When I was a child I used to love the “Choose your Own Adventure” series of books. The books gave an introduction to the story and then reader was given choices of how the story should progress. For instance:

If you decide to start back home, turn to page 4.
If you decide to wait, turn to page 5.

Depending on the reader’s choice, the plot would unfold in different ways and eventually lead to many different possible endings.

Well it seems this concept has been bought to the next generation using the greatest medium you could imagine: The Nintendo DS!

Hotel Dark: Room 215 is due for release in the UK on 1st March (released 24th Jan USA). Gamers will get to experience deep characters, grown-up themes and an engrossing plot. In reality it has more in common with a gritty crime novel than a video game, but with it’s appeal stretching from mystery lovers to video game fans alike it definitely sounds like a winner.

PRESS RELEASE
Nintendo’s Interactive Novel Puts Players In The Middle Of A Mystery

Femme Fatales and Shady Bellboys Bring This ‘Video Game Book’ to Life

REDMOND, Wash., Jan. 22, 2007 – The date is Dec. 28, 1979. Disgraced New York detective Kyle Hyde checks into the seedy Hotel Dusk in Los Angeles and suddenly finds himself embroiled in a 30-year-old murder mystery. This is the story of Hotel Dusk: Room 215â„¢, available exclusively for the portable Nintendo DSâ„¢ on Jan. 24. The dual screens of a player’s Nintendo DS display stylized sketch animation evoking a comic-book-like film noir. Conversations with more than a dozen characters help players piece together different story elements as the mystery deepens. Players decide where the story goes next by weighing their options and tapping their decision on the touch screen using the stylus.

“Hotel Dusk: Room 215 could be considered a new genre for both video games and storytelling,” explains George Harrison, Nintendo of America’s senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications. “Just as audio books brought the printed word to a new medium, so does this new ‘video game book.’ ”

Hotel Dusk: Room 215 features deep characters, grown-up themes and an engrossing plot. It has more in common with a gritty crime novel than a video game, and appeals to mystery lovers and video game fans alike. As the plot develops, players must make choices before they begin each conversation, like deciding whether to strong-arm a subject or play it cool. Players hold the portable Nintendo DS system sideways like a book, and the touch-screen controls make it easy for newcomers to pick up and play, even if they have never played a video game before. Nintendo’s aim is to expand the world of video games to new audiences through creative new interfaces. Hotel Dusk: Room 215 is available on Jan. 24, and is Rated T for Teen. For more information about the mystery, visit HotelDusk.com.

The worldwide innovator in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wiiâ„¢, Nintendo DSâ„¢, Game Boy® Advance and Nintendo GameCubeâ„¢ systems. Since 1983, Nintendo has sold nearly 2.2 billion video games and more than 387 million hardware units globally, and has created industry icons like Marioâ„¢, Donkey Kong®, Metroid®, Zeldaâ„¢ and Pokémon®. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo’s operations in the Western Hemisphere. For more information about Nintendo, visit the company’s Web site at www.nintendo.com.