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Sony to release 'non-game' dev kits in Q2 2010
Already, various non-game applications can be found on both the PS3 and PSP. From Skype to VidZone, the XMB now plays home to a variety of services. Going forward, it appears Sony will open the PlayStation platform further with the introduction of "non-game" development kits in the middle of next year.Last night's 6.20 firmware update for PSP lays down the framework for additional non-gaming content. The PSP update adds a new category to the XMB called "Extras," which allows users to launch the web browser to download third-party apps on the PSP. The PlayStation Network Digital Comics Reader is the first official "Extra" to appear on the XMB, with more sure to come in 2010.A wide release of non-game dev kits may attract the active homebrew community to release official programs on the PSP and PS3. We'll be chatting with SCEA soon to get further details. Until then, we'll be dreaming of a native YouTube application for our PSPs.[Via VG247] Congratulations to StevenMichael on being the first to comment. You've been emailed a free Battlefield: Bad Company 2 beta code. Click here, for more information on this giveaway. Official rules apply.
Sony hints at "non-game apps" for PSP
We've been hearing rumors about a non-game app store for the PSP since the launch of the PSP Go, and it sounds like the wheels are turning -- in an interview with CNET, Sony's Al De Leon said that while PSP content "will mostly be games, there's an opportunity to look at non-gaming applications." Sure, that's not exactly a hard confirmation, but it's certainly suggestive -- maybe we'll see something at Gamescom in August after all. Video after the break. [Via Joystiq]
Gaze at the stars in Hoshizora Navi, feel like an insignificant speck
From this March, DS owners in Japan will be able to navigate the night skies, thanks to astronomy magazine publisher Astroarts. Hoshizora Navi (Starry Sky Navigator) was first revealed in March 2008, but now an official site has opened, rich with details.Apparently, the software comes packed with star charts containing 9,300 stars, the sun, planets, the moon, various constellations, and assorted meteor groups. Also, budding astronomers will be able to view the night sky at any point between 1900 and 2099, and even stargaze from several viewing locations across the globe. To help you differentiate between your Apastron and your Aphelion, there's an onboard astronomical dictionary of more than 400 terms.But allow us to remind you of the best bit: the Hoshizora Navi cartridge will come with a built-in positional sensor, meaning that as your DS moves, so does the view on your screen, to match your own! It's undoubtedly very clever, even though the tech has clearly pushed the price sky-high -- Hoshizora Navi goes on sale on March 26 for ¥8,190 (around $90)!
My Japanese Coach: Konnichiwa and beyond
Just as we did with My French Coach, we're taking a long, hard look at the recent My Japanese Coach -- but with one key difference. This time, instead of just lowly little me, slaving along with some knowledge of French, this time I'm struggling with a language I know very little of, and I'm working with a "partner" who knows quite a bit of Japanese already.Before tearing into Ubisoft's latest DS language trainer, if asked, I would have struggled to produce ten words in Japanese, and one of those ten would have been in the title of this post (and another would have been sushi). Perhaps that's exaggerating; after all, I did know a bit more than the fact that I prefer nigiri to sashimi, such as the words for red, blue, and green, and words like "please." My Japanese Coach-partner -- also known as my husband -- has always been very good about teaching me words when I ask. I suppose that makes me 1% more knowledgeable about the Japanese language than the average person pulled off the street.And that fraction means absolutely nothing, I learned, when you sit down to study a language like Japanese with any tool, even My Japanese Coach. %Gallery-28607% #ninbutton { border-style: solid; border-color: #000; border-width: 2px; background-color: #BBB; color: #000; text-decoration: none; width: 100px; text-align: center; padding: 2px 2px 2px 2px; margin: 2px 2px 2px 2px; } .buttontext { color: #000; text-decoration: none; font: bold 14pt Helvetica; } #ninbutton:hover { text-decoration: none; color: #BBB; background-color: #000; } NEXT >>
VC Friday: Something fishy
Arguably more a relaxation tool than a game, Hudson's My Aquarium makes its western debut in the latest PAL update today. Its price, just 500 Wii Points, reflects its status as the Endless Ocean of WiiWare; it's definitely a good deal cheaper than the real thing. The in-jokey Strong Bad Episode 1: Homestar Ruiner completes the line-up, while the Virtual Console is put on the backburner for another week.My Aquarium -- WiiWare -- 500 Wii PointsStrong Bad Episode 1: Homestar Ruiner -- WiiWare -- 1000 Wii PointsSpread your fins and swim past the break for video of each.%Gallery-29482%
Don't tap the glass in Hudson's My Aquarium
Because you'd probably be scratching your television.As you can tell by the trailer above (and new screens below), Hudson's localized Blue Oasis (at E3 they announced it for North America under the name My Aquarium) doesn't require a rocket scientist to figure out. Hudson has gone ahead and basically crafted a virtual fish tank, allowing you to enjoy the serene company of aquatic life without having to clean a pump every month. If you already checked out the tour of the Japanese game, then you know the title is chock full of content. And, if it's priced the same as its Japanese counterpart (500 Wii Points), we won't have to shell out a lot of clams for it. Get it? Hey, where are you going? Hello?%Gallery-29482%[Via press release] Are you crazy about WiiWare? We are too! That's why we've been quick to review as many WiiWare games as possible. Check out all of our reviews on our WiiWare review page. Otherwise, just keep an eye on the WiiWare category for the latest on Nintendo's download service.
Sega to make DS owners beautiful
Click for more screens. You with the face: listen up. As beings of supreme beauty, we're often asked how we maintain our flawless complexions and glossy, healthy hair. The truth is this: we have no idea. It could be our steady diet of Cheetos, pizza and cereal, combined with the sixteen hours a day we spend in front of our PC monitors, but it's probably all just natural.For those of you not blessed with such a becoming appearance, all is not lost. Sega has teamed up with Japanese cosmetics maker Shiseido to develop Project Beauty -- full translated name Shiseido Beauty Solution Supervised Exploration Center Project Beauty -- a non-game dedicated to the kind of over-the-counter tips and advice you'd expect to receive in any cosmetics department store.Project Beauty's most tantalizing hook, however, is that it will ship with the sleek camera add-on that came with Otona no DS Kao Training (Adults' DS Face Training) when it launches in Japan this November 27th. There's also a cheaper version sans camera, for all those people who bought Face Training and have had to wait for months for more software that supports the add-on.%Gallery-29064%[Via GAME Watch]
Make 10: A Journey to Europe
Tashiten: Tashite 10 Ni Suru Monogatari recently appeared on the OFLC's ratings database in Australia, and has now been officially announced in ... Europe (a.k.a. Land of the Training Game), where it will be released as Make 10: A Journey of Numbers.That title is something of a misnomer, for the game is really only about one number. In over 30 different minigames, players have to add or subtract numbers to make ten, all while being guided through the "Make 10 Kingdom" by a pixie called "Num Diddly." They'll crowbar a story into anything nowadays, we suppose. Still, it's refreshing to see a Nintendo-published non-game abandon the austere presentation of Brain Training/Math Training, and opt for something more colorful.Whereas Make 10 launched on the tenth day of the tenth month last year in Japan, the European version has a thoroughly unfunny release date: September 26th. If we can no longer find humor in release schedules, what else is there?[Via press release]
My Screenshot Coaches
We know My Chinese Coach and My Japanese Coach are coming, but we haven't seen much of them ... or anything, really. We didn't need to, though, to get excited about these titles; after all, people have been begging for a Japanese language trainer for a long time, and a Chinese language coach is just neat.But if you were holding out, just to see what the titles included and whether or not they were set up like Ubisoft's previous language coaches, many of your questions will now be answered. Screenshots have turned up at Amazon, of all places, and while they seem to be pretty early shots -- there are in-game pictures missing -- they do give a good idea of what sort of things are included in the titles. In other news, they look pretty difficult! As masochistic as we are, we can't wait to try them out.%Gallery-28607%%Gallery-28610%[Thanks, Feba!]
Wii Warm Up: Training on Wii
Training games have been big on the DS, and a few have made it big on the Wii -- most notably, of course, Wii Fit -- but the lion's share of these "games" have remained on the DS. Big Brain Academy and My Word Coach are a few that have been on both systems. Have you tried them on both? We'd love to hear opinions about training games crossing the gulf, as it were. We're of the opinion that they're better when they're designed specifically for one system, and can thus play to that system's strength, but there are always exceptions.
No treats for OFLC as it gives away My Dog Coach
Ubisoft continues to leave no stone unturned in its quest to make us games that help us through the wretched, miserable slog that is life. Having already dealt with French, words, weight loss, and life itself, the latest in Ubi's My Coach series might deal with training dogs.We say "might" because My Dog Coach has yet to be officially announced, but Siliconera spotted a listing for the title on the OFLC database (which is usually as good as a confirmation), and Ubisoft already has its own Nintendogs-a-like. My Dog Coach: Understand Your Dog with Cesar Millan enlists the help of celebrity "dog psychologist" (yes) and Dog Whisperer host Cesar Millan, whose techniques (well, according to Wikipedia) stray some way from traditional methods of teaching your pet to sit, speak, etc.Does this mean you'll be able to get your pooch doing the foxtrot? Paws crossed!
Not-So-Iron Fanboy: Cooking Guide Cook-Off
As soon as the Cooking Guide was released in English, we here at DS Fanboy understood one thing: it was necessary that we put the software to the test in a bloody, violent, no-holds-barred, steel cage cook-off the likes of which would put Iron Chef (both versions) to shame. Sadly, budget constraints (and, uh, laws) prevented the sort of Thunderdome-esque event we hand in mind, though, so instead, we're just having a normal cook-off. One hobbyist cook. One bachelor. One shot at three recipes, supported by the Cooking Guide. Will they be able to produce the same meal, with the same results? Will the Guide serve as a workable cookbook for the knowledgeable, and an aid for those who aren't? We put it to the test.%Gallery-22839%
E308: Atari and irritating celebrity chef combine for cooking game
It was, we suppose, inevitable. Nintendo's Cooking Guide released in Japan two years ago (as Cooking Navi), where it shifted a decent number of units. It recently emerged in Europe, and did pretty well there, too (it'll be coming to the U.S. this November). And what happens each time Nintendo releases a successful non-game? Answer: as sure as night follows day, (usually inferior) third-party alternatives appear.That's what has happened here, with Atari following Nintendo into the cooking-with-your-DS arena. What's Cooking? with Jamie Oliver will feature 100 recipes (Cooking Guide has 245), space for 100 of your own, a shopping list mode, and competitive cooking games. It's very similar to Nintendo's game then (though apparently you can share recipes via WiFi), except you get to look at Jamie Oliver and his smug, squishy, Mockney face a whole lot more.If, like this blogger, you regard Oliver as an affront to all that is decent about humankind, it might not be your thing. But it might be okay as a game.%Gallery-27845%[Via press release]
Blue Oasis footage is relaxing, blue
Blue Oasis looks like just the kind of thing we could use to contain our CONSTANT ATTACKS OF RAGE. A relaxed Josh from WiiFolder has carried out one of his excellent video tours of the game (we've slotted the video after the break, due to sizing issues), covering its impressively customizable aquariums, the decent range of fish (there are around fifty, some of which must be unlocked), and the ability to share your aquarium with friends via WiiConnect24. The one thing it's missing? Leonard Nimoy.Admittedly, Hudson's virtual aquarium lands squarely in "non-game" territory, but it is cheap -- just 500 Wii Points, or five bucks. As Josh sagely points out: "You can't even buy a fish sandwich for $5 nowadays." Fair point, that.%Gallery-19348%
Deco Tendances: the game for cutthroat Animal Crossing players
Do you love Animal Crossing but hate all the communicating, working, running errands, and maintaining the town bits? Also, is it too much of a game for you? Deco Tendances (Deco Trends) is perfect for you: it focuses entirely on home decoration. The program is designed to help with principles of interior design, featuring 24 tips in six major categories, including painting and wallpapering, window decoration, and complementing colors. Each tip is accompanied by multiple photos, and a color wheel is included as well. In addition, just because, there are four minigames.The immediate reaction to something like this is to dismiss it as shovelware and get angry about how it's destroying the industry, and maybe that's accurate (the first part). But we also see somebody doing something new on the DS, that may be helpful to someone. And you still don't have to buy it. Besides, as we suggested above, interior decoration is the heart of one of Nintendo's most beloved franchises.
Cooking Guide caters to the hungry and the fussy
Cooking Guide: Can't Decide What to Eat? continues to look like it will be numerous flavors of awesome. Ahead of the training game's release in Europe this week, Nintendo grabbed its ladle and served up a generous helping of 35 new screens. Handily, these are all in English (as opposed to French, like the last batch), and we've picked up lots of new information as a result.For a start, it appears that the non-game will cater to the most fastidious of chefs. Everything can be filtered in Cooking Guide, so if you want to find a recipe which can be cooked in under 30 minutes, has meat as its main ingredient, is of average difficulty to prepare, and which comes in at under 300 calories, no problem! You can also choose to exclude certain ingredients that you don't like from your recipes, make your own shopping list, or browse dishes from a particular country.Best of all, a non-cook (such as this blogger) will find little in these screens that is intimidating, thanks to step-by-step instructions that aren't filled with jargon, and a comprehensive glossary for the overwhelmed. We never thought we'd say this about a training game, but we can't wait for this to find a home in our DSes.%Gallery-22839%
99 Tears Vs. 96 Tears
Remember that time you spent fifteen minutes on all fours on the kitchen floor, violently bawling your eyes out over the final, bitter departure of a loved one, or the sudden death of your dog in a road accident? Good times, right? Well, 99 no Namida (Tears of 99) will be aiming to replicate those surges of emotion throughout Japan from tomorrow, when the sob-inducing game gets released. It's intended to be for your own health, apparently.In case you somehow doubted the game's efficacy in making you blubber through one of its 200 short stories, Namco Bandai has attempted to scientifically prove just how much inner turmoil the title can generate. The pie charts above came about after the company conducted a survey of 500 people to highlight the effectiveness of 99 no Namida.And this is where it gets a bit obscure. We know that the white areas in the pie charts represent people who didn't cry, and the dark blue indicates those who cried heavily. We also know that the right chart depicts the proportion of people who cried while playing 99 no Namida, while the left chart displays how many cried when ... well, we're not actually sure, but the headline does reference 1960s rock and roll band Question Mark & The Mysterians and their song "96 Tears." Man, beats us.Whatever the first chart represents, the central message remains the same: 99 no Namida will make the majority of players cry big, salty tears. Now weep your sad selves into our gallery for six new shots.%Gallery-15389%
Cooking Navi screens, fresh from the oven
As medical science suggests that a steady regime of Pringles, pizza, and Coca-Cola is not a suitable diet (pfft!), this blogger is looking forward to learning healthier recipes from Cooking Navi (or, as it's known in PAL regions, Cooking Guide: Can't Decide What to Eat?). After all, I'd quite like to live beyond forty, and my current repertoire in the kitchen (omelettes, toast, cereal) may prove an obstacle to that aim.These first nine screens of the localized western version are all in French (which feels appropriate, given that country's culinary reputation), but it's not hard to see that this non-game caters to a range of skill levels -- for example, I actually know what Spaghetti Carbonara is! There'll be 200 recipes in total, with each informing users of the calorie count and preparation time. Hit up our gallery for more delicious screens.%Gallery-22839%
Cry 99 Tears over a glass of wine
In what seems like a very appropriate promotion, Namco Bandai will offer a specially-labeled wine to tie in with 99 no Namida, the game featuring short stories designed to elicit tears. Go ahead and start crying now unless you'll be in Tokyo between June 5 (the game's release date) and June 30, because the 99 no Namida wine will only be available in the Vinoteca wine bar located in the Tokyo Midtown area.Banamco also announced that soccer star Naohiro Takahara had contributed a story to the game based on his own experiences. Short story writer Yasushi Akimoto also revealed that he had written one of the game's tales. Is this the first original short fiction anthology video game?%Gallery-15389%
DS Daily: A welcome dose of improvement
One of the best things about the DS is not only does it have an incredibly large library of amazing games, but it also has several cool training titles. Things such as Cooking Navi, Let's Yoga and even Nintendo's Brain Age games, as well as the upcoming English of the Dead all offer users something other than a time sink. They offer real tips for changing or improving one's life.That got us thinking about how many of you out there have improved your own life through these kind of self-help titles. Have you found your brain power increased through regular Brain Age use? Have you improved your vision with Flash Focus? What training titles have you used to enhance your life and how has it improved?
