NintendoWare Weekly: Calculators, Clocks, and Fish
by David Hinkle 
{ May 4th 2009 at 11:00AM } 
DSiWare
- Animal Crossing Calculator (Nintendo, 1 player, 200 Nintendo DSi Points): It's a calculator themed after Animal Crossing. 'Nuff said.
- Animal Crossing Clock (Nintendo, 1 player, 200 Nintendo DSi Points): You can buy this if you think the DSi's included clock doesn't get the job done, or if you just need to fit more Animal Crossing into your life that badly.
- Penguins & Friends – Hey! That's My Fish! (Gammick Entertainment, 1-4 players, Rated E for Everyone, 800 Wii Points): The goal of this game is to snatch as many fish as you can, while keeping them away from a roving pack of hungry penguins. It's just like your last vacation to Antarctica.
- Tower Toppler (Commodore 64, 1 player, Rated E for Everyone, 500 Wii Points): In a world populated by evil towers, one man stands alone, ready to detonate each one and bring it crashing down. We imagine this would make a good action movie starring Bruce Willis or Jason Statham. As for how good of a game it makes, you'll just have to wait for VC in Brief.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
weirdestchild @ May 4th 2009 11:05AM
Not to be stickler of a tickler or anything, but I'm still waiting for the US release of Majora's Mask, despite me owning the Collector's edition and N64 Cartridge. It's like waiting for Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars all over again.
Cyantre @ May 4th 2009 12:53PM
My guess is they will release it May 18th, as that will mark the release of the 300th game added to the VC.
acefondu @ May 4th 2009 11:05AM
Wow, just when I thought the DSi Store couldn't possibly get better, they give us a clock and a calculator. AND we have to pay for it! That is awesome! Keep up the great work Nintendo, really, I don't think Sega will ever topple you again with this feat of quality and fun.
butaneko @ May 4th 2009 11:07AM
Dude are you being sarcastic?
acefondu @ May 4th 2009 11:12AM
What? How are you NOT excited about this? I have been waiting all my gaming years for something as powerful and awesome as an Animal Crossing themed clock and calculator! For a parsley $4 total? I remember when my non-themed wristwatch cost me $10 with one of those disc batteries that only last a year, what a rip-off!
p.s. - The sarcasm should be overwhelming your senses by now.
butaneko @ May 4th 2009 11:26AM
Oh god, down votes! I'm melting away. It's like I never existed!
I was joking btw
acefondu @ May 4th 2009 11:44AM
I feel for you, the down vote Nazis are at it again. They must have a club or something, but I'll never join it since, from what I understand they are heavily involved in the Time Magazine person of the year ballots WHICH is directly linked to the Russian mafia's second cousin the Prussian mafia.
Olicon @ May 4th 2009 7:42PM
I have always wanted a calculator on my DS, but this simply isn't robust enough.
Give me a bloody graphing calculator with Fast Fourier Transform functionality already! The DS hardware is just screaming to have the thing done!
Heck, make it take picture of the blackboard, and digitize the writings into digital notes too! Oh, and the microphone on that thing would be perfect for recording a lecture too.
I can't believe the folks at Nintendo haven't turned the DSi into the ultimate study machine already. It pisses me off so badly.
VaultICEE @ May 4th 2009 8:42PM
I already got a calculator AND a clock for free in Pokemon Platinum!
PersonOfSorts @ May 4th 2009 11:10AM
Time to pick up a DSi. Oh boy!
Stoneious @ May 4th 2009 11:10AM
Every single item on that list makes me want to punch someone at Nintendo.
Go1denchi1d @ May 4th 2009 11:14AM
A clock and a calculator...whoot.... Will I ever be able to use my 1000 nintendo points on something good? Every Monday I await the release of sudoku or another art style game though I dunno how many out there would consider those on the good side haha. Well, until next week!
Macroy @ May 4th 2009 11:34AM
you should pick up Art Style: Aquia.
seriously.
Felipe @ May 4th 2009 12:23PM
I used half on Dr. Mario Express. Just need to find another good game/app to use up the remaining 500 points on.
And I do wonder if Nintendo gets an idea of remaking gameboy/gb color games in DSiWare format. I wouldn't mind buying all the Pokemon games all over again if that happened because I do remember some time ago, Joystiq or some other site mentioned that they got news of new patents for the old games. Or something like that, can't remember what it was.
shibotenshi @ May 4th 2009 11:18AM
What a rip-off. They really should make those two little apps free. That's just ridiculous.
S. Tiger @ May 4th 2009 11:18AM
I like the sound of that movie.
John Z @ May 4th 2009 11:20AM
Is "Hey That's My Fish!" based on the board game? If so it might be worth a look. The rest... kinda meh.
Rob @ May 4th 2009 11:22AM
Catching fish sounds like a hoot.
xGeneral DEATHx @ May 4th 2009 11:44AM
Only if it utilizes waggle.
Rob @ May 4th 2009 11:23AM
And once again developers take something new with so much potential and waste it on crap.
tetheredwings @ May 4th 2009 11:23AM
Does anyone else remember someone at Nintendo saying they were going to pay more attention to the "core gamer".. because if this is how they are paying attention to us.. wow.
Rob @ May 4th 2009 11:26AM
Maybe they'll do something at E3, or else the casual gamers are now their core gamers.
Aero @ May 4th 2009 11:50AM
But core gamers love calculators and clocks!
I DeX I @ May 4th 2009 11:32AM
Honest to God, what the heck is Nintendo's problem with the Dsi store? I would like to see some substance to the software. Are they really going to keep peddling these mini-games and silly apps?
Artemio @ May 5th 2009 10:33AM
can't get any better than this
Hakaisou @ May 4th 2009 11:46AM
Ok, some apps would be useful on the DSi, like some sort of PDA scheduler, or hey, how about a Gamespy like service for setting up challenges, or an instant messaging client? But instead... we in America get crap while Japan gets cool stuff over DSiWare. I would actually buy a DSiWare Sudoku game!
Maybe they are just trying to tick off US gamers until we get fed up and decide to turn the service into XBLA by brute force/sheer boredom. I have half a mind to learn to code for DSiWare just so I can make my own Dead Samurai-like game.
James @ May 4th 2009 11:50AM
It gets worse for you then. Wiiの間 came out for the DSi in Japan today... downloaded it for free just an hour ago.
Hakaisou @ May 4th 2009 11:56AM
I would be jealous of that... but I don't know what it is. My only assumption is that it's pretty cool, and Japan only.
Mr Khan @ May 4th 2009 12:37PM
Wait. Wii no Ma launched? Really?
Arashikou @ May 5th 2009 5:08AM
We can't even turn DSiWare into XBLA out of frustration because unlike Microsoft, Nintendo won't let us put our own code on their console. Ordinary mortals aren't permitted to learn how to program crap for DSiWare. So I REALLY don't know what their plan is here.
xGeneral DEATHx @ May 4th 2009 11:46AM
I keep being tempted by the DSi (already have the original DS at home), but I'm seriously wondering if there are any uber-cool apps for it yet. I know it just came out, but can anyone name some really awesome features that could possibly sell me on one of these?
Freak Mojo @ May 4th 2009 12:03PM
I'm saving up for one of these too, but nothing is jumping out and saying "must have now!"
I'm actually more excited about the Mother's Day DS bundle that just hit the shelves. That lime green is kinda cool looking :)
Hakaisou @ May 4th 2009 12:03PM
The actually functional DSi Browser is nice, just no flash support, and the camera isn't bad (haven't tried viewing DSi pics on anything but the DSi, but they look decent on the DS). Haven't tried the music player yet, cause I can't be bothered to convert any of my techno into AAC.
Only thing that's really irritating me about the DSi itself ATM is that while the DSi Store and the DSi Browser can both use the advanced wireless settings to connect to WPA wireless points, DS games still can't use those, even if the system is configured for it, so I still can't play multiplayer wireless unless I set my router to open mode, which is the digital equivalent of ritual suicide anymore, or to use WEP security (which may as well be open mode, considering that any WEP key can be cracked in like 30 seconds or something),
Felipe @ May 4th 2009 12:45PM
@Hakaisou
The pictures come out really well on the computer. I was forced to use my DSi's camera to take pictures for an event recently and when uploaded to a pc, they come out surprisingly big and the quality isn't that bad.
xGeneral DEATHx @ May 4th 2009 1:20PM
@ Hakaisou:
I know what you mean, opening up your router on a "constantly on" network is like begging to be info-raped. Thanks for the input, I was wondering if that was the case with DS MP titles. Also, I wonder why the DSi doesn't support other music formats? Is it really that hard to work with MP3? I'm sure there's a reason, just wondering if you or anyone else knows why.
@ Felipe:
Cool! I'm a bit of a photophile myself (always love playing with new cameras/photo-related gadgets); got a Canon 40D at home, and although I'm sure it won't be taking photos of that quality it would still be cool to store some photos on-the-go.
seniorgato @ May 4th 2009 12:06PM
When will they release something good on the DSi store?
Either, never, or much more likely, some time after October 5th, when they stop giving away free points.
Roto13 @ May 4th 2009 12:09PM
Hey That's My Fish is a pretty popular board game among board game fans, but hey, don't let a little thing like two seconds of research prevent you people from judging games by their titles. No, that's ok, go ahead. Keep ignoring quality games that don't have giant advertising budgets or numbers appended to their names.
What exactly makes hardcore gamers hardcore, again?
Donald @ May 4th 2009 12:51PM
The three Bs: Bullets, booze, and boobs
WalkingCarpet @ May 4th 2009 12:26PM
I'm glad I had a reason besides DSiWare to buy a DSi.
All i want out of DSiWare is a VC for old GameBoy games, anyway. I want some Metroid 2 and old portable Zelda. Not a calculator. That I have to pay for.
Rob @ May 4th 2009 12:34PM
Technically, don't yo have to pay for calculators anyway? At least the real ones.
WalkingCarpet @ May 4th 2009 12:38PM
True, but at the same time, it seems like something that should be free with a piece of hardware that I paid $160 bucks for in the first place.
Either way, I'm not going to get worked about it. "How dare they make me pay for a calculator?!" and such. I just don't plan on picking it up.
When DSiWare got announced I was just really excited because it had a lot of potential, the kind of potential that like the app store for the iPhone has, but it's not being realized very well. Or at all, really.
Hardy @ May 4th 2009 12:40PM
Every passing week, I see more clearly how failed Nintendos shop system is.
3 games a week (crap games most of the time) is just not enough.
I remember Reggie said they were going to focus on quality DSiWare....Where? lol!
If this is the rate, they should just release garbage at the speed of Apple's App store, not 3 a week. Then it may take a year before we see something even remotely decent.
Also it seems as if Nintendo themselves are promoting homebrew to be made on the DSi. Since functions like a clock and calculator are made FREE.
Pathetic Nintendo...Pathetic.
BPMOmega [gamertag] @ May 4th 2009 1:51PM
You know what I would've paid money for?
An "emulator" of a TI graphing calculator.
But a simple calculator like this... Haha, no. And a clock? How insulting. DSi already has a clock built in.
And when are we gonna get the Moving Pictures Memo that Japan has? That was a free app and looked really cool.
joe @ May 4th 2009 2:29PM
I total understand what Nintendo meant by quality vs quantity now. Thank God that the DSi has some standards unlike the iPhone.
slainbaby @ May 4th 2009 2:44PM
Finally a calculator!
I think it would actually be worth 200 points if it connected to the Internet and did up to date currency conversion among various other conversions as well as have more scientific functions.
Wickster @ May 4th 2009 3:36PM
I still want my "real" MP3 Player. I don't want to convert my MP3 collection to M4As just for this...Music player patch please, Nintendo.
Robert @ May 4th 2009 3:40PM
In regards to DSiWare, why do you hate us Nintendo?
TX2 @ May 4th 2009 3:48PM
I'm at the point where I'd rather just by mighty flip champs for $35 bucks at gamestop than wait another week.
Robert @ May 4th 2009 4:27PM
Really? Have we even gotten Majora's Mask in America yet?
Mike97 @ May 4th 2009 5:09PM
I'm now glad I didn't have the money to "upgrade" to a DSi at launch. I'm still monitoring the situation each week, but really the only thing that ever interested me about the system was the potential for short, fun games that I could play when I need a break from a longer game or when I don't have much time. So far the only thing that interests me at all is Art Style: Aquia. I'm not spending a hundred dollars to upgrade my DS lite for one game I'd probably only play a little here and there anyway. Forget the app store, I've found more cool games for my click wheel iPod than for the DSi.