Nintendo Museum Blossoms New DS Game

In two days Japanese gamers will be able to get their hands on the DS version of “karuta,” a traditional Japanese card game that Nintendo actually manufactured far before they were a video game industry giant. The game, called “Touch de Tanoshimu Hyaku Nin Isshu DS Shigureden” uses cards which are based off of a famous set of one-hundred distinct Japanese poems. The game works by placing a few of the cards randomly in front of you and having somebody read the beginning of one of the arbitrarily selected poems. The object is to touch the card with the poem that is being read before anyone else that is playing with you. In Nintendo’s Hyaku Nin Isshu museum “Shigureden” in Kyoto, there is a virtual version of karuta playable with a touch screen at your feet, and a screen in front of you representing your opponent: a figure from Japanese history that would’ve actually played karuta, like Sei Shounagon. The DS game appears to be a port of the museum version, with the added content from the Shigureden museum like an interactive map of Kyoto. DS exclusive features like a poem memorization helper and four player (non WFC) compatibilty will also be included.