Drawing on ideas for the Nintendo DS

[ManekiNeko]

I was discussing the Nintendo DS with an online friend, and thought of some games that would work really well with the system's touchscreen. Here are just a few of them...

MAGIC PENGEL: This role-playing title allowed you to create your own monsters by drawing them with magic chalk. It worked pretty well on the Playstation 2, but could you imagine how much BETTER Magic Pengel would be with an actual pen?

QUANTUM: This old Atari arcade title required the player to contain dangerous molecules by drawing rings of light around them. While it doesn't have enough substance to it to make it worth releasing on its own, it would be great in a collection, along with other touchscreen friendly games like Missile Command and Crystal Castles.

POINT BLANK: Namco's light gun game could work on the Nintendo DS as well... although it would be more "Point" than "Blank". You'd simply tap on the targets with your pen to blast 'em to bits.

What games wouldn't work so well with the touchscreen? Well, I tend to think that Metroid Prime: Hunters was a poor choice... first person shooters are fast, intense, and require total visibility of the screen, something that's hard to accomplish when you're constantly jabbing at it with a pen. The frustration of dying could result in a lot of property damage, too... players could apply too much pressure on the screen or even shove the pen through it if they get really angry!

JR

[Flack]

One idea I had was something like a FPS but with a squad of four guys or something. Each guy's position would be shown on the map, and you would have to use the pen to click on each one ... like, if one guy has to be standing on a lever to open a door, you click on that guy's spot on the map and move him into position, then click on the other guy and move him through the door ... something like that.

Along those same lines I was thinking about a Command and Conquer type game, where you would be doing the action on the one screen and dragging your units around on the other.

[Rev. Link]

RTS games could work really well on the DS. Too bad I don't really care for them much.

Maybe a squad based action game, allowing you to keep an eye on two people/parties at once?

[ubersaurus]

I like the sound of Pac-Pix, where you have to draw pac-man and paths for him to eat the ghosts, but you have a limited supply of time and ink. I'm amazed at all the interesting ideas that have popped up using the touch screen.

[spoon]

Tetris Vs., or, Tetris DS.

Using the bluetooth wireless. One player Draws/picks the shape, sends it over to buddies DS. Buddy has to place the shape. This could be done with tons of puzzle games.

[neuropolitique]

Tetris Vs., or, Tetris DS.

Using the bluetooth wireless. One player Draws/picks the shape, sends it over to buddies DS. Buddy has to place the shape. This could be done with tons of puzzle games.

That's pretty wild, and could be a ton of fun.
Using the stylus for FPSs could be a good idea, i think. My big problem with console FPSs is the speen at which you can react. It takes far too long to turn, and is too hard to stop at your taget. Using the stylus could return the level of control you get with a mouse. The action could still be on the top screen, unblemished by the stylus. You don't use your mouse on your screen, right? It may be awkward at first, but it has potential.

This may also usher in a new age of Adventure games. Using a sytlus would make playing and adventure game very easy on the console. Maybe we could see Full Throttle on the DS? :D

[Ed Oscuro]

Gain Ground would do well on the system.

[Rev. Link]

Ooh, has anyone played a web game called Insaniquarium? It's tons of mouse clicks and nothing but, basically. It's fun as hell, very addicting. I'd love to see that on DS.

Also, Super Collapse II. That just came out on GBA, but would be much better suited to DS, since it also involves a lot of clicking.

[ManekiNeko]

Ooh... come to think of it, that other Popcap game Bookworm would work really well on the Nintendo DS, too. It was already released on the Game Boy Advance, and it's playable on that system, but it's pretty clumsy with the D-pad. Your cursor jumps from one tile to the next, rather than sweeping over them smoothly.

The puzzle game Spoon described earlier could work really well, but there would have to be limits placed on what could be drawn. Perhaps successful color matches or lines would give the player the ability to draw larger pieces as an attack. You know, it'd be kind of like how Bust-A-Move works, where your attacks become more powerful and dangerous after popping or dropping a large number of bubbles.

JR

[Rev. Link]

I forgot about Bookworm. That would probably be better on DS than GBA, I agree.