Advance Wars
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DS Daily: Local laughs
It goes without saying that all of the DS Fanboy team are colossally (some would say inexplicably) popular. However, despite the fact that we're swimming in chums, here's something not a lot of us have: DS-owning friends who will play games against us on a regular basis. Like, in the flesh.What about you lot? Do you have a large crowd of friends who are equipped with a DS and regularly indulge in local multiplayer? Or are you like most of us, sadly limited to battling over Force Gems and taking out tank units with strangers from afar?
So you love Advance Wars: Days of Ruin?
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/nintendo/DS_Fanboy_What_s_left_after_Advance_Wars_Days_of_Ruin'; If you've spent most of this year brain-deep in Advance Wars: Days of Ruin, you just may be itching for something else right about now. Sure, the Advance Wars franchise offers some of the deepest gameplay experiences around, but you can't play it forever (or can you?). If you've gone as far as you can go and are burning for a new game that you can pour hours into, we may just have a solution. We've compiled a list of similar current and forthcoming games for fans in need of a fix. Advance one square and fire away to see what we recommend! Check out our recommendations!
DS Daily: Addicted
My name is Chris Greenhough, and I'm an ... an ... Advance Wars addict. I can't put it down. I think about it constantly. While eating. While walking the dog. While out with friends. While waiting for buses. Every second of the day, I crave it. Occasionally, I'll even sneak in turns while blogging, surreptitiously hiding my DS in my coat pocket. An odd pot-shot at an anti-air unit here, a strike on my opponent's Dusters there. All while my colleagues aren't looking. I'm a mess.I need help.But sometimes, simply sharing can help. So let's do that. What do you play far too much of?
Here come Amazon's Gold Box deals [update 2]
Just a reminder to all you friendly folks in the U.S. -- Amazon is having crazy DS deals today. The retailer kicked off its Gold Box sales awesomely, offering Advance Wars: Days of Ruin for $16.99. If we don't say so ourselves, that is damn sweet. You have until 12am Pacific time to bite on this, but we recommend getting it sooner rather than later because we doubt supplies will last.As for the lightning deals, we've listed them here (with our guesses for ones that haven't been confirmed yet). Keep in mind, these are in Pacific time, and each deal lasts for four hours (assuming they don't go out of stock): 6am-10am: "Will you answer the call?" - Confirmed: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare for $18.99 10am-2pm: "Dazzle your unsuspecting friends with your magical prowess." - Confirmed: Master of Illusion for $14.99. 2pm-6pm: "Protect the Earth, destroy the invaders." - Confirmed: Tranformers: Autobots 6pm-10pm: "Your destiny awaits. Experience the power." - (Our guess: Naruto: Ninja Destiny) We suppose that with such an awesome "Deal of the Day," we can forgive Amazon for everything else being subpar. Keep in mind, though, that these are just our guesses. We'll update the post as other sales are confirmed.[Update 1: Master of Illusion was confirmed as the second lightning deal and was added to the post.][Update 2: Transformers: Autobots is the third lightning deal. And, would you look at that -- Master of Illusion sold out. Who would have thought?][Via CAG]
Advance Wars: Days of Reflection
1UP has posted an excellent interview with some of the names behind Advance Wars: Days of Ruin, in which the team reflects on the new direction taken by the game, and explains why many of the changes were made.As well as addressing the new "serious" tone adopted by the game (they wanted to "surprise" people, and also attract sci-fi fans who wouldn't usually play war games), the team also revealed why lead protagonist Will is such an unbearably self-righteous bore why so many features had been left out of Days of Ruin (the game has no unlockable hard mode, no Survival or Combat mode, no dual-screen battles, no War Room, and no opportunity to purchase maps).Unsurprisingly, the reasoning behind said omissions makes perfect sense, and the cuts arguably resulted in the most streamlined, balanced Advance Wars game since the first GBA title. 1UP also opened the floor to members of its community, who made one or two cracking suggestions for the next entry in the series -- an infantry unit equipped with smoke grenades (thereby allowing 'portable' Fog of War) would be a welcome addition!%Gallery-8563%
Promotional Consideration: Toy soldiers
Promotional Consideration is a weekly feature about the Nintendo DS advertisements you usually flip past, change the channel on, or just tune out.We had so much fun presenting fan-made commercials these past two weeks, we decided to create our own ad, repurposing an old page ripped from a 1970s comic book, its pages yellowed with age. Strap up your boots, grab your rifle, and report past the post break for this week's edition of Promotional Consideration!
DS Fanswag: An Advance reminder
Time is short, soldier! March on over and throw your name in if you want a chance at Advance Wars: Days of Ruin, plus the Fullmetal Alchemist Trading Card Game and a nifty accessory. You've got two chances to enter -- today and tomorrow -- but only if you go comment on the original post!
WRUP: The battle rages on edition
This week's release of Bomberman Land Touch! 2 means that many of you will likely be down with tossing a few explosives around. For the majority of the DSF staff, however, this weekend will be littered with small skirmishes as we attempt to win as many battles as we can in Advance Wars: Days of Ruin. Some of us still have as of yet to complete the single-player campaign, while the rest of us continue our struggle to be the king of the Wi-Fi Connect mountain.What about you all, though? What will you be playing?
DS Fanswag: Take over an Advance Wars prize pack!
If you don't already have a copy of Advance Wars: Days of Ruin ($34.99), then rest assured: we're here for you. Not only do we have one up for grabs, but we're going to include a couple of spiffy extras to make your day that much brighter. We're offering up not only the best war/strategy game to release so far this year, but you can also pick up a copy of the Fullmetal Alchemist Trading Card Game ($14.99), as well as one of those spiffy Jimi Multimedia shells ($8.95) as an extra bonus. All you have to do is leave a comment on this post answering the question below between now and February 5th. The contest closes that night at 11:59 PM EST, and we'll announce one lucky winner the next morning. It may even be you!As with most of our contests, you can enter once per day, and as usual, is limited to legal U.S. residents age 18 or older. For any other questions you may have, check the official rules.Question: When it comes to Days of Ruin, are you more interested in online play, or single player?
2008's Biggest Blips: Advance Wars: Days of Ruin
Developer: Intelligent SystemsPublisher: NintendoRelease: January 21The inclusion of Advance Wars: Days of Ruin on our list of 2008's Biggest Blips has caused us something of a quandary. You see, unlike all the other games on our list, Days of Ruin is already out. Indeed, as you read this text, (we sincerely hope) most of you will have picked the game up, and surrendered to its charms. In other words, there's not much point in us previewing the game, as the majority of you will already know how totally freakin' awesome Advance Wars: Days of Ruin really is.Hence, rather than tell you stuff that you already know, we thought we'd reflect on what a wreckage our social lives have become since Days of Ruin first made its entrance, and ask: are you in the same boat? Has Intelligent Systems' turn-based gem completely devoured your free time, or do you struggle to understand the palaver? Let's find out ... PRESENTING A DS FANBOY QUIZ:How addicted are YOU to Advance Wars: Days of Ruin? 1. A friend politely requests to borrow your copy of Advance Wars: Days of Ruin for a weekend vacation, promising to have it back to you safe and sound by Monday. Do you:A. Give your friend the game, and cheerily ask if they'd be interested in borrowing any other titles. B. Reluctantly hand over the cart, but not before making your friend sign a legally binding contract promising that neither the game or your saved data will come to any harm. C. Pounce on them instantly, wrestle them to the ground, and bite clean through their Achilles tendon before getting up and yelling at your prostrate, sobbing friend, "Borrow that, fool!"2. For unavoidable reasons, you find yourself without a copy of Advance Wars: Days of Ruin. Do you:A. Shrug it off and think, "Oh well, as fun as it is, a break from all that sprite-based violence won't kill me."B. Find yourself trying to mentally complete the map that you were heroically defeated on at the end of your last session. Twitch occasionally.C. Start to shake violently, while frantically attempting to stage an impromptu game of Advance Wars: Days of Ruin with whatever comes to hand, be that salt and pepper shakers, bottle caps, cutlery, stray dogs, pensioners, or abandoned military hardware.3. One way to measure addiction is to assess your ability to play Advance Wars: Days of Ruin well; after all, it makes sense that the terminally addicted would be very good at the game. With this in mind, please look at the map below, and then estimate (as honestly as possible) the best result you could draw from this situation. You are the blue army: A. A defeat, but hey, the odds were against you. B. You could hold out for a stalemate. C. A full, resounding victory inside 15 days.4. Your house is ablaze, and you only have time to rescue one item that is precious to you. Do you grab: A. Grandma. B. Your dog. C. All of your 27 copies of Advance Wars: Days of Ruin (N.B: you purchased this many as you privately hoped more sales would mean you get a sequel sooner); they don't have their own legs, both Grandma and the dog do.5. Did you have time to complete this quiz? A. Tons! B. I squeezed it in. Just. C. *AFK*Mostly As: You call this commitment, "soldier?" Pathetic!Mostly Bs: Getting better. Stand by for total meltdown of family/social/love life in ten, nine ...Mostly Cs: We can almost definitely be friends. Here's our code: 3351-3155-3025. We can talk about your wussy addiction problems after during 18 or so hours of Wi-Fi battlin'. Now shut up and play.%Gallery-8563% placeholder text placeholder text Back Next up on the docket
DS Fanboy Review: Advance Wars: Days of Ruin
Back in the middle of 2005, a little game by the name of Advance Wars: Dual Strike hit the Nintendo DS. Followers of the franchise's previous entries on the GBA (developed by Intelligent Systems) remember plenty of hours spent, knee-deep in combat with their GBA SP, its body soaking wet with the sweat from their palms. Advance Wars: Days of Ruin is an important entry in the series, perhaps more so than previous installments. For one, it's the first to be compatible with Nintendo Wi-Fi Connect, Nintendo's online matchmaking service for head-to-head battles (and custom map swapping). Another reason why it might be considered the most important installment in the series is the stark contrast in artistic style and game plot compared to past titles.%Gallery-8563%
DS Daily: How goes the war, soldier?
Advance Wars: Days of Ruin is proving quite the distraction. Intelligent Systems' strategy game has occupied our DSes for the last few days, with hours of play already racked up. When we close our eyes to sleep, we only see tiny tank and artillery sprites, moving in right angles across the back of our eyelids.As the game also proved to be a popular choice at our most recent Game Night, we're guessing we're not alone in carrying out late-night, under-the-duvet sorties, so what are your impressions so far? Is Days of Ruin better or worse than Dual Strike, or even superior to the excellent GBA games? Are you focusing more on single-player, or fighting campaigns online? And do you miss Grit as much as we do?
WRUP: Hardly Days of Ruin edition
Seriously, who's day is ruined by a copy of Advance Wars: Days of Ruin? Not ours, and it hasn't been since we first picked up the game, spending day after day in-game, moving troops and capturing buildings. It's been a pleasure so far, both through Wi-Fi and alone.And, we know most of you feel the same. Or, are you gearing up to snag a copy of the game this weekend? If you aren't playing this, what else are you playing?%Gallery-8563%
Advance Wars: Chart of Damage
The hardcore Advance Wars players among you likely already have all this data committed to heart, but for those of you still figuring out which units are the most effective for a given situation, you might want to have a look at this chart, maybe even print it out and laminate it like we have.GameFaqs poster GipFace drew up this informative table listing the amount of damage a specific unit will inflict on another, minus any modifiers (e.g. terrain, unit level, etc.). You can spot some new changes and develop a few useful strategems for Days of Ruin based on the presented data: Infantry does as much damage as a Tank when up against an Anti-Tank you can take down a Fighter with an Anti-Air/Duster combo build more Seaplanes! Remember what Major Adam Steiner used to always say in the BattleTech cartoon: "Information is ammunition!"
The localization of Advance Wars: Days of Ruin
Gamasutra has an excellent interview up with Tim O'Leary, the man who heads Nintendo's North American localization team, and who helped prepare Advance Wars: Days of Ruin for the U.S. market.O'Leary reveals how feedback from western gamers was a major influence on the new direction taken by Days of Ruin, and describes the various thought processes behind the game's art direction and characters. This leads into a wider discussion regarding the art of localizing games to match different cultural sensibilities, with O'Leary using the likes of Animal Crossing on the GameCube and the Pokémon games as examples.Finally, there's also quite a lot of talk about the inner workings of the Treehouse, the name given to the Nintendo U.S. localization division. Turns out that the localization of Nintendo games is one hell of an intricate process, with every last pixel scrutinized so that it makes perfect cultural sense. All in all, it's a fascinating read, so hit the link below!
Metareview: Advance Wars: Days of Ruin
Intelligent Systems' latest Advance Wars game makes war look like war and not like playing with toys for the first time, breaking a tradition of jovial-looking war games stretching back to the Famicom. Did the risky effort pay off? Is it still an awesome strategy game despite, or because of, the change in tone? To get an idea, we've turned to ... people who have played it!Cheat Code Central -- 92%: It would be hard to imagine Cheat Code Central's Jonathan Marx being any happier about this game, as he finally discovers that Advance Wars games can have narrative: "As you can see, this new world is far more engaging than any of the previous titles. The base story is really interesting, although some of the conversations are still a bit hokey. However, I actually read every bit of dialogue before, during, and after battles. The same cannot be said for its predecessors. Even though the old games were all about great gameplay, it was a pure button mash to get through the mindless interactions. The vast improvement in storytelling has the effect of making the game and battles not only more interesting, but also much more satisfying and meaningful."IGN -- 86%: IGN's review found that the missing content is missed, but that the new additions are still compelling, especially in multiplayer: "Of course, for every feature that has been removed for Days of Ruin, Nintendo seems to have added something new. Units can now be leveled-up as they destroy enemy combatants. Three levels can be achieved, and each tier provides offensive and defensive upgrades."1UP -- 85%: 1UP's Dan Hsu also lamented the trimmed content, but found that online play (of course) compensated, and that the cuts at least showed thought: "Days of Ruin's new units and gameplay change, however, show that the developers are looking for a more sophisticated audience this time around. Both aspects emphasize strategy over firepower; for example, the new Bike unit is basically infantry on wheels, allowing you to capture far-off cities and bases more quickly. The Flare is a good anti-infantry tank, but more valuable are its bright-light rockets that reveal hidden units in the Fog of War. And the Rig (formerly the APC) can still carry infantry, but now can also build temporary airports or naval ports. These new units will force players to use more tactics in their matches."
Everybody wanted a piece of Advance Wars
It turns out people are big fans of Advance Wars. How do we know? Well, folks don't just hang around in the bitter cold for nothing, and from the massive line outside of the Nintendo World store in New York, we're guessing people might have been a little enthusiastic.
DS Daily: Mario & Sonic vs. the fog of war
This week's U.S. releases brings us a battle of epic proportions. On the one hand, you've got a mascot title that actually manages to look more compelling than its console counterpart, and on the other ... hell, man, it's Advance Wars. But since not everyone likes the same things, we're wondering which of the two you might pick up. There's also a third option, of course ... will you rebel and buy neither game? The horror! But we're sure there are such people out there.Or, y 'know, you might want both.
DS releases for the week of January 21st
Legions of gamers have been waiting for this week, which brings the release of the latest Advance Wars. Even with the risks that come with picking up the newest version, we're sure that quite a few of you may be disappearing for the next few weeks. Know that you'll be missed, and try to remember to eat.Not a war person? No worries; if you feel like doing a little yelling, you've got some options. Unless, of course, you live in Australia, where there are no new DS releases being reported for the week. How sad. Advance Wars: Days of Ruin Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games For releases in the rest of the major markets, march on past the break.
Too much missing from Days of Ruin?
Unbalanced CO powers and dual-screen battles aren't the only features dropped from Advance Wars: Days of Ruin. Modojo editor Justin Davis played through the turn-based strategy title and found the lack of packed-in extras disappointing: No War Room No unlockable hard campaign No Battle Maps shop No Survival mode No Combat mode No tags/rankings outside of the medals screen Only 12 playable COs (compared to Dual Strike's 25+ COs) Before you rush to our comments section to post, "No sale," note that Justin had a lot of positive things to say about Days of Ruin, claiming that its "strategic gameplay might be the best found in the franchise yet." He went on to laud the game's balance changes and improved Fog of War experience. Also, the War Room hasn't completely disappeared, as you still have the option to play Versus maps, a collection of classic, new, and Trial Mission scenarios, minus the ranking at the end of the battle. And don't forget that you can download maps online! That almost makes up for all off the missing stuff ... Almost.%Gallery-8563%
