Nintendo releases first game for new Play-Yan peripheral

TOKYO--Nintendo DS and Game Boy Advance SP owners who have the brand-new Play-Yan peripheral can start to use it to play minigames downloaded from Nintendo's Garage Games site. This is a fresh role for the Play-Yan, which was created as a movie- and music-playing adapter for the Nintendo game handhelds.

On Monday, Nintendo launched its Garage Games site, which is devoted to games that can be downloaded and used with the Play-Yan adapter. A total of 12 will be released, starting with Insect, which is available now. Gamers can expect one new game per week, capped by a 13th bonus one, Nintendo revealed this week.

Players must download each game onto a computer, then unpack the file, transfer it onto an SD card, and then insert the card into the Play-Yan. The games are in the ASF file format and will play like movies if run on a Windows-based PC.

Although the Play-Yan was officially released Monday, Nintendo has already discovered a bug. The adapter's left and right audio channels are reversed when players use headphones with the device. Because the Play-Yan is exclusively sold through the Nintendo site, the company has been able to contact all buyers, telling them they can return the device for a free replacement.

For more information on Nintendo's Play-Yan, see GameSpot's previous coverage.