Late Night Consoling

What a whirlwind of activity today surrounding the Nintendo DS. The two big surprises of the day are 1) the ability to download games and demoes and 2) a Final Fantasy III remake. I know there was a decent amount of negativity surrounding EuroGamer's incredibly false statement about four launch titles, but I think it's important for all of us to admit humility and bask in the surprises that Nintendo keeps pumping out. The launch line-up appears strong; definitely some big name brands and the oddball original games that should show off the innovation that is the DS. I think the biggest saving grace for the DS is the $30 price level for the games. I felt ridiculous paying $30 for GBC games and even more so when paying $40 for GBA games. Knowing the kind of hardware that is the Nintendo DS and anticipating a much higher bar for gameplay with its games, $30 sounds just right for me.

	DS Launch Titles Confirmed Nintendo has made it official: eleven full-fledge titles at launch. Super Mario 64 DS will be the Nintendo flagship title, which is a multiplayer adaptation of the N64 game. Electronic Arts gives sports nuts their Madden NFL 2005 and Tiger Woods PGA Tour while also bringing out the Sims franchise with The Urbz: Sims in the City. Other notables are Ridge Racer DS and a previously N-Gage only game, Asphalt Urban GT. There are also two programs included with the Nintendo DS, PictoChat and Metroid Prime: Hunters demo. All launch titles will sell for $29.99.
	Download Games to Your DS President of Nintendo, Satoru Iwata, revealed yet another secret weapon of the Nintendo DS: the ability to download and instantly play games. The main advantage of this is to do away with the "one cartridge per person" multiplayer requirement. Thanks to the new technology, one person can share his or her game with everyone else so that they can all play together. Iwata added this may be a great way to release demoes, where retail stores have hubs that DS owners can walk up to, download a demo, and try it until it expires. Taking this even further, the idea was thrown around that gamers can bring their DS to the latest Pokemon movie in theaters and download new creatures or items to their Pokemon cartridge. Iwata wrapped it up by reaffirming that Nintendo is not going to neglect the Game Boy Advance.
	Another Final Fantasy Coming to the DS Nintendo and Square Enix are teaming up again and this time its for the DS. The new (well, sorta) Final Fantasy coming to the portable is a remake of Final Fantasy III. Now, this is the third FF ever made, the one released on the NES. This is NOT FF3 on the SNES, which was actually the sixth ever made. We are to expect a different experience than the NES version, according to producer Akitoshi Kawazu: "The interface will really be different from the original, using the touch panel and the double screen. So please look forward to the game's rebirth." Kawazu made the presentation with Shigeru Miyamoto and they discussed Internet gaming on the DS, with Miyamoto hinting that Square Enix's success of online gaming could help energize the DS. Kawazu said it'd be difficult, but did sound like something was up his sleeve.
	The Upcoming Future for the Nintendo DS Wrapping up the Nintendo DS coverage, the Big N gave us a glimpse of their future plans in regards to game releases. We can expect from them titles such as a new Mario Kart, WarioWare Inc. DS, Animal Crossing DS, Advance Wars DS, and Yoshi's Touch & Go. EA has in the pipeworks DS versions of GoldenEye: Rogue Agent and Need for Speed Underground. Other hot properties to look forward to are Viewtiful Joe, Final Fantasy, and Bomberman. There are 120 games in development and we can expect to see between 20 and 25 of them by the end of the first quarter of 2005.
	Worms 3D, Under Siege Still Coming Many were concerned about two titles still making it over to the consoles after Acclaim went bankrupt; Worms 3D: Special Edition and Worms Fortress: Under Siege. Team 17, the developer of the games, were happy to announce that they have found a publisher. Details are to be revealed soon, as Martyn Brown mentioned, "We haven't got release schedules yet but we are working on those and hope to have both games on sale this year if at all possible (we have to re-submit the games through Sony/Microsoft as we changed publisher)."
	THQ Nabs Juiced? New York Newsday is running a story that a federal bankruptcy judge has allowed Acclaim to tentatively agree to sell its Juiced IP to THQ. Supposedly, THQ has outbid Take-Two for the rights and avoided a bidding war with Electronic Arts as the judge said EA tried to enter proceedings too late. THQ is to finish development on Juiced as there are some technical issues that need to be ironed out.
	Misc. Media/Previews
	GameSpot gives us images of TOCA Race Driver 2.
	IGN goes hands-on with Xbox Live Arcade.
	A feature preview of Baten Kaitos and shots of Mario Party 6 are at GameSpot. IGN blasts our way ELEVEN new videos of Metroid Prime 2 Echoes.
	GameSpot takes a look at the EA DS titles of: Madden NFL 2005, The Urbz: Sims in the City, and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005. They also have a 14-minute long video of a demonstration for Metroid Prime: Hunters, shots of The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, and Final Fantasy I & II: Dawn of Souls. Check out their full coverage at this site.
	IGN gets their hands on ESPN College Hoops 2K5 (PS2, Xbox) and tells us all about it. GameSpot updates their preview of Call of Duty: Finest Hour (PS2, Xbox, GCN). TeamXbox grips the wheel in this hands-on of Crash 'n' Burn (PS2, Xbox).