Wireless Voice Chat First: Metroid Prime Hunters on Nintendo DS

At eTech last week I pleasantly surprised to see a hard-core of Nintendo DS users with the majority of them running Animal Crossing at breakfast, to ensure their lands were set up for the day.

This news, literally just in, extends the DS to include wireless voice chat – a significant change that will enable another channel of free voice communication between people that probably like chatting quite a lot.

IN SPACE NOBODY CAN HEAR YOU SCREAM… -At least not until now! Metroid Prime Hunters launches with wireless voice chat technology –

13th March 2006 – The wait for the interstellar bounty-hunters, and gaming’s toughest heroine is finally over as Metroid Prime Hunters launches across Europe on 5th May 2006. This game features touch-screen controls, Wi-Fi game play, a fully-fledged single player 3D first person shooter mode as well as an extensive online multiplayer first person shooter mode. For the first time on a Nintendo DS game, Metroid Prime Hunters include wireless voice chat technology allowing players to talk with friends before and after battle, whilst using Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection and microphone, wherever they are in the world.

Raised by an ancient alien race, Samus is the galaxy’s top bounty hunter, utilising her advanced Varia suit to give her near super-human powers and using an arm mounted cannon to blast her way past any opposition. Now Samus has been hired by the Galactic Federation to recover powerful alien artefacts before deadly bounty hunters get their hands on them. In space there’s no law and no back up, Samus will have to use all of her skills to return alive.

Featuring some of the most advanced 3D graphics for a held-held system, playing Metroid Prime Hunters brings you the great graphics seen in Metroid Prime on Nintendo GameCube with the added benefit of it being on a portable handheld system. The vast single-player mode in Metroid Prime Hunters is among one of the most exciting seen on a hand-held console to date and the game can also proudly claim to be the first multiplayer first person shooter to grace a hand-held system. While playing, the fast-paced seamless levels are displayed with perfect clarity on the top Nintendo DS screen, while a map and radar showing enemy locations is visible on the bottom.

The gameplay possibilities that the Nintendo DS can offer really allows Metroid Prime Hunters to stand out from the rest. Players use the Nintendo DS d-pad to walk around while the stylus is used to look about the area and aim their weapon, much like a PC based First Person Shooter. The stylus control allows players to turn and target with pinpoint accuracy. Icons strategically placed on the touch-screen also allow players to switch weapons and convert Samus into her Morph Ball form with ease.

The fun doesn’t stop there either! You might have proven yourself against intergalactic bounty hunters in the game’s single player mode, but there is still much more to experience with the game’s expansive multiplayer modes. Metroid Prime Hunters features numerous online and offline multiplayer modes, allowing players to compete locally with friends using the Nintendo DS wireless link and then battle people across the globe thanks to the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection service.

Players without access to Nintendo’s Wi-Fi Connection service can use Single-Card Play to enter battle in a selection of arenas with three friends, using only one cartridge. Or if all players have copies of the game, they can engage in one of the game’s seven multiplayer modes in Multi-Card Play with a selection of seven characters and ten arenas to choose from.

Playing Metroid Prime Hunters using the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection allows players to take their newly honed skills and show them off to players around the world for free* using their home broadband connection or one of Nintendo’s public Wi-Fi hotspots. Players can select Find Game to play against opponents from across the globe, chosen by their skill level or battle friends from the list saved on their Nintendo DS in Friend’s and Rivals mode.

Prepare for the ultimate space mission as Metroid Prime Hunters goes on sale across Europe on 5th May 2006 at the estimated retail price of around £30.