The highlight of the first day at E3 was getting “hands-on” time with the new Nintendo DS or Dual Screen handheld. Nintendo has decided to put in Bluetooth connectivity in order to encourage mini-LAN play in a circa-100 foot area and the double-screen does even more than we initially expected. While the DS still features the familiar touch pad and four-button diamond pad, the bottom screen is a touch pad that can be used to provide additional on-screen details or serve as the game interface. We played with games featuring the traditional Nintendo IP characters in which you could race with the traditional controllers a la Mario Karts and in which you could use a stylus on the touch pad to circle items or creatures on the touch screen and have them disappear from the top screen.

To this reporter, who has never championed a piece of Nintendo hardware as likely to be the clear winner in a platform competition (picking the Genesis over the SNES, the Playstation over the 64, and the X-Box over the GameCube), this is a sea change. Nintendo will continue to dominate the handheld market for pure games (the DS will play the existing library of GameBoy titles, as well as its own new games) and will make mobile phone customers ask themselves whether they really want a multi-purpose device when such a robust game machine is available. We can imagine developers of role-playing games using the touch-screen as a map interface, having cooperative play in squad-based games where players outline tactics on the fly, building basketball, hockey or football plays on the fly and watching the on-screen players execute. The sky is the limit on the DS for everyone but those who want a phone with their handheld.

For those who do “want a phone with that?” there are some interesting games in the offing. G3 Studios, the folks who did Flip It! for Verizon’s line-up of games, will unveil Cleopatra to the public toward the end of May. Flip It! (for those who have missed it so far) is a delightful puzzle game that looks like a cross between Reversi and the original 7-Up Spot game. It might even have some resemblance to a Go board, but that is stretching the analogy. Some of the stones or counters light up in a pattern and the player has to keep pressing keys in order to solve the puzzle. Cleopatra is a running, jumping game that scrolls in 2D like an early Mario Brothers game, but has the Egyptian theme and a little of the traditional G3 humor to commend it.


On the Nokia n-Gauge, we were delighted to see The Elder Scrolls Travels: ShadowKey. Set in the famous Elder Scrolls series of role-playing games (Arena, Daggerfall, Morrowind), this first-person role-playing game offers landscapes that reminded this reporter of the dozens of hours spent in the first title of the series (where the role-playing elements were a step beyond most of the competition, but the rich and complex world of intrigue for Daggerfall and Morrowind, as well as the refinements of the engine were not yet in) where combat was king. The graphics, even on the small screen (or perhaps, because of the small screen), were better than those remembered from Arena and even the Alpha version we saw was not crashing in the dungeons (an infrequent, but not unlikely problem in the first game).
Bethesda chose Vir2L studios to create TES Travels: ShadowKey for them and Vir2L is releasing two other games via J2ME and BREW systems, this year. Ducati Extreme is a motorcycle racing game, designed by Doug Fredericks who rides and races a Ducati himself, where players can buy and customize their bikes and participate in competition on a circuit of nine racetracks. The same crew is responsible for AMF Extreme Bowling, a simulation that may be for bowling what many of the golf games have been for golf. And, in addition to the traditional alleys, there are fantasy alleys, too. Imagine a lane in the middle of the jungle (that maintains itself in pristine condition—we aren’t talking reality here). The game doesn’t change, but it sometimes helps to see other graphics than the familiar ones, just to feel like the game is bigger than real-life.

Of course, readers of this site are very familiar with the Zodiac handheld. This reporter played Duke NukeEm Mobile on the Zodiac and is very convinced that this is the ultimate executive toy. The Palm applications work well. The landscape form factor makes it easier to play games and the size makes it easy to hold. The control options are competitive with any handheld except the Nintendo DS and its stylus screen could be as functional as the DS’ touch screen. Playing Doom2 and Duke NukeEm Mobile put this reporter back in time at least 6 years, but the idea of playing 2.5D games on a handheld that were “state of the art” prior to Quake was mindboggling and brought out obsessive behavior that we thought we had left behind.

True, E3 may not be a mobile show, but we see more and more games that are more and more competitive at each E3. Mobile games are here. Mobile games are getting better. And mobile games will be a major component of the landscape of the future.

And for something completely different:

The following product does not have a mobile component. It does not belong on this website, but it was one of the most important products we saw at the show. We are as excited about this as we are about Activision’s The Movies from Peter Molyneux and the hilarious Sims 2 from Will Wright’s team.

Children’s Music Journey is a joint venture from the Keys to Achievement Foundation (David Arden, founder and chairman) and Adventus International that built the Piano Suite Premier. It is interactive software that teaches children basic familiarity with keyboard, theoretical concepts and enables children not only to play with both hands, but to be able to understand music and compose.

Children’s Music Journey is a joint venture from the Keys to Achievement Foundation (David Arden, founder and chairman) and Adventus International that built the Piano Suite Premier. It is interactive software that teaches children basic familiarity with keyboard, theoretical concepts and enables children not only to play with both hands, but to be able to understand music and compose.

There are five parts to the software. The lesson is introduced by a famous composer. These are designed to be new lessons taught every week for three years. There is also a practice room that follows up on the techniques and theories taught in the lesson. An improvisation area allows children to improvise. There is a play area with interactive exercises designed to underscore the major points of the lesson. There is a musical library that enables you to play your own compositions or some of the great pieces by Vivaldi, Mozart, Beethoven or Scott Joplin who provide your lesson materials through the 3-year program.

The students can compose and record their own music and lay down additional tracks to go along with their composition. The three year program features 90 hours of interactive lessons in a series of products. The first year has 25 hours and the last two are approximately 35 hours each. Upgrade path for the complete product at a price point under $35.00 for each year.

The underlying educational philosophy is based on that used in the New School for Piano. It has been used for years in San Francisco, California with children 4 years old and up. The software has a notation function to turn the early childhood symbols of bird notes and whale notes into actual notes.

With the foundation sponsoring five pilot programs in different public school systems (including Los Angeles and San Diego) over the next year, this is a product that could not only change lives for those of us who want it as consumers, but for those schools that use it. Just hook a midi keyboard to the computer with that software and you can be taught by the world’s greatest composers. Just imagine!

--Johnny L. Wilson