NINTENDO DS "asobi project"

Nintendo of Japan has just opened a website for what it is calling the "asobi project."

Asobi is a contest in which Miyamoto and friends are calling on gamers to come up with great ideas for ways future games and software can utilize the DS's unique features.

1st prize is 2 million yen
2nd prize is 200,000 yen
3rd prize is 100,000 yen

The website asks gamers to simply put their ideas on a postcard and mail it to Nintendo.

The judges for the competition include the great Miyamoto and what looks like 3 TV personalities.

Check out the website here:
http://www.asobi-project.com/
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This spunds very interestring, why cant they do something like this in Nintendo-europe.com or the American site??? People outside of Japan have brains also Nintendo?!?!?!

Brilliant idea - I'd love them to extend this to America and Europe as well, I'm sure I'd be able to come up with something for it. When they say 'future games' do they mean entirely new games or are 'ways that franchises could be improved' included as well? I say that because I know damn well I could improve the Pok

Just call the game 'Rokemon' and see if they notice

By the way how much is that in

Top prize is

GR781 wrote: sounds like someone is running out of ideas...

Please tell me that was a very bad joke GR mate.

This is one of the last places I'd expect to hear such nonsense from, and you'd be amongst the last people I'd expect to hear it from.

Edit, oops, excuse the double post, I'd forgotten I'd just done so

[ Edited by nin10do on 2005/6/9 16:45 ]

Exact amounts of prizes at current currency rates:

1st prize -

1st prize -

Yeah GR that either was a really really bad joke...or a stupid suggestion.
I htink NINTENDO are doing this so more of the public are getting involved, maybe NINTEY want someone with a unique idea!
Its better to make a game that all of the public are going to buy, then a game that no one is going to buy!

My word. The prize money.....WOW. you could by a DS just to throw at someone......*dreams*

[ Edited by monkeyman on 2005/6/9 17:18 ]

lol, or a lifetime supply of pizza!!!

YUM!!

Anyway, i would go to Japan for this........if i ahd the moner, that is.

To me it just seems like an elaborate advertising campaign to get people focused on the DS for a long period of time.

^ and isn't that a good thing?

They're beating the PSP, for crying out loud.

Yeah I never said it was a bad thing. It's great seeing nintendo actually using some of the money they actually make instead of sticking to making diffrent colour DS. And we may even get a good game out of it too.

Seems like Nintendo are looking for new ideas to me as well! I'm sure they have quite a few ideas already, but they're thinking ahead for the next few years. Let's hope someone lands on a classic that's instantly addictive and playable!

i'm sure that with Miyamoto as a judge, he'll pick the best one!!!

I just can't agree GR, it sounds like the nonsense comments from a blind hater, I was actually shocked to here it here and from you - I was expecting to hear (and dreading) such things from anti-fans, but not from you or at C3

This is a cool little advertising gimmick, it'll generate hype and excitement about the DS. Just think along the lines of the Zelda movie Duffman did ... maybe Anouma was running out of ideas for the realistic styled Zelda

This sort of thing is found throughout life, all manner of top quality developers employ it not because they have ran out of ideas but to generate consumer hype. All manner of top quality car makers etc have done this.

nintendo should have enough ideas going that all its development studios etc are totally busy, and they already have projects lined up well into the next few years; This indicates to me that they have people left doing nothing, and that they need to take more projects on.

I'll just call a spade a spade here, that's bollocks mate.

Nintendogs, Animal Crossing, Mario Bros, the Zelda title, Metroid Hunters and Pinball - all just off the top of my head, I'm sure there's plenty more. That's a simply astonishing amount of work from one company, no debate about it.

that cash prize somehow changes the nature of the competition to me. Surely they shouldnt be needing to spend that?

As I've stated it's a promotional thing, sure fans would do it for free or for a chance to join Nintendo but the cash get's the entire branch of gamers and even non-gamers hyped.

Add that to the fact that we have yet to see a real innovative use of the touch screen - i mean, analogue control, a few fun mini games.. its not really revolutionary is it?Good fun I'll admit, and there are some good ideas, but nothing that makes you say "wow thats something only nintendo could come up with", in terms of use of the touch screen- it all adds together to make it seem like they are somewhat running out of ideas.

Again rubbish. And the DS isn't supposed to be revolutionary, it's all about the innovation.

What have Nintendo produced/developed so far.

Mario 64 - really cool touch screen control and fun mini-games, besides that was just just a name game to have for launch.

Polarium - awesome title and not possible on any other system.

Wario Ware - gimmicky but damn good fun, not possible on any other system and simply had innovation pouring out of it.

And Nintendogs if we take Japan - need I say any more!

I'm sorry GR but that "running out of ideas" business is utter crap, as I read this the dreaded realisation of anti-fans saying such a thing popped into mind, but hearing it hear is dissapointing to say the least.

Sorry for the semi-aggresion, but that sort of thing rubs me well and truly up the wrong way, and I think a moderator of a Nintendo site saying such things that I consider absurd is a little out of place, meh.

I personally think you are way to centric on the touch screen, the innovation stems from many variables. The mic, the two screens and the touch screen.

rather they dont have any brilliant ideas about use of the touch screen- which to my mind is self evident by the titles available ; surely if they had some massively innovative idea for use of the touch screen, they would have made it available at launch, in order to showcase the DS.

What about Nintendogs?

And making innovative games takes time, they are creating brand new code and everything. The DS was a rushed system, they would have loved to get Nintendogs or Advance Wars from day one - but sadly quality takes time.

The only remotely innovative use I can think of is Pac-Pix, and that wasnt nintendo's idea.

What about Yoshi or more precisely Kirby?

PacPix what a game..shame they took out the ability to draw a farting arse from the japanese version.

is the game good?

I heard that it's very short and that all you do is draw a pac-man and that's it.

Read Raz's review, great review for a great game. This one shocked quite a few people really.

Well its short in that its only got 12 levels which are made up offabout 5 pages. You wont be completing very soon though its quite hard and gets really frantic trying to draw pacmen and arrows and bombs. Id recommend it if you can get it at

Pac-Pix is brilliant, but it's too short, which brings its score down for me. My review.

I think we have seen innovation in the use of the DS - Electroplankton, Kirby: Canvas Curse, Yoshi Touch & Go, Nintendogs and Pac-Pix strike me as the main ones. However, the console hasn't been out for a year yet and it's still really finding its legs in terms of new ways to play, and more stuff will be appearing from now on as developers get more used to the system. I'm sure Nintendo have some stuff behind doors that they haven't shown or are just in the planning stages, but it doesn't hurt to get the public's opinions to see what they want. You want a consumer to buy your product - what better way to know what they want than to directly ask them?

Just to make a point, Nintendo have been branching out for ideas for ages, they held a big conference about it in Japan a while back, and if you read interviews with people who work at Nintendo, they constantly mention they work with students, getting ideas. So either Nintendo has been running out of ideas for a while now, and we just don't know it, or the project is promotion for the DS. How many people will buy a DS to see what it can do, and come up with ideas about how to use it to win that money? It's a reach, but it makes sense.

Also, more on the point of the DS lacking new ideas, that is down to what you expected out of the DS and what you think is innovative. I still think Metroid Prime Hunters is a great use of the touch screen, I've never played a game in that way before, and that's what I expected out of the DS; new ways to plays, and Nintendo is delivering that quite a bit lately.

And to add to that great post (and yes I'll go with the latter, obviously a promo) I actually thought stylus control in Mazza is phenomenal, I know I'm more in the minority, but I prefer it to actualy analogue control. I dunno, you just feel more involved in the game.

I love my DS

What ever game comes from the comptition it's sure to get a lot of attention in Japan and it may just ensure the games success as it's always taking a risk when making a completly new type of game u just have to look at electroplankton for that.