Electroplanton #1 at Amazon

[Shane R. Monroe]

Yes, 4 of the top 20 videogames at Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/new-for-you/top-sellers/-/videogames/all/ref=pd_ts_vg_nav/104-8366178-1202324) are DS games. #1 right now is Electroplankton ... #3 is Animal Crossing ...

[jakdin]

Go WoW! ;)

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

I'm damn proud of them, I had my doubts as to wether 1. People would be interested in the game and 2. wether the online only system would work out. Judging by this it looks like both my doubts were groundless

[Tally]

Very Interesting, ill have to check that one out

[Flare]

What!? No NGAGE games in the TOP TEN? You gotta be kidding me. Now what am I going to do with my handheld of choice?

[Shane R. Monroe]

Sell it and get a VOIP equipped Nintendo DS v2?

[Flare]

Sell it and get a VOIP equipped Nintendo DS v2?I feel locally owned. :o

[Womp]

If it had a SAVE feature for your music, I'd be all over this...Otherwise, its just a pocket-sized Casio keyboard you had as a kid in the 80's.

I admire what they were doing with this software (It is NOT a game) but its extremely limited just based on the fact you can't show your friends the sweet tunes you make. I mean how cool would it have been for Nintendo to have made it at least Wi-Fi with the ability to store music in a virtual locker off site?

A great little thing that lacks scope. Lack of save is just totally stupid, with a save feature I'd give it a huge thumbs up.

[Shane R. Monroe]

I think, honestly, that they expect you to hook it up to something - like a stereo ... I'm not sure in each plankton case that 'saving' is really the goal or maybe even possible.

Still, we could have gotten the option.

[Womp]

I think, honestly, that they expect you to hook it up to something - like a stereo ... I'm not sure in each plankton case that 'saving' is really the goal or maybe even possible.

Still, we could have gotten the option.

Nah the goal is ultimately to create. I think thats great and everything but I sure think it would be nice to be able to create a song I worked long and hard on and be able to show it off or hold onto. Its like drawing a picture that you are especially proud of and then having to just rip it up in the end. This actually happens to me with Pictochat. I am ALWAYS drawing on it and man it'd be cool to save some of the pictures...But then again its technically a CHAT program so I wouldn't expect that option.

In the end its not like the media cards Nintendo is using here even need batteries to save with anymore, seems like something that should have been second nature to have in something like this. But yeah I guess there is nothing stopping you from sending the music out to a PC via the headphone jack.

The software isn't horrible, but it is flawed. This is basically a "Musical scatch pad".

[Shane R. Monroe]

I think the only reason I'm willing to go easy on it, is because its VERY NON-STANDARD composition. Its more like ... affecting a timeline versus ACTUALLY laying down notes. Its more like you're interactive with a looping timeline - which doesn't seem overly like "saving my precious composition".

I dunno, I bought it. I support this sort of thing.

[Zaphod]

You could just record the audio. I think of Electroplankton as more of a musical instrument than an audio tool, and you can't save on a Violin.

[Womp]

You could just record the audio. I think of Electroplankton as more of a musical instrument than an audio tool, and you can't save on a Violin.

Yeah but playing a violin isn't random and you also have something called sheet music which you play off of for pretty much any instrument, do that doesn't hold as an excuse.

Electroplankton is IMO a very random event that would be hard to recreate specifically unlike say a piano and sheet music.

[Shane R. Monroe]

I just got my copy in the mail today ... I'll give it some time and let you guys know what I think when I've had a chance to properly evalutate it.

BTW, I ordered from NOA, and it did NOT come with the 'bonus pack' of headphones, etc. like the Japanese copy did.

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

I just got my copy in the mail today ... I'll give it some time and let you guys know what I think when I've had a chance to properly evalutate it.

BTW, I ordered from NOA, and it did NOT come with the 'bonus pack' of headphones, etc. like the Japanese copy did.

That would be great if you let us know your thoughts on it, I've seen a real mix of opinions. Also let us know what the manual is like, the japanese one was really strange and wacky.

[Shane R. Monroe]

The manual is THICK ... its very detailed ... I just glimpsed through it.

[Shane R. Monroe]

Yeah but playing a violin isn't random and you also have something called sheet music which you play off of for pretty much any instrument, do that doesn't hold as an excuse.

Electroplankton is IMO a very random event that would be hard to recreate specifically unlike say a piano and sheet music.

I dunno ... that's a pretty interesting way to put it. I would be more akin to call it a musical instrument scenario than a game to be sure. I'll do the time and find out.

[Zaphod]

Yeah but playing a violin isn't random and you also have something called sheet music which you play off of for pretty much any instrument, do that doesn't hold as an excuse.

Electroplankton is IMO a very random event that would be hard to recreate specifically unlike say a piano and sheet music.

Why is playing Electroplankton any more random than a Violin? Having played Violin for 20 years now I can tell you that its very hard to recreate the exact same song as well, especially when you are first starting out. It's the difference between going to a live performace or purchasing a recording. While the recording will be the same everytime the live performance will always be different.

With enought time and practice I am sure that it's possible to recreate the same song over and over again with Electroplankton. While there is currently no sheet music for the game I am sure you could make some. Just look at the GDC key note last year. I am sure that is not the first time the presenter made that song.

[Womp]

Why is playing Electroplankton any more random than a Violin? Having played Violin for 20 years now I can tell you that its very hard to recreate the exact same song as well, especially when you are first starting out. It's the difference between going to a live performace or purchasing a recording. While the recording will be the same everytime the live performance will always be different.

With enought time and practice I am sure that it's possible to recreate the same song over and over again with Electroplankton. While there is currently no sheet music for the game I am sure you could make some. Just look at the GDC key note last year. I am sure that is not the first time the presenter made that song.

True and I guess I didn't really explain it very well...I think what I am trying to say is at least with a violin or most instruments really you can have the music already written down as sheet so in most respects you have the architecture of the song that you can follow. Now how you play it and your timing etc is exactly the difference in live and studio play. Electroplankton just doesn't come off as exact in that regard...Anyway I still support the "Game" but its just not for me as a purchase.

[miner2049er]

I've been "playing" this "game" for a couple of days now and I have to say it's really got me hooked. I never thought it would but it's just great!

Put some decent headphones on and you can make sound shift from one to the other and back again.

Why why why no recording mode though?

[Shane R. Monroe]

My opinions will be revealed in full soon enough ...

[nukinetix]

Accute Planktonitis (http://www.edge-online.co.uk/archives/2006/01/planktons_alive_1.php)

[Womp]

Electroplankton is very cool stuff...I gotta dig up my audio cable and try my hand at sending the stuff to my PC...

Now that I have some way of recording, I have a feeling I'll be getting into this game a lot more now.

[nukinetix]

From what everyone has been saying here I thought this was right on the money:
The game is odd, there's no real goal, no levels. Just a set of musical toys and interactive experiments that you can manipulate to make oddly soothing music. In one you move leaves up and down to let fish bounce off of them to make tones. It may sound simplistic, but when you get a certain bounce and you hear a mini-song play as the fish careen around the screen it's oddly addictive.

It's certainly not for everyone, and you won't spend days and days playing it, but as a musical toy it's a blast. Worth your money, and with a good set of headphones it's very relaxing. This is the sort of thing that Nintendo is great at, releasing things no one else would even think of touching, and pulling it off well.

[Shane R. Monroe]

Quite right ... I fired it up just before bed last night .. got me all relaxed ... brought my mind down ... just zoned out ...

GREAT stuff!

[miner2049er]

If it's soothing you want, get those 5 discs spinning.

Some clockwise and some anticlockwise.

Sometimes it gets creepy though.

I love that one.

[B_Rik_Schitthaus]

Oh the lumiloops are great, the game broken sword contains some of my favourite music and you can recreate it (albeit generally) quite well, as well as some death march esque tunes. Im a fan of the hanenbow myself and the little easter egg with the plant is a nice touch.

[Womp]

Quite right ... I fired it up just before bed last night .. got me all relaxed ... brought my mind down ... just zoned out ...

GREAT stuff!

I'm going to see how the DS to PC transfer works out for me with this game, because I really DO think this is a totally cool piece of software. I don't mean to come off as down on it but I guess its just not "Grabbing" me like some of the other DS software has done right out of the gate. I will say though that those snowflake looking plankton are my favorite. But yeah it had me zoning out the other night and by doing that it got my attention a bit more than before....I love when a game makes me "Zone" out. :D