Nintendo’s hit DS portable gaming machine will come with a digital camera that will allow players to mix images, scribble on photos and create new faces, the Japanese game maker announced yesterday.
The Nintendo DSi will go on sale in Japan on Nov. 1 for ¥18,900 (US$180) and will be available overseas next year. Dates and other details for overseas plans would be announced later by the company’s regional units, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said.
Iwata said the revamped DS is meant to be the first toy camera for children and a tool for network building and party fun for older people in the company’s ongoing quest to make gaming popular with everyone — not just a niche crowd.
PHOTO: AFP
One in six Japanese already owns a DS, Kyoto-based Nintendo’s figures showed. The company also makes the Pokemon and Super Mario games.
But the goal is to make the DS a must-have for every Japanese, Iwata said.
“We want to change the DS into something that’s in every household to something that’s for every person,” he told reporters at a Tokyo gymnasium.
The improved DSi is thinner than the current DS model and would have a bigger screen, he said.
Nintendo also demonstrated new game software for its hit Wii home console, including “Wii Music.”
Players just need to jiggle their remote controller to feel as though they are playing any of 60 musical instruments, including a drum set, sitar, saxophone and piano, although there are only 50 pre-programmed melodies.
Users will be able to make those tunes play electronically from their Wii machines at their own speed and whim — guaranteed to not sound a single incorrect note.
They will also be able to add personal touches, such as choosing accompanying instrumentation and genres such as jazz, reggae and rock.
Nintendo’s star game designer Shigeru Miyamoto said he loves to practice guitar at home alone, but he is intimidated about playing in front of an audience.
“This removes all those obstacles to a jam session,” Miyamoto said.
Nintendo has sold 77.5 million Nintendo DS hand-held devices worldwide, nearly 23 million in Japan, far outselling Sony Corp’s rival offering, the PlayStation Portable, with 41 million globally — 10 million in Japan.
Iwata acknowledged that the pace of DS sales have been dwindling recently and Nintendo was determined to reverse that with new offerings like the Nintendo DSi.
Data shows that the PSP has been challenging the DS lately — at least in Japan. For five months straight starting in March, PSP sales outpaced the DS in Japan, Tokyo-based Enterbrain’s figures showed.
In home consoles, the Wii competes against the PlayStation 3 from Sony and the Xbox 360 from Microsoft.
Nintendo said it has sold 29.6 million Wii consoles worldwide so far.
PlayStation 3 sales have lagged at fewer than half that at 14.4 million.
Microsoft Corp does not disclose how many of the cumulative 20 million Xbox 360 machines sold worldwide were Japanese sales. But the company has been targeting reaching a million Xbox sales in Japan sometime in the near future.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
RSS