MMORPG on Nintendo DS?

Surprised? Not really. I always thought the Nintendo DS could be a perfect platform to embrace MMOG (Massively Online Multiplayer Games). It can wirelesly connect to the internet and voila! you can be gaming in a MMOG persistent world! The PC is the only platform which has successfully embraced the MMOG culture. Others are trying to get into the act. Mobiles have already started to get into this space, and so have the consoles. So why not the DS? It has taken the DS platform 4 long years to get its first MMORPG game. The game is an adaptation of the popular free PC 2D MMORPG game called "Maple Story".


Well still old news, this was announced in E3 2006. The game is been developed by a Korean company and will be released in September 2008. Can't wait to play this game! Considering the official DS Lite launch in Korea is going to happen on the 18th of Jan 08, this game is going to shake up the Korean gaming space. Koreans have already made this game a big hit on the PC. This game is supposed to have a very huge subscriber base.



In a recent interview, Stephen Lee (CEO of Nexen, publisher for the game on DS) said that the game will not be a MMORPG game. It is more focused on a single player campaign with a local multiplayer focus. The game will have though a multiplayer component but the details of those were not discussed. Speculation is that the game could extend itself into the online space to allow complete persistent world capabilities.



Also it seems Ragnorok, another popular MMORPG game, is releasing around the same time as Maple Story. So it is going to be exciting to play both these games considering the rich multiplayer history behind these games.

So when can we expect this game to release outside Korea? Well the Korean developer has said that it has plans to release this game outside Korea, but there are no definite dates against these claims. So we'll have to wait and watch.

Fifa 08 (Nintendo DS)

By far the best football game on the DS. I've played Pro Evo on the DS and I must say it is a very big dissapointment. This latest game from EA comes loaded with online multiplayer! Now how cool is that! I play regularly online with my DS and this game definately is going to keep me engaged for a long time. The latency is very minimal(almost negligible) and I must say the experience is very good. If you are a football fan out there, go play Fifa 08 online on the DS immediately!

This game though suffers from graphics polishing. They could have pushed the technology a little bit more considering what other games on the DS are able to pull off. But I must say the gameplay makes up for all of this. The gameplay is very good which makes the game even more interesting when played online. The controls ia very simple (no touch screen controls for movement though :( ). But hey I'm enjoying playing this game using the D-pad. The replay mode is very cool. It packs in all the functionality of its console counterparts. I could see my goal hitting skills from any direction in the replay mode.

The camera is also set very nicely which covers almost 40% of the ground at any point of time which is very good. This aspect is very important in a football game as you need to know where your other players are on the field.
The sound is a special mention as they have packed in quite a bit of commentary in this game. Also the sountracks are very cool. The ball hitting effects are very well done too.

The penalty shoot-outs are my favorite as all the controls are on the touchscreen. I was playing this game online where I went into penalty shoot-outs and I must say that because of the the touch screen controls I could save the game! This implementation of the penalty shoot-outs is the best ever for any football game. The controls makes it very intuitive.

A special mention should go to the AI. The AI in this game is very good. I started this game with very low expectations, but this game has proved me wrong. With great AI and online multiplayer, this game is a must play for all footbal crazy fans.

Watch video below:

Dementium: The Ward (Nintendo DS)

This game is easily one of the sharpest and best looking game on the DS. The others who can join this list would be Metroid Prime Hunters and Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. All these games on the DS are stunning!

The graphics power behind these games are awesome. Dementium won IGN's "Best Graphics Technology" award for the DS platform. That clearly states what kind of game this is. The flashlight rendering in this game is amazing and is one of the best tricks one could pull out on the DS.

I have also played other games like Brother's in arms and Call of Duty for the DS, but they do not seem to push the technology like the way this game does. The closest competitor to this game would be Metroid Prime. But do remember the team behind Metroid Prime, Nintendo Technology Group, a internal developer for Nintendo. Hats of to the team behind Dementium for pulling such a graphically stunning looking game on the DS. It is easily my technology favorite for the DS.

Watch video below: