The Nintendo DS has given developers a chance to put forth new and innovative games. And with the addition of the touchscreen it has enabled developers to create game ideas that were previously impossible (or at best awkward) on any kind of console. Games like Nintendogs and Trauma Center are proof that new things are happening.
One of the great possibilities the Nintendo DS offers is it’s ability to emulate a mouse, and thus be able to handle PC ports that are mostly mouse-driven, but so far no ports have been done that utilize the DS hardware well.
What follows are games or game ideas well-suited for porting to the DS. It’s intended to encourage developers to bring some more great games to a great platform like the Nintendo DS. Besides the obvious advantage of dual-views and the touchscreen, porting old games to the DS offers nostalgia — opportunity for developers get milage from their old games, but also nice for users who want to replay great games from the past.
The DS already has some ports from other Nintendo consoles (like Super Mario 64 and Puyo Pop Fever) and some remakes of PC games (like Zookeeper) which have done well. Nintendo’s line of classic games for the GBA have also done well.
Note that as far as I know none of these ports are actually in process, and some may actually be a horsepower challenge for the DS hardware. Nonetheless, the DS platform could be just what these games need to make a successful run on a handheld system.
Sierra / Lucas Arts Games
There are a lot of old Sierra and Lucas Arts games that would go great on the DS. In my example I have chosen Quest for Glory I, but you could substitute this with Kings Quest, Police Quest, Maniac Mansion, etc, etc and so forth.
The idea is that you can move your character around the lower screen by using the stylus and the upper screen can have your stats, inventory or a special view for certain parts of the game (like during dialog you could have the persons picture and spoken text on the top screen, leaving the bottom screen available for responding).
On the games that require keyboard entry you could have a small transparent keyboard icon in the lower right hand corner that would bring up a touchable keyboard for you to use for text entry. Or you could have it come up automatically whenever text entry was required.
To move things around in inventory you could switch the top and bottom screens by pressing the “L” button, then use the stylus like you would a mouse on the original. The “R” button could be used to sort through screens (inventory, stats, save games, etc).
If the developers wanted to get really fancy they could add in some multiplayer support. Think your wizard can beat my fighter? Let’s have a go.
Or they could add in little things like being able to whistle to call your Saurus in QFG2 (you get the idea).
Being able to buy a compilation of Quest for Glory games (or any other series) for the DS would be plain awesome. And Sierra has gotten some experience on the DS with their Spyro Shadow Legacy title coming out this fall. And the Lucas Arts games shouldn’t be that difficult to port…heck even a few drunken coders can do it.
Marble Madness
How cool would this be? Use the stylus to navigate your marble through all the obstacles Nintendo can throw at you. Obviously controlling in this manner would be easier than it was on the original game with the directional pad controller, so the obstacles would have to be more difficult.
The top screen could either be an extension of the bottom screen or it could be an overall map with the bottom screen being a more localized view. Or in multiplayer mode the top screen could be your opponent’s screen.
Wireless Marble Madness time trials, anyone? It would get really cool if all players played the same map and you could bump your opponents into a pool of acid or a stream of lava. Who says kids these days can’t have fun with simple things like marbles?
Duh…Starcraft
Okay, this one is a no-brainer. There are so many people out there that want Starcraft on the DS that Blizzard could really rake in some money. Not that they aren’t already. Anyway, the DS is ripe for a RTS and what better than Starcraft (okay, Total Annihilation would be cool too). Sure, Age of Empires is coming out in January, but it is reportedly going to be a turn based strategy.
The idea is simple, you would control on the bottom touch screen just like you would on the computer. The top screen could either be an overall map or it could be another place on the map that you want to keep an eye on. So you could have the bottom screen following an army on the offensive and keep the top screen positioned on your base to watch for intruders. Or you have the top screen follow a scout while you managed your buildings on the bottom screen. Then, if you needed to switch screens quickly, just press the “L” button and you are now controlling the other screen.
And how about voice commands instead of hotkeys to group units with. How about being able to say “ONE” into the mic and having your pre-defined group selected for you.
Wireless play is also a no-brainer, but Internet play on Battle Net would be nice too.
Oh, and this isn’t as far fetched as you might think.
Crossed Swords
I’m using Crossed Swords from the Neo Geo in this example but the ideas could work in just about any RPG type game.
The idea is that on the top screen you would see a representation of the battle (whether it be in a third person view like Crossed Swords, or a 2d view like the original Final Fantasy is irrelevant) and on the bottom screen you would see some inventory that could be used and a blank drawing space. Touching the inventory would use it (eat food, drink potions, change weapons).
The blank drawing space is the real goody here. Drawing quick motions would cause your character to act. So a line from the top right-hand corner to the bottom left hand corner would cause your character to chop in a similar manner on the top screen. A line from the bottom to the top would cause your character to thrust, etc etc.
In addition to this, if you were a wizard-type character you could draw runes on the screen to cast your spells. In this manner mutliplayer vs battles could get interesting. Who can not only remember the runes, but draw the quickly and correctly. You might also use the mic to say words to cast spells. Combine the two for the most difficult and powerful spells.
I could really see this coming into play with a Harry Potter game. I bet the fans would love it too.
Educational Toddler Game
My three year old loves playing Mario 64 on my Nintendo DS. I’m constantly surprised at how well he does…he even has the high score on one of the pinball-ish mini games. The stylus/touchscreen almost comes naturally to children. Why not use some of the DS’s features to create an educational game for toddlers?
The game could teach the alphabet and have the child trace the letters as they come up, or when they get good at that have them draw the letter without tracing it. Or from memory by having the game say something like “Apple starts with A, can you draw the letter A?”.
I don’t know how well the voice recognition can work, but it would also be nice to have a mode where the letter appears and the child has to say what letter it is.
You could also have little educational mini games included as well. Like dragging shapes to similar shape-sized holes, matching games, etc.
The real drawback to this idea is that most parents aren’t going to be willing to let their toddler play with their DS. The idea of it ending up in the toilet is not a pleasent one. Most children would do well though.
Internet Trivia?
How about an Internet Trivia game? Have a server loaded with ten thousand questions (multiple choice, simple drawing, etc) and you could pickup and play whenever you wanted to. If you had your own login then the server could keep stats and have a ranking of the best players. Nintendo could give out monthly prizes to the top couple spots for a year. This is a very hot item in sports bars, so the model works. It is just a matter of whether or not you can get the implementation right.
Full-Spectrum Warrior
Westwood did a lot to build the realtime strategy genre with the Command and Conquer series before they dropped the ball. Full-Spectrum Warrior is a modern RTS incarnation that is ideal for the DS. While the DS may or may not have the horses under the hood to run this or similar games full-tilt, it is certainly suited for watching the action on the top screen while commanding your forces on the lower touchscreen.
Tags: Game design · Nintendo DS
43 responses so far ↓
1 Patrick Shields // Sep 7, 2005 at 10:23 am
The Internet Trivia idea is interesting. Using a DS card for the game engine and storage, you could start the game up in the morning in range of your home wifi network, and tell the game to download new questions for you. It would store them to the card, and you are free to close the DS and take it with you, playing the game in non-wifi areas.
2 Dan // Sep 7, 2005 at 10:50 am
Love the call for old Sierra games like King’s Quest on the DS. I’d also like to see Empire Deluxe (http://www.killerbeesoftware.com).
I also want versions of great board games like Risk 2210, Ticket to Ride, Axis & Allies, Acquire, Silverton, 18xx, etc. Touch-screen could really help the interface and cut down on keeping track of all those plastic men and counters while the wireless play would be lovely.
3 grant // Sep 7, 2005 at 11:13 am
Dan:
You are right, it would be nice to have a boardgame pak released by someone, or in some of your examples they could be stand-alone games. Internet Axis & Allies would be pretty cool!
4 Michael // Sep 7, 2005 at 11:22 am
The touch screen gives the system some awesome abilities. I just hope the touch screen is actually used to the fullest of its extent. In addition, I would love to see a Super Smash Bros game online.
5 Josh // Sep 7, 2005 at 5:53 pm
I am just waiting for a version of Civilization. Ohhh, to never be seperated from my budding Civ again…
6 Ben // Sep 7, 2005 at 7:41 pm
Sam and Max… my life wold be consumed.
7 Cutriss // Sep 7, 2005 at 7:47 pm
Picross? Hello… >.>
Also, while a port it may be, Yoshi’s Cookie deserves to wind up on the DS. IIRC, the original’s multiplayer wasn’t too great. This one could not only have some excellent multiplayer, but also user-creatable puzzles.
8 wraggster // Sep 7, 2005 at 7:55 pm
Its nice to chat about all these games but you should also be reminded that the Nintendo DS Emulation Scene is thriving and in the last few days we have had Spectrum and Vectrex emulators released.
9 WilhelmR // Sep 7, 2005 at 8:00 pm
They could also port Dance Dance Revolution, and you would control the game by stepping on the DS and dancing., how fun is that!
10 Dan // Sep 7, 2005 at 8:01 pm
Yes! An RTS is definitely needed. I would go for Red Alert myself, but yeah Starcraft would also be good.
And what about Diablo?
11 Matt Holden // Sep 7, 2005 at 8:12 pm
Some guy ported several of the old Sierra adventure games to the GB Advance. Vivendi wouldn’t let them be published.
12 Fletcher // Sep 7, 2005 at 8:34 pm
I want all of the Final Fantasy Games translated over in beautiful 2-D!!! I would love to play FFVII-X on it. SWEET!!!
13 Tim // Sep 7, 2005 at 9:26 pm
Hey! Don’t forget Quake! Metriod Hunters has a great control scheme: Quake would work just as well! Not to mention Wi-Fi compatabillity…. *drools*
14 Darkian // Sep 7, 2005 at 9:56 pm
Id luv to see some classic PC games like Starcon2, Master of Orion, X-Com, Syndicate, Colonization, Transport Tycoon, oh the old skool list goes on >:P
15 Michael // Sep 7, 2005 at 10:04 pm
I always thought that bejewled would work very nicley on DS
http://www.astatix.com/bejewled.php check it our you’ll see what i mean.
16 Bryan // Sep 7, 2005 at 10:17 pm
A while ago the arguement was that the PSP was saturated with ports. Too many old games; lets hate the PSP, everyone cried. Now I read this article begging for ports of old games for the DS, a system that launched with a port of Mario 64. So which is it, people? Do you want innovation and new games or the same old stuff remade so you can point a stick at it?
I really enjoy my DS with Kirby and Metos and I really enjoy my PSP with Lumines, Wipeout Pure and MGSAcid. All five games are fresh and innovative, something that Marble Madness DS or Manic Mansion DS would be completely lacking in (besides that would they even be worth the money?) .
The DS with its stylus and two screens is something completely new and never seen before in the gaming world. And now all anyone wants to do with it is to play the same old stuff on it only conformed and twisted to fit into this new play style. It’s sad really.
17 Tim Norris // Sep 7, 2005 at 10:26 pm
Come on, Silent Scope. Top screen is for the actual sniping, the d-pad is for precision sniping, bottom screen has the full map and you use the thumb nub to do the macro aiming, the r trigger is to fire, and the l trigger is to either reload, or for some sort of alternate fire.
18 Edmund // Sep 7, 2005 at 11:06 pm
Thank GOD someone is finally noticing what an incredible idea it would be to port old Lucasarts games to the DS. King’s Quest would be great, but I want to see Sam n Max Hit the Road, Day of the Tentacle, and Full Throttle. If they don’t do this, the execs at Lucasarts are truly stupid.
19 The Beast // Sep 7, 2005 at 11:54 pm
The game I would love to see most of all in any modern console is XCOM UFO Defence. I love that game to death. It has everthing. A RTS element and a turn based strategy element. Can anybody name a better game? And on the DS it would be pure gold.
20 Xavier // Sep 8, 2005 at 12:35 am
The Ogre Battle Games (that’s Ogre Battle, the squad based games, not Tactics Ogre, the individual based games) would be an excellent port to the DS, especially one that followed the gameplay mechanics of Ogre Batle 64. THe major change would be in turning a game filled with planning and pauses into a more RTS, but the two screens would make it easier to process information from the organize screens while maintaining control over an army.
Plus, i’ve played Ogre Battle 64 for a long time and have always wanted to fight the armies of others. How cool would wireless ogre battle wars be?
21 Staffan Jonsson // Sep 8, 2005 at 4:57 am
I would really like to see Gabriel Knight 1-3 and Broken sword 2 ( they have already made brokensword 1 for the old gamboy and it is a very neat game). As the writer of the article suggested Quest for Glory 1 and i think also 4-5 would be nice.
22 grant // Sep 8, 2005 at 7:41 am
Bryan:
Yes, we DO want new and innovative games! But we also want to play some of our old games on our new device.
Yes, we are just greedy…but if we are willing to buy then hopefully the developers will be willing to sell us a lot out of both categories.
23 grant // Sep 8, 2005 at 7:43 am
Michael:
Bejeweled is on the DS! It is just called Zookeeper.
It isn’t the exact same game, but it is close enough for me.
24 grant // Sep 8, 2005 at 7:45 am
WilhelmR:
That is really, really funny.
25 Damien // Sep 8, 2005 at 8:16 am
I would just like to add a “me, too!” for Sam and Max.
Oh. My. God. Lucasarts are you listening?!?!?
Not to mention a new Maniac Mansion.
Though it would be hard to beat DOTT for coolness, I’m sure those characters still have some life in them.
26 Martin // Sep 8, 2005 at 8:37 am
I’d like to see a software graphing calculator for the DS. The upper screen displays the graphs and you use the stylus on the lower screen to use functions and enter digits. At a reasonable price this calculator would be a great alternative to a real one if you already own the DS.
27 LucasArts DS stuff // Sep 8, 2005 at 8:45 am
I believe you can already run LucasArts games on the DS. Look here: http://scummvm.drunkencoders.com/
28 Marc // Sep 8, 2005 at 10:57 am
I’d love to see Lucasarts port their games to both the DS and the PSP. Apparantly the ScummVM ports on the PSP work really well with the analog nub.
But couldn’t they also port their more recent Adventure games like Monkey Island 3, Grim Fandango and Monkey Island 4? Surely the two handhelds can handle the graphics of these games.
Maybe the guys who were working on the new Sam & Max game that was cancelled could pump out some funny adventure games for the handhelds instead of the PC. I’d rather be playing these games on the subway or visiting my inlaws than sitting on the PC.
29 Adam // Sep 8, 2005 at 11:42 am
I know you’re talking DS games here but Marble Madness came out for the GBA already. The control isn’t so hot in my opinion but at least they made it a multicart with Klax on there as well.
A HREF=”http://www.gamespot.com/gba/puzzle/marblemadnessklax/” title=”marble madness”>
30 John // Sep 8, 2005 at 12:01 pm
I would love to see Castlevania 2 Simon’s Quest come out for Gameboy DS or Gameboy Advance.
31 dave // Sep 8, 2005 at 6:50 pm
Toe Jam and Earl hands down
(and pretty much everything said above :P)
32 Jason // Sep 9, 2005 at 7:56 am
Pure…unadulterated…GENIUS! Particularly your rendition of Crossed Swords. That was an awesome game back in the day, it’d make a great DS game, the way you described it.
Mmmmm, King’s Quest… I miss those days alot.
33 Stuart Fleming // Sep 9, 2005 at 8:01 am
The best handheld games are the simple ones. Where is Tetris? Chess? How about Scrabble? Dragging and dropping tiles would make the experience better.
Get some basics out, I haven’t bought a game for the DS since SM64 and Touched! – there just aren’t enough. I’ll have to spend my cash on PSP games instead.
34 Major General Panic // Sep 9, 2005 at 1:56 pm
Given that the people over at scummvm.org have done such an amazing job reconstructing the Scumm interpreter for so many platforms, old Lucasarts games should be a joke to port compared to many other games.
Rereleases of all of those SNES/N64-era RPGs and adventure games that didn’t show up on the Advance would also be nice…
Half of what Nintendo has going for them at this point in the game is twenty years of quality games that can be remade and rereleased.
35 Morten Johannes // Sep 10, 2005 at 3:15 pm
My number one wish is still “Civilization”… Ah… And “X-COM: UFO Defense” as number 2! As an added bonus one could even have minigames of the alien autopsys using the stylus…
36 Brittlefish » The Revolution Controller // Sep 16, 2005 at 2:24 pm
Zelda or Jedi Knight Hack and slash your sword like the crazy guy in the video. This could also work a lot like the methods we described in our DS game ideas article where you can not only use it for sword motions, but also for making motions to cast spells and so forth in a Harry Potter game. Very cool.
37 Josh // Sep 26, 2005 at 4:36 pm
Although I doubt the hardware could handle it, but possibly a stripped down version of NeverWinter Nights on the DS would be awesome. The top screen could display the outside world and the bottom screen could be used for movement, inventory, spells, etc.
38 Mad Brahmin Disease // Feb 20, 2006 at 5:17 pm
Alright, here goes nothing:
– X-COM series
– Jagged Alliance series
– Wasteland
– System Shock 1
– Magic Carpet I + II
– Syndicate (Wars)
– Command & Conquer / Red Alert
– Pilotwings
– Goldeneye 007
– Ultima series
– Zelda: Ocarina of Time
– Starfox series
39 Jimmmy Strange // Aug 4, 2006 at 10:19 pm
I would love to see a version of DOSBox for the DS. Then I could play all me old Quest for glory games everywhere I went.
40 Daniel // Mar 30, 2007 at 5:04 am
I think that Star Con 2 and X-Com UFO Defense would be perfect additions to the DS catalogue.
Both games would not require that much horsepower to run, would do very well with a second screen, and the stylus would make a perfect input device. Not to mention that it would appeal to the strategy genre in a massive way, in fact I originally picked up my ds because I saw Advanced Wars, and heard that Spore was being developed.
~Besides that, there is aready an established community of fans that would snap the games up in a heartbeat.
41 Drool: Give Us Your Games! at GGLOB // Apr 16, 2007 at 3:38 pm
has made an extensive list of ports of classic games they would like to see on the DS. Nice. The Nintendo DS has given
42 gilbert bacyan // Jun 14, 2007 at 10:38 am
i love to play starcraft in this gameboy!!!!
could you gave meh one
43 Tamika // Feb 1, 2010 at 2:25 pm
I would love to play the Quest for Glory, King’s Quest or any of the Sierra classics on my DS – even Simon the Sorceror, Lucusarts games and Stonekeep by Interplay would be fantastic!!!
Leave a Comment