Hey, the DS CAN do better-than-N64 graphics!

[OB1]

From gamegossip:

Yesterday's largest story was without a doubt the Nintendo DS software list but despite that fact, the list opened up more than its fair share of questions on the titles listed. Today however, it seems a few questions have been answered, as an update to developer Shin'en Multimedia's website, brings forth the first details on Majesco's upcoming Nintendo DS title Nanostray. While plot details are vague, the page states that Nanostray will puts players in the role of a ship pilot that comes back to life inside his craft. Below is a somewhat vague plot synopsis.


"You slowly come back to life in your spacecraft. It feels like you were unconscious only for seconds. Neverless you only have a vague idea of what has happenend. Frantic images loom in your mind without telling you anything you can decode by now. Slopped impressions of pain and humiliation cover your thoughts. Instinctively you look up to your console. Your board computer is still indicating a destination..."


Nanostray will feature 10 levels, WLAN 2-player modes, and Internet scoreboards, and will ship during Q1 2005 for the Nintendo DS. A few screenshots of Nanostray can be found on this page.

Nice, huh? Certainly blows away all of the previous DS games shown, at least in terms of textures. It's from the guys that made Iridion for the GBA, so they're great at pushing the capabilities of a system as soon as they get dev kits. And none of that is pre-rendered.

[Sacred Jellybean]

Damn... that's very nice-looking. The game sounds interesting, too, even though the synopsis is vague.

[Great Rumbler]

Iridion, despite the questionable viewpoint, still held a dear place in my part...before I sold it. Anyway, I've been playing some old shooters and I'm reminded of how fun they are so I'll definitely take a close look at this game and, yes, it does have very good graphics. It looks almost Dreamcast-level good.

[A Black Falcon]

Plot? One look at the graphics and game and it's obvious that plot isn't exactly relevant for a game like that... I mean, it looks like a shooter. They barely need a semblance of a story. :)

The Iridion team, huh... makes sense, as you say they were successful at pushing the hardware immediately. Their quality level was a bit lower, but hopefully this one will be good... but either way it shows what the DS can do and for the announced stats that's fairly impressive.

[Great Rumbler]

It looks like there's some bump-mapping going on in the background of those shots.

[Sacred Jellybean]

Plot? One look at the graphics and game and it's obvious that plot isn't exactly relevant for a game like that... I mean, it looks like a shooter. They barely need a semblance of a story.

Ahh... yeah... I must have mis-read the headline. :S

[A Black Falcon]

Not a bad thing, though. I love shooters... :)

[OB1]

Won't be any online co-op though. I got a response from the developer:

hi daniel,

currently wireless is limited to a short range. however, if nintendo
supports internet play in the future we will include it.

regards
--

Manfred Linzner
(Project Manager)
Shin'en Multimedia
http://www.shinen.com

Great, so stupid Nintendo isn't even supporting online with the DS, even though it was one of their main E3 press conference points. I guess that means no Animal Crossing DS online, which means no sale for me. Good job, Nintendo.

[Great Rumbler]

Well, that's dumb.

[OB1]

So there's the answer to our "by internet do they mean online gaming or web-browsing?" question.

[Great Rumbler]

I guess it does. But Nintendo keeps saying "connect to the internet"!! Why don't they say things so people know exactly what they're talking about?!

[OB1]

Because they want us to suffer.

[Great Rumbler]

Suffer like G did?

Sorry. I had to.

[A Black Falcon]

They want people to THINK they're actually going online when all that they are actually doing is having local networks... great plan, Nintendo! Way to make the DS succeed!

[Great Rumbler]

Well, there's still wireless LAN which is better than have a bunch of wires, although it's unlikely I'll be able to find someone else that has a DS. And I don't live near any wireless WiFi hubs. And I probably wouldn't be able to get a fast enough connection speed from my computer to play wirelessly...even if I had a wireless internet card. Soooo in conclusion it's not going to help me either way...it does have cool games though.

[A Black Falcon]

Nintendo is just totally insane. Their position on internet gaming makes absolutely no sense. I know the arguement is 'it won't make money', and they pull out numbers that say things like how most people that want to play games online would rather do it on their PC, and how most people have never paid to play online games (and, I bet, if they wanted to, something showing how relatively few people have WiFi)... and while those stats are accurate they are misleading because it's only relatively recently that online games on consoles became anything more than a niche market, while they have a long history on the PC. As for paying, on PC it's admittedly niche, and for any console game with a pay-to-play for just one game it's similar, but X-Box Live? Pay once, and only $50 for a year, is just about as good a way to do pay to play as I can imagine... is it a barrier? Yes. But it's a lower one than any other online network, and it's one that Nintendo really needs to see has worked well.

Or, of course, they could do it like Sony (or Sega on the Dreamcast) and just makes some of their own free online games... I think that that alone would hugely improve things. I mean, there is no logical reason that Madden is online on PS2 and not Gamecube when I am certain that they could make the network compatible with both versions. Or Splinter Cell, or whatever. The reason is the companies see no reason to spend money on the things they'd need to to expand the network the gamecube when they see no benefit as far as sales go, and no interest from Nintendo. All Nintendo would have to do is act a bit more like Sony and publish some online game, and bingo, I'd bet that we'd start seeing online games on the Cube. That won't happen, of course, but it's just a (depressing) thought.

As far as the DS goes I really meant it when I said that if they weren't going to put in wired online they are just as good to not have bothered.

[OB1]

Indeed. Third-parties won't support online gaming for the DS if stupid Nintendo doesn't just like they don't with the GC.