Whats Next for Nintendo DS in America?
he video game industry closed 2004 with a rush to portable game systems, and especially a rush to Nintendo DS. The new year starts much the same way, with the 1.3 million new Nintendo DS owners in North America experiencing games and interacting with one another in ways never before possible. From the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nintendo announces that new games planned for the first quarter of 2005 will expand this community even more by demonstrating that there’s more to hand-held video games than pretty pictures. “”Publishers and game players have only just begun to tap the potential of Nintendo DS,”” says George Harrison, Nintendo of America’s senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications. “”2005 will continue the excitement we’ve experienced in 2004.””
The trend in consumer electronics is for music players, telephones and all manner of organizers to become portable, and video games are no exception. The future of video games will be characterized by innovation by which games and systems can give players the best adventures and the newest ways to play. The dual-screened Nintendo DS defines this trend with a touch screen, wireless communication and voice recognition. Nintendo DS represents a third, distinct product line for Nintendo, and it’s the cornerstone of Nintendo’s approach to the future.
Publishers have more than 120 games planned for Nintendo DS. Key titles due in 2005 include Need for Speed UndergroundTM 2 from Electronic Arts, WarioWareTM: Touched!, Pokmon Dash and Yoshi Touch & GoTM from Nintendo and Retro Atari ClassicsTM from Atari. Thanks to backward compatibility with Game Boy Advance SP titles, Nintendo DS already boasts a library of more than 500 games.
But Nintendo DS is just one element of Nintendo’s strong holiday season. 2005 will herald new games for Game Boy Advance SP and Nintendo GameCubeTM.
Game Boy Advance continued its dominance by selling more than 8 million units in North America in 2004, making it the year’s best-selling video game system. Key upcoming titles include WarioWareTM: Twisted!, The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, Mario Party Advance, Fire EmblemTM: The Sacred Stones and Pokmon Emerald from Nintendo, Ace Combat AdvanceTM and Klonoa 2 from Namco and Banjo PilotTM from THQ. More than 125 games are expected this year for Game Boy Advance SP.
Nintendo GameCube heads into 2005 with strong momentum after solid sales during the holidays. In the coming months, the graphical powers of Nintendo GameCube will shine again as Star Fox: Assault, GeistTM, Donkey KongaTM 2 and Donkey Kong Jungle Beat from Nintendo join top titles like Resident Evil 4 and Killer 7TM from Capcom, NBA Street V3 from Electronic Arts, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Chaos Theory from Ubisoft and Mortal Kombat: DeceptionTM from Midway. And a new adventure for The Legend of Zelda series remains in development. More than 60 games are expected this year for Nintendo GameCube.
