WarioWare is one of Nintendo's newest franchises, having appeared on the Game Boy Advance, Gamecube, and now the company's upcoming DS system. WarioWare, Inc. DS (temporary title) is just as fun as its predecessors but it has a unique twist: the ability to play the entire game using a stylus and the system's touch screen.

For those of you who've never heard of it, WarioWare is a frantic puzzle game where you're given three to five seconds to quickly complete a task, regardless of how insane it may seem. In the DS version, you'll have to beat 180 all-new microgames, but it'll take a sharp eye and a quick, flick of the wrist to be successful. Taking advantage of the Nintendo DS's touch screen, you complete all of the games using a stylus. Not only does this breathe life into the franchise, but it provides gamers with a new way to play, which makes this version feel a lot different from its predecessors.

For the most part, you'll only need to worry about the bottom screen because that's the one you'll actually interact with, but often times stuff will happen at the top screen that you'll have to pay attention to. For example, in the E3 demo, Wario tossed boxes at you from the top of the screen and you had to break them by frantically slashing them on the bottom screen. I didn't see much more of that today, but the 20 or so microgames that I demoed were a lot of fun. Here's a sampling (I've made up the names for these games):

Food slash: Quickly cut food in half with the stylus before time runs out.

Toilet Roll: Rub the screen downward to strip the roll of toiler paper.

Hidden Adonis: Tap the block of marble to reveal the muscular sculpture underneath.

Hair Pull: Rub the screen upwards to remove a nasty hair from some poor person's skin.

Balloon Pop: Pop all of the balloons to reveal a hidden image.

Duck Trap: Cut the rope holding up the cage to trap the duck.

Empty Pencil: Quickly tap the button at the end of the pencil until all of the lead is gone.

Wario Itch: Help out Wario by scratching his back.

These are but a few of the games I had a chance to try out, and each one was a lot of fun. It's a shame that WarioWare isn't going to be a launch title, but I have a good feeling that it'll be well worth the wait. The new microgames as well as the implementation of the stylus and touch screen is truly innovative, and like I said, it really makes the game better, especially since it truly is a new experience. It may be a ways away, but WarioWare, Inc. DS is in great hands, and I cannot wait to get my hands on the final version.