DS/GBA Play-Yan adapter can also play games
Nintendo's movie and music device for DS and GBA can also play downloadable games, although that can't quite obscure news of a recall-necessitating audio bug.
Nintendo this week unveiled its Garage Games website, which allows owners of its brand new Play-Yan peripheral to download and play mini-games using the device - primarily designed to allow Nintendo DS and Game Boy Advance SP owners to watch movies and play back music on their handhelds.
The Garage Games site will feature a new mini-game every week for the next 12 weeks, capped by a 13th bonus game, Nintendo said, and Play-Yan owners will be able to access them by downloading them onto a computer, unpacking the file and transferring it on to the Play-Yan's writable SD flash card. The first game, Insects, is already available.
The SD card, as Play-Yan followers will already know, then slots in to a Game Boy Advance cartridge-shaped holder that allows the GBA SP or DS handheld to read the data from it. A full list of supported media formats and a rundown of the device's other functionality can be found here.
Meanwhile, one of those functions has already been found lacking. According to reports, Nintendo has botched the Play-Yan's audio output, reversing the left and right channels when headphones are used. Fortunately for Nintendo, however, Play-Yan has so far been sold exclusively through its website, allowing the company to contact owners direct and offer them a free replacement.
