TGS: EA Debuts 3DS Game My Garden

At Tokyo Game Show on Wednesday, Electronic Arts revealed My Garden, a garden-growing game for the Nintendo 3DS that lets users "create beautiful outdoor spaces." It's among EA's first announced games for Nintendo's upcoming handheld. EA said My Garden will use the 3DS' glasses-free 3D screen to allow "digital gardeners" to view their virtual gardens, while taking on missions that move the gameplay along. My Garden will have "hundreds of flower and plant varieties" to create gardens. Along with plants and varying landscapes, the game's design involves the sidekick Tanuki, who uses unlockable abilities to help grow the garden. My Garden also lets players use the 3DS' built-in microphone to, for example, whistle for more birds to join the garden. Shaking the 3DS will also scatter "unwanted visitors" and dispense in-game coins to add new garden tools and plants, while players utilize the bottom touch screen. "We hope to offer a game that’s so immersive that it truly brings the delight of owning a garden to life through a visually stunning 3D experience," said Rod Humble, EVP of the EA Play Label in a statement. EA said that the game will release alongside the launch of the 3DS. Nintendo has yet to announce a release date for the 3DS, other than the new hardware will launch sometime during the company's current fiscal year, which ends in March 2011.