Nintendo has entrusted Metrowerks as a key provider of development tools which enable the creation of games that fully leverage the innovative features of the new Nintendo DS handheld, such as touch-screen input, voice recognition and wireless communication. CodeWarrior Development Studio for Nintendo DS provides developers with a comprehensive, integrated development environment for producing games designed to revolutionize the handheld entertainment market.

"Metrowerks has earned a worldwide reputation for offering high quality software development tools," said Satoru Okada, research and engineering manager at Nintendo Co., Ltd. "The tools included in CodeWarrior Development Studio for Nintendo DS are no exception, and will allow game developers to create exciting titles that take advantage of the unique features found in the Nintendo DS."

The Metrowerks suite includes advanced functionality to help developers fully leverage the device's dual ARM core architecture, including:

• a multi-core, thread-aware debugger that works simultaneously on the ARM 9 and ARM 7 processors
• ARM linker overlays that reduce memory consumption by allowing developers to detect and remove unused code in linked applications
• a command line interface, an easy-to-use graphical user interface and cache viewing capabilities that simplify the development experience
• an ARM compiler fully optimized to work with the Nintendo DS hardware

"The Nintendo DS takes game play to a new level, and we are currently developing new games to take advantage of various abilities of this exciting new platform," said Yuji Naka, R&D Creative Officer, SEGA Corporation. "CodeWarrior Development Studio for Nintendo DS has helped us quickly create prototypes during the early stages of development, and thanks to the detailed grammar check/alarm display functionality, we were able to identify issues at an early stage, significantly reducing the debug time."

"The Nintendo DS changes the way games will be played around the world, challenging developers to create the most sensory-rich experience possible for this device," said Pascal Lalancette, technical director, UBISOFT. "It's great that Nintendo has selected Metrowerks to ensure game developers have access to professional-grade development tools for the production of revolutionary games in time for the device's release."

Nintendo has already distributed the Metrowerks CodeWarrior kits to more than 100 companies worldwide to help ensure consumers can select from a variety of feature-rich games at launch and throughout the life of the Nintendo DS. The Nintendo DS is scheduled for release in North America and Japan before then end of 2004, and in Europe during the first quarter of 2005.