The DS Weekend Warrior: of hijacking bicycles in Grand Theft Auto and more E3 shockers
Last week’s dose of Weekend Warrior may have been filled with great news of happy releases and some alarming tidbits concerning homebrew. This week isn’t any different, with the recent E3 event mostly filled with mixed reactions: shock, disappointment, giddiness, and some moments that just make people go “what the heck?” Do read all about it in the full article.
Last week’s Weekend Warrior for all handheld Ninty things has been mostly a pleasant week for those Nintendo DS enthusiasts who are scouring the internet for new titles to look forward to. Now that E3 has come and gone, however, we find that there are many things to look forward to, indeed. Accelerometers, early Kingdom Hearts 358/2 days release and…Duke Nukem?
Of E3 shockers and more
You better believe it. The Duke is back – that much we know already – and after the initial cloud of disbelief thinned out another bomb came along and shocked the gaming community: Duke Nukem coming to the handheld consoles, PSP and DS. Fans of the unholy Duke can play the entire trilogy: Critical Mass, Chain Reaction, and Proving Grounds, on the go. Yes, you can stop pinching your arm now.
Link: Duke Nukem Trilogy coming to PSP and DS
But that’s not the only unbelievable news that hit the internet within the last week. The E3 saw a few previously unannounced big third-party games currently in the developing board, and one is quite a bit of a shocker: Guitar Hero: On Tour Decades, Spore Creatures, Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia, aaaand *drumroll* Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars.
Yes. Grand Theft Auto. For the DS. We haven’t heard enough details concerning these games, however, but let’s imagine how the Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars will look like. Will we see some option to deliver Chinese take-out as a way to earn money? How about hijacking bicycles? Will the protagonist answer to a notorious restaurant owner as his boss? In any case, the idea sounds incredible, and we can’t wait to get our hands on info the first time we see them.
Link: E3 2008: new third-party DS games revealed by Nintendo; GTA DS, Pokemon Ranger, more
Speaking of releases, we’ve been twiddling our fingers for any sign of a release date for the Kingdom Hearts spin-off for the DS, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. There are some telling scans that hint of a 2008 release, but before you shout “yay!” you should know that there are some reasons to be wary about the authenticity of those scans. They look Photoshopped, for instance.
Link: Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days to be released this year?
Those aren’t the only pieces of news that got the interest of those who followed the E3 updates. Another concerns the confirmation of new Zelda games for both the Wii and DS. We’re certainly happy to hear that kind of news: you can rarely go wrong with Zelda. It’s just a bit sad that we’ll probably have to wait until next year to get more details about these new titles.
Link: E3 2008: Zelda and Mario Games for Wii confirmed, Zelda project for DS
Of hardware sales and other matters
The Nintendo press conference in the E3 revealed that the diminutive dual screen handheld is still doing good – really good – in sales. Aside from its sister console, the Wii, being able to churn out a monthly 700,000 units, the DS is still doing even better by scoring 200,000 units a week. We guess that the formula of a plethora of games being available (with some of them catering to those who prefer pick-up-and-play games) couple with an affordable price certainly makes for a good deal.
Link: E3 2008: Nintendo churning out 700k Wiis a month, 200k DSs a week
But here’s something that may hurt some of the DS’ market a bit, if ever this certain rumor is true: Activision is planning something for those who are interested in playing more games that are enhanced with hardware add-ons, such as Guitar Hero: On Tour. Apparently, an accelerometer that plugs into the Slot 2 of the Nintendo DS is currently in Activision’s drawing board. But this is not that bad thing that we’re talking about.
What could be a bad thing is this other bit of rumor: according to gossip, Nintendo is planning on developing cards with built-in accelerometers for games that require the use of motion control. Not only that, the big N is also supposed to work on a newer, slimmer DS unit that eschews the Slot 2 entirely.
If both rumors turn out to be factual, it may go wrong for those who bought Activision’s Guitar Hero: On Tour – there’s no Slot 2 to plug the controller in – and Activision is already developing Guitar Hero: On Tour Decades, which may probably make use of the same controller. In any case, you shouldn’t worry your pretty heads over rumors – take them with a grain of salt, if you will.
Link: E3 2008: DS gets accelerometer, and a newer, slimmed down DS redesign?
Will the iPhone challenge Nintendo’s little handheld that could?
John Koller, the product manager for Sony’s PSP, put in his own two cents concerning the possible competition between the handhelds and the iPhone. As we all know, the iPhone proved itself to be one of the most popular gadgets that sold out shortly after its launch, and may even mimic the Nintendo DS’ popularity in scale.
“We think the iPhone is more of a threat to the DS than anything else,” said Koller. Now, Nintendo DS owners may choose to scoff at such a ludicrous idea – an upstart mobile phone threatening the best-selling handheld? But think about this: the iPhone proved itself to be one of the more lucrative handhelds ever, and it did so not only once, but twice. Once in its first launch, and in the release of its new 3G version.
Not only that – Apple has proven that they can also grab quality game franchises for their gadgets, and this includes the Bomberman Touch game for the iPhone as well as Square Enix’s Song Summoner: The Unsung Heroes for the iPod Nano and iPod with videos.
With the iPhone’s popularity and competent game franchises combined, will it be enough to challenge the Nintendo DS? We can only know for sure when it happens.
Link: E3 2008: Koller says DS, not PSP, should be worrying about iPhone
Aaaand that’s it for this week. We’ve certainly seen a slew of interesting news from the recent E3 events – will we get the same dose of awesome in the days ahead? Let’s just wait for the updates to come our way. As always, come back for next week’s Weekend Warrior for the DS.