At E3 I discovered Natsume was experimenting with the Nintendo DSi’s unique features with a little title called Cheer We Go. It’s a stylus controlled rhythm game with cheerleaders… wait come back!
OK, so the high school setting and dating sim style elements may not be typical Siliconera fare, but Cheer We Go is notable for two reasons. First, its a Natsume USA planned game that’s being developed in Japan by Success. The set up is similar to Princess Debut, which was conceptually outlined in the USA and then sent to Cave (yes, that Cave) to code. Natsume USA is actively creating games designed for the West with the help of Japanese developers.
“One of the mini-games is going to be DSi compatible,” Graham Markay, Vice President of Operations at Natsume, explained to Siliconera during an interview. “It uses the camera.”
“So it’s a DS game, but if you put it in a DSi one mini game unlocks. If you play it in a DS this one mini game is just a crystal ball, but when you put it in a DSi it unlocks the mini game that uses the camera.” This little fact is pretty interesting. It sounds like there is a way to swap Nintendo DSi enhanced features with something (in this case a crystal ball) when a regular Nintendo DS plays the same game.
The Nintendo DSi is region locked, but what about DSi enhanced games like Cheer We Go? I asked Markay about mystery. “At least I don’t think so,” Markay replied. “That’s a real good question. It’s going to have that standard NOA product code.” I then explained my Japanese DSi has no problem playing US DS games. “Well then if it reads it… I’m going to have to ask the development team that.”
Graham, if you’re reading this please let us know what the development team said! I’m sure the handful of people with an imported DSi (including me, of course) want to know.
