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Classic Golden Sun commercial finally explained by Dark Dawn
Back in 2001, Nintendo released a fairly gorgeous commercial for Golden Sun -- however, for all its glitz and glamor, it wasn't exactly packing in the coherence department. A giant crystal dragon, totally wrecking shop in a jam-packed opera house? We don't remember that in the original Game Boy Advance RPG. As it turns out, there's a reason for that: That sequence wouldn't make it into the franchise until this very year, with the release of Golden Sun: Dark Dawn. Check out a comparison of the commercial and the (slightly spoilery) clip from Dark Dawn after the jump -- just try not to think about why it took almost a decade for the translucent dragon to arrive. Was the commercial just prescient or something?
Golden Sun: Dark Dawn review: Djinni in a bottle
Camelot Software Planning has been gone for a long time. Oh sure, the studio has put out more than a few Nintendo sports games over the last few years but, as far as I'm concerned, Camelot closed its doors seven years ago. That's when the last Golden Sun was released (on Game Boy Advance!), adding another title to the company's catalog of quality role-playing games, which includes Sega's excellent Shining Force series. Now, after years in Mario sports exile, Camelot has returned to its RPG roots with Golden Sun: Dark Dawn. All I can say is: welcome back. %Gallery-95769%
Golden Sun: Dark Dawn's Hiroyuki Takahashi on the new game, hoaxes and 3DS
It has been seven years since the last Golden Sun game, the GBA's Golden Sun: The Lost Age. Now, after that long wait, Camelot Software Planning has put aside Mario-flavored sports games (and Capcom's We Love Golf) to produce a new entry in the revered RPG series, Golden Sun: Dark Dawn, available next week on DS. We spoke with Hiroyuki Takahashi, one of the two Takahashi brothers responsible for creating the series, and Nintendo assistant producer Yuya Sato about the new game and about bringing a seemingly lost series back to life.
Golden Sun: Dark Dawn ad is a warning for parents
Perhaps Nintendo picked the wrong message for its Golden Sun: Dark Dawn ad: "Coming soon: the game that will maim your parents." Focusing on the cute, collectible djinn is a good idea for trying to trick Pokemaniacs into picking it up, but maybe we could lay off the family injury next time?
Golden Sun: Dark Dawn features a hyperlinked 'Encyclopedia'
The "Doing Things that Should Have Been Done Long Ago" department at Camelot Software Planning has come up with something brilliant for Golden Sun: Dark Dawn, something you've seen before in other contexts: hyperlinks. To help fill new players in on the Golden Sun lore, and to help returning players remember the people, places, and events from those GBA games, the dialogue in Dark Dawn is peppered with links like the one above (the "Tap!" graphic is there because that was the first such link to appear). Tap and an encyclopedia entry for that entity appears on the top screen. It's also saved so you can go back through them later. Who were the Warriors of Vale? What's a Sol Sanctum? The game is free to refer back to this stuff, secure in the knowledge that you can figure it all out. Now that it's been done, all games with lots of characters, or lots of backstory, should implement this immedlately.
New DSi XL colors, Wii and DS release dates, and Mario Party 2 for Europe
Official Nintendo Magazine has put together a list of upcoming European release dates for Wii and DS games. For those of you who don't want to wait for the 3DS, three new DSi XL colors (yellow, green, and blue) will be in stores on October 8. You'll be able to use that new DS for Professor Layton and the Lost Future, out October 22, Pokemon Ranger: Guardian Signs, out November 19, and Golden Sun: Dark Dawn, arriving December 10. Wii owners in the UK can look forward to Wii Party on October 8, FlingSmash on November 19, Donkey Kong Country Returns on December 3, and in the most random announcement of the day ... Mario Party 2 on the Virtual Console some time in December. Better grab some extra Classic Controllers, because you're going to break the ones you have.
Golden Sun: Dark Dawn lights up stores on November 29
Golden Sun: Dark Dawn was missing from Nintendo's recently announced fall lineup, creating concerns that Camelot's RPG revival had been quietly escorted out of 2010. Nintendo allayed those fears this morning by announcing a North American release date of November 29. That means it will only have been seven years since the last Golden Sun. That's not so bad. Can you imagine having to wait eight years? DS RPG addicts will have to finish up Dragon Quest IX, and then blaze through October's Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light to make room for this. "Too many RPGs" is a wonderful problem to have.
Preview: Golden Sun: Dark Dawn
Camelot knows how to make entertaining RPGs. It's something of a travesty that the studio has been whiling away the last several years on various Nintendo sports games instead of pumping out a sequel to Golden Sun: The Lost Age. Now, after seven years (seven), Camelot is finally back on the scene with Golden Sun: Dark Dawn for the DS. Based on my E3 demo, I'd say fans have cause to be excited. Playing Dark Dawn is a joy, like visiting an old friend. %Gallery-95769%
Visual overload: Nintendo's E3 DS lineup
If, at any point in the last week, you forgot about the existing DS platform due to all the news about the 3DS, you've made a serious error, and you owe the Nintendo DS an apology. Nintendo brought a diverse selection of first-party (and sorta-first-party, in the case of Dragon Quest IX) DS games to E3, and we've collected trailers and artwork for the whole set. Included after the break is Professor Layton and the Unwound Future. It might be a little ... puzzling, but Nintendo brought two Professor Layton games to E3 (which means, by the way, that this was the best E3 of all time) -- this one, number 3 in the series, for the original DS, and Professor Layton and the Mask of Miracle, which is number 5, for 3DS.
Golden Sun: Dark Dawn hits DS this holiday
Well finally. Nintendo revealed at its E3 keynote that Golden Sun DS is now Golden Sun: Dark Dawn. A new trailer was shown for the game, displaying some very impressive graphics on the DS, including huge summoning spells that span both screens. The trailer also showed some touch mechanics, including moving objects with the stylus to open paths and solve puzzles. More important than all that, the game will be released this holiday. If it's on the show floor, rest assured that we will be playing it.
