But anyway, Spirit Tracks has multiplayer. Boy does it ever have multiplayer, and boy did we ever play it. Here’s what we liked:

What Is It?
The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks’ multiplayer mode is akin to The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures for the GameCube — four people each control one colour-coded Link and move around the same map as the other Links. The difference in Spirit Tracks is that instead of trying to help each other, you’re racing each other to collect Power Gems and trying to royally screw each other up on the way.

Note: It’s local-only.

What We Saw
I played two matches against a developer and two publicists at Nintendo’s Redwood City office after finally getting my hands on the single-player mode.

How Far Along Is It?
Spirit Tracks is out December 7. I was playing on a normal-sized cartridge that may have been a final version.

What Needs Improvement?
Little Bit Laggy: When dashing around the dungeon map, things start off steady and the Power Gem drops are few and far between. As the match picks up pace, however, and players start falling into traps or getting sliced up the Phantoms, huge amounts of Gems will suddenly spill out onto the map. That plus all four players frantically running to that point to scavenge Gems caused a couple of super-laggy moments in an otherwise smooth experience.

Trap Door Confusion: There are trap doors in every map that are either random or triggered by switches. I honestly couldn’t tell you which, though, because sometimes I’d press a switch and a trap door would open and sometimes the door seemed to open and shut in a kind of rhythm. It was confusing — and that much more frustrating when I fell into one because I didn’t know if I should blame somebody for it.

What Should Stay The Same?
Spreading The Phantom: Numerous Phantoms — those big guys in helmets from the last Zelda DS game, Phantom Hourglass — wander the maps, prowling for Links. When one spots you, a little icon pops up above your head, indicating that it’s got a bead on you. If you fail to run for your life, the Phantom will speed toward you and cut you – costing you precious Power Gems and precious seconds as you scramble to get up and recover them before the other players get there. The fun part about this mechanic is the bit where you can pass the Phantom’s bead onto other players you run by — like spreading Chlamydia. It’s amusing.

The Invisible Zone: One map we tried out had a patch of water in the centre that rendered players invisible when they ran in. You could still see ripples where their feet landed in the water — and if you look closely, the ripples are colour-coded like the Links — but with all four players running around in there and Phantoms bearing down on one or more of them, it was blind panic. And freaking awesome.

Mario Kart-style Pick-ups: Occasionally, an orb with a question mark on it will fall from the sky. Players that snag this pick-up are treated to several things like a random Gem drop, invisibility or a lightning strike that you can inflict on other players. It keeps things interesting and can be the salve to the wound of a player who just went from 51 Gems to two after a string of Phantom infections.

Single Cartridge Play: I am so happy that it doesn’t require four people to actually buy the game to enjoy this mode.

Final Thoughts
The multiplayer mode in Spirit Tracks certainly isn’t the main attractions of the game — but it’s a solid addition that deserves to be played if you can tear yourself away from trains and princesses for a little while.

But that’s just hearsay from an overzealous witness violating spousal privilege*. Here’s the real testimony regarding Ace Attorney’s transition to WiiWare.

*Yes, I would totally marry that game if such a thing were possible.

What Is It?
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney was a crazy-popular adventure crime-solving game for the DS in 2005 where players gather evidence to present at trial to convict criminals. Now it’s being ported to the Wii via WiiWare in all its investigative glory.

What We Saw
I played through a segment late in the trial where the murderer in on the stand spouting lies for Phoenix to rip apart.

How Far Along Is It?
It’s a straight port with no fancy extras or overhauled graphics, so consider the game done. Ace Attorney hits the United States in January with Justice for All and Trials & Tribulations following in March and May respectively. The bonus fourth episode will also drop in May for an as-yet unspecified low price.

What Needs Improvement?
Annoying Background: Observe the screen and note that little grey border with the Phoenix Wright logo on it. Now imagine that background is actually moving gradually to the upper left hand corner of the screen throughout gameplay. Yeah, kind of distracting, isn’t it?

What Should Stay The Same?
OBJECTION!!! The most amazing thing that’s been done to Phoenix Wright on WiiWare is adding motion controls — or rather, motion control, because there’s only one. It comes when you want to throw an objection out during witness testimony. Now, you could just open up your evidence file and press A to select evidence and then A again to present — or you could press to select and then fling your hand outward a la Phoenix himself to trigger OBJECTION! Which do you think is cooler?

Final Thoughts
Capcom is really supportive of WiiWare between this and Mega Man 9. As long as they don’t jack up prices or chop up individual Phoenix Wright games into tiny episodes (which is almost the same thing as jacking up prices), I support the decision to port awesome DS games to WiiWare.

This preview is adjourned. *Thumps gavel*

Nintendo’s Kensuke Tanabe, overseer of all things Metroid, tells the UK’s Official Nintendo Magazine that the company is “always planning to make new games in the Metroid Prime series”. And while Metroid: Other M is pencilled in for a Wii release next year, the Prime series may return to the Nintendo DS for future iterations.

Tanabe says, “We cannot deny the possibility of realising it on DS or DSi.”

That backs up statements Tanabe made to Kotaku earlier this year. The Metroid producer said during an email interview that Nintendo “will keep considering multiplayer for the Prime series”, a feature included in 2006’s Metroid Prime Hunters for the Nintendo DS.

Metroid Prime Still Has A Future [ONM UK]

As in the first, Drawn To Life: The Next Chapter asks the player to tap into their artistic touchscreen skills to draw platforms, vehicles, weapons and even the game’s hero itself — my ninja Musashi, armed with a giant corndog, is just one of almost limitless possibilities — who must return colour to the desaturated world and rescue a missing Raposa named Heather. In both the top-down adventure portions and side-scrolling platforming sections, players will flex their creativity to make this Drawn To Life adventure their own.

Should you apply your brush to Drawn To Life: The Next Chapter?

Loved
Presentation & Animation: Everything that I didn’t contribute to Drawn To Life: The Next Chapter looks spectacular. Animator Paul Robertson’s amazing sprites animate beautifully, adding charm and character to the game’s non-playable Raposa and enemies. Beautifully hand-drawn backgrounds have lush, well-animated detail, ensuring a welcome level of variety across the game’s five worlds. Save for the clumsy characters and items I drew — I often let the game’s suggested template sprites take the place of my own creations — the game is a treat to look at.

Surprisingly Engrossing Story: It may not be wholly original, but the relatively simple tale of The Next Chapter has a few twists and a tender moment or two, made the better thanks to well directed, well scored cut scenes. The game’s script is sharp and witty at times, dialogue I did my best not to miss.

Da Blob: The platforming portions start to wear thin quickly, but the addition of two additional forms — the amorphous Blob and wall-crawling Spider — help break up the monotony of playing as a sword or yo-yo wielding Humanoid. There are some clever level designs, some not-too-difficult puzzles that require dexterous use of all three forms.

Improved Creative Tools: Just about everything I crafted with Drawn To Life: The Chapter’s graphics editor was an eyesore. But the tools have depth to them I’ve just begun to explore. A larger colour palette and a wealth of interesting templates — plus the ability to add extra limbs! — offer the opportunity for a wide variety of cool or kooky creations. The “Action Draw” sections, which lets the player draw simple platforms using a limited supply, aren’t particularly challenging, but they’re fun.

Hated
Extended Downtime: Conversations in The Next Chapter can drag on, leading to long stretches of watching, not playing. For the most part, the game is careful not to throw unnecessary monologues and long-winded explanations, but there are a few moments where the narrative starts to wear out its welcome.

Mundane Platforming: The game’s platforming sections are easy to blow through, offering little in the way of impressive level design or captivating challenge. There are, however, some well-hidden collectibles scattered throughout the game’s 45 levels, but the appeal of revisiting some of those rather dull levels, especially with Drawn To Life’s loose controls and sometimes spotty hit detection, is low.

Drawn To Life: The Next Chapter’s biggest strength is its creative tool set. It’s a wonderful little artistic outlet, the kind of game that plays like it would appeal to a much younger, more patient and passionate player. It doesn’t offer much in the way of depth for the more experienced action-adventure fan, but makes up for some of its shortcomings based on its charm.

Drawn To Life: The Next Chapter was developed by 5th Cell and published by THQ for the Nintendo DS on October 27. (A Wii version developed by Planet Moon Studios is also available, but was not reviewed.) Retails for $US29.99 on DS. A copy of the game was given to us by the publisher for reviewing purposes. Played game to completion.

Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ.

The latest in the SMT series, already released in Japan to favourable reviews — the highest Famitsu-rated Shin Megami Tensei entry yet, according to Atlus — will come to the DS in North America early next year, bringing with it the mind-scrambling box art you see above. Go on, admire it.

Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey’s science-fiction flavoured storyline tasks the player with unravelling the mystery of a “growing, black void” that has appeared at Earth’s southern pole. The SMT standard role-playing and demon managing rules apply, with Atlus saying that Strange Journey follows in the tradition of Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne.

The game’s website is now live, offering more information should you want it.

Unlike today’s smart phones and mobile 3G cards, which require monthly fees to access the network, Amazon’s Kindle eBook reader figures in the price of 3G into the initial hardware cost, so the customer effectively pays one fee for the device and a lifetime of 3G access. Speaking at an analyst briefing following last week’s lowered financial outlook, Nintendo’s president called the Kindle’s price plan an “option for the future”.

“Only people who can pay thousands of yen a month [in mobile phone subscriptions] can be iPhone customers. That doesn’t fit Nintendo customers because we make amusement products,” Mr Iwata said. The Kindle’s one-off cost would better suit Nintendo’s customer base, he said. “In reality, if we did this it would increase the cost of the hardware, and customers would complain about Nintendo putting prices up, but it is one option for the future.”

I don’t see any problem with the handheld’s current Wi-Fi access, but then again I rarely go anywhere that doesn’t have an access point these days. I suppose if you want to be able to download new games nearly anywhere, 3G is certainly one way to go. Would you pay more for a 3G-enabled Nintendo DS?

Nintendo considers Kindle tactics for consoles [Financial Times]

Japan
Mario & Sonic At the Olympic Winter Games 2009/11/19
The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks 2009/12/23
Famicom Wars DS2(Temp.) 2009
Golden Sun DS(Temp.) TBA

The United States
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky 2009/10/12
Style Savvy 2009/11/2
The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks 2009/12/7
Pokémon HeartGold Version 2010 Spring
Pokémon SoulSilver Version 2010 Spring
Glory of Heracles 2010
Golden Sun DS(Temp.) 2010
WarioWare D.I.Y. TBA
Picross 3D TBA

Europe
Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story 2009/10/9
Nintendo presents: Style Boutique 2009/10/23
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky 2009/11/20
The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks 2009/12/11
Pokémon HeartGold Version 2010 Spring
Pokémon SoulSilver Version 2010 Spring
WarioWare D.I.Y. TBA

As Nintendo points out, launch dates and titles are subject to change.

According to NPD data released today, the Warner Bros. Interactive-published DS game sold nearly 194,000 copies in its first month on the market. That puts it behind Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story and Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days as the third bestselling DS game for the month.

Scribblenauts was one of only two third-party games to make it into the top ten bestselling games for Nintendo’s portable platform, a list dominated by Nintendo-published fare. While 5th Cell may already be hard at work on a new Xbox Live Arcade game, surely they won’t leaving money on the table by not producing a sequel, right? Right!

To me, the game is what Grand Theft Auto could’ve been on the DS — only from the perspective of the police. You play as an ex-con who gets paroled into a special police program where he goes around busting other cons in exchange for his freedom. It’s got 3D driving and shooting as well as some mini-games like “spot the gangster on the casino security cam.”

Head to GameStop to get in on the pre-order deal and enjoy some screens to your left.

Kotaku AU Note: Obviously this being a Gamestop preorder, it only applies to the US. But I figured you’d want to see the screens anyway.

EA’s new FLIPS series takes books from some of today’s best children’s writers to deliver what are essentially extended director’s cuts of their works to the Nintendo DS. Children will be able to read books from Cathy Cassidy, Eoin Colfer and Enid Blyton, with quizzes and reference links built right in to help encourage getting to the end of each chapter.

“I’m over the moon to see my stories and characters brought to life on the Nintendo DS with EA’s new FLIPS range,” said Eoin Colfer, author of the award-winning Artemis Fowl series. “Everyone knows that reading improves literacy skills. I have two children who are DS fanatics and cannot wait for the FLIPS to arrive, so EA might finally get them reading my books!”

Here’s what they’ve got lined up so far:

Enid Blyton (Egmont) – The Enchanted Wood®, The Magic Faraway Tree, The Folk of the Faraway Tree, Enchanted World – Petal and the Eternal Bloom, Enchanted World – Melody and the Enchanted Harp, Enchanted World – Silky and the Rainbow Feather

Cathy Cassidy (Penguin)– Scarlett, Angel Cake, Sundae Girl, Shine on Daizy Star, GingerSnaps, Driftwood

Eoin Colfer (Penguin) – Artemis Fowl, Artemis Fowl and the Arctic Incident, Artemis Fowl and the Eternity Code, Artemis Fowl and the Opal Deception, Artemis Fowl and the Lost Colony, Artemis Fowl and the Time Paradox

Too Ghoul For School (Egmont) – Silent but Deadly, The In-Spectres Call, Ghoul Dinners, The Bubonic Builders, Attack of the Zombie Nits, School Spooks Day, French Fright, Terror In Cubical Four

That’s an impressive list of reading materials right there. The first four FLIPS titles are being released in the UK on the 4th of December, with each release featuring six to eight books for the low price of £24.99 ($44). Will the Nintendo DS succeed where libraries and book stores have failed? We’ll find out then.