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Giant wall console lets you Game & Watch while you wait
Before there was a 3DS and DS -- heck, before there was a Game Boy, there was Game & Watch, Nintendo's portable, sometimes dual-screened gaming line from the '80s. But while the gaming giant has long since moved on, nostalgia for their platform-based frustration lives on in the form of this large piece of interactive wall art, a case that uses an Arduino and Python script to bring folks with a little spare time the sort of retro gaming that will make them long from the graphical power of the original NES. Check out more images of the device in the Source link below.
Falcom's latest spans multiple UMDs
While some critics have panned the Legend of Heroes franchise, I know many PSP owners love Falcom's RPG series (including my fiancee). Fans of the series should be pleased then to know that the next installment is going to be a huge affair. How huge? Two UMDs huge. You read that right. The next Legend of Heroes will be the first non-golf game to span multiple UMDs. Not a whole lot else is known, other than it seems like the game will feature some 3D elements, will have new characters, and will hit Japan in September. So who among our readers is a Legend of Heroes fan? Do you think this is just the start of multi-UMD releases? For those interested, screens after the jump ...
Nintendo museum comes and goes
Anyone who has gone near the Hankyu Department Store in Osaka, Japan recently might have noticed something strange. See, the store held a six-day "Nintendo Museum" as part of its celebration of being in business for 100 years. Of course, people showed up by the boatload to the museum event, both young and old, causing us to be filled with great anger towards our HQ right now (why can't it be in Japan?!). Then again, it's probably best that we didn't attend, because we're not sure how much jail time one would serve for trying to run out of the store with arms full of Game & Watch handhelds, but we're sure it's definitely enough time in the slammer.See also: Game and Watch DS mod Game & Watch collection previewed
Witness Final Fantasy's anniversary logo
Square Enix has revealed the logo for this year's Final Fantasy 20th Anniversary celebration. This isn't incredibly exciting news, but surely it's something Final Fantasy fans will want to see. If that's not enough for you, The Magic Box has said that Square Enix will be revealing a new Final Fantasy title at their party on May 12th. Perhaps we'll be getting another PSP Final Fantasy game. We'll all just have to wait and see. As terrible and agonizing as that wait may be. [Via Game Watch]
Hold your horses in Derby Time 2006
Horse racing games are popular in some countries, but not the US. Because of this, you may want to consider importing Derby Time 2006. In the game you raise and care for a horse and then have it compete against other racers and horses. Derby Time 2006 also supports infrastructure mode to allow you to race against a friend's horse. Last year's Derby Time got a 7/10 from Famitsu, so it sounds like it's a decent title for horse racing fans assuming you know Japanese or are adventurous. [Via Game Watch]
Dragon screenshots in the new Monster Hunter
You've seen the incredible video of Capcom's currently Japan-only sequel to Monster Hunter Portable. The graphics look to amaze, but the gameplay looks even more fun. I mean, who doesn't want to kill a DRAGON?! Capcom hasn't officially announced this title for international release, but considering the huge demand it's getting in Japan will undoubtedly make a worldwide release quite a lucrative deal.Check Game Watch for some impressive screenshots of dragon slaying fun in action. Japanese gamers (and importers) can get their hands on the game on February 22nd.[Thanks, daniel-kun!]
New Final Fantasy Anniversary screens
The fine folks over at Game Watch have put up some new screens from the Final Fantasy PSP rendition. The screens show combat, a cinema scene and the screen above. The game is scheduled to hit Japan April 19th, though no US date has been set yet. It's looking very nice considering, but I think the main deciding factor in these releases will be the price point. Will you be buying these releases and what Final Fantasy number would be your dream port to PSP?
Another DS Lite case mimics a book sleeve
As if there aren't enough cases for the DS Lite owner to choose from, protecting their treasured electronic device from all manner of would-be destroyers, Game Watch is presenting a new choice from Gametech. Available in a wide variety of colors, our only concern would be the volume of DS games it holds. We've got well over a dozen games in our DS Lite case from E3 and switching to this new one, which looks to hold 6 cartridges at best, could be a mistake.[Via Go Nintendo]
3.01 update? Blame Jeanne d'Arc!
According to Game Watch, the impressive-looking Jeanne d'Arc may be responsible for the insanely quick 3.01 firmware turnaround. 3.0 seems to have a glitch where the UMD load times were significantly increased for that game. Apparently, some users were experiencing game crashes, where players would be stuck at Loading screens. Strange. Could any other games be afflicted by strange 3.0 firmware glitchiness? [Via PSP-Vault]
Twilight Princess Impressions [update 1]
You've read "impressions" of Twilight Princess before, from those lucky enough to get some time with it at a Fusion Tour or at either of the previous two E3 conventions. But this close to launch time, we're starting to see impressions ... people who have had extended time (dozens of hours) with the absolute final version of the game.The Official Nintendo Magazine forums are giving a sneak peak of their upcoming issue, detailing a player's experiences throughout the whole of the game. ***THERE ARE HEAVY SPOILERS IN THIS POST.*** Be careful. If you're not willing to ruin anything (and there's nothing major), then the gist of it is, it kicks ass in every way possible. The controls don't hinder the gameplay at all, and as expected, the game itself is an impossible masterpiece of gaming. Seriously, what did you expect?If you'd like to read a few less spoiler-tastic impressions from the Japanese, Kotaku has posted some translated impressions from Famitsu and Game Watch. Once again, both laud the immersive control experience and just about everything else.[For a large, wallpaper-sized version of the post picture, check it out here.][Update 1: loltypo.]
Is that a PSP in your PlayStation 3?
Sony's been hyping up PlayStation 3's connectivity with the PSP. Game Watch took this picture of the PS3's XMB, revealing a happy PSP icon in the Network menu called "Remote Play". As previously stated, you'll be able to stream data onto your PSP from your PS3, such as video and game content. For example, if you want to throw one of the most expensive console multiplayer games ever, you could wirelessly connect four PSPs to your PSP and start playing (that's $1400 of hardware, baby! Of course, this is just speculation, and will most likely never happen). PSP-Vault also goes into some speculation, hoping for the ability to stream Blu-Ray movies to the PSP, and UMD movies to the PS3. The possibilties are endless, and we hope that Sony takes advantage of that huge potential.PSP fans better start saving up: and they better save up a lot. The $500 PS3 does not feature wi-fi capabilties, so for PSP-PS3 connectivity to be fully realized, you'll have to go all the way.
Japanese model poses with Guilty Gear
It was absolutely hilarious to read your reactions to Moegaku. Whether or not you'd like to admit it, gamers love seeing the female form, and nothing gets them more excited than seeing a girl actually play games (shock!). ArcSystemWorks understands that, so in order to promote their upcoming PSP Guilty Gear game, they had Japanese model Kaori Manabe not only pose with, but play with the game. The press got a glimpse of her battling through PSP's exclusive beat-em-up mode, which looks absolutely fantastic. Go to Game Watch to see more pictures of the game in action. The game hits US shores in one week: September 5th.[Via PSP-Vault]
Homestar gets a lot cooler: now includes GPS support
I got a little flak in my previous post about Homestar, the non-game where you can learn about the stars. It seems like you guys really were interested in the game (at least those of you brave enough to leave comments). Well, Impress Watch has revealed that the game will be the second to support the upcoming GPS peripheral. Using the device, the game will be able to recreate what your night sky should look like. If you live in New York City like I do, that means you haven't seen the stars in years due to light pollution. Homestar just got a whole lot cooler in my book.Although the GPS peripheral does not have a release date, Homestar comes out in Japan in October. Check out Impress Watch for more screenshots of the game in action.[Via IGN]
Tales of Phantasia features new goodies on PSP
Bandai Namco sure loves the PSP. They're responsible for at least four Tales games on the PSP: Tales of Destiny 2, Tales of Eternia, Tales of the World, and a remake of Tales of Phantasia. None of these games have any plans on crossing over to America (why?!), so avid Tales fans have no choice but to look to import shops. To add insult to injury, Bandai Namco released new screens and details about Tales of Phantasia: Full Voice Edition. If it wasn't obvious from the title, the game features full voice acting, a great plus for fans of seiyuu. There's also a new gameplay element: Grade Shop, where players can trade their Grade points to alter gameplay mechanics, like experience points, difficulty, HP and more. It sounds very similar to Tales of Symphonia's system.Also, those who pre-order the game will also receive a: "special DVD, containing an original drama, interviews with voice actors, an artwork gallery and trailers of cherished event scenes." For you blokes that don't live in Japan, you can import it from YesAsia.com for $50, shipped.See also:New screenshots from Game Watch[Via IGN Boards]
