If there's one way to stop a box office slump in Hollywood, it's releasing another installment of a fun-for-all-ages franchise. The Harry Potter movies, based on the J.K. Rowling books, have never had problems filling the seats and selling popcorn.
With the inevitable blockbuster movie comes the obligatory blockbuster game based on it. Electronic Arts today announced that Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the fourth game based on the wizard wunderkind from the publisher, has gone gold and will ship November 8, four days before the film is released.
The game was developed by EA LA and will be available for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, PC, Game Boy Advance, and DS. A PSP version is scheduled to arrive in stores later in the month.
The Goblet of Fire will follow the storyline of the movie, with Harry being selected as a new competitor in the Triwizard Tournament. Throughout the game, Harry will battle in the Quidditch World Cup, come face-to-face with a dragon, and battle Lord Voldemort.
Characters will look like their silver-screen counterparts, a first for the series. In addition, not only will Harry's buddies Ron and Hermione be playable characters, but up to three gamers can plug in for cooperative play, dispensing spell combinations for even more potent sorcery.
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is rated E10+ for Everyone 10 and Older, and sells for $39.99 on the Xbox, PS2, and GameCube, $34.99 on the DS, and $29.99 on the PC and GBA.
Francois has updated his ReboNDS game for the Nintendo DS. ReboNDS is a puzzle/action game in which you have to fill a playgound area isolating balls. To reach the goal, you have to draw horizontal or vertical lines. Highscores are now being saved and the microphone is finally available.
ninogenio has Updated his Nintendo DS homebrew game, heres the info:
heres the latest ive modified some stuff it now has m3 support and cleaner code ive also done a bit of optimizeation like fixed point precalced sin and cos and a few other bits i dont belive its quite as good as the first ver because ive changed quite a lot and some parts im still working on hope this one works. im going to get my head down now to finish this .
Infantile Paralyser have updated their Shell for the NintendoDS, heres whats new:
ModPlugin:The error message is displayed with the file into which ZIP is compressed.
ModPlugin:The seek bar was Ver0.6 and a defective operation. The bug was corrected.
Leading video games publisher and developer Namco Hometek Inc. today announced that "Real-Time Conflict: Shogun Empires(TM)," its upcoming real-time strategy game for the Nintendo DS(TM), has gone gold. Utilizing the unique capabilities of the DS, the game lets players wage war in feudal Japan with an innovative touch screen control system, give orders to troops using voice activated control and even take on a friend in wireless multiplayer battles. "Real-Time Conflict: Shogun Empires" will be available in stores November 21 and is rated T for Teen by the ESRB.
Players are swept back to the honor and intrigue of feudal Japan in "Real-Time Conflict: Shogun Empires," controlling one of two rival brothers who seek to attain ultimate power. As they conquer neighboring territories and amass fearsome armies, only one will be able to end this bloody feud and seize the title of Shogun.
In their pursuit of absolute control over Japan, players will utilize an innovative touch screen control scheme to organize, move and give orders to their army. Swordsmen, pikemen and archers will wreak havoc across the battlefield, giving players an unparalleled amount of strategic freedom in devising tactics and taking on the enemy. A simple touch screen interface allows for smooth control of each individual army, while specialized mini-games let players assault armored fortresses, engage in one-on-one ninja battles and pursue the enemy through the forest on horseback. Using the wireless capabilities of the Nintendo DS, players can test their battlefield skills against a friend in intense multiplayer encounters.
“For years gamers have been clamoring for a handheld real time strategy game with the same ease of control as their PC counterparts, and now 'Real-Time Conflict: Shogun Empires' is poised to deliver on this impressive goal,” said Jeff Lujan, business director at Namco Hometek Inc. “Players will have seamless control over their armies with both touch screen and voice commands, and the thrilling multiplayer modes should make many RTS fans happy.”
For more details on "Real-Time Conflict: Shogun Empires," please visit www.namco.com.
Sgstair:
I now have a working implementation of UDP/IP that talks to my computer
This is now in the verification process for milestones 2 and 3 (yay!), but I'm not quite done yet. TCP should be ready in another few days, and I need to clean up some things and package it so it's easier to use before I release. Things are looking VERY Good.
Connectivity is all the rage now. Nintendo succeeds in bringing NDS gamers all over the world together with their new online multiplayer stint, tagged "Easy. Safe. Free" in Japan. It's definitely time to expand your own personal gaming community, by finding your match in a bunch of upcoming games for the versatile handheld, with Mario Kart DS and Animal Crossing: Wild World leading the way. The NDS built-in receiver allows you to compete against other players whereever a Wi-Fi hot spot is close. Nintendo also unveiled a new Wi-Fi adapter for the Nintendo DS, which offers the option to plug the USB connector into your computer's USB port to enjoy the service through your own wired internet connection (broadcasted wirelessly to your NDS), in case there's a lack of a nearby Wi-Fi station. For Mario Kart and Animal Crossing, the online service is free; Nintendo announced at the beginning of October that it is up to third-party publishers, whether they want to follow the same path or opt for paid subscription schemes. The network lets you use friends lists when searching for online opponents, while competing against "rivals" or random players (nationally or on a global scale) is also possible.
Read on further below, where we go into more detail about these highly anticipated, first online titles for Nintendo DS (we serve some movies as well!). Mario Kart is pure racing fun gone handheld, with fresh features and dual-screen gameplay comfort. Off- or online, it will be one of the most popular NDS titles of the now gearing up Christmas season. Available on November 14th for just US$ 49.90 (shipped!). Animal Crossing: Wild World brings the superb GameCube game experience to Ninty's current handheld generation: a bustling village of your own, with lots of additional interactive features. Watch out for the Japanese release on November 23rd, while the US version is due on December 5th - both are just US$ 49.90 each and eligible for our Free Shipping Worldwide promotion as well. The brilliant Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector will be offered on the same day as Mario Kart DS: the online party starts on November 14th, we recommend preordering now to join the action right from the beginning.
Watch out for freakin', flyin' Koopa shells once again with the latest Mario Kart edition, this time for Nintendo DS. Super Mario Kart on SuperNes is one of the most popular titles of all time, and this latest version seems to sport some additional features that might even top all what has been done before. Running in smooth 60 frames per second, Mario Kart DS is a super-fast 3D racing beauty to behold. Follow the action on the upper screen, while monitoring your progress on the bottom one, where the track map gets displayed. Race and battle wireless against a whole gang of famous Nintendo icons: the all-star cast includes Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Wario, Bowser and Toad! You can definitely feel the difference in speed and handling between them: smaller characters jump off the line more quickly than heavier ones for example. Similar to the N64 and GameCube versions of Mario Kart, the NDS edition also employs a power-sliding boost technique, activated by the R shoulder button within a slide. By using the D-pad, players can get an extra jolt of speed when coming out of the bend.
Compete with up to four people online wirelessly using Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection or race up to eight people using one game cartridge with local wireless connection. Go wild on 30 courses designed to replicate the best tracks from past games as well as all-new courses. The touchscreen can be used to create your own kart emblem for the game. In addition to Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, Mario Kart DS features five different game modes. VS and Battle are available in Multiplayer Mode for up to eight players and all modes can be accessed by single players. There is Grand Prix, Time Trials, VS, Battle and Missions, where clearing all promises a big reward at the end. Mario Kart DS still puts heavy emphasis on pick-up power-ups. While turtle shells and banana peels return, the DS edition has a power-up that can be launched ahead of the kart, where the blast radius can take out more than one racer, depending on your accuracy. Just watch out for the most devastating of weapons: the winged blue spiky shell, which seeks out the current first place holder. Kaboom! A true handheld gaming winner, Mario Kart DS is a genre fan's ultimate dream-fulfilling release. Be sure to preorder your copy now.
Move into a living, breathing world inside the Nintendo DS... and then invite friends to visit from anywhere on earth. It's the sequel to the wildly popular GameCube game, where now players and up to three friends can hang out in the same village and interact in real time – either through wireless LAN or over Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Days and seasons pass in real time and gamers can decorate their homes, catch bugs or fish, collect brand-new items like hats and sunglasses or just chat with the wild and whacky characters in their villages. Create your own story, only this time you are able to accomplish that on the go: just live life, extend a home, interact with neighbors and explore the surroundings. Here, much of the cast of the original Animal Crossing returns, including animals of all shapes and personality types: K.K. Slider, Tom Nook, Blathers, Mr. Resetti and more. Expect to be introduced to new faces as well.
Players move into village, buy a small house and then do whatever they want. Use your stylus to type letters or design patterns on the touchscreen, which makes item management and world navigation super-easy. Draw designs for clothing or wallpaper this way, drag clothing or items onto characters or just lead them around the world. The interface has been recreated for the Nintendo DS online experience. Villages have now a giant gate at the north end of the screen. The GameCube version featured a train station here. Inside, one of two guards will give you the option to either change your flag's texture or to visit another village via local connection or Wi-Fi. The latter selection brings up a dedicated menu of villages available, where you can choose your destination. A great life-sim with added online capabilities, Animal Crossing: Wild World is above all a fun universe, where you and friends can gather to create an individual gaming experience, free from most pre-directed paths the majority of games released today might force you to follow. Be part of the global village on November 23rd, preorders for this unique title are already very welcome.
Nyagosu has updated his MSX emulator for the Nintendo DS, heres whats new:
Set adjust in scroll just screen 4 correspondence.
Never, the spaceman bow was not thought corresponds to the side scroll of the MSX2+ with.
Changing scroll method with the machine, don't you think? it is the る.
The BIOS modified in MSX2 fixing. Because the BIOS which you use changes, please note.
In each case, try to be able to select.
Menu you tried changing the picture and the file selective picture, (it is and the leprosy and others doing it undertakes)
Sound correction
212 the part where the screen at the time of the dot is not visible in the lower picture indication
Lien has updated his Drum app for the DS, heres whats new:
PAlib Logo in splash
Menu with some options (WIP, not working)
Better Drums images...
What Im gonna do in final version
Saving compositions
Play over a song (I'll think about it)
Better quality sounds
Two Drumset option (simple-complete)vTwo sound posibilities (Acustic-Electric)
Explore the wide-open world of The Sims 2 while trying to gain fame and fortune for your own custom created Sims. Become a real estate mogul building, customizing and running a hotel in Strangetown. Bring in the cash by keeping everyone happy and keeping the hotel in good condition. Design the paintings on the walls of the gallery and record the music in the lounge though touch screen mini-games. Keep Strangetown's Sims happy to uncover their hidden secrets.
Create your world and live in it how you choose. Open ended gameplay allows for endless fun in a completely 3D world!
Be aware of what time it is because the Nintendo DS Internal Clock dictates the date and time of day in the game. Depending on when you are playing will affect who you can socialize with and what you can do.
Max out your Nintendo DS with seven all new touch screen activities.
OK, im gonna have a pop at making some homebrew things. i got a great idea for a puzzle game. does anyone know how to get the free thing thats been post everwere? ive seen it on a few site but dunno how to get it. can anyone help me at all?
Adding to an already impressive line-up of new releases for the start of 2006, Nintendo of Europe has announced a distribution deal with Capcom to bolster its post-Christmas European release schedule.
Four new games have been added to the list, with Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney and Megaman Battle Network 5 coming to DS and Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble heading to the GameCube.
NOE's senior marketing director, Jim Merrick, stated: "Nintendo is delighted to have signed a distribution deal with one of the most prestigious developers in the gaming industry. Capcom games are of the highest standards in both creativity and quality and fit perfectly with our line-up for the first half of 2006."
Both Viewtiful Joe titles will see a release in February; with acclaimed DS title Phoenix Wright following on March 10th. No firm release date for Megaman has been released, though the game is scheduled for the early part of 2006.
Whilst the Capcom distribution deal will add four great titles to the release schedule for Nintendo, the company has since announced an incredibly diverse schedule that consists at present of an astonishing forty-five new releases.
Twenty-five DS titles, nine GameCube titles and eleven GBA games, are all positioned for release on the three Nintendo formats within the first three months of the coming year.
<a href="http://hem.passagen.se/flubba/gba.html" target="_blank" >FluBBa</a> has updated his Sega Master System emulator for the GBA (works on Nintendo DS - with a GBA Flash Cart - and Gamecube Gameboy Player too ), heres whats new
- Added support for Street Fighter II.
- Added config for using R as Start.
- Fixed Pause in Robocop 3.
- Fixed some scrolling glitches (Gunstar Heroes intro, Rygar).
Nintendo is celebrating the launch of its eagerly anticipated Mario Kart DS game with an exclusive Nintendo DS bundle, launching on 25th November 2005. Not only will new owners be able to get their hands on a Nintendo DS console and game in one handy pack, but they will get them both for the great value estimated retail price of just Ł100. If you have been looking for an excuse to buy a Nintendo DS this is it!
The Mario Kart DS Pak is the perfect package for Christmas, and following on from the massive success of the Nintendogs Blue and Pink Nintendo DS bundles, it is sure to be a hit on the high street. Mario Kart first launched on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and since then, with games having launched for Nintendo 64, Game Boy Advance and Nintendo GameCube, Mario Kart has become a phenomenon with gamers and Nintendo fans alike. By the end of March 2005, almost 30 million Mario Kart games had been sold worldwide.
The latest incarnation in the hugely popular series is also the first Nintendo DS game to offer online play, allowing you to race anyone, anywhere, anytime for free. Players will be able to race wirelessly with up to eight friends or over the internet with three other players from anywhere in the world.
The Nintendo DS launched across Europe on 11th March 2005. It features dual screen gaming, touch-screen technology, voice recognition, wireless gameplay and Wi-Fi compatibility, all in the palm of your hand. Since launch sales shattered the one million mark across Europe in under three months. Worldwide, 6.65 million players worldwide had already got to grips with the Nintendo DS by the end of June 2005, embracing its innovative touch-screen technology as the stylish and most original games console of this generation.
The Mario Kart Pak (including a copy of Mario Kart DS and a silver Nintendo DS) launches on November 25th 2005 at the fantastic estimated retail price of around Ł100. Mario Kart DS launches on the same day at the estimated retail price of Ł30.
Also launching on November 25th 2005 is the Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector which will enable players who have Broadband at home to join in the Wi-Fi fun. The Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector will be priced at around Ł30.
GPF has released a port of SupermarioWar for the Nintendo DS, heres a screen:
this is based of the xbox 1.01 source code using SDL
Supports either 0,1 or 2 players against up to 4 cpu players.
One person uses the dpad, the other the buttons to play against each other.
enjoy,
Troy Davis(GPF)
DS software continued to sell strongly as well, with puzzle title Pokemon Torouze holding firm at number two in the ranking, while Nintendo's pair of Brain Training titles - DS Training for Adults and Gentle Brain Exercises - are both still in the chart, at numbers eight and nine respectively.
Indeed, the DS continues to be Japan's top-selling console as well, with the handheld garnering a massive 40 per cent of the market this week, compared to 24 per cent for the PlayStation Portable and 19 per cent for the PlayStation 2.
The Game Boy Micro, however, continues to see a slide in sales after a strong launch back in September, and this week saw its market share down to under 10 per cent for the first time - with the combined market share of all three Game Boy Advance variants sliding to below 16 per cent.
Nintendo has announced that more than 15,000 Wi-Fi Connection hotspots will be active in time for the European launch of the service - a figure which is set to almost double by the end of the year.
Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz, senior director of marketing Jim Merrick said: "We've been on the sidelines of online gaming for a long time, because we just didn't see the right combination of value for the consumer and technology and gameplay."
"Now I think the time is right. We talked about the promise of Wi-Fi when we first introduced the DS, and now we can show you what Nintendo's vision of online gaming is."
More than half of the hotspots will be in the UK alone, thanks to deals with BT Openzone and The Cloud. Piggybacking their infrastructure, Wi-Fi Connection will allow gamers to play Wi-Fi-enabled multiplayer games like Tony Hawk's American Sk8land (Nov 18) and Mario Kart DS (Nov 25) from a vast number of locations.
These will include branches of McDonald's and Coffee Republic, Hilton and Ramada Jarvis hotels, Road Chef and Welcome Break service stations, First Great Western railway stations, more than 25 student unions, city centre BT payphones, airports, football stadiums, the British Library and Canary Wharf.
Nintendo will be launching a new website, Nintendo Wi-Fi.com, where visitors can input a postcode to find the location of their nearest hotspot. The site will also give gamers the chance to see how their high scores compare with other players, and will offer technical support - those with wireless networks at home will be able to search a database of more than 200 routers for advice on configuration.
Those who don't have a home wireless network will be able to purchase the Wi-Fi USB Connector dongle, which attaches to a PC, to get their DS online. It will retail for around GBP 30.
Nintendo is keen to stress that there are no fees or subscription costs for playing, and no risk of harassment as players do not directly communicate with each other.
Instead of entering a name and password, each DS owner has a unique identifier number entered into the DS's memory. Users can swap numbers offline to build up a friends list, or play anonymously against gamers from all around the world.
Wi-Fi Connection will launch in Europe on November 25. Nintendo has confirmed that its next-generation console, codenamed Revolution, will also make use of the service.
New gameplay videos and trailers for Mario Kart DS have been released, as well as a hands-on preview from Nintendo of America’s Redmond headquarters.
A bright direct-feed trailer for the game is available, but it’s basically a 26-second ad. The two darker off-screen gameplay videos are where the action’s at—clocking in at 31 minutes total—even if they’re as dark and fuzzy as the picture you see here. At least the game’s supposed to be running at 60 frames per second! (Clearer ones from before can be found over here.)
Some very thoughtful multiplayer features have been added, though, including mixed multi-cart and download-play matches, classic tracks from older games, as well as an automatic win/loss-based matchmaking service (even if Internet matches are limited to four players at a time). Single-player Battle Mode against racing bots is also available. MK DS will be released November 14th, and the DS bundle is scheduled for the 28th.
It's been a busy old week in Nintendo land, and none more busy than yesterday when a bunch of lucky journalists were literally catapulted like giant peas from a secret location in the depths of Heathrow all the way to sunny Frankfurt for Nintendo Europe's Gamers Summit. In return for the light bruising and high-velocity hairstyles, we were rewarded with a good long look at the company's forthcoming 2006 lineup alongside some transatlantic Mario Kart DS antics and the full lowdown on its Wi-fi Connection Service which made the whole thing possible.
Given that we came away with enough material to fill, ooh, a King Kong notepad, we've only got time to go through some of it today - largely because we're all set to go and enjoy the free-flowing alcohol at the Golden Joysticks later on.
Of most note, aside from the frankly sublime Animal Crossing: Wild World and Mario Kart DS, was our first look at Nintendo's Wi-fi Connection Service in action. We've been hearing for a while now that it's designed to be as transparent and simple for players to use as possible and - whoop! - it looks like Nintendo wasn't fibbing there.
We're not even going to pretend we understand the technical gubbins going on in the background but that's because we don't have to - the whole point is that it works seemlessly with the games shoved into your DS, just as long as you've got your own wi-fi connection at home or happen to be near one of Nintendo's 7,500 announced free public hotspots around the country.
Using Mario Kart as an example (given that we thrashed a bunch of US journalists in Seattle and even made Mario Kart DS producer Hideki Konno run away - although that might just have been because he wanted to go eat his tea), it's simply a matter of selecting the appropriate WCS option on the game's main menu and you'll be rocketed around Nintendo's server while the game tries to find three other competitors based on your chosen criteria.
At the moment, the service allows for searches based on players online in your Friend's list, Rivals (which is anyone the game judges to be of similar skill level to yourself), Continental (so that's anyone in your territory) or Worldwide. As far as Mario Kart goes, all that's left to do after that is to select your racer then each player gets to pick their preferred track and the game randomly selects from the nominations. From there on, it's racing ahoy - it's a remarkably solid and stable online racing experience at that. Kudos Nintendo!
The set-up is pretty similar for Activision's Tony Hawk title, although we didn't get much in the way of play time on that one, suggesting that these are likely to be consistent options for most online games - assuming developers decide to make them available in their games.
As is pretty common knowledge by now, certain games like Animal Crossing: Wild World only permit you to go online with people in your Friend's list if you want to cross-pollinate in each other's villages. The logic behind this is simple: rogue traveller's can't enter your village unannounced and cause havoc on your messageboard and hack down every tree in sight - it's worth noting as well that Nintendo's worried enough about the safety of its younger gamers to have implemented a swear filter to stop any language naughtiness. B@!!&ck$.
Interestingly, Animal Crossing also uses a feature which brings a whole bunch of possibilities to Nintendo's service in the future. At the moment, there's an option which enables you to connect to Nintendo directly and download freebies and extras for your game - the example we were given is that you can currently download a mutant cat character for Animal Crossing who'll reside in your village until you switch your DS off.
After some determined probing, we discovered that it's technically possible to store these downloads onto your game cart's memory for some more persistent goodies. While it's unclear whether the early roster of games will use this feature, it opens the gateway for reams of downloadable extra content on your DS such as, we hypothesise, future release promos and tie-ins along the lines of a pet puppy for Nintendogs events and so on.
Probably the most striking indication of how seriously Nintendo is taking it's Wi-fi Connection Service is its dedicated website which we got an early peak at too. Very much in the style of Xbox Live, you can log on and check out your current stats and rankings, alongside who's online and who's playing what. All this info is initially only available for viewing by yourself, to preserve anonymity, but it seems it will be possible to link this information to your Nintendo.co.uk account so anyone can check out how skilled or otherwise you really are.
Furthermore, the site also contains forums for game chat and, presumably, the opportunity to share gamer tags to add to your Friend's list as well as detailed information on getting your DS properly connected and even a handy postcode-based utility which shows you exactly where your nearest public wi-fi spot is to your home. W00t, as they say on the internet.
We'll be slamming down everything we know about the service and its games over the next few weeks, alongside some sage words from Nintendo Europe's top brass about we'll be doing with it on release and what's possbily in the pipeline for the future. Keep your eyes glued to the screen, although feel free to go to the toilet if you need to.
Nintendo's done as it often does and issued a list of release dates for all its major first quarter 2006 releases in one fell swoop.
The list, which notably lacks The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess for GameCube, pins dates to the likes of Phoenix Wright, Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time and Animal Crossing, all for DS, and gives us an idea of when to expect the likes of Trauma Centre and Harvest Moon (DS and Cube).
It also features an entry for Brain Training (working title), which has done sterling business for Nintendo on the DS in Japan - prior to unveiling the Revolution controller during his Tokyo Game Show address, Satoru Iwata used the game as an example of how small development outlays can still reap massive rewards for the company under its current philosophy.
Here's a list of all the major exclusives and first or second party titles:
Nintendo DS:
Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time - 27th January
Rainbow Island Revolution - February
Viewtiful Joe: Double Trouble - February
Brain Training - March
Trauma Centre: Under The Knife - March
Harvest Moon - March
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - 10th March
Tamagotchi - 17th March
Worms - 17th March
Animal Crossing: Wild World - 31st March
GBA:
Top Spin - January
Namco Museum 50th Anniversary Arcade Collection - Jan/Feb
Wario Ware Twisted! - 24th February
Final Fantasy 4 Advance - early 2006
Tales of Phantasia - 31st March
Cube:
Mario Party 7 - 27th January
Viewtiful Joe: Red Hot Rumble - February
Harvest Moon Magical Melody - March
Odama - 31st March
Nintendo's announced that it will have over 7,500 Wi-Fi Connection hotspots active in the UK from 25th November when Mario Kart DS launches, and will be rolling out the service across the rest of Europe at the same time.
In the UK, the announcement owes a lot to deals with BT Openzone and The Cloud. Piggybacking their infrastructure, Wi-Fi Connection will allow gamers to play Wi-Fi-enabled multiplayer games like Tony Hawk's American Sk8land (Nov 18) and Mario Kart DS (Nov 25) from all manner of locations.
Those named include McDonald's restaurants, Coffee Republic, Hilton and Ramada Jarvis hotels, Road Chef and Welcome Break service stations, First Great Western railway stations, over 25 student unions and city centre BT Payphones and airports, football stadiums and the British Library and Canary Wharf.
An American version of the press release suggests that pay-service Wi-Fi hotspots, such as those at airports, will require use of a laptop and USB dongle to act as a bridge, but that the actual gameplay will be free - you just won't be able to access any of the other paid services. Presumably this is down to the specific log-on processes of pay-services.
UK gamers can establish the location of their nearest Wi-Fi gaming spot by plugging a postcode into www.thecloud.net or www.btopenzone.com. According to The Cloud, there's one in this writer's local pub. Good bit of PR there!
Nintendo says it will also be installing hotspots in major game retailers and other outlets throughout the land.
Those who would rather play at home can do so through a broadband connection, either connecting directly to their wireless routers or access points using the DS, or, in the absence of a home wireless network, using Nintendo's Ł30 Wi-Fi USB Connector device plugged into the back of a PC.
However it's done, Nintendo's keen to stress that there are no fees or subscription costs for playing, and no risk of harassment as players will not directly communicate with each other while playing.
In terms of in-game options, games will allow players to play with friends - specified using unique identifier codes entered into the DS's memory - or people of a similar skill level worldwide, and Nintendo's confirmed that games will work across borders, so the US version of Animal Crossing: Wild World, for example, which is due out on December 5th, will work fine if you bring it back home from abroad.
Wi-Fi Connection launches on November 25th then - and Nintendo adds that Revolution, whenever that launches, will use the same technology.
It's been a while since Nintendo last mentioned New Super Mario Bros. for the Nintendo DS, but the latest issue of Famitsu gives some fresh details on the latest adventure for the plumbing pair.
For the first time in a side-scrolling Mario game, New Super Mario Bros. will let two gamers play simultaneously. The game's producer, Tezuka Takushi, explained in the article that simultaneous play wasn't really possible in past side-scrolling Mario games because both players had to be restricted to the same screen, a problem the DS gets around nicely with its two screens and wireless capabilities. While players can work together to achieve their goals in this mode, Tezuka said that the two-player action will be primarily competitive.
The game limits the versus mode to two players, but Tezuka said that there will also be minigames that can be played by up to four players. In addition to original minigames, Tezuka also hopes to port the minigames from Super Mario 64 on the DS, albeit with some tunings to make them enjoyable for multiplayer competition.
While New Super Mario Bros. uses 3D graphics, it's fundamentally a side-scrolling game. And as such, the developer is throwing in plenty of nostalgia-driven references to the original game. In addition to hidden blocks that hide 1UP mushrooms and stage-ending flagpoles, gamers can expect to run into 3D versions of familiar foes, like goombas, piranha plants, and cheep cheeps.
In terms of music, New Super Mario Bros. will feature a mix of new tunes and arranged tracks from the original game. And, of course, the game will include the classic Super Mario theme.
As previous images released by Nintendo have shown, New Super Mario Bros. introduces various new elements to the series, such as a pump-up mushroom that can be inflated and picked up to make Mario as big as the screen. If beefing up isn't your thing, Famitsu reveals that Mario can shrink himself to fit into tight spaces. Other bits of the classic Mario gameplay are being tweaked as well. For instance, after defeating a koopa troopa, Mario can take the remaining shell and use it to slide himself into enemies instead of merely kicking the shell away.
Experience the feel and finesse of real golf on beautiful 3-D courses with Otona no DS Golf. In this dual-screened Nintendo DS golf game, using the touch screen and the stylus is almost like swinging a golf club in real life. The longer players slide a stylus across the touch screen, the harder they smack the ball. Players also can curve their swings to slice or fade shots and alter the angle of the club head for sharpshooter-like accuracy. Otona no DS Golf features multiple game modes, character customization and wireless multiplayer support for up to four players with just one game card.
IGN’s delivered three direct-feed gameplay videos for Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, and a hands-on preview for the upcoming DS title as well.
While we wouldn’t necessarily call the attacks “nothing short of incredible” or the simultaneous attacks “amazing,” the game does look pretty good for those of us who have played its GBA predecessor, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga.
While the addition of two more playable characters (and correspondingly mapped buttons) could make play a bit hectic at times, we trust that the developers will do a good job of balancing frantic action with fun gameplay in the end. PiT could’ve been even more interesting with a multiplayer co-op mode, though. That said, you gotta love an underdog like Baby Luigi.
This new version of FlashMe is now compatible with Mario Kart DS. Incase you are unaware of what FlashMe is - it is an alternative firmware for your Nintendo DS.
Francois has updated his ReboNDS game for the Nintendo DS. ReboNDS is a puzzle/action game in which you have to fill a playgound area isolating balls. To reach the goal, you have to draw horizontal or vertical lines.
Nintendo released some more details about their upcoming WiFi DS service today. The only new thing seems to be some more detail about how you connect to the service outside your home.
While we’ve already reported that gamers can go to any of the 6,000 Wayport-enabled McDonald’s in the country to play for free on their DS, we’ve never known how else you can connect to DS WiFi.
I assumed that you could just hit up any WiFi spot and use the service if you were able to access it. Not so, my friend, not so. It looks like you will also have to lug along a WiFi-enabled laptop and Nintendo’s own WiFi USB Connector. I shit you not.
This is from the official press release:
When visiting other pay-service Wi-Fi hotspots, such as those at coffee shops or airports, players can use a laptop computer and the Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector to access Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. The Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector provides a conduit to play games via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection by enabling the Nintendo DS to share an Internet connection established by a laptop running Windows XP (regular Internet access fees may apply at pay-service hotspots).
The Nintendo rumor-mill is all abuzz about a recent survey conducted by the company that seems to hint at the possibility of a remake of Nintendogs.
The survey, which apparently only hit a select group of users, talked a lot about Nintendogs merchandising (i.e. stuffed animals, cellphone straps, stationary, stickets, etc., etc.) but more importantly it also asked about possible new features for future versions of the pet sim.
Some of the features mentioned in the survey include:
* More available breeds and items
* Dogs that age
* Ability to train other animals
* More ways to take care of your pet and house
* More interactions between dogs.
The dogs that age idea struck me as interesting. Back when I wrote my story on Nintendogs for the Rocky Mountain News, I talked to Nintendo about that. They said they had ruled aging out because they didn’t want gamers to have to deal with their dogs growing to adulthood, aging and then dying. Maybe they’re thinking of just freezing the dog in its adulthood and never letting it die.
Apparently Mario Kart DS uses some of the flashme space to store setting. This means that your DS will be bricked if you try to run Mario Kart on a flashed DS. To prevent this (or to restore from it) install the latest firmware patch.
So it's time to reveal the news I talked about some time ago. Gbawins.com is going to run a development compo! It'll be the first WinDS development compo, a compo for WinDS software only! If you plan to win a nice prize by coding, start learning the winsapi as soon as possible and you'll be ready in time to build your WinDS great app (or game)!
The compo is sponsored by NeoFlash, and they guaranteed us some cool prizes for the winners! The compo has been made possible thanks to NeoFlash, Liran Nuna (who worked hard on WinDS Devkit) and Francesco Lombardi (who made the WinDS Form Designer).
So what are you waiting for? Run to the forums and start searching for the compo rules (I'll put a beta asap), WinDS documentation and devkit and get ready to WinDS-code!
We published the WinDS compo Rules! They miss only the dates, but you can already see the prizes (offered by NeoFlash)!
1st place will get a MagicKey3 512Kb + 128MB SD card
2nd place will get a MagicKey3 256Kb + 128MB SD card
3rd place will get a MagicKey2 + 128MB SD card
TxtWriter is a ... text writing program. Using the virtual keyboard, you can type out a message that can then be saved to a CF card in a device such as the GBAMP. Button assignments for shift, backspace, space, and return make typing a little easier and are paralleled on both sides for left- and right-handed people.
You choose your own filename for the text files, but it only saves it to a folder named "TXT" in the root directory.
I was wondering if i used the supercard to play GBA games on my DS would i be able to user AR max Duo to play it with codes. Or is there a cheat devices for the ds that I could use with either the supercard and the superpass.
HM-Fusion today announces the launch of WiFiKarts.co.uk, your online destination for Mario Kart gaming over Nintendo's new WiFi service. WiFiKarts.co.uk provides you, the gamer with the ultimate source for finding fellow karting gamers and gives you the opportunity to prove to the masses that you are the best karter in the land!
WifiKarts which can be found over at www.wifikarts.co.uk is supported by several online sites, including the likes of Revolution Europe, Club Skill, and more!
With the success of other such events for other online games, such as Halo 2, and Unreal Tournament, WiFiKarts brings something new to the table by bringing organised gaming events for Nintendo's karter to the masses. Signing up couldn't be simpler just head on over to www.wifikarts.co.uk and get your name on the list. The helpful staff team will then email you with the details of your match, it's really that simple!
But that's not all, as an extra incentive, prizes will be up for grabs, ranging from new games, to hardware and more!
Users can then discuss their matches, scores, tactics and more in the exclusive community forum, over at HM-Fusion, just keep the trash talking to a minimum!
"WiFiKarts is a superb way of bringing Mario Kart gaming to those dedicated to proving their skills, and Charlie Douglas has done a superb job on the project" said Chris Brandrick, manager of HM-Fusion.co.uk. "The opportunity to rank higher in different leagues is a great way of engaging gamers in friendly competition and will add superb replay value to an already awesome product."
Tournaments start from the 1st of December, and the user list is quickly filling, so head on over to get involved in the karting action. New leagues start regularly, and it's the ultimate way to prove your karting skills!
According to Japanese rag Famitsu, forthcoming DS platformer New Super Mario Bros. will be the first ever side-scrolling Mario game to come with simultaneous multiplayer action. The revelation came from an interview with Tezuka Takushi, the game's producer, who also revealed that the focus of the multiplayer mode will be on competitive play, as opposed to co-operative elements.
Takushi-san also promised a raft of in-jokes and nods to the previous games, with hidden blocks containing 1UP mushrooms, flagpoles, goombas, piranha plants and cheep cheeps all making an appearance. And if that doesn't tickle your nostalgia bone quite as much as you'd like, the music will feature a number of revamped tunes from the original game, including the Super Mario theme.
It's not all retro though, as alongside the old tracks there'll be a number of new, infuriatingly catchy tunes, as well as a selection of new power-ups, such as mushrooms that can either make Mario huge (big enough to take up the whole screen) or pint-sized.
Nintendo has launched its Wi-Fi connection website, which features a setup guide, leaderboards for Mario Kart & Tony Hawk, plus a logo that’s dangerously similar to the Xbox 360’s. But overall, it’s well organized and easy to navigate.
Nintendo has launched NintendoWiFi.com to provide DS gamers with all the information needed to get online with the dual-screened handheld.
The site will have forums, technical support, hotspot lists and FAQs to make sure playing online with your DS is as painless as possible. There will also be a section where high scores and fastest times can be posted, so you can rate yourself against the best in the world.
As we revealed last week, Nintendo will be launching its UK DS WiFi support at the end of the month and the service will allow you to play games like Mario Kart with DS users right across the globe.
Currently only the US part of the site is live but the UK will soon have its own localised area with all the relevant information. There's no confirmed date as to when this will go live but, rest-assured, it will be up and running in time for the 18 November UK DS WiFi launch.
Nintendo's DS WiFi connection will be launched in the UK on 18 Novembe
Electronic Arts and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment are pleased to announce the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire videogame released today for the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system, Xbox video game system from Microsoft, Nintendo GameCube, Nintendo DS, Game Boy Advance, and Windows PC. Launching in conjunction with the Warner Bros. Pictures film based on J.K. Rowling's fourth book, the game allows players to experience thrilling moments of the movie and master magic in cooperative play with up to two of their friends.
"The Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire videogame offers Harry Potter fans and gamers alike a chance to explore the adventures of the young wizard and his friends in a whole new way," said Harvey Elliott, Executive Producer at EAUK. "We worked closely with David Heyman, the film's producer, to ensure a synergy with the overall look and feel of the film. The game is cinematic and immersive, and we're looking forward to getting it into players' hands."
"The extremely rich Harry Potter world captured in both the film and the book is brought to life in the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire videogame with a completely interactive experience," said Jason Hall, Senior Vice President for Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. "We worked closely with EA to ensure this latest edition to the Harry Potter videogame franchise is a great action adventure game, depicting the magical story for players."
In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry is mysteriously selected as the fourth competitor in the dangerous Triwizard Tournament and must confront a fire-breathing dragon, rescue friends from the icy depths of the Black Lake, and navigate the twisting mysteries of a vast, enchanted maze. Players will experience all the adventures of the movie -- from the Quidditch World Cup campsite to a heart-stopping duel with Lord Voldemort himself!
The magical world of Harry Potter comes to life with in-game characters that look like their big-screen counterparts for the first time and nearly a dozen cinematic locations that mirror those in the upcoming film. Additionally, Academy Award-nominated actor Ralph Fiennes carries on his role of Lord Voldemort from the film by lending his voice talent and likeness to the game.
In another first for the franchise, players can join forces with friends to combine and cast spells cooperatively creating more powerful magic than ever before. Harry, Ron, and Hermione are all playable characters in this action-packed game where magic is everywhere!
The Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire videogame was developed at EA's UK studio and has a US MSRP range from $24.99 - $39.99. The console and PC platforms are rated "E10+" and the handheld versions are rated "E" for Everyone by the ESRB.
Coming soon, the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire videogame will make its debut on the PSP (PlayStationPortable) system. Gamers will engage in thrilling, exclusive mini-games via cooperative wireless gameplay.
There are now 16 confirmed characters set to appear in Mario Kart DS. Nintendo has packed the game full of hidden racers from previous iterations of the series. In addition, the company has added a few surprise characters to this anticipated Nintendo DS title.
Check out the full list below, but only if you don't want to be surprised!
Main Characters:
Mario
Luigi
Peach
Donkey Kong
Bowser
Wario
Toad
Yoshi
Unlockable Characters
Daisy
Koopa Troopa
Toadette
Waluigi
Shy Guy
Dry Bones
Petey Piranha
R.O.B - NES - Robotic Operating Buddy
For those who do not know, the Robotic Operating Buddy was an NES accessory designed to be the "Family Robot", and to boost the image of the NES in America.
The peripheral never took off, and only two games were made to function with the device.
Well, I was sidetracked and sick over the weekend so I didn't get nearly as much done as I had planned. As such, I'm delaying my release of the lib until I have time to finish things and to them right rather than just hacking them together. The only thing that sucks about setting deadlines is that you have to keep them I regret disappointing everyone like this, but I know I would rather have a lib that was fairly complete and better tested than one that was incomplete and thrown together. So... Hate me if you must, but we'll all be happy when I do get it all done.
Again with the stagnation. I've been thumping out DSemu-ng for about a month and a half, so I'm taking a bit of a break for a while. I've got another small project I'll be sporadically working on, though; it's a Trefunge debugger. You can find it at trefunge.com; there's not much content there right now, but I should have something up soon. I have made the decision to move away from SDL for sound more permanently now, since an alternative was suggested to me. PortAudio is a simple wrapping API for low-level sound, which means I can still have portability, without all the cruft that SDL provides. Before I take that break, I'll mention that I have PortAudio in the APU now; it initialises and shuts down correctly, and even spits output (a sine wave I've hardcoded in). I'll try to get DMG sound working at a later time.
A new version of marioEtool was uploaded with a fully unlocked save (all stars and all mini-games unlocked using the .dss file creator “SMDS.Save.Modifier.v1.0”) - this is for unlocking your Mario64 DS cart, just copy the included files onto SuperCard, run the nds and copy the save game from SRAM to EEPROM to unlock your Mario game.
Slapped together a quick tool after removing the other stuff I am working on in the PC side app of Etool, and came up with a small app that will extract Max Drive save files to be used on SuperCard CF/SD save or possibly even G6.
Ok, if the source code is out then can it be converted? i know i keep banging on about Duke nukem DS all the time but the atomci source code is out so can it be made into a DS game, say by the drunken coders or somthing?
Mangaka Debut Monogatari DS: Akogare! Mangaka Ikusei Game is an adventure title in which you play as a young girl who hopes to become a comic artist. You'll work your way through three weeks of school as you learn basic knowledge of comics. The game includes mini games through which you collect items to build up your character. The stylus is used to create your own four frame comics, with the game including a full paint interface.
Off-screen gameplay videos of Animal Crossing: Wild World have been released, and—though darker and harder to make out than the direct-feed image you see here—they give insight into how the DS version is coming along, especially for those of us who haven’t played an earlier version.
Now we like text-based overviews of games as much as the next blog, but there’s nothing like gameplay trailers to show what an upcoming game will be like when you play it.
I just got an M3adapter and have been trying to use some of the games and emulators on the site, but I can't seem to get any of them to work. Is there a nifty idiot's guide out there?
I tried running Missle Commands DS and the SnesDS emu. But I get nothing but a black screen.
When running Castlevania X via SnesDS, I actually get the title screen before the screen goes black. So its something at least.
A new rival for homebrew and emulation has entered the arena.
GP2X UK have posted news that all fans of homebrew and emulation on consoles will be happy to hear, finally the GP2X is released and shipping, the console for those that dont know is a Portable Linux Based console which already has ports of Quake, Quake 2, Duke Nukem 3D, Amiga and Gameboy Emulators being worked on and that is nothing compared to whats not been publically revealed. One very cool addition is the fact that it has a TV out thats compatible via software with any region.
Success HK posted news that they have Shamu Deep Sea Adventures in stock for the DS, heres the info:
All is not well within Shamu's beloved SeaWorld Adventure Park. Something is happening, Poseidon wants to steal the magic of the park away from Shamu and SeaWorld. By taking control of Shamu and taking charge to investigate, your adventures will take you beyond the pools of SeaWorld and into the strange depths under the park and on amazing underwater animals and even do battle with Poseidon, the undersea god, and his loyal sea beast, The Kraken. This adventure will put all your skills and instincts to the ultimate test. Do you have what it takes to save SeaWorld and Shamu?
Success HK posted news that they have SpongeBob: Yellow Avenger US ver in stock for the DS, heres the info:
The Dirty Bubble has kidnapped SpongeBob's favorite superheroes, Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy! SpongeBob must fight back using the legendary powers of the Mermaid Man superhero belt and restore order in Bikini Bottom. Help him as he fights against the Dirty Bubble and his legions of evildoers. Utilize all the special powers of Mermaid Man's belt, including Shrink Ray, Water Ball, Raging Whirlwind, Summon Sea Creatures, Sulphur Vision, Magnetize, Super Speed, Super Jump and Super Strength
Success HK posted news that they have Harry Potter: Goblet of Fire US ver in stock for the DS, heres the info:
Harry Potter and the Goblet Of Fire continues that adventures of Harry Potter. Harry is mysteriously selected as the fourth contestant in the dangerous Triwizard Tournament. Each competitor in the international competition must confront a fire-breathing dragon, rescue friends from the icy depths of the Black Lake, and navigate the twisting mysteries of a vast, dangerous maze. Players can experience the thrills of the movie from the Quidditch World Cup campsite to a heart-stopping duel with Lord Voldemort himself! Experience the thrilling moments of the movie and put your magic to the ultimate test in co-operative play with up to two friends.
At long last I've been able to update the tutorials so they compile and run with a recent libnds. I used libnds dated 2005-10-18 for testing. I also tested that they all run using DSEmu.
1.1:
Added Savestates!
1.0:
Added SRAM support.
Sped up many games.
Some games may randomly reset during play, carryforward any that C.
Games that uses too many pages At the same time will thrash around and run slowly.
The G6 Flash Team has been busy and have released a Movie Player Update and a version of MoonShell that reads directly from the cards filesystem. I've just gotten done messing around with the new media player and it is extremely faster, supports skins, has more features for the e-book reading and most importantly outputs clear, vibrant, non-distorted *loud* bass (no other media player does this yet)! Hardcore techno pwns on the Nintendo DS when you can actually hear it thump! Additionally, the Movie Player will let you playback many different types of media files, but only after conversion; including -
* Dobly AC3 (*. AC3)
* DVD Video (*. VOB)
* Microsoft Waveform (*. WAV)
* MPEG-1 Audio Layer-2 file (*. MP2)
* MPEG-1 Audio Layer-3 file (*. MP3)
* Real Media (*. RA, *. RM, *. RAM, *. RMVB)
* MPEG-1 Media File (*. Mpeg, *. Mpg)
* MPEG-2 Media File (*. M2V)
* Windows Media (*. AVI, *. ASF, *. WMA, *. WMV)
* VCD Video (*. DAT)
* QuickTime Media File (*. MOV)
* MPEG-4 Media File (*. AVI)
* DivX Media File (*. AVI)
But let's start with the basics and the stuff that will be familiar to Mario Kart Fans. For single players, there's a Grand Prix with four classes - 50cc, 100cc, 150cc and the unlockable 150cc "mirror" class, where tracks are reversed. Then there are eight familiar characters to choose from, with more to unlock (such as Waluigi, Princess Daisy and R.O.B.) as you progress.
It doesn't matter which character you choose, but it's important to get your kart selection right. As in Mario Kart Double Dash!!, stats for each kart's speed, acceleration, weight and so on are shown - but now there's also an "items" category. The higher the items stat, the better power-ups and weapons you're likely to get - but don't worry, the game's still finely tuned so that you'll get better power-ups the further behind you are and vice versa.
There are loads of karts to choose from, and you can also customise whichever one you select by designing your own emblem using a simple paint programme. Note that this is open to Pictochat-style abuse, especially since there are two different shades of pink.
Once your character and kart are sorted, it's time to choose your cup - say hello to our old friends Mushroom, Flower, Star and Special. These offer a total of 16 new tracks, many of which are based on old classics - it's good to see a new iteration of Rainbow Road that makes you feel just as sick as all the others.
Then there's the Retro Grand Prix, which also has four cups - Shell, Banana, Leaf and Lightning. Highlights include Mario Circuit 1 from the SNES game, Choco Mountain from the N64 and Sky Garden from the GBA. But whichever your favourite Mario Kart game, you're sure to find some of your favourite tracks here.
Turbo powered
So what of the actual gameplay? Well, lots of familiar elements are back - you can get a turbo boost by pressing accelerate at precisely the right moment during the countdown to the start of the race, for example. And just like in Mario Kart N64 and GC, you can get a boost by pressing the D-pad as you slide.
There's also a new slipstreaming feature. If you keep right up behind an opponent for long enough (you can tell if you're doing this correctly as little sparks will fly) you'll be rewarded with a burst of speed which will give you the power to zoom past them, laughing in their STUPID FACE.
During races the action takes place on the top screen, while a map is displayed on the touch screen. Helpfully, you can zoom in and out at any time by pressing the X and Y buttons - so you can get a general overview of how the race is progressing, or take a more detailed look to see just how much of a lead you've got.
The weapons and power-up system works just as it does in previous Mario Karts - you pick items up by running into boxes, and then they're displayed in a little box at the top of your screen. You can tag items like banana skins and shells to the back of your kart by pressing and holding the left shoulder button, protecting yourself from attacks in the process and leaving you free to pick up another object.
As well as familiar items like trick boxes, lightning strikes and ghosts, there are new weapons such as the blooper - a flying squid that squirts ink all over the screen, making it hard to see where you're going and avoid obstacles. The touch screen map comes into play here as a useful navigational aid.
Then there's a bomb which you can lob ahead of you, where it will explode into a big fiery dome thing. But our favourite has to be the power-up that turns you into a giant bullet and sends you speeding round the track on auto pilot, taking out anyone who gets in your way. Hurrah!
Time for a change
Who says women aren't good drivers? Oh. She's in seventh.
If you fancy a change from Grand Prix mode, you might like to have a go at Time Trial. We've never much seen the point of racing round a track on your own with no weapons and no one to hit them with anyway, but things are made more interesting by the fact that you can save time trial ghosts and exchange them with other players wirelessly. Plus, if you reckon you're extra good, you can race against unlockable "staff ghosts". That should bring you back down to earth a bit.
Alternatively there's the Mission mode - there are six levels to work your way through here, each with eight missions and a boss stage to complete. Objectives are things like driving through a series of numbered gates, collecting a load of coins, racing round tracks backwards and so on. Do badly and you'll get a boring old letter grade, do well and you can earn up to three shiny gold stars.
It's all good fun, but not quite as much fun as the excellent Battle mode. There are two variations on this in Mario Kart DS, the first of which is Balloon Battle - and this time round there are a few twists.
For starters, you begin the battle with just one balloon attached to your kart instead of the traditional three. But fear not - look at the top right corner of the screen and you'll see that you've got a further four balloons in reserve.
So how do you attach them to your kart? Well, first of all you need to find a safe place away from enemies where you can keep still for a second or two. Then you can either press the select button to inflate a balloon, or - the quicker, and arguably more entertaining option - you can blow furiously into your DS's mic. Superb.
Once again, the touch screen displays a map, along with information about the number of balloons each of your opponents have. As you might expect, this is very handy for picking your targets and ganging up on people.
There are six battle arenas to choose from - MK fans will recognise old favourites Block Fort and Pipe Plaza, but the new environments are excellent too. Especially the arena that's set on a giant Nintendo DS floating through space, and the Tart Top arena - this sticks you on the top of a huge cake, garishly rendered in those nauseating Nintendo pastels. The only way to get power-ups is by zooming up the speed ramp on the tower of cream in the centre of the cake, and trying to hit a box as you soar over the cherry in the middle. Look out for blobs of cream splatting across your screen if you bump into stuff, too. Inspired.
The same selection of tracks is available in the second Battle mode, Shine Runners. Here you have to pick up shines that appear randomly around the arena - the touch screen comes in extra handy here, since they appear as icons on the map. An icon also appears over characters when they have a shine, and if you get hit, you lose the lot. All this is going on against the clock, and once the timer hits zero whoever has the least number of shines is out of the battle.
Multiplayer mayhem
Three red shells FOR TEH W1N!! Sorry. This is what happens when you play games online.
So that's the range of options available to the single player - but as any Mario Kart aficionados will tell you, the fun really starts when other people get involved. In Versus mode you can race against up to seven opponents via Wi-Fi, adjusting various event settings to suit. There's even a team option so the playing field is levelled out for weaker players who are facing off with, well, the likes of us.
You only need one game cartridge for Wi-Fi play, but if you're game sharing you can only race as one character - Shy Guy - and you can't change the race settings. Along with straightforward races, you can set up multiplayer Balloon Battles and Shine Runner matches.
Of course, you don't even have to be in the same room as your friends to play Mario Kart multiplayer these days, thanks to Nintendo's much-hyped Wi-Fi Connection service. Follow the simple on-screen instructions to hook up to your wireless router, or invest in a Nintendo USB Wi-Fi dongle if you haven't got one, and then choose who you want to play against, up to a maximum of four players.
If it's a match with mates you're after, you'll need to swap your Friend code - a 12-digit number unique to your DS - with your opponents first. This can't be done in the game, so you'll need to actually communicate with them in real life, unfortunately. Your DS can only store a maximum of 36 Friend codes, but this isn't a problem for us since we've only got about 3.6 friends.
If you're even less sociable and have no friends at all, you can choose to race against random opponents from your global region or the whole wide world. There's also an option to seek out players of a similar skill level as you so you can avoid pointlessly easy races or shameful defeats.
Cast your vote
Sadly, you can't opt for online battles, just races, but they're fun enough as it is. There are 20 of the game's 32 circuits to choose from and track selection works on a democratic basis: each player picks their favourite course before the race begins, and the course with the most votes is automatically selected. If you all vote for different tracks, the game picks one of your selections at random. We discovered that you can subvert democracy by waiting until each of your three opponents have made their choice and then cast your vote for whichever of their selections you prefer, if you're feeling cheeky.
Gameplay is pretty much the same as in the single player mode, with the exception that you can't use the left shoulder button to hold items at the back of your kart - which means you can't use them for protection, and you can't pick up another weapon while hanging on to the first one, either. Another difference is that player names are displayed above their characters at all times, along with their customised emblems.
But for the most part, it's familiar stuff - the same selection of weapons, the same basic gameplay mechanics, and the same scoring system where at the end of four races, points are tallied up and the winner receives a shiny trophy.
Unfortunately our beta copy of the game didn't work with Wi-Fi Connection, so we weren't able to give the online mode a thorough going over for lag issues and the like. However, we did get the chance to play online at the Nintendo Europe Summit in Frankfurt last week, where we "represented" against a load of other journalists located in the US and Canada.
We're pleased to report that there didn't seem to be any problems with lag, and that there was no hassle in getting the DS to go online. But for an in-depth analysis, you'll just have to wait for the full review.
What we can tell you, without a doubt, is that Nintendo has done a superb job here. All the stuff fans love about Mario Kart is present and correct, and the new additions - from the new weapons to the online multiplayer mode - enhance the classic formula brilliantly. Even if you've been playing Mario Kart for years, even if you think nothing could surpass the genius of the SNES version, even if you went right off the whole thing after playing Double Dash!! - you're in for a treat.
DS software sales continue to dominate the higher end of the Japanese charts
Daito Giken's Official Pachinko Slot Simulator: Osu! Bancho stormed into the top spot this week, selling 96,000 copies and reinforcing the continued popularity of Japan's most prevalent form of legal gambling.
The fifteen new releases this week accounted for approximately forty per cent of overall sales, snatching the first three positions in the all format charts and pushing last week's number one seller, Shadow of the Colossus, down three places to number four.
Capcom's Beat Down: Fists of Vengeance entered at number three, proving an unexpected success which has been attributed both to Capcom's market strength in the East and the general view that the title bears similarities to Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto series.
Half of the top ten was taken up by DS titles, including a climb of three places from eight to five for Training for Adults: Work Your Brain and continued sales success for Gentle Brain Exercises. Nintendo plans to launch two versions of its DS Brain Training series (one for young adults and another for a more mature audience) in Europe next spring.
SEGA has also offered a variation on the theme, with PSP title Brain Trainer Portable making its chart debut at number eight. In terms of the hardware sales however, the PSP is still seriously lagging behind Nintendo's DS, taking a 24 per cent share of the market, compared to the 40 per cent claimed by the DS.
Elsewhere in the charts, Pokémon Torouze has plummeted from second to ninth place, while Bandai's Dragon Ball Z: Sparking holds its place at the bottom of the top ten for a second week.
Alan Gerow has updated his Text app for the Nintendo DS:
I have finally gotten to a point where I am comfortable releasing v0.3 of TxtWriter. This version has intra-document editing, so you can edit and make changes at other points in the document other than the end. It also has a much spiffier user interface, and dialog boxes for confirmations and alerts. It has an updated extended keyboard and more use of the keys. The F1 key now saves a file and F2 opens the file menu so that all operations, except for delete, can be done via the touch screen.
A Chicago McDonald's will host the launch event for Nintendo's new Wi-Fi online gaming service.
The McDonald's in question is at 600 North Clark Street in Chicago on November 14 at 11AM.
The free Nintendo Wi-Fi service, that will be available in more than 6,000 McDonald's nationwide, is made possible with an agreement with Wayport.
At the launch event, costumed employees will showcase Mario and Ronald McDonald "flipping the switch" to turn on the service. Mario Kart (currently the only title that supports online play on the DS) will be the game of choice.
Some new details emerged about Real-Time Conflict: Shogun Empires, as nintendoinsider conducted an interview with Namco.
“First, the wireless multiplayer mode is now only for two players rather than eight (it also requires each player to own a copy of the game). The multiplayer conquest mode plays out very similarly to the main mode, in which you will raise armies and try to conquer all of Japan (think Risk).
Secondly, one of our worries about the game was its length (Defender of the Crown, a very similar title, could be finished in under two hours). The Namco representative promised that Shogun Empires is six to eight hours long, thus almost four times as long as the classic Amiga title (later ported to Game Boy Advance).
Finally, a few more gameplay details. At the very beginning, you will choose one of two brothers to be your leader - one of the brothers is more diplomatic, while the other is more of a warmongerer. As you raise your army, you will have four types of troops - swordsmen (the fastest, but not too strong - mainly good for hit and run); spearmen (slow, but very strong); archer (good for range attacks, but pretty weak); and warlords (a bonus character: a warlord will ride on horseback and is very strong). The game ends when you conquer all of Japan - there is no big boss battle at the end (as with most games of this type).”
Now that Nintendo has committed to online gaming with its Wifi connection service for the DS, it wants to show the world. To this end, Nintendo has released an advert for Mario Kart DS, which highlights the title’s multiplayer aspect.
The ad demonstrates the game’s multiplayer features through several people watching a Nascar race on TV. When one person throws his food in disgust at the screen, he’s surprised to see that the hotdog goes straight through the screen. The renegade hotdog disrupts the driver’s view, and he swerves to avoid crashing.
It’s not long before a bunch of other people are throwing pizza, ironing boards and squirting mustard at the cars. It’s an entertaining representation of the things you can do to slow down friends in a multiplayer game of Mario Kart DS.
Not too long ago the web exploded with a torrent of Nintendo Revolution controller mock-ups. Our wrap-up post shows the amount of attention the controller garnered from the community. From guessing random and obscure features to creating elaborate hoax manuals, Nintendo fans didn’t stop until the controller was unveiled.
The other day, Reggie Fils-Aime dropped a hint that the DS may be due for a re-design. Just over a day later we got our first tip to a mock-up of a new DS design by Ryan Cooper. The mock-up (featured above) seems to be inspired by the design and marketing shots of the Apple iBook.
Think you could do better? Get your Photoshop gloves on and prove it!
- Made the scrolling smoother (now you can hold down the pad to scoll)
- Fixed the border of the default skin a bit
- Made the fading at boot a bit more smooth (still not 100% happy about it)
Two9A the original coder of the Nintendo DS emulator DSemu has posted this news:
So yeah, that Trefunge debugger didn't get very far before I abandoned that too. Sorry 'bout that. However, I did decide to go back to DSemu-ng and bash out some more code. And some results have been forthcoming.
At this point, I've enabled the 'Open DS' option on the File menu; when a ROM is loaded, the window resizes to 256x384, and two CPU cores are loaded. There is no graphics plugin at this time, nor sound or timer; instead the DS option loads null plugins for these three. The major step in today's snapshot is the loading of two CPUs, and the shiny new two-CPU breakpoint window.
There are, of course, problems. Only the main CPU actually runs; you can step through and hit the Run button just fine, and stuff will execute. However, opening up the sub-CPU debugger shows that it never moves a jot from its reset position. Furthermore, the two CPUs currently share an MMU (and it's the GBA's MMU), which is not just undesirable, but unacceptable. And there's lots more small issues relating to the fact that null plugins are loaded for the peripherals, but we'll save that for another time.
There is a glimmer of hope though. JaJa has been debugging the compilation process for Mac OSX, and has managed to hack a working Makefile together. Try it out, if you like; the source, as ever, is at the link below.
bertrude a few days ago did a great review of the DS game Tiger Woods PGA Tour, heres some info about the game
Tiger Woods, EA SPORTS' industry leading golf title provides players to take on Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, Jack Nicklaus and other golfing greats from past & present. Players create their golfer, develop their skills and step on to the green to challenge the masters on some of the worldĆs top courses including five licensed and one fantasy courses from the Tiger Woods series. However, unlike any past iteration, this innovative version of the game allows players to utilize touch screen technology to command control of their swing and position their shots like a pro. When they feel truly confident, players can fire up the multiplayer component to challenge up to four friends in wi-fi networked play. Then, see whoĆs the real master.
Quick play is the quickest way to start playing and allows you to play a variety of game modes (stroke play, match play and skins) on any of the courses that are available. 2 are available initially and the other have to be unlocked from the Legend Tours mode. A total of 6 courses are included in the game. You can also specify here how many CPU players there are (up to 3) and choose if you want to play a full course or just the first 9 or latter 9 holes. A sub menu allows alterations of tee selections, pin selections, green speed, fairway speed and the length of the rough. The quick play mode is a great way to just pass some time (although the meat of the game is in the Legend Tour mode) and a good way to pick up the game mechanics.
1timeuser has done a great review of the Nintendo DS game Trace Memory/Another Code, heres some info about the game:
While researching human memory for the government’s secret lab, scientists Richard and Sayoko Robbins suddenly disappear and are presumed dead. Ten years later, their daughter, Ashley, receives a letter from Richard, telling her that he is still alive and sequestered in a lab on Blood Edward Island. Ashley traces the letter to the island to find the truth behind her parents’ mysterious disappearance. Once there, she discovers that her parents had been working on a memory-generating computer called Trace, but the connection between Trace and their disappearance remains unclear.
While searching for Richard, Ashley befriends a ghost named D, who is looking for answers of his own. Having lost all his memories and any recollection of his death, D is destined to remain in limbo and wander the island until he recovers them. Together, they set off to find the truth of their pasts.
The games graphics mix Anime styled characters with beautifuly seemingly hand drawn scenes. Also there is a top down view of cell shaded 3D models that really look about as good as they can on the DS. Over all, I liked how this game looked.
Sega have made a few announcements regarding some of their upcoming Nintendo DS titles today, and one of them being the news that Super Monkey Ball DS has been delayed until early next year.
In a case of bittersweet news, Sega have also revealed that the game has been renamed to Super Monkey Ball Touch & Roll. As well as this, the game will feature ten worlds and fifty stages in the single player challenge mode.
There are also a total of six party games, which should make this game a multiplayer favourite. We'll have more news on the game as soon as possible, so stay tuned.
In honor of the upcoming Nintendo DS racer, Mario Kart DS, Nintendo and McDonald's will be sponsoring a launch event on November 14.
McDonald's hosts the launch event for Mario Kart® DS and the revolutionary Nintendo® Wi-Fi Connection. Experience the video game as the legendary franchise hits the Nintendo DS™ on its first day in the hands of the public at the Mario Kart DS “Pit-Stop.”
No setup is required as gamers simply launch the game in the proper mode on this ground-breaking day – made possible by Nintendo's latest agreement with Wayport. The union brings free access, via the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, to millions of Nintendo DS users in more than 6,000 McDonald's restaurants across the United States.
Players will be avoiding banana peels, homing Red Shells and Chain Chomps as they are some of the first to become part of Nintendo's worldwide online community.
So what are you waiting for? If you'll have Mario Kart DS in your hands on November 14, and if you live in the Chicago, Illinois area, head on over to 600 N. Clark Street to stop by your local McDonald's to play versus your fellow Nintendo DS gamers in the game that can be best described as spectacular.
Another chance to sample the pleasures of Mario Kart DS, away from the clamour of E3's showfloor, ought to have presented an opportunity for a more reflective, studied examination of the game's handling nuances and track design. It did, but in practice it was much more important that there was no one else waiting to jostle you off the demo pod, giving you the freedom to have another race... and another. And another. And then a few more.
Double Dash may have been the first instalment in the knockabout racing series to support more than four players, but this latest version brings eight together in heated competition in a style much more likely to please franchise purists. It's best described as a halfway house between the game's 16 and 64bit incarnations, boasting the taut digital handling of Super Mario Kart - although the trademark hop-induced slide doesn't bite the tarmac quite as hard - and the broader, longer, more eventful but less technically challenging track design of Mario Kart 64.
Even though some of the original game's circuits make a very welcome comeback (along with other series favourites, Mario Kart DS following the current vogue for racing game greatest hits), they seem to have been widened to accommodate and encourage multiplied multiplayer chaos.
A shame for time-trial addicts, perhaps, but the moment you take out three rivals racing abreast with the new wide-blast bomb pick-up, you'll mind the track's girth a great deal less.
The races are brief and the track crowded enough to guarantee close finishes, even with the magnificently irritating AI drivers filling most of the slots, and revenge is never more than a button-press and a minute's wait away. As a single-player game, Mario Kart DS is unlikely to outshine its brilliant SNES ancestor, and its success online depends on how well Nintendo's infrastructure comes together, but all the signs are that this will be fixture when DSes come together for years to come.
Another interesting feature from 1up: rundowns and scores for console launches from the last twenty years. From the article: "The DS, on the other hand, is hardly the system one would have expected from its launch. The system's U.S. debut was a dull thud, with the one truly notable title being a port of Super Mario 64 with compromised control and jaggier graphics. (It also popularized the lamentable concept of "launch windows.") Chalk this up to the fact the developers only learned about the system's existence half a year before its debut. Fortunately for early adopters, the system has gone on to accumulate a killer lineup."
Recently, Nintendo seems to have developed an insatiable penchant for doubling things. First Mario Kart: Double Dash, then Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time, and now, Mario Party 7. In Mario’s seventh annual bash, up to eight players can compete simultaneously for those ever-elusive stars across six boards and 86 brand-new minigames. Eight-player minigames are handled in the same fashion as two-player games in Wario Ware, with two players handling the same controller. While the old maxim “the more, the merrier” definitely holds true here, we can’t help but think that eight players relegated to half a controller each will result in some overly simplistic minigames (not that the minigames in Mario Party were ever especially complex to begin with).
Save the microphone peripheral introduced in last year’s Mario Party 6, the series has hardly deviated from the original formula laid down by the first Mario Party, the game that revolutionized (if not outright invented) the party game genre. How much innovation is possible in a franchise relegated to yearly installments? And what kind of new possibilities could the Revolution’s controller yield for Mario Party 8?
The PassMe2 is a new revision of the code on the CPLD of any regular PassMe, that allows the passme to be used on DSes with newer Firmware. However, the PassMe2 is not as flexible as the original: it is tied to a particular DS game and requires a Flash cartridge with SRAM to use.
Because the PassMe 2 requires that you have a Flash cartridge with particular SRAM contents in it during every use, we recommend that you use the PassMe 2 to install FlashMe, which allows you the flexibility of using other cartridges like the GBA MP or development via WMB.
Here is the Updated European Release List for Nintendo DS
November:
18th Sonic Rush
18th Tony Hawk's American Wasteland
18th Touch Golf
18th Yu-Gi-Oh! Nightmare Troubadour
25th Dragonball Z Supersonic Warriors 2
25th Kirby: Canvas Curse
25th Mario Kart DS
25th Need For Speed Most Wanted
25th The Incredibles: Rise of the Underminer
TBC SBK: Snowboard Kids DS
TBC Shrek SuperSlam
___
Here is the Updated Australian Release List for Nintendo DS
14th November 2005 Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire
16th November 2005 Tony Hawk's American Sk8land
17th November 2005 Spyro: Shadow Legacy
17th November 2005 Mario Kart
17th November 2005 Nintendo DS Console Silver + Mario Kart
17th November 2005 King Kong
18th November 2005 Lost In Blue
24th November 2005 Devilish
24th November 2005 Meteos
25th November 2005 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3: Mutant Nightmare
25th November 2005 Chronicles Of Narnia Lion, Witch & The Wardrobe
25th November 2005 Need For Speed: Most Wanted
25th November 2005 Zoo Tycoon
25th November 2005 Sonic Rush
25th November 2005 Dragonball Z - Super Sonic Warriors 2
25th November 2005 Yu-Gi-Oh! Nightmare Troubadour
25th November 2005 Scooby Doo! Unmasked
30th November 2005 Frogger: Helmet Chaos
30th November 2005 Dragon Booster
1st December 2005 The Incredibles: Rise of the Underminer
1st December 2005 Billiard Action
1st December 2005 Spongebob Squarepants: The Yellow Avenger
1st December 2005 Metroid Prime Pinball
8th December 2005 Prince of Persia Battles
8th December 2005 Animal Crossing Wild World
12th December 2005 Burnout Legends
We've spent some time rearranging the news at devkitpro.org and now have an RSS feed for your syndication pleasure. The newsfeed can be found at http://www.devkitpro.org/rssfeed.php and, if you're using Firefox, you'll see the live bookmark icon in the bottom right of your browser.
Nintendo is having quite the fourth quarter, thanks to the DS and its solid lineup of both first- and third-party games. Though no recent US figures have been released, DS sales are tearing up the Japanese and European charts. But how long can this portable momentum last?
On Monday, the company will launch their new wi-fi Internet service, free of charge, to gamers around the world. With the service comes the much anticipated Mario Kart DS which will be a big factor in determining if Nintendo’s positive year-end results can turn into next year’s profits. If the PSP doesn’t get some must-have games quickly, Nintendo may cement its dominance in the current generation of handhelds.
Will Mario Kart DS can keep the company’s portable momentum alive?
Based on the Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media film capturing the renown and beloved book series from author C.S. Lewis.
Players enter the world of Narnia, a land frozen in a 100 year winter by the evil powers of the malevolent and evil White Witch. In order to end this frigid captivity and free his people, the mighty lion Aslan, true ruler of Narnia, invokes an ancient prophecy. It will become the destiny of four young siblings from our world: Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy Pevensie to work together and use their unique combat skills, weaponry and abilities to defeat the Witch and her armies to save Narnia. These four unlikely heroes must battle the evil forces of the White Witch by waging war against a vast variety of creatures, including Centaurs, Minotaurs, Minoboars, Cyclops, Werewolves, Wraiths, Ankleslicers, Wolves, Satyrs, Boggles and more.
Hot rumour from Japan enticing RPG gamers over the weekend foretells of a high-budget remake of Final Fantasy VII for Nintendo’s DS portable, news that if true proves the games industry can match any soap opera for drama and twist.
The rumour began with Square Enix producer Tetsuya Nomura confirming to Japanese PlayStation 2 magazine Dengeki PS2 that Final Fantasy VII will have a significant showing at next year’s Electronics Entertainment Expo, building on the company’s comments from last year when SE promised “…polymorphic [Final Fantasy VII] content providing well-known properties on several platforms, allowing exposure of the products to as wide an audience as possible.”
Of course, this rumour stands in contradiction with established talk that a high-budget PlayStation 2 remake of Final Fantasy VII is in the works, though it could be argued that it makes far more sense for a DS version to be released.
As you may well know, Final Fantasy VII was - to put it mildly - something of a controversial PlayStation game. The RPG was originally in development for Nintendo’s new home console, a 64-Bit machine going by the name of Nintendo Ultra 64. The code was in a fairly advanced stage and Square was at the time amongst the most active of companies lobbying Nintendo president Hiroshi Yamauchi to ditch cartridge-based media in favour of a CD-based system. Yamauchi - a stubborn man - rejected all calls to move away from the relatively secure cartridge, and in turn assured Square that any game could be accommodated, even if it meant spreading its new RPG across several cartridges. Square rejected this idea and, under constant courting from the emerging PlayStation camp, cancelled Ultra 64 Final Fantasy and announced that it would be releasing Final Fantasy VII as a PlayStation exclusive.
This news sent shockwaves through the Japanese games industry and is widely seen as a turning-point in the fortunes of the Nintendo 64. The console was by no means a failure, though it was crippled by reluctant third-party support; the angle with which Sony rose to dominance over the old guard.
And for years afterwards, Nintendo - under Yamauchi’s control - openly derided Square, with the Nintendo president always on hand with a word or ten of discouragement for his one-time ally. Then something happened. The launch of the Game Boy Advance had fans up in arms, requesting Final Fantasy and other Square RPG properties for Nintendo’s new handheld, in essence a portable SNES. Nintendo was seeing profits tail off as the Pokemon boom faded and so Yamauchi - reluctantly, we are told - allowed Nintendo to re-enter talks with Square. After the second meeting, both parties were highly positive and Yamauchi made the surprise announcement that he would chair the next meeting. Legend has it that the perceived betrayal of Nintendo by Square stood as the lowest point in Yamauchi’s career and the great man seemingly wanted to iron out the wrinkly past, with an agreement in principle being reached during that third meeting, ending more than a decade of tension between the two Japanese giants.
History lesson over, it is a fact that a considerable amount of the code which comprises Final Fantasy VII was tapped in using Ultra 64 development kits and this code can easily be ported across to Nintendo DS. A DS remake will make more financial sense and require considerably fewer resources than an enhanced PlayStation 2 remake.
As we mentioned, the videogames industry can hold a candle to any soap opera, though it must be said that Final Fantasy VII DS would even trump the murder, return and murder (again) of Dirty Den.
I'm a little confused about the whole bricking thing. I just got an M3 Adapter, so I guess I need to learn what its all about. But for now, I have a question about Mario Kart DS.
I saw on here and other sites that it bricks DS systems with FlashMe. As I said, I picked up and M3 Adapter.. did that change my firmware? If I bought or downloaded Mario Kart 64 DS, can I safely play it, or will it brick my system?
It is the famous Simon game and it makes use of the touch screen
The game logic is so simple. It generates a random sequence along the 4 lights, making a different sound on each one, and the player must repeat the same sequence.
Game features:
Save your records: play with friends and try to win them!
Great graphics based on the original Simon game.
Classic Simon sounds.
Uses the touch screen. It’s designed to play with your fingers, so you will not need the stylus to play.
Great effects like zoom and rotations.
I am considering asking for a DS or a PSP for Christmas. Personally I know I'll end up with a DS at some point, once that new Super Mario side scroller comes out, I'll be all over it. But right now I'd really like a hand held that can play NES and/or SNES games.
I know the PSP can do it(it can also run Linux, which I wouldn't mind playing with) however I have heard much less about the DS. Does it have any old school console emulators? And I remember hearing about a DS Linux effort. How far along is that?
Also, how does one get the homebrew stuff onto the DS? Do you need to buy cartridges or is there abuilt in hard drive or is it memory cards?
The Nintendo DS edition of Viewtiful Joe features a brand new storyline introducing Joe's sister Jasmine and puts players to the task in saving Captain Blue's Hollywood show after a sinister group steals it away. The Nintendo DS' hardware will be put to use as the development team is bringing to life the familiar cel-shaded environment the series is known for. The two screens will keep track of the action in two viewpoints and the touch panel is used to solve puzzles and pull off special moves. A new "Power Split" move debuts here, which requires that you draw lines across the screen.
Nintendo delivered a one-two combo to its handheld faithful today by launching one of the DS's most anticipated features with one of its most anticipated games. Now, DS owners can compete against others over the Internet in Mario Kart DS using the freshly enabled Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection.
Previously, multiplayer competition was limited to the handheld's local Wi-Fi capabilities, meaning that gamers who wanted to duke it out against others needed to be within a specified physical proximity of one another. With the new free-of-charge Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, DS owners can challenge others across the globe using a wireless Internet connection that supports Nintendo's service.
"Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection removes the barriers that have prevented many mainstream players from going online," says Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of sales & marketing. "We have made the service incredibly simple to use and free at select hotspot locations--but this is just the beginning."
Those select locations Fils-Aime refers to include almost 6,000 McDonald's restaurants across the country. Gamers can also do some online racing from home with their wireless Internet connections, or they can use a hardwired high-speed connection, a PC, and the Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector, which is available for purchase online at Nintendo.com for $34.99. More information on the service is available at Nintendowifi.com.
The release of Mario Kart DS marks the debut of the series on the DS. Racers can speed along more than 30 tracks, including several that will be recognizable from other Mario Kart games. Once again, Nintendo's portly plumber leads the roster of playable characters as they aim for the checkered flag, dropping banana peels and launching Koopa Troopa shells at the competition.
Online support for the game will let up to four players across the globe challenge one another. By exchanging friend codes, players can easily search for buddies online. In local area wireless action, up to eight players can join a multiplayer session using just one copy of the game.
You knew this was going to be a big one, and it’s getting big scores to match the hype. Rehash? Maybe. Fun? See what the critics are saying:
IGN: 9.5/10 ”Mario Kart DS’s production value is almost staggering. The development team worked an unbelievable amount of focus in nearly every aspect of this racing design, pushing a huge amount of effort in both the single player experience as well as the multiplayer competition.”
GameSpot: 9.2/10 “The online play is undoubtedly the icing on an especially yummy cake.”
1UP: 9/10 ”Once you find a working connection, once you accept the fact that online matches are limited to four people.. once you get playing…all complaints drift away.”
Yahoo! Games: 4.5/5 ”Multiplayer Mario Kart is, in a nutshell, an absolute blast. If you want to see a room full of grown men and women revert into hyperactive, obscenity-laden teenagers, just put the game in their hands and let them go at it.”
Gamerz Edge: 9.6/10 “If I could award Mario Kart DS an eleven on Fun Factor, I absolutely would. This game is simply the most fun I have had in years as a gamer.”
GameRankings composite: 93%. Pretty freakin’ good.
It's a two-pronged, hedgehog-helmed assault on stores today as Sega has announced the release of Sonic Rush on the Nintendo DS and Shadow the Hedgehog on the GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox.
Sonic Rush, starring the original sneaker-sporting speedster, is sharply reminiscent of the side-scrolling action of Sonic games past, but it also makes use of the DS's unique hardware.
"Sonic Rush combines the gameplay finesse and level design of the classic 2D Sonic titles with fully 3D character models, bosses, and effects," said Sega of America vice president of marketing Scott A. Steinberg. "The dual screen playfield on the Nintendo DS makes it easier than ever to follow the action, and the stylus works perfectly with the traditional chaos emerald minigames."
When word spreads of a powerful collection of stones called sol emeralds, Sonic teams up with newcomer Blaze the Cat in order to secure the emeralds and prevent them from being used for evil. Sonic and Blaze take divergent paths through the game, which gives players different storylines to follow. Sega also included a two-player battle mode and unlockable secrets.
Over on the home consoles, Sonic's enigmatic counterpart Shadow the Hedgehog gets not only a game of his own, but gats as well. For the first time in a game set in the Sonic universe, players will be able to wield an array of weapons and choose whether to fight for good or evil.
An alien force is attacking the planet, and Shadow is on the hunt for the chaos emeralds that will bring the conflict to an end one way or another. It's up to players to decide which side Shadow will help as he bounces and blasts his way through a branching story mode with competitive two-player action and cameos from several Sonic mainstays.
Yesterday, Nintendo DS fans jumped for joy as the company launched its new Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection service, allowing gamers to play Mario Kart DS and Tony Hawk's American SK8Land against others across the Internet. Unfortunately, the launch did not go without a hitch.
On the Nintendowifi.com Web site, the service's status is described as "Global Wi-Fi Service is experiencing intermittent problems." Digging further into the site, the problems apparently are related to Mario Kart DS as Nintendo has pegged the game as experiencing online difficulties and Tony Hawk as problem-free.
The reasoning and extent of the problems aren't detailed, but the Web site offers one solution:
"Our experience has shown that the majority of problems with wireless multiplayer gaming are caused by signal interference from other devices (wireless LAN, microwave ovens, cordless devices, computers). We recommend moving to another location or turn off the interfering devices."
You'll never find a cuter, more attractive bundle. This limited-edition bundle features a specially colored Nintendo DS system and a "Best Friends" edition of the Nintendogs pet simulation game. The special bundle-only version of Nintendogs will let owners start with the six most popular breeds chosen from the three Nintendogs editions. The special fourth edition of Nintendogs packed in this bundle includes the following starter breeds: Labrador retriever, golden retriever, German shepherd, beagle, Yorkshire terrier and miniature dachshund; though, as with the other editions, all 18 breeds are unlockable as owners progress. The bundle also includes a Nintendogs branded Nintendo DS skin and a bonus screen cleaner, two Stylus Pens, one AC Adapter and one Touch Strap.
Every month, various retailers send their total console sales figures back to publishers to be collated for regular internal report action. That's *every* major retailer. Why is that important? Well apparently, Chart Track doesn't count Toys R Us and other such stores, meaning its sales figures aren't entirely holistic. Plus, Chart Track doesn't publicly air their explicit figures. Thankfully, publishers sometimes do. On the sly.
Here are last week's platform sales figures for the UK:
These figures were shared with us from a reliable internal source at a major format holder who wishes to remain anonymous.
To make sure these figures weren't politically skewed toward that format holder, we contacted a multiplatform publishing source to verify the numbers - again, who wishes to remain anonymous (yeah, I know) as the leaking of sales figures is often deemed punishable by death - and he gave us:
DS - 32,000
PS2 - 29,000
GBA SP - 16,500
PSP - 11,000
GBA Micro - 5,000
XBOX - 4,000
GC - 1,000
So they're pretty close and definitely the same in terms of chart position so to speak. We'd say any differences are merely attributed to which stores participate in the sending back of sales figures to respective publishers, as many often choose just to collate their own numbers direct with retailers, rather than rely on a single body.
So anyway. What a great week for DS! You'd think with GTA:LCS on PSP those figures would be the other way around, but it seems the powers of some digital puppies can quash any Hip-Hopping gang-banger. Looks like there truly are blue skies in gaming.
Meanwhile, the Xbox and Gamecube look longingly from the pit of dead sales figures. Micro doesn't appear to have taken off especially well, but then it is just a tiny version of the sexy SP.
<a href="http://hem.passagen.se/flubba/gba.html" target="_blank" >FluBBa</a> has released an Arcade emulator for the GBA (works on Nintendo DS - with a GBA Flash Cart - and Gamecube Gameboy Player too ), heres whats new
The first version of my Black Tiger emulator is ready for download, the biggest showstoper might be the naming of the roms... MAME has changed the name of the roms quite recently I think so I might have to do some new batch files for the old names as well.
Actimagine has announced that Nintendo of Japan has licensed its video codecs to integrate video sequences in video games for the Game Boy Advance and the Nintendo DS handheld video game systems.
It will be provided at no charge in Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS Software Development Kits. The codecs will allow all Nintendo's game developers to implement video content in their games.
On the Nintendo DS, Actimagine software video codec can achieve full screen 256x192 video up to 30 frames per second from 100kbps to 700kbps, with stereo sound from 8KHz mono to 48KHz stereo. Dual screen can be supported up to 15 frames per second.
Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt and Jump Super Stars are the first two games using the video capabilities.
In 2004, Actimagine had previously licensed to Nintendo Co., Ltd. its video compression technologies allowing Nintendo to deliver up to 90 minutes of TV-like video titles on 32MB cartridges on its range of hand-held consoles: Game Boy Advance, Game Boy Advance SP and Nintendo DS. This is a purely software-based solution, making the video cartridges compatible with the installed base of Nintendo hand-held consoles. Actimagine will exhibit at the CES 2006 in Las Vegas, USA, from January 5th to 8th, Sands Convention Center booth 70608.
It seems that Animal Crossing: Wild World for the Nintendo DS has already sold over 400,000 pre-orders. No real surprise here as the last Animal Crossing sold like hotcakes. Nintendo's DS unit continues to burn up the charts, it just may beat out the original Gameboy one day in sales.
According to WiTendoFi.com, 180,000 players were online today with Mario Kart DS. Today was the official launch of the game and the service, and we can assume that at least 150,00 of those units were sales. Not bad for the first day of sales, then again, we did not expect anything less from Nintendo.
hi can some one help me out here?
ive just got a super pass,a gba movie player,and a compact flash card also i have a xg2 turbo flash cart
now do i need anything else to flash my ds also how do i do it every time i try and put the firmward onto my cart it says its not supported because its a nds file
if anyone at all can show me the way ill be very greatfull
ok, whats the conversion thing, i saw it here before but lost it. i got a 128mb card so how many bits can i get on it... or in other words, how many bits can i get for all the different SD card sizes
hi just woundered if anyone can help me out i have put the cracked firmware on my ds and now trying to boot games
ive got a xg2turbo gba cart
a superpass
and a gba movie player + compact flash card
i dont know how to patch the games, what to have in my ds to run these games ie the superpass and what buttons to press to load them
ive had a go but the ds boots up into gba mode or both screens go white
i am very new to this so any help would be great
and in simple terms please
Nintendo's fresh online service for the NDS performs a perfect start with the release of Mario Kart DS, which we received to stock today. While IGN calls the game the "best of the Mario Kart best" (it scored an incredible 9.5/10), we absolutely agree that this super-fast 3D racing beauty surpasses everything that was done before with this very popular Nintendo franchise. The NDS edition - for the first time in the series - offers online multiplayer via the system's Wi-Fi capability. Use the built-in function whereever a hotspot is near or plug the Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector into your computer's USB port to enjoy the service through your own wired internet connection (broadcasted wirelessly to your NDS). What Mario Kart fans over the world have dreamt of for so long is finally here with this version: invite friends from anywhere on the planet and take the Mushroom Kingdom race online! It sure is a genre fan's ultimate gaming experience: a tweaked Mario Kart, with new features and gameplay elements that've been tried and tested in past incarnations of the title, plus the versatility Ninty's latest handheld offers.
Below we serve all the exciting bits and pieces of this remarkable release, you can start off by watching a whacky US TV Commercial (care to throw some pizza into the racing mayhem?) and some Wi-Fied footage of the game in another new trailer for Mario Kart DS:
The game in its US version is in stock now and all pre-orders are being taken care of as we speak. New orders are of course very welcome, Mario Kart DS ships now within 24 hours for only US$ 49.90 (Free Shipping Worldwide!). Nintendo celebrates this milestone release with a system bundle, offering a "Hot Rod Red" NDS edition including the game in one great package, due out on November 28th, shipping for just US$ 169.99. For lovers of Mario Kart, Nintendo fans in general and all videogame toy collectors out there, we would like to mention a couple of dedicated goodies that you shouldn't miss to check out as well.
Online Multiplayer: A Mario Kart Dream Come True
Compete with up to four people online wirelessly on 20 of the 32 tracks using Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection or race up to eight people using one game cartridge with local wireless connection. Keep a log of people you consider friends, where this list can be obtained by two ways. Either get IDs from people that you play wirelessly in the same room for instance (not by Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection), or trade unique 12 digit "Friend's Codes" with those you'd like to hook up for a match. Here, as soon as your friend is online when connected trough Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, the game offers the appropriate user name for the Code you added manually to your list earlier. Mario Kart DS also links players on your friends list automatically together in the match up, but you can basically play anyone by choosing to compete against rivals, gamers in your region or even worldwide. If a friend is logged in, you will receive an appropriate alert and all win/loss statistics of friends will be saved to the game cartridge. The interface itself is simple and allows for easy navigation. Although there is no chat function to "talk" to other players and a couple of elements have been adjusted for online play (e.g. some power-up useability has been limited), racing opponents online is a fantastic way of bringing Mario Kart players together globally. Are you ready to take on the world? Don't be a shy guy, get connected already!
Gameplay and Features - Fresh Content and Nostalgia Bits
NDS dual-screens come in handy once more, where you can monitor your progress on the bottom one, with the track map getting displayed there and follow the action on the upper screen. Sporting names of Nintendo fame, the cast of characters includes Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Wario, Bowser and Toad, where each shows differences in Acceleration, Top-Speed and Off-Road skills. While for example Mario's younger brother is a well-balanced driver, Mr. Big Ape Donkey Kong shines in the speed category, but is a bit weak in the acceleration department. With the NDS version of Mario Kart you can activate a power-slide boost with the R shoulder button, last seen on N64 and GameCube editions. A bit of extra speed when coming out of a bend can be utilized with the D-pad. The kart-hopping of the SNES original also returns.
Nostalgia doesn't only strike at kart mechanics. As far as racing tracks go, there are all-new ones and re-prints from past Mario Kart games on SNES, N64, GameBoy Advance and GameCube. While replay value focus was definitely put on the (online) multiplayer feature, Mario Kart can be enjoyed in a superbly fleshed out single player experience, with a series of missions. Six worlds of eight missions offer boss battles reminiscent of Super Mario challenges. Summed up, modes include Grand Prix, Time Trials, VS, Battle and Missions, where VS and Battle are also available in Multiplayer Mode for up to eight players. Furthermore, single player lets you record Ghost Data for each track, which you can also trade with your friends wirelessly. More traditional power-ups like banana peels and turtle shells return, but you can now pick up some new additions as well (and let all hell break loose for your opponents), bringing the items total to a whopping 17. Sufficent new fluff to truly make this the top Mario Kart game of all time!
Nyagosu has updated his MSX emulator for the Nintendo DS, heres whats new:
• Screen positioning (set adjust) is supported all screen.
• Fix palette color of screen 8.
• Control a menu with a pad.
• Fix file select of subfolder
The GP2X has been available a week now and even non Koreans are getting to grips with it, in that week we have seen Snes and NeoGeo Emulators and ports of Quake, Quake 2 and Hexen and even 3 puzzle games, keep your eye on the GP2X scene via our GP2X News Site.
SEGA's popular blue dude with a 'tude, Sonic the Hedgehog, blasts his way onto the Nintendo DS and takes high-speed action gaming to a whole new level. The fastest hedgehog in the world is now pairing up with a mysterious character named Blaze the Cat. This dynamic duo heads out in search of the powerful and dangerous Sol Emeralds to ensure that they do not fall into the wrong hands. In their quest, Sonic and Blaze must battle all-new enemies, and as they do, ripple effects will change the events of their worlds' inhabitants.
Sonic Rush takes full advantage of the dual screens on the Nintendo DS system to deliver an action-packed adventure with dizzying dives, near-vertical curves, extreme jumps, brain-twisting loops and more! This 2D game features 3D visual effects, which give Sonic Rush a totally unique look. Sonic himself is also modeled in full 3D.
Team NeoFlash have released a new version of their software for the MK2 and MK3 DS adapter devices.
- Supports MMC compatible cards with either FAT16/32
- Flashes homebrew NDS ROMs to any Neo or XG flashcart
- Flashes clean NDS ROMs with patching on the fly, uses MK2/3 for hardware
flash/EEPROM save
- Automatically saves and loads flash/EEPROM saves before a new NDS ROM is
flashed
Instructions:
-------------
Flash NEO_MK2_3_Menu_V0.1.nds.gba to your Neo or XG flashcart (This is
only required the first time)
Format the MMC compatible card with either FAT16 or FAT32
Copy homebrew or clean NDS ROMs to the MMC compatible card
Turn on NDS with the flashed Neo or XG inserted and the MK2/3 with
compatible MMC inserted.
Press A when prompted to mount the card. Press A again to browse.
Select the NDS file you wish to flash to the card (this will not
overwrite the menu). Wait till flashing has finished. Turn off
the DS and hold start when you turn it on to boot the flashed NDS ROM
or do not hold start to return to the menu.
When you want to flash another game from the menu you will be prompted
to backup your last flash/EEPROM. Press A to save or B to not save.
If flash/EEPROM image is available for the game you will be prompted
to load it. Press A to load or B to not load.
NOTE: THIS 0.1 VERSION IS NOT SUPPORT ALL SD/MMC STILL,WE WILL UPGRADE IT ASAP,IF YOUR SD/MMC CAN'T BE DETECT,PLEASE FEEDBACK TO NEO FORUM.
Gladius has updated the Snes emulator for the Nintendo DS, heres what he posted:
Sound integration is substantially better now, for example, ff2 is playable At full speed with sound. Well, the small are still messed up, goal I haven' T worked one the core much . Random lockups (ala megaman X) should Be has thing of the past (I hope!).
The sound still has some slowdown in music heavy games, goal most of the games I' ve tried seem to run okay. The sound is also missing in some games (this problem existed before have well), and I think I' ve almost tracked this down, goal I want to get the current build out there.
Divineo China have posted news that the MK2 and MK3 are both in stock at Divineo China, heres the full details on both:
MK2 (MagicKey 2)
The MagicKey 2 (MK2) by NeoFlash Team is a development and backup tool for Nintendo DS (and GBA/SP). Instead of relying on cartridges like the Neo Flash 512, it uses the memory from an SD or MMC card (not included) that you plug in through the MK2 adapter.
Because of the cheap price of SD and MMC memory, and the large capacity available (up 32GB!) the possibilities are endles!
PassKey is included!
1. Boot from ANY Flash cart.
2. Included 8Kb high-speed inner buffer, can use command to read/write it.
3. Included 2M SRAM for NDS game save (100% hardware save, support EEPROM and Serial Flash directly ), and can compress the game save then backup to 16M menu flash later ( SMS function ).
4. Included 16M Flash for menu, can store the MK2 / MK3 boot menu program, and can backup/restore the NDS SMS file.br>
5.Supports SD and MMC card directly, maximum memory size up to 16Gb ~ 32Gb.
6. Included Li-Ion battery, lifetime over 5 years, can keep the game save data around 3~7 days, for temporary use only, must backup the save data to menu flash later for a long time safe backup.
7. Battery voltage display, can show NDS working voltage and MK2 / MK3 Li-Ion battery voltage.
8. Supports software reset, it'll help to make the multi-files loader.
9. Supports memory bank swap, very easy to use offset to swap the memory bank.
10. Supports power saving mode, some hardware module can enter sleeping mode when it doesn't run, and can use command to call them wake up.
MK3 (MagicKey 3) inc. 256M Flash
The MagicKey 3 (MK3) by NeoFlash Team is a development & backup tool for Nintendo DS (and GBA/SP). Instead of relying on cartridges like the Neo Flash 256, it uses the memory from an SD or MMC card (not included) that you plug in through the MK3 adapter. Because of the cheap price of SD and MMC memory, and the large capacity available (up 32GB!) the possibilities are endles!
This MK3 version includes 256M of flash mem on board for extra features.
PassKey is included!
1. Boot from ANY Flash cart.
2. Included 8Kb high-speed inner buffer, can use command to read/write it.
3. Included 2M SRAM for NDS game save (100% hardware save, support EEPROM and Serial Flash directly ), and can compress the game save then backup to 16M menu flash later ( SMS function ).
4. Included 16M Flash for menu, can store the MK2 / MK3 boot menu program, and can backup / restore the NDS SMS file.
5. Supports SD and MMC card directly, maximum memory size up to 16Gb ~ 32Gb.
6. Included Li-Ion battery, lifetime over 5 years, can keep the game save data around 3~7 days, for temporary using only, must backup the save data to menu flash later for a long time safe backup.
7. Battery voltage display, can show NDS working voltage and MK2 / MK3 Li-Ion battery voltage.
8. Supports software reset, it'll help to make the multi-files loader.
9. Supports memory bank swap, very easy to use offset to swap the memory bank.
10. Supports power saving mode, some hardware module can enter sleeping mode when it doesn't run, and can use command to call them wake up.
11. Included 256M Flash, for run PD rom and APP rom through MK3 and not need SD/MMC support.
12. Included 128M Zip RAM, for decompress the data and run directly, also can use for a huge size high-speed working buffer, for example the Linux / EMU / PDA, play movies, emulators etc...
Some Virus scanners are erroneously reporting DSBrick Trojan in Nintendo DS homebrew.
It has recently come to our attention that some Virus Scanners are flagging all DS applications built with devkitARM as the DSBrick trojan. This is due to the signature they use being insufficient to determine the difference between standard homebrew applications and malicious code. All applications built with devkitARM share the same startup code so obviously some virus
scanners are detecting this rather than any malicious code.
If you are using a virus scanner which flags most, if not all, of the provided examples as a Trojan please (1) Report the false positive to the company which provides your scanner and, (2) Use the contact form to tell us which scanners are giving false positives.
i have looked over the short guide here on what to buy to run homebrew, but lately i have found that there are newer better products that have come out and like others, i have become disolussioned.
what are the best products out there now? combination wise? do i go cart or sd, what passme do i use? etc
some of these may sound really stupid, and for this i apologise, but if people could perhaps respond with hteir set ups or what they think works best i (and i think others) would really appreciate it.
It's that time of year again! Ahh, the Holiday season rush, so lovely. Here at Lik Sang, that's usually synonymous with late night overtime and working twice as fast as usual without sacrificing on quality (as stated by our operations manager). That's what it takes though if you want to be listed on the "official partners list" of Santa's corporate web site (and you should see the flowerish "thank you" message to Lik Sang which Santa posted on his private blog!). Yes, our warehouse is approved as one of the top performing and most productive genuine Santa centers on the planet and once again we're prepared to do our best to live up to the trust you put in us for another great holiday season.
In order to ease up your shopping time at Lik Sang, we've compiled these Christmas Buyers Guides as a series to help you out saving time and cutting lines when handling your Christmas list for relatives, family members and friends (not to forget yourself, it being time to get that expensive gear you've been eyeing for months, now that your end-of-year bonus is coming up, either from work or grandma). Whether you're preparing well ahead of time to avoid a stressful break down, or joining us late in the middle of your last minute race, the round-up hereunder is sure to save you precious time by pointing you straight to the good stuff. This particular exhaustive guide covers all the cool gear for everything Nintendo, while the other three articles focus on different systems:
Nintendo DS Systems in all flavors and colors
A true innovation in handheld gaming, the Nintendo DS with its dual & touch screen technology offers fresh gameplay and spawned a new generation of titles cleverly using the system's unique features. At Lik Sang, you can choose between all the cool color editions straight from Japan, we make sure you and those special to you will get their hands on their favorite version.
Taking your Nintendo DS on a walk screams for adequate protection. We carry a fine selection of cases and protectors that will keep your system safe and dust-free as well as your screens unharmed and allow you to bring your games along as well.
Gameboy Micro - Sexy mini-gadget with backlit screen
Nintendo has also released another sexy gizmo last September, which is once more showing how well Nintendo performs when making something already great even better. Building upon their current Gameboy technology, an evolution in handheld gaming meets style with the Gameboy Micro. Sporting a design that allows the handheld to fit in any pocket, the system is perfectly playable and offers the smallest but best Gameboy screen to date. With swappable face plates and all Gameboy Advance games worldwide playable, it was embraced with a lot of excitement by the gaming community. There are several different versions available, most cool and collectible is certainly the Famicom edition, which Nintendo released to honor their most famous icon, celebrating Mario's 20th anniversary.
Although swallowed by any pocket easily, dedicated cases and protectors are recommended to keep your GameBoy Micro system safe from potential harm. Choose from a variety of products here, that will absorb all knocks and blows and will fend off scratches from your pristine micro-sized screen.
Nintendo Collectibles and Figures Frenzy
When it comes to videogame related toys and merchandise, fans and collectors of all ages are delighted at what the Japanese market abundantly offers in all its exciting Capsule- and Candy Toy form. Whether your shrine - dedicated to a beloved videogame series - lacks an essential piece, or there's too much empty space on your computer desk or you're looking for the perfect additional gift for the cool stuff collector in your life, Lik Sang got you covered. All the fresh figures, keychains, plushes, cushions, promo items, gadgets and much more straight from Nippon can be found in our dedicated category, where we do our best to present a toys and merchandise Eldorado for all Mario, Zelda, Famicom, NDS and general Nintendo fans.
Retrogaming Revival Celebrations for Nintendo Loyalists
For those grown-up gamers who are already old enough to feel a desire to relive their past childhood and teenage memories, we have just the perfect stuff. Don't try to force anything PSP or Xbox 360 onto them, they probably don't want to leave their comfy nostalgia bubble. In the peaceful spirit of Christmas, we thus recommend a gift that goes along with those pixelated dreams
The last twelve months have been really good for classics fans and Nintendo retrogaming lovers. It all started with the release on the market of the Super SmartJoy™, the long awaited adapter that will allow emulation freaks to use their beloved Super Nintendo controllers on a PC or MAC.
If enjoying your NES/Famicom titles on the go is what you desire, the Pocket Famicom, released by Gametech a couple of months back, is just the thing to have. Famicom games plug in directly, all NES cartridges can be inserted by using the Family converter. The PokeFami features a 2.5" backlit LCD display, AV port and a headphone jack.
Tobi has released a great looking Chess game for the Nintendo DS, heres the info:
This is a chess game for the Nintendo DS. It builds upon a very strong open source chess engine called Fruit 2.1 by Fabien Letouzey (now commercial: www.fruitchess.com). The engine was changed to meet the requirements of the DS.
The interface is quite simple but functional. Here are some features:
Touchscreen support
Opening book
Undo moves
Different time options or fixed calculation depth
Force the computer to make a move
There are many things, that need to improve. Besides (I hope not so many) bugs, there are some known problems:
Pawn promotion (it will automatically promote to a queen)
Menu issues
SuccessHK have posted the following new games for sale from one of the worlds best importers:
Tony Hawk's American Sk8land US ver.
For the first time on Nintendo DS, this Tony Hawk game features new cel-shading graphics effects and a special story presentation for the handheld system. The DS version also features unique bonuses, such as the ability to record your voice for unique bail and special move sounds, texture designing via touchpad, touch-enabled freak-out challenges, and even online play.
Freedom to Ride Forever - Travel across the urban terrain of Los Angeles, including Hollywood, East L.A. and other landmark areas - without restrictions or repetition
Ride a board or bike throughout the entire game -- with all-new physics, a BMX-specific control system and several BMX-specific goals
More tricks and expanded controls than ever before - Bert slides, Natas spins, one-footed grinds and manuals, wall runs, wall flips and more
Customize like crazy - Enter and explore dozens of shops in-game to customize your gear and your look
Need for Speed Most Wanted US ver.
The new speester in EA's successful series combines the tuner customization of Need for Speed Underground with an expanded take on the police chases of the Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit series. The game will feature a Rap Sheet option that works hand in hand with a player's street reputation as they move up from the "Black List" to the A-List. Users will also be able to go head-to-head with their opponents while simultaneously trying to avoid more than six different police cars at once through a dynamically changing open-ended world. Get your car peaked for outrunning the po-po by cuctomizing your muscle cars, supercars, tuners, and sports cars.
SEGA Casino US ver.
SEGA Casino deals out plenty of gambling action for gamers on-the-go with a casino experience that features five games, and six unlockable games. Players can place their bets on Sega Casino's Roulette, Craps, Baccarat, and other unlockable games, including Chuck-a-Luck, Keno, and three Video Poker variants (Jacks or Better, Double Bonus, and Deuces Wild). They can improve their skills by taking on AI opponents solo, or they can play wirelessly with up to four friends by using a single cartridge. Card game fans will be able to challenge friends in heated rounds of Black Jack, Texas Hold ‘em, and the unlockable 7 Card Poker! Play across three modes, including free mode, wireless multiplayer, and the Casino challenge mode where you strive to turn $1000 into millions!
Atari has announced plans to publish DS title Tamagotchi Connexion Corner Shop in Europe next year.
The game, which was developed by Bandai, lets you open speciality shops (such as a bakery, dentist's surgery or beauty salon) and play touch-screen mini-games to serve your customers' needs (by decorating cakes, filling cavities, applying make-up and so on).
You also get a choice of three Tamagotchi business partners called Mametchi, Memetchi and Kuchipatchi, and there are loads of NPCs to meet and greet. The ultimate object of the game is to earn lots of "Gs" and get your shop up to "royal status", apparently.
Expect lots of customisation options, plenty of funky sound effects and a huge dollop of cuteness - the game has a hand-drawn visual style in very bright colours, as you can see from the newly-released screenshots.
Gladius has updated the Snes emulator for the Nintendo DS, heres what he posted:
changes in the 11/21 release:
- fixed DMA, new modes and wrapping within bank supported
- Sprite register writes are done correctly with latching now
- Better CPU/APU sync (hopefully for the last time - yew you note crashes in level transitions in eg. mario, let me know)
- Speed up one the APU side, should Be less sound crackling
So i ordered a superpass, a supercard sd adapter and an sd card.
Currently i'm trying to work out the software i need to download to make it all work.
(anyone know a very good thorough detailed walkthrough?)
i have heard bits and pieces about ds's now being bricked if they have mario kart ... i have mario cart, and have not updated my ds's firmware (do i need to), i'll have a superpass so i didn't think i would need to, but if i were to would i too be bricked?
any help would be much appreciated
cheers
thaive
p.s. can anyone help me find find out if my ds NAH101##### is compatable with superpass .. lol.. its teal not blue
In its first week of availability, a whopping 45 percent of people who bought the new Mario Kart DS racing game for Nintendo DSTM already have test driven its free Wi-Fi capabilities, setting a new industry standard. This remarkable play rate of Mario Kart DS demonstrates both the easy setup and access of Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, Nintendo's new wireless gaming service, as well as the fun game play that has always characterized the Mario Kart series.
On Nov. 14, Mario Kart DS became the first game to use Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Through the end of Sunday, more than 112,000 people in the United States had purchased the game. In the same time frame, nearly 52,000 unique users had logged onto Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection to play against people from all over the country.
Video game fans have high praise for the addictive fun of Mario Kart DS and the simplicity of Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Many report that they can't stop playing.
"From the user-end, this is the easiest way to get online in video games," writes popular video game blog Kotaku.com. "The Wi-Fi integration is seamless. It's as easy as clicking multiplayer on the menu and joining the game."
Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection lets users easily connect to the service at no additional charge using both home wireless networks and select Wi-Fi hotspots, without any complicated setup procedures.
Upcoming titles that use Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection include Animal Crossing®: Wild World on Dec. 5 and Metroid® Prime Hunters on March 20. The buzz for Animal Crossing: Wild World already has reached a fevered pitch. Four notoriously difficult game raters at Weekly Famitsu, Japan's leading video game magazine, scored it 37 out of a possible 40 points.
With the release of Mario Kart DS and Tony Hawk’s American Sk8land over the past few weeks, Nintendo’s DS online Wi-Fi service is officially in full swing. While most wireless routers are compatible with the DS (check out the official Nintendo Wi-Fi site for details), not everybody is going to have a wireless network set up at home. Public access points are also small in number in PAL territories, especially if sitting huddled on the floor of an EB store playing DS isn’t your cup of tea. Realising this, the boffins at Nintendo come up with a USB Wi-Fi adapter, which, theoretically, will work on almost every PC, providing they have a broadband connection and Windows XP.
We ordered our adapter last week, and – impressively – it arrived the very next day by courier. Not so impressively though were the contents. There wasn’t even a box – just the adapter itself, a USB extension cable, driver CD and instruction manual, shoved between a piece of cardboard.
Nintendo is teaming up with London's Metro magazine to provide free taxi rides in London! To celebrate the launch of Mario Kart: DS, Londoners will be able to get free cab rides in Zone One this Friday, in ten Mario Kart branded black cabs which will be in service for one day only!
The way it works is simple: just check Friday's edition of Metro magazine for an exclusive voucher then hail any one of the branded cabs for a free ride in Zone One!
Whos working on an App for WinDS? im gonna have a pop and chances are i will get NOWERE! but im still gonna try if you dunno what im on about click the link below
Nintendo is claiming massive early success for its Wi-Fi Connection online play system for the Nintendo DS handheld, with the company's statistics suggesting that 45 per cent of Mario Kart DS owners have already tried the game online.
Figures released by Nintendo of America for the first week of Mario Kart DS' release show that 52,000 unique users logged into the Wi-Fi Connection service with the game at least once - out of the 112,000 who purchased it.
That's over 45 per cent uptake, an incredible achievement for what is one of the world's first online handheld games, and an extremely strong start for Nintendo's online service - which works over home wireless networks, through public wireless "hot spots" or via Nintendo's own low-cost USB Wi-Fi device.
Mario Kart DS launches here in the UK on Friday, along with the USB Wi-Fi device, which will be sold separately for GBP 29.99, and the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection public service - which will see 7,500 locations across the UK being set up to allow free DS online play, with more to follow in the coming months.
The Nintendo DS edition of Viewtiful Joe features a brand new storyline introducing Joe's sister Jasmine and puts players to the task in saving Captain Blue's Hollywood show after a sinister group steals it away. The Nintendo DS' hardware will be put to use as the development team is bringing to life the familiar cel-shaded environment the series is known for. The two screens will keep track of the action in two viewpoints and the touch panel is used to solve puzzles and pull off special moves. A new "Power Split" move debuts here, which requires that you draw lines across the screen.
Naruto: Saikyo Ninja Daikesshu 3 Jap ver.
The first two Saikyou Ninja Daikesshou games debuted on the Game Boy Advance. For this DS-based third entry, Tomy has added dual screen and touch pen support. The top screen shows the side scrolling action, similar in style to the GBA entries. On the bottom screen, you use the touch pen to input special commands for slashing away at enemies.
Ford Racing 3 US ver.
Experience the thrill of racing 55 of Ford's most prominent driving machines from the Model T to the 2005 Mustang GT in Empire Interactive's Ford Racing 3. Test your driving skill on 26 meticulously detailed tracks with interactive scenery from locations like the snow-packed mountains of Europe to the rain forests of South America. Take part in more than 20 hours of intense automobile action while competing in 11 challenging race types such as Boost, Overtake, and Relay while unlocking a huge range of game modes, tracks, and vehicles along the way. Players can even earn up to 14 different championships and contend with their friends in split-screen two-player head-to-head.
SNOOD 2 US ver
Welcome back to Snood in an all encompassing new style. Same old friends but new twists giving fun to all the family. We have arrived at Snoodville and the action is all go, go, go. Classic snood turned sideways is a massive issue as all the snoods fall to the floor. Once they meet up with three of their own color, all the action starts to happen. Clear the board of all the snoods in classic time limits and playmodes and test your skill literally on the edge. No more snoods available -- what do we do now? We fire a grappling hook to hook the snoods and pull them back to snood central. Then fire them to where we want them to be to make them fall from the board. Sounds simple BUT watch out. If you leave a poor snood by itself, you will never finish the game.
Dragon Ball Z: Supersonic Warriors 2 US ver.
Utilizing the Nintendo DS touch screen and double-monitor system to bring the intensity of Dragon Ball Z battles to life, Goku fights through an all-new challenge in the portable realm. The game also offers unique DBZ plotlines and intriguing "what-if" scenarios that provide fans with the chance to experience DBZ content in a new way via a single-player story mode whereby players create distinctive gaming adventures with each playable DBZ character.
Real Time Conflict: Shogun Empires US ver.
In "Shogun Warrior", players assume the role of one of two brothers who are locked in bloody combat in feudal Japan. Conquering neighboring territories and amassing formidable armies, only one warrior will be able to survive the deadly endgame to realize his ambitions and claim the title of Shogun. Utilize the Nintendo DS's touch screen to plot complex battle plans while watching the action play out through detailed 3D graphics on the top screen. Touch screen mini-games such as duels, castle sieges and sea battles enhance the battle experience. In between encounters, gamers will be able to use diplomacy and military strategy to manage their forces. For the ultimate in feudal warfare, up to 8 players can engage in enormous clashes through the wireless multiplayer capabilities of the Nintendo DS
Peter Jackson's King Kong US ver.
Working very closely with Peter Jackson and Wingnut Films, Ubisoft is creating a series of games (including a Nintendo DS edition) that will reflect the visual interpretation, character dynamics and dramatic narrative of Jackson's epic take on the classic King Kong story.
Survive as Jack in a world crawling with predators and live the legend as Kong
I remeber "SPLASH"...a BIG BIG BIG fake false c64 emulator x GBA...many pictures in the WEB site...promises in every emulatron web sites...and later many moths...no body haved see anything!
The Autor was happy to be famous WITH NOTHING! very easy so... ...
I hope this now is not thesame for the NDS... because is really POOR of emulators... and peope who like work with this concole!
The latest company to capitalize on the insect craze is Rocket Company, which is behind this DS title based on the insect theme: Konchuu Kakutou: Mushi 1 Grand Prix, or Insect Fighting: Bug 1 Grand Prix. Different from Sega's Mushi King GBA adaptation, Kouchuu Kakutou is set up as an RPG. You raise your own insects and send them off into menu-based battle in forest stages, in the hopes of earning new insects and items along the way. Your goal is to turn your insect into the insect fighter champion. The game also features link support.
Enhanced for the Nintendo DS, Bust-A-Move DS features a touchscreen slingshot for controlling this classic series in a whole new way! Challenge yourself to over 250 puzzles and tons of secret puzzles, making strategic use of special bubbles like Bomb, Star, Rainbow and the grief causing Nuisance bubble. Also featured are 5-player multiplayer modes and DS Download sharing for single-cart group play.
Mahjong players, who haven't picked up one of the system's other mahjong titles, should take a look at Pro Ni Naru Mahjong DS. That long title translates to "Become a Pro: Mahjong DS," and a professional mahjong league out of Japan supervised the game. This DS mahjong game features 10 pro mahjong players who, breaking all the rules, have decided to appear using their real names -- first and last (Success has even created caricatures for them). A training mode puts you through a number of tough situations, offering advice from pros. The game also includes download play for up to four players.
The brain twisting Japanese board game appears for the first time on the Nintendo DS through Success's Appare! Shougi-jiisan ~ Washi to Shoubu-ja ~. After hours of heated debate, we've decided to give this game the English name of "Honorable! Uncle Shogi." The game features opponent characters designed by Masayuki Katayama, well known in the mahjong manga world (yes, there is such a thing) and includes download play for up to two players.
The new tracks are a pleasant mix. You swap between small and tightly designed tracks, to long, wide and sprawling ones, bringing a unique driving experience from cup to cup and track to track.
The range on offer here is impressive to say the least. When added to the bonus retro tracks, you have enough combinations of race types to keep you glued to multi-player races for many, many months to come.
But then there's more! The new Missions mode, while presenting a few challenges that fall into the annoying, stupid and frustrating bracket, are insanely addictive.
Little trails that require expert driving skills to earn the top ranking and, because of their short and sharp nature, are always begging for just one more go to perfect.
And then there's the rather generous multiplayer. Even with just one cart, there's a nice selection of tracks and Battle modes to get stuck into.
With everyone kitted out with a copy of the game, you'll be party to every track, mode and feature that the game has to offer.
Never before has Mario Kart offered so much content, that's so easily accessible and can be enjoyed by so many people. And that's got to be a good thing, surely?
SuperCard has released the v1.53 Firmware and v2.43 Patcher software for both the Compact Flash (CF) and Secure Digital Cards (SD) version of their very popular GameBoy Advance / Nintendo DS Development/Backup unit.
New Features
* Improved Compatibility
* Faster Reading/Writing from Flash Media
* Reduced Slowdown (Not sure for GBA or NDS?)
* No Need for Original w/Booting (1-100 only)
DS sales continue to exceed 100,000 units per week in PAL territories
Nintendo has announced that more than 1 million copies of puppy sim Nintendogs have been sold across Europe since the game launched on October 7th.
The Nintendo DS also continues to sell well, with more than 2 million units already shifted. According to Nintendo, weekly sales have topped 100,000 for the past three weeks - with 120,000 units sold last week alone.
The handheld's success is likely to continue with the release of Mario Kart DS, which hit European stores today. It's the first game that allows DS owners to play online via Nintendo's Wi-Fi Connection service. A Mario Kart DS bundle - which includes a handheld and a copy of the game - is currently retailing for GBP 99.
The announcement follows the earlier publication of Nintendo's half-yearly financial report, which revealed a fall in profits of 21.1 per cent. Nintendo attributed the drop to extra research and development costs and lower sales of GameCube consoles and software.
The company is predicting a further boost in sales of DS hardware and games as Christmas draws nearer, with titles such as Nintendogs and Mario Kart DS expected to sell well throughout the holiday period.
Anyone who's eagerly been refreshing the URL for Nintendo's official European Wi-fi Connection Service website in anticipation of its a launch today alongside Mario Kart DS might be wondering just what exactly's going on. So here's the skinny, as they say in, erm, somewhere.
You see, where there should be a lovely gleaming new portal for the service, there's just an ominous Coming Soon message at the moment. For the uninitiated, the website will act as the central repository for all Nintendo's online antics. You'll be able to keep track of your high scores and current records, as well as find all the info you'll need on getting your DS hooked up to the 'net and the full low-down on local free hotspots in your area.
The only problem is, it's not there yet. Fearing that something had gone terribly wrong, we gave Nintendo a call and - thankfully - it looks like anyone picking up Mario Kart DS will still be able to take the game online, either through a wi-fi router at home or using one of the company's 7,500 wi-fi hotspots across the country.
Apparently, some last minute technical issues have delayed the launch of the website itself but Nintendo has assured us its working round the clock to sort them out and the site will be live within the next few days. In the meantime, you can still hop onto the 'net and kick some digital karting arse - you just won't be able to back up your bragging rights with official stats just yet...
Winter sports sequel, SBK Snowboard Kids, is being brought to DS by Rising Star Games, with a release set for March 2006.
Clearly targeted at the younger DS owner, SBK is bright and colourful - as you can see from these new shots.
Combining Mario Kart-style power-up projectiles - like fireballs or freeze attacks - with a neat use of the touch-screen to perform special tricks while tearing down the slopes, SBK should give knee-high gamers an entertaining wintry sports fix.
SBK Snowboard Kids will be released for DS in March 2006
The Snowboard Kids are back, with a new look and a brand new adventure - exclusively for the Nintendo DS! Join Slash and pals as they tear up the slopes to prove, once and for all, that they're the kings of the mountain! Play with up to 4 friends at a time! Eight characters to choose from! Attack the slopes and your opponents to be the first to reach the finish line! Utilize a multitude of special items and attacks during the race to win at any cost! Use every trick in the Nintendo DS aresenal! Touch screen trick control lets you pull off amazing tricks and combos! Use points earned from any game mode to purchase new boards and other cool gear.
According to Nintendo, in one week more than 45% of the people who have purchased Mario Kart DS have taken their game online via the free Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection service.
In just one week, more than 112,000 copies of Mario Kart DS have been sold in the US. Of that number more than 52,000 unique system/game pairs have connected to the online service for Wi-Fi multiplayer gaming.
"We are ecstatic with the results, and this definitely sets the standard for future Wi-Fi online gaming," said Beth Lewellyn, Nintendo's senior director of public relations. "Mario Kart should easily be a million seller in its life cycle, and we'd love for everyone with the game to touch the Wi-Fi experience. We've got Animal Crossing just around the corner, and Metroid Prime Hunters next year, with more to come."
Comparatively, Microsoft reported last year that after three weeks on store shelves, just 18 percent of Halo 2 owners had played that game on Xbox Live.
Interested in this game? Add it to your wishlist. If you already own it, be sure to add it to your collection. You can keep track of the games you've got, check personalized stats, get tips and cheats by email, and more.
Joat has begun to document the the Nintendo DS’s 3D hardware because, as he put it, “no-one else has gotten around to it”:
Since no-one else has gotten around to it, I started documenting the 3D hardware (Geometry Engine, Rasterizing Engine). It is still a work in progress.
Geometry Engine Documentation can be viewd [here].
Rasterizing Engine Documentation can be viewed [here].
The M3 adapter has been available for a while in CF version.
We are happy to announce that is now also available in its SD version. All preorders have been shipped and we are now taking new orders.
Heres some info on the M3 Adapter:
M3 Adapter is made for those who want to download freeware games, movies and music from a PC to a GBA(SP) and/or Nintendo DS. You can use your PC and normal Compact Flash Card Reader to transfer and convert you movie & music files to the Compact Flash Cards. Then, insert M3 Adapter with CF/SD Card into GBA(SP) or Nintendo DS, and the files will be available after boot up of the console.
Its features are just the same as any other MP3 Player on the market but also playing games and movies instead of playing music only.
One of the coolest features of an M3 Adapter is that you can directly run third party software on it – that includes emulators of the video game system.
Compatible with all GBA games without any patching required and without any problem during gameplay. NDS games require patching.
Excellent Save compatibility. It support all saves types with the RTC function.
Capacity is very flexible and only depends on the card you use, which now are up to 4GBypte (32Gbit) on the market.
GOLDEN FINGER (CHEAT Code ) employs the IPS system that prevails in the world, with more diverse and powerful distinctive functions than CHT. The unique Auto IPS feature completely prevents computer crash.
With unique Super Real Time Save Function, easily operates and it can revive without limits.
CF/SD card +Reader can be used as a U disk and it only needs drag here and there when the game is burning.
Saves money: CF/SD card can also be used in digital camera and other products, and you can share your card as you need it without the need to buy a dedicated card for your NDS/GBA.
Supports GBA Games, FC games, Emulator games, GBA Movies, E-book, Cartoon books, browse pictures, enjoy music and so on.
Supports 4-key reboot to Rom menu function, and supports 4-key reboot beginning function.
the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire videogame, Harry is mysteriously selected by the Goblet of Fire as the fourth champion in the dangerous Triwizard Tournament. Each champion in the international competition must confront a fire-breathing dragon, rescue friends from the icy depths of the Black Lake, and navigate the twisting mysteries of a vast, enchanted maze. Exciting scenes from the film come to life, from the Quidditch World Cup campsite to a heart-stopping duel with Lord Voldemort. Use the Nintendo DS touch screen and stylus wand to cast spells. You can feed, wash, and play with your Niffler creature in the Care of Magical Creatures mode. Connect your Nintendo DS to another to see which creature has been best cared for. Play thrilling single player mini-games including Hippogriff Feeding, Chocolate Frogs, and Sweet Sorting. System also features wireless connectivity, allowing you to join another player for Wizard Dueling.
Gladius has updated the Snes emulator for the Nintendo DS, heres what he posted:
changes in the 11/27 release:
- Changed RDNMI behavior to clear one read/write and set high bit one VBL
- drunk Changed TIMEUP to clear one read/write and open return for low 7 bits
Burnout: Legends takes the most explosive moments of the popular Burnout series of racing games, mashes them together and adds some new surprises -- giving you the best racing experience to come out for the DS. Use your car as a weapon and battle your way to the front of the pack - by taking out rivals and instigating spectacular crashes. Speed, depth and destruction are waiting for you, in the game of on-the-go automotive anarchy.
Final Fantasy IV is the Japanese name for what was released in the US as Final Fantasy II, the first Super NES version of Square's immensely popular RPG series. Though the game's main design -- including 18 towns and castles, dozens of spells and hundreds of monsters -- remains intact in the move from SNES to GBA, additional game elements unique to the handheld version have been added to the production.
And you thought their last adventure was insane? In this sequel to Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga, the brothers travel back in time to retrieve Princess Peach, only to come face to face with baby versions of themselves, the princess and Bowser. Teaming up with their young selves will soon send Mario and Luigi on a quest of lunatic proportions as players must control both the adult AND baby versions of the Mushroom Kingdom heroes. Players use the top screen to study the land, keep track of the pair or brothers not under their control or maximize combo moves in battle. With twice the Mario brothers and twice the laughs, this massive side-splitting adventure could only find a home on the dual screens of the Nintendo DS.
Last week we were raving about the Japanese Gold NDS, and this week we have what's quite simply the best value NDS bundle yet. Straight from the US is the Mario Kart Hot Rod Red Edition, which along with including the full Mario Kart game released just two weeks ago (normally US$ 49.90 on its own), you get a red NDS edition with custom checked flag wrist strap and a flame racing skin to stick on the back. We expect a first delivery this Thursday and then some more additional stock around the week-end. If you are holding a preorder, watch your mailbox around the end of the week for a tracking number.
Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time - NDS (US)
This week is the launch of Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time for the NDS, sequel to the extremely loveable and successful Mario & Luigi, better known to importers as Mario & Luigi RPG. At the end of the original game Bowser was defeated and the future looked brighter than ever, but now it's the past Mushroom Kingdom has to worry about. Skipping back in time to when the plumber brothers were but babies, aliens named Shroobs decided they would invade. Thankfully grown-up Mario and Luigi use a time machine to go back and along with the two babies, try to save the day. That's right, with double the screens comes double the characters! Switching between the big and little guys with the touch of a button, you can use their size, or lack of it, to reach new areas. Then when you split up, keep track of both teams at once on the two separate screens.
Not only can the two Mario bros. team up against enemies like last time, but with the right timing you can double your damage here by using the babies too. Likewise there's many brain twisting puzzles that use the extra characters, and as with the original no doubt there will be many new gameplay aspects introduced throughout the adventure. Combat wise this time an emphasis has been placed on good timing to pull of moves rather than memorizing button combinations. With all the RPG aspects you'd expect, plenty of humor, giant bosses, and not to forget a whiny little Prince Bowser, Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time is sure to delight, and being released in the US first, it's in stock within the next few days.
Some vaguely substantial additions to the DSemu-ng codebase have occurred since I last posted. Firstly, I've hacked some semblance of more complete DMA support into the GBA's memory management: video-triggered DMA events and channel 0 are both now supported. Of course, the presence of these is entirely untested, so I've no idea if they work, but the code is there at least; if it's not working correctly, that's a much better thing than the functionality being totally missing.
Things have also moved forward on the DS front. I've got a very rough model for simultaneous execution of the two CPUs now: Run two ARM9 instructions, then run one ARM7 instruction. It's grossly incorrect at the fine-grain level of clock cycles, but the big issues of synchronisation should be able to cope with it. What this means is that you can now watch the two CPUs executing from their respective debuggers, which is indeed a very good thing.
On the subject of synchronisation, the two DS MMUs have been hacked up to support portions of the new memory map, and to share regions of memory between each other. Furthermore, I've added the ability to parse an NDS file's header, and load the main- and sub-specifi binaries into their respective spaces. Of course, the issue of priority when a location is simultaneously accessed by both CPUs is as yet unsolved, as the memory control registers are fully missing. Also, the NDS header parsing means the emulator will only ever accept .nds files; .ds.gba and such things will be impossible to load.
As a footnote, I've finally added a README to the source distribution, so you can see what you're getting. I believe it's already partly out of date, but I'll try to keep it updated when I can. You can take a look at the latest source, including that README, at the link below.
We received another batch of M3CF. We will be able to fill all backorder today and tomorrow. For the SD version, we should have them in approx 2 weeks.
I regret disappointing everyone like this, but I know I would rather have a lib that was fairly complete and better tested than one that was incomplete and thrown together. So... Hate me if you must, but we'll all be happy when I do get it all done. 
if you dunno what im on about click the link below
