual screens, touch-screen and voice-recognition interfaces and two forms of wireless connection, the 1 million Nintendo DS units available in North America already are expected to be depleted by year's end.

"Retailers began calling for more Nintendo DS units even before the first ones arrived," explains Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of sales & marketing. "They're reflecting the demands of game players for entirely new ways to enjoy games - not just playing the same old games on a different platform. It really comes down to delivering a new experience and that's what we're doing."

Nintendo DS comes embedded with the PictoChat™ communication feature and bundled with a playable demo of the upcoming Metroid Prime® Hunters. In addition, the system will have a dozen titles available during its launch window, spanning every genre, including Super Mario 64 DS from Nintendo, Madden NFL 2005, Tiger Woods PGA TOUR® Golf and The Urbz™: Sims in the City™ from EA, Spider-Man 2™ from Activision, Ping Pals™ from THQ, Feel the Magic™: XY/XX from SEGA, Rayman® DS and Asphalt Urban GT™ from Ubisoft and Ridge Racer® DS and Mr. DRILLER®: Drill Spirits™ from Namco.

By the end of March, the Nintendo DS game library will include 20 to 25 games. More than 125 games remain in development worldwide, from Nintendo as well as every major third-party developer. And because Nintendo DS is backward compatible with Game Boy® Advance SP games, it already has a library of more than 550 games.

"Interest in Nintendo DS is very high as we head into the holidays," says Jeff Griffiths, CEO and president of Electronics Boutique. "This is a must-have item for a wide variety of people, older and younger, this holiday season."

Nintendo DS will sell at an MSRP of $149.99. Its clamshell design protects both screens, and its rechargeable battery allows for six to 10 hours of play on a single charge. The launch is being supported by an aggressive, multifaceted marketing program, which includes the "touching is good" campaign that targets a hip, male demographic in lifestyle magazines and on hot broadcast and cable television programs. Additional information about Nintendo DS is available at www.nintendods.com.

Nintendo DS launches in Japan on Dec. 2. By the end of 2004, Nintendo will ship 2 million units worldwide and another 2 million by the end of March.

Talkback

VideoGamerJNovember 20, 2004

YAY! NINTENDO DS! ONLY A FEW MORE HOURS UNTIL I PICK MINE UP. HAPPY GAMING EVERYBODY! LET'S HOPE THAT THEY MAKE THIS GAME:

Command and Conquer DS

(Picture Provided by PGC, editing done by me)

IWannaBeSponsoredNovember 20, 2004

My happiness is inexpressable. My pure joy is uncontainable. I just soiled myself.

UncleBobRichard Cook, Guest ContributorNovember 20, 2004

I gots da DS! Wheee!

Grant10kNovember 20, 2004

yeah, it was pritty fun, i went to walmart at midnight (24hr store) there were about 9 people in line, I got mine and most of the other people kept rotating in line to get extra copies for Ebay.
It was a lot easier than pre-ordering at EB games

MarioNovember 20, 2004

Megaton has dropped! The Revolution begins!

Bartman3010November 21, 2004

Damn, so retailers like Wal-Mart sold it at midnight?

Oh well, I probably couldnt be assed to make the drive, but its 4:25 AM and I kinda feel like getting the move on right NOW.

TansunnNovember 21, 2004

Last night I set my alarm clock to get me up at 8:00 am. My internal clock woke me up at 7:00 am, but I figured I might as well go with it, so I went to the bus stop to wait for the bus to take me down to Fred Meyer. But the bus didn't show up because they run on a different schedule on Sundays, so I started walking. I get there about 20 minutes later, hit the cash machine, and go to the electronics department. The one I bought was the first one they'd sold today, which I thought was pretty nifty.

I'd have to say the stylus is WAY too small, but otherwise I'm really enjoying it. I was pleasantly surprised with how well the Metroid demo controlled, although there seemed to be a slight delay after I first tapped the screen before Samus would actually turn, which I assume would be so people don't turn when they're trying to jump with a double-tap, but I'd still prefer if the delay wasn't there. Morph ball controlled great, though.

So far, my only complaint is GBA control. I'd much rather use Y and B instead of B and A, but there doesn't seem to be any setting to change it.

InfinitysEndNovember 21, 2004

Just in case no one knows, they're having "Nintendo DS" day on G4TechTV, where all their shows are displayed on a Nintendo DS, the bottom screen has gameplay footage and the top screen has the show on it.

KnoxxvilleNovember 21, 2004

......I GOTZ MINEZ!! TEH GAME IZ OVA!

Bill AurionNovember 21, 2004

Mine's sitting in my room still packaged...Gotta thank exams that will be keeping me from playing it till at least the 10th... ;_;

tacojohnNovember 21, 2004

Picked mine up this afternoon. Got Mario 64 DS with it too. The mini games are freakin' great! I can't wait for Warioware- its going to be sooo cool with the touch screen- do anyone know if it uses the mic too?

I'm going to a "Spartasoft" meeting tonight (game developer club on campus). Hope someone else has a DS there so we can play some wireless!

Waaahooo- the graphics are much better in person than in the video's that are posted on-line!

KnoxxvilleNovember 21, 2004

Quote
Originally posted by: Bill Aurion
Mine's sitting in my room still packaged...Gotta thank exams that will be keeping me from playing it till at least the 10th... ;_;

At least plug it in and get your initial charge going....though temptation may prove too great!

nickmitchNovember 21, 2004

I got mine but the fudge faces at Circuit City didn't get ANY of the games in and the a$$ clowns at Toys R Us didn't have Super Mario 64 DS or Feel the Magic XX/XY. So I picked up MP2:E while I was there.

TMWNovember 21, 2004

I was outside the gamestop at 11:00 this morning, waiting for the store to open. Was in and out in 10 minutes.

I lucked out in the "Waiting to charge" department. I had DnD at 11:30, so I just plugged it in at my DM's house and let it charge while we played, and we miraculously stopped playing right at 3:30.

I picked up Mario64 as well. It was a tossup between that and Feel the Magic, but I figured Mario would have more staying power, as I may not get another DS game for a while. This little purchase set me back a ways.

It was worth it, though. Now I just wish I knew someone else with one. I may just take mine to the Gamestop and challenge random shoppers to a Metroid duel.

...not a bad idea at all...

Hostile CreationNovember 21, 2004

Gamestop wasn't selling yet. Not that I'd buy anyway, lacking money. I bought Prime 2 instead.

EB display was broken, of course. I'll have to wait longer yet to play the awesomeness. Alas.
I'll get this someday, I swear it.

Ian SaneNovember 22, 2004

Yesterday I went into Best Buy at around 11:30 am and I saw the last DS in the store being sold. Then I walked across the steet to Wal-Mart and they had tons of DS systems. It didn't look like they had sold any yet. I didn't buy one though since I'm waiting for some better games and a potential price cut.

I don't know what the point of this story is. It's just my DS launch experience.

PaLaDiNNovember 22, 2004

"I don't know what the point of this story is."

I think you do, Ian. The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem. There's no need to lie to yourself... give in to your temptations, don't hold yourself back.

KnoxxvilleNovember 22, 2004

Quote
Originally posted by: Ian Sane
Yesterday I went into Best Buy at around 11:30 am and I saw the last DS in the store being sold. Then I walked across the steet to Wal-Mart and they had tons of DS systems. It didn't look like they had sold any yet. I didn't buy one though since I'm waiting for some better games and a potential price cut.

I don't know what the point of this story is. It's just my DS launch experience.

Potential price cut? Are you serious? Why would you cut the price of something that 1) Won't have any competition other than it's younger brother (i.e. GBA SP) for what might be 'till almost fall of next year (rumor of PSP delay), and 2) the demand in Japan alone (pre-orders) just increased two fold?

Quit being a cheapa$$......unless you're a broke a$$, then which I apologize for speaking on your attempt to cleverly conceal your "brokedness".

Ian SaneNovember 22, 2004

"Potential price cut? Are you serious? Why would you cut the price of something that?"

I'm talking about when the PSP is released. Even if it's not until next fall that doesn't mean it's not worth it to wait that long. It's not like any games I'm really interested in are scheduled to be released before then. I bought both the Cube and the GBA at launch and I regret buying both that early. With the GBA it's because they released a better version. With the Cube it's because they cut the price right before the games I was really interested in were released and I didn't feel it was worth the extra money to play the few worthwhile launch games earlier. With the DS a launch purchase carries both of those risks. So don't look at me as being cheap but rather as a smart shopper. I can live without a DS for the immediate future so I'm going to wait and see.

KnoxxvilleNovember 22, 2004

Well, I see your point. Me? I'm just a sucker for new hardware. I tried to pass on the GC launch, yet somehow ended up half-dressed at a Super Walmart at 4:30 in the morning......now how did that happen

Anyhoo, you just might have the last laugh on this one...we shall see.

....did you at least import Naruto 3 for GC?

31 FlavasNovember 22, 2004

Quote
Originally posted by: Ian Sane

"Potential price cut? Are you serious? Why would you cut the price of something that?"

I'm talking about when the PSP is released.

Point of order, in a sense.

Has Nintendo ever reduced the price of previous GameBoy units in response to the introduction of competition (not from itself)? Even those with a price difference of $50 or less? Besides the price reductions and introduction of new models happened 2+ years after the introduction of the original. Price cuts and new model introduction before 2 years really would be a violation of the rules, IMO.

Ian SaneNovember 22, 2004

"Has Nintendo ever reduced the price of previous GameBoy units in response to the introduction of competition?"

That's a bad example since the last time Nintendo had any sort of serious competition in the portable market was with the Game Gear. That's like ten years ago. Price cuts weren't very common then.

Nintendo has however reduced the price of the Gamecube in response to competition so it's fair to assume that when faced with direct competition in the portable market they may do the same. It doesn't really matter anyway since what I'm really waiting for is a game that I feel is worth buying a system for. If the price gets cut before then it's just a bonus.

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