Nintendo Chief Big’em Announces Launch Titles With Major Press Release
Word…WORD…is out. Nintendo has announced 10 to 12 titles for the Nintendo DS Launch. Each title will approximately retail for $29.99, not bad considering that’s the average price for GBA games right now. Actually, I’d say that’s pretty damn good. There’s 120 current games in development, and we foresee the majority of those being prematurely released for a US Holiday weak title swarm. Nonetheless, we do feel the selection of launch titles are solid and have seen faith invoking videos and demos (more soon at Fusion!) that has us putting up our trust in brainwashed-wallet-emptying-preorder rituals.
First the obvious: Mario. Mario and friends will be pimping the system hardcore at launch. Mario 64 DS will be very familiar to Nintendo 64 fans (who wasn’t?). Basically, it’s the original Mario 64 with a 4 player mode and added features. Nintendo is well known for taking existing IP and spinning it out to collect your dollaz over and over. Mario 64 is one of those titles. Well worth the investment, unless you couldn’t stand the original. Who knows, maybe a 4 player version is all you need to convert over and join the legions of Mario maniacs.
For sports gamers, a unique breed indeed, EA is packing up Madden NFL 2005 and Tiger Woods PGA TOUR Golf for some head-to-head-yet-still-wireless gameplay with other sports gamers. We know you’re drooling over the DS play selecting/audible calling abilities on a second screen. We still remember you guys from the Dreamcast announcement days with the LCDs in the VMU/controller. We know you live for this stuff. We’re casual sports gamers, so we might even join you from time to time.
We are NOT, however, casual simulation gamers by any means. We tend to be a little hardcore, once we startup a simulation game, we get lost for months. Therefore, we will steer clear of the other EA launch title The Urbz: Sims in the City. We recommend you get it, oh yes, and please tell us all about it. But as for us, we will never update this site again if we were to purchase this urban (in the purest sense of the word) warfare game. Not to mention probably lose a job or two.
And to wrap up the others:
Titles available in the launch window include Super Mario 64 DS from Nintendo, Madden NFL 2005, Tiger Woods PGA TOUR Golf and The Urbz: Sims in the City from EA, and a major title from Activision. Other third-party titles available during the launch period include 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.
Players can expect Nintendo-published games to retail for as low as $29.99. In the coming months, publishers will release a wide range of novel software. Nintendo’s list of DS-specific first-party franchises includes a multiplayer Mario Kart, as well as Metroid Prime Hunters, WarioWare, Inc. DS, Animal Crossing, Yoshi’s Touch & Go, Advance Wars DS and a new Super Mario Bros., among others.
Third-party publishers will add GoldenEye: Rogue Agent and Need for Speed Underground from EA, Viewtiful Joe from Capcom, Bomberman from Hudson Soft, Frogger from Konami, a Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles title from Square Enix, and many more.
Needless to say, we’re as excited for just the unique possibilites that the dual screen, touch screen, and wireless options open up to all of us portable maniacs. We’ve experienced touch screens on the Tapwave Zodiac, and wireless on GBA (and we wish we had that chance on NGPC, but that never solidified and instead broke our hearts with bankruptcy notices), but we have not had that chance in an all-in-one package that the DS provides. Yes, we’re excited. No, we’re not Nintendo biased. We just know a solid product when we see it.
Comments
No comments yet.
Leave a comment
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.