Where's the DS love?

[loonyboi]

Also if you think I'm saying the touchpad, mic and 2 screens is the way of the future then you're just not listening to me. The DS will most likely be a one off. Well done Nintendo for doing it before anyone else. I'm saying that the DS features might get people thinking 'what can we do to games or consoles to make them different?' and hopefully that will lead to something a bit more interesting in the future. Like I DS games will be (I hope).

For the sake of all those people who bought the DS, I hope Nintendo follows through on their promise with this thing.

I just don't see it happening.

GameSpot's reviews today do a good job of illustrating my point(s).

Yoshi's Touch & Go review: "The novelty of the gameplay is almost palpable, but so are the game's tech demo roots."

Pokemon Dash review: "Pokémon Dash is simply one of the laziest uses of the DS's touch screen technology to date, featuring highly repetitive gameplay that gets old before you've even finished your first race."

...and while it's for GameCube, not DS, I'm including this one because it uses a non-traditional interface:

Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat review: "Donkey Kong Jungle Beat is a scream...for the first eight levels. Once you've seen what the game has to offer, though, there's not a lot to come back to."

Again, I'm not saying that games for the DS have to suck, I'm just saying it's going to take a lot more than fiddling around with the hardware possibilities to do it (and that may be beyond what most developers are willing to do).

[BigJKO]

The main problem with some of these games, it seems, is that they're rushing them out in order to show people that this kind of gameplay is possible. I wish they would've put more time into Yoshi Touch & Go, to make it something besides a feature-show.

EDIT: IGN's review is worth a read.

Really, the only harsh criticism that can be attached to Yoshi Touch & Go is that it breaks from the expected "beginning, middle, and end" platform presentation, instead going back to the old-school arcade days of trying to see how far you can get on a single try. And I'll admit that, initially, it was somewhat concerning to discover the lack of an extensive level progression in the latest Yoshi game. But the game modes offer an enormous amount of replay in their simplistic design;

[Marek]

Nintendo's committed to the DS, and I don't doubt that there will be interesting games on the platform. But let's not kid ourselves into thinking that Project Rub and Nintendogs are going to be Game of the Year material.

I think you may be staring yourself blind on the quircky stylus games (Project Rub, Warioware, Nintendogs, et al). Yeah, they're not exactly hardcore material. I like them, but you might not. Okay, point made.

But can you name one handheld system that allows me to control a 3D platformer as fluidly as Mario 64 DS does? Or a handheld OR console system that allows me to control an FPS (or action-adventure if you insist) as well as Metroid Prime: Hunters? That's not gimmick territory. I mean, having PC-like control over an FPS game on a tiny handheld device is 100% valid hardware innovation, not just a trick to woo people temporarily.

[BigJKO]

But can you name one handheld system that allows me to control a 3D platformer as fluidly as Mario 64 DS does?

The analog stick on the PSP would probably allow for some fluid performance in Mario 64.

[Marek]

Ah yes, I had forgotten about the analog stick. Still, the fluid FPS gameplay seems unique to the DS. That combined with a touchscreen that can double as analog stick and which can be used for quircky puzzle games is pretty much what sold me. The system has got a pretty amazing versatility.

[JimmyTheFish]

Which is why I love the system. The touchscreen is not any more of a "gimic" then a mouse. While it can have alternate uses in zany games like Warioware and Electroplankton, it is the first non-pc system to alllow first degree of control.

Also, I cannot fucking believe that looneyboi is serious here. You are judging a fucking system based on a few launch first party outings and some games you have never played? You call it a gimic, blatanly ignoring the fact that this is a handhold system that, more or less, emulates a mouse. If thats a gimic, then all of PC gaming is played using a gimicy control scheme. You have no arguement here. You are just sitting in your little box, holding your ears and shouting "GIMIC," blocking out what might be the most creative and unique system yet. Fuck them for trying something different. Even if it can be used for conventional game settings.

[baconian]

I smell 90's graphic adventure remakes.

[BigJKO]

I smell 90's graphic adventure remakes.

I wish.

[loonyboi]

But can you name one handheld system that allows me to control a 3D platformer as fluidly as Mario 64 DS does? Or a handheld OR console system that allows me to control an FPS (or action-adventure if you insist) as well as Metroid Prime: Hunters?

The problem is in both cases, that's debatable territory. I don't own a DS, so I can't say whether or not either game actually works. But I've heard from enough people on both sides to know that it's not as cut and dry as the DS actually being able to do either game better than any other system.

FPS games on home consoles are problematic enough...handhelds are always going to have problems. The Turok control scheme (using the left stick for looking and the right buttons for movement) will probably be the best way to play an FPS on a PSP. The DS...well, I have no idea. Using the screen as an analogue stick seems odd to me, but that's because I haven't tried it yet.

I smell 90's graphic adventure remakes.

Yeah, don't hold your breath for that one. You're better off with a Zodiac and ScummVM.

[lailoken]

I don't wanna play an FPS on a handheld! Why would I? THAT is certainly not going to be the huge innovation the DS brings. More intuitive? Ok, that could be! More accessible?

BUT IN MY OPINION FPS ARE LOOOONG DEAD!

(halflife2 was the crowning achievement of the genre long after it died... it's just not interesting anymore)

[hermes]

just getting a future flash in which the psp and the ds will feature hardware-killing viruses they transmit to each other... effectively hardening fanboy flamewars to something far more sinister....

[Tanukitsune]

Being part of the rare bread of Nintendo fanboys who actually admits Nintendo isn't God I must admit some of their flaws...

Pokémon Dash was rushed, it's repetitive, and you can see that they recylced the 3D Pikachu from Pokémon Channel, but at it's still fun to play and you canunlock new track with your Pokémon from the GBA cartridges...

Polarium is fun and addictive, but rushed as well, the concept is nice and all, but the graphics and sounds leave a lot to desire....

The game is so... "cold", even the old Tetris had a better tune and a dancing guy in the background, this looks like it's still in development, like a beta, fun to play, but it's not fun to watch, but the fact you can download a demo from a firend and trade homemade puzzles is nice...

Does this mean anything? No! Nowadays most of the titles that get released with a console are rushed or remakes! You'd have to be pretty naive to expect that the first games released on a console use all the potential it has...

Compare Tekken to Tekken 3, Resident Evil to Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, and so on and so on...

[Roderick]

I'm going to buy the DS later when it's cheaper. Although there already are some really interesting games out there! Polarium and Mario 64 DS are definitely on my list. But until then I'll be pretty much busy with all the beautiful things appearing on the Cube: DK Jungle Beat, Resident Evil 4 (already played and it's extremely good! Gonna buy it right away when it's released on the 18th!) and some others.

[hermes]

I just got a DS today weee... I also got Super Mario 64 ds: the remake: avenge.. serious though it is fun... I just wish the games wasn't so damn expensive... I think Project Rub is my next goal.... (why did they change the title from Feel the Magic?? -much cooler title I think....)..

Anyways I wish someone near me had a ds so I could actuallu use pictochat to teach children obscene words and facts about anatomy - I'm a bit tired chatting to myself...

[Tanukitsune]

Expensive? The PSP ones will cost 20€ more! And those aren't the thrid party games even!

[Nick]

After completing both I have to say that WarioWare is better than Project Rub. That's not to say that Project Rub isn't worth getting though, it's a brilliant game but I think WarioWare has a slight edge due to the randomness of it and the size of the game encluding everything you unlock and all the game modes etc.

Also when I first played the Metroid demo I didn't really think much of the control system, but after playing it a few more times I actually quite like it. Looking forward to playing some multiplayer of that

[Lechimp]

I don't wanna play an FPS on a handheld! Why would I? THAT is certainly not going to be the huge innovation the DS brings. More intuitive? Ok, that could be! More accessible?

BUT IN MY OPINION FPS ARE LOOOONG DEAD!

(halflife2 was the crowning achievement of the genre long after it died... it's just not interesting anymore)

What are you talking about? FPS are dead? Unreal Tournament 2004, Far Cry, Battlefield Vietnam, Doom 3, and Halflife 2 all came out last year and were successful. And why would you want to play a FPS on a handheld? You could say that about any genre of games, some people would rather play a FPS on the DS instead of a platformer. Just because you hate FPS doesn't mean that everyone hates the genre. In fact, it might be the most popular genre on PCs.

And I agree that warioware touched is better than Feel the Magic, but both are very good games.

[manny_c44]

Having played the original Quake with a stylus (on my PPC), I think the genre could flourish on the DS, it's way better than using a controller.

Metroid is kind of wierd though because you shoot by tapping the stylus down...wouldn't it be better just to 'steer' with the stylus and let the L button shoot?

[Lechimp]

Having played the original Quake with a stylus (on my PPC), I think the genre could flourish on the DS, it's way better than using a controller.

Metroid is kind of wierd though because you shoot by tapping the stylus down...wouldn't it be better just to 'steer' with the stylus and let the L button shoot?

Are you sure? Because I have the demo and you shoot by pressing the L button, you tap the screen to jump.

[Nick]

you can configure the controls to how you like, the default however is L button to shoot and the touch pad to steer (and jump with double tap).

I just read a list of games that have been announced and wotnot for the DS. In that list I saw The Secret of Mana! Happy days!

[manny_c44]

Are you sure? Because I have the demo and you shoot by pressing the L button, you tap the screen to jump.

Oh, someone must have just changed it then before I played the demo.

One thing I'm interested in seeing (for the single player) is if the game will be entirely in small corridors like the demo, or if we'll get any spacious exterior enviornements. Those were the most impressive parts of Metroid Prime.

[MrHoatzin]

How long does the screen last, with all the tapping and drawing? I go through two mice in a year with my fairly casual FPSing.

[n0wak]

To those that have played Polarium:

is it worth the import for the puzzle game connoiseur? Or should I wait for the hopeful release date, which I see as being in April, but I've yet to see any real confirmation for it.

Speaking of imports, I just got "Daigasso! Band Brothers". The game's pretty good. Certainly not a showcase for the touchscreen (if anything, it uses it badly), the dual screens, and the microphone feature (kinda blows), but the game itself isn't all that bad. It's your standard music/rhythm game, only midified. But I find it to be a bit more akin to the likes of Frequency than DDR in that you create the music by playing it. There's apparently a full mixer in the game too, but I haven't unlocked it yet.

Plus, it's a new IP for Nintendo, so they really should push for a release here. If anything, Nintendo needs more sassy round-breasted bat mascots (who remind me of someone I used to know a couple years ago).

[Nick]

How long does the screen last, with all the tapping and drawing? I go through two mice in a year with my fairly casual FPSing.

I bought screen protectors which are fairly cheap and I haven't scratched them yet, even after warioware and project rub, but apparently touch screens are pretty tough.

[manny_c44]

You could always just go to an EB and look at their demo units, those always get the shit kicked out of them by four year olds. If six months after launch the demo screens are passable, they're probably pretty good.