DS slide-sensor add-on revealed

Official online video from Nintendo Japan reveals 5,800-yen mouselike peripheral for ever-popular handheld, bundled with new game.

"Slide, slide, slippity slide..."

Earlier this week, a filing with the US Patent and Trademark Office appeared to reveal Nintendo was working on a new portable. Accompanied by images of what looked roughly like an original Game Boy, the recently granted patent was for motion-sensing technology. The tech would re-create "change caused in the actual space in a form of a game-space state change, based on at least one of an amount and a direction of a tilt, movement or impact applied to the housing."

Now, Nintendo Japan has unveiled a motion-sensing peripheral which uses far simpler technology. Last week, the company quietly launched a new motion-sensing "slide controller" add-on for its DS handheld. As by a video on the site, the add-on clips into the Game Boy Advance cart slot. Photos taken by popular Japanese-game importer NCS show the slide controller turns the entire DS into a mouse via an optical sensor on its underside (pictured).

The DS slide controller comes bundled with a new game for the handheld, Slide Adventure: Mag Kid. According to NCS, the game centers around a small robot, Mag Kid, tasked with reassembling itself in the face of attacks from rogue salvage operations. The robot can defend himself with a dashing attack and also gleans new powers from defeated enemies. The title will also feature 12 minigames which will put the Kid through his motion-sensing paces.

Slide Adventure: Mag Kid is already on the market in Japan, where it retails for 5,800 yen (around $48). Nintendo has not made public any plans to release the slide peripheral or outside its homeland. As of press time, US PR reps for the publisher had not responded to inquiries about the device or the game.

221 Comments

  • chibi-acer

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 3:35 pm PT

    Weird.

  • Andy639_basic

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 3:33 pm PT

    If someone made a First Person Shooter that used this mouse for aiming and shooting... that could be awesome.

    Otherwise I don't see much use for this thing that the Touch Screen can't already pull off.

  • helium_flash

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 3:28 pm PT

    That has been out in Japan for weeks. So this is hardly new.

  • quetzalcoatl45

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 3:24 pm PT

    This is more useless than Wii Fit.
    But odd's are it will never make it to North AMerican anyway.

  • OfficialBed

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 3:24 pm PT

    lame

  • 2deluxe

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 3:23 pm PT

    Wow, how, uninteresting. . .

  • playstation_wii

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 3:20 pm PT

    The device seems intereating, by why not here though?

  • red_x2004

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 3:19 pm PT

    Only time will tell how this new peripheral makes as a good add-on to the DS.

  • greystone227

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 3:10 pm PT

    Slappywhite2001, that's exactly what I thought after reading this. It seems like a cool idea, but the fact that the DS is a portable device sort of takes away from it's usefulness. There's no good way to play with this thing in the car (unless you have a book or something on you). Also, the price is kind of a turn off, but then again it does come with a game.

  • carddude

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 3:10 pm PT

    It seems like a new wario-ware idea.......................HINT HINT!

  • Funkyhamster

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 3:07 pm PT

    Sounds... interesting... seems kinda impractical for portable gaming though.

  • Blk-Gnome

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 3:06 pm PT

    wtf...how is this useful?

  • Adam_the_Nerd

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 3:03 pm PT

    Sounds like a Wii-S hehe.

  • NECR0CHILD313

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 3:03 pm PT

    Would like to try it first. I thought the Touch Screen was a dumb idea before I tried it, fool me twice, shame on me.

  • Younggun135

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 3:00 pm PT

    this looks good, but i might not get to far, but who knows, maybe.

  • lew_0911

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 2:59 pm PT

    Looks really interesting, though I'm really apprehensive about seeing the screen of my DS lite properly as you literally throttle your handheld left and right.

  • borninvincible

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 2:59 pm PT

    hopefully it makes it to regions...

  • Goku-stream

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 2:57 pm PT

    When you have the ball, run with it, as Nintendo seems to be doing. Though all the ideas, there are going to be some bad but you can't progress without feedback, so good on them. The table factor could be a problem for this reaching good heights though.

  • kaziechameleon

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 2:56 pm PT

    hope it rocks.

  • skine99

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 2:55 pm PT

    Eh..... I don't like it

  • j03yAsunder

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 2:54 pm PT

    This better not only be compatible w/ DS lite! If so I'm gonna be pissed... That's only if this device is put to good use.

  • mikemetroid5565

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 2:52 pm PT

    Hmm Interesting...I see a new mario kart with this thing as well

  • Slappywhite2001

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 2:46 pm PT

    doesn't the need for a table or other flat surface kind of take away from the fact that it is a portable device? i see so many kids with these at restaurants, and I can just see the problems arising when a kid tries to play this game at the dinner table. *smash all the glassware*

  • VirtualBoyZ

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 2:44 pm PT

    i hope its better than the e-reader...

  • Pastehunter

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 2:41 pm PT

    Funny

  • Zuul13

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 2:40 pm PT

    hmm... interesting. I like the idea of a mouse. A mouse would be nice to have for games like Metroid Prime and Brothers in arms. Instead of having your hand cramp up you could just a similar control scheme as a mouse and keyboard. But as the "mouse" is attached to the DS, I don't see it as much practical use. This "mouse" will just probally apply to a handful of casual games like Warioware Twisted did for the GBA. Motion controlls have already been done with the portable systems, and it kind of works, but isn't prcatical sense it is hard to concentrate on a sceen as it's moving around (motion sickness anyone?). Just make a mouse that attaches to the DS via cord.

  • pigman239

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 2:37 pm PT

    i dont get it.

  • Belegorm

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 2:35 pm PT

    Interesting

  • c_rake

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 2:33 pm PT

    This is pretty cool add-on. It will be interesting to see how developer's will use this.

  • Bgrngod

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 2:33 pm PT

    This is about as "Crazy Nintendo" as it gets. They always release strange peripherals like this.

  • SadiqueDoux

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 2:31 pm PT

    I dunno, it looks kinda fun... I'd probably play it, BUT if it stays in Japan, it's not something I'd buy imported- it doesn't seem THAT worth it. Kudos to Nintendo for coming up with new ways to use the ds nonetheless!

  • Anthony9000

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 2:30 pm PT

    doesn't seem bad to me......

  • Eternal_Phoenix

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 2:30 pm PT

    I say 'let the market decide.'

  • Quadster

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 2:30 pm PT

    Bravo nintendo, we don't see nearly enough innovation for games, all we see is Wash, Rinse, Repeat, Wash Rinse, repeat, and when a company does something different, most casuals tend to curl up, have a fit and most likely say "i........don't........understand....how to....play.....this.......thing, it must be bad!, it's sure to fail etc etc, i'm gonna sulk with my Uber Controller (Sucks thumb)"
    Bring on Innovation i say, worked for the DS, and it's working for the Wii, besides...we need more ways of interaction with our games

  • baseball07playr

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 2:30 pm PT

    cooool

  • Chirico_Cuvie

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 2:28 pm PT

    New control peripherals are hard to gauge. They can be nothing but a footnote to a consoles history, (Sensor Scope, Menacer, U-Force, Steel Battalion console, and the ubiquitous Power Glove) or become a useful product that adds new gameplay mechanics and innovates a genre that becomes a new standard ( Wiimote, Rumble, Analog Stick, guitar). At first glance this looks odd and useless, but so did rumble and the Wiimote.

    Give it some time and see what devs do with it. It may go the way of the Gameboy printer, or it could be the next Wiimote.

  • KingSigy

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 2:27 pm PT

    The game itself looks a bit stupid, but Nintendo should be able to come up with some pretty ridiculous things to use this technology.

  • darthzew

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 2:22 pm PT

    Well now, why do you need a Wii when you can have basically the same thing but take it with you? Pretty cool though, I can already imagine some cool stuff coming.

  • smeghead83

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 2:22 pm PT

    cool..i cant wait for this

  • BobbyBobby85

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 2:21 pm PT

    I think the funny thing is, the game used with the device would probably work just as well with stylus control, making the whole idea seem a bit redundant. I mean, the touch screen is a nice means for control as it is, and the applications for the Touch screen far outnumber any ideas they might have for this mouse thing. If anything, I'd at least like to see a new warioware game using this technogoly, as it seems it would be the only worthwhile thing I could imagine.

  • emerald101

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 2:21 pm PT

    Sounds kl still wouldve of been better off with a new portable with graphics power of the gamecube.

  • DefianceNJ

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 2:17 pm PT

    Seems kinda trite.

  • HALOISTHEBEST26

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 2:17 pm PT

    LOL

  • SpareJesus

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 2:16 pm PT

    aygol:

    Because it isn't violent, or because it wasn't made by Sony or Microsoft?

    Pfft. If anything, it's new. At least they're trying things.

  • fireblazerx

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 2:11 pm PT

    Very Nintendo like move like here. By the looks like it, the DS will eventually become like a Mini-Wii if Nintendo keeps putting up stuff ilke this.

  • Tylendal

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 2:11 pm PT

    Hmm. Never seen a mouse as an entire game system. Interesting.

  • aygol

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 2:10 pm PT

    Weird and lame...

  • jakndaxter7223

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 2:09 pm PT

    ......

  • aplay-may-cry

    Posted Aug 8, 2007 2:09 pm PT

    Remember when Nintendo made games?

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