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Advance Wars goodies make us wish the days would go by faster
In case you missed it, you can see from the video above that Advance Wars: Days of Ruin has a much darker style than its predecessors. The gameplay is looking great and we're liking the mature style, especially after hearing some of the reasons behind it.1up recently interviewed Hitoshi Yamagami and Masaki Tawara of Nintendo's Software Planning and Development Department, who shed some light on the darker style behind the game. They decided to drop the light-hearted scenario of the game because they didn't want to depict war positively. The more realistic tone then led to different visuals and a few tweaks to the gameplay. While the fundamentals are the same, Yamagami and Tawara say that Days of Ruin will have a faster pace than before.Because the previous Advance Wars games were great in of themselves, change to the series can seem a little daunting. Still, we like it when developers take risks, and we think the game will be all the better for it. We'll find out for sure soon enough, though, as the game is scheduled to release in a few weeks.%Gallery-8563%
Confirmed: Advance Wars: Dark Conflict laying siege to Europe on January 25
var digg_url = 'http://www.digg.com/nintendo/Confirmed_Advance_Wars_2_dated_for_Europe_boxart_revealed'; Following yesterday's speculation, we've just received confirmation from Nintendo of Europe that Advance Wars: Dark Conflict will be hitting European stores on January 25, just four days ahead of the game's U.S. release.Also confirmed to us was the name change, though judging by the leaked boxart that materialized on NeoGAF recently (and which seems to fit in with the game's new, oh-so-serious approach), this will only apply to Europe. Looks like the title will still carry the Days of Ruin suffix when it launches stateside.%Gallery-8563%
Promotional Consideration: Black Hole Advertising
Promotional Consideration is a weekly feature about the Nintendo DS advertisements you usually flip past, change the channel on, or just tune out.Considering that you've put up with the dozens of posts we've published for Advance Wars: Days of Ruin so far, we're sure you'll forgive us for revisiting War Worlds again so soon with this column. This week, Promotional Consideration examines the print ad Nintendo rolled out in 2003 for Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising. Position your units, end your turn, and peek past the break for more text.
Joystiq hands-on: Advance Wars: Days of Ruin (DS)
The "Days of Ruin" addendum to the standard "Advance Wars" title is more than a surprising acronym that doesn't stand for "DS." (DR? What?) Days of Ruin marks the bleak setting and style for the latest version of this turn-based strategy game. The plucky Advance Wars characters have been retired in favor of an all-new, more tempered cast. And while this is still a Nintendo game -- don't expect anything too edgy -- the company anticipates it'll earn a T-rating for the game's language and tone. The plot is about a more serious, war-decimated planet, after all. More than just the setting, this Advance Wars was described as an Intelligent Systems relaunch of the series. CO powers have been reduced; don't expect them to let a losing side suddenly win the game. And the dual-screen gameplay from the previous DS version has been removed; the top screen shows dedicated battle info, while the bottom screen shows the game area. We recently played a few levels of the new title, and we're looking forward to an Advance Wars game again. We never liked the dual-screen battles, and the CO powers seemed to have gotten out of control in the previous version. Days of Ruin felt like a much needed course-correction for the series. Features like Wi-Fi play with voice chat, and map creation and sharing, remake the title while keeping its addictive strategy gameplay. %Gallery-8675%
Advance Wars: Days of Ruin to support online, voice chat, and Map Center
Previews for Advance Wars: Days of Ruin reveal that the game's cheerful tone isn't the only thing Intelligent Systems stripped from the turn-based strategy title; fans of the series can expect to find a lot of the "distractions and unnecessary elements" that plagued previous games to be missing. Dual-screen battles and "many advanced units" were cut, and unbalancing CO powers have been softened in favor of more strategic maneuvering.Gamers waiting for online support's inevitable addition can rejoice, however, as Wi-Fi battles and voice chat made the list of new features planned for Days of Ruin's January 21st, 2008 release. A Map Center system of sharing, rating, and downloading online maps will also come included with the 170 scenarios on the cart.New troops like the Motorbike (lightly-armed vehicles that can capture territories), Flare (infantry capable of clearing fog-of-war from a distance), and Duster (air units equipped to fight off aerial and ground opponents) promise to add creative angles to past tactics. Check past the post break for more off-screen videos of those units in action.Read - 1UP's Advance Wars: DoR hands-on impressionsRead - GameSpot's Advance Wars: DoR hands-on impressionsRead - Kotaku's Advance Wars: DoR hands-on impressionsRead - IGN's Advance Wars: DoR off-screen videos
Nintendo remembers that war isn't always so jovial
Along with its grittier, browner, and more next-gen art style, Advance Wars: Portrait Days of Ruin brings a much darker story to the turn-based strategy series, deviating from Wars World's usually colorful and light-hearted tone. The apocalyptic plot begins with a storm of meteors devastating the planet, setting off a chain of natural disasters that kill 90% of mankind. Cutscenes show Commanding Officers contending with non-combat issues like starvation and disease, a drastic departure from Jake's inane quotes that peppered Dual Strike.While we're on the topic of maturing the brand, we wonder if the game will take a chance and tackle themes from current wars and conflicts -- occupying a country in the midst of a civil war, outsourcing private military firms, or suffering losses to unconventional threats (e.g. IEDs, suicide bombers). It's unlikely, but it would be interesting to see executed.Nintendo also put out over a dozen English screenshots for the game which you can view in the gallery below. The new images betray a great deal of unannounced details, like an improved map editor, new terrain and terrain stats, and a unit leveling system. %Gallery-8563%
Advance Wars DS 2 videos turn the series on its side
As much as we appreciate this first video look at Advance Wars DS 2, shot at Paris' Micromania Game Show, couldn't Nintendo Masters' video editors have rotated these clips counterclockwise before uploading them to their site and exacerbating that crick in our neck? If you don't mind rotating your monitor onto its side -- and when it comes to new media for the tactical RPG, we're sure you don't -- there are two more clips past the break for you to watch.See also: Advance Wars 2 gets shown off in Paris
Advance Wars 2 gets shown off in Paris
The first look at a much-needed sequel to Advance Wars: Dual Strike, the images over at JeuxFrance should come as quite the pleasant surprise to, well ... all of you. Seriously, how long have we all been waiting for a sequel to this game? Long enough, that's for sure.Other than the images, there really isn't any news on the title.[Via 1UP]
Top 10 GBA game list is highly selective
Infendo's list of the Top 10 Must-Buy GBA Games definitely includes ten great games. We approve of Infendo's drive to fill the neglected bottom cartridge slot of the DS with excellence. However, it comes off as a list of the Top 10 First-Party GBA games, with no representation of third-party publishers at all. Every single game on the list, even Final Fantasy VI Advance, was published by Nintendo. We know that Nintendo fans tend to be loyal to Nintendo even to the exclusion of other companies that publish on Nintendo consoles, but a list of great Game Boy Advance games should really have at least one Castlevania game on it. Technically, the NES Castlevania is included as "anything from the Classic NES Series," but that's not what we're talking about. We're specifically talking about the three original Castlevania games made for the system. We'd personally include Astro Boy: Omega Factor as well, but we understand that to be a matter of opinion. And we've grown used to not seeing Super Dodge Ball Advance on best-of lists, because the world is a terrible place. The full list is posted after the break.
E307: Advance Wars 2, Professor Layton, and other games Nintendo forgot to mention
With so much emphasis put on The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass and casual games during this afternoon's media briefing, Reggie neglected to mention a few titles that I'm sure gamers would've loved to have heard about. News of Advance Wars DS 2, for instance, was hidden in a European press release, dated for the fourth quarter. Freshly Picked - Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland, starring everyone's favorite cosplaying fairy, was also quietly announced for this September 14th in the same report.On the North American side, Nintendo revealed that it will be publishing Professor Layton and the Curious Village on December 3rd, the same day Super Smash Bros. Brawl is expected to hit store shelves. Two previously unannounced titles, Nintendo Crossword and Nintendo Magic, were also listed. Follow the link below to see what other first and third-party games are due for the remainder of 2007.
System envy: 7 DS games I wish were on PSP
I may write about PSP gaming news, but I own and play every system (including the new and next-gen consoles). So while I do get to play most any game I want, I can't help but wish in a feverish state, that certain system exclusives went to other consoles. In this case, if I wanted to list 7 DS games I'd love to see show up on PSP (however unrealistic that may be). So here it is: New Super Mario Bros (My favorite DS game, but I would like better power ups and more variety. It would also be great to see what the creators could do in 2D with the power of PSP) SNK vs Capcom Cardfighters (Addictive and strategic gameplay that makes me giddy. Only if it comes to PSP, add back in free-roaming and take out the game killing bug) Ace Attorney (Great characters, funny cases and it makes you think. That sorta game would work on any system) Kirby (He may be cute, but the gameplay is classic) Advance Wars (Because Field Commander is good, but not THIS good) WarioWare(Because there aren't enough mini-game titles on PSP) Meteos (Because every Q? Entertainment game should be on PSP) What about you reader? Are there any DS games you'd like to see on PSP, or do you refuse to even entertain the thought?
Friday Video: Make it a double
In honor of our week of fanboy love, we thought we'd give you not one, but two videos. It's a double shot of wacky Nintendo commercial goodness ... and we hope the fact that they're not new doesn't put you off. After all, the top two DS games aren't exactly new, so we had to take a little trip back in time to grab these two commercials, but it was worth it. Light on the gameplay and heavy on the funny, these two ads make for a good end to the week.
Critic's choice: The top five DS games
All week, we've been sharing our favorite games with you, as well as snippets of our personalities outside the fanboy sphere. Now you know that some of us weren't really huge handheld fans before the DS, that at least one of us is terribly silly, and most of us seem to dig cats, in some way or another. But forget the trivial details -- how do our favorite games stack up against the critical darlings? We offer this side-by-side comparison to wrap up Fanboy Favorites week, and we hope you've enjoyed this closer look at not only the DS Fanboy staff, but some of the best that the DS has to offer.
The top five "traditional" DS games
var digg_url = 'http://www.digg.com/gaming_news/The_Top_Five_Traditional_DS_Games'; The DS is well-known for its unusual design features, the two-screen format and the touch screen. Many of the DS's most popular games make good use of these features, and there are many outstanding games, like Meteos, that make strong enough use of them that they could fairly be said to depend on these features. There wouldn't be too much to Brain Age without the handwriting input, and it is hard to imagine Elite Beat Agents existing at all without either the unique interface or the simultaneous cutscene/gameplay presentation. But for as much attention as the DS gets for its unique features, many of its best games use them in only the most cursory of ways. Some of the best-reviewed, most popular DS games have only optional touch-screen use, or some function that is nonessential to gameplay. Some games squander their second screen on inventories and maps. Many such games not only could have worked just as well on other systems, they are from long-standing series that worked just fine back in the dark ages when game systems only had a single screen and controls were mapped only to buttons. The games on this list are the highest-ranked games according to Metacritic that fall under the category of "traditional" games. In fact, the top four DS games according to Metacritic are all traditional. Each game on this list is an excellent DS game that is excellent independent of the DS' inherent advantages.
They're papercraft models, not dolls
Whether it is indicative of the versatility of paper or the dedication of video game fans is unclear, but the fact of the matter is that someone has gone to great lengths to capture Link's likeness in a detailed papercraft model. We find the little fellow to be a strange mix between endearing and creepy, likely the reason why we won't be downloading the accompanying instructions and attempting to fold our very own recyclable Hyrulian Hylian into existence.Princess Zelda also makes an appearance on the clearly obsessive (yet helpful) website, if only to add a feminine touch to a gaming lineup otherwise dominated by manly Star Trek ships, Advance Wars tanks and sluggish Tomb Raider vehicles (Lara excluded). Site proprietor Ninjatoes certainly does a fine job at making plain 'ole paper more interesting, though it probably comes at the cost of being rubbish at most card games. [Via Bits & Bytes & Pixels & Sprites]See also:Sonic papercraftMake your own Quake PapercraftKatamari Prince papercraftRevolution controller made of paperGame Boy Micro origami
