Monster Finder Announced As First DSi-Only Game

@solidshake: People are irked? Who? Idiotic neckbeards like you who think Nintendo should be asking you all how to spend it's R&D money?

Que baaawwwww!

Scuzgob

@coquiñecricas: I'm guessing it will be more like that Ghostwire game, you look round the place with the camera, and occasionally it makes a monster appear walking about in your nearby area...

@starman jr: .... For some reason, I now Want that game...

@WolfmanWalt: Yeah, and the girl is smiley gently, and not frowning, looking arrogant, or punching the guy in the face for no good reason.

@Mister Jack can has cheezburger?: Evidently you never heard of Item Getter for the DS...

starman jr

@Knoxximus ver. 5.66: We'll see those soon enough; next year, if we're lucky.

Too bad Sony canceled the PSP camera...

@coquiñecricas: Relax folks. There is no major conspiracy going on. The technical requirements set by console manufacturers usually regulate stuff like which areas of memory are off limits because they are used by the OS, etc. They are there to make sure all games will work on all SKUs of a system. As for the processor capping I mentioned above, Sony essentially underclocked the PSP processor in order to elongate battery life, but enough devs asked for the cap to be dropped that Sony complied.

As for why games get better as the consoles get further along in their life cycles, the fact is that most devs develop only one engine per generation, modifying and updating it with every game they work on. Obviously, the more time spent working on an engine the better that engine gets. As the engines get more and more efficient devs can squeeze more and more power out of the system, and the end result is better looking games as the console ages.

psycoking

@TRT-X: That's not entirely the same scenario, though. This situation would be more akin to the PS3 Slim getting exclusive BR disc games that wouldn't play on older PS3s.

Nintendo really brought it on themselves with this half-arsed upgrade. Either make a new game system or don't. This DS 1.5 tomfoolery will only confuse consumers.

@jayislost: arg in this context = cupsaurus, tvaligator, sofaceratops?? (things you take picture of become monsters?????)

@pressstart: if that its true its really something that should be greatly "exposed" by gaming blogs (like kotaku) all in the name of better games SOONER than later!!!

they should get some proof (find the dev kit instructions on past consoles...are they public??? of course not???)

@THE_MOOGLEKING: We are comparing the same thing here, right? Those two characters look nothing alike aside from the hair color, but even that is different. Your picture has a different hue and is more bluish gray. Really, you're kinda grasping for straws.

@NeoAkira: Uhhhhh you're going to want to take that back. The DS could quite easily do Astonishia Story or any of the Legend of Heroes games, let alone the true disasters like the Winx Club PSP game.

Whoa, I'm getting a really heavy Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann vibe from those character designs.

Sugoi

Why can't they take advantage of the better hardware specs instead? :/

@psycoking: Good info. That does ring true, especially when you consider why games look better and better towards the middle of a consoles' life cycle vs. launch games. They always say it's because they get used to the hardware and its quirks, but I'm inclined to believe the limitation imposed by the console maker is also the case as well.

pressstart

I was gonna say that the girl looks like Asuka, too, but I couldn't fit another picture.

Really, now. If you're gonna completely rip a character design, don't make it BLATANT.

@Prayer Police: more like My Stalker

wox42

Eh. Gimmicky crap games can stay on the DSi for all I care. As long as the next battle network game (please!) works on the lite, I'm good.

wox42

@tokugawa: All that extra hardware power is nice, but the real question is whether or not Nintendo allows developers to make games that use all that extra power that do not already have to be DSi exclusives because they require use of the camera, etc. In other words can you make an regular DS game that uses all that power without Nintendo getting upset?

I know that every console manufacturer gives out a list of technical requirements that tells you what you must and must not do in order to get your game published. For example, as a former PSP developer I know that early on in the PSP's life we were not allowed to use the full processor power of the PSP when developing games, all in the name of extending the PSP's battery life. The hardware was there, but we couldn't use it.

Nintendo did not market the DSi as a DS2. So far game developers haven't done anything to make it appear as if it were anything more than an incremental upgrade with a few new gimmicks. So the question is if this is because the individual devs are going after market share rather than "next-gen" power, or if Nintendo simply does not allow devs to use the DSi's greater power?

psycoking

@Mister Jack can has cheezburger?: lols, horrible name! What's next, Spy Watcher?

@Sonira - not a zombie!: OH SWEET! I would get a DSi just for Monster Rancher.

Mecharine

Monster Finder? That's the name? These games aren't even trying anymore, are they?

Mister Jack can has cheezburger?

@deanbmmv:
I always knew those two screens were a portal into Hell.

@aquaviva: So twice the CPU and four times the ram isn't an improvement?
If that's the case, then the PSPGo is a horrible piece of fecal material that actually does less than its predecessor.
See, I can make generalizations without actually looking up facts too.

Sooo.... it's gonna be like Invizamal, cept it probably won't have the same kind of interaction Invizamals has?

@SpishackCola is The Black Squiggly!:
Also! What can a PSPgo do that your PSPhack can't? Stop Piracy? Yet people seem hype about that waste of a machine.

@TRT-X: And here I am championing both DSi exclusive games and that everyone should own a PS2. Really, I just want to play every game possible and I want everyone else to as well. I want people to be more positive.

@nago of the NINTENDO DEFENSE BRIGADE:

The DSi is an incremental upgrade. It has a small enough difference in specs that Nintendo can create games unplayable on the DS lite, but specs still so shitty by today's standards that they couldn't reproduce the crappiest PSP game in their wildest dreams.

I can't believe there are still people who don't know that the DSi is essentially a "DS 2", with 2x the processor power and 4x the RAM. As a dev I've known that for months now (you can't even use the old DS dev kits for DSi development - there are new ones).

Just because they don't market it as "DS 2" doesn't mean it isn't essentially that (after all it's a bigger performance jump than the GameCube-Wii transition was).

So people who whined about it not being a "DS 2" were wrong.

Now the same people whine about the DSi being a "forced upgrade"? WTF?

@NeoAkira: And better textures and more stuff going on on screen. Due to the faster processor and 4x the RAM that the DSi posseses (as it is essentially a DS 2).

@nago of the NINTENDO DEFENSE BRIGADE:
Ah, guess I was kinda going off on a tangent then.

Well, then I essentially agree with everything you have said now that I've got a more clearer understanding of your position.

Oh no, is Pokemon's and Monster Hunter's bastard child out for revenge!

@nago of the NINTENDO DEFENSE BRIGADE: The DSi still has the GBA processor (since it usually handles sound stuff), but the main processor has been upped from 66 MHz to 132 MHz, and the RAM has been upgraded from 4 MB to 16 MB.

In other words, aquaviva is wrong. The DSi is substantially improved also in performance/hardware, but that can only be exploited by DSi-only software like this one.

@Sonira - not a zombie!: lol just get Digimon world 3 like i did ^_^

Curse Lily

@Kyran: Gotta find 'em all?

SuperSonik

@Curse Lily: I never got to have a Digimon ):

@SpishackCola is The Black Squiggly!: The point is not really about exclusive DSi games or not: It's about if the games are intentionally excluding the older platforms.

Of course as a company, nintendo has an incentive to sell the newer, more expensive platform, but I think we should reserve judgment until we see it in action. It's always been nintendo's strategy to upgrade "in phases" instead of introducing hard cutoffs, so this seems par for the course.

The only thing that is just really boggling me right now is that some people seem to be inferring that DSi exclusive games are just software locked and could be played on a DS/DSLite ... I don't think this is the case even a little bit.

All the normal criticisms for price points and "introducing a new platform too soon" apply, but let's not lose focus: Sony has released a new PSP just about every year, with a final big "new platform" push this year, and raised the price even more... Nintendo is not doing anything unusual for the handheld market.

@nago of the NINTENDO DEFENSE BRIGADE: You're assuming people are crying only because they can't afford one? I got my current DSL after the DSi's first run.

The DSi is just a silly system. This is a silly game that just fortifies our initial impressions.

People are irked that Nintendo's R&D is being invested in the 10 year-old and girl gamer markets. Who cares about a forced upgrade when all you're getting are games like this?

@Curse Lily: Oh god, I remember those.

I can also remember not understanding mine in the slightest.

@deanbmmv: My favorite of the bunch were the 3rd and 5th Digimon series. The 5th one did require sitting through about 16 episodes before it got any good, however.

@Kyran: Yeah, you gotta sing it to yourself in that awful, trilling singing voice at that frequency that hypnotises children into buying things.

Lt. Archer

@nago of the NINTENDO DEFENSE BRIGADE:
There will be the eventually "forced" upgrade. Some big name Nintendo handheld will go DSi only. Then you know pretty much every other Nintendo developed handheld game after that will be DSi only. Then the 3rd party devs will follow suit once the numbers come in on the Nintendo DSi only games (unless they are trying to beat Nintendo to the punch like with this game).

I personally don't find the DSi is enough of an upgrade from my DS phat (I still use my GBA slot every now and then, and I don't feel like trying to get my GBA fixed to play older games). I will semi-agree with you about jumping all over Nintendo though. It is usually warranted when things are first announced, and are given a grace period of about 2-14 days depending on the magnitude and boneheadedness of the announcement. Since this is the first retail game to be announced as DSi only, there will be some moans and groans. I doubt it'll be beyond a day or two given that the game won't appeal to too many people that use the internets for gaming news.

@Sonira - not a zombie!: You crazy Girl! (¬_¬)

Digimon > Monster Rancher

Curse Lily

@TRT-X: As seen without DSi and Monster finder

This will likely be a regular sort of game with a camera gimmick rather than an ARG. Too bad, because I think ARG's could be awful refreshing.

@deanbmmv: Um...wtf?!

@Curse Lily: Monster Rancher!

@TheWP listens to Yukkuris; Takes it easy: Digimon..they used to be okay. At least first season n the movie. I can't really remember much beyond that.

@nago of the NINTENDO DEFENSE BRIGADE: What's funny is that some of those bemoaning DSi Exclusive games are the same ones that have no problem telling those bemoaning the loss of PS3 backwards compatibility to just go buy a PS2.

@solidshake: Holy cow, did you key Nago's Mercedes? I say boycott in silence. :P

Outkastprince

@Outkastprince: I'm on it.

@Outkastprince: It took me a bit, but I LOL'd.

@aquaviva: I may be talking out of my ass here, but the DS and DSlite each have two processors: one for the DS, and one for GBA games. The DSi no longer has the GBA processor, and it was replaced with a faster processor instead. This is why GBA support is absent so far as I know, and why the DSi is not 'just a camera'.

Glad it wasnt some generic FPS shooter just killing stuff. Now we get something original, collecting monsters.

@deanbmmv: ooh, that's going to give me nightmares :O

notquitedeadyet

@NeoAkira: According to reports elsewhere, the camera will serve a simliar purpose to that of Invizimals on the PSP.

You go out and take pictures of real-world objects which are then somehow translated into in-game creatures.

@Archaotic: Do we seriously live in a world where something like this is considered infringement?

Come on.

@Archaotic: I'm sure they are happy as can be considering they aren't the same thing. No need to make a issue out of one that doesn't exist.

Shawnrw222

@deanbmmv: None are digital... None are kept in a ranch...

@Southrncomfortjm: Or we can return to reality. My only point here is that it is ridiculous to protest DSi only games as underhanded somehow.

I can't afford a DSi either, but it's no use crying about it.

Here's the skinny: Months back when the DSi reared its ugly head, everyone whined that it was only a marginal upgrade over the DS\DSL and chose to ignore (or honestly didn't know about) the faster processor and the extra ram. Everyone said it was underhanded to release another marginal upgrade/iteration of the DS platform, and that what it was really time for was the "DS2".

Let's fast forward to last week when DSi only games are announced (again: they already were mentioned. this is not new.) and everyone loses their goddamn minds again, because nintendo is obviously just forcing people to upgrade to their new expensive handheld.

So let's get this straight. You wanted better games on better hardware, and cried because you weren't getting that; then after you find out you ARE getting that, you cry louder?

Nintendo can't do right by anyone these days, can they? Let's reserve accusations of "Forced Upgrade" to a game-by-game basis. There will be some games that utilize and require the extra hardware. We know that. There will be some that honestly could've squeaked by on the DS. But let's save the "NINTENDO IS DEAD" talk, OK?

"creature collection via the DSi camera"

I'm getting a really bad "Skannerz" vibe from those words.

Curse Lily

@Kyran: If I could I'd promote this just cause you went for it.

Outkastprince

Why release a camera peripheral in the US when that would remove one of the reasons to buy a DSi? ;)

I wanna be, kinda good.
Like some people sorta were.
To find some, is my true test.
To photograph them is my cauuuuuseee.

I'll travel here and there, searching kinda far and wide.

Doo doo dooo.

Each monster, to understand.
I'M GONNA MONSTER FIND!

@MonkeyChunks: "Wild Cat-lady appears"

@aquaviva: But mother earths inhabitants love it. :P

Outkastprince

I will never get nintendo and the DSi, not improving the ds but adding a camera and then removing the gameboy slot is just ridiculous.. What a waste of plastic, mother earth HATES NINTENDO

@Archaotic: They can be as unhappy as they want, but it doesn't amount to copyright infringement. Why you got to make it all legal?

@ArmyofJuan: Exactly, none of the previous Monster titles scream of originality.

Now if one of the monsters is named Pikachoo!, then we're talking.

Outkastprince

@nago: .... Boycott has failed! What do we do now? I say panic.

Is that girl using clothes pins as hair pins? Somewhere, there's an open bag of chips that will soon go stale...

@NeoAkira: Did you read the details? As a photographer working for the Daily News, you're suppose to find monsters in compromising positions.

Outkastprince

@solidshake: Yeah, screw anyone for trying to make better games on better hardware.

Let's boycott.

(Edit: I've done so much Nintendo apologizing lately, I've decided to make sure my screenname here matched. Ha ha ha.)

@TheWP listens to Yukkuris; Takes it easy: Monster Rancher, but both of those names dont exactly scream of originality

Both the DSi and this game can take a flying leap.

@Archaotic: When I first saw that headline I thought it WAS something Monster Hunter-related. I'm guessing an American release will bring with it a new title, if Capcom doesn't put the lid on the Japanese title first.

Monster Finder?
So no hunting? None are pocket sized?
shame

Oh, ok. So it uses the camera intrinsically??
Explains why its not on DS then. Still though, I'd like them to release that camera on DS that was released in japan, that 'face training' game thing

@Outkastprince: Sad thing is I can see that being an actual title for a game.

I can only imagine this game will make some kind of shoddy use of the DSi's camera. Great...

@Archaotic: Probably not, but I doubt they can do anything about every series that comes out in the form of "Monster *Something*"

Edit: What came first Monster Hunter or Monster Ranchers?

@Archaotic: Well they don't care about Hunter Blade which is such a blatant rip-off.

Monster Finder. How many corporate meetings before they came up with that unique title.

What's that new dancing game they also got coming out? Ah, that's right "Move your feet".

Outkastprince

so it will involve camera use? Do you have to point it at some old person and it tells you what kind of monster it is?

I wonder if Capcom's lawyers are happy about how ridiculously similar to Monster Hunter the game's title sounds.

@starman jr: Do you get items in that game?

Rozzlit