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Silpheed Alternative: Menace from Beyond the Stars hits Android
We don't know which is more astounding, the fact that there's a new Silpheed game, or the fact that it's for Google's Android OS. Silpheed Alternative: Menace from Beyond the Stars is the first entry in the series in over a decade, spiritual successors notwithstanding. Much like its predecessors, Silpheed Alternative pits the player against impossible odds and an immense armada of warships in one of mankind's few available fighters. Unlike its predecessors, however, Silpheed Alternative eschews the series' traditional isometric viewpoint and shmup gameplay in favor of three-dimensional dogfighting, ala X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter. The game is available now on the Android Marketplace for $2.99, compatible with Android devices running 2.1 or higher.
XSEED reveals preorder bonuses for Ragnarok DS
click for a Massively Multi-Image Online GalleryRemember Ragnarok DS? If you do, you're likely an avid fan of the Ragnarok Online MMO, and thus exactly the kind of person XSEED hopes to entice with the pre-order bonuses for the DS game. Pre-orders for the DS RPG will include exclusive in-game items for the PC game, which increase experience, attack speed, damage and other stats when used. In addition, every retail package will have more items thrown in, which increase even more stats. While at first blush it seems obvious to target people who like Ragnarok with this Ragnarok spinoff, it actually strikes us as kind of odd. People obsessed with Ragnarok have a lot of online gaming in their lives as it is! Are they going to want to jump into some random dungeons with just a few people? %Gallery-63545%
Grandia Online coming this summer
BigWorld have formally announced the latest game build on their BigWorld Technology Suite, Grandia Online. Grandia Online is the latest in the Grandia series of games that started with the Grandia RPG on the Sega Saturn and has continued with two sequels and several spin off games on a range of consoles and the PC. Grandia Online is set before the story in the first game, but in the same game world. This release comes after a long development during which it wasn't always clear that the game would actually be released. The game was first announced in 2004 with beta testing announced for September 2006 with development by GameArts, but development transferred to GungHo Online Entertainment in early 2007. Development has since reverted back to GameArts, with GungHo Online Entertainment remaining as publisher.The title is expected to enter open beta this month, with a full release for the later in the summer on PC.
The first blurry minutes of Ragnarok Online DS
The first moments of a new game can be awkward. Unless you're just tossed right in, which has its own problems, there's usually a bit of interfacing going on. Now imagine peering over someone else's shoulder as they fiddle around with that just-opened game. That's this video of Ragnarok Online DS, except it's longer than that sentence was.So it's not the best quality, but if you want an actual view of what you'll be seeing (sort of; your view would be better) if this game ever makes it over, or if you import, this is your chance. Gallery: Ragnarok Online DS [Via GoNintendo]
Look at these Ragnarok Online screens with a friend (or two)
Call it Ragnarok Sort-of-Online if you want, but the lessened online play doesn't change the fact that the screens for the slimmed-down portable (and single-player-focused) version of the MMO game look pretty good. So good, in fact, that held up next to similarly-sized screens from the original game, they look eerily familiar. Ragnarok Online DS does feature three-player parties over Wi-Fi in addition to a single player mode, and in our minds, that only extends the game's appeal. It's set for a debut in Japan in mid-December.%Gallery-29124%
Ragnarok Online DS screens revealed before the end of the world
After the announcement of a DS Ragnarok Online game over a year ago, we weren't sure if Gungho would get around to showing the game before the actual Ragnarok occurred. We haven't been plunged into an extreme winter yet, and the world has yet to be submerged with water, so we're pretty sure Gungho and developer Gravity have come out ahead.Ragnarok Online may not be an MMO like the original game, but even as a single-player RPG (with unspecified online features) it's worth keeping an eye on, mostly due to the absolutely gigantic character sprites. It also appears to have gestural attack inputs controlled by the stylus. Ragnarok Online DS comes out December 18, and we're sure more info will show up soon.
Golf training tees off in Japan this October
Golf is big in Japan. Training games are big in Japan. Hence, somebody at GungHo Works finally did the math and worked out that a golf training game would be huge in Japan. This is the result: Golf Cut 100 DS, a training title focused entirely on improving your ability to accurately hit tiny balls with long sticks, and teaching you the difference between plus fours and putters in the process.Developed in conjunction with monthly golf magazine Golf Digest and out this October, Golf Cut 100 offers quizzes, lessons on course etiquette, and advice on 100 golfing techniques. Given some of the other stuff Japan has already been trained in, a golf trainer seems pretty normal to us at this stage. Drive your golf cart past the break for more shots.
Friday Video: Target audience
Ever wonder who those aquarium games are made for? It may seem unlikely to you that anyone would want a game about staring at fake fish. But the commercial (and pretty much all the other advertising) for GungHo's Sakana to Asobou! Aquazone DS (Play with Fish! Aquazone DS) lets us know exactly who these games are for: cats."Healing human (stress? something like that) is a cat's job," the ad's star thinks. "But I want to be healed too." Cue a contented curl into a DS Lite running Aquazone. And cue our hearts totally melting. We went for the Aquazone cat wallpapers right away, and we're considering ordering a copy of the game for our own feline family members. Click on the mellow cat above to access the video!
Math Drills, the (Japanese interpretation of the) Indian way
GungHo's Nakamura Toru kanshuu Indo-shiki Keisan Drill (Indian Style Calculation Drills Supervised by Toru Nakamura) improves calculation speed and skills with special techniques and shortcuts. You may be asking yourself (or us, or no one in particular): How is this Indian style? What does India have to do with teaching math skills? Or, it may be plainly obvious to you. It wasn't to us.Vedic Mathematics is a system of math found in Vedas rediscovered in the early 20th century (or made up by some guy-- we're not about to go after the solution to that mystery while researching a DS non-game). It is based on sixteen sutras that provide simple methods for calculations.Publisher Shinyusha's book Math Drills: The Indian Way is currently a massive hit in Japan and has sparked a Vedic math fad, not only among the school-aged, but among adults. And what is the other fad in Japanese education techniques? Right, the Nintendo DS. Shinyusha is partnered with GungHo in the development of Indian Style Calculation Drills. And now you know ... the rest of the story. Good day!
Ragnarok 'Online' not as online as you may have thought
Well, we had one day to freak out over a DS MMO. We can all relax now. It turns out that Gungho's planned DS Ragnarok game is not going to be massively multiplayer. It's an action-RPG with some unspecified Wi-Fi use. Maybe, if we're lucky, it'll be online multiplayer on a smaller scale.Okay, here's a thought experiment for you: what's more of a cash-in: an MMO, or a handheld spinoff of an MMO? Oh, well, we like action-RPG's better than MMO's anyway.
