DS Gets Voice Chat and Demo Downloads

You'll soon be able to chat with gamers around the world using your DS, but don't think you can start the trash talking just yet.

First it brought you touch-screen gameplay, then it let you go online for free, and now the DS brings voice-chat to online gaming.

Nintendo revealed this week at the DICE Summit outside Las Vegas that when Metroid Prime: Hunters hits later this year, you'll not only be able to blast away opponents on the other side of the world, you'll also be able to berate them - but only before and after matches.

The announcement came during an impassioned speech from Nintendo's Reggie Fils-Aime, who told the DICE Summit audience that game makers need to "innovate or die," GameSpot reports.

Nintendo's self-proclaimed Blue Ocean philosophy of innovation (as opposed to the blood-soaked Red Ocean of stagnation and repetition owned by Sony and Microsoft) came up again, as did more numbers supporting the growth of the gaming audience thanks to breakout hits such as Nintendogs, which has sold more than 4 million copies worldwide, and the Brain Training series, which hits North America and Europe later this winter after dominating sales in Japan for months.

To help it appeal to the four-fifths of people who aren't ardent gamers, Nintendo will continue to provide more accessible experiences, such as the aforementioned Nintendogs. The Revolution will also be built around this idea, though Nintendo is adamant that it's not going to forget about its hardcore base.

Another way to let newcomers in is through download stations, which are being rolled out worldwide. Already available in Japan, these are hotspots where you can download demos or other media straight to your DS. A major snag is that because the DS doesn't include any sort of storage you lose it all when you power down.

North Americans can look forward to similar hotspots to appear "in a matter of weeks," Nintendo said at the DICE Summit. There are also more-than-murmurs that suggests Europe is only months away from getting them too.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games