http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060209/ap_on_hi_te/games_nintendo_ds_1

Nintendo Unveils Features for DS Handheld

Nintendo Co. announced new wireless features for its DS portable video
game player Thursday, including a free service that will let consumers
beam game demos and other content directly to the device.


Beginning in late March, the company plans to deploy electronic kiosks
at thousands of U.S. retailers including Best Buy Co. Inc. and GameStop
Corp.

Owners of the dual-screen DS who go near the kiosks will automatically
receive a notice on their devices offering game demos, movie trailers
and other content for temporary download. The information will be
erased from the DS once it's turned off.

The service uses the DS's local-area wireless networking capabilities,
which until now had been used just to facilitate head-to-head play by
gamers near each other.

Nintendo also said it was adding voice chat to the sci-fi action game
"Metroid Prime: Hunters," available March 20. Players who join up for
multiplayer battles over Nintendo's wireless Internet service will be
able to talk to each other through the system's built-in microphone
before and after games, but not during, said Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo
of America Inc.'s executive vice president of sales and marketing.

At least one game for rival Sony Corp's PlayStation Portable offers a
more robust feature. Teammates in "SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Fireteam
Bravo" can talk to each other wirelessly during battles.

Fils-Aime added that a slimmed down, all-white Nintendo DS Lite would
go on sale in Japan next month.

Handheld video games and hardware helped buoy the industry to record
sales of $10.5 billion in 2005, according to the NPD Group research
firm.

Nintendo said it has sold about 4 million DS systems in North America
since it was launched in late 2004. Another 4 million PlayStation
Portables have been sold in North America since the unit went on sale
last March, according to Sony.

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http://biz.gamedaily.com/industry/feature/?id=11820

New Features for Nintendo DS Announced

Marketing exec Reggie Fils-Aime has announced a new DS Download Service
and Metroid Chat for the Nintendo DS. The DS also reached another
milestone with more than 20 million different connections across the
globe. Get all the details...

Today during his keynote address at the D.I.C.E. Summit in Las Vegas,
Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of
sales & marketing, announced several new features for the Nintendo DS.

The DS Download Service will enable DS users to sample free games by
visiting their local game retailers. "Starting next month, Nintendo
will offer all DS owners free downloadable game demos and other
downloadable content at thousands of participating retail locations
around the United States," Nintendo said in a statement. "An in-store
kiosk will beam wireless demo versions of games and other downloadable
content into a players' Nintendo DS system. Users simply stop by the
store with their Nintendo DS, click "DS Download Play" on their system
and choose one of a variety of DS games they want to sample. The game
will download automatically and users can play all they want (even if
they leave the store) until the Nintendo DS is turned off."

According to Nintendo, the first DS Download Service stations will
include free demos of Tetris DS, Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes
a Day, Mario Kart DS, Meteos, True Swing Golf and Pokemon Trozei. A
video clip of Metroid Prime Hunters will also be available. The
selection at kiosks is expected to be "refreshed quarterly."

The other big feature announced for the dual-screen handheld is
real-time voice chat, which for now it seems is limited only to Metroid
Prime Hunters (ships on March 20). Gamers will have the ability to send
voice messages to one another before and after matches played via
Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, but not during. "Players in North America
simply click the chat icon and say what they have to say. The
microphone of the Nintendo DS picks up voice communication and
transmits it to the people on their friend list," said Nintendo.

Reggie also took the opportunity to highlight the momentum of the
Nintendo DS. The Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection now boasts more than 20
million different connections with more than 850,000 unique users
worldwide. As for the previously announced Nintendo DS Lite, which goes
on sale in Japan next month, Reggie confirmed that its availability in
other regions will be announced at a later date.

"Nintendo DS was the only video game system that exceeded expectations
in 2005, simply because it dared to be different," said Fils-Aime. "By
further enriching the ways in which players can compete, play and
sample new games, that process is accelerating in the opening weeks of
2006."


by James Brightman


..............................

METROID HUNTERS IS GETTING VOICE CHAT

more:
http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/business/technology/13831377.htm
http://videogames1.mtv.com/pages/news/story.php?id=6143981
http://www.neoseeker.com/news/story/5356/
http://ds.ign.com/articles/687/687241p1.html
http://ds.ign.com/articles/687/687243p1.html
http://www.engadget.com/2006/02/09/nintendo-unveils-wireless-demos-and-voice-chat-for-ds/
http://www.planetgamecube.com/news.cfm?action=item&id=6768