DS boxart / launch package revealed

Don't you guys find it very strange that the Americans get the DS first yet Nintendo are promting it in Japan quite heavely but not at all in the US? Very Strange indeed.

Yakumo

 

Yes it is, even more so because i've read on a few websites that sega enetrtainment and ea games have given a list of games incuding release dates:

Kimi no Tame Nara Shineru: 2 december

Kenshuui Tendou Dokuta: 2 december

The Urbz: Sims in the City: 2 december

Puyo Puyo Fever: 24 december

This would mean that the DS is going to be in the stores in japan less then a month after the USA release.

 

Look out Michael Jordan... I'm coming for you with my zapper.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Yeah, but that argument's hardly valid as the graphics were pretty good when the game came out. Same with Zelda and all the other games that are rated as the best of all time - they're rated like that because they effectively combined beautiful graphics for the time with excellent gameplay, and a good story if necessary.

That's more or less a contradiction in terms - projecting the envionment is inherently critical to immersion with a game. Without graphics you can have no immersion.

 

On the rather odd lack of any sort of release title list with a little over a month to go: I was told by one of the local Gamestore workers that basically, the only people that would get DS units here in the US were ones that placed preorders through various outlets - apparently Nintendo is testing the waters before going into fullblown production of the unit. I'm not sure if this is accurate or not, but I DO know it wasn't some sort of scare-tactic sales pitch - "Preorder from us or you might never get a DS!!!" Has anyone heard anything remotely close to this on the US release?

A funny extra note is that even the gamestores have no clue on release titles - the most likely one I've heard of is Animal Crossing, but that's it.

 

well, i've played the game the first time in 2003, just because i didn't had any good pc before that , never played or touched the game before that. in 2003 , the graphics of the first deux ex looked really like shit , but i was still really imersed in the game environement , gameplay and story. that graphics looked shitty or not.

imo, deus ex is one of the most imersive game ever , and its not because of the graphics of the game at all. Sadly , i've realised at the end that it was only a demo ( of 6 hours), im still searching for a sealed copy of it... :-(

(sorry if i begin to be in the off-topicness (like if i wasn't already.. :smt043 ) but anyone played the ps2 version of deux ex? any good? )

 

I agree with ID republix on this one, although graphics and visuals don't make the game, there is no doubt that something as groundbreaking as Ocarina of time just would not be the same in 2d, just like Triforce of the gods would not wok in the extra dimension.

He is not saying gameplay does not matter, it does, but the new hardware enables us to have even more immersive experiences in both 2d and 3d and there is no denying that, try playingStreet Fighter 2 on the snes compare to SSf2 x grand master challenge on the Dreamcast, no comparison.So why are you guys ganging up on him when he stated gameplay was king, we have just evolved visually that's all.

 

That's exactly what I was saying, thank you for seeing that. And as Alchy was saying, graphics are an integral part of the game, to say they don't matter is rather contradictory, as the very immersiveness of too many games is a direct result of realistic visuals, environments, and so on.

Anyway, going back to the DS, it certainly does seem to have the edge on the (apparently) troubled PSP right now. Granted I'm not convinced the dual screen feature will be taken advnathe of by third parties as has always been the acse with such features in hardware, but the PSPs battery issues and delays are not doing it any favours.

 

Uh-oh, don't mix graphics with 2d neither 3d. 3d and 2d is a type , a style, a choice. 3d don't make better graphics. sure, it can makes a more reallisitc environement.. but 2d and 3d isn't what makes good graphics, its how you use the 2d/3d.

and for the imersion, the story and gameplay is far more important than graphics. yeah, sure , graphics makes the game more realistic , but if you just watch a boring action and story , and you do nothing in the game, i don't think it can be named ''imersive'' . games are far more imersive than a movie , you know? and games with good gameplay and plot are far, FAR more imersive than a boring movie with unbelivable special effects .

 

I like the boxart, and I think it is cool that it's coming with a Metroid demo.

 

Boxart for the USA release, damn are they ugly :smt009

 

Alright, now if that Mario 64 DS actually has the original Mario 64 game as well as that newfangled multiplayer everyone was creaming their pants over, then THAT is going to be a must-have title, yessiree. :smt045

 

Actually it's just mario 64x4 but now with the full title seeing as the 64x4 was just a working title.

 

Yeah, that's what I meant, but all the info on the Mario 64x4 focuses on just the multiplay - will the original Mario 64 be included?

 

Not as far as i have read but i really hope it's in there because if it is i'll really be buying a DS

 

Goodness cahaz what do oyu think I've been sayign all along? There is no game without gameplay; gameplay is everything. Is anyone SAYING that a 'boring action movie' of a agme with superb visuals but shit story/gameplay is what is better? Your point on how 3d and 2d is used is besides the point - the POINT is that games like Shenmue, OOT, and so many others would not be possible without the technology that created these games, and would not be as immersive without the realism brought about by visual strength. Then again you're constantly missing the very point I am amking that Alchy and Nintendomad pointed out, so I'm just repeating myself.

Anyways - back on topic - I'm rethinking what I said about the DS not showing any true potential for devcos to make full use of the dual screen - because of one single game, I Would Die for You, by the former UGA. If this title alone is there at launch I will get a DS rather than a PSP without second thought.

 

you've said that great graphics makes a more imersing game , right? so,(....) i always repeat myself too, you know? and i was talking to nintendomad.

 

No, for the *millionth* time, I said they can and so often do help create an immersive experience - I ddi not say they were the SOLE factor in a game's immersion. Look at Vib Ribbon - does that depend on pretty visuals to make an awesome game? Hell no. But then look at Shenmue - Zelda OOT; Metroid Prime - all games whose immersive environments, characters etc are a direct result of realistic visuals - not the be-all and end-all of these games by any means, but definitely a definitive factor.

Again - back to the DS .

 

I just got my play-asia weekly update, your not going to believe this, the DS is going to be launched in japan in 8 weeks with 12 launch titles, here's a launch list:

Super mario 64 DS
Touch! made in wario
Pokemon Dash
Band brothers
Hitofude
Zoo Keeper
Kimi no Tame nara Shineru
The Urbz: sims in the city
Mr Driller DS
Tendo Dokuta
Cool104Joker&setline
Majan Taikai

And the pre-order price for a jap or USA DS is $169

Games will be 4800 yen a piece thats about $43

Play-asia has no information on USA launch titles and prices but will udate ina few days.

 

Just in time for X-MAS, Ninty have missed out on so many X-MAS launches of key products, it's about time they started doing things right!