A new style of gaming has appeared on the Nintendo DS, providing players with a new perspective on things. This style, referred to as 'fixed camera gaming,' combines three-dimensional elements with a two-dimensional spin.

'Fixed camera gaming' first appeared on the Nintendo DS in Tony Hawk's American Sk8land. The main game gave a fresh look on things with a cell-shaded, fully 3-D interface. Activision and Vicarious Visions, the creators of this game, noted that all players might not like this new outlook on the portable Tony Hawk series. As a solution, the game creators provided a 'Legacy Camera' that could be turned on within the options menu.

Once players enabled this option, the in-game camera turned into an overhead view, similar to the old Tony Hawk games for the GBA. Unlike the GBA games, however, everything was still 3-D rendered. This created a unique effect.


Now, two more fixed camera games are coming our way in 2006. The first is a little game called The New Super Mario Bros. This game will include 3-D rendered characters and enemies, but instead of having the camera behind the main character as in other 3-D games, the camera will be fixed in a classical side-scrolling position.