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Nintendo Unveils Features for DS Handheld

By MATT SLAGLE, AP Technology Writer

Nintendo Co. announced new wireless features for its DS portable video game player Thursday, including a free service that will let consumers beam game demos and other content directly to the device.

Beginning in late March, the company plans to deploy electronic kiosks at thousands of U.S. retailers including Best Buy Co. Inc. and GameStop Corp.

Owners of the dual-screen DS who go near the kiosks will automatically receive a notice on their devices offering game demos, movie trailers and other content for temporary download. The information will be erased from the DS once it's turned off.

The service uses the DS's local-area wireless networking capabilities, which until now had been used just to facilitate head-to-head play by gamers near each other.

Nintendo also said it was adding voice chat to the sci-fi action game "Metroid Prime: Hunters," available March 20. Players who join up for multiplayer battles over Nintendo's wireless Internet service will be able to talk to each other through the system's built-in microphone before and after games, but not during, said Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo of America Inc.'s executive vice president of sales and marketing.

At least one game for rival Sony Corp's PlayStation Portable offers a more robust feature. Teammates in "SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo" can talk to each other wirelessly during battles.

Fils-Aime added that a slimmed down, all-white Nintendo DS Lite would go on sale in Japan next month.

Handheld video games and hardware helped buoy the industry to record sales of $10.5 billion in 2005, according to the NPD Group research firm.

Nintendo said it has sold about 4 million DS systems in North America since it was launched in late 2004. Another 4 million PlayStation Portables have been sold in North America since the unit went on sale last March, according to Sony.

NOA

...Metroid Chat: The new Metroid Prime Hunters game for Nintendo DS will give gamers the ability to chat directly with one another before and after matches played via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Players in North America can simply click the chat icon and say what they have to say. The microphone of the Nintendo DS picks up voice communication and transmits it to the people on their friend list. Players can use the chat function before a match to agree on settings or after a battle to relive their glories. This Teen-rated first-person adventure arrives March 20 and promises to open a dramatically fun new facet of gaming to Nintendo fans...

The selection of games and other downloadable content at DS Download Service kiosks will refresh quarterly. First download demos:

- Tetris DS
- Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day
- Mario Kart DS
- Meteos
- True Swing Golf
- Pokémon Trozei
- Metroid Prime Hunters video clip

Some great news

 

[fly high ~ayunite~]

VOICE CHAT! FUCK YES!

 

[Falch]

Oh, voice chat in Metroid Prime Hunters, very nice!

I hope Nintendo will allow us to d/l those demo's to put on our ds without having to find a kiosk.

 

[DefectiveReject]

Finally Voice chat

 

[Ponn]

Pretty cool, don't they have these in Japan already?

Are they going to offer the wifi hotspots they were promising through these kiosks?

 

[Deleted member 1235]

Nintendo also said it was adding voice chat to the sci-fi action game "Metroid Prime: Hunters," available March 20. Players who join up for multiplayer battles over Nintendo's wireless Internet service will be able to talk to each other through the system's built-in microphone before and after games, but not during, said Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo of America Inc.'s executive vice president of sales and marketing.

Awesome, shame they couldn't get it to run with the game, but at least we can switch friend codes and the like with strangers now. good deal.

 

[Deadly Monk]

Voice-chat over DS will be great. Hope it will be in PokemonDS.

I also hope I can call out my Pokemon with my voice.

Demo of MarioDS and Zelda DS please!

 

[olimario]

Hotness

 

[bumpkin]

IT'S ON, BITCHES!

 

[guise]

Another reason on the list for me to buy a DS

 

[evilromero]

Finally. Metroid Prime Hunters is turning out to be Nintendo's WiFi killer app. In other words, fucking packed with great features. Let's hope it has a nice little text chat app as well. It'll be interesting to see how the voice quality manages.

 

[Frankfurter]

Nice!

 

[Kroole]

Awesome news! It seems like Nintendo is really keen on improving their service.

 

[DefectiveReject]

Awesome news! It seems like Nintendo is really keen on improving their service.

All Bodes well for Revolution

 

[Beezy]

Now I'm definately gettin MP: Hunters on day one.

 

[Matlock]

I'm looking forward to Sidetalkin' DS.

 

[truffleshuffle83]

no voice chat in game, doesnt that defeat the purpose of voicechat??? other than that, good news i guess even though it was already promised when the unit launched

i guess halfassing an online service is awesome now though :lol

 

[radioheadrule83]

VOICE CHAT! FUCK YES!

hahah AWESOME.

My last post before this one was in the Wifi connections thread about how they should throw in online lobbies... I didn't even mean voice chat! Excellent!

At least one game for rival Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE - news).'s PlayStation Portable offers a more robust feature. Teammates in "SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo" can talk to each other wirelessly during battles.

That is cool, and I hear SOCOM is quite underrated on PSP, but if they went out of their way to find out that such a feature was on another system, why didn't they mention you need the mic?

 

[Unison]

I wonder how sensitive the DS mic is. It will be interesting to see how good this turns out.

 

[Sapiens]

Movie trailers? Yeah right.

 

[Smiles and Cries]

WOW!

go DS lite!

 

[AirBrian]

About time. So this means there will be some sort of lobby...?

 

[Unison]

Movie trailers? Yeah right.

I am fairly sure I remember a Wi-Fi downloadable Zelda trailer at E3 last year for attendees with DSes.

 

[Xrenity]

k, cool

They'd better get demo's to work with the USB connector!

 

[radioheadrule83]

I am fairly sure I remember a Wi-Fi downloadable Zelda trailer at E3 last year for attendees with DSes.

Yeah. I believe I've seen the download demo online actually as a rom.
They handed it out on DS cards too.

 

[fly high ~ayunite~]

I am fairly sure I remember a Wi-Fi downloadable Zelda trailer at E3 last year for attendees with DSes.

It was a cart.

 

[Maridia]

I like the little blurb in the middle of the article that talks about SOCOM PSP out of fuckin' left field.

 

[radioheadrule83]

It was a cart.

Nu-uh. It was on demo stations that were crammed busy with users too IIRC.

http://akkit.org/DS/E3/ <<< see Zelda Gallery and Preview Trailer (BETA)

 

[Sapiens]

I am fairly sure I remember a Wi-Fi downloadable Zelda trailer at E3 last year for attendees with DSes.

i thought they were handing them out on DS carts?

How big is the DS' internal ram for this kind of thing? I doubt the trailers would be even chosen by most people going to one of these kiosks. Even if they did pull it off, it would be quickly abandoned.

Lets stop trying to pimp the DS as a multimedia monster, Nintendo. it plays games, well, damnit.

Edit: it is a 2 MB trailer? So, how was the quality and how long was it? At 2 MBs, I have to wonder, even with the best compression.

 

[radioheadrule83]

k, cool

They'd better get demo's to work with the USB connector!

They should do a PC program that helps stream the Nintendo.com downloads straight to your DS.
(making sure the ROM doesn't ever reside on the PC, for anti-piracy reasons of course)

 

[Deleted member 1235]

k, cool

They'd better get demo's to work with the USB connector!

I don't know why they wouldnt do this. apart from their service getting hammered.

 

[koam]

No voice chat during gameplay = DS cpu is poopy. I don't think its because they don't want it there, i just don't think the DS can handle it. Maybe during Tetris or other "non-powerful FPS demanding" games we'll see it.

 

[dyls]

I'm thinking there will be a headset released at the same time as MP:Hunters. The fact that they kept the headset jack on the DSL means they must have plans for it. If they didn't, you can believe it would have been axed to save the 18 cents it probably costs. We know how Nintendo rolls.

Maybe the headset will even come bundled with MP:H (wishful thinking). If not, it better be available IN STORES, no more online-only bullshit.

 

[Fuzzy]

So does this mean Nintendo will now release an official headset for the DS?

 

[meltpotato]

I'm thinking there will be a headset released at the same time as MP:Hunters. The fact that they kept the headset jack on the DSL means they must have plans for it. If they didn't, you can believe it would have been axed to save the 18 cents it probably costs. We know how Nintendo rolls.

Maybe the headset will even come bundled with MP:H (wishful thinking). If not, it better be available IN STORES, no more online-only bullshit.

im thinking your very wrong. that move would be pretty much devoid of logic.

 

[Taker666]

k, cool

They'd better get demo's to work with the USB connector!

Why on earth would they do that when they could just include it as an exclusive service at home via the Revolution via the dongle.

It's a perfect way of selling Revolutions to those rabid Japanese DS fans.

 

[Fuzzy]

According to the NoA PR chat is only with people on your friends list.

Metroid Chat: The new Metroid Prime Hunters game for Nintendo DS will give gamers the ability to chat directly with one another before and after matches played via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Players in North America simply click the chat icon and say what they have to say. The microphone of the Nintendo DS picks up voice communication and transmits it to the people on their friend list. Players can use the chat function before a match to agree on settings or after a battle to relive their glories. This Teen-rated first-person adventure arrives March 20 and promises to open a dramatically fun new facet of gaming to Nintendo fans.

EDIT:

DS Download Service: Starting next month, Nintendo will offer all DS owners free downloadable game demos and other downloadable content at thousands of participating retail locations around the United States. An in-store kiosk will beam wireless demo versions of games and other downloadable content into a players' Nintendo DS system. Users simply stop by the store with their Nintendo DS, click "DS Download Play" on their system and choose one of a variety of DS games they want to sample. The game will download automatically and users can play all they want (even if they leave the store) until the Nintendo DS is turned off.

Sequentially, players can try out as many games as they want, letting them test drive the wide array of games that can only be played on Nintendo DS. The first DS Download Service stations will include free demos of Tetris® DS, Brain Age™: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day, Mario Kart® DS, Meteos™, True Swing Golf and Pokémon® Trozei, along with a Metroid® Prime Hunters video clip. The selection of games and other downloadable content at DS Download Service kiosks will refresh quarterly.

 

[metropolis]

i may be alone here but voice chat has never been one of my favorite things about online gaming. in fact i think it's by far the most annoying thing about it. i love playing on xbox live because it's so smooth and has a great interface.. but the fact that i have to listen to a bunch of pre-pubescent kids yelling a bunch of racist shit and calling each other "faggots" during every single game just isn't my cup of tea. it's not like it happens once and a while.. every damn game and every single day. i'm sick of it and i'm not looking forward to hearing it through metroid hunters.

but i suppose if people want this feature than its good that they implement it..

edit:

"According to the NoA PR chat is only with people on your friends list."

i didn't notice that... ok good. that makes me happy.

 

[Calidor]

boy i wish those downloadable demos works on my home wifi network :/

 

[meltpotato]

i may be alone here but voice chat has never been one of my favorite things about online gaming. in fact i think it's by far the most annoying thing about it. i love playing on xbox live because it's so smooth and has a great interface.. but the fact that i have to listen to a bunch of pre-pubescent kids yelling a bunch of racist shit and calling each other "faggots" during every single game just isn't my cup of tea. it's not like it happens once and a while.. every damn game and every single day. i'm sick of it and i'm not looking forward to hearing it through metroid hunters.

but i suppose if people want this feature than its good that they implement it..

edit:

"According to the NoA PR chat is only with people on your friends list."

i didn't notice that... ok good. that makes me happy.

its only useful when playing with people you know and trust. i always felt that text chat in PC FPS games was (while not perfect) much better because you have to do a little more thinking before you type it out.

 

[Zerodoppler]

Text chat would've been better for me. GAFers won't understand a word that I say because of my horrible sveedish accent and limited vocabulary. But hey, I'm still game.

 

[jedimike]

I hope they find a better distribution method for the demos. I mean who takes their portables into the store? I always leave mine in the car or whatever. I just feel weird bringing stuff into the store, especially when the store actually sells the same item. I always have this paranoid "I didn't steal it" look on my face.

I can live with the voice chat for friends only... except that meeting strangers isn't always a bad experience. I've "met" plenty of people on XBL and most of them do not throw around adolescent slangs.

The "bad" people on XBL are the minority.

 

[fresquito]

I hope they find a better distribution method for the demos. I mean who takes their portables into the store? I always leave mine in the car or whatever. I just feel weird bringing stuff into the store, especially when the store actually sells the same item. I always have this paranoid "I didn't steal it" look on my face.

Well, since it´s wireless you can actually download the demos from outside the store...

about the news, like I said on the other topic... good news overall. Still, no word on Euro kiosks. No Tetris voice chat... no real happines

 

[Littleberu]

I hope they find a better distribution method for the demos. I mean who takes their portables into the store? I always leave mine in the car or whatever. I just feel weird bringing stuff into the store, especially when the store actually sells the same item. I always have this paranoid "I didn't steal it" look on my face.

I can live with the voice chat for friends only... except that meeting strangers isn't always a bad experience. I've "met" plenty of people on XBL and most of them do not throw around adolescent slangs.

The "bad" people on XBL are the minority.

It's exactly the same thing as a demo booth, but you actually have your own console now.

 

[siamesedreamer]

While it is a step in the right direction, no voice chat during the matches sucks.

 

[fresquito]

While it is a step in the right direction, no voice chat during the matches sucks.

I don´t think we will ever see a 3D game with wifi support and voice chat on the DS... too much resources for the weak CPU. Voice chat in a game like Tetris could´ve been possible, though.

 

[Companion Cube]

While it is a step in the right direction, no voice chat during the matches sucks.

I'm guessing its a hardware limitation.

 

[radioheadrule83]

They've demonstrated a 2-way VOIP app with a Wario head trying to mime the words... I think it can do 3d and VOIP at the same time, but with *good* DS 3d, big levels, big action and 4 players? Nah.

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

I can live with the voice chat for friends only... except that meeting strangers isn't always a bad experience. I've "met" plenty of people on XBL and most of them do not throw around adolescent slangs.

The "bad" people on XBL are the minority.

100%.

One of the main reasons I end up putting someone on my Friend's List is if they're entertaining during a match. I met a whole crapload of people in an MBU room that are now among my closest gaming chums. This is obviously a step in the right direction, but, yeah, again, not every person on Live is a turbodouche, and nine times out of ten you can find out who the bad egg is and mute them. Chat is the most fun during matches, at least on any game that's worth a dang. The immediate "Oh No He/She Didn't" nature of it is what makes it fun.

 

[Aurora]

I also hope I can call out my Pokemon with my voice.

I don't.
Too easy to mess up, especially since I have a British accent.

Great news about Voice Chat though!