[fov]

Thanks for the preview. If this game does make it to the US I might just buy a DS to try it out.* I think this is a really exciting venue for adventure games, particularly because it's brand new. There's no one (yet) saying things like "You can't have adventure games on the DS because that's not what the DS was made for." And the DS's voice control and wireless access gives it some opportunities for new types of gameplay that PCs and consoles just don't have.

Last week during Satoru Iwata's keynote at GDC, just before opening it up to several DS demonstrations, Iwata said something that really stuck with me (and I've been looking for a way to work it into a conversation ever since!):

Originally Posted by Nintendo president Satoru Iwata

...I am most concerned with what we think of as a gamer. As we spend more time and money chasing exactly the same players, who are we leaving behind? Are we are creating games just for each other? Do you have friends and family members who do not play video games? Well, why don't they? And, I would ask this: How often have you challenged yourself to create a game that you might not play?

At the time I thought "hey, he could be talking about adventure games!" And now seeing this first look at Another Code I think maybe he was.

-emily

*Well, this and the really cute virtual pet game that was demonstrated during the Nintendo keynote...

[Silke]

I agree, this game seems very, very interesting. The little trailer was absolutely wonderful. I just got myself a DS, and the fact that it's already been confirmed for Europe makes me jump of joy

I will keep my eyes on this potential gem. And I really hope that more adventure creators will take advantage of this adorable little machine. It suits adventure games, as noted in the preview (very nice one as well), in the most fantastic way.

And it's also considerably cheap to create games on a DS in comparison to the PC or the stationary consoles. And since the game cards are quite large in storing space (up to 1 gig), even voices and exquisite cut scenes would work in an excellent way.

[LeChimp]

This was one of the reasons why I bought a DS. The DS was meant for games that are usually on PCs like RTS and adventure games.

[Toefur]

Yeah, after reading that review I actually wondered about possibly maybe one day considering buying a DS.

[Funktion]

This is one game I will be picking out (I bought my DS yesterday). There's lots of cool games and aplications being released in the future for the DS, extremely interesting and/or original stuff. This is a machine that has lots of potential, and it's great to see it's being used. In Japan at least, they will even release things like dictionaries, in which you draw the words to search on the touchscreen!
Not to mention I'm sure someone's making a version of Scumm for it, which would allow us to play some classics with the touchscreen.

I hope Nintendo keeps giving us games like these. In other areas I'm sure the PSP will be more successful (for some reason they got a "cool image", and they are popular for that, even when their hardware is much inferior to their competitors like in the case of PS2). They should focus on being a serious "alternative", and based on things like this and Electroplankton (a multimedia aplication by Japanese musician Toshio Iwai, "media art" as it's been called), I would say they're in a good way.

[Marek]

Yep, with the DS it's "so far so good". There's the promise of original titles in the future and the device seems to be well marketed.

One thing Nintendo can still work on is harvesting more original titles specifically for the DS. They're already doing it with Elektroplankton, Nintendogs, Another Code, etc. but it would further strengthen the platform if there are more games that start with a totally clean slate conceptually, and are not offshoots of existing properties. Adventure game developers could maybe play a role there.

[Funktion]

Slightly OT, but has anyone checked the website of the DS game "WarioWare Touched!" (http://www.warioware.biz/)?
I don't remember having so much fun with a website...
Try the mini-games. The soundtrack on the website is awesome, catchy stuff...

I played the first WarioWare on a friend's GBA and had a blast, and after checking this website I'm sold on the game...

[fov]

Nintendogs. That's the one I want for Christmas.

[Marek]

Steve just posted an interesting point about adventures on the DS on his blog:

Point-and-click on the PC is done through moving the mouse cursor around and then clicking with the mouse button when an object in the background highlights in some way. As Tony Warriner, over at Revolution, pointed out to me, you cannot do this with the stylus as you'd constantly have to sweep the stylus across the screen until you held it over something that was highlighted. Then, because you are already pressing on the screen with the stylus to do the "pointing", how would you "click"?

The clicking could be done with any of the DS' buttons, but indeed it still seems a bit awkward to sweep the screen with the stylus. (Or not? It's hard to visualize...) One alternative would be to just tap objects on the screen, but without the interface giving feedback about what's interactive or not, that would be like flying blind.

[Maquisard]

Or you could simply have a readout of usable objects (something like the dreamfall's blue beam?), and tap them accordingly?

[Jake]

I think if you're designing an adventure game specifically for the DS, you'd want to design the world with poking and prodding obvious objects in mind more than hot spot sweeping. I mean... that probably isn't more difficult than designing a game in which all hot spots have to be identifiable by a character turning their head or some other restraint. Porting existing games that are ridiculous dependend on hotspot sweeping (eg old LucasArts games) is another story I guess, and I could see it being really frustrating.

If your response to that is "but what is an adventure game without hotspot sweeping!" you probably just shouldn't be considering DS development, IMHO.


I also liked Steve's suggestion of using the stylus for a Metroid Prime-style "mouselook" functionality for first person DS adventures. That's kind of appealing.

[Scoville]

I thought most people hated it when games forced you to sweep every screen for hotspots. Doesn't the stylus essentially push designers into rethinking and improving the format?

[Silke]

Well it should be made clear that the stylus is excellent for sweeping buisness It's just like drawing with a pen. And the touch screen's feel is great.

[Leonard Shelby]

Another Code is the first chapter of a series of game according to some Nintendo sources .

Get ready for other episodes coming into the future

[RLacey]

Originally Posted by Marek

Steve just posted an interesting point about adventures on the DS on his blog:



The clicking could be done with any of the DS' buttons, but indeed it still seems a bit awkward to sweep the screen with the stylus. (Or not? It's hard to visualize...) One alternative would be to just tap objects on the screen, but without the interface giving feedback about what's interactive or not, that would be like flying blind.

I find it awkward when using ScummVM on my PocketPC, but that's because I can't map left-click to a button (it's locked to a stylus tap). It's perfectly functional, but games that require a pixel perfect click under a time limit are totally impossible. I hate you, Beneath a Steel Sky ...

[Marek]

1up has got a review on their site of the Japanese version.

If anything else, Another Code proves that point-and-click adventure titles (like Lucasarts classic Day of the Tentacle and Sam & Max) would not only work well on Nintendo DS, but that these PC-like titles reveal one of the strengths of Nintendo's ambiguous handheld. Sure, the outdated graphics and action-less gameplay may turn off some of you, but this is yet another great game for non-traditional handheld gamers.