Innovative Gameplay in Nintendo DS Launch Titles

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Innovative Gameplay in Nintendo DS Launch Titles

• Steve Okimoto
• Developer Relations Manager
• Nintendo of America

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Touch Screen Terminology

• Touch, tap, pop, press provide discrete inputs
• Drag, slide, trace click, drag, release
• Move click, drag for 360 degree analog movement
• Circle, rotate, spin circular motion

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Touch Screen Terminology

• Draw for arbitrary shapes and paths
• Rub, polish, paint, fill, scratch rapid
  movement in a given area

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Touch Screen Technical

• Touch screen input is averaged to a single point
• Possible Innovation Use two fingers to control
  a point between them

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Super Mario 64 DS

• Developer Nintendo Co. Ltd (EAD)
• Publisher Nintendo

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Super Mario 64 DS

• Use the Slingshot to hurl cannonballs at
  parachuting enemies

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Super Mario 64 DS

• Slingshot is perfect for use with stylus

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Super Mario 64 DS

• Combos score higher

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Super Mario 64 DS

• Slingshot is perfect for use with stylus
• provides fully analog aiming

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Super Mario 64 DS

• Slingshot is perfect for use with stylus
• provides fully analog aiming ( in full 360
  degrees! )

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Super Mario 64 DS

• Gameplay styles

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Microphone

• Control methods
• Duration - long puffs and short puffs
• Amplitude hard and soft puffs
• Timing

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Feel the Magic

• Developer Sonic Team
• Publisher Sega

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Feel the Magic

• Candle

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Feel the Magic

• Candle

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Feel the Magic

• Candle

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Feel the Magic

• Candle

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Feel the Magic

• Candle

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Feel the Magic

• Candle

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Feel the Magic

• Burned by the flame

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Feel the Magic

• Yacht

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Feel the Magic

• Yacht

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Feel the Magic

• My Hero!

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Feel the Magic

• Yacht variations
• Circling sharks

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Feel the Magic

• Yacht variations
• "Sharker" a la Frogger

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Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005

• Developer Team Fusion
• Publisher EA Canada

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Designer's Notebook

• Courtesy of Nick Ferguson
  Team Fusion EA Canada

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Final Design

Courtesy of Nick Ferguson
Team Fusion EA Canada
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Design Goal

• Take the analog swing system from console Tiger
  and make it work on the Nintendo DS.

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What Worked

• Similar to console Console features of Boost,
  Swing and Ball Spin were successfully translated
  to the DS touch screen
• rub for Boost
• drag for Swing
• rub again for Spin

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What Worked

• Touch Screen only We didn't provide any
  alternative of using the D-Pad and buttons for
  the swing. We could only have done this on
  Nintendo DS, and game reviewers recognized this.
  You can play the entire game of Tiger Woods using
  just the touch screen.

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What Worked

• Popular once you work it out
• Most people loved it, once they worked it all out.

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What Could Have Been Better

• Confusing interface - What does all this
  mean?!?!
• a lot of information to take in
• added a Help button to compensate, but the best
  interfaces dont use a Help button

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What Could Have Been Better

• Not enough user feedback Why did I mess up
  that shot?

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What Could Have Been Better

• Too much, too soon?
• Going from Boost Bar to Swing to Ball Spin is a
  lot to handle
• We should have added Boost Bar after you first
  upgraded your boost stat

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What Could Have Been Better

• Putting - Tap to Putt
• We should have retained a version of our existing
  swing mechanic for putting, even though it was
  effectively cosmetic.

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Changes During Development

• Be aware that people need time to switch focus
  between the two screens

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Changes During Development

• If youre inventing a new control system - test
  early, test often and be brutally honest with
  yourself

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Changes During Development

• Subtle things can make a big difference By
  animating the swing display, suddenly players
  realized that they were supposed to move their
  stylus along a path

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Changes During Development

• On-screen Help Button
• Not as good as a Tutorial Mode, but we were short
  on development time

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Tiger Summary

• Show, dont tell - A decent tutorial is worth a
  thousand words in the manual
• One at a time - Introduce new elements gradually,
  people dont like to be thrown in at the deep end
• Follow through - We should have retained the core
  swing mechanic for putting, even if it was a
  fake use of the system

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Special Thanks

• Nick Ferguson - Electronic Arts Canada
• Doug Church - Eidos Interactive
• Perrin Kaplan, JC Smith - Nintendo

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ELECTROPLANKTON