By Andrew Liszewski
Pay particular attention to the word ‘rumor’ in the title there, because I don’t want any Nintendo fans breaking down my door (again!) if it doesn’t come true. In a recent post about Animal Crossing for the Wii, UK magazine Edge is claiming that Nintendo will soon be releasing an official DS flash card that will allow the company to sell their back catalog of Game Boy and Game Boy Color games to DS users. Basically like the virtual console on the Wii does for old NES, SNES and N64 titles.
I’ve heard rumors that some DS owners actually buy something called ‘backup’ cards that let them download and play homebrew or other DS ROMS on the portable system. While an official Nintendo DS flash card is probably not going to stop those people, it does offer users a publisher-supported method to enjoy some of the classic portable titles they played years ago. (The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening comes to mind.)
And again, since this is still in the rumor stage there’s no word on what the pricing for the games will be, or how buying them will actually work, but odds are a PC will be required since the DS doesn’t have a built-in web browser.
[ Edge – Animal Crossing Wii Goes MMO ] VIA [ Wired ]
Joy!
I love seeing companies do something right, and this is a wonderful idea if there’s any truth to it. In a perfect world, it would be a direct extension of the Virtual Console, and I could shift my pre-N64 games onto the DS gratis once it’s tied to my Wii store account. As for buying online directly through the DS, the requisite emulator/storage card should have enough space for a hardwired DS store browser & download system.