[12] A specially designed Rumble Pak was released in Japan in late May, 2006 for the Nintendo DS Lite [13] The cartridge is about 1cm shorter to prevent it from protruding out of the Nin
Trang 1Nintendo announced at E³ 2005 that it would launch "Headset Accessories" for VoIP enabled games (This will plug into the VoIP plug next to the Ear
Phone jack, not the Game Boy Advance slot.)
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Rumble Pak
Main article: Rumble Pak
The Rumble Pak was the first official expansion slot accessory In the form of
a Game Boy Advance cartridge, the Rumble Pak vibrates to reflect the action
in compatible games, such as when the player bumps into an obstacle or loses
a life It was released on October 24, 2005 and bundled with Metroid Prime
Pinball It can be used in games such as Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time, Star Fox Command and Metroid Prime: Hunters and is sold as a separate
accessory [12] A specially designed Rumble Pak was released in Japan in late May, 2006 for the Nintendo DS Lite [13] The cartridge is about 1cm shorter to prevent it from protruding out of the Nintendo DS Lite as standard Game Boy Advance cartridges do A North American version of the accessory is assumed following the June 11, 2006 release of the system
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Play-Yan
The Play-Yan is an adaptor which allows the Game Boy Advance SP and Nintendo DS to play MPEG-4 videos and MP3 music from SD memory cards
It was originally marketed as a Game Boy Advance accessory, but it can also
be used with the Nintendo DS The adaptor bears a superficial resemblance to the AM3 player (which allowed playback of pre-recorded movie files from read-only memory cards on a Game Boy Advance); the memory card slides into the right hand side of the adaptor, which then plugs into the cartridge slot
of the parent console
It is estimated that it will offer over 15 hours of MP3 playback and 4 hours of MPEG-4 playback from a fully-charged Game Boy Advance SP The adaptor
Trang 2launched in Japan in February 2005 for approximately 5,000 yen ($47.47) Nintendo originally planned to release the adapter in the U.S by the end of
2005, but it appears their plans have changed, as Nintendo has not delivered
an announcement of a U.S release with specific dates as of October 2006 [edit]
Nintendo DS Headset
The Nintendo DS Headset is the official headset for the Nintendo DS It plugs into the headset port (which is a combination of a standard 3.5mm headphone connector and a proprietary microphone connector) on the bottom of the system It features one earphone and a microphone, and is compatible with all games that use the internal microphone It is slated for release in Japan on September 14, 2006 [1] [2] [3]
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TV Tuner
Nintendo announced a digital TV Tuner card for the Nintendo DS portable game system in Japan
The Nintendo Digital TV tuner was released in April only in Japan
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Opera web browser
Main article: Nintendo DS Browser
On February 15, 2006, Nintendo announced a version of Opera, [14] a cross-platform web browser, which will take advantage of the dual screens for
either zooming in on certain sections of a website or having a longer vertical view [15] The browser went on sale in Japan on July 24, 2006, for JP¥3,800 [16] (approx $33) It was released in Europe on October 6, 2006 [17] Screens of an English version and promotional material were released at E3; however,
Trang 3Nintendo did not make any announcement of when the browser will be
coming to North America and Australia
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Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector
Main article: Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector
This USB-flash-disk-sized accessory plugs into a PC's USB port and creates a miniature hotspot, allowing up to five Nintendo DSs to connect to the
Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection service through the host computers' internet connection Currently this device is only compatible with Windows XP
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Hacking
Main article: Nintendo DS homebrew
Throughout the years the Nintendo DS has been released, a great deal of
hacking has occured involving the DS's firmware, Wi-Fi, game cards, and software use There are also Nintendo DS game emulators available, although they do not portray the original Nintendo DS games, because of the lack of the prominent touch sensitive screen
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Marketing and sales
On January 5, 2006, Nintendo issued a formal apology after the Nintendo DS became sold out throughout Japan, [18] as no Nintendo system had ever sold out in Japan before [19]
Nintendo announced on February 15, 2006 that in Japan the Nintendo DS reached 5 million units sold in less than 13 months after its launch, which marks the fastest-ever pace for a video game system in Japan [20]
Trang 4In Nintendo's press conference at E3 2006, George Harrison (Senior Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Communication at Nintendo of
America) stated that the Nintendo DS sold over 16 million units world wide since its launch
Sales of Nintendo DS and DS Lite (as of June 30, 2006): [21]
worldwide: 21.27 million
o Japan: 9.24 million (10 million as of July 31, 2006)
o The Americas: 5.90 million
o Other: 6.13 million
(Sales figures include Nintendo DS Lite units, which totaled 4.15 million
worldwide.)
On July 31, 2006, Kyoto Shimbun reported that Japanese sales had exceeded
10 million units This was achieved in approximately 20 months from its
launch in the region, which Nintendo claims is the "fastest ever for a game machine." [22]
Nintendo has placed the Nintendo DS outside of its highly successful Game Boy line, which is targeted at the pre-existing gaming market, although, the effects of the DS have been "self-cannibalizing"
Nintendo signed a deal with the creators of the new Alex Rider film so that on his mission Alex will be equipped with a DS.[4]
The system's promotional slogans revolve around the word "Touch": in the United States, Australia, and New Zealand: Touching Is Good; in Canada:
Don't Touch, Touch; in Japan, and China: Touch!; and in Europe: Touch me!, with the exception of the Spanish A tocar (Let's Touch, or Let's play in the
musical sense) since the music duo Estopa is performing all Nintendo DS
advertisements, and in Brazil: tocar é legal (Touching is cool) The only
exception to this is the new campaign slogan in the United Kingdom, Open up
and play (used since the Touch! Generations began)
Trang 5Sony PSP pictured below the Nintendo DS
The Nintendo DS is currently seen by many analysts to be in the same market
as Sony's PlayStation Portable, although representatives from both companies have stated that each system targets a different audience At the time of its release in the United States, the Nintendo DS retailed for $149.99 USD The price dropped to $129.99 USD on August 21, 2005, one day before the
anticipated North American releases of Nintendogs and Advance Wars: Dual Strike Despite the system's lower technical specifications and cheaper price,
the DS has consistently outsold the PSP, especially in Japan [5]
As with Nintendo's previous handheld consoles, the Nintendo DS has been produced in a number of different colors Eight official colors were available through standard retailers Titanium (silver and black) was available
worldwide, Electric Blue was exclusive to North and Latin America Graphite Black, Pure White, Turquoise Blue and Candy Pink were available in Japan Mystic Pink and Cosmic Blue were available in Australia and New Zealand Japan's Candy Pink and Australia's Cosmic Blue were also available in
Europe and North America through a Nintendogs bundle, although the colors are just referred to as pink and blue However, these colors were only
available for the original Nintendo DS model; a different and more-limited set
of colors have been used for the Nintendo DS Lite