Nintendo DS

[Lee-yoshi]

Yesterday saw Nintendo take to the stage at the Games Developers Conference - and the main man of Ninty, Mr Iwata, had something to say about the future of DS...

Nintendo DS:
Iwata announced that the Wi-Fi protocol for Nintendo DS will provide users with a link to other players across the country or around the world. Once the service begins later this year, Nintendo DS users will be able to connect to the service wirelessly at Wi-Fi hot spots, whether they’re at home, in a hotel or at a coffee shop. As one of several Wi-Fi games, Nintendo’s in-house development team is creating a new Animal Crossing™ game for global Wi-Fi play.

On the keynote stage, Iwata also took part in a spontaneous eight-player wireless contest of Mario Kart® DS to demonstrate the local area network capabilities of Nintendo DS. He added that shipments of the DS game system have now surpassed 4 million units to North America and Japan in the 16 weeks since launch. With the system set to debut in thousands of stores across Europe within hours of his address, that number will approach 6 million units shipped by the end of March.

DS software:
The speech featured a live demonstration of two Nintendo DS software titles that Iwata said represented types of entertainment that go beyond the traditionally accepted definitions of “video games.” One, Nintendogs, asks owners to nurture and interact with a variety of breeds of digital puppies. Puppy owners can issue voice commands, play games and train their puppies while developing real emotional bonds with them. Nintendogs is set to launch later this year in North America. The second title, Electroplankton, offers an otherworldly array of sights and sounds aimed to soothe or stimulate players with the innovative use of both the touch screen and voice interaction. “This is designed to produce harmony, not adrenaline,” Iwata said.

So... thats a Online gaming service for DS later this year, an Animal Crossing game being developed specifically for online play, and the note of over 4 million Nintendo DS' systems sold so far without the launch of Europe and Australia added in! The futures great aint it ^_^

For all the info on the GDC announcements - click here to go to Nintendo.co.uk!