Face-Training
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Hotel Dusk sequel and ... Face Training announced for DS in Europe
[GAME Watch] In a press release announcing its European lineup for the next three months, Nintendo made sure to include a couple of surprises. Last Window: The Secret of Cape West, the DS sequel to Hotel Dusk (developed by the now-bankrupt CING), will bring the first game's unique style of sketchy noir to Europe on September 17. One week later on September 24, Nintendo of Europe is resurrecting an extremely odd title from Japan: Face Training: Facial exercises to strengthen and relax from Fumiko Inudo, a game about facial exercises designed to keep your face youthful and expressive. The original Japanese version shipped with a camera that attached to the DS through the GBA slot. The European version is for DSi and DSi XL only, and uses those systems' built-in cameras, along with an included stand. The other major new release in Nintendo's European lineup is Art Academy: Learn painting and drawing techniques with step-by-step training, out on August 8. This is a full DS game based on a series of DSiWare art education apps. More DS and Wii releases can be found in the full schedule.
Square Enix's 'Game with No Name' broken up for DSiWare
The sequel to Square Enix's retrogaming/horror game Nanashi no Game (The Game with No Name) features a "cursed" platform game, an 8-bit sidescroller with creepy axes everywhere. That game-within-a-game is being brought to DSiWare in Japan on the 9th as Saikyouyoko Square Action Vol. 1 Noroi No game Chi and Vol. 2 Noroi No Game Dake (Extreme Misfortune Side Square Action Vol. 1 Cursed Game: Blood and Vol. 2 Cursed Game: Prison).Also broken up for DSiWare: Face Training, the game that introduced the camera to the DS. It's being sold in single exercises for 500 DSi Points each, as Kyou kara Hajimeru Facening Kao Toremini (Start Today Facening Face Training Mini). Also there's more mahjong, but when isn't there.
People of Europe to receive improved faces in Q2?
Remember Otona no DS Kao Training? Non-game. Free camera. Facening. Well, the folks at French site JeuxActu are just absolutely goshdarn convinced that Intelligent Systems' face training non-game is packing its bags and heading to Europe during Q2 this year.As Nintendo has yet to pass official comment on this, we're cautiously treating this as rumor for now, but the incessant popularity of training games in Europe makes us think there could be some truth in the speculation. If it does turn out to be correct, it also means Europeans will be getting that rather dinky camera add-on. As well as having totally awesome faces.
The DS Life: A moustache, a hat, and a duffel bag
The DS Life is a weekly feature in which we scour the known world for narrative images of Nintendo's handhelds and handheld gamers. If you have a photo and a story to match it with, send both to thedslife at dsfanboy dot com.Is that who we think it is, plopped over there by the steps and playing a DS? You'd think he'd have one of the newer models, right? And doesn't he look a lot "portlier" on TV?
From Face Training and yoga to the world
We couldn't help but giggle when we saw this article on "facial yoga" that described it as the hot new craze. It's certainly not new to us DS hipsters; after all, we've already got a game dedicated to stretching and firming our faces, and since the practice is apparently the latest it-exercise (despite being around for years, much like regular yoga), it seems likely that Otona no DS Kao Training may sweep in on the heels of Let's Yoga and hit the United States.Of course, then the real question becomes: will Nintendo (and others, like Konami, the company behind Let's Yoga) start to change the way they advertise the DS in the United States? We can't help but wonder if it seems unlikely; after all, we still have no official "face" for Brain Age beyond our favorite disembodied head, and it's rare that we see advertisements for our favorite piece of hardware on the scale that we see those for the Wii.
Face Training's price causes us to make a thoughtful face
It is possible that some of you may be persuaded to buy Face Training. This is assuming two things: first, that you would like to have a stand, and second, that something other than Adults' DS Face Training, homebrew or official, will make use of the DS camera. A distant third possibility, that you feel a strong desire to stretch your face at your DS, would supercede the first two. We would enjoy a DS Lite stand, and we hope we'd have a use for the camera, so it's not inconceivable that we'd consider this a deal worth looking into.Play Asia is taking preorders for the game at $48.90, which is their normal asking price for a Japanese DS game. That's not too bad for a camera, a stand, and (ahem) miscellaneous bonus content. We hope it's within range for a few homebrew developers, at least.Of course, its regular-priced-ness in Japan means that if, by some clerical error, Adults' DS Face Training somehow came out in the US, it would be regular US price of $30-$35. Don't hold your breath on that one-- although it may be good for your face to puff out your cheeks like you're pretending to hold your breath.
Conjecture Countdown: 3 days to go
Even with a diminished E3, there's no controlling the wave of rumors that hit the Internet every year before the show. Why fight it? From now until E3 hits, we'll be posting one piece of wild speculation every day. Some may be patently ridiculous, and others just might turn out to be true. Even some of the ridiculous ones might turn out to be true! Rest assured, everything will be totally made-up and unfounded. Except, of course, when we speak about all the ass Reggie is going to kick. That part? Totally true.Rumor: Iwata's face will appear much younger this year, for some reason.
Guess what kind of game uses the new DS camera
If you guessed any kind of game at all, sorry. If you correctly identified that as a trick question, then you win at DS fandom. That's right, the DS Lite is getting an official camera peripheral, and the first piece of software to use it is Otona no DS Kao Training (Adults' DS Face Training.) In fact, the camera is called the Facening Scan, leaving no question as to its intended use.What's Facening, you may ask? Well, it's a regimen of facial stretching designed to reduce wrinkles and sagging, and to make your face appear smaller.The camera is included with the software, as is a DS Lite stand. You bring your own ridiculous face-- you probably already got your first lesson in Facening when you read about this piece of software![Via NeoGAF]
Brain, Skin and now Face Training DS
Nintendo seems to be starting at the brain and slowly working outwards when it comes to training. Their latest Japanese training title translates roughly to Face Training, which has you training with the use of a new Nintendo DS camera. We don't know if the game recognizes when you are doing the proper facial expression and moves on from there or if you're just supposed to look at yourself in the screen to make sure you're doing it right.The game is hosted by Fumiko Inudo who is apparently a face expert like the disembodied head of Dr. Kawashima is a brain expert. The game was apparently co-developed by the creators of Fire Emblem and releases in Japan on August 2 with no US announcement made (yet?). We're still holding out for Dream Skincare to help us cover up years of Cheetos abuse.
