Back during the slow feed of Contact news leading up to the Japanese release and Atlus' decision to publish the game stateside, it was revealed Contact would utilize Nintendo's Wi-Fi Connection online service, but not how. Contact will use the WFC to facilitate the exchange of game data in a one-time handshake, and use that data to create a special NPC based on your friend who will live in a place called WiFisland. As more of your friends exchange data with you, more NPCs will move in, and new items and quests become available to you in the game both on the island and elsewhere.
Speaking of new items and quests, Atlus is keen to point out that Contact is more than just a quick quest, offering many items for completionists. Hidden in the larger game are little playable "arcade games" such as adventure games and an F-1 racing game. Hulett even says there's "a guy somewhere who will give you a different fetch quest for every hour of the day," suggesting you can keep playing Contact as long as you are still interested in it.
A sequel for Contact is already in the works, with Ueda still at the helm but with a new studio. Ueda's Contact team has since left Grasshopper and formed a new studio, Audio Inc., which is hard at work on the sequel. Suda confirmed the title's existence in an E3 interview with Nintendo Power, but didn't confirm it as a DS title, saying only it would be for "a Nintendo platform to be announced"--raising the possibility of the sequel coming to Nintendo's upcoming Wii home console. Suda seems to still be on good terms with the studio, asking Nintendo Power's readers "to keep an eye on this new studio, as well as Grasshopper."
Contact has caught my own eye several times since the original teaser campaign, and as of late new media released by Atlus and the steady trickle of previews has solidified in my mind that this is the next game I need to get for my Nintendo DS. It seems others are paying attention as well--the title has shown up a few times on GameSpot's list of the top ten DS games their readers are coming to read about. Atlus has been a great friend to Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS owners lately with releases like the aforementioned Trauma Center as well as Sting's unique GBA RPG Riviera: The Promised Land, and Contact looks like it just might be another one of those titles that deserves a look.
Further reading
"Contact DS Preview" (1UP.com, April 13, 2006)
"Making Contact with Atlus USA" (RPGamer, April 16, 2006)
"Suda Secrets" (Nintendo Power August 2006 (V206), p. 19)
"Prepare for Contact" (Nintendo Power, June 2006 (V204), pp. 34-36)
"Atlus makes 'Contact' with Siliconera" (Siliconera, July 21, 2006)
Atlus U.S.A.'s Contact site
Speaking of new items and quests, Atlus is keen to point out that Contact is more than just a quick quest, offering many items for completionists. Hidden in the larger game are little playable "arcade games" such as adventure games and an F-1 racing game. Hulett even says there's "a guy somewhere who will give you a different fetch quest for every hour of the day," suggesting you can keep playing Contact as long as you are still interested in it.
A sequel for Contact is already in the works, with Ueda still at the helm but with a new studio. Ueda's Contact team has since left Grasshopper and formed a new studio, Audio Inc., which is hard at work on the sequel. Suda confirmed the title's existence in an E3 interview with Nintendo Power, but didn't confirm it as a DS title, saying only it would be for "a Nintendo platform to be announced"--raising the possibility of the sequel coming to Nintendo's upcoming Wii home console. Suda seems to still be on good terms with the studio, asking Nintendo Power's readers "to keep an eye on this new studio, as well as Grasshopper."
Contact has caught my own eye several times since the original teaser campaign, and as of late new media released by Atlus and the steady trickle of previews has solidified in my mind that this is the next game I need to get for my Nintendo DS. It seems others are paying attention as well--the title has shown up a few times on GameSpot's list of the top ten DS games their readers are coming to read about. Atlus has been a great friend to Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS owners lately with releases like the aforementioned Trauma Center as well as Sting's unique GBA RPG Riviera: The Promised Land, and Contact looks like it just might be another one of those titles that deserves a look.
Further reading
"Contact DS Preview" (1UP.com, April 13, 2006)
"Making Contact with Atlus USA" (RPGamer, April 16, 2006)
"Suda Secrets" (Nintendo Power August 2006 (V206), p. 19)
"Prepare for Contact" (Nintendo Power, June 2006 (V204), pp. 34-36)
"Atlus makes 'Contact' with Siliconera" (Siliconera, July 21, 2006)
Atlus U.S.A.'s Contact site