dgamer
Latest
DS Fanboy Review: The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
If you happen to know what (or who) a Pevensie is, you've probably either dabbled in the readings of C.S. Lewis or watched the blockbuster Narnia fims. You should be familiar with the formula by now, though: with a big movie comes a video game. The existence of The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian for the DS and other platforms is to be expected. Those of you who fell in love with C.S. Lewis's magical world probably want to experience it in any way possible. Of course, you also want to have fun while doing so. With games like these, fun is never guaranteed, and as I made my way through Prince Caspian, I clung onto that careful caveat.
New Spectrobes: Beyond the Portals trailer shows us villain, portals
With the new demos and videos available on the Nintendo Channel, we figured we'd nab this one for you all to see (without having to turn your Wii on, if you have one). When we heard about Disney's sequel to the first Spectrobes title, Spectrobes: Beyond the Portals, we were interested in what innovations the game would bring. Of course, that "innovation" turned into only more of what the first game presented, as the game adopted the model of providing fans of the first game with more and more of what that title offered. Likely, it'll work, because in these kind of games, folks are usually looking for just that. Anywho, check out the new trailer above. It not only shows off the new bad guy you're supposed to hate, but also a good deal of CG. So, what do you all think? %Gallery-21682%
Disney Fairies will please little girls this winter
Disney announced today that a game called Disney Fairies will be heading to the Nintendo DS this holiday season. Apparently, Disney Fairies is an entire franchise, spanning books, online minigames, movies, and maybe even other forms of media, too.The DS game will let young girls (we hate to generalize, but come on) dress and accessorize Tinker Bell, as well as barter for more clothes from other fairies. (After all, why not let Tinks wear something other than a leaf dress?) Other activities will include minigames, of course, and completing tasks for the fairies of Pixie Hollow. Disney Fairies will also make use of Disney's new DGamer service, which launched last week. Confession: If this game had come out when this blogger was a wee lass -- oh, never mind, there's no sense in shaming the DS Fanboy staff and girl gamers all over the world. (Oops, too late.)[Via Kotaku]
A glimpse into developing Prince Caspian
For those of you who had their eye on The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, the pair of behind-the-scenes videos over at Videogamer might be of interest to you. Of interest to us is the claim that the DS cart for this game is absolutely, 100% full. They really did cram as much as they could into that little black piece of plastic.In the videos, you'll find some commentary, interview snippets and peeks at the development process. For those of you that find that sort of thing infinitely interesting, get to clicking!Source - Making of Prince Caspian part 1Source - Making of Prince Caspian part 2
WRUP: Tactical insects edition
For us, this week's releases only come down to Drone Tactics and Myst DS. Sure, we could check out Prince Caspian (it did launch the Dgamer network, after all), but we're not really ones to enjoy the licensed games too much. What about you all, though? Are you digging on Atlus's SRPG action or the classic Myst? Are you resorting to busting out a dusty, old cartridge and seeing what that's all about this weekend? For us, it looks like mostly rain, so it's the perfect excuse to sit indoors and spend some quality time with our DS.%Gallery-14982%
Disney's DGamer service launches today
With the release of The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian comes a Disney innovation that we've been curious about: the DGamer service. While we'll reserve our own opinions until we get to try it out (read: soon), it's pretty evident that such a feature is aimed at the younger crowd.If you get Prince Caspian, you can connect to the community on your DS (via Wi-Fi). First, though, you'll have to register for an account at the DGamer website. One feature of the DGamer community is the ability to make an avatar, although (to reiterate) you probably won't enjoy the options unless you're a tween-aged girl or boy. You can also chat with friends, check out leaderboards, and earn achievements "honors" from DGamer compatible games. These honors can then transfer to your avatar -- for example, you can unlock costumes in Prince Caspian that your avatar can then wear.If you ask us, though, the parental controls are a little silly. They use an honor system of sorts, which asks you to type in your parent's email address, but I just typed in my own -- what's to stop a young'in from doing the same? Besides, just think of all the crazy DGamer shenanigans I'll get into now.[Via press release]
Disney's DGamer service: moderated chat, embarrassing avatars
Disney has released some screens of their DGamer service, a social network integrated with the company's upcoming DS games that allows avatar creation and chat. There's a lot to like about the service, in general: it provides a platform-wide (or, at least, common to Disney's games) interface for connecting with online friends, and avatars and accounts are usable on both PC and DS. Chat is moderated by Disney employees on the lookout for potential security problems. It also includes "Honors" for each supported game, which are similar to Xbox Live's Achievements. You'll be able to see how much time someone has put into Prince Caspian, and then ask them why they're playing so much Prince Caspian! That's the first game to support DGamer, but Spectrobes: Beyond the Portals will as well.The downside is that you have to represent yourself as something like the avatar pictured. Do you want to connect with your friends if that's how you'll be doing it? Maybe it's a security feature -- kids won't want to talk to strangers looking like that. Oh, and also it's got its own version of friend codes.
Disney promises the Ultimate Band experience on the DS
Disney has announced a new Wii/DS music game called Ultimate Band, developed by Fall Line Studios. The game is a Rock Band-style multi-instrument simulator that doesn't use any wacky peripherals (except, of course, for the supremely wacky peripherals both systems use by default). Both versions will allow players to play guitar, bass, drum, and vocals, and will feature "a broad selection of current hits and all-time rock favorites." Yes, many of those "current hits" will no doubt be the latest from Disney Channel stars. Of the two, the DS version definitely sounds the most interesting: it is advertised as a "rhythm-based music game with a built-in recording studio" that allows players to record guitar, bass, drum, and vocal tracks for original songs and mix them in-game. We're slightly wary, having been fooled by promising-looking Disney music games before. Both versions will use Disney's Dgamer social network ... thing.We foresee problems when Disney decides to start making sequels to a game they've already labeled "Ultimate." Although Square doesn't seem to have had any problems in that area.
Gotta watch 'em all: Spectrobes II trailer
Remember when we all found out about Disney's DGamer service? Well, one of the first titles to feature integration is the sequel Spectrobes II, the Pokemon-like game where players collect and level-up monsters. Having never played it (this is the closest we ever came), we don't know how to feel about the sequel, but as the tail-end of the trailer reveals, we'll have plenty of time to think it over. This title isn't coming until 2008. Hit up the break for the trailer.
Disney wants you to get social on the DS with their Dgamer service
Joystiq has all of the deets on a new social network launching for the DS from Disney Interactive called Dgamer. The service is to launch with the upcoming Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian and will be included in all Disney titles from there on out. The service, which will allow users to create custom avatars, chat wirelessly and track their friends' progress in Dgamer titles, will also allow users to log in to their account at Disney.com, for further accessibility. The overall package resembles a fairly popular online networking service on another console, wouldn't you say?The rub lies in the fact that before you can add friends to the network, you still have to exchange friend codes. As if we could get around that ...
Disney unveils Dgamer: social network for DS and PC
Disney Interactive Studios has announced the creation of a new DS-centric social network entitled Dgamer. Announced during Disney's E3 press conference, Dgamer will be featured in Disney's upcoming DS titles, beginning with Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. Dgamer allows gamers to customize online avatars, chat wirelessly, and track each other's progress in Dgamer enabled games. Many of Dgamer's features are similar to those of Xbox Live, including stat tracking across multiple games. Also, items used to customize your avatar can be unlocked in Dgamer enable titles -- for example, you might unlock a new outfit by playing Prince Caspian. Dgamer doesn't stop at the DS though, it will also be accessible via the Dgamer channel on Disney.com. Here, members will be access all the features of Dgamer and even utilize cross-platform with DS users (all of this still requires that friend codes be exchanged by the way). A Disney branded, kid-centered social network with the added draw of Pokémon-like "gotta catch 'em all" qualities? We can hear it now: "Mom, buy me the new Hannah Montana guitar game so I can unlock a new dress!" Downright dastardly if you ask us.
