Nintendo Kicks Off Touch Generations in N. America

May 30, 2006, 6:50 am EDT
Total comments: 12

This brand of casual games for DS has been popular for a while in Japan.

Nintendo Launches New 'Touch Generations' Brand for Nontraditional DS Games

Casual Games Appeal to a Wider Audience

REDMOND, Wash., May 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Starting in June, Nintendo will begin branding its more casual Nintendo DS(TM) titles under the new Touch Generations label. The Touch Generations brand will include titles that anyone can pick up and play, even with little or no experience with video games. It represents one of the many ways that Nintendo is making it easy for new demographics of people to be introduced to video games. Three new games, including a second brain-training game, will be added to the Touch Generations category in June.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20060530/LATU022LOGO )

"We remain committed to turning video games into an inclusive mass medium that everyone can enjoy," says George Harrison, Nintendo of America's senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications. "Touch Generations will help novices and newcomers identify the fun and uniquely engaging experiences that are available only on Nintendo DS."

These current and upcoming games will be identified by a distinctive logo, and will help non-gamers and casual gamers quickly identify which games might be appropriate for them. Touch Generations will be one element of Nintendo's multimillion-dollar campaign to get more and more people interested in video games.

The first seven titles in the Touch Generations brand include the following upcoming games:

* Big Brain Academy(TM) (launches June 5): The second title in the

brain-training series tests players in five areas: thinking,

memorization, computation, analysis and identification.

* Magnetica(TM) (launches June 5): A simple puzzle game challenges players

to connect and eliminate like-colored marbles before they reach the goal.

* Sudoku Gridmaster (launches June 26): This version of the wildly popular

puzzle grid features more than 400 sudoku puzzles, all of which were

hand-picked by the original creators of sudoku.

Touch Generations also will include the following already-released titles:

* Brain Age(TM): Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day (launched April 17):

More than 5 million people around the world test their brains daily in

areas like math, counting, reading and memorization. Many purchasers

include older people who had never previously played a video game.

* Nintendogs(TM) (launched Aug. 22, 2005): The hugely popular puppy

simulation and communication program lets users pet their pups using the

touch screen and teach them commands using the microphone.

* Tetris(R) DS (launched March 20): Nintendo's greatest characters team up

with one of the most popular puzzle games of all time.

* True Swing Golf (launched Jan. 23): In this realistic golf game, players

simply slide the stylus across the touch screen to strike the ball and

send it flying.

Touch Generations titles can be enjoyed by hard-core gamers and beginners alike, as evidenced by the positive reviews the gaming media have given to many of these titles. But as Nintendo adds new titles to the Touch Generations category, the two groups will be able to come together and identify their common ground.

Talkback

Ian SaneMay 30, 2006

Tetris is a "Touch Generation" game?

JonLeungMay 30, 2006

Well, there is a "Touch" mode in Tetris DS...the Balloon Fight one.

I guess they figure anyone can "touch" things, but maybe they should find a way to promote games that casual gamers can play that may still primarily involve buttons.

Tetris can kind of get away with that because just about everyone knows how to play Tetris.

SlayerZeroMay 30, 2006

As long as they can maintain the high quality of these games, the Touch Generation marketing should work fairly well in North America too.

obscureownershipMay 30, 2006

All these games, and they still have no plans to bring Band Brothers over to the United States.

JonLeungMay 30, 2006

Oh, yeah, since it includes already-released games, why not rerelease Electroplankton under that brand? That'll get it some more sales.

ArbokMay 30, 2006

I'm I the only one who read this and figured:

"Oh great, now they are going to make the design crowded like the Player's Choice titles... except without the savings" ?

Seems like a lose-lose to me, unless these logos are just stickers that can be removed.

ShyGuyMay 30, 2006

I hope there is a mainstream marketing campaign to go along with this, like the Brain Training ads in magazines.

PaleMike Gamin, Contributing EditorMay 30, 2006

Electroplankton is a TG game in Europe.

As for the Band Bros. comment, Windy showed it to me for the first time at E3 and I'm hooked now too. I don't know if I would want them to bring it here, as the soundtrack would most likely get changed to camp fire songs.