Just like animal crossing ww.

Still.... is an awesome and addictive game.

It is a very addictive game but that is so lame. Don't call it DLC if its already on the cartridge!

What are these people at Nintendo thinking?

Huh, so you're just downloading the code to unlock it? This has been done before.

In Phantasy Star Online Episodes I & II, and PSO Ep III (the card game), there were certain items (or in ep III's case, cards) that were in the code, but had never been "released" by Sonic Team. Possession of said item or card before its release date was grounds for banning (although you had to go online with the item for it to catch you)

I got hit with that twice. No GM's meant everyone hacked that game. Anyhoo, isn't without precedent beyond Nintendo

Great game, stupid idea.

Wow, in the future EA will make a console that reads credit cards. So that when you buy a game for the low price of $30, it only costs $5 to unlock each new level. The credit card slot will be very helpful in easily buying stuff.

Well it makes sense once you hear that the riddles stay unlocked on the cart... I assumed you downloaded the riddles and they went away once the power turned off.

With the way they did it they only have to store 1 bit for each puzzle unlocked in the save, and the puzzles can sit in the ROM. So that's only 162 bits used, or 21 bytes.

Of course it was misleading of them to say you download these puzzles. It makes it sound like you're getting DLC, aka extra content, when you aren't.

At least they're not charging for it.

Game design wise, I'm not really sure how to feel about this. Obviously it's a lot more practical than actually downloading individual puzzles over the internet, but is it right to make players starve and wait for new content every so often?

But doesn't this system extend gameplay in an enjoyable way? Doesn't this contribute to the game's addictiveness?



I'll quote the dude above me for truth: at least they're not charging for it.

One could just pretend to have never read this story, and go on living the lie that he/she is downloading puzzles every week.

Ignorance is bliss.

DLC stands for downloadable codes!

:o I was looking forward to a funny picture for this post.

Its not like it hurt the experience for them to make these puzzles unlockable on a weekly basis. I don't think anyone would disagree that the main adventure has no shortage of puzzles.

I think the problem is making them exclusive to people with WiFi. I mean if all the puzzles are on the cart they could have just put an internal clock in the game (separate from the one in the DS so people couldn't fiddle with it a la Animal Crossing) so that it released one each week. Our network recently switched over to WPA which means my DS can't get online until I get a USB dongle so no puzzles for me :(

I don't think this was a design choice as much as it was a design necessity. Is it really a surprise it works like this? Where were the "infinite" number of downloadable puzzle games supposed to be stored?

It's still fun and something I look forward to every week. It is not like they are charging us anything extra for these. It works just like the seasonal changes (if you don't cheat) in Animal Crossing. Just a matter of being patient. It certainly adds to the reply value considering how they three years' worth of puzzles for the game. It is certainly an interesting discovery, but hardly worth any ridiculous outrage.

if they were charging for this content i would be pretty pissed but since its free its forgivable. there just a problem in calling it DLC when it is, in fact, already on the cartridge. sure you download an "unlock code" but thats a major step away from actually transferring new levels over the internet.

I love Nintendo just as much as any other thirty-something manchild who grew up with the red plumber, but when it comes to the way Nintendo deals with the online-verse, they really should change their name to Nintendsuck.

You know, all this DLC talk reminds me of a puzzle...

Who gives a shit if its already on the cart? The DLC is free! If it wasn't, THEN I would be pissed but it isn't so who cares?

Yknow, I'll give you my 2 cents on this article, but ONLY AFTER YOU FINISH THIS PUZZLE FOR ME.

I agree with David, here, I wish I would've never read this article. Ignorance is bliss. At least there's a decent 'lifespan' of puzzles still to be unlocked. This game is high-technical schweet, so I'll forgive this. Hell, my girlfriend had recently sold all her DS games and bought a PSP, but since she got her hands on my copy of this she's passed out with it 3 nights in a row.

For what a complete weenie Luke is, I must admit he's one of the cooler ones to grace a video game in awhile.

I know I wouldn't complete extra puzzles if they were all thrown at me at once, but if I get them one at a time I am very likely to mess around with them. *points at a friend who ignores crossword books given as gifts in favor of the USA Today crossword*

Hm, this is just like with Megaman Powered Up for the PSP. All the hidden characters and Roll costumes were already in the UMD; all Capcom sent out was an unlock code.

how is this news? everyone already knew this. that's the reason it's still there when you reboot.

Having just bought a Dreamcast a few days ago I have to comment on this. Accepting the trend of online unlockable content is putting a lot of faith in companies to both stay in business and also support their titles indefinitely. Microsoft is trying to end support for XP while people still use 2K and even 98. If I find A DS and Layton, or a 360 with Ninja Gaiden or Halo in a few years at a sale, what are the chances that I can still unlock this content? With the 360 and Halo, the content will likely have been offline for ages, with nothing to do about that. But to have the game in your possession and to be locked out of it because of some stupid code you will never again be unable to download is kind of lame. Never mind I had planned to by Layton for my mother who doesn't have wi-fi, but loves her DS. What ever happened to just tying the unlockables to the clock or save file?

Yes, what is really the problem here?
Downloading 162 puzzles would never be possible on a DS-game. Everyone should be able to understand this.
It's still DLC, ok you just download the code, but you still get the Puzzle.
So what if you have paid for the game and don't have Wi-Fi?
I just bought Smash Bros. Brawl and that has a ton of unlocks, i will use alot of time to get all, maybe never finish. Even if i own the game, i might not get it all.

If you really are that concerned, wait 5 years before buying the game and download all at once (you should have Wi-Fi in 5 years).

I haff twelf match sticks.
Every puzzle has an answer.

Ummm... Did you guys know that McDonald's has Wi-Fi?