Electroplankton, Nintendo's curiously unique experience for the DS, has been entertaining Japanese gamers for months. Now the company has announced that the game will make its U.S. debut on January 9th. However, if you're a DS owner looking to get your plankton groove on, don't go looking on store shelves for a copy of the game. In a press release, Nintendo surprised everyone by stating that Electroplankton will be sold exclusively online and at the Nintendo World Store in New York. According to the press release, the game will also be carried by "all major online retailers."

Created by renowned artist Toshio Iwai, Electroplankton breaks the traditional conceptions of what defines a video game by presenting a combination of art and music that unfolds in a different way with every touch of the screen. Players use the DS touch screen and microphone to interact with a series of unusual "electric plankton" in an underwater world. Through this interaction, the player creates what can best be described as a piece of interactive art.

"Electroplankton represents just one of the many ways that Nintendo is developing new kinds of software to reach new audiences," said George Harrison, Nintendo of America's senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications. "Even if you have never played a video game, you can pick it up and start making amazing musical combinations with no instruction."

So far, there's no word on if and when Nintendo will eventually release Electroplankton to standard "brick and mortar" storefronts. It will be interesting to see how well this online distribution model works for Nintendo, and if the company will try to release more games through this method.