Nintendo's new game is barely a game.
GameSpot is reporting that Tokyo retailers are getting the buzz on Nintendo's latest DS title. It's called "Electroplankton" and has quite an out there concept.
The game, which will be released April 7 for a price of 4,800 Yen ($45), is a hardly a game at all. Electroplankton is more accurately described as a digital jukebox. Created by Japanese multimedia artist Toshio Iwai, the "game" shows soothing graphics on the Nintendo DS' dual screens, and plays music to accompany the visual display. There are ten different "digital planktons" in the game that react to the player touching the screen and speaking into the microphone. These plankton will respond to players with their own movements and noises. Electroplankton will also record noises picked up by the microphone and mix them back into the music. Also, an "audience mode" has the game create it's own original music
A complete song list is not available, but it is known that the game will feature several classic Famicom tunes, including some from Super Mario Bros. The game's creator also created a music game on the Famicom titled Otocky, so songs from that game are likely suspects to show up in Electroplankton.
Is this all worth almost $50? Probably not, except that Nintendo is including a pair of headphones with the title, to take full advantage of Electroplankton's unique premise.
Update: Nintendo already has a website up and running for this title. The site features videos of the game itself, as well as video of people playing it and their reactions. In addition to these videos, the site has what appear to be bios for the different plankton. There are also a couple wallpapers for download. The site also confirms that the song from Super Mario Bros included is the invincibility theme.