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Nintendo DS Connection Tour '06 Feature Preview

Writer: Nick Schaedel » Blog
Posted: 6th Feb, 2006

Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo
Release: 1st Quarter, 2006

I thought it was clever of me to get there early. So did the other 100 people. So, after I filled out a form to enter the Mario Kart Tournament, I was unleashed into the crowded, smelly confines of centre stage. Situated around me were perhaps ten stations, each with 4 DS systems. Games on display included titles already available for purchase (Animal Crossing: Wild World, WarioWare: Touched!, Mario Kart DS, Tony Hawk's American Sk8Land, Nintendogs and more), as well as the brand new, unreleased demos.

You can skip to our hands-on previews below if you're not interested in my swag from the day. I picked up a copy of Meteos for answering the question "At last year's E3, what did new system did Reggie pull out from his pocket?" I also got my hands on a stuffed Nintendogs toy that cleans your screens, two lanyards and a bunch of stickers.

I managed to progress into the Grand Final of the Mario Kart DS tournament, but was unable to walk away with the major prize (a year's worth of Nintendo products). Suspiciously, the announcer that was drawing in crowds kept repeating "So if it comes out in November, you'll get it." It was drilled into my brain all day. Hmm... Come to think of it, he was calling Nintendogs "Nintendo dogs", so maybe he wasn't suggesting anything. Or perhaps that's reverse psychology. Still, I got my photo on Nintendo.com.au, so really, could you ask for anything more? Other than correct spelling?

All in all, it was a great event, and the crowds obviously loved it. Keep it up, Nintendo! Where's my Chibi-Robo tour?


PREVIEWS:

Hands-On With Mario & Luigi: Partners In Time


Hands-On With Brain Training For Adults

Part of the wave of the "all-access" gaming that has become the focus of Nintendo's business was a DS title called Brain Training For Adults. When launched in Japan, the unique game raised attention from both hardcore gamers and those new to the industry. It's been a huge system seller, attracting older players to the console.

The DS Connection Tour demo consisted of two modes. The first was a simple maths mode, which required you to rotate your system 90 degrees. If you were left-handed, you had the touchscreen on the left, and vice versa. Simple maths questions like 3x7 were posed on the normal screen, with the touch screen used for scribbling out your answer. You're timed to judge your mental speed, with results based on number of answers correct and actual time taken (an incorrect answer was a 5 second penalty to your time).

The other mode was a toughie. Words appeared on the screen in different colours. You had to speak into the microphone what the colour of the word was. Things are then complicated; the words shown on the screen are the names of colours themselves. So, you could have 'red' in a blue text. The aim is to name the colour of the writing, not read the word itself. Anyone who's (continued next page)