Full DS conference details leaked
Games including Legend of Zelda: Four Swords, wireless multiplayer on one cartridge, cinema interaction, downloadable demos, Pokémon titles, and loads more, exposed ahead of Nintendo's Seattle conference.
Nintendo is reeling this evening after an unprecedented leak saw the details of its DS press conference splattered all over the Internet before any of the key speakers had even taken the stage.
Perhaps most exciting is the suggestion that Shigeru Miyamoto will follow his hugely popular appearance at E3 this May to unveil a new Cube Zelda title with a similar appearance to announce a Legend of Zelda: Four Swords title for DS.
The company plans to reveal that you'll be able to download games wirelessly from one another and play them together, allowing DS owners to engage in multiplayer using just one cartridge. It's a feature Nintendo calls "Game Sharing".
President Satoru Iwata will then announce that time-restricted demo versions of games will be available to download at retailers, and that the console's connectivity even extends to the silver screen; fans of the Pokémon movies will have bonus materials beamed to their handhelds if they happen to have a Game Boy Advance Pokémon title in the DS's cartridge slot.
A new Pokémon game, Pokémon Diamond, will also be confirmed, while Japanese launch title Pokémon Dash will be demoed to the assembled hacks in Seattle, and the president of the Pokémon Company will demonstrate how to unlock bonuses by inserting GBA Pokémon games into the DS.
Echoing news that emerged from Japan this morning, reports also suggest that Square Enix will confirm that Final Fantasy III - the last untranslated NES RPG in the FF series - will be overhauled and released on the DS.
Shigeru Miyamoto is expected to demonstrate games including Super Mario 64 DS and Nintendogs, while SEGA's Yuji Naka will demo Feel the Magic: XY-XX (formerly Project Rub) and confirm that a Sonic DS title is in development.
Although Nintendo has yet to confirm any of the above details, the detail of the revelations - right down to the order of the speakers - leaves us in little doubt that they're genuine, and that the leak came either from somebody involved in producing the event or a senior member of Nintendo's staff.
Either way, it's exciting news for Nintendo fans, on the same day that the company officially confirmed titles due out in the 30 days following the system's November 21st US launch.
Having spent lots of money flying people out to Seattle from all around the globe though, it's also a serious egg-on-face moment for the gaming giant, arguably eclipsing Sony's cock-up earlier this year that saw the platform holder reveal intimate details of its PS2, PS3 and PSP strategies on its official website.