Hot on the heels of Microsoft's X10 event, Nintendo held its own Media Summit in San Francisco. Yesterday's event was bursting with just as many big reveals as Microsoft's, and there are plenty of reasons for fans to get excited.
With a new DS refresh and a slew of new games for both the Wii and DSi consoles, 2010 should continue the company's success. Here is what to expect in the first half of 2010. We'll be hearing about the second half at E3.
The DSi XL
We already knew that the DSi XL was coming, but now we know when and for how much. Nintendo announced that the system will arrive in North American stores on March 28 and will carry a MSRP of $189.99. Aside from having a larger screen size, the console will include a larger stylus.
Gamers will be able to purchase the system in either burgundy or bronze color schemes. More exciting, though, is that the DSi XL will come with pre-installed copies of Brain Age Express: Arts & Letters, and Brain Age: Math and Photo Clock, the Nintendo DSi Browser and Flipnote Studio. Nintendo revealed two games that are set to be launched at retail during the same time: America's Test Kitchen: Let's Get Cooking and WarioWare: D.I.Y
DSi and DSi XL releases
Square-Enix is continuing its love affair with Nintendo. Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies will launch at an unspecified date this summer. The title's story follows the adventures of an ex-angel who falls to earth and becomes human. The game is notorious for its difficulty and novel for its cooperative multiplayer design, though it's clearly well-loved overseas (having sold over 4.15 million copies in Japan). Hopefully nothing gets lost in translation when it comes out here in America.
Picross 3D is due out on May 3. If you haven't heard of Picross 3D, players have to chip away parts of a rectangular prism in order to construct three dimensional images. The gameplay is reminiscent of a 3D version of Minesweeper, because players have to work at not chipping away parts of the prism that are part of the image itself. The game is set to start out with more than 350 puzzles at its launch and will have more available for download in the future.
Majesco is getting ready to launch Ghostwire: Link to the Paranormal for the DSi this October. The game lets players assume the role of ghost hunters like those seen on popular reality TV shows. Early footage of the game shows that it utilizes the console's built-in camera to represent real-world environments and superimposes images of ghosts onto the DSi's screens. Unfortunately, not too much information about the title has been revealed yet, but the information currently available makes it seem like it's a handheld alternate reality game with elements of Fatal Frame thrown in.
Finally, Nintendo seems to be testing out the idea of adapting DS consoles into e-readers, thanks to the upcoming 100 Classic Books. The software will come out on June 14 and will contain a hundred classic pieces of literature by authors like Shakespeare, Twain, and Austen. You'll be able to adjust text size, place digital bookmarks so you don't lose your place, and eventually download new books over the Nintendo WiFi Connection. While the last piece of information is certainly interesting to hear about, there's no word about whether or not it will cost extra to get more books.
Big stuff in store for the Wii
There were also some major announcements about games coming out for the Wii. Of particular note, two of Nintendo's biggest franchises will have new games coming out this summer. On top of that, the company revealed some details about other major releases for the console.
We loved Super Mario Galaxy to bits, so we were thrilled to hear Nintendo announce the sequel's official release date. The Wii title will arrive on May 23, and is set to include the gravity-defying gameplay of the first game, new galaxies, occasional team-ups with Yoshi, and new items like a drill that will let Mario tunnel through solid rock.
Metroid fans have surely been salivating heavily ever since Nintendo revealed at E3 that it was joining forces with Team Ninja to create a new entry for the series. Metroid: The Other M's release date has been announced for June 27 in North America. Specific details about the game are still somewhat scarce, but we do know that it takes place between Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion (and will tell "a cinematic, never-before-told story of bounty hunter Samus Aran's past"); it will also feature a mix of 2D and 3D play in third- and first-person perspectives, respectively.
Capcom's Monster Hunter series is finally coming to the Wii here in North America, with Monster Hunter Tri on April 20. The game sounds ambitious: billed as an epic action game in which players protect a town from monster attacks after it's been demolished by an earthquake, it will also include free online play for anyone with a broadband connection. As opposed to previous entries in the franchise, the upcoming adventure will feature underwater environments to explore and fight monsters in. On top of all this, online text and voice chat will be available, though the latter requires the Wii Speak microphone. Finally, a limited quantity of the game will be sold with the Black Classic Controller Pro (though the Monster Hunter Tri will also be sold without the controller).
Ubisoft also announced that Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands will be released for both the Wii and DS platforms on May 18. While the game is apparently going to include the action and puzzle-solving gameplay that the series has become famous for, the Wii version of the game will be the first Prince of Persia title to include two-player cooperative play. The Wii version will also include the SNES version of the original Prince of Persia, which was designed by Jordan Mechner (although this was available in the original Xbox's Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time as a hidden item).
The first collaboration between Disney Interactive and its recently acquired development studio, Wideload Games, was also unveiled. Disney Guilty Party is set to come out during the second half of the year; it will feature a number of party-oriented minigames with a mystery motif.
Though the original Sin and Punishment was never released for North American N64 systems, it did finally come out in 2007 for the Virtual Console. Sin & Punishment 2 is already out in Japan, but players in the US and Canada should be happy to learn that they now have a release date to look forward to, albeit with a new name. The game is coming to the Wii in North America on June 7. Like its predecessor, Sin & Punishment: Star Successor will be a two-player rail shooter and will feature international online leader boards. Based on the high standards established by the original game, this new Sin & Punishment has a lot to live up to.
Upcoming downloadable revelations
There were also a ton of new titles announced for both Nintendo's WiiWare and DSiWare services. While release dates were unveiled, the costs for many of these games have yet to be revealed.
The following major announcements were made for WiiWare:
•Mega Man 10 will launch on March 1, and will continue the tradition of crazy Mega Man action in the original 8-bit style.
•March 8 will see the release of Max & the Magic Marker. The game turns the Wii Remote into a magic marker that is used to create drawings that will help Max throughout the game's levels. The trailer on the game's website makes gameplay seem like a great combination of Drawn to Life and Crayon Physics.
•Cave Story is finally coming to the Wii, only five-and-a-half years after it was released as freeware for the PC. The Wii version of the game—due out on March 22—will feature all new artwork and enhanced music.
•Finally, WarioWare: D.I.Y. Showcase will launch at the same time as WarioWare: D.I.Y. does for the DS. The WiiWare title will be a standalone title and will feature cross-platform compatibility with its associated DS game: players using both games will be able to transfer content between the systems using a wireless connection.
Meanwhile, DSiWare received the following announcements, though no specific release dates or prices were specified:
•Photo Dojo is primed to launch sometime this spring. The idea behind this title is that players have to pose for a series of photos and create accompanying sound effects. After doing this, you become the star of a side-scrolling fighting game; up to eight characters can be created at a time, and the game features both a single-player mode and a head-to-head battle system.
•Metal Torrent is a shooter in the vein of Gradius, but with a unique twist: players convert enemy bullets into cubes that are then collected for additional points and energy bars necessary to employ special attacks. Nintendo's announced release date for this title is sometime this spring.
•Also launching this spring, X-Scape is a 3D tank exploration game that will have players journeying across more than twenty planets. There's the standard travel through 3D environments, but we're way more excited about the promised battles against giant robots.
