1.
Dark Cloud
–
Dark Cloud is an action role-playing video game developed by Level-5 and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2. Originally intended as a title for the PlayStation 2, the game was ultimately released in Japan in December 2000, in North America in May 2001. A sequel with a plot, Dark Chronicle, was released in Japan in 2002. The protagonist is Toan, a boy who is given a stone called the Atlamillia by Simba, the Fairy King. Dark Cloud was met with positive reviews by critics, who praised its blend of gameplay types. The game was also a commercial success, although it initially sold poorly in Japan, it eventually went on to sell over 800,000 units worldwide. In December 2015, the game was available via emulation for the PlayStation 4 through the PlayStation Network. Dark Cloud is an action role-playing game played from a perspective, in which the player moves through procedurally-generated dungeons, battling monsters. On random dungeon levels, the player may have the option of entering a separate back door area which contains stronger monsters, although the majority of combat involves real time hack and slash, the player will occasionally Duel an enemy. In this type of battle, the player must correctly press a sequence of buttons, whilst in dungeons, the player has both a health meter and a thirst meter. The thirst meter gradually decreases over time, and when fully depleted, to prevent the thirst meter depleting, the player must drink water or step into one of the pools found on many dungeon levels. A major component of Dark Clouds gameplay involves special items called Atla which are used to rebuild the world outside the dungeons, Atla, which are present in most dungeon levels, are large spherical objects which can be retrieved by Toan only. When Atla are removed from the dungeon, they transform into pieces of the world and these pieces must then be reassembled in Georama mode, a gameplay mode similar to city-building games, in which the player can arrange the pieces onto the landscape. The players progress in terms of collecting Atla, rebuilding the village, completing 100% of the villagers wishes is not a requirement, although if the player does reach 100%, they are awarded a bonus item/ability. Unlike most action role-playing games, instead of the characters leveling up, weapons attain absorption points with each kill. Once a certain number of points has been reached, the weapon can be leveled up, however, weapons wear out over time, and it is necessary to repair them in order to avoid them breaking. With the exception of each characters starting weapon, a weapon is immediately removed from the players inventory. To upgrade a weapon, the player can attach stat-increasing items and these attachments are absorbed into the weapon when it is leveled up, freeing up space for more attachments
2.
Japan
–
Japan is a sovereign island nation in Eastern Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies off the eastern coast of the Asia Mainland and stretches from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea, the kanji that make up Japans name mean sun origin. 日 can be read as ni and means sun while 本 can be read as hon, or pon, Japan is often referred to by the famous epithet Land of the Rising Sun in reference to its Japanese name. Japan is an archipelago consisting of about 6,852 islands. The four largest are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku, the country is divided into 47 prefectures in eight regions. Hokkaido being the northernmost prefecture and Okinawa being the southernmost one, the population of 127 million is the worlds tenth largest. Japanese people make up 98. 5% of Japans total population, approximately 9.1 million people live in the city of Tokyo, the capital of Japan. Archaeological research indicates that Japan was inhabited as early as the Upper Paleolithic period, the first written mention of Japan is in Chinese history texts from the 1st century AD. Influence from other regions, mainly China, followed by periods of isolation, from the 12th century until 1868, Japan was ruled by successive feudal military shoguns who ruled in the name of the Emperor. Japan entered into a period of isolation in the early 17th century. The Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937 expanded into part of World War II in 1941, which came to an end in 1945 following the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan is a member of the UN, the OECD, the G7, the G8, the country has the worlds third-largest economy by nominal GDP and the worlds fourth-largest economy by purchasing power parity. It is also the worlds fourth-largest exporter and fourth-largest importer, although Japan has officially renounced its right to declare war, it maintains a modern military with the worlds eighth-largest military budget, used for self-defense and peacekeeping roles. Japan is a country with a very high standard of living. Its population enjoys the highest life expectancy and the third lowest infant mortality rate in the world, in ancient China, Japan was called Wo 倭. It was mentioned in the third century Chinese historical text Records of the Three Kingdoms in the section for the Wei kingdom, Wa became disliked because it has the connotation of the character 矮, meaning dwarf. The 倭 kanji has been replaced with the homophone Wa, meaning harmony, the Japanese word for Japan is 日本, which is pronounced Nippon or Nihon and literally means the origin of the sun. The earliest record of the name Nihon appears in the Chinese historical records of the Tang dynasty, at the start of the seventh century, a delegation from Japan introduced their country as Nihon
3.
PlayStation
–
It is created and owned by Sony Interactive Entertainment since December 3,1994, with the launch of the original PlayStation console in Japan. The original console in the series was the first video game console to ship 100 million units,9 years and 6 months after its initial launch and its successor, the PlayStation 2, was released in 2000. The PlayStation 2 is the home console to date, having reached over 155 million units sold as of December 28,2012. Sonys next console, the PlayStation 3, was released in 2006 and has sold over 80 million consoles worldwide as of November 2013. Sonys latest console, the PlayStation 4, was released in 2013, selling 1 million consoles in its first 24 hours on sale, the first handheld game console in the PlayStation series, sold a total of 80 million units worldwide by November 2013. Its successor, the PlayStation Vita, which launched in Japan on December 17,2011, PlayStation TV is a microconsole and a non-portable variant of the PlayStation Vita handheld game console. The main series of controllers utilized by the PlayStation series is the DualShock, the PlayStation Network is an online service with over 110 million users worldwide. PlayStation Mobile is a framework that provides PlayStation content on mobile devices. Content set to be released under the framework consist of only original PlayStation games currently, 7th generation PlayStation products also use the XrossMediaBar, which is an award-winning graphical user interface. A new touch screen-based user interface called LiveArea was launched for the PlayStation Vita, additionally, PlayStation 2 and original PlayStation 3 consoles also featured support for Linux-based operating systems, though this has since been discontinued. The series has also known for its numerous marketing campaigns. The consoles origins date back to 1988 where it was originally a joint project between Nintendo and Sony to create a CD-ROM for the Super Famicom. However, a day after the announcement at CES, Nintendo announced that it would be breaking its partnership with Sony, opting to go with Philips instead but using the same technology. The deal was broken by Nintendo after they were unable to come to an agreement on how revenue would be split between the two companies. The breaking of the partnership infuriated Sony President Norio Ohga, who responded by appointing Kutaragi with the responsibility of developing the PlayStation project to rival Nintendo. At that time, negotiations were still on-going between Nintendo and Sony, with Nintendo offering Sony a non-gaming role regarding their new partnership with Philips. This proposal was rejected by Kutaragi who was facing increasing criticism over his work with regard to entering the video game industry from within Sony. At the meeting, Kutaragi unveiled a proprietary CD-ROM-based system he had working on which involved playing video games with 3D graphics to the board
4.
Rogue Galaxy
–
Rogue Galaxy is an action role-playing video game developed by Level-5 and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2. The game was released in Japan in December 2005, in North America in January 2007, a Directors Cut of the game was released in Japan in March 2007, which includes all of the added features and improvements made for the North American and European localizations. In December 2015, the game was available for the PlayStation 4 through the PlayStation Network. At the time of its release, Rogue Galaxy was the largest game Level-5 had ever developed, both Level-5 and Sony had strong expectations for the game, hoping it would challenge the RPG market dominance of the Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest franchises. Rogue Galaxy received generally positive reviews, with praising the graphics, range of side quests. Some, however, were critical of the plot and character development, although the game went on to win several gaming awards, it did not sell as well as had been hoped, failing to meet Sonys expectations of selling one million units. Battles occur as random encounters, a la traditional role-playing video games such as Squares Final Fantasy X or Level-5s own Dragon Quest VIII, Journey of the Cursed King. However, unlike games, which feature turn-based combat, Rogue Galaxy uses a real-time hack. The player has control over only one character, although which character this is can be changed at any time. The two NPCs fight independently of the character, based on the strategy selected prior to the battle. Available strategies include fighting very aggressively, targeting a specific enemy, the strategy can also be changed at any time during the battle. Additionally, the player can issue orders to the NPCs during combat. NPC allies will also offer advice to the character, such as suggesting they perform a special move or use a particular item. The player is given a choice of either ignoring the advice, NPCs will not perform any special moves or use items unless the player tells them to, or has selected a particular strategy prior to the battle. During combat, each character has an Action Gauge, which decrease with each action taken, when it is empty, the play can no longer attack, and must wait for the gauge to automatically refill, or instantly refill by successfully blocking an enemy attack. Each characters secondary weapon has its own gauge, which depletes with each use. This gauge is independent of the gauge, and during combat it can only be refilled a certain number of times before the secondary weapon is no longer available for use. The player also has an attack, the Burning Strike
5.
PlayStation Portable
–
The PlayStation Portable is a handheld game console developed by Sony. Development of the handheld was announced during E32003, and it was unveiled on May 11,2004, the system was released in Japan on December 12,2004, in North America on March 24,2005, and in the PAL region on September 1,2005. It primarily competed with the Nintendo DS, as part of the generation of video games. The PlayStation Portable became the most powerful system when launched. It was the first real competitor to Nintendos handheld domination, where many challengers, such as SNKs Neo Geo Pocket and Nokias N-Gage and it also features connectivity with the PlayStation 3, other PSPs and the Internet. It is the handheld console to use an optical disc format, Universal Media Disc. The original PSP model was replaced by a model with design changes in 2007. Another remodeling followed in 2008, PSP-3000, which included a new screen, a complete redesign, PSP Go, came in 2009, followed by a budget model, PSP-E1000, in 2011. The PSP line was succeeded by the PlayStation Vita, released in December 2011 in Japan, the PlayStation Vita features backward compatibility with many PlayStation Portable games digitally released on the PlayStation Network, via PlayStation Store. Shipments of the PlayStation Portable ended throughout 2014 worldwide, having sold 80 million units in its 10-year lifetime, Sony first announced development of the PlayStation Portable at a press conference before E32004. Although mock-ups of the system were not present at the conference or E3. Then-CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment Jose Villeta called the device the Walkman of the 21st Century in a reference to the multimedia capabilities. Several gaming websites were impressed by the handhelds computing capabilities and looked forward to the potential as a gaming platform. Nintendo had been dominating the market since launching its Game Boy in 1989, with the only close competitor being Segas Game Gear. Later offerings from both SNK and Nokia also failed to cut into Nintendos share, the PSP was called the first legitimate competitor to Nintendo’s dominance in the handheld market by an IDC analyst in 2004. The first concept images of the PSP appeared in November 2002 at the Sony Corporate Strategy Meeting and showed a PSP with flat buttons and no analog stick. Although some expressed concern over the lack of an analog joystick, in addition to announcing more details about the system and its accessories, Sony also released a list of 99 developer companies that had pledged support for the new handheld. Several PSP game demos, such as Konamis Metal Gear Acid and SCE Studio Liverpools Wipeout Pure were also shown at the conference
6.
Dragon Quest VIII
–
Dragon Quest VIII, Journey of the Cursed King is a role-playing video game developed by Level-5 and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 2. It was first released in Japan in 2004, and was released in North America in 2005 and PAL regions in 2006. It is the installment of the popular Dragon Quest series. A version of the game for Android and iOS was released in Japan in December 2013, Dragon Quest VIII uses cel-shading textures for the characters and scenery and is the first game in the series to have fully 3D environments and character models. The game retains most of the series role-playing game elements, such as turn-based combat, Dragon Quest VIII follows the silent Hero, the main character, and his party of allies as they journey towards the goal of defeating the wicked Dhoulmagus. Dragon Quest VIII enjoyed much success since its release, both in Japan and in North America and it is a Square Enix Ultimate Hits and a Sony Greatest Hits title. A survey conducted in 2006 by Famitsu earned the game the #4 spot as the best video game of all time, after Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy VII, in Dragon Quest VIII, the player controls the Hero in a fully three-dimensional environment. Players are able to pan the camera a full 360 degrees around the character, the visual controls allow players to examine people and objects more closely than the top-down perspective of the games predecessors. With a new fully integrated world, towns and dungeons are no longer identified by two-dimensional icons found on the world maps, players can guide the Hero across vast landscapes to reach full-size towns and buildings. Battles are randomly occurring and turn-based, when encountering an enemy, the game switches to a battle scene with the enemies facing the party where characters from both sides take turns attacking each other. These battle scenes have visually changed dramatically from earlier games in the series, in the earlier games, battles were shown from a first-person perspective. During battle, each character in the party has the ability to attack, use items, or use magic, new to Dragon Quest VIII is the tension system, which allows the player to choose the Psyche Up command for a character during battle. This command allows the player to skip a turn in order to build tension. By using it multiple times in succession, the attack will do more damage. Another new feature, the Alchemy Pot allows players to mix items in order to create new and this can be done while walking on the world map. There is also a monster capturing feature, but it is not as fundamental to the gameplay as it was in Dragon Quest V, the player may find enemies visible on the world map and can be recruited if defeated and used during the Monster Arena mini-game and during battle. Through the traditional experience point system, characters advance through levels and develop their abilities. Defeating enemies grants experience points and gold to the party, which allows the player to purchase items, in addition to this, Level-5 incorporated a secondary skill development system to allow players a chance to customize each character to their liking
7.
PlayStation 3
–
The PlayStation 3 is a home video game console developed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It is the successor to PlayStation 2, and is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles and it was first released on November 11,2006, in Japan, November 17,2006, in North America, and March 23,2007, in Europe and Australia. The PlayStation 3 mainly competes against consoles such as Microsofts Xbox 360, the console was first officially announced at E32005, and was released at the end of 2006. It was the first console to use Blu-ray Disc as its storage medium. In September 2009, the Slim model of the PlayStation 3 was released and it no longer provided the hardware ability to run PS2 games. It was lighter and thinner than the version, and featured a redesigned logo and marketing design. A Super Slim variation was released in late 2012, further refining and redesigning the console. The system had a start in the market but managed to recover. As of March 2016, PlayStation 3 has sold 85 million units worldwide, putting it about on par with Xbox 360 and its successor, the PlayStation 4, was released later in November 2013. On September 29,2015, Sony confirmed that sales of the PlayStation 3 were to be discontinued in New Zealand, in March 2017, the official site for PlayStation 3 in Japan was updated to state that it would be discontinued soon. Sony officially unveiled PlayStation 3 to the public on May 16,2005, at E32005, Video footage based on the predicted PlayStation 3 specifications was also shown. Two hardware configurations were also announced for the console, a 20 GB model, the 60 GB model was to be the only configuration to feature an HDMI port, Wi-Fi internet, flash card readers and a chrome trim with the logo in silver. Both models were announced for a worldwide release, November 11,2006, for Japan and November 17,2006, for North America. On September 6,2006, Sony announced that PAL region PlayStation 3 launch would be delayed until March 2007, because of a shortage of materials used in the Blu-ray drive. Also, the price of the Japanese 20 GB model was reduced by over 20%. During the event, Sony showed 27 playable PS3 games running on final hardware, PlayStation 3 was first released in Japan on November 11,2006, at 07,00. According to Media Create,81,639 PS3 systems were sold within 24 hours of its introduction in Japan, soon after its release in Japan, PS3 was released in North America on November 17,2006. Reports of violence surrounded the release of PS3, a customer was shot, campers were robbed at gunpoint, customers were shot in a drive-by shooting with BB guns, and 60 campers fought over 10 systems
8.
Role-playing video game
–
A role-playing video game is a video game genre where the player controls the actions of a character immersed in some well-defined world. Many role-playing video games have origins in tabletop role-playing games and use much of the terminology, settings. Other major similarities with pen-and-paper games include developed story-telling and narrative elements, player development, complexity, as well as replayability. The electronic medium removes the necessity for a gamemaster and increases combat resolution speed, RPGs have evolved from simple text-based console-window games into visually rich 3D experiences. Role-playing video games use much of the terminology, settings. Players control a game character, or multiple game characters, usually called a party. Players explore a world, while solving puzzles and engaging in tactical combat. A key feature of the genre is that characters grow in power and abilities, RPGs rarely challenge a players physical coordination or reaction time, with the exception of action role-playing games. Role-playing video games typically rely on a developed story and setting. Players control one or several characters by issuing commands, which are performed by the character at an effectiveness determined by that characters numeric attributes. Often these attributes increase each time a character gains a level, role-playing video games also typically attempt to offer more complex and dynamic character interaction than what is found in other video game genres. This usually involves additional focus on the intelligence and scripted behavior of computer-controlled non-player characters. The premise of most role-playing games tasks the player with saving the world, there are often twists and turns as the story progresses, such as the surprise appearance of estranged relatives, or enemies who become friends or vice versa. To a lesser extent, settings closer to the present day or near future are possible, the story often provides much of the entertainment in the game. Because these games have strong storylines, they can make effective use of recorded dialog. Players of these tend to appreciate long cutscenes more than players of faster action games. While most games advance the plot when the player defeats an enemy or completes a level, for example, a player may make the decision to join a guild, thus triggering a progression in the storyline that is usually irreversible. New elements in the story may also be triggered by mere arrival in an area, the plot is usually divided so that each game location is an opportunity to reveal a new chapter in the story
9.
Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
–
Ni no Kuni, Wrath of the White Witch is a role-playing video game, developed by Level-5. It was released for the PlayStation 3 in Japan on November 17,2011, the game is a significantly enhanced version of Ni no Kuni, Dominion of the Dark Djinn, released for the Nintendo DS in Japan in December 2010, featuring similar gameplay and story elements. Players control Oliver, a boy who sets out on a journey to save his mother. The game is played from a perspective and its world is navigated on foot, by boat. Development began in 2008, simultaneous to Dominion of the Dark Djinn, the games animated sequences were produced by Studio Ghibli, while the original score was co-composed by Joe Hisaishi. The art style was inspired by Studio Ghiblis other productions. The character development of Oliver was a focus of the game, intending to make children empathize with the character. The developers used the power of the PlayStation 3 to its potential to render the world with great detail not possible in Dominion of the Dark Djinn. Following its announcement, Ni no Kuni was widely anticipated and it was acclaimed by many reviewers, with praise particularly directed at its story, graphic design and gameplay. The game won year-end accolades, including Best RPG awards from gaming publications. A sequel, Ni no Kuni II, Revenant Kingdom, was announced in December 2015, Ni no Kuni, Wrath of the White Witch is a role-playing game that uses a third-person perspective. Players complete quests—linear scenarios with set objectives—to progress through the story, outside of quests, players can freely roam the overworld. Players explore towns, villages, dungeons and dangerous places scattered throughout the world, upon leaving a location, players enter the World Map, which can be used to select a destination. When players encounter enemies, they enter a battle system, battles take place on an open battlefield, allowing players to freely roam around the area. During battles, players command a single ally, or one of the familiars accompanying them. To fight enemies, players use magical abilities and familiars, familiars are creatures that can be tamed, in order to be suitable to send out in battle to fight for players. Familiars level up and evolve alongside the characters, each familiar has unique statistics and capabilities, and can be upgraded through the use of treats. When all enemies in a battle are defeated, players may receive points, currency
10.
Game design
–
Game design is the art of applying design and aesthetics to create a game to facilitate interaction between players for entertainment or for educational, exercise, or experimental purposes. Game design can be applied both to games and, increasingly, to interactions, particularly virtual ones. Academically, game design is part of studies, while game theory studies strategic decision making. Games have historically inspired seminal research in the fields of probability, artificial intelligence, economics, applying game design to itself is a current research topic in metadesign. Sports, gambling, and board games are known, respectively, to have existed for at least nine thousand, six thousand, and four thousand years. Tabletop games played today whose descent can be traced from ancient times include chess, go, pachisi, backgammon, mahjong, mancala, the rules of these games were not codified until early modern times and their features gradually evolved and changed over time, through the folk process. Given this, these games are not considered to have had a designer or been the result of a process in the modern sense. For example, the public domain games Generala, Yacht. Today, many games, such as Taboo, Balderdash, Pictionary. Adapting traditional games to become commercial properties is an example of game design, similarly, many sports, such as soccer and baseball, are the result of folk processes, while others were designed, such as basketball, invented in 1891 by James Naismith. Technological advances have provided new media for games throughout history, the printing press allowed packs of playing cards, adapted from Mahjong tiles, to be mass-produced, leading to many new card games. Accurate topographic maps produced as lithographs and provided free to Prussian officers helped popularize wargaming, cheap bookbinding led to mass-produced board games with custom boards. Inexpensive lead figurine casting contributed to the development of miniature wargaming, cheap custom dice led to poker dice. Flying discs led to disc golf and Ultimate, personal computers contributed to the popularity of computer games, leading to the wide availability of video game consoles and video games. Smart phones have led to a proliferation of mobile games, the first games in a new medium are frequently adaptations of older games. Pong, one of the first widely disseminated video games, adapted table tennis, later games will often exploit distinctive properties of a new medium. Adapting older games and creating original games for new media are both examples of game design, Game studies or gaming theory is a discipline that deals with the critical study of games, game design, players, and their role in society and culture. Prior to the century, the academic study of games was rare and limited to fields such as history
11.
Dark Chronicle
–
Dark Chronicle, released as Dark Cloud 2 in North America, is an action role-playing game developed by Level-5 and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation 2. It was released in Japan in November 2002, in North America in February 2003, players control two main protagonists, Max and Monica, who come from the present and future, respectively. They must work together to stop the main antagonist, Emperor Griffon. The game was met with reviews from critics, who praised the improvements over the first game, particularly the graphics. Some reviewers, however, were critical of the storyline, the game went on to win several gaming awards, and sold almost a quarter of a million copies in Japan in its first four weeks of release. In January 2016, a version of the game was made available for the PlayStation 4 through the PlayStation Network. Dark Chronicle is an action role-playing game played from a perspective, in which the player moves through procedurally-generated dungeons, battling monsters. The player controls two characters for the majority of the game, Max and Monica, Max fights with a wrench as his melee weapon and a gun as his ranged weapon. Monica uses a sword and a magical bracelet, combat is composed entirely of real time hack and slash. Unlike most action role-playing games, instead of the characters leveling up, weapons attain ABS with each kill, and once a certain number of points have been reached, the weapon is automatically leveled up. As a weapon levels up, its number of Synthesis Points increase, most items in the game can be broken down, or spectrumized, which turns the item into a SynthSphere. These SynthSpheres can then be attached to a weapon to raise specific stats, weapons themselves can also be spectrumized, but unless the weapon is level five or higher, the resulting SynthSphere will be unstable, and when attached, will result in minimal stat growth. A spectrumized level five weapon, however, will result in considerable stat growth, weapons also have the capacity to be built-up. For a weapon to be built up into a powerful weapon. In most cases, a weapon needs to have a number of specified stats. When a weapon is built-up, it gains strength and reverts to level one, built-up weapons are stronger than weapons that have not been built-up. Building up is the way to acquire each characters most powerful weaponry. As in Dark Cloud, weapons wear out over time, however, unlike in Dark Cloud, when a weapon is broken it does not disappear from the players inventory
12.
Nintendo DS
–
The Nintendo DS or simply, DS, is a 32-bit dual-screen handheld game console developed and released by Nintendo. The device went on sale in North America on November 21,2004, both screens are encompassed within a clamshell design similar to the Game Boy Advance SP. The Nintendo DS also features the ability for multiple DS consoles to directly interact with each other over Wi-Fi within a short range without the need to connect to a wireless network. Alternatively, they could interact online using the now-closed Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection service and its main competitor was Sonys PlayStation Portable as part of the seventh generation era. Prior to its release, the Nintendo DS was marketed as an experimental, third pillar in Nintendos console lineup, meant to complement the Game Boy Advance and GameCube. However, backward compatibility with Game Boy Advance titles and strong sales ultimately established it as the successor to the Game Boy series, on March 2,2006, Nintendo launched the Nintendo DS Lite, a slimmer and lighter redesign of the original Nintendo DS with brighter screens. On November 1,2008, Nintendo released the Nintendo DSi, another redesign with several hardware improvements and new features. All Nintendo DS models combined have sold 154.02 million units, making it the best selling game console to date. The Nintendo DS line was succeeded by the Nintendo 3DS line in 2011, on November 13,2003, Nintendo announced that it would be releasing a new game product in 2004. The company did not provide details, but stated it would not succeed the Game Boy Advance or GameCube. On January 20,2004, the console was announced under the codename Nintendo DS. Nintendo released only a few details at that time, saying that the console would have two separate, 3-inch TFT LCD display panels, separate processors, and up to 1 gigabit of semiconductor memory. He also expressed optimism that the DS would help put Nintendo back at the forefront of innovation, in March 2004, a document containing most of the consoles technical specifications was leaked, also revealing its internal development name, Nitro. In May 2004, the console was shown in prototype form at E32004, on July 28,2004, Nintendo revealed a new design that was described as sleeker and more elegant than the one shown at E3 and announced Nintendo DS as the devices official name. On September 20,2004, Nintendo announced that the Nintendo DS would be released in North America on November 21,2004 for US$149.99. It was set to release on December 2,2004 in Japan, on February 24,2005 in Australia, the console was released in North America with a midnight launch event at Universal CityWalk EB Games in Los Angeles, California. The console was launched quietly in Japan compared to the North America launch, the Nintendo DS was seen by many analysts to be in the same market as Sonys PlayStation Portable, although representatives from both companies have said that each system targets a different audience. At one point, Time magazine awarded the DS a Gadget of the Week award, at the time of its release in the United States, the Nintendo DS retailed for US $149.99
