Nintendo DS Lets Players Touch the Future

Some look at video games and remain content with the way things are. Nintendo dreams of things and asks, "Why not?"

For 15 years Nintendo's Game Boy line has dominated the hand-held video game market. But today at the Electronics Entertainment Expo (E3), the new Nintendo DS creates a whole new category by radically altering the way people will play games. Nintendo DS remains on track to launch in Japan and North America before the end of the year, and in Europe the system will launch during the first quarter of 2005.

With its two screens, Nintendo DS instantly shows its innovative face. But capabilities like a touch-screen input, voice recognition and wireless communication set it apart from every other game device, and again demonstrate Nintendo's passion for groundbreaking originality.

"When Nintendo came down and presented the DS platform to us, I think everyone was in shock," says Will Kassoy, Activision's vice president of global brand management. "It was amazing. Our technical guys were drooling at the abilities and wanting so much to dive into programming for the system."

Aptly code-named Nintendo DS, this "Developers' System" provides developers a newfound canvas not only to create new games today, but also to shape the future of the entire industry. Developers -- and the public -- need only use their imagination to see how the DS promises to transform the portable game industry by changing the way gamers relate to their games -- and each other. Two screens offer two perspectives on the action at once. The touch screen could make accessing items, moving characters or navigating menus as easy as a tap or drag on the screen. Voice recognition could let players simply tell the game what they want it to do. Chat software will let users transmit text messages, handwriting and even drawings to one another. And wireless functions could link players in the same room -- or across the country.

"This has a huge potential," says Yoichi Haraguchi, Namco's vice president and executive officer. "It is very nice that we can create games using DS that were not even possible before."

Nintendo DS also will include two processors, 3-D capabilities on both screens, 16-channel sound and a rechargeable battery that features a low-energy-consumption design. One media bay handles new DS game cartridges that hold one gigabit of information and more. The second media port allows for compatibility with Game Boy Advance games, as well as a host of possible future accessories.

"While others plan to let you go a little faster down the same roads you have always traveled, Nintendo plans to take you down incredible avenues you've never seen before," explains Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo of America's executive vice president, sales and marketing. "We understand the hand-held market better than anyone else, and Nintendo DS paves a new path of originality and success."

More than 100 companies worldwide have received software development kits and are planning games for Nintendo DS. Games in development by Nintendo include a new Super Mario game, a Metroid game, a WarioWare game and PictoChat, software that lets players send instant text and picture messages. Third-party publishers also have announced games in development, including a Spider-Man 2 title from Activision, a Rayman game from Ubisoft, a SpongeBob SquarePants title from THQ, a Yu-Gi-Oh! game from Konami, a Sonic title from Sega, a Bomberman game from Hudson Soft, a Need for Speed game from Electronic Arts and a Pac-Man title from Namco.

The system's official name, price and launch lineup will be announced at a later date.

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