Nintendo of America announced the six debut titles for the U.S. launch of DSiWare, the new download game and application download service opening with Nintendo DSi's stateside release on April 5th.
Launched in Japan last November, the DSi will be available in North America in Blue and Black with an MSRP of $169.99. The new hardware comes with two built-in cameras, an SD card slot, bigger screens, and other improvements.
To promote DSiWare, Nintendo is offering 1,000 Nintendo DSi Points ($10 worth) with each purchased system until October 5th, 2009; DSi owners can use the Points to buy DSiWare programs. Additional Nintendo DSi Points can be purchased through Nintendo Points sold through retail or through the online DSi shop with a credit card.
The Nintendo DSi Browser, an enhanced version of Opera's retail internet browser for the original DS model and DS Lite, will be available for free.
Other planned launch titles for the service include
WarioWare: Snapped!, a collection of minigames using the DSi's internal camera to record players' movements for its controls; and
Brain Age Express: Math, a math-focused edition of
Brain Age with a Themes mode for image and voice recording experimentation.
Also slated are
Bird & Beans, based on
WarioWare's bean-catching Pyoro minigame;
Master of Illusion Express: Funny Face, a miniature version of
Master of Illusion with a single card trick, and
Art Style: Aquia, an underwater puzzle game from developer Skip (
bit Generations series,
Chibi-Robo!).
“The concept of entertainment is clearly expanding to enable self-expression and creation in ways never before possible,” says Nintendo of America's Sales and Marketing EVP Cammie Dunaway. “Nintendo DSi is loaded with software to help people do exactly that. It’s not just about the cameras or audio playback, but what people can do with these features that makes Nintendo DSi such an enjoyable game system.”
