Up to 12 titles will ship for Nintendo's DS in the 30 days after the console ships in the US on 21 November, with the total rising to between 20 and 25 by the end of March 2005, the company said yesterday.

Nintendo will itself offer Super Mario 64 DS and Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt. Activision will ship Spider-Man 2; EA has Madden NFL, Tiger Woods PGA Tour and The Urbz: Sims on the City; THQ will tout Ping Pals; Namco is preparing Mr. Driller: Drill Spirits and Ridge Racer DS; Ubisoft will offer Rayman DS and Asphalt Urban GT; and Sega will ship Feel the Magic: XY-XX.

Nintendo certainly appears to be battling on price. The DS itself is set to retail at a surpsingly low $150, and Nintendo-published games will retail from $30 - below many GameBoy Advance titles.

The DS will ship in Japan on 2 December with a broader range of titles, including Pokemon and Final Fantasy III versions, and the 'Tamagochi for the 21st Century' Nintendogs, in which players are able to raise and train their own virtual mutt.

The new new handheld also plays GBA SP titles of which Nintendo reckons some 550 are currently available. ®

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