Namco Bandai shined some light on how Nintendo DSi enhanced games work with screenshots from Idolm@ster: Dearly Stars. Plug the game into a DSi and you get more menu options.
The screenshot on the left is what you see if you play Idolm@ster: Dearly Stars on a Nintendo DS. On the right you have the Nintendo DSi main menu, which includes the QR code option. The DSi’s camera can be used to read QR codes, which are kind of like barcodes for cell phones. QR codes give idol masters access to extra items. So far, Namco Bandai has not announced any plans for paid downloadable content for Idolm@ster: Dearly Stars. Maybe, they’re making Idolm@ster trading cards with QR codes.
The Nintendo Wi-Fi menu also reveals a feature — an online ranking mode. Locally, players can perform on a live stage, trade items, and do something with download play.
Idolm@ster: Dearly Stars is scheduled to come out on September 17 in Japan. No international release has been announced at this time. No surprises there. Importers might want to be wary about picking this up. Even though the Nintendo DS is region free, the DSi is not. We don’t know if a US Nintendo DSi will be able to play the Idolm@ster: Dearly Stars and if it does the DSi enhanced features may not work.
My Nintendo DSi won’t play Nintendo DS developer carts sent over by developers and technically those are just vanilla DS games in a bulky cart.
Published: Jun 30, 2009 07:23 pm