Two screens, not one. Wireless connection for game play and personal communication for the sheer entertainment of it. Flexible game control by voice and touch, not just with buttons and it's all coming our way much sooner than imitially expected . Nintendo's newest innovation, Nintendo DS, will make its worldwide debut in North American stores on Nov. 21, and then in Japan on Dec. 2. It will sell at an MSRP of USD 149.99 (GBP 85 / Euro 123). According to Nintendo the positive feedback received from the DS presentation in the U.S. has prompted the company to launch the handheld in N. America before their own home market in Japan. Nintendo DS will become the company's first system ever to make its sales debut outside of Japan.
Nintendo's mission remains unchanged: expand the game experience, says Satoru Iwata, president of Nintendo Co., Ltd. Nintendo DS is the road map to the future of video games, and most clearly demonstrates the type of innovation that players demand.
Nintendo DS is instantly recognizable due to its dual-screens, one screen allows for touch input using a stylus, while the unit includes both voice recognition and multiplayer wireless features. The sleek silver-and-black system sports a sharp, angular design.
Consumers immediately will be able to pick up and play the new system, as it comes with a free software feature, PictoChat, embedded in the system hardware. PictoChat allows DS owners to write messages with an on-screen keyboard or the stylus and send them wirelessly to other DS users nearby. Users can text chat, draw artistic messages or share secrets, all without saying a word. And a Nintendo DS in sleep mode will spring to life if it senses another DS in transmitting range, alerting users to each other's presence and setting the stage for an impromptu conversation or game session.
More than 100 companies have signed on to create games for Nintendo DS, while Nintendo itself is already developing its first 20 titles. Electronic Arts already has announced that its major franchises of Madden NFL, The URBZ: Sims in the City, Need for Speed Underground, Tiger Woods and GoldenEye will support Nintendo DS.
The complete lineup of games planned for the launch of Nintendo DS, it is expected, will be announced at a scheduled press event in Japan October 7, president Satoru Iwata and designer Shigeru Miyamoto are expected to attend. In effect, Nintendo DS already boasts a library of more than 550 games because it is compatible with single-player modes of games made for Game Boy Advance SP.
Nintendo DS will be available in Europe and Australia in the first quarter of 2005.
Nintendo DS has a flip-top cover that protects both screens. Two speakers on the unit's face let users hear virtual surround sound, while its dual screens open games to a multitude of possibilities. Nintendo DS sits 148.7 millimeters (5.85 inches) wide, 84.7 millimeters (3.33 inches) long and 28.9 millimeters (1.13 inches) tall with the cover closed. The new media format for games means that Nintendo DS has no moving parts that could be misaligned if the unit is dropped or jarred.
