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DS

Metroid Prime Pinball Rolls Up

by Robert Graves - October 19, 2005, 7:25 am EDT
Total comments: 25 Source: Nintendo Press Release

It's coming on October 24, and it's not alone...

Metroid Prime Pinball: Pickin' Up Good Vibrations On Oct. 24


Vibrating Rumble Pak Helps Players Explore Creative Ways to 'Feel' Their Games


REDMOND, Wash., Oct. 19, 2005 – The Oct. 24 launch of Metroid® Prime Pinball will bring all the bumping, flipping and tilting of a real pinball table to a portable video game system. Metroid Prime Pinball, made exclusively for Nintendo DSTM, includes the Nintendo DS Rumble PakTM, the first accessory that makes use of the secondary slot normally reserved for Game Boy® Advance games. The Rumble Pak is the same size as a Game Boy Advance game, and delivers vibrations of various intensity and duration to immerse the player in a realistic pinball experience.


Because the pinball is actually Metroid heroine Samus Aran in Morph Ball form, Metroid Prime Pinball delivers an earth-shaking experience beyond the usual pinball game. The Rumble Pak activates if the ball hits a bumper, or when Samus gets attacked by a host of nefarious Metroid enemies, such as Space Pirates, Metroids, the Omega Pirate, Meta Ridley and Metroid Prime.


"This first accessory to make use of the expansion slot of Nintendo DS demonstrates the system's versatility and potential," said George Harrison, Nintendo of America's senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications. "The Rumble Pak technology easily can be applied to future games, while the expansion slot could be used for a host of different peripherals. This is just the beginning, as Nintendo continues to explore creative ways for people to 'feel' their game experience."


The dual screens of Nintendo DS show off an expansive pinball playing area, and players can even tap the touch screen of the DS to "nudge" the table to keep the pinball in play. DS Download Play allows for the world's first simultaneous eight-player game using just a single game card. Players drop enemies onto one another's pinball boards as they race to hit a high score.


The Nintendo DS Rumble Pak also will be compatible with Mario & LuigiTM: Partners in Time, which launches on Nov. 28. More information about Metroid Prime Pinball, Rated E for Everyone, can be found at www.metroidprimepinball.com.


The worldwide leader and innovator in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its popular home and portable video game systems. Each year, hundreds of all-new titles for the best-selling Game Boy® Advance SP, Nintendo DSTM and Nintendo GameCubeTM systems extend Nintendo's vast game library and continue the tradition of delivering a rich, diverse mix of quality video games for players of all ages. Since the release of its first home video game system in 1983, Nintendo has sold more than 2 billion video games and more than 353 million hardware units globally, creating enduring industry icons such as MarioTM and Donkey Kong® and launching popular culture franchise phenomena such as Metroid®, ZeldaTM and Pokémon®. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo's operations in the Western Hemisphere.


For more information about Nintendo, visit the company's Web site at www.nintendo.com.


Talkback

UncleBobRichard Cook, Guest ContributorOctober 19, 2005

Dude, I keep feeling like I'm missing announcements... Did we know it was coming with the Rumble pack?

Bill AurionOctober 19, 2005

Yes, for quite a while now... face-icon-small-smile.gif

MarioOctober 19, 2005

So many damn games, i'm ALREADY playing catch up.

UncleBobRichard Cook, Guest ContributorOctober 19, 2005

Man, I'm just not paying that close of attention... Maybe it's because I wasn't interested in Metroid Pinball before...

But since there's a rumble pak...

PaleMike Gamin, Contributing EditorOctober 19, 2005

It's interesting the amount of good press this game is getting after all of the bad press the concept got...

What does Ian et. al. think of the idea now? face-icon-small-smile.gif

Ian SaneOctober 19, 2005

"What does Ian et. al. think of the idea now?"

I still don't like the idea even if it turns out to be a pretty good game. I don't want Nintendo to burn out their franchises which they risk doing if they spin them off to all hell. This just seems like a cheap cash-in. I still remember when almost every Nintendo game was essential and had a reason to exist. This "our franchises define who we are" attitude is very recent and I think it's something that fits Capcom more than Nintendo. This just seems to me like the sort of game a company that bought Nintendo's intellectual properties would make instead of Nintendo themselves.

Hostile CreationOctober 19, 2005

As for me, it still seems like the best possible spin-off of the Metroid franchise. I mean, it's been waiting for years to come out of hiding. It was in the back of everyone's mind. It was gonna come.

Infernal MonkeyOctober 20, 2005

Quote

Originally posted by: Ian Sane


I don't want Nintendo to burn out their franchises which they risk doing if they spin them off to all hell.


Um, they've been doing Mario spin-off games since the 80's, and Mario Baseball has somehow managed to breathe new life into the GameCube in America if sales are anything to go by. You're clearly in the minority here. I mean, wow. Did you even play Kirby's Dreamcourse, Yoshi's Cookie, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Mario Tennis, any of the Mario Kart's or you know, one of the other bajillion great Nintendo games that have dared to use Nintendo characters in WACKY OUT OF PLACE WHOA (cannot handle!) situations?

PaleMike Gamin, Contributing EditorOctober 20, 2005

So, the rumble pak (not the game itself) is getting some bad reviews from both Tycho and IGN. Apparently it's really loud?? Anyone at PGC get their hands on the game and rumble yet?

wanderingOctober 20, 2005

You can hear it for yourself here.

The game sounds (and looks) awesome to me.

steveyOctober 20, 2005

Is it as loud as the rumble pak in WW:T and can you use the rumble pak in WW:T for the game that are compatible with it or do I have to get mpp (and make nintendo think milking samus, and there other AAA games is a good Idea) to have rumble in M&L2

NephilimOctober 20, 2005

Its not that lowd
check the vid, listen to the L&R clicks, now click your DS L&R's
The video is a bit of false advertising
everything sounds 10times lowder then it really is

nitsu niflheimOctober 20, 2005

That nasty impulse got the better of me again. I was buying Kirby and the Amazing Mirror and I got Metroid Prime Pinball too.

Quote

I mean, it's been waiting for years to come out of hiding.
Wasn't Galactic Pinball a Metroid game of sorts, too? I never played the game myself.

vuduOctober 21, 2005

I thought Galactic Pinball was that Pinball game that came free with Windows XP.

Stevey - I haven't heard anything about being able to use Wario Ware Twisted as a rumble pak, so I doubt it's possible. However, it is a kind of neat idea.

Myxtika1 AznOctober 21, 2005

Quote

Originally posted by: nitsu niflheim
That nasty impulse got the better of me again. I was buying Kirby and the Amazing Mirror and I got Metroid Prime Pinball too.


How are people able to pick this game up already if it ships on the 24th?

Infernal MonkeyOctober 22, 2005

I think nitsu placed the order on the internets. face-icon-small-smile.gif

nitsu niflheimOctober 24, 2005

Quote

Originally posted by: Infernal Monkey
I think nitsu placed the order on the internets. face-icon-small-smile.gif



You win face-icon-small-smile.gif



I order everything over the intraweb. (almost everything at least) I am a social tarantula! I don't care that there is a gamestop five miles away, nothing beats FedEX delivery. face-icon-small-tongue.gif

KDR_11kOctober 24, 2005

Intraweb? You got a gamestop inhouse?

nitsu niflheimOctober 25, 2005

I wish, but I was playing with words. I do have one around five miles away, however.

vuduOctober 25, 2005

Since there's no TalkBack thread for Jonny's MP Pinball review I'm going to ask my question here and see if someone is kind enough to answer.

Does the Rumble Pak significantly shorten the DS' battery life? If so, by how much?

KnowsNothingOctober 25, 2005

The answer to that is: "The rumble pack sucks, who cares?" face-icon-small-tongue.gif

Metroid Prime Pinball sounds awesome, but it'll be a while before I pick it up. After saving up and buying Ouendan I'm totally broke again face-icon-small-tongue.gif

ArtimusOctober 25, 2005

Surely Nintendo will redo the rumble pack, they usually have great accessories.

nemo_83October 25, 2005

I don't like it when publishers do this to their IPs. It is like how Lucas Arts now and then whores out Star Wars to make something like a fighting game. I can understand a pod racing game; that has something to do with the movie, but I am pretty sure there are some Jedi codes in some nerd's database that says pointless fighting is a path to the darkside.

UncleBobRichard Cook, Guest ContributorOctober 29, 2005

I picked this up today (thanks to Best Buy Bucks! God, I love these things!) - the Rumble Pak really isn't louds... Maybe I got an odd one, but it's pretty quiet and not really a big deal - in fact, I was a little disapointed in how.. almost unnoticable it is...

It's a pretty fun game though... There doesn't seem to be a "lot" to it, but it's fun.

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