There It Is! The Most Amazing Use Of The Nintendo DSi Camera [Clips]

This is Rittai Kakushi e Attakoreda, a DSiWare game that makes brilliant use of the Nintendo DSi’s built-in cameras to control an in-game camera that lets the player explore a 3D diorama to find hidden objects. The downloadable game, right now for Japan only, comes courtesy of Wario Land: Shake It! developer Feel-Good. As one can see in the preview video above, players must locate hidden objects and form letter shapes by tilting the DSi, and, in turn, the game world. Movement is tracked by processing input from the handheld’s dual cameras. Maybe not the killer app that will get you to upgrade from your DS Lite, but perhaps the coolest use of the DSi’s unique features to date. Rittai Kakushi e Attakored a [Nintendo Japan via BoingBoing / TinyCartridge ]

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There It Is! The Most Amazing Use Of The Nintendo DSi Camera [Clips]

A Modest Proposal For Holiday YouTube Videos [Clips]

Every year, I always end up seeing this home video on YouTube as everybody gets into the holiday spirit. I’m sick of it. I want to nominate another video clip in its stead. Now obviously, you’re not going to get the exact same reaction from another pair of fresh-faced youngsters opening up their first major home console (not unless they’re hamming it up, anyway). But perhaps you could have a non sequitur video that’s only tangentially related to the holidays. Or video games for that matter. Here’s a few for your consideration. First, the Japanese Zelda rap commercial. It’s directly game-related, entertaining and doesn’t even mention the holidays so persons who abstain from Christmas or what have you don’t feel left out. Second, President Obama and his talk with kids about Christmas and The Sims. Very much on-topic, if a bit hard to hear and there’s a lot less screaming. Finally, how about Easter Bunny hates You? Sure, it’s not related to video games and it’s the wrong holiday — but it’s way more entertaining to watch than two kids flipping out over the Nintendo 64. Got your own holiday YouTube recommendations? Hit me up in the comments — I’ll be at my sister-in-law’s house, pretending to not be Jewish. Happy Holidays everyone!

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A Modest Proposal For Holiday YouTube Videos [Clips]

Starship Patrol Brings More Tower Defense To DSiWare, Q-Games Style [Nintendo DSi]

The official Nintendo Europe web site has given us a better look at Q-Games next original DSiWare effort, the downloadable DSi game known as Starship Patrol over there, Starship Defense over here. Like Q-Games’ PixelJunk Monsters, Starship Patrol is a classic tower defense style game, but with a focus on resource management, strategic weapons placement and a clean, unique visual style. From the same developer of Reflect Missile , Art Style: Digidrive and PixelJunk Shooter , Starship Patrol should be on your radar when it arrives in Europe next week. It will then come to North America as Starship Defense on January 18. For screen shots and the official description, with defense spelled “defence,” click on. Starship Patrol [Nintendo UK]

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Starship Patrol Brings More Tower Defense To DSiWare, Q-Games Style [Nintendo DSi]

Nintendo Sold Over 1.5 Million Wiis, DSs Last Week [Corporate Gloating]

November will be a big month for Nintendo when all is said and done, based on the more than 1.5 million consoles and handhelds it sold in the United States last week. That 1.5 million breaks down to more than 550,000 Wii consoles and more than 1 million Nintendo DS and Nintendo DSi portables, according to Nintendo’s internal estimates. In terms of frequency, that’s over 150 Nintendo hardware units sold every minute, more than 2.5 smiles put on faces every second. Yes, those are impressive numbers. But one of those numbers was more impressive last year, when Nintendo says it sold more than 800,000 Wiis during the same time period. In 2007, Nintendo sold a comparitively meager 350,000 Wiis during the Thanksgiving spending spree. That year, Nintendo boasted that Nintendo DS sales topped 600,000 during the same week long period, a number that jumped 20% the following year, nothing that compares to the new 1 million unit sold record held by combined DS and DSi sales. Since Nintendo sold 506,900 Wii consoles and 457,600 Nintendo DSs during the full month of October , we’ll bet the company will have something to brag about when November’s tally rolls around. While we suspect it won’t shatter November 2008’s amazing, ” historic ” records,, we wouldn’t be surprised to see Nintendo branded things topping the charts.

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Nintendo Sold Over 1.5 Million Wiis, DSs Last Week [Corporate Gloating]

Q-Games’ Reflect Missile Coming To DSiWare [DSIWare]

PixelJunk and Art Style game creators Q-Games have a new, original project heading to the DSiWare shop next week. Reflect Missile looks to combine Arkanoid-style brick smashing with missile management strategy, which sounds potentially fascinating. The official Nintendo of Europe web site has details and first screens on the Nintendo DSi downloadable title, promising 200 stages of action-puzzle-strategy in the Q-Games fashion. With the developer’s recently released Art Style: Digidrive making DSiWare a better place, we’re looking forward to giving Reflect Missile a shot. Reflect Missile [Nintendo UK]

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Q-Games’ Reflect Missile Coming To DSiWare [DSIWare]

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks Multiplayer Preview: Spreading The Phantom [Preview]

It seems like nobody noticed (except of course the developers) that Link’s newest adventure has a multiplayer mode. Too busy paying attention to trains and a ghostly Zelda along with Link for the ride, I guess. But anyway, Spirit Tracks has multiplayer. Boy does it ever have multiplayer, and boy did we ever play it. Here’s what we liked: What Is It? The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks ‘ multiplayer mode is akin to The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures for the GameCube – four people each control one color-coded Link and move around the same map as the other Links. The difference in Spirit Tracks is that instead of trying to help each other, you’re racing each other to collect Power Gems and trying to royally screw each other up on the way. Note: It’s local-only. What We Saw I played two matches against a developer and two publicists at Nintendo’s Redwood City office after finally getting my hands on the singleplayer mode. How Far Along Is It? Spirit Tracks it out December 7. I was playing on a normal-sized cartridge that may have been a final version. What Needs Improvement? Little Bit Laggy: When dashing around the dungeon map, things start off steady and the Power Gem drops are few and far between. As the match picks up pace, however, and players start falling into traps or getting sliced up the Phantoms, huge amounts of Gems will suddenly spill out onto the map. That plus all four players frantically running to that point to scavenge Gems caused a couple of super-laggy moments in an otherwise smooth experience. Trap Door Confusion: There are trap doors in every map that are either random or triggered by switches. I honestly couldn’t tell you which, though, because sometimes I’d press a switch and a trap door would open and sometimes the door seemed to open and shut in a kind of rhythm. It was confusing – and that much more frustrating when I fell into one because I didn’t know if I should blame somebody for it. What Should Stay The Same? Spreading The Phantom: Numerous Phantoms – those big guys in helmets from the last Zelda DS game, Phantom Hourglass – wander the maps, prowling for Links. When one spots you, a little icon pops up above your head, indicating that it’s got a bead on you. If you fail to run for your life, the Phantom will speed toward you and cut you – costing you precious Power Gems and precious seconds as you scramble to get up and recover them before the other players get there. The fun part about this mechanic is the bit where you can pass the Phantom’s bead onto other players you run by – like spreading Chlamydia. It’s amusing. The Invisible Zone: One map we tried out had a patch of water in the center that rendered players invisible when they ran in. You could still see ripples where their feet landed in the water – and if you look closely, the ripples are color coded like the Links – but with all four players running around in there and Phantoms bearing down on one or more of them, it was blind panic. And freaking awesome. Mario Kart-style Pick-ups: Occasionally, an orb with a question mark on it will fall from the sky. Players that snag this pick-up are treated to several things like a random Gem drop, invisibility or a lightning strike that you can inflict on other players. It keeps things interesting and can be the salve to the wound of a player who just went from 51 Gems to two after a string of Phantom infections. Single Cartridge Play: I am so happy that it doesn’t require four people to actually buy the game to enjoy this mode. Final Thoughts The multiplayer mode in Spirit Tracks certainly isn’t the main attractions of the game – but it’s a solid addition that deserves to be played if you can tear yourself away from trains and princesses for a little while.

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The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks Multiplayer Preview: Spreading The Phantom [Preview]

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks Multiplayer Preview: Spreading The Phantom [Preview]

It seems like nobody noticed (except of course the developers) that Link’s newest adventure has a multiplayer mode. Too busy paying attention to trains and a ghostly Zelda along with Link for the ride, I guess. But anyway, Spirit Tracks has multiplayer. Boy does it ever have multiplayer, and boy did we ever play it. Here’s what we liked: What Is It? The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks ‘ multiplayer mode is akin to The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures for the GameCube – four people each control one color-coded Link and move around the same map as the other Links. The difference in Spirit Tracks is that instead of trying to help each other, you’re racing each other to collect Power Gems and trying to royally screw each other up on the way. Note: It’s local-only. What We Saw I played two matches against a developer and two publicists at Nintendo’s Redwood City office after finally getting my hands on the singleplayer mode. How Far Along Is It? Spirit Tracks it out December 7. I was playing on a normal-sized cartridge that may have been a final version. What Needs Improvement? Little Bit Laggy: When dashing around the dungeon map, things start off steady and the Power Gem drops are few and far between. As the match picks up pace, however, and players start falling into traps or getting sliced up the Phantoms, huge amounts of Gems will suddenly spill out onto the map. That plus all four players frantically running to that point to scavenge Gems caused a couple of super-laggy moments in an otherwise smooth experience. Trap Door Confusion: There are trap doors in every map that are either random or triggered by switches. I honestly couldn’t tell you which, though, because sometimes I’d press a switch and a trap door would open and sometimes the door seemed to open and shut in a kind of rhythm. It was confusing – and that much more frustrating when I fell into one because I didn’t know if I should blame somebody for it. What Should Stay The Same? Spreading The Phantom: Numerous Phantoms – those big guys in helmets from the last Zelda DS game, Phantom Hourglass – wander the maps, prowling for Links. When one spots you, a little icon pops up above your head, indicating that it’s got a bead on you. If you fail to run for your life, the Phantom will speed toward you and cut you – costing you precious Power Gems and precious seconds as you scramble to get up and recover them before the other players get there. The fun part about this mechanic is the bit where you can pass the Phantom’s bead onto other players you run by – like spreading Chlamydia. It’s amusing. The Invisible Zone: One map we tried out had a patch of water in the center that rendered players invisible when they ran in. You could still see ripples where their feet landed in the water – and if you look closely, the ripples are color coded like the Links – but with all four players running around in there and Phantoms bearing down on one or more of them, it was blind panic. And freaking awesome. Mario Kart-style Pick-ups: Occasionally, an orb with a question mark on it will fall from the sky. Players that snag this pick-up are treated to several things like a random Gem drop, invisibility or a lightning strike that you can inflict on other players. It keeps things interesting and can be the salve to the wound of a player who just went from 51 Gems to two after a string of Phantom infections. Single Cartridge Play: I am so happy that it doesn’t require four people to actually buy the game to enjoy this mode. Final Thoughts The multiplayer mode in Spirit Tracks certainly isn’t the main attractions of the game – but it’s a solid addition that deserves to be played if you can tear yourself away from trains and princesses for a little while.

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The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks Multiplayer Preview: Spreading The Phantom [Preview]

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks Multiplayer Preview: Spreading The Phantom [Preview]

It seems like nobody noticed (except of course the developers) that Link’s newest adventure has a multiplayer mode. Too busy paying attention to trains and a ghostly Zelda along with Link for the ride, I guess. But anyway, Spirit Tracks has multiplayer. Boy does it ever have multiplayer, and boy did we ever play it. Here’s what we liked: What Is It? The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks ‘ multiplayer mode is akin to The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures for the GameCube – four people each control one color-coded Link and move around the same map as the other Links. The difference in Spirit Tracks is that instead of trying to help each other, you’re racing each other to collect Power Gems and trying to royally screw each other up on the way. Note: It’s local-only. What We Saw I played two matches against a developer and two publicists at Nintendo’s Redwood City office after finally getting my hands on the singleplayer mode. How Far Along Is It? Spirit Tracks it out December 7. I was playing on a normal-sized cartridge that may have been a final version. What Needs Improvement? Little Bit Laggy: When dashing around the dungeon map, things start off steady and the Power Gem drops are few and far between. As the match picks up pace, however, and players start falling into traps or getting sliced up the Phantoms, huge amounts of Gems will suddenly spill out onto the map. That plus all four players frantically running to that point to scavenge Gems caused a couple of super-laggy moments in an otherwise smooth experience. Trap Door Confusion: There are trap doors in every map that are either random or triggered by switches. I honestly couldn’t tell you which, though, because sometimes I’d press a switch and a trap door would open and sometimes the door seemed to open and shut in a kind of rhythm. It was confusing – and that much more frustrating when I fell into one because I didn’t know if I should blame somebody for it. What Should Stay The Same? Spreading The Phantom: Numerous Phantoms – those big guys in helmets from the last Zelda DS game, Phantom Hourglass – wander the maps, prowling for Links. When one spots you, a little icon pops up above your head, indicating that it’s got a bead on you. If you fail to run for your life, the Phantom will speed toward you and cut you – costing you precious Power Gems and precious seconds as you scramble to get up and recover them before the other players get there. The fun part about this mechanic is the bit where you can pass the Phantom’s bead onto other players you run by – like spreading Chlamydia. It’s amusing. The Invisible Zone: One map we tried out had a patch of water in the center that rendered players invisible when they ran in. You could still see ripples where their feet landed in the water – and if you look closely, the ripples are color coded like the Links – but with all four players running around in there and Phantoms bearing down on one or more of them, it was blind panic. And freaking awesome. Mario Kart-style Pick-ups: Occasionally, an orb with a question mark on it will fall from the sky. Players that snag this pick-up are treated to several things like a random Gem drop, invisibility or a lightning strike that you can inflict on other players. It keeps things interesting and can be the salve to the wound of a player who just went from 51 Gems to two after a string of Phantom infections. Single Cartridge Play: I am so happy that it doesn’t require four people to actually buy the game to enjoy this mode. Final Thoughts The multiplayer mode in Spirit Tracks certainly isn’t the main attractions of the game – but it’s a solid addition that deserves to be played if you can tear yourself away from trains and princesses for a little while.

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The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks Multiplayer Preview: Spreading The Phantom [Preview]

Report: Nintendo Releasing New DSi With Larger Screens For Japan This Year [Nintendo]

There’s a new Nintendo DSi coming. And it’s coming this year to Japan, boasting a larger 4″ screen and… well, a larger 4″ screen, according to a report from the reliable Nikkei news service. According to that report, which appeared in the Nikkei newspaper and has since made its way online, the price for the new, larger DSi will remain the same, 18900 yen. The large screen DSi, three-quarters of an inch larger than the current model, is said to be aimed at an older market, the type who likes big buttons on their telephones and large print books. While the jumbo Nintendo DSi is planned to hit Japan this year, says the Nikkei, a release elsewhere is said to be under discussion. Nintendo announced the original DSi in a similar fashion, officially unveiling the device in October then releasing it domestically before the end of the year. We’re checking in with Nintendo of America for comment and will update if they have anything interesting or confirming to say. Nintendo To Release Large-Screen DSi In Japan [Nikkei - subscription required] 任天堂がDSiの進化版を年内に販売！iPhone対抗か！液晶も大型化 [via NeoGAF ]

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Report: Nintendo Releasing New DSi With Larger Screens For Japan This Year [Nintendo]

Nintendo DSi Getting Its Own Speak Channel? [Rumor]

Nintendo may soon be offering a dedicated voice chat application for the Nintendo DSi , dubbed the Nintendo DSi Speak Channel , a feature that looks to have leaked from the company’s support web site. That leak was discovered while perusing the ” error code 206602 ” entry at Nintendo.com, an entry which has since been scrubbed of any mention of the Nintendo DSi Speak Channel. Searching Google for that entry shows its former existence, which previously read: “To redeem a Nintendo DSi Download Ticket number, such as for the Nintendo DSi Speak Channel, enter the number off the Nintendo DSi Download Ticket in ‘Settings and Features’ off of the main Nintendo DSi Shop page, then select ‘Nintendo DSi Download Ticket.’” If true, it wouldn’t be the first resource for DS or DSi owners to utilize voice chat. Previous Nintendo DS games, such as Metroid Prime Hunters and Advance Wars: Days of Ruin, had voice chat over wi-fi built-in. A DSi Speak Channel definitely sounds in line with the company’s plans to offer such functionality via the DSi Shop, not to mention falling in line with Nintendo’s naming conventions, looking at Animal Crossing: City Folk’s Wii Speak accessory. What do you think? Would you pay for a Speak Channel on the Nintendo DSi? And just how high are you willing to go? Nintendo DSi Speak Channel in the works? [Kolma.info] Nintendo error code support points to DSi Speak Channel in the works [GoNintendo]

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Nintendo DSi Getting Its Own Speak Channel? [Rumor]

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