Hardware Geeks

It was once said that “All roads lead to Rome.” Today, the same practically applies to Nintendo’s DS console, especially if you replace “roads” with “franchises” and consider that the DS has been a large part of establishing Nintendo as the leader in today’s console wars.  Recently, many companies have decided that as long as the DS is the place to be, they will produce games for the DS that add-on to or replicate their more popular products in the home console market.  Take a look at a few of the properties that have come to roost on Nintendo’s little money maker.

One of the higher-profile action series to make the jump to the DS in recent months was Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Altair Chronicles, which is a prequel to the original game on the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.  It covers the exploits of the games’ main character, Altair, before the events of the first game with a greater emphasis on the gameplay aspects of the series rather than story and character-building.  Team Ninja will also soon be releasing Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword for players who enjoy violence with sharp implements, ninjas wielding said implements, and a practically mandatory punishing level of difficulty.

DS owners fond of role playing games will have even more to look forward to in coming months as a slew of companies have recently announced they will be bringing some of their fan favorites to the system.  Nippon-Ichi Software is bringing its quirky strategy battler Disgaea to the DS in a version that, while likely toned down from the PSP Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness due to cartridge limitations, will most likely still be an excellent opportunity for anybody who didn’t have a chance to play either of the PS2 games or the PSP version to enjoy hours of tongue-in-cheek humor and one of the better tactics-type games in the last decade.  Square-Enix has wholeheartedly jumped on the DS bandwagon, as they recently ported the Gamecube Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles to the DS, and they also announced that they will be bringing their Valkyrie Profile series to the handheld, not to mention the eagerly anticipated, DS-exclusive Dragon Quest 9.

Indeed, with almost 65 million consoles sold worldwide, the DS is any company’s best bet to make a little extra money on any of their current franchises.  With all these games flooding the market, though, we’ll have to hope that handheld games don’t become a shoddy way to make a quick buck, as ports and tie-ins can so often fail to live up to the source material (99% of the games based on any given anime series, for example).  With so many reputable companies trying their hardest to reinforce their main brands, though, we shouldn’t have to worry about that for at least a few more years!

Edit: According to an interview from Crispygamer of NIS PR Manager Jack Niida, Disgaea: Hour of Darkness for the DS will contain all of the content of the PSP game and even more.  Who wants one now?

Post Tags: gaming  nintendo ds 

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