Another Way

After an intimate weekend with my Nintendo DS and my newly purchased copy of Another Code: Two Memories, I have come to be a little less sceptical of Nintendo’s apparently gimmicky hand-held.

Don’t take that intro the wrong way. I love my DS, and can’t wait for some of the truly promising games that are to come, I was at the store at 9am on February 24th, 2005 for its release. But I could not help but concede to myself that it seemed like a last ditch gimmick to ward off Sony and the impending PSP. Oh, how I was mistaken.

Now, the Revolution has been revealed. All I can say is that I don’t know what to think, however, I will admit that I felt disappointed. I don’t want to play games with a television remote! Again, it seemed to me Nintendo was having a last ditch attempt. But could the DS really be a window that Nintendo is talking about? The window that shows how the Revolution will be different?

Another Code has made me give Nintendo the benefit of the doubt.

Another Day, Another Code

Another Code: Two Memories is a new franchise that was jointly developed by Nintendo and Cing. I had been watching the title from afar since the initial announcement of its existence. I decided that I would buy it, although I didn’t know when, and give it a try. That time finally came last week. All I can say is wow! I am very glad that I didn’t miss the boat.

Albeit a short adventure, it truly is a demonstration into how the DS can be far from gimmicky. The second screen isn’t used for maps or character information. Instead, as travelling through the environments, montages of the surroundings, beautifully and intricately rendered, are displayed on the top screen, while you direct Ashley, the main character, around from an overhead view on the bottom screen, ether by control pad (+) or curser by way of the stylus. It isn’t really a game, I’d prefer to call it an ‘interactive novel’, where you ‘live’ the character.

What amazes me, however, is the way in which all of the DS features are utilised, to incredible depth and creativity, in this emotional ‘interactive novel’. I can describe each and every one without giving away too much detail and ruining the story or puzzles for others, and maybe, people can begin to appreciate that Nintendo is doing what they are doing because they think it expands the gaming environment. Another Code is the beginning fruits of that effort.

The first example I will use is a key. Sounds simple, eh? Well, in an ordinary Zelda or Final Fantasy title, when you find a key for a door, it automatically activates the lock when you try to open the door. Not Another Code. You must physically turn the key in the door lock with the stylus and touch screen. And you have to go the right way. Already, the gamer is involved personally in the quest.

The second example is the use of none other than the stand by function. What stand by function you may ask? The automatic feature that the DS has when you close the unit. Imagine that you have an envelope. Pretend that the flap is on the top screen and the body of the envelope on the bottom screen. What do you have to do to seal an envelope? Fold the top down of course. And with the DS, you do so by shutting the system. Open again to see that your envelope is sealed tight.

Another is the interlacing of images. Imaging that you have a sheet of paper in a glass sleeve that has code written on it, however, half of each numeral or letter character is missing, making the code indecipherable. There is another sheet somewhere that has the other half – inverted. Somehow, you must record that other sheet and interlace one image over the other to decipher this code. How can you do this though? Place one image on the top screen and the other on the bottom screen. Now as glass reflects, you can fold one sheet over so the reflection is coming off the glass at the same incidence as the code in the glass, producing the illusion of the entire code. The is achieved by folding the DS in such a way so that the top screen reflects off of the bottom screen.

A fourth is the microphone. Although microphones have been around for a long time, they have hardly been used in the way that many DS games have used them before. Another Code borrows from Yoshi’s Touch and Go and Feel the Magic in that you can blow into the mic to produce wind currents, which may be used to blow out candles or to turn a turbine.

Another Code, Another Way

These simple yet practical techniques and uses of the DS features demonstrate how deep and involving a game really can be. Not only does it provide new control elements, but it builds on the emotional connection between the gamer and the character. I was quite saddened by the way the title ended, although it was a happy ending.

But what is the point of all this? They are new, innovative, interactive control methods, and that is what Nintendo has been holding back with the Revolution. As I said, I was disappointed with the result, a TV remote with a dangling dog chain cable that connected to a hand-held joystick. Joy!

But then, I downloaded the video that Nintendo had shown at TGS. I finally realised what Nintendo had patented a short time back involving a 3D game space. They weren’t talking about 3 dimensional playing fields, they were talking about recognition technology that was able to detect left, right, up and down movements, as well as pitch, that is, depth, into the screen. Until now, the only way to delve deeper into a screen is to push forward on a control pad or joystick, or to move a mouse forward. The EyeToy has been able to detect movement in all other directions, except for depth.

When I saw the video of a game detecting a fishing cast, tennis shots (Virtua Tennis haven, wink wink eh Sega?) or a man using a dentist drill, I couldn’t help but laugh, or even Mario trained to jump with the flick of a wrist. But then, my heart skipped a beat. I saw a guy, in his living room, using his controller as a sword grip, and was slicing and dicing enemies, something that I have craved to do for a long time. If this is an accurate representation of what is to come, then yes, Nintendo are on the verge of a revolution, a gaming revolution. Imagine going to strike a baseball or cricket ball, not with a meter or a button, but with an actual swing of a controller in baseball/cricket style. Perhaps that isn’t your cup of tea and you are a golfer. No problem.

So let’s speculate on the sword. As the demonstration released by Nintendo shows, you are using a sword. Imagine, a vast Hyrule, Stalfos, Wolfos, Tektites and Moblins around you, you rip out a sword and begin to helicopter-spin in your living room to simulate a spin attack. The joy, the exhilaration, because your effort went into it.

Or perhaps you have stumbled into a room on Resident Evil 5, there is a zombie in front of you and you’re all out of ammunition. There is a stick on the ground, you grab it and crack it over the zombie’s head. He’s on the floor dead. You’re alive. The relief pours out.

Nintendo have demonstrated with Another Code the possibilities of controlling the action by unconventional means, and how enjoyable and involving they are. This is what makes me give Nintendo the benefit of the doubt. When controlling the action, there’s the conventional way, and then there’s Another Way.