Heres the full listing of game related releases for the last week:
PlayStation3™:
HORI Fighting Stick 3 US$ 49.90
PlayStation2™:
J-League Pro Soccer Club o Tsukurou 5 JPN US$ 64.90
Saint Seiya: The Hades / Saint Seiya: Meiou Hades Juunikyuu Hen JPN US$ 64.90
Zero Shikikan Josentoki Ni (Taito Best) JPN US$ 34.90
Nintendo DS™:
Bokujou Monogatari: Kimi to Sodatsu Shima JPN US$ 48.90
Fossil League Dino Tournament Championship US US$ 29.90
Hotel Dusk: Room 215 US US$ 39.90
InuYasha Secret of the Divine Jewel US US$ 34.90
Monster House JPN US$ 48.90
Sony PSP™:
Legend of Heroes III: Song of the Ocean US US$ 39.90
Memory Stick Pro Duo 2GB US$ 99.90
Metal Gear Solid Portable Ops KOR US$ 49.90
Sid Meier's Pirates! US US$ 34.90
Ys: The Ark of Napishtim (Special Edition) JPN US$ 48.90
Magazines. Toys & Misc:
Arcadia Magazine [March 2007] JPN US$ 12.90
Bokusastu Tenshi Dokuro-Chan Figure Collection US$ 6.90
Doko Demo Issyo Fun Collection Plush Doll: Angel US$ 18.90
Doko Demo Issyo Fun Collection Plush Doll: Devil US$ 18.90
Dot-S Puzzle: Devil World (07-Type A) US$ 9.90
Dot-S Puzzle: Devil World (07-Type B) US$ 9.90
Dragon Quest Crystal Monsters 4 US$ 3.90
Famitsu Wave DVD [March 2007] JPN US$ 16.50
Gantz: 1/8 Scale Painted Extra! Story Image Figure! - Kishimoto Kei (Swim Suit Version) US$ 48.90
Ghost in the Shell - Stand Alone Complex (S.A.C. 2nd GIG) 1/7 Scale Pre-painted PVC Figure: Kusanagi Motoko N/A
Melty Blood Pretty Collection Figure US$ 4.49
Neon Genesis Evangelion 1/7 Scale Pre-painted PVC Figure: Sitting Rei in Plug-Suit (Rei Ayanami) US$ 48.90
Neon Genesis Evangelion Portraits Candy Toy US$ 5.29
Neon Genesis Evangelion Pre-painted PVC & ABS Figure - A-15 Arael-XX Blood Pattern Blue / Chromosome Type XX N/A
Nintendo DS New Super Mario Bros. Game Card Holder Gashapon US$ 2.99
Nintendo New Super Mario Bros. Keychain US$ 2.49
School Rumble 2 Keychain Figure US$ 2.49
Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu Pre-painted PVC & ABS Figure - Mikuru Asahina US$ 42.90
Taisen Hot Gimmick Axes-Jong Ultimate Collection Figure US$ 7.90
Video Game related Soundtracks:
PS2 Ban Happiness Deluxe Original Soundtrack JPN US$ 27.90
Sakura Tree Mini Album: Cosmos [CD+DVD] JPN US$ 29.90
Super Eurobeat presents Initial D Non-Stop Mix from Takumi-selection JPN US$ 24.90
The Idol Master Masterwork 01 JPN US$ 19.90
Online retailer DVD Empire has quit selling games, blaming selfish publishers, slim margins, slow distribution and the fact that "80% of games are crap" as reasons for its decision.
"The video game industry only cares about mass merchandisers like Toys-R-Us, Wal-Mart, Best Buy, etc. They completely ignore the needs and wants of the medium to small game retailers," the company says on its website. "You may not care whether or not we make money, but we cannot continue to pay to sell video games."
"We all know how fast games devalue in prices; this is due to the fact that 80% of the games created are crap. So take the fact that we only make $5, now if the price of a game drops $20, we are now losing $15 every sale," the statement continues.
"The game industry releases many bad games, and word of mouth spreads fast to the consumer. All of those bunk games sit on our shelves. If we do end up selling them, we lose more money."
DVD Empire then lists several conveniently-numbered reasons why it has decided to stop selling games, including the "video game industry does not care", "we do not receive price protection", "we are not big enough to return products", "distribution is dumb", "games are better suited for brick and mortar retailers".
And the only positive? Apparently 20% of games are indeed, fun - though there's some questionable inclusions on DVD Empire's 'quality game' listings.
Do you agree or disagree with the article above. ?
Dell is focusing its beady eye on the handheld gaming scene, with a potential view to entering the handheld hardware market it's being reported.
"You know, that's definitely one that's on the radar screen, but we have no plans to talk about anything today", Dell's gaming boss Abizar Vakharia told PCPlus.co.uk at a recent press event when quizzed about future plans for a handheld.
It's speculated that, should Dell go ahead with plans for a handheld games device, it could be an Ultra-Mobile PC as opposed to a dedicated gaming platform. We doubt Nintendo - or Sony - are quaking in their boots though.
Those looking forward to EA Japan's promising DS remake of strategy classic Theme Park can enjoy a nice surprise in the CVG video player today, as we offer you an exclusive first look at the handheld game's debut trailer, roller coasters and all.
If that's not enough we've also got a large batch of screenshots that you'll only find on CVG, and an interview with Theme Park's Japanese designer Toshiyuki Nagahara - the only thing we're missing is a competition to go to a real theme park, eat dinner at a giant French fry shop and then sweep up the sick of the over-run punters, but we're working on it.
You can find the trailer over to the right, but for the screens you're going to have to head over to our Theme Park interview.
It's just my opinion a fact, Brain Age would never have appealed to the masses were the DS not played like a book. Now it's nothing special, as A-Ha videos everywhere (better known as Hotel Dusk: Room 215) are exploiting the 90-degree rotational axis of the DS.
So what did reviewers think of this playable paperplasticback mystery?
Game Revolution
From moving to talking to puzzle solving, everything in Hotel Dusk can be accomplished by tapping, dragging or drawing...By touching the screen with the stylus, your little dot will move in that direction. If you draw near something worth investigating, a little icon pops up, and by tapping it you shift to a first person view of that area. When you place your stylus over an item of interest, the item lights up and you can inspect it further by double tapping... clipping a segment of wire from a coat hanger or jimmying a lock, are handled with the stylus.
EtoyChest
it doesn't take a long time spent with Hotel Dusk to realize that besides weaving an intriguing mystery, the game was designed to confound, confuse, and even frustrate time and again...a design methodology that is sure to please hardcore sleuths, while...if a clue was missed or overlooked, a player could find him or herself wandering aimlessly about the available areas of the hotel, knocking on doors and clicking on anything...
Modojo
I was thrilled about the control and visuals but I can't say the same about dialog. Dialog between characters seemed very stilted and a lot of the conversation seemed superfluous. A typical interchange sounded like this:
Maid: "I'm also the cook in this joint."
Kyle: "You're the cook here?"
Maid: "I'm the cook here, that's what I said."
Kyle: "So you're the cook here?"
Repeat that three or four times each time Kyle has to talk to someone and you'll understand how annoyed I was about the conversation
MTV Multiplayer
So far, "Hotel Dusk" has been a welcome surprise... it presents a few other things I didn't realize I wanted...[like ] the player to hold their clamshell DS sideways...[which] allows "Hotel Dusk" another odd classification: sideways first-person-shooter-without-the-shooting....[it's also] the first DS game I'm aware of that enables the player to hand-write notes about what they're doing directly into the game....[and] scenes play in widescreen -- also known as the aspect ratio of every PSP game. So here's a chance to sort of see what Nintendo might do on a PSP, given the screen space.
Rocky Mountain News
I think the developers may have confused black and white crime drama with noir...When you bump into characters the scene unfolds in that moving sketch art we saw 20 years ago in A-Ha's Take On Me video...While this intriguing game's plot is almost accidentally oneiric, it certainly never delivers on the ambivalence, the cruelty, the eroticism that instills most film noir with its gut-wrenching frankness....Instead the characters' dream-like isolation is bogged down with generic characters...
I find it a little refreshing to see the point and clicks coming back into style. And the DS finally makes the idea work off the PC platform.
Phone straps seem to be so very much a Japanese thing. As a matter of fact, I don't think I've ever seen one hanging from a phone in the U.S., but maybe I'm just hanging out with the wrong sorts of crowds.
If I were the type to clutter up my phone with tiny plastic characters or other bits of colorful nonsense, the Revolve strap would likely be the only thing that found it's way onto my mobile.
The Revolve strap is a tiny little DS knock-off that plays generic versions of classic games like Block Game, Shooting Game and, my personal favorite, Frog Game. Ah, that brings back memories of my misspent young: Drinking cokes at the Officer's Club in Yongsan playing Frog Game with my friends before riding home through the golf course on my bike.
Going to school in Japan sounds great. Not that I could have had a DS in my youth, but if I had, the chances of Animal Crossing becoming my classmate's game of choice are somewhere alongside slim and none. In fact, describing the game's "objectives" would in all likelihood have gotten my head punched in.
But not in Japan. 4CR writer Vinnk works in a Japanese school, and there, Animal Crossing is big. Too big.
This morning while I was sitting in the teachers' lounge drinking a nice cup of green tea, an announcement came over the PA system. As usual I and the other teachers tuned it out, as these announcements are pretty much the same thing every day. Then I heard something I was not expecting, the words "Doubutsu no Mori" or as we know it "Animal Crossing". Now I started listening.
Since I missed the first part it didn't make much sense, all I got was that Animal Crossing was now forbidden.
Turns out kids just aren't doing any work on their computers, instead wasting their days hitting up Animal Crossing FAQs and fansites. And the teachers are not happy:
All the students care about is that stupid game, they don't study enough.
I counter that no other game I have ever played (Stroker aside) has so prepared me for the rigors of adult life. Busting your ass to pay off a mortgage, all the while performing menial tasks for a pittance is what life is all about, kids. Learn from Tom Nook. He'll teach you more about the real world than any maths teacher ever could.
Capcom has come up with a great lunchtime distraction for the bored-at-work: a playable preview version of Gyakuten Saiban 4 in Flash. The DS version of what we'd call Phoenix Wright 4 is still a couple of months away from its Japanese release, so we can only applaud Capcom's generosity here.
GUILTY: the dialogue in this demo will be largely incomprehensible to most Western players, as its script is written entirely in Japanese. NOT GUILTY: the music is sublime and manages to convey (without lyrics) how the trial is progressing; this is also the first time we've seen Odoroki-kun (captured here) at the bar. Cheers!
Get set to put your skills to the test as Pokémon Ranger launches across Europe on 30th March 2007 only for the Nintendo DS. For the first time ever, fans finally get the chance to fill the coveted role of a Ranger, an elite task force who protect Pokémon.
Players can become a fully-fledged Pokémon Ranger by being invited to Fall City to learn from Spenser, one of the top Ranger leaders. As they embark on the life of a licensed Ranger, players will learno use the powers of captured wild Pokémon to solve problems, help people and protect nature from adverse effects.
As a player begins the adventure they select either Lunick (male) or Solana (female) as their chosen character. They are then transported to the Rangers Base where they will receive a series of exciting and challenging missions to complete. As experience is gained, the missions increase in importance. The Ranger is pitted against the Go-Rock Squad in an attempt to recover Professor Hastings’ stolen Super Styler – the newly developed version of the Capture Styler used to hold wild Pokémon.
The Rangers don’t embark on their epic journey alone. To help them along their way they are also accompanied by a single partner Pokémon. This helpful friend will remain with them at all times aiding the all important relationship between the Ranger and captured wild Pokémon, whose power they will need to harness in the challenges ahead of them.
For the first time in a Pokémon game, players can control the Pokémon Ranger using only the Nintendo DS touch screen. To capture a valuable wild Pokémon the player must draw circles round their target with the stylus, though this challenge varies depending on the size and power of the Pokémon. Once captured, the Ranger’s partner Pokémon facilitates the use of the wild Pokémon’s powers to solve problems and clear obstacles that they might encounter.
A wild Pokémon’s powers aren’t available forever though. The player must choose the right moment to use the power because once used, the Pokémon is released back into the wild. A captured Pokémon can help a player by providing either a Poké Assist or a Field Move. In a Poké Assist a player can use an already captured Pokémon to capture another. In Field Move the Pokémon is used to clear an obstacle in the new Ranger’s path.
As the game progresses, the Ranger’s Capture Styler, used to hold the wild Pokémon, becomes more powerful. This provides more energy (Meter) allowing more Pokémon to be held with them at any one time. The wild Pokémon captured all provide different powers, depending on the group they belong to. Groups available include Grass, Fire, Electric, along with many more. As the game progresses, the challenge of capturing the correct Pokémon becomes increasingly strategic with various group match-up advantages and disadvantages influencing their assistance to the player.
The fun doesn’t end with the main mission either, with numerous sub-quests available giving players the opportunity to meet and capture legendary Pokémon like Kyogre, Groudon and Rayquaza. With these and over 200 other Pokémon waiting to be caught, completing your Browser will be no easy task. Do you have what it takes to ‘Catch em all’ and earn the Certificate of Completion
So get ready to capture and conquer as Pokémon Ranger hits shelves across Europe on the Nintendo DS on 30th March 2007 for the estimated retail price of around €40 (Ł30 in the UK).
And be sure you don't miss Pokémon Battle Frontier where the Pokémon Ranger, Solana, makes her TV debut in the most exciting Pokémon TV series yet. Toonami is on Sky Channel 602 at 5pm everyday, with the latest series starting February 5th!
Crossword puzzle aficionados will soon have a new outlet as Majesco Entertainment Company (NASDAQ: COOL), an innovative provider of digital entertainment products and content, today announced The New York Times Crosswords for the Nintendo DS™. Developed by Budcat Creations, The New York Times Crosswords will challenge even the most savvy wordplay enthusiasts when it ships this spring.
“The challenging fun of The New York Times crossword puzzles combined with the stylus-based functionality of the Nintendo DS is a perfect pairing from our perspective,” said Ken Gold, vice president of Marketing, Majesco. “Handwriting recognition lends authenticity to gameplay while wireless multiplayer offers social players a means to enjoy the game with other fans on the go. The New York Times Crosswords really is the ultimate game for passionate crossword puzzle lovers.”
The New York Times Crosswords features more than 1,000 real crossword puzzles and the unique ability to write in answers with the stylus or use a Touch Screen keyboard to enter letters. Various modes of play include Puzzle Me Quick for a fast word fix; Puzzle Week for extended play with progressive difficulty; or Challenge mode with adjustable time and difficulty settings. In addition, the game includes both cooperative and competitive 2-player play so puzzle fanatics can work together or face off in wireless challenges.
For more information about Majesco’s exciting line of products please visit www.majescoentertainment.com
We would call this the series that just won't die ... but, as Nintendo fanboys, we're actually surrounded by those far older. Yes, yet another installment of MK is coming to the DS, courtesy of Midway; rather predictably, we know almost nothing about it. The only comment given: "it [won't be] a direct port of a previous title, it [won't] be a brand-new game either."
This leaves the only remaining option: indirect port. It involves a wormhole and superstring theory. Our best guess? A port of an SNES or Playstation version of Mortal Kombat, complete with OMGawesome stylus control and a couple new characters thrown in for good measure. Meh
The Soviet Mind Game was invented by Russian programmer Alexey Pajitnov in the mid-1980s and sold under the name Tetris. From 1988 until 2000, various Tetris products had vastly different control feels and rotation systems. The Tetris Company standardized the games sold under the Tetris mark starting with Tetris Worlds (2001), but some of the changes proved controversial, especially the new infinite spin play mechanic.
LOCKJAW is a configurable implementation of the single-player Soviet Mind Game. Its 20 options can be configured to emulate at least Tengen Tetris, Sega's arcade Tetris, NES Tetris, Game Boy Tetris, The New Tetris, Quadra, Tetris The Absolute The Grand Master 2 PLUS, TOD (without the distortion effects), several modes of Tetris Worlds, and Tetris DS, along with various combinations not yet realized in a Tetris product. Don't like infinite spin or the T-spin triple? Turn them off. Think 8 next pieces are too many? Turn it down. Want faster or slower sideways motion? You can. Want to try the challenge of a low ceiling? You can.
LOCKJAW is available for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Game Boy Advance (since 0.26), and Nintendo DS (since 0.30 by request from owners of SLOT-1 flash cards).
I’m still hammering away at the weapon systems. I had to change the abstract renderer so I could see turret positioning properly so now the abstract renderer is fixed to actual game size, as in each tile is a C&C tile in size (24×24). It’s hard to tell right now but I’m a little worried that showing the C&C graphics 1:1 will give the player a view that appears too ‘zoomed in’ becuase of the low resolution of the DS screen. Gameplay testing will show if this is a problem or not I guess. On a smaller map it might be ok but with a big map with a lot going on it might be frustrating. Fingers crossed it won’t be a big issue.
Anyway with the weapons I’ve laid down the framework for a lot of it now. I’ve added a turret to one of the test units and it will be firing soon. I’m starting with the ‘laser’ projectile type which scores an instantaneous hit (think obelisk). This will let me get most of the code done for attacking/damaging/armour types etc without worrying about rendering shells and so on. That will come later.
Also thanks to IHM on the forum for explaining some of the C&C weapon and damage system. I think I have one now which can cover the C&C system but will also allow lots of other cool stuff.
Option that allows to extract rows sav already existing in the archives ZIP. (old rescues)
In case of ZIP, possibility to choose if the name of the rows destination must be taken from the name of the archives ZIP or from the name of the rom contained in it.
Push-button in order to force the rescue of the configuration (rescue that happens R-alla.chiusura of the program)
v0.8 R3:
"Add Files" also with Drag & Drop from the S.O.
Progress bar for the greater part of the functions
Metroid Prime Hunters Pinball may have been the first pinball game on the Nintendo DS platform, but Flipper Critters looks like it could be one of the most elaborate and imaginative pinball games on the system. This title, soon to ship from Ignition Entertainment, recently hit our desk where we had the opportunity to whack the ball around a few times.
The game, designed and developed by Zen Studios, features a bunch of furry critters wandering around fantasy landscapes, and it's up to the player to help them along in their quest by whacking a silver ball around in the environments. Hitting obstacles and scoring points is, obviously, the key task in Flipper Critters, but like in any good pinball game it's how you whack the ball that determines how well you do -- you'll need to fulfill quotas and tasks which will activate hotspots, that must be "attacked" in order to progress into deeper parts of the world.
Much of the action takes place on the lower screen where the programmers push the Nintendo DS system's 3D capabilities to render a wild and wonderful pinball world. The team's actually pulling off 3D on both screens, and the game will use both screens as one display...or actually show two independent camera views of the playfield when the ball travels deeper up the table. Even when the game does all sorts of craziness across both screens, the 3D engine never seems to drop its framerate and slowdown. The physics are tight enough to pull off "pinball wizard" style maneuvers like flipper traps and passes, but it's not on the level of a pinball simulation.
The touch screen comes into play several times during the pinball action, where players must tap or slide on objects to manipulate them in this world. Hitting a switch with a finger will cause a sign to spin around or a ramp to raise, which will cause the ball to adjust its trajectory if the ball's flipped in their direction.
Between pinball levels are mini-games that are incredibly hit or miss. We're fans of old-school shooters like Raiden and R-Type, but they seem a bit out of place in a pinball game. We'd be more accepting if these shooter levels were anything special, but at least in our short time with the game, we were ready to call it quits when these levels popped up. They just went on for way too long with very little variety to keep things interesting.
But at least the pinball action's solid enough. There's even multiplayer support in an option called "Duel" that we wish we could check out -- but since the game requires a second card for this mode, we couldn't tinker around with it.
Pokémon may not be the national phenomenon it was when the first games, Red and Blue, first released, but the latest record-breaking figures show it's still going strong.
Within three months of their September 28 release in Japan, Pokémon Diamond & Pearl shipped five million units to Japanese retailers.
Nintendo hopes this craze will continue when the new adventure makes its way to US stores on April 22.
And we thought Pokémon was getting old. Are you looking forward to Diamond and Pearl? Tell us in the comments section below.
Spectrobes is a new DS RPG from Buena Vista Games in which you catch various mythical creatures with special powers, train them up and send them to battle. Sound familiar?
Yes, it sound exactly like a Pokémon game but there are some nice ideas in Spectrobes. To get yourself new Spectrobes you have to carefully dig its fossil out of the ground using the stylus.
As you dig away the soil you can blow at the screen to clear away excess dirt. Then you take it to a science lab to give it life by shouting into the DS microphone.
Okay, it's clearly for young children, but we give it credit for doing something original. It also looks set to be a fairly hefty RPG, with hundreds of Spectrobes to catch.
Check out these exclusive screens of a battle and the Spectrobe revival system in action.
EA is to further bolster its already healthy support for Nintendo platforms, with Will Wright's innovative PC game, Spore, now confirmed for DS.
Spore lets you create your own alien life form and set it loose to explore an epic-sized virtual universe, spreading the species to new worlds in an incredibly ambitious mish-mash of different gameplays styles. It's one of the most innovative and highly anticipated games coming to PC, an case you're not in with that crowd.
EA remains tight-lipped on actual gameplay details for the DS game, leaving us curious as to how such a large and ambitious title will work on the technically limited handheld.
The new Wii Sims game - now known as My Sims - is also on its way to the DS, along with EA's previously announced Sim City and Theme Park. EA Japan is clearly very busy indeed.
Chairman and CEO of Electronic Arts, Larry Probst, who confirmed the games during a financial earnings presentation yesterday, expressed his approval of Nintendo's strategy.
"It seems as if it is expanding the overall market, and users who purchase software, and we think thats a good thing", he said.
He goes on to say: "Both Microsoft and Nintendo are positioned to gain some share, but we think Sony will continue to be strong...We will be provocatively supporting all of them", reaffirming EA's cross-platform support.
Electronic Arts has revealed record revenues of US $1.281 billion (EUR 983 million) for the Christmas period, driven by key franchises that dominated the charts in North America and Europe.
Need for Speed Carbon, FIFA 07, The Sims 2 Pets and Madden NFL all sold over three million units each, helping the third-party publisher beat analyst estimates and prompting renewed interest in company shares, which climbed over US $2 to US $52.80.
FIFA 07 was EA's biggest seller in Europe, with six million copies sold across the globe since launch. The Sims 2 has now shifted 10 million units, accompanied by 5 million copies of The Sims 2 Pets.
Need for Speed Carbon sold over eight million copies in North America and Europe during the period, while Madden NFL 07 has sold the same amount since launch.
Next-generation products accounted for 32 per cent revenue share in North America, with EA the number one publisher on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, Xbox, PC and PSP in North America and Europe.
"We are pleased with the performance of our products on next-generation consoles," commented Larry Probst, CEO of EA.
"In the year ahead, we plan to build on our leadership position on both the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3, and to significantly increase support for the Nintendo platforms."
Profits were down 38 per cent to US $160 million (EUR 122.8m), down from the previous year results of US $259 million (EUR 198.9m). North America was the strongest performing region, with net revenues up three per cent to US $637 million (EUR 489.2m), while Europe saw a rise in revenue of one per cent to US 583 million (EUR 447.7m).
Revenues in Asia were down 19 per cent to US $61 million (EUR 46.8m), and currency exchange rates impacted revenue by US $33 million (EUR 25.3m).
Rockstar has proven that Western developed titles do have an audience in Japan, with Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas making its debut at number one in the regional charts.
Published by Capcom in Japan, the PlayStation 2 title has sold over 227,000 units on the first week of release.
While last week saw the debut of Microsoft's Gears of War in the top ten, this week the game is entirely absent from the top fifty games in Japan.
Namco's The Idol Master is the only Xbox 360 title in the top twenty, while From Software's Enchanted Arms is the only PS3 game in the top fifty, at number 29.
The Nintendo DS continues to enjoy healthy sales in the region, shifting over 194,600 units in the past week, with Wii sales reaching over 83,750.
Sony has sold 35,700 PSP units in the past seven days, with the PlayStation 2 outselling the PlayStation 3, with 20,995 and 19,996 units, respectively. The Xbox 360 sold just over 7360 units.
Simon over on Game Set Watch points out that New York-based game importer NCSX is raving about DS guitar "game" Utaeru DS Guitar M-06
With 16 chords to use at any time from a library of 120, users may strum out a song relatively easily if you're familiar with basic guitar playing. We were able to play the Main Riff I for "Fast Car" by Tracy Chapman and "Torn" from Natalie Imbruglia this morning by following guitar tabs found on the web. In addition to its function as a guitar, the software also includes a library of 20 songs and a listening-then-repeating exercise."
"On the touch screen, a thick crop of vertical lines represent the guitar string. It's pasted against a black background so that the focus is the line itself. To play, strum the line with your touch pen or finger and you'll hear a twang. Change chords with the D-pad by moving it in the direction of the chords shown on the top screen and the tone of the twang changes every time you move the D-pad to another chord."
I'm not so sure about changing chords with the D-pad, but I'm loving the rest of this.
It's absolutely ridiculous to think that a person living in Japan still has to go through the following if he wants to get his hands on a stinkin' Nintendo DS lite — that's over 2 years after the initial DS launch, and close to a year for the DS lite — but this is what I had to go through today in order to score a Crystal White Nintendo DS lite (and let it be known that I have an original DS, which I got at launch).
My wife had heard that you needed to call the stores to find out if they were getting some stock, and then rush there to wait in line, and she'd also been told by some friends that Bic Camera got their shipments in on Friday (they also sometimes get some on Mondays and Wednesdays, but Friday are for the big orders). So she called this morning, and sure enough, they had gotten a shipment, but wouldn't reveal when they would go on sale, or where they would make people line up. The wife had gone through the same thing 2 weeks ago — when she scored a pink DS lite — so she told me to head there around noon, and to try and find out what would be happening.
I got there at 12, asked some staff behind the counter in the games section (insisting I had called, because they were just about to say that they didn't know anything before that — the filthy liars), and was told that I had to "hang out" for a while, as they didn't know when they were going to go on sale. Maybe 40 minutes later, two staff with bright green Bic vests ran out from behind the counter with signs that said that DS lites were about to go on sale, and then started forming a line along the staircases (the game section at the main Bic Camera store in Ikebukuro is on the 3rd floor). I was the fifth in line — some guys got there quicker than me — and a few minutes later they started handing out tickets for the color you wanted (I was the first to ask for a Crystal White). Then, 10 minutes later, they started guiding us to the sales counter, and... DS lite GET!
Polish developer group Nibris known, among others, for planning to release Sadness – a gothic horror for Nintendo Wii console, announces the game formerly known as the Raid over the river has a new name – ROTR.
Most important facts about the game:
- 6 campaigns, each with several missions
- 6 different vehicles to be driven in 6 different time dimensions
- very extensive weaponry
- fuel and ammunition management requiring strategic approach to missions, defending transhipment bases
- cooperation and synchronisation of actions with other units
- extensive, full of action, multi-thread scenario putting the player in an intrigue spanning hundreds of dimensions
- 3D graphics on both screens
- set of dodging and special attacks taking advantage of special features of NDS
- hidden missions, vehicles, bonuses enabled in the course of playing
- extensive multiplayer mode allowing to enjoy the game longer
The game is planned to be exclusively for the Nintendo DS console.
With news that Nintendo was going to directly stake a claim in the bolstering Korean games market, many in that market were happy to hear that the company with a knack for creating wonderful and original games would be arriving, saving them from horrible importing fees and lackluster customer service. Now that Nintendo has arrived and launched their DS Lite system, along with Brain Training, some are finding the same technical flaws that plagued the game in America and Japan have come to Korea.
At least, one reporter for the Korea Times has discovered such, claiming that both the voice recognition exercises, as well as the written ones, are failing to register the proper data. Hmm, sounds familiar, doesn't it?
Takara Tomy released a new set of tiny Nintendo DS game carrying cases with art from New Super Mario Brothers. Each one costs 200 yen ($1.61), but you don’t get to pick which one you get. They’re gashapon toys, so you could get the awesome cover art with Mario and Luigi or get stuck with the ugly brick. Next month Takara Tomy has a bunch of Pokemon DS game carrying cases
PokéSensei has released a new MMorpg for the Nintendo DS:
Well, I've been working on a Pokémon MMORPG server for awhile now. And even though its not entirely complete. I've started working on a Nintendo DS client to it using PAlib.
My next step is to learn how to properly read the recv buffer for updates, and parse it for line breaks and do stuff with the data. But for right now, the Working Demo will output a background, play a sound [looping], ask for your username and password (even though it doesn't login yet) and then connect to wifi, the server, and initiate the PoKéQuesT Connection.
Tell me what you think, and if you have any ideas or helpful information, please let me know!
If you're still working your way through Final Fantasy XII on the PlayStation 2, you'd better get cracking. That title's successor is coming closer than expected, as Square Enix announced today a Japanese release date of 4/26 for Final Fantasy XII Revenant Wings on the DS. Pricing is set for the standard 4,800 yen DS software price.
Revenant Wings follows the events of Final Fantasy XII, showing Vann and Panello as air pirates. The game is fully 2D, but makes use of some FFXII gameplay systems, like the Gambit AI system.
Via Ketchup site comes a new MSX Emulator for the Nintendo DS:
Heres the translated info:
PenkoDS?
PenkoDS is an emulator MSX2 for Nintendo DS. It is based on fmsx of Marat Fayzullin.
The speed of emulation is currently 75% on average (either about 30 to 40% faster than the port fmsx of nyagosu of which I took again the management of the keyboard and the joystick).
Among the functionalities, one finds:
- A resize mode to manage the various resolutions of the MSX.
- Support DLDI
- Support of the roms and the discs
- Management of the sound (with the same problems as under CrocoDS)
Level use, it is enough for you to copy the Romanian one in the root or the /roms/msx repertory of your chart flash, patcher the nds with patchor DLDI and of launching this homebrew from your Nintendo DS
To test with the version msx bombjack of Kralizec or with one of the releases of the MSXDEV' 06.
One of the large bugs current is the impossibility of rebooter after the insertion of a disc MSX. (On the other hand, not of problem of reboot with the roms). This version is a version alpha, therefore I await all your remarks in order to improve it.
Heres whats new in this new release:
2nd version alpha. I mainly worked on the speed of emulation. The 100% are atteinds in many plays. Some bugs were corrected such as the management of the transparency in mode 2, the redundancy of the files in the selector of files,… the support of DLDI should be better. The sound too.
Paradox writes in with a link to an MSNBC article that shouldn't be too surprising for anyone: the real winners of the console war are the DS and the PS2. Boasting numbers unmatchable by the johnny-come-lately next-gen consoles, the PS2 and Nintendo DS each sold about 1.5 Million units last December. Article author Kristin Kalning points out the reality: given the high quality of gaming in general nowadays, the low prices and rich libraries of these 'venerable' systems will see them in circulation for some time to come. Given the success of last-gen consoles, what are your plans regarding gaming systems? Are you holding out for price drops, or considering buying one of the older systems now that they're considerably less expensive?
Source: A report on trade site Gamasutra, citing a THQ quarterly conference call as its source.
What we heard: There were a lot of interesting tidbits coming out of THQ's quarterly conference call this morning. The company confirmed that it would be making WWE games on the Wii and DS in addition to the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, and PlayStation Portable. It talked about the cost of porting a PS3 game to the Xbox 360. It admitted it was planning its release schedule around Halo 3 and Grand Theft Auto IV so as not to go head-to-head with those games for the same audience. It mentioned for the first time the actual name of its announced Stuntman sequel: Stuntman Ignition.
And according to Gamasutra, it also confirmed that it was going to release a new Red Faction game in its next fiscal year (April 2007 through March 2008 for those keeping track). Such a move would certainly be in keeping with the company's plan to increase the amount of revenue derived from intellectual properties it already owns, as opposed to pricey licenses like SpongeBob and WWE. THQ CEO Brian Farrell even told analysts in the call, "Our fiscal 2008 growth will be driven primarily by increased sales of proven owned intellectual properties, a cornerstone of our strategy."
Farrell also talked about original franchises in the company's longer-term plans.
"When you think about fiscal 2009 and beyond, there are three important takeaways we would like to leave you with," Farrell told analysts. "One, THQ has established six owned franchises which have reached the million-unit mark and our pipeline is growing. Two, our long-term license franchises, the WWE, Pixar, and Nickelodeon, have each shipped 30 million units. And three, we are exploiting new revenue opportunities such as microtransactions and in-game advertising and we continue to expand our global footprint."
After Farrell had wrapped up the presentation portion of the call, the lines were opened for analysts to ask questions. A Merrill Lynch analyst asked Farrell to "list out the six franchise brands you referred to." Farrell responded by mentioning Saints Row, Stuntman, Juiced, Destroy All Humans!, MX, "and my favorite, Red Faction."
Clearly THQ has not forgotten Red Faction. And with its increased emphasis on original IPs, a return to the series is not outside of the realm of possibility. However, nowhere in the call did the publisher actually say that it was developing games for all of its six established franchises, nor did anyone confirm there was a new Red Faction game in development.
The official story: A THQ representative chose not to comment, but referred us to a transcript of the conference call.
Once known as the driving force behind the TurboGrafx-16, Hudson Entertainment has been enjoying a higher profile in the US of late with the aid of some larger companies. Nintendo has been releasing its old TG-16 games on the Virtual Console, and Konami today announced that it would be bringing a trio of new Hudson titles for Nintendo platforms to the US.
This spring, Konami plans to release Wing Island and Kororinpa Marble Mania for the Wii, as well as Honeycomb Beat for the DS. Already confirmed for release in Europe, Kororinpa requires players to tilt the Wii Remote in order to navigate marbles through more than 40 mazes in single-player, or race to a finish line while collecting crystals in head-to-head multiplayer action.
Wing Island is another inhabitant of the European Wii's first-quarter release schedule. As a young bird who flies planes for a living, players will have to show their proficiency at a number of tasks, from guiding a group of planes in formation to fighting fires and dusting crops. Over the course of 25 missions, players earn money to upgrade their aircraft, and will be given the opportunity to compete against one another in minigames meant to test piloting skills.
For portable players, Konami is preparing Honeycomb Beat, a DS puzzle game in which players touch hexagons on the screen in order to flip them and change both their color and the color of any adjacent hexagons. Using that gameplay mechanic, the game challenges players to clear puzzles by creating specific patterns on the game board or to clear rapidly rising lines by making all the hexagons on them the same color. In addition to more than 200 puzzles, Honeycomb Beat will include a number of unlockable customization features that let players change the game's colors, background images, and music.
Traditionally, THQ hasn't been shy about spreading its WWE-licensed games around to different platforms. The company has made games based on the professional wrestling company's in-ring offerings for the PlayStation 2, the N-Gage, and everything in between.
However, 2006 was a fairly light year for the company's WWE license because its only major offering was WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2007 for the PS2, PlayStation Portable, and Xbox 360. A PlayStation 3 version had been announced but was later canceled because THQ said the series would debut on Sony's next-generation system in late '07.
The PS3 isn't the only system looking forward to its first WWE game because THQ confirmed plans to step into the ring on the Wii and DS. In an investor conference call, the publisher said it would be releasing WWE products on Nintendo's latest systems sometime in its next fiscal year, which runs from April 2007 through March 2008.
There was no indication if the Nintendo games would fall under the SmackDown! vs. RAW banner, or if they would be separate series, as was done with WWE titles on the GameCube and Game Boy Advance.
Essentially a Mini Me for your DS Lite, this Mini-DS holder holds your precious DS games so they don't slip out of your pocket when you're leaning over to snap your upskirt pics.
As cute as having a little DS is, the fact that it can only hold two DS games makes this kinda iffy. However, if one of those games is the DS-Xtreme DS Media Enhancer, then you've got no problems. Plus, it's only $7.90.
The latest hardware sales are in and most consoles are still in decline, the sales figures for the PS3 seem extremely low. DS Lite and Wii are miles infront still:
- DS Lite: 194,526
- Wii: 83,754
- PSP: 35,700
- PS2: 20,995
- PS3: 19,996
- Xbox 360: 7,365
- Game Boy Micro: 1,177
- GBA SP: 1,023
- Gamecube: 347
- DS Phat: 82
- GBA: 34
At its Gamers' Day event yesterday, Konami announced the development of the virtual pet title, GoPets. While the game was shockingly absent from the playable demos on the show floor, we were given a brief preview glimpse of the game during Konami's video reel.
In GoPets, players will create, raise, and train their own virtual dog or cat. Afterwards, players will be able to take these pets online through the Nintendo Wi-Fi connection in order to meet up with other GoPets owners. The twist to this that Konami announced was that GoPets would be the first game to offer online compatibility with its PC iteration.
While we don't have a whole lot more information on the game at this point, we do know that it should be heading our way sometime in 2007.
As the platform of choice for all the Megamen and Pokemons out there, the DS has no shortage of adventure games with anime-style characters, creatures, cards, and things to collect. It's reasonable that you might have skipped right past Spectrobes when look at the list of upcoming DS releases (it's coming out in March, by the way). Well we're here to suggest that you take another look.
Spectrobes appears to be a special game for Buena Vista Games. In addition to being the first title out of the studio to carry the Walt Disney label on its packaging, it's also the first title that the division has produced on its own. And, as producer Kintaro Hisai shared with us when we visited Japan to sample a final version of the game, it's also the first BVG game to feature an all original cast of characters.
Later this year Konami will release its first classic arcade compilation for the Nintendo DS: Konami Classics Series: Arcade Hits. This is in no way the first time Konami's created a collection of its old-school arcade games on a handheld -- the Game Boy Advance has a fair share of remade old-school titles from Konami. But where programmers recreated the experience on the GBA platform by reprogramming each game, the developers of the DS collection pull off perfect emulation on the dual-screen handheld, and it allows for the team to pull off some really awesome features that true hardcore arcade collectors will love.
First of all, you get 15 Konami games of various levels of "classic" status. Games like Contra, Circus Charlie, Time Pilot, Yie Ar Kung Fu, Gradius and Track & Field are well worth the price of admission. But you'll also get little-remembered games like Road Fighter, Shao-Lin's Road, and Rainbow Bell (a game that's featured in the better-known Parodius series). Other games include Roc'n Rope, Scramble, Horror Maze, Basketball, and Pooyan. Each game played exactly as they originally did in the arcades, which shows the strength of the programmers' emulation abilities.
Each game plays on one screen, with the other display showing off the arcade artwork's "how to play" imagery -- you can swap the two screens in the configuration menu, but since the touch screen is used for menu functions it's best keeping it this way. Because the DS screens offer less pixel resolution than many of the arcade games' resolutions, there will be some pixelated gaps in the display -- you can turn on filtering to make it look a little nicer, but it'll never look quite as sharp as the original arcade titles. Many Konami games utilized the "tall" vertical orientation, and you can definitely recreate this by rotating the image on the screen and play the DS tipped 90 degrees clockwise or counterclockwise. This function can be changed on the fly via an easy to use touch-screen interface.
It's quite possibly the most ambitious classic arcade game compilation simply due to one factor: the ability to tweak the settings exactly as arcade operators did back when the games were originally available. Each game has a visual representation of both the title's original motherboard as well as the dip switches -- dip switches were how arcade operators manually adjusted elements such as how many lives a player earned on a quarter, how many points a game required before they earned an additional life or free game. Using the DS system's touch screen, players adjust these settings by sliding the dip switches on or off in relation to the specific setting listed on the upper screen. It's a real down-and-dirty way of changing things within the game, but for arcade purists this is absolutely a way cool way of doing it. It shows that the development team really loved and appreciated the games in their original arcade configuration.
Also for the arcade purists is the addition of a library where you can check out all sorts of artwork and detailed information related to all the games in the package. You can zoom in and out of the scanned pamphlets to check out all of the wonderful typos that made it into the original print.
Konami Classics Series: Arcade Hits might not support the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, but multiplayer is a huge focus for this product. Not only can you wirelessly transmit a copy of the game to any DS and play competitively, you can also record a high-score earning run and transmit that "replay" to other systems so your buddies can see just how you pulled off that record.
Fifteen games isn't anywhere close to the library of old-school games within Konami's line-up. We're still missing awesome classics like Gyruss, Lifeforce Double Dribble, Blades of Steel...and yes, Frogger. So if this game sells well, it wouldn't hurt to expect a Volume II in the future.
Backbone Entertainment's been spoiling PSP owners. Not only did the development studio kick off the system's launch with its original IP Death Jr., but it also gave the handheld a sequel late last year. The Nintendo DS version took a backseat to the PSP sequel -- the dual-screen game made a brief, behind-closed-doors appearance at the Electronic Entertainment Expo last summer, but it was so early that it was nearly unplayable...and almost impossible to gauge the direction Backbone's Vancouver team was taking with the project.
At last night's corporate event in San Francisco, Konami showed off a close-to-finished version of Death Jr. and the Science Fair of Doom. The game ran well and showed off a hybrid 3D action game with tons of 2D platforming elements that put heavy emphasis on touch screen control.
So, in the Nintendo DS game, Death Jr., the son of the Grim Reaper, is still in high school, and now has to deal with the horrors of a science fair gone completely bonkers. Players take control of both Death Jr. and his friend Pandora in a very Lost Vikings sort of way, having them work together in order to fix all the evil that's run amok through the school hallways.
We only got a chance to tinker with the early portions of Death Jr. on the DS, which included a whole lot of tutorial that showed off the game's touch screen control. Using the D-pad, players maneuver Death Jr. in the 3D world, and attack enemies simply by tapping on the touch screen with the stylus. There's a combo system in place that requires double tapping on the D-pad or stroking the touch screen in different fashions...a technique which will clearly come handy later in the game when more and stronger enemies enter the fray.
At some portions of the game the camera will swoop in tight for a side-view of the action, and the controls change somewhat to give players a bit more of an old-school platform-style design. Because the game focuses on a control that requires the D-pad in one hand and the stylus in the other, jumping is handled by the shoulder button.
The game clearly isn't keeping up with the visuals pulled off on the PlayStation Portable, but considering the horsepower under each systems' hoods it's not surprising that the DS game doesn't look quite as good. But even with its limitations Death Jr. and the Science Fair of Doom is no slouch in the graphics territory. The game plays relatively fast and smooth with some nice detail in the environments. The cutscenes, detailed but still frames, show off the game's weird and bizarre art style.
The final product, due this spring, will feature wireless two player support for some of the mini-games that you'll encounter in the package.
Last night, Konami held its annual Winter Gaming Event in San Francisco, and amidst the maelstrom of bright lights and booze, we managed to find a demo station running the final retail version of Lunar Knights. Previously, we had only been able to go through demo levels, so we were pretty excited to dig our teeth into the vampire slaying adventure. The first DS game from Kojima Productions and the spiritual successor to Boktai Lunar Knights certianly has a lot to live up to.
The game starts off (like so many games do these days) with a lengthy cut scene involving random story elements that were completely unintelligible in the context of a gaming event like this. Apparently, the game's malevolent vampires are plotting to blot out the sun with a device called paraSOL, a mechanism designed to control the weather. Of course, this would give the bloodsucking monsters free reign to roam the earth and gorge themselves on the blood of any mortals unlucky enough to get in the way.
During the video reel at Konami's event on Thursday night, we were intrigued by the few glimpses shown of the new aerial combat game heading to the DS, Time Ace. The game has the protagonist piloting different planes in an attempt to travel through time and stop a maniacal adversary. Needless to say, the brief introduction of the game left us itching to get our hands on it as soon as the videos ended and the demo stations were brought in.
Time Ace starts off with some stylized cut scenes explaining the game's back story. Apparently, way back in 1914, a scientist named Dr. Clock (very clever, Konami) invented a time machine and traveled to the future to see what was in store for mankind. When he got there and learned of the senseless battles of World War I, he decided to use his time machine to prevent the war from ever occurring. Unfortunately for our hero, nothing can ever be easy; Dr. Clock's assistant, Dr. Scythe, happens to have his own evil machinations in place regarding the time machine. Unbeknownst to Dr. Clock, Dr. Scythe jumped into the future on a stolen time machine in an attempt to secure a massive stockpile of powerful weapons (obviously a misguided bid at world domination). Ever the forward thinker, Dr. Clock foresaw this contingency and kept a backup time machine awaiting just such an occurance. The game begins as Dr. Clock takes off in his makeshift biplane/time machine fast in pursuit of Dr. Scythe.
We've been promised more DS content in 2007 by Nintendo, and it seems as though the rush is already underway, with Konami showing nearly a dozen titles at its Gamers' Day event alone. As the newest addicting touch-puzzler for DS, Hudson's Honeycomb Beat is a mix of simple innovation and basic touch screen usage. In what could best be described as a mix between Tetris and Othello, the game's focus centers around a combination of hexagonal tiles that make up a two-colored honeycomb. With the touch of the bottom screen, players can switch any tile on the grid from one color to the other, with the ultimate goal of completing designs, flipping tiles in combos, or making an entire horizontal line of all the same color. The catch: Any time you flip a tile all neighboring tiles will flip along with it.
Though Honeycomb Beat was shown off only in demo form, the current build gave us a good sense of things to come. The basic presentation centers around - you guessed it - a honeycomb theme, with all interface featuring a slick, hexagonal look. All interface is handled on the touch screen, with descriptions of events and game tips taking up the top screen. From the get-go Honeycomb Beat asks that you design a profile for stat-tracking, and then allows you to either immediately get into the action, or check out the simple (and surprisingly quick) tutorial mode. Tutorial sections include lessons in panel flipping, vector labels (which are basically different types of panels), and advanced flipping techniques. Each tutorial presents itself very well, with all explanation on the top screen and a user-controlled touch tutorial on the bottom screen. After about five minutes of panel-flipping we were ready to dive into the main game.
Honeycomb Beat is comprised of two different modes; puzzle, and evolution. In puzzle mode, players are required to take a specific layout of panels on the bottom screen and create patterns by flipping them from one color to the other. Some of these puzzles demand that all panels on the screen are the same color, whereas others will result in two-tone patterns or pictures. There are 20 puzzle areas, each with 10 puzzles for a total of 200 different brain-teasers. Just like in the main game, whenever a puzzle is completed the actual interface will flip new available puzzles over in a branching, honeycomb style. It's simple, but it has a really cool look as you begin to tunnel your way through each mission.
When it comes to evolution mode, Honeycomb Beat takes a note from Tetris, as players can jump into one of 10 different difficultly levels in an attempt to clear lines. A huge mass of Honeycomb will begin to rise from the bottom of the screen, and players will need to flip an entire horizontal line to clear it away. With a little trickery (and some smart planning) combos can be created by setting up multiple lines and then eliminating them all at once. Once the mass of honeycomb reaches the top of the bottom screen, it's game over. Adding to the replay value of evolution mode is a profile ranking system, which takes into account how long you lasted, how many points you achieved, and the complexity of combos to rank your performance. Like in Brain Age, you'll be assigned a "Brain Evolution" rating which you can work to raise over multiple play sessions.
So what's the point of the game? Well, aside from adding more wrinkles to your brain as you twist it in knots, Honeycomb Beat also offers a few unlockables, though they're primarily cosmetic. As you venture through puzzle and evolution modes you'll continue to unlock new panel colors, different backgrounds, more music, and different visuals for the top screen during play. It's basic, but it's still a reason to go back and kick the crap out of any shameful puzzle attempts you may have done. From the demo we were able to select from 10 different panel colors, three background themes (a space theme, a "warm" theme, and a girly "fancy" theme), six different songs titled simply "Music1-6", and digital or wave visual animations. It is all extremely basic, but every little bit helps in a puzzle game, and staring at the same two colors for hours on end is grounds for much "head-explode-ification" in our book, so it's a good addition to the package.
All in all Honeycomb Beat is a pretty entertaining experience, although it isn't an astonishingly deep endeavor. Puzzles can be extremely tricky (and not being a huge puzzle nut like Craig I was made to look like a fool on a few of the brain-teasers), and the amount of depth is decent for what we hope is a game that fits in the lower DS price range (around $20 seems about right). Konami maintains that the game is "beat-based", though from the demo we didn't see any real advantage in playing with the sound on or off, aside from having a driving tempo to flip to. The game also offers some special panels that can be brought into play at the user's digression, which consist of tiles that flip only diagonal, vertical, or horizontally when you flip them (instead of on all sides), tiles that create full lines when touched, or hold tiles that are essentially time bombs that flip after a certain number of moves (used for insane, time-released combos). From the looks of it Honeycomb Beat could be a solid puzzler for DS fans this year, as it supports some decent stat tracking, is easy to get into, and offers a great amount of difficulty throughout its 200+ puzzles.
Ever wondered what it was like to be stranded on a desert island? We did, and then we played Survival Kids on Game Boy Color back in 1999. Strangely enough, we liked it. We wanted more, but we never got it. Then the DS came along, and Konami decided that the world was due for another busted cruise ship, and back we were in Lost in Blue; the unofficial sequel to Survival Kids. The game played nearly identical to the older version, with more activities, a second character to watch over, and a crisp new 3D look. Again we had a blast, traversing the island in a truly epic life-saving adventure. Apparently Lost in Blue made a bit of a splash (shipwreck pun definitely intended) in the DS community, and Konami was taking notes, as we're now treated to Lost in Blue 2.
Before getting too far into the game, let's get this out in the open straight-away: Lost in Blue 2 is definitely, undeniably, shamelessly "more of the same" when compared to the original. You run around on what looks like the same island, you eat the same coconuts, you scrape your fingers through the same dirt, and you'll combine stick with rock to make the same sharpened stick just like Lost in Blue. That being said, the game follows a different story arch, follows two new characters (each playable depending on who you select from the beginning), offers multiple endings, more activities, more action, and more freedom. It's more of the same, but the "same" is still really fun.
For anyone who didn't pick up the original, the concept of the Survival Kids/Lost in Blue series is pretty simple. You'll select your player, wake up on an island alone, and have to survive on your own until you make it off the island or are rescued. To survive you'll need to gather supplies, build fires, cook food, hunt animals, combine materials to make tools, and work with your AI counter-part to explore and ultimately conquer the island. Imagine it as the TV show Lost, but you don't have hotties running around in bikinis, and Hurley isn't eating all your freaking peanut butter all the time. When you look at it that way, it sounds more like a vacation.
Just like the original games, you'll constantly have to be upping three major stats, consisting of hunger, thirst, and strength. Spend too long in the sun and you'll get thirsty. Eat the wrong berries (which we'll playfully dub as "Pulling a Ralph Wiggum") and you'll get sick and lose strength. When it comes to hunting and building, you'll have to find items and combine them similar to a Resident Evil game, although the process feels far more free-form than the simple "gun + bullet = zombie death" ends up being. In addition, you'll need to build weapons to hunt with, including sharp sticks, bow & arrow, and if you're especially talented some sort of death-laser (no). Once you spend a few grueling days learning the ropes, you'll be expected to use creativity, speed, and common sense to solve puzzles and thrive on the island.
From what we played at Konami's Gamers' Day event, Lost in Blue 2 might as well have been the same exact game. The only major differences in the current build is the added character portraits from the top screen (instead of silhouettes you get actual pictures of the characters), some improved activities such as fishing, and a couple mini-games. The three mini-games available thus far include fire-starting, goat-milking, and fishing. Each of these games could be played with multiple time limits for an overall score, and will ultimately be featured as a couple of the multiplayer mini-games for the final version. As always, goat-milking was an uncomfortable blast.
For the final version, Konami has thrown out some rough estimates based on the game's current production. The company promises far more action, about double the activities, new challenges including underwater exploration, and a lot more animal-based adventures. There are more beasts to hunt, tougher enemies (such as sharks and alligators), and some interesting microphone puzzles, such as an event where you need to become friends with a testy gorilla by mimicking his grunts with the DS microphone. In any other game we'd be astonished, but when it comes to Lost in Blue we'll just take it in stride. Hey… at least we don't have to milk it.
It's still far too early in production to say whether or not Lost in Blue 2 is going to incorporate enough new content to warrant a second purchase on DS, but from the looks of it the game should include a decent amount of action for the single player experience, and hopefully will add a ton of mini-games for the multiplayer action as well. Unfortunately there's no online support for two players, which sucks, as it would be kind of funny and ironic to play this game over the net with some dude that's actually stuck on an island himself, but there's always hope for a Lost in Blue 3 or Wii sequel that could better make use of Nintendo's online options.
We'll keep you posted on new Lost in Blue 2 information as it becomes available.
Finally its time to open the new look PC Gaming Site, a news site that takes over from 3 of our other sites and merges them into one site covering all PC Gaming and PC Homebrew News.
Id like to say thanks to Canvasch for the great logos and to Soully for his excellent design.
News of the work on the Spectrum emulator for the DS by CraigT
I upgraded my version of devkitPro to R20 yesterday. I removed all the old gba_nds_fat code and replaced it with Chishm’s latest libfat routines, which now contain the directory related functions I need for the file browser in SpeccyDS. The latest libfat driver also includes support for DLDI.
SpeccyDS didn’t have any problems compiling with the new library and everything seems to be working as expected. However, I have been left with a bit of a dilemma. I know there is a lot of anticipation for DLDI support, but there are still a few major things I want to finish before releasing version 0.3. I don’t feel like I have added enough to SpeccyDS to justify releasing the next version.
I may release it as it is now and call it version 0.2a. However, the border changes will not be included since there isn’t any sensible way to set the border size. We shall see…
Divineo USA have posted that they have the M3 Simply fully in stock.
Heres more info about the M3 Simply
M3 DS Simply is a slot 1 device (no passcard required) from the famous producer M3 Adapter.
It uses Micro SD card for cheap and high capacity while fitting nicely in your DS/DS Lite. Its low price and strong built offers a great value!
Specifications & extra information
- Same size as an original DS cart
- Built-in PassMe
- Using Micro SD card (Trans Flash) as storage. Cheap & multiple use for cards
- Boot clean dump images
- Very simple to use: drag and drop files to the micro SD card
- No drivers required
- Standard FAT system support
- Supports different speed of micro SD card even the low speed SD card. Runs games without any lag or slow down
- Upgradable Firmware ( OS / Bios / Kernel )
- Touch screen control & robust skinning support
- No battery needed, back up the save file directly into the micro SD card: Never lose your saved games
- Auto detect the save type & automatically generate saver file
- Homebrew support , IO lib available on launch
- Watch movie directly, listen to MP3 & read TXT on the DS via the use of Moonshell
- Supports WiFi, DS rumble pack & DS browser .
Rocket Company's budget-priced DS curling game has been out for a little while now, and is officially endorsed by an actual japanese curling team. They've recently put up a commercial, if you want to see if the game is actually as boring as it seems (hint: yes, but probably better on a DS than any other system).
Banpresto has put up a commercial for their Dimps-developed original DS fighter Draglade, which shows a bit of action from the game. Looks fast-paced, and you can see just a little of the 'custom beat battle' elements. There's actually a section up now which explains it. Basically it's a bit like how records work in Samurai Champloo for PS2. New beats allow different combo chains, and it seems you have the ability to actually create beats yourself. Also, I can't recall if this was mentioned before, but Wifi is now confirmed for the game. There will be realtime ranking, and for local users, download play is supported.
No, it's not a joke! After all these training games, it was inevitable (perhaps you don't know but, roughly ten training games get released by companies other than Nintendo for every one that is endorsed by dr. kawashima). DS Therapy has the subtitle 'mainichi kokorobics', a conjunction of the words 'heart' (kokoro) and 'aerobics', this 'daily heart aerobics'. The game has you answering quizes in a 'light hearted' manner, and then you're diagnosed based on the latest psychological research, or so says developer Dimple Entertainment, creator of adventure sims, largely. Theoretically it should track your progress as well.
The game is planned for a may release at 4,800 yen, and features character illustrations by kaorin wakamatsu. They actually do seem to have consulting psychologists on staff, but this is still quite odd to me.
MancalaDS is a fun game, but playing a game without a song is WAAAY boring... So I decided to make some songs for MancalaDS and release it. ....
Lotti (the creator of MancalaDS) didn't had much time so I put it on my site. He will put it later in his own blog too.
Changelog MancalaDS 2.1:
* Added some songs and menu sound.
MancalaDS is a board game (Single player or 2 players on 1 DS) for the Nintendo DS.
The games of this family best known in the Western world are Oware (or Awele), Kalah, Sungka and Omweso, and Bao.
Mancala games play a role in many Africa and some Asian societies comparable to that of chess in the West.
New release from Kyuzumaki is a Rom editing tool for homebrew usage:
With romer you can easliy alter the icons and titles in homebrew roms as you please. Romer also allows developers to easily add icons to their projects. Romer will reconstruct the header information and create a valid icon without affecting the applications function.
The program requires the .net framework v2.0 to run. Remember the program is still Beta so do make sure to backup your roms before you edit them as there may be a few bugs that need to be ironed out.
Beta2.1 Changes:
- Inverted Pallete to fix transparency issue (gif's with no transparent pixels may display incorrectly)
- Fixed corrupted title error when editing just the title
- Fixed spaces (no longer added to embed titles)
- Put in new checks to prevent homebrew being edited if no icon file is selected
- Homebrew checkbox auto unticks once a homebrew it edited
I've finished my review of the CycloDS, a new GBA media adapter for the Nintendo DS and Nintendo DS lite using mijiSD and microSD cards.
The Cyclo team is a newcomer to the scene, with their only (released) product line being the CycloDS. So how well have they done? The CycloDS series is composed out of two (GBA slot) solutions. One made for the normal DS (and GBA) using miniSD and one specific for the Nintendo DS lite using microSD. Although they have been announced quite some time ago they have only recently become available. The Cyclo team have also announced another solution (no information released) and a Wii mod-chip.
Konami is breathing new life into 15 of its classic arcade titles with a new retro collection for DS.
Only a few titles have been revealed, with Gradius, a brilliant horizontal-scrolling space shooter, heading-up the confirmed titles. Yie-Ar Kung Fu, a basic beat-'em-up and Time Pilot, a single-screen shooter in different time zones are also confirmed.
As has become the trend with retro collections of late, the game will feature direct ports of the original Arcade games, as well as updated and remixed version that take more advantage of the modern hardware.
Updates will include the option to configure the screen for vertical or horizontal play, as well as bonus mode that will let you listen to music and sound effects from the 15 titles and view game art, biographies and trivia.
Trusting that Nintendogs hasn't already exhausted your fascination for cutesy touch-screen animals, Konami is set to release GoPets, a new pet sim that will let gamers take their pets online.
Nintendogs had a clever local wireless 'Bark' mode that let two DS units in close proximity connect directly.
GoPets, which features dogs and cats, aims to go one better and let users take their lovable pets online to mingle with other pets from around the world.
Players will also be able to communicate text and icons as they travel around the virtual world. A journal keeps a record of all the friends you make.
An offline mode will also feature, set on an island with a small community and mini games. Sounds a bit like Animal Crossing.
THQ expects revenue from in-game advertising and downloadable content to account for at least US $5 million (EUR 3.85m) by 2008.
The WWE publisher anticipates that next-generation releases in the Stuntman, MX and Juiced franchises will help the company take advantage of the burgeoning market.
"This is a growing market, and we have placed ads now in MX, Juiced, Stuntman, and at least one other franchise," revealed CEO Brian Farrell, during a recent conference call.
When asked how much revenue in-game advertising would generate for THQ in 2008, Ferrell replied: "Our best estimate is US $5 million, but I would not be surprised to see that number go up."
Ferrell also revealed he expects more than half the company's revenue in the coming year to come from next-generation product for the PS3, Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii.
THQ's titles for next-gen machines include sequels to Red Faction, Juiced and Stuntman, as well as further exploitation of THQ's Destroy All Humans, MX and Saints Row franchises.
After years of living in peace and harmony, the inhabitants of Timber's Island are shocked when their tropical paradise is invaded by a giant, hideous space pig! To thwart Wizpig’s nefarious plans, explore the sprawling island, unlock hidden racetracks, and drive, hover and fly against colorful characters in high-octane competitions!
Your host, a gregarious elephant named Taj, greets you in a grassy meadow. Drive over bridges, through sparkling surf and around volcanoes. Start racing. You'll have to speed through a huge variety of racing challenges if you want to unlock all the island’s secrets, complete the adventure and save your friends from the parlous pig. Diddy Kong Racing DS boasts a huge number of courses, including several all-new ones!
Diddy Kong Racing DS offers three types of vehicles: karts, hovercraft and airplanes. The drivers range from the quick and the small to heavyweights who specialize in bashing rivals off the course. Duel with classic DKR power-ups like oil slicks, gas clouds, land mines, super shields, speed boosts, homing missiles and magnets. In Diddy Kong Racing DS, you’d better be ready for anything under the sun!
Diddy Kong Racing DS for Nintendo DS™ is shipping today as US release version at US$ 39.90 only.
RyanFB has released a new version of his excellent Megadrive(genesis) emulator for the Nintendo DS.
Heres whats new:
Updated for DKA r20 and latest libnds.
Switched to libfat with DLDI support.
Fixed bug where select key must be released quickly in order to go back to file selection menu.
Appended ROM check now only happens if FAT is unable to init.
Added untested Opera RAM expansion support, and RAM support for SCCF.
Download and Give Feedback / Compatibility Reports Via Comments
CraigT has released a new version of SpeccyDS the Spectrum emulator for the Nintendo DS.
Heres whats new:
Here are the changes…
Upgraded to libfat, which inludes the DLDI driver.
Fixed .z80 loading routine. More .Z80 snapshots will now be accepted.
Fixed flag behaviour in DAA instruction to fix problems in Head over Heels.
Fixed HALT instruction (again!) to fix crash in Starquake.
Implemented a few undocumented instructions.
Optomised display routines.
Hooked up X and Y buttons.
Corrected Sinclair 1 and 2 joystick assignments.
It doesn’t contain everything I had planned, but hopefully it should keep you happy. Enjoy!
I've updated tutorial one to work with the most recent devkitPro release. I've also moved it to using the standard devkitPro makefiles which should make it much easier to track devkitPro changes. I'm working on updating the other tutorials.
Pascal Game Development community has announced the 2007 PGD "Multiplexity" Game Programming Competition aimed to pascal developers. The big news of this year is that entries for Nintendo DS and GameBoy Advance are allowed! The compo theme is very interesting (a multi-genre game), prizes are very rich, so: pick up your fpc4gba or fpc4nds and start coding now!!!
Clem
Rudolph Steady Go
Xmas Dash
TSOTS
Znax
Santa's Skidoo Scarp
Warcraft Tower of Defence
Ice Runner
Holliday Toss
NDS Puzzle
I will try to get a full compo page up with judge's comments and scoring on each game over the next few days. We all pretty much picked the same top 4 but after that it was a pretty tight race. Thanks for another great year and I apologize for the delay in judging. For those of you who did not make the top ten most of you just barely missed
Winners feel free to contact me and please list your prize choices in order of preference.If I don't hear from you in the next day or two I will track you down.
There's some updated news on Lost in Blue 2, including gameplay details. Notably, players can choose to navigate the game as either the male or female character, and Jack and Amy each have their own unique skills. Previously, we thought the setup was similar to the original Lost in Blue, with the girl serving as an unplayable character (at least, until you beat it once). Also, the sequel will feature a limited two-player mode via local wireless, in which players can compete in survival mini-games. We're hoping for things like "Outrun the Croc" so we can watch our pals brutally eaten. That's just good, clean fun.
Once again, the touch screen and microphone will be a big part of the game, but Konami promises to expand on touchscreen play for a more immersive and interesting experience. Let's hope for less drudgery and more fun.
No doubt, Diddy Kong Racing has been in the spotlight for the last couple of months, due to some excellent features and the promise of repeating the success the game enjoyed on the N64. With custom-track creation and countless other wonderful features, we've waited long and patiently for this game and hopefully the majority of reviewers out there won't find the game as lacking as the below two have:
Nintendo Power (75/100) finds that the game has some appeal, however maybe not as much as it needs: "Like its predecessor, Diddy Kong Racing DS has a Mario Kart game to compete with, but also enough unique features to make it a kart-racing contender." [Mar. 2007, p.87]
GameSpot (67/100) says that the game might just have too much to do: "Diddy Kong Racing DS is a decent racer with plenty to do and some interesting new content, but the seemingly endless amount of tasks you must complete to enjoy all of it may irritate anyone who simply wants to race."
The official Japanese website for Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings has been live for a bit on the series of tubes that make up the internet. Now, through this wondrous website, one may access a nice little trailer on the main page, as well as some cool downloads.
The downloads include desktop wallpapers and a promotional video from Jump Festa 2007. Other things, such as the game's prologue and character descriptions, are in Japanese and able to stand up to our most deadly translation bots.
A Nintendo-developed dogfighter, Jet Impulse, has recently opened their official website for perusal. The game formerly known as DS Air is, for the moment, Japanese-bound only; this will change, however, when we threaten Nintendo with deadly force.
Two videos adorn the pages, highlighting both game mechanics and opening cinematic. We've been hankering for more air since Star Fox Command ended so very quickly; hopefully, this title can make the trip stateside before long.
Penguin United DS 24 Game Card Collection Pouch
Manufacturer: Penguin United
Site: Buy from Penguin United
Price: $9.99
Overview : Keep track of your DS games all in one location without having to worry about losing them.
Features :
Fits up to 24 games! The only game card holder for serious ds gamer.
Transparent Inner Pages for full view of your games collection.
Fit 6 Nintendo DS game cards per page, with 4 inner pages to fit up to 24 games
Make of Premium Material - Not from real leather so no animal was harmed.
Quality/Usability : Penguin United has sent us their DS Game Card Collection Pouch. Packaging of the products is really nice. The Pouch is available in two colors, gray/white and red/white.
The case is made of leather and has a zipper going around the case to secure your games. The quality is very good. The case itself measures 4.5 inches wide, 6 inches tall, 1 inch thick. When you unzip the case, there are four plastic sleeves. Each sleeve holds 6 games (total of 24 games). The sleeves is made from plastic vinyl similar to that used for sports cards.
Inserting the games is fairly easy and the same goes for removing. Considering its plastic, you would think that the plastics would stick together but it doesnt. The sleeves are binded together and placed onto a plastic backing. The backing is then slipped into each side of the case and under a pouch. Similar to the Trapper Keeper back in grade school. Although its not stated on the package but you can insert some manuals or papers in these pouches.
Conclusion : Overall, the Penguin United DS Game Card Collection Pouch is a nice product. It holds up to 24 games and isnt bulky. Fits nicely into a backpack. Would have been nice if there was a different version that featured a flap with a magnetic button closure rather than a zipper that kind of resembles a daily planner. Also maybe a smaller version that holds 5-10 games for those who would like to keep the pouch in the pocket?
papafuji has released DS-Frotz v1.2, heres the full info:
DS-Frotz is the port of Stefan Jokisch and David Griffith's Frotz, based on the GBA version from Jonas Minnberg. It can play the majority of Inform files in z3, z5 or z8 format (up to V6 Inform format), with some bugs included... The source code is included in the package... The version 1.2 of DS-Frotz includes :
a multi-game main menu
a multi-interface inputs : grafiti or keyboard (no voice recogition yet, sorry...)
a multi-files in SRAM save/load (up to 5 files)
and a brand new text-completion functionnality
includes : MiniZork, Freefall, The Magic Toyshop & the source code of DS-Frotz
Mollusk has updated his Map Viewer application for the Nintendo DS.
Heres some info
How to use :
1. Flash the rom on your linker
2. Copy gif files you want to use as maps in directory /Maps/
3. Load the homebrew, it'll list all gif files in that directory
4. Click on a map, it'll load up in a few seconds, and you can move around/zoom/etc...
All commands are written on the homebrew when you load it
A New firmware has been released for the DS Linker flash cart, heres whats new:
New feature:
# 1.Fixed the problem of Pocket Mater black screen when enter underground world.
# 2.Adjusted the icon of 3D menu speed.
# 3.Fixed the "goto Menu" problem.
# 4.Fixed some FAT file system problem, so DSLinker need to be formated after upgrade.
# 5.Now, hold SELECT can pass through to 3D menu when DSLiner Writer is in slot 2. (for USB 2.0 Writer only)
# 6.With this new function, NDS console can be a USB pad with DSPAD program. This USB pad can work with all PC game.(for USB 2.0 Writer only)
# 7.Added /DSYSTEM/AUTORUN.BIN file, it's a USB plug-in, use hold SELECT pass through to 3D menu, system will run AUTORUN.BIN automatic.(for USB 2.0 Writer only)
Usage: Please follow the "readme" file in the package to update the firmware of DSLinker.
A new release of Comic Book DS has support for DLDI. heres the full changelog:
# 2.0 (04/02/2007):
New DS: Renaming the .cbds files is not necessary anymore. The .cbds files can have any name (eg : "La Vie de Norman.cbds" and can be placed anywhere.
New DS: The Library screen is more reactive to user inputs. When the book is not opened yet, the filename is displayed.
New DS: Current page name is displayed during image load.
New DS: Do not wait for key release anymore in Thumbnails and Library screens. This allows a quicker thumbnails navigation while keeping the key pressed.
BugFix DS: The Stylus (touch screen) can now be used with R4DS and M3 Simply.
BugFix DS: Sometimes, the selection frame of miniature mode was not displayed.
Robert Durbin has released an update to his Deal or No Deal game:
I made a new version, nothing really fancy but now you can use controller to select a case, and use A,B,X,Y to confirm your choice. Also when you get choices like deal or no deal or Trade or keep, you can use the L and R button to choose them. I did this cause some users (R4 and M3 simply) cannot use the stylus.
Tepples has released a new version of his Tetris game for the DS:
LOCKJAW is a tetromino stacking game that lets you set the rules. It's a free software implementation of the Soviet Mind Game, a highly popular computer puzzle game that involves guiding tetrominoes into a well. (That is, LOCKJAW is to Tetris as GNU is to UNIX.) It includes over 20 options for making variations to the game rules, as well as "gimmicks" for practicing specific skill areas.
Changelog v0.31 (2007-02-03):
Draws the score and next pieces before blitting the playfield in case a front-end draws the score or next pieces inside the playfield.
In Baboo!, speed curve Zero sets the level to the number of keypresses so far.
Blocks within a piece are drawn connected once they lock.
Baboo! no longer double-counts console buttons passed through the joypad reading code.
README: "color=image" clone-and-hack error fixed.
README: Explains black rectangle in upper left corner as an con for stop.
Penguin United Silicon Jacket (Lite)
Manufacturer: Penguin United
Site: Buy from Penguin United
Price: $9.99
Overview : Light Weight Material that doesn't compromise the mobility of your NDS Lite. Added Protection to NDS Lite from everyday useage. Designed to fit seamlessly with NDS Lite. Easy access to all connection ports. Protects without interfering with game play, opening or closing of NDS Lite. Available colors: white, black, pink, and blue.
Quality/Usability : I'm not a big fan of silicon cases whether its for the original DS, PSP, DS Lite, cellphones or any handheld devices but its a nice cheap solution to protecting your handheld devices. They just doesnt appeal to me much. But I thought I'd give this a try since I use a GBA case that was given to me at E3 and its kind of bulky.
The Penguin United Silicon Jacket for the DS Lite comes in two separate pieces. One piece is for the display half and the other piece is for the touchscreen half. Slipping the silicon jacket on is fairly simple.
Once they are placed on the DS Lite, all ports are easily accessible. For the touchscreen half of the DS Lite, there is an opening for the DS cartridge slow as well as for the charger port on the top. On the right side, there is an opening for the power button as well as access to your stylus pen. The bottom of the silicon jacket is the GBA slot along with an opening for your headphones as well as a cut out for the volume slider. On the inside of the jacket are two little bumps. These bumps go into the bottom left side of the DS Lite. This prevents the silicon jacket from moving or slipping off.
Now for the display half, there isnt much to it. There is a big opening on the display side of the case leaving the speakers and screen open. What would of been nice was for it to at least cover majority of the screen area but leaving a small cut out for the speakers and screen itself. Probably the same for where the directional pad/buttons and touch screen are.
Conclusion : Overall, the Penguin United Silicon Jacket is just like any normal silicon case. I personally prefer to have cutouts for the each opening fat the top and bottom rather than one big opening. Same for the screens. I rather have majority of the DS covered with cutouts for the screens, buttons and speakers. The one strip of silicon on top of the DS where the DS game slot is feels a little loose and flimsy. Had it been connected to the bottom of the silicon case, it wouldnt be.
Noda has released a new version of his DS game of the Mod Tower Defense for Warcraft 3.
Heres some screens:
Heres the game info
Here is the promised quick release which should fix some bugs and R4/M3 simply compatibility
-04/02/2007 : v0.31 beta
+ now use latest devkitpro (r20) with latest libnds, libfat & palib
= stylus precision & jumping problems fixed (thanks to latest libnds)
= stylus problems with R4/M3 simply should be fixed (thanks to latest palib)
= corrected the bug that make the map selection screen froze when there was more than
10 maps (FAT version) .
It’s here at last on April 4 - the world’s first games magazine for women for € 1.90 at a six-figure print volume. At a media volume of € 2.8 million, the marketing campaign for the first issue of play vanilla is set to produce around 10 million new contacts.
Already introduced in the December issue of Joy fashion magazine as an insert, play vanilla will be appearing at around 130 pages in pocket format every two months from April 4. The play vanilla editorial office will be covering topics such as PC, video, and mobile games specifically aimed at younger women. This means inspiring articles, cool design, high benefit, and fun factor.
Computec Media AG will be supporting the play vanilla sales launch with printed ads at a media volume of over € 1 million in magazines such as Prinz, Petra, Joy, Cosmopolitan, Shape, and TV direct, along with TV and big-screen commercial spots at just shy of € 280,000 on Vox, MTV, Super RTL, and in UCI cinemas as well as advertising banners on high-outreach websites at just under € 1.5 million.
"The time has come for a women’s magazine,” says Petra Fröhlich, play vanilla and PC Games editor-in-chief. "The overwhelming reactions from thirty countries on the play vanilla launch plus the extremely positive results from initial reader surveys have confirmed it. Almost all participants want to see play vanilla appear on a regular basis. The fresh, feminine magazine concept is directly addressed to keen women gamers, who are out of the range for ordinary games magazines.”
According to Computec Media AG CEO Johannes Sevket Gözalan, "the unbelievable international reactions to the first issue of play vanilla along with excellent feedback from agencies and games publishers are unmistakable proof that Computec has again lived up to its pioneering and market leader position in electronic entertainment. This market-hitting innovation will not only extend our readership, but also serve one of the most important target groups in burgeoning entertainment segment in all social strata. We will be starting play vanilla as an independent print and online title supported by a seven-figure media volume and a six-figure print volume. The play vanilla magazine will build on our exceptional success story we enjoy with SFT, PC Games, and buffed.de.”
When Wario™ sees a television series about a thieving master of disguises, he dives through the TV screen, steals the thief's quick-change wand and takes over the whole show. Episode after episode, he breaks into exotic locations, like a luxury liner, watery ruins and an Egyptian pyramid!
Draw Wario's eight disguises: By sketching a symbol on Wario, the player puts Wario in outfits that give him powers, such as Thief Wario's tackles and Cosmic Wario's laser blasts. The player also uses the stylus to wield the powers.
Explore environments: Wario travels the globe in 10 missions that span nine exotic locations. The player must attack many enemies found in each location and also use Wario's disguises to get past puzzling obstacles.
Play minigames to unlock chests: To pick the lock of each chest, the player must play one of eight stylus-driven minigames that grow more difficult as the game progresses.
Game storyline: Over the 10 episodes of "his" new TV show, Wario travels the globe in search of treasure to steal. Along the way, he discovers that there's a far greater prize to be had: an ancient artifact that grants wishes. Now if he can only find it before his rival, the master thief whose show (and powers of disguise) he's stolen.
How to progress through the game: Using the Thief Wario disguise, players run, high-jump and tackle their way through each episode. They'll need to switch to other disguises, frequently one after the other, to fight and puzzle through rooms full of obstacles and enemies. Players use buttons to run and jump while using the stylus to affect Wario and his environment, and they can watch the top screen map to keep their bearings in the levels.
At the start of the game, players will have only one disguise (Thief Wario) and will discover more as they proceed through the game. Players can return to previous episodes with the power to use all currently held disguises, making it possible to explore more areas and gather even more hidden treasures. Each episode ends in a boss fight that challenges players to use a variety of disguises to defeat it.
Characters: Wario is joined by his new sidekick, a wand that lets him change into eight different disguises. He's also pursued by the master thief who wants his wand back, and who still has plenty of high-tech tricks up his sleeve. The episodes also feature more characters in search of the ancient artifact, plus dozens of new creatures. Wario's friendly new wand helps him switch disguises. Players use the stylus to draw a key piece of each disguise onto Wario to activate the change. The wand explains how to sketch these quick-changes in a tutorial.
Special powers/weapons/moves/features: Wario opens locked treasure chests by completing one of eight random minigames that grow harder, faster and more complex as the game progresses. If the players succeed, they'll get the treasure, key item or disguise power-up found specifically in that chest. If the player fails, the chest remains locked, the chest spits out exploding bombs and the player may return to try the chest (with a different minigame) again.
Capcom has held onto the No. 1 spot in the UK all-formats software chart for the second week running as Xbox 360 exclusive Lost Planet continues to prove popular with consumers.
FIFA 07 and Pro Evo 6 are also still riding high, but swap places this week as Konami's offering rises one place to No. 2.
Making its debut at No. 4 is Sega Mega Drive Collection, which is selling well on both PSP and PS2. Wii title Wario Ware: Smooth Moves is up one place to No. 5, while EA follows with its second top ten title, Need for Speed: Carbon.
Nintendo takes the seventh and eighth spots with Wii Play and DS best-seller New Super Mario Bros. At nine again this week it's THQ's Cars, while The Sims 2: Pets rounds out the chart at No. 10.
New entries in the top 40 include TV tie-in Little Britain: The Videogame, which debuts at No. 14, and Star Fox Command at No. 26. Ubisoft's Rocky Balboa is in at 27, while MMORPG Vanguard: Saga of Heroes enters the chart at No. 34.
Big movers include The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, up eight places to No. 13. World Snooker Championship 2007 drops down ten places to No. 17, while World of Warcraft expansion pack The Burning Crusade says goodbye to the top ten as it slips from No. 5 to No. 18.
Florida attorney and game-regulation activist Jack Thompson has been involved in a number of public feuds stemming from his efforts against the likes of shock-jock Howard Stern, Grand Theft Auto publisher Take-Two Interactive, and the lawyers who have represented them. Thompson has even sued the Florida Bar, of which he is a member.
Now the Florida Bar has rolled up all those feuds and more into a 40-page complaint filed with the state's Supreme Court. Self-explanatory game blog GamePolitics broke the story over the weekend, reporting that the Bar's complaint makes five allegations against Thompson for violations of professional conduct.
GameSpot obtained a full copy of the complaint, which accuses Thompson of a number of misdeeds, such as repeatedly disobeying a judge's orders and violating Alabama's rules of professional conduct. Specifically, the complaint says Thompson made out-of-court statements that could tamper with the court case, knowing that they would be picked up and widely reported.
The complaint also alleges that Thompson directly violated a judge's orders multiple times. In November 2005, Fayette County Circuit Judge James Moore revoked Thompson's temporary license to practice law in Alabama for his behavior in the civil suit of a man convicted of killing two police officers and a dispatcher. Moore also ordered Thompson not to send him copies of any letters or e-mails he sent to a third party. The complaint says Thompson violated that order at least 30 times.
Another count accuses Thompson of making statements about Take-Two's lawyers opposing him "for no substantial purpose other than to embarrass, disparage, or humiliate them," of threatening disciplinary charges just to get a leg up in his civil suit, and for making statements about the qualifications or integrity of a judge with a reckless disregard for the truth. The final two counts allege that Thompson disparaged the lawyers representing Howard Stern in his legal battles with the radio host, accusing them of extortion and racketeering, among other things.
Thompson has filed a motion to stay any disciplinary action in the case and a motion for mediation. The Bar has not filed a response, and the judge has not ruled on either motion yet.
Players take their elite strike fighters to the skies and hunt down a mad dictator before he takes over the world.
After being driven from his seat of power, a vicious dictator has fled to a remote, mountainous region to plan a military uprising. Mysteriously, the opposing army's forces have received reinforcements, leading to speculation that an unknown nation is lending military assistance to the uprising. An ace pilot in an elite strike-fighter wing has been tasked with crushing the opposition forces and returning peace to the troubled region.
Jet Impulse (aka. DS Air) for Nintendo DS™ is available today at US$ 48.90 only.
Game features:
As Nintendo's first realistic flight shooter on Nintendo DS, Jet Impulse lets players customize their fighters with a state-of-the-art weapon loadout.
Send wave after wave of enemy fighters to their doom in dogfights over land, sea and air.
Meet a wingman for co-op play and soar to victory over Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection.
News and chances to win some nice hardware etc from Play Asia:
Play-Asia.com Lucky Lunar New Year Sale - Over 3,000 bargains at incredibly low prices. Plus a chance to win fantastic prizes, including an Xbox360 + HD DVD Player, Nintendo Wii, NDS Lite & lots more.
Kung Hei Fat Choi! Play-Asia welcomes the forthcoming Chinese New Year season, the most important holiday in the Chinese calendar. The Chinese New Year for 2007 (which begins on February 18th) is the Year of the Pig. To celebrate this event, Play-Asia helps you to fill your piggy bank with thousands of newly discounted products, plus a chance to win fantastic prizes.
Now is the perfect time to browse through our extensive offerings and find one or another product that was left on your Christmas wish list, with a good chance of it now available at a lower price tag. We have spent time carefully reviewing our inventory and the result is a total of more than 3,000 in-stock items, all of them now available at discounted prices and only for a limited period of time.
Just like we've done with our sales in the past, you will again have the chance to win fantastic prizes, including an Xbox360™ Console + HD DVD Player addon, Nintendo Wii™, Nintendo DS™ Lite, store credit vouchers and much more by simply joining our New Year Sale.
And this is how it works:
Joining the Lucky Draw is easy. All you need to do is to place an order for any discounted item eligible for the Lucky Draw at Play-Asia.com between February 6th and February 28th. You can recognize these items by the "Piggy Bank Lucky New Year Sale" icon located on each individual product page.
Every paid order item will automatically join the Lucky Draw. The more items you order, the higher your chance to win one of our prizes. The winners of the 50 main prizes will be announced in this news post during the first week of March 2007 and will also be notified by e-mail.
Prizes:
1st Prize: Xbox360™ Console PRO System (Japanese or Asia Version) + HD DVD Player addon and 3 Xbox360™ Games or HD DVD Movies of your choice (*)
2nd Prize: Nintendo Wii™ Console (Japanese Version) + 2 Wii™ Games of your choice (*)
3rd Prize: Nintendo DS™ Lite Console + 2 NDS™ Games of your choice (*)
4th Prize: GP2X Game System Value Pack
5-10th Prize: A store credit voucher worth US$ 50 each, redeemable for any purchase at Play-Asia.com
11-20th Prize: A store credit voucher worth US$ 20 each, redeemable for any purchase at Play-Asia.com
21-50th Prize: A store credit voucher worth US$ 10 each, redeemable for any purchase at Play-Asia.com
(*) The "game of your choice" is only valid for any game priced up to a maximum of US$ 70 per title. Prizes cannot be redeemed as cash.
Discounted Items:
More than 3,000 different in-stock products have been discounted at Play-Asia.com, including over 2,000 video games and accessories, 800 movies, 300 CDs and 200 toys. Below you can find a small excerpt of some hot and featured products. A lot more can be found in our constantly updated Sales Category Pages.
Heres an excerpt of the Bargains available
PlayStation3™:
Genji: Kamui Souran / Genji: Days of the Blade JPN US$ 29.90
Mobile Suit Gundam: Target in Sight JPN US$ 29.90
Ridge Racer 7 JPN N/A
Nintendo Wii™:
Call of Duty 3 US US$ 39.90
Elebits JPN US$ 39.90
Hajimete no Wii: Your First Step To Wii (w/ Remote) JPN US$ 39.90
Kororinpa JPN US$ 29.90
Odoru Made in Wario JPN US$ 39.90
Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz US US$ 29.90
Super Swing Golf Pangya JPN US$ 39.90
Wing Island JPN US$ 39.90
Xbox360™:
Bionicle Heroes ASIA US$ 19.90
Call of Duty 2 ASIA N/A
Cars ASIA US$ 19.90
Full Auto JPN US$ 29.90
NBA Live 07 ASIA US$ 19.90
Prey ASIA N/A
Star Trek: Legacy US US$ 34.90
Super Robot Taisen XO JPN US$ 29.90
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 ASIA US$ 24.90
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent ASIA US$ 36.90
Tony Hawk's Project 8 ASIA US$ 42.90
Xbox 360 Faceplate (FIFA World Cup 2006) Europe US$ 6.90
Zegapain NOT JPN US$ 29.90
Zegapain XOR JPN US$ 19.90
PlayStation2™:
A.C.E. Another Century's Episode 2 JPN US$ 39.90
Death by Degrees Tekken: Nina Williams (Chinese Version) ASIA US$ 4.90
Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantasy VII JPN US$ 12.90
Front Mission 4 US US$ 14.90
Gran Turismo 4 JPN US$ 34.90
Kaido Battle 2: Chain Reaction JPN US$ 19.90
Kunoichi: Shinobu JPN US$ 6.90
Mobile Suit Gundam Seed Destiny: Generation of C.E. JPN US$ 29.90
Nano Breaker US US$ 9.90
Naruto: Konoha Spirits JPN US$ 39.90
Onimusha 3 JPN US$ 12.90
Onimusha Buraiden JPN US$ 9.90
Rumble Roses US US$ 12.90
Ryu ga Gotoku 2 JPN US$ 39.90
Sega SuperStars for EyeToy (w/ EyeToy) JPN US$ 18.90
Street Fighter Zero - Fighters Generation JPN US$ 29.90
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Chaos Theory (Ubisoft Best) JPN US$ 8.90
beatmania IIDX Controller US$ 49.90
Gamecube™:
Billy Hatcher & The Giant Egg (Best Price) JPN US$ 11.90
Biohazard 0 JPN US$ 19.90
Densetsu no Quiz (w/ Microphone) JPN US$ 6.90
Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat JPN US$ 6.90
Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat (incl. drum controller) JPN US$ 19.90
Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem JPN US$ 6.90
Giftpia JPN US$ 19.90
Gold Gashbell!! Friendship Tag Battle JPN US$ 9.90
Gold Gashbell: Yuujou Tag Battle 2 JPN US$ 6.90
Konjiki no Gashbell: Go! Go! Mamono Fight!! JPN US$ 6.90
Kururin Squash JPN US$ 14.90
Mega Man X Collection US US$ 19.90
Nintendo Puzzle Collection JPN US$ 14.90
Product Number 3 (P.N.03) JPN US$ 9.90
RockMan X Command Mission JPN US$ 9.90
Sonic Adventure DX (Best Price) JPN US$ 14.90
Super Mario Sunshine KOR US$ 14.90
Viewtiful Joe 2 JPN US$ 9.90
Xbox™:
Beretta 92FS US$ 24.90
Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge ASIA US$ 6.90
Dead or Alive Ultimate Double Disc Collector's Edition ASIA US$ 44.90
Grabbed by the Ghoulies (Platinum Hits) ASIA US$ 4.90
Halo 2 ASIA US$ 44.90
Hello Kitty: Mission Rescue ASIA US$ 6.90
Nobunaga no Yabou: Ranseiki JPN US$ 1.90
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time ASIA US$ 6.90
Project Gotham Racing 2 ASIA US$ 6.90
Sudeki ASIA US$ 6.90
Tenchu: Return from Darkness ASIA US$ 6.90
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3: Black Arrow ASIA US$ 6.90
XIII ASIA US$ 6.90
Sony PSP™:
Boku no Natsuyasumi Portable ASIA US$ 6.90
Every Extend Extra JPN US$ 14.90
Finder Love: Fumina Hara JPN US$ 9.90
Jukugon JPN US$ 6.90
King's Field Additional I ASIA US$ 6.90
Pouch and Cloth (black) US$ 1.99
Pouch and Cloth (white) US$ 1.99
Simple 2500 Series Portable Vol. 4: The Mind Mapping Exercise ASIA US$ 5.90
Spectral vs. Generation ASIA US$ 9.90
Sweet Paradise JPN US$ 2.90
Talkman Euro ASIA US$ 10.90
Yarudora Portable: Blood The Last Vampire (Chinese Version) ASIA US$ 4.90
Yarudora Portable: Double Cast (Chinese Version) ASIA US$ 4.90
Yarudora Portable: Kisetsu o Dakishimete (Chinese Version) ASIA US$ 4.90
Nintendo DS™:
Contact JPN US$ 12.90
Eyeshield 21: Max Devil Power JPN US$ 24.90
Gyakuten Saiban 2 (Best Price) / Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Justice for All JPN US$ 24.90
Hanjuku Eiyuu DS: Egg Monster Heroes JPN US$ 14.90
Kaitou Wario the Seven / Wario: Master of Disguise JPN US$ 29.90
Naruto: Saikyo Ninja Daikesshu 4 JPN US$ 19.90
Rockman ZX JPN US$ 24.90
Star Fox DS / Star Fox Command JPN US$ 14.90
Tales of the Tempest JPN US$ 14.90
Winning Eleven DS JPN US$ 9.90
Gameboy™ (Advance):
Castlevania: Circle of the Moon (Konami the Best) JPN US$ 14.90
Densetsu no Stafi 2 JPN US$ 14.90
Grandia: Parallel Trippers JPN US$ 2.90
Klonoa Heroes: Legend of the Star Medal JPN US$ 9.90
Mario Golf GB JPN US$ 7.90
Mother 3 JPN US$ 29.90
Pocket Bomberman [Tin Box] JPN US$ 9.90
RockMan EXE 6: Faltzer Version JPN US$ 9.90
RockMan Zero 2 JPN US$ 9.90
RockMan Zero 3 JPN US$ 14.90
bit Generations: Boundish JPN US$ 14.90
bit Generations: Coloris JPN US$ 14.90
bit Generations: Dialhex JPN US$ 14.90
bit Generations: Digidrive JPN US$ 14.90
bit Generations: Dotstream JPN US$ 14.90
bit Generations: Orbital JPN US$ 14.90
bit Generations: Soundvoyager JPN US$ 14.90
Toys, Books & Misc:
Animal Crossing Keychain - Model E US$ 0.99
Biohazard Stamp Collection JPN US$ 24.90
Bleach Screen Cleaner Phone Strap Gashapon US$ 0.99
Brave Story Brave Swing Gashapon US$ 0.99
Dead or Alive K.T Figure Collection US$ 3.90
Devil May Cry 5th Anniversary Frame Stamps Set JPN US$ 29.90
Devil May Cry 5th Anniversary Silver Layer Poster (A) US$ 10.90
Devil May Cry 5th Anniversary Silver Layer Poster (B) US$ 10.90
Figure Meister Noizi Ito Collection Neo Figure US$ 5.90
Gainax Toricolle Characters Collection Gashapon US$ 1.79
Ibara Figure Collection Vol.2: Meidi US$ 9.90
Ibara Figure Collection Vol.5: Shasta US$ 9.90
Jump Ultimate Stars Postcard Book US$ 1.99
Kabaya Little Dog Story Candy Toy US$ 0.49
Mai-Hime Collecton Figure Part. 3 US$ 1.99
SR Shakugan no Shana Collection Gashapon US$ 2.49
Ultimate Action Evangelion Gashapon Part 2 US$ 2.49
Viewtiful Joe Trading Figure US$ 1.49
Stephen Totilo, at MTV Games, has hit a gaming wall. At the newly un-flashed Multiplayer site he talks about the bane of gamers everywhere, what developer Jamie Fristrom calls a 'shelf-level event': a gaming wall that makes it hard if not impossible to complete a game. While a lot of gamers can overcome difficulties to reach the end credits, there are some frustrations that can suck all the fun out of play. He cites the bosses from Final Fantasy X and Super Paper Mario as dealbreakers. I personally am playing through God of War again, and the incredibly frustrating spear trap in the 'Paths of Madness' section of the game never fails to provoke hysterics. Have you run into any such obstacles lately? What game obstacles have caused you toss away a controller in frustration and swear off a game entirely?
As skeptical as we've become about the prevalence of patches and updates delivered through online console services like Xbox Live, the alternative -- the old way -- is still far worse. Take Exhibit A: Bubble Bobble Revolution. Codemasters' DS puzzler was released with a crippling bug that would not permit players to pass level 30 in the game's New Age mode.
The result? More than four months later, Codemasters is finally issuing a recall, asking owners of the defective Bubble Bobble Revolution to ship their broken games back to the publisher (via pre-paid envelopes), and then wait for replacement cartridges, which begin shipping out February 23.
Xbox Live and its ilk may provide a cushion for lax QA testing, but bugs occur regardless. We'd much prefer a downloadable patch delivered to us a few weeks after a game's release than rely on a cumbersome work-around or snail mail replacement.
Brief instructions for connecting a GPS module to DSerial have been posted to NaWiki. At this time raw NMEA strings can be read in the console. I will update my old Google GPS for DS hack to use this at some point.
Because it's important to have a trailer for one of the most beloved games of all time. We need that advertising. It's okay, though, because we're all about watching Final Fantasy videos. We don't even need a flimsy excuse.
Nintendo and Southwest have teamed up to give away a DS Lite, as well as a copy of Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day! to Fifty of Southwest's Rapid Rewards Members. Southwest, as you may know, have made their fortune in the airline commute business by offering competitively-priced tickets. According to the press release, this is the first time Southwest has partnered with an outside company to, well ... reward its Rapid Rewards Members.
Still though, only 50 DS Lites? That's kind of chump change, when you think about it. Shouldn't it have been a more substantial number, even being a gift?
GPF has released a new version of his Commodore64 emulator for the Nintendo DS, heres what he says:
well been working on getting the existing code moved to latest toolchain and libnds release.
Eventually it will have the ability to switch disk, right now I am kind of need some ideas on how best to do it, from a user standpoint. If I have some ideas I can start looking into the coding part
Well here is my latest version thats using the dldi patching code now, so hopefully will be able to work on most hardware now.
attached is an nds file that just needs to be dldi patched and copy that and the /rd directory to your media and put your d64 files and you can also place a snapshot created from the pc version and call it jjr.fss and that is loaded from the left trigger. right trigger still does a load"*",8,1 and then run
Please give me feedback compared to previous releases.
JessTicular has updated his card game Spider Solitaire DS to version 2.0.1
Heres whats new:
Compiled under DevkitARM r20 and libnds 20070127
Fixed: When a large pile would extend very far off the bottom of the screen, it would wrap around to the top.
Robert Durbin has posted yet another new update to the DS Game:
Heres whats new:
Ok i fixed the small palette prob where it doesnt make the current case red, not sure about the crashing prob but maybe this will fix that problem too. Please keep me updated, its working for me on my G6lite and my MK5. I also included the full source with all the includes needed for the graphics, it should compile, if you keep the correct directory structure.
Mollusk has again updated his Map Viewing app for DS:
Heres whats new:
Here's an updated version of the MapViewer. Changes aren't that important :
New GUI, looks better It's made by DayDream, and it's a WIP, I might add directories in that list to navigate throughout the whole card...
Switched to a nice 8bit font instead of tiled font, looks better too. Names should fit in the screen better too. Spaced by 12 pixels instead of 8, should be easier to select the right image.
Added a quick code to avoid the image jumping around when you try to let the stylus down without moving. So now you need to move by at least 2 pixels for it to register the movement. This makes the whole movement a bit less fluid when moving slowly, but nothing major.
Today i am releasing a BIG update to my flying pig game!!!
Update Includes:
Multiplayer
Levels
Graphics
Ok, lets start with the new multiplayer feature. To use this you only need one DS as both players play on the same DS. Player1 controls there pig using the usual controls. Player2 uses the ABXY buttons to stear and the R butoon to shoot.
Levels- The game now includes three different levels for you to enjoy, once you get to the third one it just carrys on forever.
There has also been a small update to the games graphics, hope u like my extreme paint skills when you die!!!
PS. I know about the small graphic errors after a level change, they go away after a little bit anywayz, Im working on fixing them.
We all knew that Nintendo has been leading the console scene over in Japan since the release of the Wii, but some sales figures provided by Enterbrain on the 6th reveal just how big the gap is. Over January, Nintendo sold approximately 405,000 Wii units, well beyond Sony's 148,000 PS3 units, the PS2's 111,000 units and the Xbox 360's 40,000 units.
In the race for next generation supremacy, this puts the Wii at 1,395,000 units, with the PS3 trailing at 614,000 units.
The Wii wasn't the number one system in January, though. That honor goes to the DS, which sold about 700,000 units. Nor was the PS3 the highest selling Sony system, as the PSP managed sales of 230,000 units over the month.
In software, the DS is still tops. Dragon Quest Monsters Joker, released late last year, sold 400,000 units over the month, besting the mighty Pokemon Diamond & Pearl, which combined for 370,000 units. Wii Sports is still selling hot. The Wii launch title took third for the month with 350,000 units. It's widely expected that the game will become the Wii's first million seller some time next month.
Here's the full top 10 software chart for January, as provided by Enterbrain:
1. Dragon Quest Monsters Joker (DS, Square Enix): 402,992
2. Pokemon Diamond & Pearl (DS, Pokemon): 370,832
3. Wii Sports (Wii, Nintendo): 355,243
4. Wii Play (Wii, Nintendo): 283,758
5. New Super Mario Brothers (DS, Nintendo): 229,797
6. Grand Theft Auto San Andreas (PS2, Capcom): 209,974
7. Brain Age 2 (DS, Nintendo): 208,875
8. Common Knowledge Trainer (DS, Nintendo): 203,206
9. Animal Crossing (DS, Nintendo): 181,869
10. Kirby Squeak Squad (DS, Nintendo): 155,997
These sales figures cover from January 1 to January 28
Crave Entertainment today announced the development of the new Nintendo DS pet simulator, Purr Pals. Unlike Nintendo's own Nintendogs series, Purr Pals focuses on the feline variety of pet, allowing players to adopt, care for, and raise kitten playmates.
Purr Pals features 40 breeds of kittens to choose from, each with its own unique personalities. Gamers must use proper care and training techniques to modify their kitten's behavioral traits. The game also features voice-command support, as well as several mini-games which can be played with the kitten.
Purr Pals will be arriving on the DS in late March 2007 for a suggested price of $29.99.
Gears of War, Okami and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess are among the nominees for 'Best Game' in the seventh annual Game Developers Choice Awards.
This year's GDCA, the awards program where honours are bestowed to developers by developers, will take place during GDC 2007 on March 7, the ceremony to be hosted by legend Tim Schafer of Double Fine Productions.
Joining Gears, Okami and Zelda as 'Best Game' nominees are Oblivion and Wii Sports. Out of a total of eight categories in the awards, Okami and Oblivion have actually been nominated four times each.
Awards for Audio, Character Design, Game Design, Technology, Visual Arts, Writing and New Studio join the Best Game award. A full list of nominees for each category can be found on the official Game Developers Choice Awards website.
Via GameSpot, the news on the University of Rochester site is that playing videogames can actually improve your vision. Games, especially action shooters, actually change the way your brain looks at the world. According to the findings of researchers Daphne Bavelier and Shawn Green, visual processing is enhanced through consistent play of complex graphical titles. Simple orientation tests were much easier for a group that played UT, compared to a group that only played Tetris.
Detectives seem to be stampeding on to the Nintendo DS these days. First, it was ace attorney Phoenix Wright's courtroom dramas, then the film-noir style Hotel Dusk: Room 215--not to mention Touch Detective.
The latest investigator to snoop on the handheld is Nancy Drew, in her new interactive adventure titled Nancy Drew: Deadly Secret of Olde World Park. The game will use the touch screen to search for clues, undertake tasks, talk to other characters, and play minigames.
In the game, Olde World is a new multi-million-dollar theme park created by billionaire Thaddeus Belmont, and designed to bring jobs and tourist dollars to the sleepy small town River Heights. However, on the night before the park is due to open, Belmont has disappeared, and Nancy is called in to investigate.
The story is told over 15 chapters, and tasks will become more and more difficult as the game continues. Minigames include a task designed to build conversational rapport with witnesses to get them to reveal information by choosing how to question them, with options ranging from light-hearted to accusatory. Others include a lock-picking game, and sneaking using shadows to access new areas.
Nancy Drew: Deadly Secret of Olde World Park is developed by Gorilla Systems, published by Majesco, and due for a European and US release in Q4.
In a move that could have oppressed German game developers looking jealously towards the southwest, the French Parliament has approved a plan to allow game developers creating games with a "with a cultural dimension" a tax credit equaling 20% of development costs up to 3 million euros a year. That's a pretty sizeable chunk of change aimed at keeping developers in the country, providing a sharp contrast to Germany, where some game developers are looked on and treated like borderline criminals.
So what determines if a game has a cultural dimension? Anything from the story the music, the look and feel, etc., so while a game about killing space aliens on a made up planet might not fall under the criteria, killing space aliens in the Louvre to the music of Jean-Marie Leclair just might.
Devs shouldn't start counting their euros yet however, as the European Commission is currently looking the plan over to see if it constitutes a EU policy violating subsidy.
Goozex has become partners with DCEmu Reviews. Join Goozex now and get one FREE trade immediately. Then, once you have completed your first transaction with positive feedback(*), we will credit you an additional bonus of 100 points. Joining is completely free: no monthly fee, no credit card is required!
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What is Goozex and how does it work?
Goozex is the new innovative system developed and tested by video-gamers for video-gamers. Goozex provides a unique trading platform that allows peer-to-multi-peer trading of physical goods. The company delivers the following services:
Peer-to-multi-peer trading platform
Community experience
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The system allows users to trade their video games in exchange for Goozex points, which can then be used to receive video games from other users. This helps gamers avoid paying enormous amounts of cash for games. Goozex runs on an internal currency that is dictated by points that are assigned to each game. The only payment that members make to Goozex is a payment of $1 transaction fee for each video game they receive. Learn more!
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Deadline: July 31, 2007
Those interested in getting rid of console games that they have been trying to get rid of and want to get games that they want, this is a great and easy service. Depending on games and points value, you can swap games evenly without having to spend extra money. There is no support for retro systems such as NES, SNES, etc. but may be available in the future. Unfortunately, this is only available to residents in the US, Canada and Bermuda due to region and compatibility of consoles (REGION 1; NTSC).
Turns out, the magnetic stand we covered wasn't the only hands-free option to the Japanese consumer as CAG's CheapyD chronicles in his video review of the stand offered up by Hori. CheapyD does his duty, and does it well, as he goes over every inch of the thing and finds it to be useful in his gaming.
We've approached Lunar Knights with enthusiastic abandon because, from the beginning, it's looked good enough to warrant screaming fanboyism. Everything looked good. Everything looked right. But there's always a chance that the best-looking games can turn out to be not at all what's expected, so we awaited reviews of Lunar Knights with bated breath. From the looks of things, however, there's nothing to worry about.
1UP -- 90%: "Lunar Knights ... is refined and improved over that of the GBA games. Elements that didn't work, such as the solar sensor, have been abandoned; the annoying coffin-dragging sections have been traded for fast-paced space shooter sequences. Meanwhile, character-building features have been expanded; the graphics have been improved, with full-motion anime clips sprinkled throughout the entirety of the quest; the music is superb."
GameBrink -- 88%: "... a fun little ARPG presented in pretty much the same fashion as the previous GBA games but, with the introduction of the new weather and team system, the game has added depth to it. Excluding the side quests, the main scenario should give you several hours of fun!"
Keep an eye out; we'll update later in the week as more reviews come in.
Well theres not much new in this version except a few bug fixes and the addition of AI!
Its not perfect and needs some more work but it still puts up a challenge if your horrible at the game to begin with
Anyways in this version just press select while fighting to switch begin multiplayer and single player.
Theres no fancy menu and the match doesn't restart when the switch was made, but i plan on adding something of the sort to fix that.
Lucas has took over the discontinued Licks Media Player Project, heres what he posted:
I got myself a DS last month, and a flashcart last week... Looking through the projects, I liked Licks Media Player (ipod-like player) very much, but unfortunately it was discontinued
So... I just decided to finish it . In the end, it became a complete rewrite. No more C++, only pure C. At ths time, I only have some basic functionality, WAV playback (files must end in .wav) and libmad playback (files must end in .mp3).
There's 3 different play modes, mode 1, mode 2 and mode 3 SELECT alternate between these modes, but you have to PAUSE/UNPAUSE so the mode will be applied. If you happen to test, please, send feedback on which one you think sounds the best. (these modes basically do some linear oversampling, just like moonshell).
I'm labelling this alpha2 version, it's still very experimental.
New feature: playlist support. Some bugfixes and some rewrite in the graphics code.
For using playlists, you MUST use relative paths, no absolute paths. Also, you CAN'T use ".." in your paths (e.g. /abc/d/../e).
I've moved to more common .zip files for the precompiled binaries, so no more confusion!
Deal or no Deal is a game by Robert Durbin that seems to have daily updates.
Heres whats new:
Everyone sorry for all the bug fixes but I am still pretty new to all of this. I also made it so you cannot even attempt to select your own case, it now skips when you try to select any case, before i had a message complain if you try to choose your own case. now you cant even try to do that, unless you select it using your stylus.
Hoping to stir up some interest in this NDS GB/GB emulator, I added libfat support to it, with a pretty rudimentary file explorer (thanks to PicoDriveDS) and adjusted a few lines of code so it will compile with DKP r20.
It seems that theres a bug somewhere in the code causing slightly corrupt
graphics, I wasn't able to track it down but I haven't been looking for very long.
Unfortunately, I know little asm and even less about the Gameboy's Z80 processor, so I don't imagine I would be much help in coding speed optimizations and the such. Hopefully someone with more knowledge on the the subject can help improve this emulator.
attached is both the modified source and a binary (.nds and nds.gba).
KNOWN ISSUES:
Graphics slightly corrupt
Many ROMs will crash it - tested with Mega Man 1, works fine (slow though)
ROM's must end in ".gbc", spaces in filenames not tested.
With the launch of the PS3 and Wii 3 months behind us, we've taken a look back at those launches and as well launch of the 360 and tried to come up with a set of new rules for the next major console launch.
1. Thou shall not force us to kill for your system, thou shall have at least 600,000 units at launch
2. Thou shall have enough accessories to go with the system
3. Honor the father and the mother, do not charge more than $350 for thy next system
4. You shall not bear false witness against your system specs
5. You shall not steal extra money from us by not including key components in the box
6. Remember a gaming day and keep it holy (release new online content on a consistent basis)
7. You shall not covet your neighbors titles, make sure you have at least three solid first party launch titles
8. You shall not commit gaming adultery, backwards compatibility should be an all or nothing deal
9. Thou should have good tech support and a solid replacement policy in place for defective units
10. Future launches will launch with one and only one SKU
PlayStation3™:
HDMI Audio Video Cable (3 meters / 10 ft) US$ 46.90
HORI Fighting Stick 3 US$ 49.90
HORI Real Arcade Pro Stick 3 US$ 89.90
Sonic the Hedgehog US US$ 64.90
Virtua Fighter 5 JPN US$ 69.90
Virtua Fighter 5 ASIA US$ 59.90
Virtua Stick High Grade US$ 79.90
Outstanding Virtua Stick High Grade preorders are expected to be filled within next week.
Nintendo Wii™:
Cooking Mama: Minna to Issho ni Oryouri Taikai! JPN US$ 59.90
PlayStation2™:
Choro Q HG 2 (Atlus Best Collection) JPN US$ 24.90
Full House Kiss 2 (CapKore) JPN US$ 24.90
Hisshou Pachinko Kouryoku Series Vol. 1: CR Shinseiki Evangelion (Special Price Version) JPN US$ 34.90
Oretachi Geasen Zoku Sono 18: Thunder Cross JPN US$ 25.90
Oretachi Geasen Zoku Sono 19: Trio the Punch JPN US$ 25.90
OutRun 20th Anniversary Special Box JPN US$ 159.90
OutRun2 SP JPN N/A
OutRun2 SP [First Print Limited Edition] JPN US$ 64.90
Rogue Galaxy US US$ 49.90
StellaDeus (Atlus Best Collection) JPN US$ 34.90
Nintendo DS™:
Diddy Kong Racing DS US US$ 39.90
Jet Impulse / DS Air JPN US$ 48.90
Luminous Arc JPN US$ 48.90
Morita Shogi DS JPN US$ 39.90
Sony PSP™:
Magic Sudoku ASIA US$ 24.90
Medal of Honor Heroes JPN US$ 48.90
New Rainbow Island: Hurdy Gurdy Daibouken!! JPN US$ 48.90
Dreamcast&rade;
Last Hope US$ 39.99
PC Games:
Vanguard: Saga of Heroes US US$ 49.90
Vanguard: Saga of Heroes Online Collector's Guild Edition US N/A
Guide Books:
Battlestations: Midway (Prima Official Game Guide) US US$ 19.90
Rogue Galaxy Prima Official Game Guide US US$ 22.90
Toys & Misc:
Bleach Complete Works III Figure - Justice vs Crimes of Treason US$ 4.99
Excellent Model Core Queen's Blade P-2 1/8 Scale Pre-painted PVC Figure - Experienced Mercenary Echidna N/A
Final Fantasy III Square-Enix Characters US$ 6.90
Final Fantasy Mechanical Arts: Continental Circus from Final Fantasy VII Advent Children (Non Scale Pre-Painted Action Figure) US$ 29.90
Final Fantasy Mechanical Arts: Fenrir from Final Fantasy VII Advent Children (Non Scale Pre-Painted Action Figure) US$ 29.90
Final Fantasy Mechanical Arts: High Wind from Final Fantasy VII Advent Children (Non Scale Pre-Painted Action Figure) US$ 29.90
Final Fantasy Mechanical Arts: Kadaj's Motorcycle from Final Fantasy VII Advent Children (Non Scale Pre-Painted Action Figure) US$ 29.90
Final Fantasy Mechanical Arts: Sister Ray from Final Fantasy VII Advent Children (Non Scale Pre-Painted Action Figure) US$ 29.90
From TV Animation One Piece Candy Toy US$ 3.49
Gainax Toricolle Characters Collection Gashapon US$ 1.79
Ikkitousen: 1/7 Scale Painted Figure Story Image Figure EX - Ryofu Housen US$ 52.90
Mai-Hime 1/7 Scale Painted PVC Figure: Natsuki Kuga US$ 52.90
Mai-Hime Z 1/6 Scale Pre-painted PVC Figure - Arika Yumemiya Coral Robe US$ 52.90
Mai-Hime Z 1/6 Scale Pre-painted PVC Figure - Nina Wang Coral Robe US$ 52.90
Melty Blood Series I Painted PVC Figure: Arcueid Brunestud US$ 48.90
Melty Blood Series I Painted PVC Figure: Hisui US$ 48.90
OS-Idol: 1/8 Scale Painted PVC Figure - Win Chan US$ 38.90
Sakigake!! Otokojuku Toshi Retsuden Figure US$ 6.90
Tales of the Abyss One Coin Grande Figure Collection US$ 6.90
To Heart 2 - Another Days 1/7 Scale Pre-Painted Figure: Manaka Komaki (Milky One Piece Ver.) US$ 52.90
Video Game related Soundtracks:
Kiniro no Corda 2 BGM & Monologue Shu JPN US$ 23.90
PC Game 'Edelweiss' Drama CD JPN US$ 28.90
Radio DJCD Bleach B Station Second Season Vol.1 JPN US$ 24.90
Riviera Perfect Audio Collection Plus JPN US$ 34.90
Wild Arms: The Vth Vanguard Original Score Vol.2 JPN US$ 33.90
EA has closed its Japanese development studio, currently working on the DS version of Theme Park. Don't worry though, it seems as though the game is finished and ready to ship.
Word comes from 1UP who quotes a source as saying, "When we were developing for the Xbox 360 and PS3 and things weren't going smoothly, I had my worries -- but ever since we switched our focus to the Nintendo DS, things seemed to be going well."
So what's the problem? "After almost three years in existence, the only game to come out of EA Japan was Theme Park DS, which only took about a half-year to develop since it was a port. So, yeah, that wasn't a great track record."
RealNetworks CEO Rob Glaser has identified five key areas of development which casual games companies must focus on if the sector is to achieve mass market success.
Speaking at the Casual Games Association's Europe: West conference, which kicked off in Amsterdam yesterday, Glaser began his upbeat keynote speech by tackling the hot topic of monetisation.
Claiming that only 2 per cent of customers commit to purchasing a casual game after a free trial period, Glaser predicted that advertising would provide the bulk of the sector's future income. He cited RealNetworks's Clicktopia and streamed video advertising templates as examples of how ad-based revenue systems could be successfully employed in casual games.
Glaser went on to state that the sector must capitalise on its promising growth by branching into new formats, including next-generation consoles and handhelds.
"We're seeing a lot of consoles such as the Nintendo Wii and DS being aimed at a wider demographic, not just the hardcore gaming market," he explained.
However, Glaser also sounded a note of caution - warning that each platform has its own unique requirements, and that if true multi-platform success is to be achieved, every product will need optimising for specific formats.
"Just making a great game on the PC is hard," he stated. "It doesn't automatically translate to these other platforms. The games have to be optimised for each platform."
While Glaser was confident that these multi-platform markets would grow over time, he also warned that growth rates "may not be as spectacular as some people have suggested in the short and mid terms".
Next up was the subject of casual gaming growing into a worldwide industry - with Glaser stating that many rapidly growing markets such as South America and Asia still remain relatively untapped.
Pointing to RealNetworks's new deal with Yahoo to power game sites across Europe as an example of how the industry must become more global, Glaser moved on to his fourth tip for future success - the need to integrate into communities and social networks.
Citing Asia as an example of how the industry needed to adapt, Glaser pointed to the failure of the Try Before You Buy model in most of the continent's major countries.
"[Try Before You Buy] works in Japan, but in the very large markets such as India, China and Korea, there's not a tradition of this model working," he observed.
"However, there is a model that's working great, and that's about being members of a community. If we want to become a global business we have to get smart at that approach."
Glaser rounded off by insisting casual gaming must start establishing itself as a mainstream entertainment medium on a par with hardcore gaming and film. He said that that in order to do this greater press awareness and wider review coverage is paramount, along with the introduction of known and trusted brands - like Monopoly and Scrabble - into the marketplace to attract new customers.
"Our goal is to make casual games to be seen as just another form of entertainment, where the press will review it just like they would a movie or a hardcore game," stated Glaser. He concluded that, "It's just a matter of time till we get into the mainstream."
Despite Glaser's perhaps overly optimistic final conclusion that the casual gaming market was the healthiest industry of all of the entertainment mediums, his assertion that the sector has one of the largest growth possibilities is far harder to argue against - and it's a sector that Glaser and RealNetworks are clearly determined to remain at the forefront of for years to come.
Last year, North Carolina legislators pondered giving companies that make games in the state--like Gears of War developer Epic Games--a 15 percent tax credit for equipment and labor costs. This year the state's lawmakers are considering game-centric legislation of a different sort.
As reported by Game Politics, North Carolina State Senator Julia Boseman introduced Senate Bill 87, which would add violent video games--possibly including the sort made by Gears of War developer Epic Games--to the list of material considered harmful to minors. If it became law, the bill would make it illegal for anyone except a parent or legal guardian to sell, rent, or otherwise expose a minor to a game deemed harmful to minors.
Retailers and arcade operators would not be able to advertise that the games are available or display them except in a separate section of their stores labeled "adults only." Also, all retailers and arcade operators, regardless of whether they carried games that qualified as harmful to minors, would be required to post signs explaining the industry's gaming rating systems.
As for what games would be covered, the law would classify as harmful to minors any game featuring "the realistic visual depiction of serious injury to human beings…" if it was found to fail a modified version of the three-pronged obscenity test. The graphic violence in the game would need "a predominant tendency to appeal to a morbid interest of minors in violence," the violence would have to be "patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community concerning what is suitable for minors," and the game would have to lack "serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value for minors."
If it comes to a vote, the bill appears to have a good chance of passing the North Carolina Senate; 29 of the state's 50 senators have signed on as co-authors of the bill. If passed by the Senate, the bill would then need to be passed by the House of Representatives and approved by the governor to become law. If it passes all that, it would go into effect December 1.
Wired has up a very thoughtful article examining the current anti-violent gaming trends in Germany, and reflecting on their connection to WWII. Article author Bruce Gain discusses some of the history of post-Nazi Germany, and points out how violent games rile politics in that country by reminding it of its past. Says Gain:
"Some German officials link these games to an increase in violence among the young and cite at least one instance where a gamer applied the lessons learned from a first-person shooter to a real-life murderous rampage. Remove the connection, they argue, and you prevent further violence. Germany has a lot of gamers, but the violence found in many of these games is widely criticized there. It has some of the strictest video-game censorship laws in the Western world. For example, laws prohibit the sale of Counter-Strike and other titles with blood-depicting graphics switched on. But for many politicians, the laws don't go far enough."
During yesterday's financial results conference call Activision president and CEO Mike Griffith made more specific confirmation of Guitar Hero on Wii. "[Activision] will aggressively target the Nintendo platforms consistent with our multi-platform strategy and Nintendo's expected growth. In fiscal 2008, we will double our offerings on the DS and the Wii, including Spider-Man, Shrek, Transformers, and Guitar Hero," Griffith told listeners. While this almost certainly indicates that Guitar Hero will arrive on Wii before March 2008, Griffith's somewhat vague statement still leaves open the possibility of a portable version on DS.
You may recall that another Activision CEO, Robert Kotic, suggested as much last September when he stated that Guitar Hero would appear "on every significant new format." We assume that if Guitar Hero were to transition to DS, it would be a simple game of tap-the-dots, but on Wii there are some fresh possibilities for a guitar peripheral that might include attaching the Wii Remote for added motion and guitar position recognition.
New from SuccessHK is a great little FM Radio addon for the DS Lite, heres the info:
1) New compact design.
2) Easy set up and used by LCD display.
3) No need any batteries or extra power supply.
4) Stereo sound signal with full range of FM radio frequency.
The new FM Addon is selling at SuccessHK for USD 9.23.
A local Fox News affiliate in Milwaukee, WI is showing parents the "dangers" of the Nintendo DS Pictochat. Of course, their arguments explaining the dangers of the handheld lack any kind of credible backing. See, they explain that you can communicate, via Pictochat, with another DS over "long distances," stating that due to the lack of advertising for this feature, parents should be worried about molesters contacting their children over the DS.
Honestly, if that's going to happen, they have to be relatively close, like say in your neighborhood. Now, if a convicted child molester lives in your neighborhood, you're going to know about it. Also, if their is someone planning an evil deed of that nature, they're going to find a different way other than using a DS. Not only does the recipient of the message have to be in Pictochat (which I'm sure a child is rarely going to be in, they want to play games!), they have to be within wireless range.
How does the reporter prove that horrible things can happen? He uses the Pictochat feature with two children. While they're upstairs in their room, he sits downstairs. We won't even bother going into the ridiculous "proof" THAT provides. After that, he goes to a shopping mall and attempts to debunk Nintendo's documented 65 feet range for wireless communication. Of course, he is successful in sending messages up to 300 feet, but what does that prove? Following his logic, even in that range a predator is going to have to be within somewhat close proximity, with their DS in Pictochat constantly looking for children (the odds of a predator finding someone are also insanely slim). This guy makes it sound like there are a roving pack of molesters going from town to town, trying to find children in Pictochat so he/she can get addresses. Get real, guy!
The latest issue of EGM has a preview of games coming to the US for all current systems. In the DS section Phantom Hourglass is listed for fall, and Tingle is listed for 2007 as well. I am sure they are referring to Tingle RPG, which has been translated for European release. It wouldn’t make much sense for Nintendo to go through all the hassle of a translation, and not bring it over to North America. Awesome news indeed, I have been hoping that this title would make it here! Thanks to Falcofan88 for the heads up!
A new trailer for Death Note has hit You Tube, furthering our excitement for this odd game. Well, perhaps the game isn't so odd, it's the source material. See, it all revolves around Light Yagami, who finds a notebook imbued with the power of death. By writing names into the notebook, those people find themselves dead soon after. Of course, he decides to use the notebook for good to rid the world of criminals, however the police are hot on his trail and suspect he is a serial killer. Good stuff, if you ask us.
We thought it would happen and now we have confirmation that a sequel for Touch Detective, which is being called Touch Detective 2 1/2, is on the way (to Japan, at least). Of course, with the lukewarm review scores the critics gave the game, there's a possibility that Atlus might not bring it over to the states and other territories. Personally, we'd be disappointed, because even if the puzzles were a bit frustrating, the characters in the game were a riot.
Game announcements for the DS are made nearly every other day. If it isn't about a new Square Enix game heading to the DS it's about a wild indie title. If it isn't about a wild indie title it's about a crazy, ambitious PC port. And if it isn't about that, it's probably about homebrew hentai games.
Amidst all this news and the speculation that follows it, one often tends to miss or forget some of the announcements that actually go on to have a major effect on the handheld in due time. BioWare's in-the-works game for the DS is one such announcement. Having first heard of this over at Kotaku a few months back, I'd been keeping an eye out for any new info on the game that turned up.
Alas, the gentlemen over at BioWare find it fun playing hard-to-get and no further mention of the title was made again. Feeling the need to extinguish the flames of curiousity that burned deep within my gamer's soul, I got in touch with BioWare's Handheld Game Group Project Director, Dan Tudge to see if he couldn't throw us impatient BioWare fans a bone. While Dan didn't reveal much about the game directly, he did answer some questions a few of you might have on your minds regarding this ambitious project.
So, without further ado:
Q: What drew BioWare’s attention to develop for the DS? Have you put any thought into developing games for the PlayStation Portable?
A: We’ve been looking at getting into the handheld space for quite a while now, but we were waiting for the right time, the right technology, and of course the right ideas to develop into a quality game. Both the DS and the PSP have very compelling capabilities, but ultimately the DS was better suited to our ideas for creativity and innovation. We may decide to develop something for the PSP down the road, but for now we’re quite excited about what we’ve got planned for the DS.
Q: With the success of the DS, major franchises (such as the Dragon Quest series) shifting over to the portable market, and the significantly lower development costs associated with the platform, do you see your company putting a larger focus on handheld titles?
A: We’ve got a long and successful history of making great games on both PC and console, so I don’t see us putting any less of a focus on those platforms. As long as we stay focused on making the best story-driven games we can, we’ll develop for whatever platform allows us to do just that, and of course it may vary from game to game.
Q: Coming to the topic at hand, what setting will the game use? Medieval? Futuristic?
A: I could tell you, but BioWare would kill me. We’re not revealing anything about the game just yet, but stay tuned…!
Q: Would you call this project an action/RPG or a "traditional" RPG?
A: Again, I really can’t talk about that right now. I can tell you that BioWare is committed to delivering the best story-driven games in the world and as such you can expect a rich and enjoyable experience.
Q: Is BioWare planning a format comparable to Neverwinter Nights, KOTOR or neither?
A: Again, I can’t really comment on what the game format will be, however the DS does provide us with the opportunity approach design in ways we previously have not considered.
Q: What can you tell us about the title? How do you plan to utilize the DS's capabilities?
A: We haven’t announced the IP yet so like I say, we can’t reveal very much about the game at this point, but I will say it’ll be a terrific debut for BioWare in the handheld space. As for how we plan to use the DS’s capabilities? In order to provide the experience BioWare fans have come to expect, we are pushing the DS hardware to levels people have never seen. We have an extremely experienced team of BioWare and industry veterans working hard on squeezing everything we can out of the DS.
Q: Do you plan to use both screens?
A: Of course, it wouldn’t be a DS game otherwise, right? Just don’t ask how we plan to use them, because we’re not revealing that just yet.
Q: How do you plan to tell the game's story on the DS? For example; Mass Effect really seems to be pushing interactivity in story-telling and going with a cinematic approach. What can we expect to see on the DS?
A: Obviously the Xbox 360 is a much different system both in design and hardware, and Mass Effect is taking advantage of that in a really big way. BioWare has always looked for ways to innovate and deepen the story-driven experience and we have some fantastic ideas planned for story-telling on the DS.
Q: Will there be a multiplayer component to the game? If so, will it use Wi-fi?
A: We haven’t announced any plans for multiplayer or WiFi, but we’ve talked about it and agree there are some very compelling opportunities there. We’ll see…!
Q: What unique challenges have you encountered working on a portable platform and what specific challenges has the DS presented you with?
A: The DS is a very sweet piece of hardware that continues to provide us with opportunities to be creative. We are obviously working with a much lower system spec than the other projects in development at BioWare, however for a large majority of the team, the system specs are very reminiscent of our early years in the industry.
Q: Finally, what will the game look like in terms of style? And will it be 2D or 3D?
A: The DS provides us with the freedom to choose from a multitude of styles as well as the ability to use either 2D or 3D or even a combination of both! At BioWare, design is the driver and any decision on style (2D, 3D etc.) will be determined by our desire to build the best story-driven games in the world.
There you go. Not much information about the game itself but more than enough to fulfil the needs of any good speculator. Also, note they never mention if it's an RPG or not. Everyone just assumed it was. Many thanks to Dan and BioWare's Public Relations Coordinator, Erik Einsiedel! May the force be with you both.
With the card saber you can slide the top off and unsheathe your DS games like a Power Ranger or futuristic ninja. It holds three DS games and a GBA cart. For the amount of games it holds, the Card Saber DS is bulky, but anyone who buys this isn’t getting it because it’s practical. It’s being sold for 850 yen ($7).
Due to much demand, we are releasing a DLDI driver, with source, for the DS-Xtreme. We originally planned to also release a "pre-DLDI" libfat driver, but unfortunately that code has now become dated, and it would be trivial to derive a new libfat driver from this DLDI code.
The source should be commented well enough to follow, but if anyone has any questions, feel free to post them in our home-brew discussion forum here!
Here my first project NDS, My Life.
This project takes again a TP of Pascal whom I made with the IUT, called the play of the life. This application is not exactly a play, but a cellular automat imagined by Conway in 1970. It is at present, most known of all the cellular automats. More on the principle of operation, go on the subject wikipédia, Rčgles section.
I have thus repirs my algos, re-coded out of C the whole, to add some “options”…
Not sure how handy this will be, but I modified a different exe I had worked on previously to allow one to add ROMs easily to the save list. Various save types can be found on scorpei's wiki and in offlinelist, and in some cases with the dumper app. Otherwise it is mostly trial and error.
It's a drag and drop app, you drop your ROM's on the exe and go through each one to either add it to the list or modify the entry if it already exists. Don't worry about the src.zip in the package, it isn't necissary unless you want to modify it (compiled with msys/mingw on a windows box).
It should be pretty solid, aside from the fact the number of files you can drop at once is limited by the combined lengths of the file names. I can do 20 or so at a time with really long names.
This game has 1-3 players. Ill try to explain how the game works for people that may not know...
You are given 5 spins in this version. Your goal is to get as much money as possible while avoiding the whammies. You use the stylus to stop the board when its in "motion." In a multiplayer game you can pass spins. when you pass spins you MUST pass to the person in 2nd place or first place. any passed spins MUST be taken and passed back before a players "earned" spins can be used. When everyone has run out of spins the game is over and person with the most money wins. This game does not feature a questions round like in the gameshow. Also this game does not have the 4 Whammy rule as i got lazy.
I just finish my first nds game called "Atomix". it is still a BETA version, but the game play is finished.
I've still have some stuff to do like: some graphics, or display some explanations to know on which button to press.
I have reproduct an old game built in 1990 by softtouch and distributed by Thalion.
This is a puzzle game, the aim is to build the molecules. The difficulty is that when a atom is moving, it stop only on wall or on an other atom.
I test it on a DS-Xtreme, and I don't know it my game works on other product
The move reflects the increasing importance of downloads in the entertainment sector in general – with the music industry, of course, already fully embracing non-physical sales of singles and albums. And the step will also further underline the strength of the ChartTrack UK data, which is already the envy of other territories around the world.
The fragmented nature of the sector means that negotiations are on-going, but ChartTrack has detailed plans in place already.
“We’re some way off downloads becoming a big part of the business, but it’s coming,” said ChartTrack’s Dorian Bloch. “And part of our mission statement is to follow the market wherever it goes.”
It is expected that downloads will appear first in the PC charts once retailers start to offer games via their websites, but as Bloch points out: “We can’t incorporate some retail downloads without incorporating them all.”
Downloads via Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii, however, present a tougher challenge. “Console download data is held by the format holders, and for us to get that data will require a lot of negotiation as they might not necessarily be forthcoming with it straight away,” Bloch stated. “With consoles, the integration will probably be later rather than sooner as someone needs to independently verify the sales. And we hope that will be us.”
D3Publisher is bringing another Bejewelled-influenced puzzle game to DS that incorporates a story-driven RPG mode to the experience.
Set in a land known as Etheria in an age of warlords, Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords places you in the role of a sword-wielding warrior who must save Etheria from evil.
You move your character around an overworld map by tapping the stylus on the various village locations. You don't explore them in 3D - you speak to people, visit shops and acquire missions all via menu screens.
When you encounter a battle, the Bejewelled puzzle kicks in. You take turns with your opponent to swap icons on a grid to line up three or more identical icons in a row. When you do, they disappear and the points earned count as damage to your opponent.
Conversely, if you can't be arsed with all that RPG stuff, you can get straight down to the puzzle action with the Instant Action option.
Mixing RPG with a puzzler is an interesting way of refreshing an already used-and-abused puzzle concept. But can you handle ANOTHER Bejewelled game?
On the surface, the 10th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards (IAAs) seemed a lot like the Ninth Annual Interactive Achievement Awards. Same venue (The Joint at Las Vegas' Hard Rock Hotel & Casino), same host (actor/comedian Jay Mohr), and same elbow-rubbing with industry celebs.
However, this year's coinciding D.I.C.E. Summit, put on by the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences (AIAS), has grown, and in turn so has the IAA show. This year's awards show was of particular interest, as it is the first AIAS awards show to include all three new game consoles.
Journalist Heather Chaplin interviews AIAS president Joseph Olin on the red carpet.
The awards show went off with just one technical hitch, which was filled with Mohr's semi-humorous tales of his cat fornicating. But as far as awards shows go, the AIAS pulled off a winner. Though there were plenty of people pulling for their own creations, the crowd, made up of industry big wigs and not the randoms off the street like Spike TV's Video Game Awards, clearly appreciated a worthy winner.
The real fight to watch was between two of the most critically acclaimed games of the year--Epic Games' Gears of War and Bethesda Softworks' The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Oblivion took home the top prize at December's Spike TV Video Game Awards, both were matched up tonight for Game of the Year, and both will go head-to-head at the GDC Awards in March.
Epic Games' Cliff Bleszinski and Michael Capps accept Game of the Year honors in Las Vegas.
Over the course of the show, it was a dominating performance by Gears of War, which walked away with eight awards. The shooter took the very first two awards, prompting host Mohr to say, "Let's not get all sour after we're here for one-and-a-half hours for Gears of War. Don't get pissy. Just get a cocktail."
Gears won the awards for Outstanding Character Performance - Male, Outstanding Achievement in Animation, Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction, Outstanding Achievement in Online Play, Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering, Action/Adventure Game of the Year, Console Game of the Year, and Overall Game of the Year.
Nintendo's Reggie Fils-Aime stands guard over the Lifetime Achievement Awards handed out earlier in the night to Minoru Arakawa and Howard Lincoln.
One of the more surprising victors of the evening was Nintendo's pack-in Wii game, Wii Sports. If a category dabbled in innovation or game play, Wii Sports grabbed it. The game took home the awards for Outstanding Achievement in Game Play Engineering, Outstanding Achievement in Game Design, and Outstanding Innovation in Gaming.
However the award for best reception of an award goes to Cliffy B, accepting the prize for Gears' win for Outstanding Achievement in Online Play. The prize was presented by Sony president of worldwide studios Phil Harrison, and when Gears was announced as the winner, many an eye widened in the crowd.
Sid Meier introduces the Hall of Fame award, given this year to M.U.L.E. designer Dani Bunten. Dani's two sons accept the award on their father's behalf.
As Cliff accepted the award, he made sure to mention how robust the Xbox 360's online capabilities were--a not-too-veiled dig at Harrison's PlayStation 3. Harrison took the jab in good humor even when Cliff left the stage without an acknowledgement to Harrison, and chuckled as he approached the microphone to present the next award. These are the moments that make award shows like this.
D3Publisher will unleash its own Pokémon-style adventure in the form of Fossil League: Dino Tournament Championship.
When it comes to cloning a franchise, Fossil League takes it to the extreme. You play as a boy called Taiga who travels through time to complete his Dinopedia by collection dinosaurs.
Once you catch the ferocious lizards, you can train them up but putting them into battle with other dinos in a turn-based battle system that is just like Pokémon, except it's in 3D.
The game plays the educational card, because it's full of real facts about the dinos that you catch, but no-one cares about that. What you will care about is the multiplayer mode which lets you play others in quirky mini games, but not swap beasts like in Pokémon. Hmmm...
Look out for Fossil League on shelves in April, for the cheaper-than-usual price of Ł19.99.
EZTEAM announce the one stop expansion pack solution whch integrated the 256Mbit GBA card/NDS Browser RAM Expansion Pack/NDS Rumble Pack all three cards in to one Lite sized slot2 card with several years experience on flashcard development .
GBA function: it equipped with 256Mbit Norflash, 2Mbit SRAM, Battery. so it can compatible with almost GBA game(except which needs special hardware). and it has three advantages to compare with SDRAM/PSRAM GBA solution.
1. the data still remain after power off.
2. can be used as a standalone GBA card.
3. perfect GBA/NDS linker
Browser RAM expansion function: it uses the highspeed ram cache as the offical one. perfect compatible with NDS Browser(JAP/EUR)
Rumble function: Perfect works with all official rumble enabled games. it also has three level vibration strenth adjust. now you can adjust between power consume and better game feeling by yourself. SDK also provide for third party developers.
It seems like every big Square Enix Nintendo release is accompanied by a special limited edition version of whatever console it's on. Sure enough, Final Fantasy XII Revenant Wings will be released along side a special, limited edition DS.
Known formally as the Final Fantasy XII Revenant Wings Sky Pirates Edition, this limited edition package includes a copy of Revenant Wings and a special edition DS Lite. The DS Lite, which can be seen at Impress Watch, is based off the Crystal White version of the system, but has the FFXII logo and character artwork laser printed on the cover.
Those who already have a DS Lite and don't care for the frills will be able to pick up the Japanese version of Revenant Wings on its own on the same day at the software-only price of 4800 yen. Both packages hit Japan on 4/26.
CheapyD over at CheapAssGamer.com has put together a really nice little video review about the Play Stand DS Lite from Hori. We were dubious at first, but after watching this review, we've ordered one ourselves from Play-Asia, to the tune of fifteen bucks.
This little sucker will make playing games with one hand a snap, and it also looks swanky as well. Cradle your DS Lite in some goodness, and wait patiently for the SimCity DS game to come out. It has the ability to hold the DS Lite horizontally and vertically, so basically any of your games will look sweet in its plastic and foam goodness.
Nice work, CheapyD. Now we'll wait patiently for this to arrive so we can pimp out Animal Crossing: Wide World as it was meant to be seen.
- DS Lite: 146,073
- Wii: 65,740
- PSP: 31,216
- PS2: 18,727
- PS3: 17,540
- Xbox 360: 6,130
- Game Boy Micro: 1,050
- GBA SP: 724
- Gamecube: 306
- DS Phat: 119
- GBA: 28
Again the DS Lite is doing extremely well, the Wii again in second place, most disapointing must be the PS3 sales which are lacking behind both PSP and PS2. Has Sonys bubble and control of Japans Gaming Market come to an end ?
In conjunction with the April 26 release of Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings for DS, Square Enix and Nitnendo are set to release a special edition of the DS Lite with the FFXII:RW logo and two main characters emblazoned on the front. Square Enix did a similar promotion for the DS release of Final Fantasy III.
Though the extra cost to paint an industrial-strength sticker is probably minimal, it's not like Nintendo needs any help selling the consoles in Japan. A release outside of Japan is very unlikely for the limited edition console, so those desperate for a unit will have to import. However, we have a better suggestion: wait for someone to post a high-resolution image and then make your own sticker to put on that DS Lite (or DS Phat) you're already using.
A new version of the devkitPro updater/installer has been released.
devkitPro Updater 1.4.2 has been rebuilt with the latest NSIS 2.23 and a more recent version of the inetc plugin used for downloading files. This should be more stable and hopefully remove the installer crashes some people have been experiencing.
Most of the trailers we've seen from Lunar Knights have been in Japanese, so we figured it was a good week to show off an English version. The video weighs in at nearly three and a half minutes of world-saving, vampire-crushing hotness, and manages to show off just about everything a gamer needs to decide whether or not this one is a must-have. Now that's what we call a trailer.
the MK5 DLDI & MK5 USB PAD / MK5 USB Mouse source code release!
for the DLDI : i though you should know what's it?
for MK5 USB PAD: you can use your MK5 as one PC 12 key joypad,then you can use the NDS to control your PC game!
how to use:
[1] don't plug in the mk5 USB cart,and turn on your NDS;
[2] when you can see the MK5 logo in the nds menu,plug in the MK5 USB cart,then enter the MK5;
[3] run the compiled MK5 USB PAD file,then your PC will detect one USB PAD,plug and play!
[4] now you can enjoy it.
for MK5 USB Mouse: just same operation with the MK5 PAD.
It's been exactly a year since Activision last said anything about its game based on Michael Bay's upcoming robot movie, Transformers -- and even then, explicit information about the title was closely guarded (specific consoles hadn't been named; the developers weren't identified, etc). But after 52 weeks of nothing, our contacts at Activision have finally come clean and given us a couple of details to work with.
Officially known as Transformers: The Game, the Traveller's Tales-developed actioner is scheduled for just about every platform out there (PC, PS2, PS3, Wii, and Xbox 360) and will come out this summer with nearly identical content. Its storyline will follow the movie closely, giving players control over both the Autobots and the Decepticons as they choose to either protect the earth or pimp slap it.
The final number of playable characters is still unknown, but Activision has confirmed that Optimus Prime, Megatron, Starscream, Bumblebee, and Ironhide are among them. Each bot has their own set of special skills and abilities too, and gamers will be able to switch between robot and vehicle form at any time. Fully destructible environments (including entire buildings and vehicles) and the ability to use wreckage as weapons are also expected.
Combat mechanics still aren't very clear, but developers do say that each character's scale and weight affects how they fight. Both ranged and melee battles are possible as well, and there are a few other elements that haven't been expanded on yet.
Handheld fans should also take note that PSP and DS versions are in the works from Savage and Vicarious Visions respectively. No details about the Dual Screen edition were made public, wowever, we do know that the PSP edition boasts 20 playable Autobots and Decepticons and follows an expanded telling of the movie's storyline (complete with bot customization and ad hoc/ infrastructure multiplayer modes).
Nintendo are now using a new chip called the Matronix Chip in the game DS Air,
Heres what was posted at an hacking site
A possibly new protection method was implied to the latest NDS Game Jet Impulse/DS Air. Two of our suppliers have tried WRG DUMP 1.4/M3 and got the same dumping problems. This game is 1Gbit in size and uses the Macronix chip. A noticeable fact is that this is the first 1Gbit.
SiRioKD has released a new version of his DS ROM Tool program.
Heres whats new
Added ruotine for the reading of the header of rom the DS.
Added support files RAR (lost compatibility with framework the multiplatform "Mono"
Changed the graphical view of the application.
Lucas has updated LMP (Licks Media Player) to a new version Alpha 4:
Heres whats new:
Many new features! Hope I remember everything, here it goes:
Ogg Vorbis decoding support
FLAC decoding support (but not FLAC in OGG container)
Soft-volume control
Progress bar
Seeking support
Hold button (select)
Control with L/R buttons when lid is closed
Gapless playback
I've removed support for .wav files. It was there mainly for debugging (doubt anyone really uses it), and I've removed as part of the rewrite of the ARM9 sound code.
A new release of the Replacement firnware for the DS, personally i wouldnt use any Replacement firmwares and you should know the risks of doing so, ie could brick your DS
Heres whats new:
Hey everybody!
Just released a new version of CreeboMe
In this update many many more carts are supported and I took a little time to make the GUI look halfway decent.
NOTE: To flash use the same methods as FlashMe and FWNitro. I will take no responsibility to a bad firmware flash. If you are not confident about flashing your firmware, use the rom instead, however the DS Card Option will NOT work on the rom version. Also this is only a beta version and as you can tell it does not have many feature. But not to worry! I am confident on keeping this project alive. Thanks to Loopy for the base firmware replacement, and all of the guys in #dsdev for all of the wonderful help.
With Blue Dragon’s success in Japan, Mistwalker has already made a name for itself in the Land of the Rising Sun. It’s only a matter of time before Blue Dragon graces Western shores and provides fans of the alleged "dream team" the game they’ve longed to play since its announcement and release in Japan. There’s more in store for Blue Dragon…like a sequel and a DS iteration.
Magic Box and C3 both posted rumors regarding a possible sequel to Blue Dragon that’s dependent on its U.S. sales; furthermore, there’s a possiblity Mistwalker may develop a NDS version of Blue Dragon or a spinoff, depending on their personal preference. We’ll just see have to wait and see just how great Blue Dragon does here in the States.
What does it do?
It decrypts and decompresses all the binaries (parts 1-5 and FlashMe stubs) from a firmware dump.
What use is it?
To satisfy your curiousity.
Can I make my own firmware with this?
No,there is no repacker, but I suppose it isn't too hard to write one now. The worst bit would be writing the compressor for parts 3-5.
Being developed on PC. Later being ported to PSP, DS and Xbox360 Live Arcade (and possibly Apple Mac).
Galactrix is a unique blend of puzzle, rpg and strategy genres, set in a sci-fi world. It might best be described as a match-3 puzzle game, played against an opponent.
The player will spend their time playing simple addictive puzzle games, but unlike regular puzzle games, these are played versus an enemy. The opponent can be another human (in multiplayer) or an AI-controlled enemy.
It has high replay value, either in single or multi-player, with potentially hundreds of hours of play. There will be a strong 2-4 player component, and excellent support for downloadable content. Overlaying all this is an engaging storyline to play through in single-player.
Key Features
Create a persistent pilot who gains skills and ships as he completes more battles.
Each enemy you fight will require different tactics.
Individual battles require only 5-10 minutes of time.
Experience a conquer-the-galaxy style campaign mode.
Find new objects to make your pilot and ship all-powerful.
Trade supplies throughout the galaxy to increase your wealth.
Meet companions who will join your crew and aid you in battle.
Take your pilot and ship online against other players.
Compete for positions on the online high score tables.
Download new content - ships, items, plans, planets, factions and missions.
If you keep dreaming about the Apple iPhone and have a Nintendo DS, dream no more, as there is a new skin available that transforms both the Nintendo DS M3 Simply and Nintendo DS R4 into an iPhone. Well, not features wise, but at least it will look like an iPhone that underwent some heavy surgery.
Awesome looking DS game released, heres the details:
features
Two different heroes with unique powers and weapons
In-game day/night cycle and weather affects gameplay
Use the touch pen to solve puzzles and guide your vehicle through 3D shooter mini games
From the renowned design studio Kojima Productions
description
Descend into the gothic Sci-Fi world of Lunar Knights and take control of two warriors on a quest to reclaim the world from the vampiric legion. Spin together tornados, guide down flaming meteors, and blow together snowstorms in Kojima Productions first ever title on Nintendo DS®!
Port of the Duke3d from the GP2x port
The home page of the NDS port is http://gpf.dcemu.co.uk .
dpad move Duke
a fire
b jump
x look up
y look down
lefttrig strafe left
righttrig strafe right
select use item
start select
touchscreen look around, change weapon
dldi patch .nds and copy it and defs.con, game.con, user.con, duke3d.grp and supplied duke3d.cfg to /duke3d directory of card. might be case sensitive with Uppercase. It still needs sound added and network support, but is playable with your own provided shareware .grp or full version .grp file.
A while back, Japan's DS craze red lined, and it got so bad that American DSes were re-imported from America to satisfy the demand. Things quieted off, or so we thought. But even recently, consumers still line-up for DS Lites, and stores, it seems, are too! Writes Kotakuite Scott from Nagasaki:
I was just shopping at my local Yuuing (it's like Tsutaya, books, DVDs, CDs, and games) where they haven't had DS Lites for months now. When they do expect a shipment, maybe once a month or so, they place up posters to let customers know when the sales go down. But, when I went in tonight, they had about 8 units on the shelves. A closer look revealed they are not Japanese versions, but the US and Asia versions (okay, it wasn't a closer look, the big American flags were a give away).
I snapped two photos with my miserable cell phone camera of the poster in the store. You might not be able to read the small text but the general gist is there: American and Asian DS Lites, 19,800 yen (3000 more than the Japanese version), and they cannot be sold back used like most other gaming hardware and software at this store.
Tip for Nintendo, Co. Ltd., how about saving more Lites for the domestic market? Just a thought...
You've probably figured out by now that the DS and Wii were the hottest things in Japanese gaming over the holiday period. A recent poll conducted by Weekly Famitsu suggests just how big the two systems were.
The magazine asked readers of its Famitsu.com website which system they most played over the holiday season. While the DS was the biggest selling system over the period, Wii was apparently the most played system, taking up 244 votes. DS came next, with 185 votes, followed by the PS2 (148), Xbox 360 (146) and PSP (115). The PS3 didn't place in the top five.
Famitsu asked its nation wide army of retail friends (the same set of retailers that help parent publisher Enterbrain assemble its weekly sales charts) a similar question: which product was hottest over the holiday season. The DS Lite took the top spot, at 46 votes. The Wii hardware got second at 28, followed by DS software as a whole (9), Dragon Quest Monsters Joker for the DS (8) and Yakuza 2 for the PS2 (5). Once again, the PS3 didn't place in the top 5.
It's a bit surprising that the PS3 didn't place on either list, as the system was the fourth best selling piece of hardware for the period, beatin by the DS, Wii and PSP
via ketchup site comes a new Atari ST Emulator for the Nintendo DS, heres the translated info:
StyxDS is an emulator Atari ST for Nintendo DS. It is based on castaway of Jhoenig.
The speed of emulation is currently 60% on average.
With you Xenon 2, Rick Dangerous and other plays of legend.
Among the functionalities, one finds:
- Support of the discs to the format .st
- Management of the sound.
- Support DLDI
Level use, it is enough for you to copy the Romanian one and the discs in the root or the /roms/st repertory of your chart flash, patcher the nds with patchor DLDI and of launching this homebrew from your Nintendo DS
All the roms 1.x and 2.x should function but that which I use for my developments is the v1.02 (tos102fr.img). It is necessary to re-elect it in tos.bin.
It is a version alpha! They comprise many bugs and I of it am conscious.
Do not ask me the ROMANIAN nor the discs. Google is your best friend to find an image of your favorite plays (All the releases of the Automation group are, for example, available after 3 clicks on the site of the emulator Steem Engine).
My future improvements will aim at the acceleration of the CPU, the management of the files .msa (the .msa are convertible in .st starting from the software available on the site of Zorg) or of another software usable in line of order, the improvement of the sound, the saves-states, a keyboard a little more ST friendly
The American website for Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales (previously known as Chocobo and the Magic Picture Book) has launched, providing us with a better explanation of the game's story, as well as characters. The entire site itself lacks full accessibility at the moment, however Square Enix have been kind enough to grant us some wallpapers and other goodies to tide us over.
With the news of the American site launch for Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales hitting us, more website-related news arrives in the form of the Japanese website launch for Professor Layton. The real news, however, is that the website is home to some interesting things, namely screens and experience videos.
If you haven't picked up Lunar Knights yet, you can kick back and watch this video instead to get your fix. It's better than sitting around snacking on the Valentine's Day chocolate you're supposed to be saving for that special someone on Wednesday.
I’ve been working ‘under the hood’ a bit. I want to continue work in the weapons code but I’ve been ‘forced’ to rework the debug system and do some research on path-finding. This is good because I’d have to of done it at some point anyway but I didn’t want to do it now because it’s not contributing directly to the next game ROM release. Sorry guys! The research on path finding has been very interesting though because I’ve confirmed some of my earlier ideas (as unoriginal as they are) will work. I’ve prototyped them out and they seem to do what I expected. The debug system changes will be totally transparent to you guys but will help prevent memory fragmentation and save some precious RAM
Anyway I got the laser beam actually attacking now, but the next step is reload times. I’ve got a system outlined that should let me define all sorts of interesting firing/reloading patterns. Can’t wait to show you!
Smeahas released a platform game for the Nintendo DS:
I begin a new project, a little different from my FPS, but *normalement* less better, and even better once not completed. Of course I will continue to work on my FPS… but not immediately. I think of concentrating on this new project - which has a name not revealed with the passage - for the three next months, or not. Ca will depend on my mood. I thus put FPSonline in standby, time to advance in this new project. The project is started already a little. It is a play in side scrolling, with decorations in tiles, 2D thus, and characters/object in 3D (a little in New Super Mario Bros).
Lucas who took over the Licks Media Player project for Nintendo DS has released a new version, heres whats new:
New in this version:
- Shuffle mode
- Fixed a bug that may cause freezing when mp3 is finishing
- Animated progressbar
- Much better quality volume control
Known problems:
- FLAC playback have some problems
If you are experiencing freezing, try formatting your card and copying everything again. That solves a lot of problems with corrupted FATs. If it still doesn't work, try holding A or B (or both) when starting the program (that'll disable loading of ID3 tags and playlists, respectively).
If you're still experiencing problems when starting, hold START while starting, and post the last message on screen.
New from ratx for those with the Slot 1 Supercard One flash cart:
This is a batch script and utilities to patch your own wallpaper into the latest english msforsc.nds. It basically replaces the existing sclogo.b15 with your own file. It also removes the bootup error screen. The limitations are that your wallpaper.png has to be less than or around 18k to 26k as a png. Please read the readme.txt.
There were some serious problems with KaosDS which caused a delay in the sent MIDI messages after some time of usage. It turns out the new devkitPro r20 makes some changes that fix the problem. So, I updated all three DS apps to v1.1.
Cyberced has updated the table footie game for the DS:
heres whatsnew:
Collisions between the players and the edges function
Improvement of graphics (the baby foot is now in beech)
Installation of the “blocks” (I do not know too much how that apelle) black which block the players when one draws the cane towards us and who normally rebondisent against the springs.
After having revived the N64 classic, Diddy Kong Racing, on the DS, Rare looks set to continue its support for the handheld with future projects that could include miniaturised versions off Viva Pinata and Kameo.
Shane Kim, Corporate Vice President for Microsoft Game Studios, told 1UP.com: "A Kameo or a Viva Pinata on a DS makes a lot of sense in a lot of ways from a franchise perspective."
Despite a luke-warm reception at retail, Kim says: "I think it's fair to say that we're going to continue to invest in that property [Viva Pinata].
"Whether that is in the form of a sequel, a product line extension or through merchandising, whatever the case may be, that's something that we're going to stick with."
He later comments: "Whether you're talking about [publishing games on] mobile or the DS -- you probably won't see it on the PSP, though."
Work on 360 continues as ever at Rare, as Kim explains: "Right now the number of things that Rare is looking at on 360 includes a number of 360 prototype projects," Spencer said. "Some of them involve games that we've shipped before; some of them involve new ideas."
Eidos is at number one in the all-formats chart this week with Battlestations: Midway, which beat Little Britain: The Video Game to the top spot by just 1000 units.
Mastertronic's TV tie-in takes second place, meaning that there are two UK publishers riding high at the top of the charts - a rare occurrence, according to data providers Chart-Track.
FIFA '07 is a non-mover at No. 3, but Pro Evo 6 drops two places to No. 4. There's another small margin here, with just 50 units of difference between Little Britain and PES.
At five it's the Sega Mega Drive Collection, while last week's chart topper, Lost Planet, is down at No. 6.
EA takes seventh and eighth place with Need for Speed: Carbon and The Sims 2: Pets. Rounding out the chart are perennial favourites New Super Mario Bros. at No. 9 and THQ's Cars at No. 10.
New entries this week include Avatar: The Legend of Aang and Capcom's PS2 offering Okami. Two Nintendogs titles make a return to the top 40, along with Tiger Woods '07 and The Simpsons: Hit and Run.
There are some big movers in the chart - The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is down 13 places to No. 26, while Wii Play is just behind, falling from No. 7 to No. 27. Ubisoft movie tie-in Rocky Balboa and THQ's Zoo Tycoon DS fall ten places each to hit No. 37 and No. 38.
Ars Technica's Opposable Thumbs blog takes a look at the numbers for last year, and makes an interesting observation: hardcore gamers are probably not the future. Specifically, last year's videogame sales numbers show a huge trend in the adoption of mass-market licensed games. We've also previously discussed the extreme popularity of casual games. Despite Gears of War selling around the same amount as Cars (both around 2 million units), the cost in time and money to create Gears was substantially greater than the cost to create the Pixar-licensed title. The result?
"As growth continues, we're bound to see some substantial changes. As it stands, hardcore gamers are still a pivotal purchasing force in the games market: most of the top ten titles were what I would consider "hardcore" games. However, the trend away from the hardcore and towards the casual is becoming increasingly more predominant. We've talked quite a bit lately about the growing demand and response for casual games, and when coupled with the shocking sales of licensed products, I'm left wondering whether or not the number of hardcore gamers is dwindling."
Playing games can take a long time, like 70 hours for some. Worse case scenario, they never end. So you see, video game critics (read: journalists) are faced with a problem; if they're suppose to critique games as Roger Ebert does movies, shouldn't they play every single AAA title all the way through to do their job to the fullest?
Joystiq's own ninja columnist Kyle Orland examines the "limited time to complete so many games" dilemma in speaking with a variety of industry journalists. From his GameDaily column: "Many journalists that responded to my inquiry found they just didn't have the time to really get into certain epic games. CMP's Simon Carless lamented that he'd probably 'have to take a holiday' to put aside his current pile of games and finally get through Twilight Princess. GameDaily's Robert Workman is waiting for "a lazy summer day" to finally give Oblivion another go."
Yours truly? I've only played 20 minutes of Gears, probably won't play past the water temple in Twilight Princess, and have God of War (the first one!) still sitting in a box waiting to be played all because of fleeting time. Someone needs to tar and feather me. So what games are you ashamed to say you've never played or completed?
So, things aren’t exactly moving along as fast as I’d like… Here’s the status of a few things that are near the front of my queue:
* Apprentice Exam, round 2 - I’ve just been lazy putting this together… it’s about half done, I will finish the other half and post it sometime. Not sure when exactly, yet.
* Spartan-3E logic analyzer - Hardware side on this is done now (not completely tested) - Software side is started, but not usable yet. Once it gets to be usable, I’ll continue work on Wii RE’ing.
There are a handful of other things I’m doing too, but they’re not quite as interesting or important… I’ll update when more gets done.
A small demo that shows a panoramic view
This demo detects the DSerial card with tiltsensor. If you got that then you can hold the DS as a book and move the images around just by tilting the DS.
The DS Lite, which launched last month in Korea, is already following a certain Big N exec's mantra and is busily kicking ass and taking names, despite some issues. In its first week, the DS Lite boasted sales of 32,000, and if the handheld's performance elsewhere in the world is any indication, expect every single person in South Korea to have at least one by this time next year.
Jeux France is reporting a juicy rumor about espers in FFXII: Revenant Wings. Not only is Shiva rumored to be included, but the super hot (cold?) ice goddess is bringing along a few members of her family. Apparently, there will be others, like a male version (Shiva's husband), and a young female child Shiva. We're not sure what role these might play, but it definitely makes for an interesting rumor. Jeux France expects confirmation (or negation) soon.
If this is true, we just hope that Little Shiva finds a few more scraps of clothing, or it may change the game just a little, and we'll be facing another one of these situations.
I've been wanting to work on a Nintendo-handheld homebrew project for a while now. I was talking with a chap (whose name I won't mention) about aiming for a big serious commercial project, but he has since given up responding to my e-mails so I've gone ahead and continued working on it by myself anyway. I have put together a small PC alpha version and am currently looking for playtesters familiar with NintendoDS and its gameplay styles who are willing to give some detailed feedback about the project, what they want in a new NDS game and how we could improve it, and more importantly looking for programmers who are interested in and able to help me get this project together and playable on NintendoDS hardware, and so hopefully later try our best to get it published.
It's a futuristic top-down shoot 'em up, you control a nasty hover-tank vehicle equipped with multiple weapons (primary and secondary) and your aim is to destroy the bad guys and rescue the good guys, completing various objectives along the way and working your way through massive military bases, research facilities and outdoor environments on other planets in our solar system. Typical stuff, really. My job and focus is on the graphics, I've had a few years experience with high-quality 3D rendering and that's how I'll be doing most of the graphics for this project. Instead of cartoonish graphics like many other NintendoDS titles, I really want to push for gritty prerendered 3D graphics with a lot of shiny metals and special effects, some of which you'll see already working in the first alpha. If the project evolves enough, I'll be very committed to filling the project with some lovely full-screen prerendered video cinematics and cutscenes throughout the game.
GPF our resident Dreamcast and Nintendo DS Coder has on his Coders Site posted these screens and also some news regarding the port of the classic FPS game to Nintendo`s console:
LOL, its still needs a lot of work, no sound and its pretty slow. I need some time to try to remove SDL and use libnds directly and see if I can make it faster.
I called it a mini game because I was really going to release it in a bigger game collection, like a minigame collection. But I guess I never got around doing that.
Anyway, here it is. Programmed it in C, powered by PAlib. The goal is to save as many people as possible from falling out of a building, with a trampoline, and get the highest score. The game will reset when you lose over twenty people.
Today The Game Factory, famed publishers of Care Bears: Care Quest and Franklin the Turtle: A Birthday Surprise, announced a partnership with Build-a-Bear Workshop to bring a game based on the animal creation station to the Nintendo DS. A staple of many a mall across the country, Build-a-Bear Workshops allow teddy bear enthusiasts to piece together unique stuffed animals right in the store.
The game will operate much like the store, allowing gamers to build, care for, and dress their own furry companions. There are also 20 mini-games to be unlocked and played with your bear.
Developed by Neko Entertainment (Franklin the Turtle), Build-a-Bear will utilize the DS touch screen, microphone, and Wi-Fi multiplayer.
Last month, Kansas Senator Sam Brownback declared he would seek the 2008 Republican nomination for President of the United States. His first speech as a candidate was roundly mocked on the January 23 episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart for his repeated use of the words "greatness" and "goodness." (The same program also pilloried the entire spectrum of Democratic candidates, including the "first Leprechaun president[al]" hopeful, Ohio Representative Dennis Kucinich.)
Today, Brownback took a very public step to prove the American public how "good" and "great" he is. The Senator announced that he was reintroducing the Truth in Video Game Rating Act (S.3935), a measure he first submitted last September. If made law, the act would require the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) to play the final build of a game from beginning to end before it gives said game a rating.
"Video game reviewers should be required to review the entire content of a game to ensure the accuracy of the rating," Brownback said in a statement. "The current video game ratings system is not as accurate as it could be because reviewers do not see the full content of games and do not even play the games they rate." The Truth in Video Game Rating Act would also commission a Government Accountability Office (GAO) study to "determine the efficacy of the...ESRB ratings system."
Currently, the ESRB reviews video of the "most extreme instances, across all relevant categories including but not limited to violence, language, sex, controlled substances and gambling" in each game it rates. Following the infamous hidden-sex-minigame Grand Theft Auto San Andreas scandal of 2005, publishers must now also submit "pertinent content that is not playable, but will exist in the game code on the final game disc."
Since then, the ESRB's system has proven fallible--or infallible, depending on one's viewpoint. In May 2006, the board rescinded the T for Teen rating of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion after it discovered graphically violent content at the denouement of the Dark Brotherhood questline. Despite being rated M for Mature, Oblivion went on to sell nearly 1.4 million copies in the US as of December 2006, generating just short of $80 million.* It has also won numerous accolades, including GameSpot's Role-Playing Game of the Year.
Now this here's a press release. UK online game rental company Gametart has randomly sampled 200 British women and decided to let the world know the ins and outs of their sexual appetites. To the point, they asked them how often they had sex, and if they regularly played video games.
Of our sample of 200 women, those who played video games on average had sex 4.3 times a week while those who didn't play games only had sex just 3.2 times a week.
A completely useless poll done for the purpose of advertising their site, of course. Do they take into account age? Looks? What was their definition of having sex? Rumble or no rumble? Most importantly, where is the photographic evidence?
Perhaps even more promising for gamers is the fact that many of the women that we interviewed who have only recently started playing games said that they now have sex more often than before.
As a wise doctor once said, "You are telling lies!" So what they are saying here is playing video games will enhance your sex life. Anyone else notice this particular phenomenon?
The game industry is quick to trump its accomplishments; bestsellers, growing revenues, and market expansion. The optimist in us likes that, but what's a pessimist to do? Well the recent issue of EGM (Mar '07) has a listicle that's hard to argue over: the worst-selling games of 2006. Though the always-serious Seanbaby fails to mention a specific source, he says "These games were selected from sales figures of the least purchased games of 2006 -- cold, hard, indisputable measurements of suck." They are:
Unison: Rebels of Rhythm & Dance (PS2)
Kakuto Chojin: Back Alley Brutal (XB)
Frogger Beyond (XB)
Bomberman: Act Zero (XB360)
Freestyle Street Soccer (XB)
Egg Mania: Eggstreme Madness (XB)
Space Ace (XB)
That's a lot of Xbox 1 games. Translation: "She's going down! Send the dross with it!"
The eagerly awaited sequel to Treasure's 2006 smash-hit fighter Bleach DS: Souten ni Kakeru Unmei, Bleach DS 2nd: Kokui Hirameku Chinkon Uta sports new characters, new and improved movelists, a revamped Wi-Fi interface for cross-continental battling, and more than double the innovative Reifu cards that made the original so tense and strategic.
Bleach DS 2nd also sees the return of all the previous game modes, in addition to the all-new "Mission Mode" that allows players to face off against Hollows for the first time.
Boasting an impressively large character roster, jaw-dropping signature moves, techniques and weapons, and impressive, easy-to-se Wi-Fi capabilities.
Today's shipment of Sega's Bleach DS 2nd: Kokui Hirameku Chinkon Uta covers around 50% of all preorders. We are expecting another shipment to come in tomorrow clearing all further outstanding preorders. However due to limited supply in the market, new orders are only likely to be filled after the Chinese New Year holidays.
Death Note: Kira Game is based on the Japanese (anime) series. Kira Game is a strategy game where the player takes on the role of Kira or L. These are just titles, as any character can be Kira or L. The player will attempt to deduce who their enemy is (Kira will try to uncover L's identity and vice versa).
This will play out in 3 phases: Investigation, where the player will discuss the case and clues with other characters; Voting, where each member of the investigation team casts a vote on who they suspect is L or Kira based on the player's performance in the previous phase; L/Kira, where the player can either focus their investigation on one member to see if they are Kira (L part) or force a member off of the team (Kira part).
Death Note: Kira Game for Nintendo DS™ is shipping today as US$ 48.90 only. Also make sure to check out the Death Note movie release, which contains lots of animations and effects from Konami.
Play Asia have posted a list of the latest new games released:
Sony PSP™:
Kanon JPN US$ 48.90
Lost Regnum: Makutsu no Koutei (Chinese Version) ASIA US$ 42.90
Nintendo DS™:
Layton Kyouju no Fushigi na Machi JPN US$ 48.90
PlayStation2™:
Appleseed EX JPN US$ 64.90
Appleseed EX [Limited Box] JPN US$ 99.90
Castlevania: Curse of Darkness / Akumajo Dracula: Yami no Juin (Konami the Best) JPN US$ 34.90
Hiiro no Kakera: Ano Sora no Shita de JPN US$ 49.90
Hiiro no Kakera: Ano Sora no Shita de [Twin Pack] JPN US$ 99.90
Meine Liebe II (Konami Palace Selection) JPN US$ 20.90
Third party accessories (for PS3™ and Wii™):
Designer Remote Power Glove (Golf) US$ 6.99
Designer Remote Power Glove (Motorcycle) US$ 6.99
Designer Remote Power Glove (Tennis) US$ 6.99
Joypad Recharge Cable (3 meters / 10 ft) US$ 4.99 New toy releases:
Animal Crossing 10'' Super DX Plush Doll: Hooter (Blathers) US$ 18.90
Animal Crossing 10'' Super DX Plush Doll: Kinuyo (Mabel) US$ 18.90
Animal Crossing 10'' Super DX Plush Doll: Tanukichi (Tom Nook) US$ 18.90
Animal Crossing 10'' Super DX Plush Doll: Totakeke (K.K. Slider) US$ 18.90
Super Mario Bros. Kinoko Figure - 1up Mushroom US$ 7.90
Super Mario Bros. Kinoko Figure - Hatena Block US$ 7.90
Super Mario Bros. Kinoko Figure - Poison Mushroom US$ 7.90
Super Mario Bros. Kinoko Figure - Super Mushroom US$ 7.90
Excerpt of interesting new Japanese CD releases:
14 message -every ballad songs 2- [Limited Edition] (~Every Little Thing) JPN US$ 42.90
Blue Blood Special Edition [Limited Pressing] (~X) JPN US$ 31.90
Egao Yes Nude [CD+Booklet Limited Edition] (~Morning Musume) JPN N/A
Jealousy Special Edition [Limited Pressing] (~X) JPN US$ 31.90
Kirakira Megane's [Limited Edition] (~Megane's) JPN US$ 7.90
Valentine Kiss [Limited Edition] (~Genichiro Sanada With Rikkaidai Fuzoku Chu) JPN US$ 7.90
LucasArts officially announced its latest game in the Star Wars saga. Coming November for PS3, Xbox 360, PS2, PSP and Nintendo DS, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed explores one of the more interesting time periods in Star Wars lore. Set between the events of Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, Force Unleashed puts gamers in the role of Darth Vader's secret apprentice.
As Palpatine rises to power and the Empire begins its conquest of the galaxy, Vader sends his apprentice to help exterminate the remaining Jedi. Your character has four primary Force powers to develop during missions to eradicate the Jedi: Force push, grip, repulse and lightning. Powers can be used together to create unique combos and cause massive destruction to enemies and the environment.
The next-gen versions of Force Unleashed utilize some new technologies that promise realistic environmental reactions. Beyond having wood splinter and plants bend in the wind, non-player characters also act and react more realistically. Characters are said to adjust their behavior on the fly, based on the player's actions. It's unknown how the PS2, PSP and DS versions will differ.
Created under the direction of George Lucas, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed offers new insights into the Star Wars universe. And it let's you kick some Jedi ass. Look for eyes-on impressions of The Force Unleashed in a few weeks.
Go into any dentist office and you can probably dig up one of those Highlights magazines that's chock full of "What's wrong with this picture" challenges. Most of them have already been defaced by the time you get your hands on the issue since your dentist is one of the more popular ones in the neighborhood, of course, but wouldn't it be great if you could get that experience on the Nintendo DS? That's apparently Namco's mindset as it's bringing a quirky, but admittedly surprisingly cool and addictive little game called QuickSpot to the system.
QuickSpot is Namco's continuation of its capitalization of Nintendo's "brain training" focus for DS products. This game pushes one type of theme: matching differences between an image on the upper screen and the same image on the lower screen. As fast as you can, spot the difference (or differences) and circle it with the stylus. Get it right and you'll move onto a different picture. After a set amount of time, you'll be graded on speed, circle accuracy, specific recognition of elements. That score will stay with you on the cartridge, and each day you can track your progress.
Namco clearly had a lot of fun coming up with images to display in the challenges. Some of them are random bits of art, some are parodies of anime and film, while others are based around Namco's enormous library of videogames, past and present. It's hard to say how many different images are in QuickSpot, but we've seen a ton. Many are reused and recycled, but even when you've seen an image, you might find at least ten different things that don't match up...so even if you know the picture, you won't know what's wrong with it.
Hey, we all laughed when Namco revealed a DS version of Point Blank, a game that's nothing but a bunch of challenges where you tap on the screen as quickly as possible. And believe it or not, that actually turned out pretty darn nice. Now here's a game where it's about looking at the upper screen and circling differences on the lower screen. And the same thing: it actually works as a full-on DS product.
It's a one-trick pony, but in our early playtime with the near-final game, Namco stretches this idea out pretty well: you've got challenges where you have to match differences that move, that are on the same image but upside down, and others where you have to scratch away a silver layer before you can see the image..
So you've managed to rack up a ton of high scores on Electronic Arts' Pogo.com server playing all sorts of crazy little Flash-based games, huh? Care to take that experience on the road? Because five of the more popular games on Pogo.com are heading to the Nintendo DS, and everything you do in this compilation can benefit you if you've got a Pogo.com account using the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection service. EA let us go hands-on with a near final version of Pogo Island for the handheld, and if you like casual games you'll probably find a lot to like in this collection.
Pogo Island takes five games popularized on the Pogo.com website and condenses them for play on the touchscreen, dual-screen handheld system. Poppit is a familiar puzzle game where you remove two or more balloons from a stack -- the rest of the stack shifts around when gaps are made, so it's strategic to pop balloons that will allow others to settle in for a bigger combo. Word Whomp is a "word scramble" where you try to form the set of three, four, five, and six letter words out of the six letters that are given to you. Squelchies is a cool puzzle game where you pull down colored critters from a stack on the upper screen and slide them into other columns to form bigger chains to remove them from play. Tri-Peaks Solitaire is a neat variation of the card game where you can only remove face up cards that are one value higher or lower than the face up card in the stack. And finally, Phlinx: a variation of Bust-a-Move that puts heavier emphasis on dropping stacks of colored gems instead of removing them with like-colored chains.
All of these games are tied together in what's called the Adventure Mode, where you wander a board game playing each of the mini-challenges. There are also smaller stand-alone games within Adventure Mode where you'll have to perform tasks like sorting nuts and bolts of like-color into the proper bin while they fall into play. All of these games use the Nintendo DS's touch screen function...even the spinner, where you find out how many spaces to move, is spun with a flick of the stylus.
The Nintendo DS version allows three different profiles to be saved to cartridge, which will come in handy because you'll probably have multiple people in your household playing to earn tokens which can then be applied to your attached Pogo.com account. By connecting your Nintendo DS to the internet via the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection service you can transfer tokens earned in the adventure mode as well as the individual challenges. But that's as far as the online support goes -- any competitive simultaneous multiplayer is handled locally, and it's only in one game: Word Whomp. The game has an alternating multipayer in the form of Party Play, where as many as four players share the system as the game dictates which game each person plays.
Pogo Island's developed to sort of fit the Pogo.com style like a glove, so most of the games and its interface have been designed with a minimalist appearance -- don't expect the game to floor you with elaborate 3D visuals. But simple works, and works well on the Nintendo DS.
Bob Fossil has released a new version of his game:
Due to emulator bugs and switching to the latest devkit and libnds, I've built this version as a single file .nds. Maybe I'll add FAT word list support back in if there's enough demand.
What's new v0.04:
Built with latest libnds - touch screen should be better.
Single filed the code - word list is now built in. Should run from any directory on your card now.
Word generation is a lot faster.
Fix for valid words being skipped in certain circumstances during generation.
Campanile has released a new version of his app for the DS:
I didn't work on it for a while, but here are the small updates.
Last updates toward v0.3:
A lot of bugs fixed (ie fishes swiming anims when hungry, sprites corruptions, zoom and rotations issues (limit the tank to 32 fishes though), and much more... Some code cleaning too, there's always stuffs to clean...
Menu System, now it can be called a game since it has a main menu. No, in game menu not here yet...
Tested Menu class flexibility, used for main menu and pause menu.
"Smooth" transitions between screens, maybe other effects to be added later...
In game upper screen interface, not that good yet.
crappy intro animation for levels.
Almost full sound and musics.
Damn, added a few bugs, dunno why...
Added bubbles object.
Food is now set at stylus position instead of top of the tank.
Forgot to mention in 0.2, lots of graphics have been improved/optimized.
In the wake of details hitting on LucasArts new Star Wars game, The Force Unleashed, the company has set up an official website.
Confirming a release for November 2007, the site features concept art, game details and an FAQ on the DMM (Digital Molecular Matter) and euphoria technology employed. Combined with Havoc physics, we're promised these "groundbreaking" technologies will "create true next-gen gameplay and the Force like it's never been seen or experienced before."
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is set between Episode III and Episode IV in the movie series and sticks you in the shoes of Darth Vader's apprentice, aiding the Dark Lord of the Sith in ridding the universe of Jedi. LucasArts has spoken of a branching storyline, explaining that "Decisions made by players throughout the game will determine the path of the story, including multiple endings that will rock Star Wars continuity as they know it."
Flipper Critters, an arcade-style pinball game for DS, will release in UK on March 15.
Along with its cutesy pinball action, Flipper Critters mixes in RPG-elements to form an adventure that takes players through fantasy locations full of sorcerers, magic and all that stuff.
Flipper Critters was actually due for release last month but was delayed. We bet you were devastated when you heard that news.
Other than the cutesy make-over, very little has been revealed regarding MySims, in development exclusively for Wii and DS, until now.
The latest issue of the Official Nintendo Magazine (UK) reveals that you start off in a small rundown town, with a rubbish house and not so many residents. You make it your mission to brighten the place up, which attracts new people to your town.
Even though the character design looks simple, the game doesn't skimp on editing features - you can tweak individual facial features, skin, clothing style and even add tattoos.
Where Sims 2 keeps you restricted to your house most of the time, MySims has you wandering around the town meeting people. "By using the relationships menu you can keep tabs on who likes you, who thinks you could do with a wash, and who wouldn't spit on you if you were on fire", ONM reveals.
More interestingly, MySims features a simple block-building mechanic which lets you "build things like chairs and tables from scratch instead of just ordering them from a catalogue." You can also modify houses in an equally flexible way.
Another new feature is one called "Essence" which lets you extract the, err... essence of objects you acquire. Then you can use this Essence to decorate your many created objects. You can also plant seeds to grow flowers, adding a Harvest Moon-style farming system into the mix.
Although past screenshots have so far only showed the town, ONM also reveals details of a Volcano area, where "miserable" characters go if they hate your town.
There will be 80 characters in the Wii version and around 30 in the DS one.
You can read the full preview in issue 14 of ONM which goes on sale tomorrow. MySims is due out in Autumn.
Bonkers bunnies clearly aren't done bouncing, with Ubisoft having announced that Rayman Raving Rabbids will be appearing on Xbox 360 and DS in March.
Microsoft's new version is rumoured to support Xbox Live Vision, plus it will feature exclusive mini-games and more technical punch than previous games.
There's no news on the DS version, which is confirmed for 16th March, and Ubisoft was unable to comment at the time of writing. Or in the two minutes after when I went to the loo, and when they could have called me back to say they'd changed their minds.
Rayman Raving Rabbids launched across numerous platforms late last year, most notably on Wii. It's comprised of numerous mini-games, each based around the lunatic rabbits that really provide the main attraction of the game.
We found it to be surprisingly entertaining, but it lacked any real depth
The latest figures from ABC have revealed that gaming magazines appear to be in a continuing decline, with a few bright spots as readership of many Future and Imagine titles falls once again.
OPSM2's monthly circulation is down 24 per cent from the August 2006 figures to hit 76,351. But there has been a 17 per cent rise for Official Nintendo, with readership almost topping 43,000 copies per month.
Official Xbox 360 is also up from 42,680 to just over 56,000, with sales likely to have been boosted by the closure of Official Xbox Magazine. Figures for the new Official PlayStation 3 Magazine were not provided.
Excluding OPSM3, 175,368 official titles are sold each month - compared to 218,863 six months previously.
As for the battle of the unofficial mags, Future's PSW is down from nearly 34,500 to just over 26,000 copies, while Imagine-published Play is in the lead with 29,000 - despite a 37.5 per cent drop in readership compared to a year ago.
Circulation for Imagine's Powerstation was down to 15,171 from 22,288 in February 2006. Future-published rival PSM2, currently transitioning to become PSM3, saw a drop of more than 25 per cent over the past six months to hit just over 26,500.
Xbox 360 World, another Future mag, saw its circulation remaining steady at around 23,000, while readership for Imagine's X360 was up more than 20 per cent to edge past the 28,000 mark.
The figure for 360, also published by Imagine, fell slightly from 13,098 to 11,369. Relative newcomer Uncooked Media experienced a rise in sales for 360 Gamer, which went up from 9100 to top 10,600.
PC titles appear to be in a slow but steady decline - PC Zone is down from just over 30,000 to 27,000, while PC Gamer lost 1675 readers to hit just over 43,600.
It's a different story for the multi-platform titles, which appear to be in a stable position. Games Master's readership is now hovering around the 54,000 mark following a small increase in sales, while circulation for Imagine's Games TM still stands at just over 20,000. Once again, Edge faired better than many of Future's publications - readership is up from 33,597 to 35,145, a rise of more than 4 per cent.
Capcom just released Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Justice for All for the DS last month, but the publisher is already holding a contest surrounding the possible localization of the next installment in the series.
Over on the official Phoenix Wright forums, an administrator has posted details about a new contest in which Capcom wants gamers to make the case for bringing a third Phoenix Wright game to American shores. To participate in the "Ace Attorney: Plead Your Case" contest, gamers need only download a template of a comic book page and empty word bubbles, then combine them in creative ways to explain why Capcom should bring the game to the US. Three winners will each receive a pair of Phoenix Wright figurines and a collectible pin.
When asked to confirm a US release for the next Phoenix Wright game, a Capcom representative said, "We have no announcements regarding future Ace Attorney games at this time."
As a sort of semi-preview for what to expect in the next-gen versions of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, kotakuite Ally directed me towards this technology demo from GDC 2006, which highlights Digital Molecular Matters methods for interacting with materials. The vid starts off with some Indiana Jones character reaction goodness as well.
Pretty exciting stuff there, but as another kotakuite, Pdubbs601 points out, LucasArts has stated that this new tech is only viable on next-gen consoles, so don't expect to see the same effects in the PS2 or PSP version.
Heres the full listing of Games and Game Related releases from Play Asia:
Xbox360™:
Battlestations: Midway ASIA US$ 49.90
Winning Eleven: Pro Evolution Soccer 2007 US US$ 49.90
Xbox 360 Wireless Gaming Receiver for Windows ASIA US$ 19.90
Nintendo Wii™:
Designer Remote Power Glove (Golf) US$ 6.99
Designer Remote Power Glove (Motorcycle) US$ 6.99
Designer Remote Power Glove (Tennis) US$ 6.99
Wii Play with Remote US US$ 59.90
PlayStation3™:
Joypad Recharge Cable (3 meters / 10 ft) US$ 4.99 PlayStation2™:
AR Tonelico: Melody of Elemia US US$ 59.90
Appleseed EX JPN US$ 64.90
Appleseed EX [Limited Box] JPN US$ 99.90
Castlevania: Curse of Darkness / Akumajo Dracula: Yami no Juin (Konami the Best) JPN US$ 34.90
Harukanaru Jikuu no Kade 3 (Koei the Best) JPN US$ 34.90
Hiiro no Kakera: Ano Sora no Shita de JPN US$ 49.90
Hiiro no Kakera: Ano Sora no Shita de [Twin Pack] JPN US$ 99.90
Meine Liebe II (Konami Palace Selection) JPN US$ 20.90
RoydsPad.Net US$ 59.90
Sangokushi VIII with Power-Up Kit (Koei Selection) JPN US$ 24.90
Shining Force EXA KOR US$ 59.90
Soul Cradle: Sekai o Kurau Mono JPN US$ 64.90
Soul Cradle: Sekai o Kurau Mono [First Print Limited Edition] JPN US$ 89.90
Zero no Tsukaima JPN US$ 64.90
Zero no Tsukaima [First Print Limited Edition] JPN N/A
Nintendo DS™:
Bleach DS 2nd: Kokui Hirameku Chinkon Uta JPN US$ 48.90
Death Note: Kira Game JPN US$ 48.90
Layton Kyouju no Fushigi na Machi JPN US$ 48.90
Lunar Knights US US$ 34.90
Winning Eleven: Pro Evolution Soccer 2007 US US$ 39.90
Sony PSP™:
Capcom Puzzle World US US$ 39.90
Gurumin US US$ 39.90
Hard Pouch Portable (blue) US$ 10.90
Hard Pouch Portable (pink) US$ 10.90
Kanon JPN US$ 48.90
Lost Regnum: Makutsu no Koutei (Chinese Version) ASIA US$ 42.90
Lumines II JPN US$ 48.90
Rezel Cross (Chinese Version) ASIA US$ 42.90
Silicon Cover Portable (blue) US$ 10.90
Silicon Cover Portable (pink) US$ 10.90
Tales of Destiny 2 JPN US$ 48.90
Tales of Destiny 2 ASIA US$ 42.90
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 JPN US$ 48.90
Winning Eleven: Pro Evolution Soccer 2007 US US$ 39.90
Gameboy Advance™:
Final Fantasy VI Advance US US$ 39.90
PC Games:
Biohazard 4 (DVD-ROM) KOR US$ 49.90
UFO: Afterlight ASIA US$ 24.90
Guide Books:
You and Wii: Everything You Need to Know US US$ 21.90
Toys & Misc:
Animal Crossing 10'' Super DX Plush Doll: Hooter (Blathers) US$ 18.90
Animal Crossing 10'' Super DX Plush Doll: Kinuyo (Mabel) US$ 18.90
Animal Crossing 10'' Super DX Plush Doll: Tanukichi (Tom Nook) US$ 18.90
Animal Crossing 10'' Super DX Plush Doll: Totakeke (K.K. Slider) US$ 18.90
Animal Crossing 7'' Plush Doll Collection 2: Hooter (Blathers) US$ 11.90
Animal Crossing 7'' Plush Doll Collection 2: Master (Brewster) US$ 11.90
Animal Crossing 7'' Plush Doll Collection 2: Perio (Pete) US$ 11.90
Animal Crossing 7'' Plush Doll Collection 2: Sally US$ 11.90
Animal Crossing 7'' Plush Doll Collection 2: Totakeke (K.K. Slider) US$ 11.90
Neon Genesis Evangelion Extra Pajamas Baby Pre-painted PVC Figure: Asuka Langley US$ 17.90
Neon Genesis Evangelion Extra Pajamas Baby Pre-painted PVC Figure: Rei Ayanami US$ 17.90
Nintendo DS Lite Mini Figure & DS Card Case Twin Strap US$ 5.99
Super Mario Bros. Dot Design Mat: Type A Mario N/A
Super Mario Bros. Dot Design Mat: Type B Question Mark N/A
Super Mario Bros. Dot Design Mat: Type C Goomba N/A
Super Mario Bros. Dot Design Mat: Type D Brick N/A
Super Mario Bros. Dot Design Mat: Type E Super Mushroom US$ 16.90
Super Mario Bros. Dot Design Mouse 2: Mario US$ 17.90
Super Mario Bros. Dot Design Mouse 2: Star US$ 17.90
Super Mario Bros. Kinoko Figure - 1up Mushroom US$ 7.90
Super Mario Bros. Kinoko Figure - Hatena Block N/A
Super Mario Bros. Kinoko Figure - Poison Mushroom US$ 7.90
Super Mario Bros. Kinoko Figure - Super Mushroom US$ 7.90
Video Game related Soundtracks:
Hidechan! Radio. 2.5 Two-Han Princess Singles + Music & Drama CD
Action Replay DS is about to undergo a hack attack! With Trainer Toolkit, you can become your own hacker and create codes to use on your DS games with Action Replay!
Trainer Toolkit is designed exclusively for serious DS gamers, amateur programmers and aspiring game hackers. It provides you with all the hardware and software necessary to create your own game-busting Action Replay codes.
Trainer Toolkit is your induction into the underground world of game hacking. With straightforward instructions designed to help you create your first codes and detailed information about code hacking so you can create many more, Trainer Toolkit gives YOU the power to make things happen. Some codes are found easily, but others require perseverance, dedication and skill. But one thing’s for sure; with Trailer Toolkit in the right hands, nothing is impossible.
Just look at all these powerful features!
- Dev-board’ card which inserts into the GBA port on the DS - including a high-speed USB 2.0 port for rapid dumping of memory (a full 4Mb dump takes around 20 seconds, subsequent searches can take only a couple of seconds).
- ‘Game Trainer’ PC software CD.
- Action Replay DS ‘Trainer Card’ which inserts into the DS cartridge.
- Intelligent search with all standard expressions (equal to, not equal to, greater than, less than, inside range, outside range, incremented by etc) against previous values or a defined value.
- Limit search to specified memory range.
- Multiple search types (8, 16, 32, 64bit and floating point).
Search history window with full ‘rollback’ to any search result.
- Text search, find & replace.
- Add and save search areas.
- Whole projects can be saved and reloaded.
- Add codes to the ‘Run-list’ - a built in Action Replay engine so that you can test your codes real-time.
‘Poke’ values ‘one time’ to addresses in RAM.
- All code types (16, 32bit etc.) can be run simultaneously in the Run-list.
- ‘Watch locations’ window.
Disassembly view.
- Hex view (with real time auto-refresh).
- Upload and download binaries.
- Update trainer firmware.
- Wizard based ‘Beginner Mode’ for people new to the scene.
But how hard is it to crack your own codes? Well, as Einstein once said, “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler”. Trainer Toolkit is as straightforward as it can be, but the beginner has lots to learn. Even someone who’s never hacked a code in his life should be able to produce straightforward codes such as Infinite Lives or No Timer within an hour of taking Trainer Toolkit out of the box, but more complicated codes and enhancements may take a little practice. There’s lots to learn, but that’s what makes it exciting…
GPF has released another build of his awesome Commodore 64 emulator for the Nintendo DS,
Heres whats new:
OK this is just a test build with sound disabled wanted to see how the menu systems works for some of those troublesome cards.
I tested this build on my m3sd with 81 D64 files, and for one of my test was with the game WorldGames and I was able to switch from disk1 to disk2 when it asked and they game worked
I commented out the audio code from launching, maybe its faster? maybe the menu works now?
Ratx has released a new version of his rom trimmer:
Heres a new version of the trim.exe which outputs the file as blah.trim.nds. No other changes made, windows and linux versions included. If you find an image that this prog over trims please contact me.
Changes:
v0.1 inital version
v0.2 reworked to be faster and hopefully more accurate
Harvest Moon is arriving on Nintendo DS across Europe, so if you fancy yourself as a bit of a dab hand around the garden, now is the chance to put your green fingers to the test. Or if that doesn’t take your fancy, simply enjoy a peaceful life on your very own farm as Harvest Moon DS sows its seeds onto Nintendo DS on 13th April 2007.
Your farm in Forget-Me-Not-Valley is waiting for you - tend to the flocks, cultivate your own seed variants into the best produce available, explore different locations, hunt for hidden treasure or even fish in the river. Use the unique touch-screen on the Nintendo DS to raise and interact with the animals by petting and caring for them. In return the happy animals will reward you with higher quality milk, eggs and wool. The bottom screen on the DS displays the menu interfaces and status screens which can be easily navigated through using the Nintendo DS Stylus, whereas the second screen allows you to view a section of the town or farm in real time which is handy if you need to keep track on any mischievous animals that may have run away from the farm.
Planting seeds, harvesting crops in the right season and looking after your cows, chickens and sheep will help you in running a successful farm which in turn will help to release the Harvest Goddess and Harvest Sprites from the world that the Witch Princess has transported them to. Freeing and unlocking the Sprites is certainly a benefit to you as they will then help you with your daily farming tasks, and in return, leave you with more time to sit back and relax.
However if all that just sounds like too much hard work and all you want to do is enjoy the calm, relaxing and social aspect of living in Forget-Me-Not-Valley by building up relationships with up to 25 villagers through chatting to them and giving them presents, then Harvest Moon DS is still the game for you.
April 13th 2007 is the date to put in your diaries as Harvest Moon DS ploughs its way across Europe on Nintendo DS at an estimated retail price of around Ł30.
Last September, a slate of previously unannounced Wii Virtual Console titles from Sega were spotted with fresh new ratings on the Entertainment Software Rating Board's Web site. Two months later, another round of apparent Virtual Console games received new ratings, these ones pulled primarily from the Nintendo Entertainment System's collection of classics.
So far, only about half of those games have found their way to release, but the ESRB site continues to hint at future releases in the form of ratings for unannounced games. The ESRB has recently rated Wii editions of older games Galaga, Mighty Bomb Jack, and Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV: Wall of Fire, none of which have been confirmed for a US release yet. As yet unreleased TurboGrafx-16 Virtual Console offerings New Adventure Island and Chew Man-Fu are also in the ESRB database, and Hudson has confirmed both games are scheduled for a US release this month.
In addition, the site has a listing for Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts on the Wii, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3, introducing the possibility that Capcom's Super Nintendo side-scroller could be the first downloadable game to land on all three platforms. A Capcom representative had not returned GameSpot's request for comment as of press time.
The ESRB database also includes ratings for a few retro collections. EA Replay 2 on the PlayStation Portable--which hasn't been confirmed by the publisher but was spotted at online retailers earlier this year--received a T for Teen, with content descriptors for blood and violence. Meanwhile, the site also lists domestic ratings for Empire Interactive's Euro offerings Taito Legends 2 for PC, PlayStation 2, and Xbox, as well as Taito Legends Power-Up for the PSP.
Finally, the site lists a rating for the Lumines Live Artist Pack: Madonna "Sorry" (originally seen in action at last year's E3). While this isn't the first bit of downloadable console content to receive a rating from the ESRB (The Knights of the Nine expansion for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion was rated), it appears to be the first time the additional content has received a different rating than the product for which it is intended. Lumines Live received a rating of E for Everyone, while the Madonna artist pack has been tagged as E10+ for Everyone 10 and Older. There are no listings for Lumines Live's previous downloadable content packs.
A competition posted on the official Capcom website has set readers the task of petitioning for the developer to localise Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney 3 for the US, hinting at the coming of another sequel.
This comes as a surprise considering no prior announcements have been made.
To enter the competition, contestants have to use a provided comic-book template to devise a case for why they think Ace Attorney 3 should be released in the US.
Three winners will be selected based on creativity and humour, and prizes include Ace Attorney figurines and lapel pins.
CVG contacted Capcom for confirmation, who said: "We can neither confirm nor deny the existence of Ace Attorney 3."
However after the success of the first two games, and this hint coming from none other than the official Capcom website, CVG consider it a safe bet that Capcom will continue the franchise with another sequel.
Meanwhile, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Justice For All will be released in Europe on March 16.
A high quality leather cover from Hori for Nintendo DS Lite. You can play your console while it stays protected inside the leather cover. Choice of 3 colours.
- High quality 3rd party product.
- Compatible with NDS and NDS Lite.
- Backup the game save data from the NDS cartridge to PC computer.
- Write the game save data from PC to the NDS cartridge
Divineo UK have posted news that they are back in stock of the DS Xtreme Flash Cart.
Heres more info about the cart for those who dont know what it is:
The DS-X (DS-Xtreme) is a revolutionary storage, homebrew and media player flash cart compatible with all DS Lite and original DS consoles.
Offering a SINGLE unified solution which allows you to do the unthinkable and push the limits of Nintendo’s ™ top selling handheld console. The DS-X does NOT require the use of a passme, external memory or any unsightly GBA cart, just one intelligently designed piece of kit, the same size as an ordinary DS cart, giving an unrivalled experience to any DS enthusiast.
Its plug and play in its finest hour, an in-built USB port on the DS-X paves the way for you to communicate easily between the DS-X OS and your computer. Drag ‘n drop all your favourite media and homebrew as you please directly onto the included 4GBit (512-Mbyte) memory with minimal effort as the DS-X will be instantly recognized by your machine.
Does NOT require anything else to operate. All is in the cart, and the USB cable to connect to your PC is INCLUDED!
US retailer Gamestop has taken out a full-page advert in USA Today to highlight its ongoing commitment to stopping minors buying games about slaughtering hookers and that.
"We Gamestop, as well as other retailers, have already stepped up with ESRB to regulate ourselves," spokesperson Clive Olivera told Eurogamer this afternoon.
"That's what this is all about. We wanted to bump it up and let the public know, especially consumers, that it is something we actually take quite seriously."
The advert features Gamestop president Steve Morgan peering strangely out from under a gigantic "Respect The Ratings" slogan, which is joined on the page by cubes with ominous ESRB ratings stamped on them.
Hello slightly weird Steve Morgan.
Unlike the BBFC ratings in the UK, which are enforced by law, the ESRB system is used primarily as a guideline to highlight the content of a game; it isn't actually against the law to sell a Mature 17+ game to a minor in America.
"I think we can always do better," Olivera continued. "One mature-rated game sold to a minor is one too many. It's our goal to provide as much education as we can, not only to our employees but to consumers in general."
And hence RespectTheRatings.com was born, to help parents get a grip on the crazy world of videogames. Instead of, you know, shouting at them and being completely insane, like certain specific opponents to violent videogames.
"There is an audience for every game, just like there is a system for every consumer out there," Olivera added. "Gamestop is looking at providing as much information as possible so people can make an informed choice."
Which leaves only one question, really: what on earth is happening with Steve Morgan's face?
I remember the dark days of the Barcode Battler, ruffians ripping barcodes off packaged goods to find the most uber monster they could. Bandai, it seems, have outdone themselves with a range of toys that detect natural magnetic fields which then unlock uber monsters to play with. Entitled, Treasure Gaust (I am assuming the latter is an Engrish attempt at spelling gaussed) these toys are pretty rudimentary.
However, there's a DS game now on the way that uses the same technology. Yes, that's right; the terrifying popularity of the DS Lite in Japan coupled with kids fervently searching the country for the ultimate magnetic field...I...I can't comprehend that level of merchandising carnage. Just...can't. Personally, I think it's a novel feature to use in a game mainly because you can't see magnetic fields and kids (predominantly) will be forced to search for them (unlike games such as Boktai that worked off, well, sunlight).
No release date is set but it's penciled in as Q1 2007, so that should give people in Japan enough warning to fortify their homes and don body armor (preferably de-magnetised body armor, obviously).
Writer Richard O. Jones has a lengthy article up at Black Voice News, where he discusses the dangers of racial stereotyping in video games. Citing examples like Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, he contends that young Black and Latino children who constantly see themselves portrayed as thieves and killers are more likely to emulate them.
"If Blacks and Latinos are always portrayed as the villains, or as the victims who get killed often and easily, that is code for powerlessness," said Kansas State University psychologist John Murray, who's studied violence and stereotypes in the media for the past 30 years. "These image persist because too few minorities are in the industry."
It is a very good point he makes. The US video game industry is 80% Caucasian, and let's face it, white people tend to program white characters, mainly because it's what they are familiar with, but I suspect also out of a fear that if they portray a Black character they'll get it wrong, or offend someone. Just look at Barret from FFVII.
Jones goes on to suggest that the solution lies in more young Black and Latino children stop playing the games and start making them, and I agree completely. Not only would it help with their own self-image, it could help everyone understand each other a little bit better.
Next Generation examines while voicing support for the formation of a video game standards commission with the end goal of creating a standardized console format. Like, no more proprietary Nintendos, Sonys, or Microsofts; just commodified machines that adhere to a protocol and play the same games like DVD and MP3 players do with their respective media.
From the article: "Honestly, at its current rate I don't know how much further the industry can go unless we do all band together and start watching out for our best interests as a community... Cliché as it might be, a united front is a strong front – and we've got a hell of a lot to offer the world."
But alas, the technical gap between platforms is far too great and differentiated at the moment to concede to a set standard, not to mention the heavy resistance of major corporations protecting their proprietary pockets. And do we really want to commodify video games more than they already are?
GPF has released another build of the Commodore 64 Emulator for the Nintendo DS. Heres whats new:
ok I think I've made some definite improvements to the sound code, to me its the best sounding yet.
I hope that reenabling sound doesn't break the menu or the emulator again lol, I've tested it on my ds-x and my m3sd and seems to work fine on the couple games I tried.
As you can see, these "Slim Skins" are available to those who recently got their hands on a DS Lite for the first time in Korea. Who wouldn't want to dress their DS Lite up in such colorful skins? We sure as heck want to! Of course, the skin pictured above is by far our favorite.
Koei, ever the masters of careful, deliberate game design, have been judicious with their Shin Sangoku Musou (Dynasty Warriors) series, taking care not to saturate the market with incrementally-upgraded sequels and spinoffs, and sequels of spinoffs, that serve only to extract as much cash as possible from fans.
Oh, wait, we were thinking of someone else. That is exactly what Koei does. Their most egregious cash-in: this new Dynasty Warriors DS. Dynasty Warriors games aren't exactly renowned for their graphics, but this... is an insult to fans of the series. If we are being a little harsh on Koei, it's because every game they release that is not a Gitaroo-Man sequel (on the DS this time, please!) is like a jaggy little polearm poking us ceaselessly.
Note to developers: when you're thinking of making a DS game (and we've all been there, right?) please ask yourself if it really needs to be in 3D. If the answer is "yes," then ask yourself if it really needs to be on the DS. We love our little system (hence the title, focus and content of this site) but 3D can be a hit and miss affair.
The Japanese website for Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings has unleashed a new trailer and, as you all know, we're huge Final Fantasy junkies here at The Fanboy. To access the trailer, you'll want to enter the site and head through the downloads section and click the third trailer. Upon it opening, you'll be greeted with footage that demonstrated the Active Force Battle in the game, showing you sprites duke it out in real time. The battle system looks amazing and only strengthens our desire for this game.
Bronto has posted a new release of his excellent Mail Application for the Nintendo DS:
Sorry for making you wait so long, but here it is, NDSMail 0.54d! I've been (and still am) pretty busy, and NDS development is very time-consuming...
The major issue (SSL) is still not fixed, but as the rest is quite stable I thought I'd give you something to play with. It is compiled with the latest Devkit, dswifi and libfat (DLDI), so even owners of the new-wifi-chipset DSLites should be able to use it. It also contains all the changes from the large overhaul of last autumn. Be sure to check out the attachment feature by sending some (preferably small, see below) jpgs to your DS.
I've created tons of unit tests, everything works fine on the pc (the lib is portable), I've even had someone check it with BoundsChecker. The problem only exists when using it on the DS. I have to find a way to run a debugger on the DS.
Also, the JPG lib causes some trouble with larger images, and I can't get hold of the original author.
Today, Namco Bandai announced that Trioncube for the Nintendo DS has gone gold and is ready to enter production. Trioncube is an action-puzzle game designed to challenge players' reflexes as they race across the galaxy to rescue a beautiful princess from the clutches of the evil Hellmetal.
"Trioncube will offer players a thrilling and action packed puzzle game that will have them coming back to their DS time and time again," said Yoshi Niki of Namco Bandai. "Its distinct visual style and captivating gameplay will make it tough to put down."
Trioncube places players in the cockpit of the intergalactic battleship, Penko. The goal of the game is to stack 3x3 blocks, called Trioncubes, and thereby create a chain reaction which will power your Penko. The larger the chain reaction, the more fuel is produced, and the faster you will reach your final destination.
Trioncube features eight different planets in Arcade Mode, 45 missions in Story Mode, an Endless Mode for long-lasting fun, as well as several other modes of play. Players can earn coins in each of the game's modes which can then be redeemed for new effects and screen art to customize the game.
Trioncube is set to hit store shelves across North America on February 20, 2007.
From Amazon UK comes all the following releases for today and the week ahead:
Heres the listings:
Airbus Fleet (Add on for FS 2004/FSX) (PC CD) (2007) (Windows XP)
ARMA: Armed Assault (PC)
Arthur and the Invisibles (PSP)
Call of Duty 2: Game of the Year Edition (Xbox 360 Classics)
Chili Con Carnage (PSP)
Classic British Motor Racing (PC CD)
Classic British Motor Racing (PS2)
Delaware St John Adventure Double Pack 1 & 2 (PC)
Excite Truck (Wii)
Fritz Chess 10 (PC DVD)
Fuzion Frenzy 2 (Xbox 360)
God Hand (PS2)
Hammy goes Nuts (PSP)
HDMI 4 Way Switch Box with Remote & 3 Metre HDMI Cable (PS3)
Lumines Plus (PS2)
Mario Slam Basketball (Nintendo DS)
Paradise (PC)
Postman Pat: The Greendale Rocket (GBA)
Project Gotham Racing 3 (Xbox 360 Classics)
Robin Hoods Quest (PC)
Robin Hoods Quest (PS2)
Sherlock Holmes - The Awakened (PC DVD)
Ship Simulator 2006 (Official Add-on) (PC)
Shrek Smash 'N' Crash (PSP)
The Snow Queen Quest (PC)
The Snow Queen Quest (PS2)
Supreme Commander (PC)
Supreme Commander UEF Faction Pack - Amazon Exclusive (PC)
Test Drive Unlimited (PC DVD)
Test Drive Unlimited (PS2)
TOCA Race Driver 3 Challenge (PSP)
Tortuga: Two Treasures (PC)
War Front: Turning Point (PC)
World Series of Poker: Tournament Champions (PC)
- DS Lite: 201,177
- Wii: 78,550
- PSP: 32,175
- PS3: 23,431
- PS2: 16,033
- Xbox 360: 4,811
- GBA SP: 980
- Game Boy Micro: 884
- Gamecube: 383
- DS Phat: 121
- GBA: 36
The Wii/DS tag team are trouncing Sonys efforts in Japan, if they bring out connectivity soon between the consoles then watch Wii sales go through the roof.
Most games are released on Fridays (to maximise weekend buying activity) but if something is brought forward or moves, this is the place to come if you want to track the title that just keeps on slipping (naming no names, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.). We'll even throw in one or two hardware and peripheral releases if we think they're worthy.
The complete list of games released in the UK this week (23/02/07):
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six, PSP, Ubisoft
You have to pity the publisher that brings a game out on the same day as the long anticipated Final Fantasy XII, which is exactly what Ubisoft is doing by releasing Pippa Funnel 3: The Golden Stirrup Challenge this coming Friday. It doesn't stand a chance...
Of course, different audiences, different markets but you have to wonder how anything is going to compete with Square Enix's 100+ hour PS2 behemoth. Can Crackdown make a dent in its hardcore following?
Final Fantasy XII (PS2)
How can we sum up this game in just a few words? 'Buy it!' is probably most succinct. If you've never played a Final Fantasy game before it's the perfect place to start. And if you have you should realise straight away that this mammoth chapter in the series has done away with random encounters entirely, the only thing that really grated in previous episodes.
There's a new 'gambit' system allowing you to tailor combat commands to your every whim and a kind of bizarre chess-style mini-game that lets you unlock special 'licence' abilities for your characters. It's all done with Square Enix's usual élan, story-telling genius and focus on sumptuous visuals. Pippa Funnel RIP.
Crackdown (Xbox 360)
This is Dave Jones' (the creator of GTA and Lemmings) latest title and it takes the free-roaming concept to the next level. Set in the crime-infested world of Pacific City the game sees you, literally, raining down justice on hundreds of thugs and perps. The title's main innovation is complete freedom of motion. There are no areas locked-off and the city's dizzy 'verticality' can be fully explored by your character's ability to leap and climb with abandon. But action is the main focus and there's a strong OTT explosive dynamic about the game that'll appeal to anyone who enjoyed Mercenaries or Just Cause. In fact it's everything those games aspired to be. Well worth a look if you prefer action over RPGs.
Ghost Rider (PS2, PSP, GBA)
Released to coincide with the movie, starring Nicholas Cage as a fiery-headed vigilante, Ghost Rider is Devil May Cry with a hint of Road Rash. We've played the game at preview stage several times and it's certainly enjoyable in a God of War-style way but lacks that game's exploratory charm and intricate boss encounters. The PSP version has been adapted to deliver shorter, more goal oriented missions and looks superb. Likely to be a decent movie tie-in but unless you are a fan of the comic-book there are better games out this week.
Kororinpa (Wii)
Now this one is interesting and we're pleased it's getting a European release. Certainly worth looking into if you've already grown tired of Wii Sports. Basically it's Marble Madness where you tilt the Remote to move your marble around the course.
Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas (PSP)
Rainbow Six Vegas was a return to form for the series on Xbox 360 and was particularly effervescent in multiplayer. This is the PSP port and along with introducing new characters and new locations in the single-player component there's also some exclusive Wi-Fi multiplayer modes. Along with a Terrorist Hunt mode there's a 5-player Survival and Team Survival option available in both Ad hoc and Infrastructure. If the gameplay can be tailored to the PSP controls this could well be one of the best multiplayer games on the PSP to date.
Pippa Funnel 3: The Golden Stirrup Challenge (PC)
Our Week Ahead round-up wouldn't be complete without a short comment on the latest in the Pippa Funnel series. Bizarrely this is from the same developer that brought us the intriguing and innovative In Memoriam on PC. But Pippa Funnel 3: The Golden Stirrup Challenge is exactly what you'd expect: a horsey petting and dressage title, mainly aimed at girls (though CVG's Andy Taylor also has a soft spot for it). This time round you can visit Italy, Alsace and China and even raise your own foal.
Keep an eye out for next week's round-up going live on Saturday.
An ergonomic rechargeable power grip for DS™ Lite.
Perfect for hard core gamers with long gameplay outdoors or on the road, it also improves grip, making high scores on the go just got easier!
• Enjoy longer periods of gaming without having to recharge;
great for road trips or flights
• Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery provides up to
8 hours of additional play time
• Ergonomic design provides user with a more comfortable,
less strenuous grip, enabling longer gaming sessions
• Existing DS lite AC adaptor simultaneously charges handheld
and Charger Grip
• Easy installation and removal
Happy News about Games Related to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms Day! So far, it's been a solemn event that we've observed respectfully, thinking about how ugly DS games affect us all. But we've got marginally better news for you, so don't take down your traditional NGRRTK Day decorations. Hori have released some relatively nice DS accessories in a black-and-gold color scheme to tie into the release of Sega's new card-based arcade adaptation Sangokushi Taisen DS, including a stand, a DS card case, and a stylus. Sure, they're not totally new items-- the stand looks to be the same design as the one reviewed by CheapyD, but they're black, with goooooolden eeeeemblems on them.
We like the blackness of this set, but we aren't sure about advertising any affiliation with Sangokushi Taisen DS or any other arcade-fad card games. Also, we like to keep our DS systems in our gentle, loving hands while we play, not relegated to a cold, unfeeling stand. It's a DS-fan thing; we have a very positive opinion on the concept of touching.
If you've been on the fence about this whole Pokémon thing, just waiting to be convinced about the monster-collecting genre (thus giving away your rock-underside-located residential status) then Nintendo knows just how to tempt you: free junk. Preorder the new DS Poké-games, Diamond and Pearl, from the Gamestop -EB mega-retail conglomerate and you'll be rewarded with a stylus! Also included is a ... stylus ... holder! It's a holder for your stylus! (Back in our day, we had stylus holders too. We called them DSes.)
Naturally, both of these items are decorated with Pokemans, so friends who come anywhere near your DS-wielding hand or your designated DS Accessories Storage Area will be tipped off about your pathological need -- your addiction -- to catch 'em.
Also, it wouldn't be Pokémon if there were no incentive to buy both games -- in the case of these bonuses, the styli each have a different little Poké-mascot on top: Dialga for the Diamond version and Palkia for the Pearl version. We assure you that those are real Pokémon names and not rare diseases. Or maybe both? We don't have medical degrees.
history:
* support the DLDI,and open the DLDI source code
* support CRC write checksum,read/write is more safety
* fix few roms running bug
* moonshell play movie more smooth now,and upgrade to V1.5
* support MK5 joypad and MK5 mouse,and open the source code
* dpgtools upgrade to v1.21 ,support more video format
how to upgrade:
[1] link your MK5 to pc
[2] unzip this rar pack,and copy all file to MK5 removeable disk,overwrite all old files
[3] disconnect PC,turn on nds and enter the menu,click and run "mk5_update_fat_new_V1.23A.nds"
[4] turn off nds,now upgrade finish,enjoy it!
Robert Durbin has released a new game for the DS called Card Sharks.
Heres the release info
Card sharks is very simple, basically you bet an amount of money that the next card is higher or lower than your previous card. The goal is to get as much money as possible. A perfect score would be 32,000 if you bet it all on each choice. This includes the $400 bonus. If you bet all your money and lose after the 1st line, you lose. Minimum bets are $50, on the final bet its half your money. Good Luck. I may add an internet high score table if there enough interest.
the program, working state and game data have been squeezed into the four megabytes of main memory it requires either shareware or commercial pak files, Amiga and PC paks have been successfully used total conversions and mods should work, assuming they respect the tiny memory size networking currently has been removed, but will return at a later date
Graphics
the majority of the software renderering has been moved over to using the 3D hardware
world textures are display nearly-correctly, there are however still plenty of texture-coordinate bugs!
fake-lightmapping is currently broken, and needs some time spent on it. As a result, the game is flat-shaded
there's no dynamic lighting yet
there are no textures on the Alias models yet
sprites and particles got hacked in yesterday (17/02/07) and are only partially hardware-accelerated, and have no textures
no water, teleporter or sky animations yet
Sound
sound effects support is about 80% finished, so expect to hear pops, clicks, the occasional screech etc
CD music is currently being investigated
the existing solution requires the CD soundtrack to be ripped to your flash card
uses an MP3 decoder, running on the second processor
...but the file streaming slows down the primary processor a bit too much
Tech info
uses the libfat DLDI interface, so should hopefully work on all supported flash cards
built using the latest toolchain, devkitARM r20
in-game performance is still not hot, but is being actively worked on - expect to see it run twice as fast in the finished build
performance is timed using a custom function-instrumenting profiler (a bit like gprof)
How to play
This mini-guide assumes that you are familar with the process of running homebrew on your Nintendo DS. If you don't know how to run NDS homebrew, look online for the answer...
You need Quake's data files. If you own a copy, that's cool - you'll have full access to the game. If not, then you can download the shareware version of Quake (for DOS) from id's site. This will only allow you to play the levels from the first episode. If you want to play the full game, buy a copy - don't ask me (or others) where you can get these files.
In the root of your flash card, make a directory named id1
If you're using the shareware version, copy pak0.pak from that archive into the id1 directory that you just created
If you're using a commerical version, copy pak0.pak AND pak1.pak into that directory
You need a config file to tell the game how buttons are set up, etc. I know that my config file works, so download that from the link above and save it into the id1 directory.
Visit Chishm's DLDI page (above) and download the DLDI driver file which corresponds to your NDS booting method.
Download the QuakeDS binary package above, and extract the NDS file into the root of your flash card
You now need to patch that program so that it will be able to access the files on your card
For example, on my GBA Movie Player (CF) I download the file named 'mpcf.dldi' from Chishm's page.
I then run 'dlditool mpcf.dldi k:\QuakeDS.nds' - note K: is the volume where my Compact Flash card is mounted, yours will likely differ
Now do what you've gotta do to make an NDS start on your card
For example, on my GBA Movie Player, I need to rename K:\QuakeDS.nds to K:\_boot_mp.nds
Put the card in your booting hardware and turn on your DS!
Controls
The game is not currently finished, so there's no control customisation, bar what you can hack up in in_null.c and config.cfg. You will be able to properly change the controls in the finished version.
Current controls:
touching the screen changes the camera view
using the D-pad emulates the WSAD control method, so use up and down to move forward and backward, left and right to strafe left and right
B is bound to escape, so this will bring up/hide the menu
A is bound to enter, so can be used to select entries in the menu...and also jump
X/Y are weapon cycle up/down
L is fire
R is bound to god mode
Download and Give Feedback Via Comments
via simon hall
Things in Korea are starting to change. A country known more for its voricious PC gaming appetite looks poised to be the settling for yet another console war. This year, the PS3 will launch in June, and the Nintendo Wii will hit stores sometime later. With the Xbox 360 out in Korea since 2006, is Microsoft worried? Says Microsoft Korea director Kim Dae-jin:
When we first started to sell Xbox 360 a year ago, many people from the game industry and the media worried about us. But now, things have turned rosier. We will have some healthy competition in 2007 and that will expand the market volume. Even though PlayStation and Nintendo are joining the race, we will still be able to make more sales than last year.
If the DS is any indication of how Korean gamers view Nintendo, huge initial sales since the product when on sale show that the Wii could be a hit. Sony has an uphill fight as Sony Computer Entertainment Korea faces big losses and recently cut its staff by a quarter — Hence the delayed PS3 launch in Korea. Piracy might be to blame for Sony's woes, though. And since Microsoft Korea is apparently moving more units than its Japan branch, things do look promising!
Ok this is a hastily written update, mucho busy! Can’t believe a week has gone already, the time has really flown! The reworking under the hood is mostly done now.. I’ve changed the way I handle units and buildings so its even more unified which has simplified a few things. The debug menu code changes are pretty much done, which is good.
The weapon reloading code is working, but I’ll probably change it again in the future. There’s some cases when a weapon charges before it fires that the system can’t do, e.g. an obelisk. Otherwise a unit can happily fire and destroy another unit now. Oh and you can select buildings now to see their health. Oh did I mention armour types in an earlier post? There are up to 8 different armour types right now though that number can grow as needed.
Robert Durbin has released a new version of his Press Your Luck game
Heres whats new:
I fixed some annoying bugs, involving trading spins on a 3 players game. also made it so when you click on most buttons they wont activate until you release the stylus, this caused some probs where you may spin or pass when you didnt intend too, cause the buttons would change on you and they would detect the stylus and consider it a click.
I have made a new version with an online scoreboard using WIFI..
New release from Fostorial, heres the release info:
It's my first attempt at DS program so be gentle. It's top trumps, plain and simple. The game has two decks, comic book legends and video game characters, with a viewer for each deck.
The controls are totally stylus based and they should work since they work with my R4 and that seems to be the thing that has the most trouble with the stylus. Just tap the catergory you want to go with.
I have tested this on a R4 DS slot 2 device with a DS lite. Any one tries on anything else and finds problems let me know.
I would appreciate any feedback (especially good ) on it as a whole or any bugs you find with it.
It is in the beta stage at the moment, I still need to put the statistics in the collection viewer and its missing the third deck but that's mainly because I can't decide what to have as a third deck. I'm also gonna implement 2 player when I get the chance.
The DS-X sales department is delighted to announce that the DS-Xtreme 4Gb is now in full stock since its inception onto the market. For many months the company has strived to fulfil the phenomenal demand and is now finally clear of back orders. Fans of the DS-Xtreme will be pleased to here that their local retailer is now enabled to possess sufficient stock of the product to promptly fulfil orders. Thanks must be accredited to retailers and customers for their levels of patience in the build-up to this stage.
What do you do when you can't get a Wii? You stare at pictures of it. Nintendo's hardware shortage has likely encouraged a startling boost in web traffic for the company. According to data from Nielsen & NetRatings, Nintendo.com's unique visitor count reached 2.08 million in January, up 82% from last year's count.
The numbers were enough to trump both PlayStation.com (1.55 million uniques) and Xbox.com (1.5 million uniques) -- and land Nintendo.com in seventh place among the top computer hardware manufacturer sites. Nintendo also recorded the third longest browsing time per visit at 19 minutes and 29 seconds. Despite Nintendo's web growth, Apple.com proved it was still the destination for lustful consumers, recording 43.51 million unique visitors, who averaged 79 minutes and 25 seconds of perusing. It's called the iPhone.
JimmyL has released a new version of his awesome RTS game for the Nintendo DS:
Heres whats new:
Time to start with a new version number since I'm actually adding features and not just fixing bugs. This new version just contains one new feature, namely unit groups. I added 9 slots for remembering/setting active groups. To use them, have a group of units or a building selected, tap an empty slot at the top left you want to assign it to and you're done. Tap the number again to reselect those units, tap it with the group already selected to center the screen to their location, and hold the number for a half second to erase the grouping
Rumor alert! NamcoBandai is allegedly planning a load of new, and new-ish, games in their Tales series for Nintendo consoles. The rumor gives titles for three new (potential) games, one of which is headed for the DS. If internet rumormongering is to be believed, Namco is working on a 2D sequel to the oft-ported Tales of Phantasia.
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