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Contact
North American boxart
Developer	Grasshopper Manufacture
Publisher	Marvelous Interactive (JPN) Atlus (NA) Rising Star Games (EU, AU)
Designer	Akira Ueda
Released	JPN March 30, 2006 NA October 17, 2006[1] AU January 25, 2007[2] EUR February 02, 2007
Genre	RPG
Mode(s)	Single player / Multiplayer game for up to 8 players.[3]
Ratings	ESRB: E10+ (Everyone 10+)
Platform(s)	Nintendo DS

Contact is a video game published by Marvelous Entertainment in Japan on March 30, 2006 and by Atlus in North America on October 19, 2006. The game was developed by Grasshopper Manufacture.

Contents 1 Storyline 2 Gameplay 3 Online connectivity 4 Visual style 5 Reception 6 Miscellaneous 7 References 8 External links

Please help improve this article or section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (January 2007)

The story begins with the Professor flying through space, fleeing from a mysterious enemy known only as the Klaxon Army (CosmoNOTs in the US release). He ends up crash landing on a strange planet, scattering the "cells" that power his ship, preventing him from getting his ship off the ground. He enlists the help of Terry (can be renamed), a young boy who mistakenly came with him. Terry agrees to help the Professor and sets out with a mysterious set of "Decals" from the Professor. Helping the Professor is the only way that Terry will be able to get home. However, as the game progresses the Professor's intentions are slowly thrown deeper and deeper into question. One of the more remarkable things about the storyline is the inclusion of the player as a separate character from those appearing on screen (referred in other media as a Fourth Wall). Throughout the game, the Professor will talk directly to the player, to give hints on how to control Terry.

In Contact, the Professor talks directly to the player, giving instructions in order to help Terry.^[3] The game also differs from ordinary RPGs in that experience gain is instantaneous, meaning that leveling up in the middle of a battle is required, complementing the real time combat system.^[3] Rather than the tradition in RPGs where a character levels up, increasing multiple statistics at once, Contact's experience system increases Terry's statistics individually as he performs different actions.^[4] For instance, when Terry takes damage, his defense increases; when he damages an enemy, his strength increases.

There is a costume system through which new skills can be learned. Up to eight costumes can be obtained, turning Terry into such forms as a fisherman, a cook, and a pilot.^[5] With greater use, a costume will add extra powers to its associated skills and statistics, including elemental magic and magical properties.

Terry also has weapon-based skills. These weapons can be gathered as the player progresses. The weapons are divided into three different categories; punching (gloves), striking (clubs), and slashing (swords). Each skill can be upgraded by using each type of weapon throughout the game. Each enemy has its own weakness, so some of Contact's strategy involves switching to the appropriate weapon to exploit an enemy's weakpoint.

The game also uses decals or stickers. The player can stick multiple decals to Terry, resulting in added powers. Decals can also be used to attack enemies, heal the character's wounds, and other functions.^[6]

There are other statistics that affect Terry's relationship with the game's non-playable characters, including fame, courage, and karma. The character can attack any NPC at will. As animosity towards Terry grows, townsfolk will attack Terry on the street or run when they see him.

As indicated by the game's director, the main storyline provides a framework of diversions, or sidequests.^[7] While none of these are necessary to complete the game, certain costumes cannot be obtained without completing a particular sidequest, and the sidequests themselves add significant replay value to the game.

The game makes use of the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. During Contact Mode, the player can exchange friend codes with another player and make contact with one-another. In the single player adventure, upon reaching the WiFisland, all friends who have been contacted through friend codes appear as non-playable characters, sharing tips and items.^[8] Up to 8 players can be stored as NPCs in the WiFisland.^[9]

The game has a simple, pixelated style on the top screen. The top screen is where the professor will observe and offer assistance to the main character, a boy named Terry (as well as the player), who moves around on the bottom screen. The bottom screen has a pre-rendered, detailed art style. When the professor goes onto the bottom screen, or vice versa, these styles clash.

This differentiation has been done purposely as it underlines how the player and the Professor are aliens to each other. They must make contact, communicate and co-operate to make it through the game^[7] and to create feelings of nostalgia; just like the interplay between the "real" and "game" worlds.^[10]

According to Akira Ueda, Contact's director, the game uses the touchscreen in several ways through the game.

“

We've endeavoured to use as many of the DS' features as we could, but not in an obvious way. Our philosophy was 'How can we use these fantastic features properly?'. We wanted them to work for the story rather than dictate it, which is something we feel is incredibly important for an original concept like Contact.[7]

”

As of Oct 24, 2006, Contact has a metascore of 74 out of 100.critical.[1]

Gamebrink gave the game 9.0 points out of 10.0, comparing the statistics and level systems to games like Oblivion.^[11] The site praised the story, job system and, especially, the music, but defined the battles as "fairly shallow."^[12] On the other hand, the game received a 6.5 out of 10 by Steve Thomason in the November 2006 issue of Nintendo Power. His major complaints were that the game was "frustrating because your objectives are often obtuse and unintuitive and the game can be brutally difficult."

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• In an early promotion for Contact, the Professor was actually mistaken for Doctor Andonuts of the EarthBound series.^[13]
• During the save/sleep screen the Professor, while reading, comments about Murakami and his post-modern fever dreams. Here he is either referencing Haruki Murakami or, "the other Murakami", Ryu Murakami, both authors.
• In the first boss fight of the game, the professor tells the player to "Attack its weakpoint for massive damage!" This is a reference by the localization team to the presentation of Genji: Days of the Blade during Sony's infamous E3 2006 press conference. ^[14]
• In Habara, an NPC can be seen looking for a Collector's Edition DVD of "Snakes on a Boat", a nod to Snakes on a Plane.
• In Habara, another NPC makes a reference to net-phenomenon and community sites by talking about the invented online hype of the musical superstar "Mute" and her large following on the site "MySpot" (MySpace).
• While exploring the base in Ft. Eagle, the professor will occasionally comment "I wish a base like this belonged to us," a possible reference to "All your base are belong to us".
• The computer screen in the professor's ship can be shown playing Pong.
• The professor occasionally mentions receiving an "autoupdate" and hopes that he doesn't have to reboot. This is probably a reference to Windows XP's Microsoft Update.
• In Ft. Eagle, you meet a girl who explains how she was the victim of an illegal human cloning. She says that her parents ran off with her clone and left her by accident. This girls' name is Dolly which is also the name of the first sheep ever cloned.
• On Habara Island, one of the arcade machines Terry can enter is called "Dragon and Dragon," a spoof of Dungeons & Dragons or possibly even Double Dragon. The level design is reminiscent of classic games Ghosts and Goblins and Gauntlet. Further the architecture of its last "level" resembles a Famicom with two controllers.
• When you first reach Rizo Island, the professor informs you that "It's Rizo Island. Riiiiiizo Island!!!" This is a definite reference to Kaz Hirai's Ridge Racer line during the aforementioned E3 conference.
• The game cartridge Plumb Siblings (Received by killing enemies in Habara or a chest) is a reference to Mario and Luigi who are both plumbers and siblings.
• The game cartridge Jumping Man (also found in Habara), described with "Climb the girders. Save the girl!" is a reference to either Donkey Kong (in which Mario was originally named "Jumpman".) or the video game Jumpman.
• There is a collectible CD called "Invader Him"; a possible reference to Invader Zim.
• Element 117 (what the cells are made of) Ununseptium, a currently undiscovered element.
• Habara Island is a homage to the Japanese electronics and video game district Akihabara.
• The format of the game's booklet ("VirtuaDiary") is very similar to that of a LiveJournal, with each section listed as a new "entry," including a mood. The front cover includes links to info, friends' pages and the archive. The back cover has a lovebar ("Mochi is Love"), which is very popular on many LJ profiles. The Professor's username is _Pr0f3ssR.

Official sites

• Official US website
• Official Japanese website
• Contact at Nintendo.com (archived at the Internet Archive) ‹The template Nintendo.com is being considered for deletion.› 

Unofficial sites

• Contact at GameSpot
• Contact at IGN
• Contact Developer Interview at Total Gamer Zone
• Contact Localization Interview at AllRPG

v • d • e Games involving Suda 51
As producer/designer	The Silver Case · Flower, Sun, and Rain · Michigan: Report from Hell · killer7 · No More Heroes · Project 'S'
As producer	Contact
As designer	Super Fire Pro Wrestling 3 Final Bout · Super Fire Pro Wrestling Special  · Twilight Syndrome: Search · Twilight Syndrome: Investigation · Moonlight Syndrome · Samurai Champloo: Sidetracked · Blood+: One Night Kiss · Kurayami · Fatal Frame IV