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Gyakuten Kenji: new Phoenix Wright prequel starring Edgeworth
How about a morning MEGATON? The latest issue of Famitsu contains an announcement of a new Ace Attorney game: a spinoff called Gyakuten Kenji (Turnabout Prosecutor). Like the previous AA games, Kenji will focus on crime scene investigation (but not courtroom theatrics). This time the action follows Prosecutor Miles Edgeworth and Detective Dick Gumshoe. Using new gameplay systems, you'll check out crime scenes for unseen evidence, and argue cases in court. Unlike Saiban, Edgeworth will actually be visible on screen, making this more of a point-and-click adventure, versus a graphical text adventure.It seems pretty likely that this is the big announcement Capcom was planning to make about the series, unless they've got something even bigger on the way. This is quite enough, however -- we're roughly 1% as excited as the Edgeworth fanfic community will be, which is to say outrageously excited.
2008's April Fools' DS pranks
Oh man, is that Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime over there, bringing you a giant bag of popcorn? It must be your lucky day!Too bad it's April Fools' Day! You're not getting any popcorn at all! Nope, it's just another bag of the usual stuff -- disappointment, regret, and the simple pain of living.Rather than spend your day weeping over missed opportunities and movie snacks, why not peruse our collection of April Fools' Day DS pranks? We've gathered up all of this year's handheld shenanigans we could find around the internet, providing you a concentrated punch of lulz to counteract Reggie's kick to your head. Click Reggie for popcorn! ->
Capcom Europe objects to sequential order
This thread on Capcom Europe's forums is from earlier in the month, but the info contained within is still worth noting. There's still no European release date for Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations, but a forum administrator has confirmed that it will be out after the May 9th release of Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney.As "Chompman" explains, "There's no spoilers in Apollo Justice that would stop you enjoying Trials and Tribulations if you played it afterwards though." Well, that makes it okay. European gamers are certainly used to later game releases by now, but out of sequence? That's a new and special way to irritate a fanbase.Oh, by the way, the U.S. version of Trials and Tribulations is $18.99 at Amazon. [Via NeoGAF]
Phoenix Wright: Ace Strategic Planner
As consumers, we hardly look into the business side of gaming. That doesn't mean we don't take a look at stocks and sales numbers, because we like to play the part of video game analyst at times. Yet, we usually don't think about the behind-the-scenes decisions that publishers have to make. When we want games, we just want them, publishers be damned. Games like Electroplankton bother us because they're so hard to find, and even when Electroplankton was available way back when, it was only available online and at the Nintendo World Store. We never stopped to think that maybe retailers refused to put the game on their shelves. (Note: We're not saying that this was the case with Electroplankton, only that it may have factored into Nintendo's decision).MTV Multiplayer's interview with Christian Svensson, the Senior Director of Strategic Planning & Research for Capcom, brings some of these issues to light. Svensson talks a lot about the first Phoenix Wright game specifically, and how it was difficult to convince retailers to stock the title despite fan interest. There are also many other issues that come into play, like first week sales and production speeds. If companies can't provide retailers with games almost immediately after orders are placed, stores will just move on to the next hot title on the market. This makes proper estimates for DS games especially important, since they take about two months to manufacture. No pressure.The article is definitely worth a read, and the next time you find yourself irritated because so-and-so game is impossible to find, you might be a little less quick to yell out objections.
Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Justice for Even Less
We've featured sale prices for the second entry in the Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney series before, but of all the markdowns, this is among the marked-downiest (on a new copy, anyway). For only $10.99, you can pick up one of the best games on the DS about lawyers solving murder cases with the help of teenagers who can summon the dead. Even if you haven't bought the first game yet, you should get this one now, because this is the cheapest you'll see it ... until Amazon marks it down again! If you do already have the first game but stopped there for whatever reason, it's a good time to get back into it, because you can also get the third game, Trials and Tribulations, for a nice $18.99.
Famitsu piles on the Phantom Hourglass love
Lists: they're freaking well everywhere. Lists of the best games, of the worst games, of the worst boxart, of games to watch, of the best NES games, of the most kid-friendly games, lists of the greatest lists.But what's that? You want more lists? You're insane! But Famitsu hears you! The venerable Japanese publication just published its top games of 2007, based on the magazine's review scores, and The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (the game that collects gongs and awards like they're going clean out of fashion) romped to top spot, thanks to its near-perfect 39/40 score.The DS had other representatives in Famitsu's top 25, with Kousoku Card Battle: Card Hero (12th), Itadaki Street (21st), Gyakuten Saiban 4 (24th) and Final Fantasy IV (25th) all making their presence felt. Go past the break for the entire top 25, and join us in marveling at the Xbox 360 doing something right in Japan.%Gallery-4748%
DS Daily: A lesson learned
While playing Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, we learned a neat little fact about cards. Apparently, a deck of cards represents a calendar year -- there are four suits because there are four seasons in a year, and there are fifty-two cards because there are fifty-two weeks.Also, if you assign each card a numeric value from one to thirteen (with an ace equaling one, a king equaling thirteen), they will add up to 364. That's why there are two jokers: One makes the year complete, since a year has 365 days, and the other is there because there's an extra day during leap years.Are there any cool little facts you've learned from games that you've played? Maybe even something less trivial than the card fact above? Share them with us. This way, you'll have some ammo when people scold you about not learning anything from video games.
SecondSpin sale offers extra cheap prices for used games
Starting today until March 16th, preowned media retailer SecondSpin is offering customers free shipping and 20% off its used items. Unlike GameStop and Electronics Boutique, SecondSpin sells every game with the manual and box, so you won't have to worry about receiving an incomplete package. All you need to do to take advantage of the deal is use this coupon code: TWENTY314. SecondSpin has too many available Nintendo DS and GBA titles (450+) for us to list, but we've put together a short tally of games that you might want to pick up. Nintendo DS: Custom Robo Arena - $13.79 $11.03 Phoenix Wright, Ace Attorney: Justice for All - $12.99 $10.39 Scurge: Hive - $10.39 $8.39 Spectrobes - $14.99 $11.99 The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass - $26.99 $21.59 True Swing Golf - $9.99 $7.99 GBA deals: Final Fantasy IV Advance and V Advance - $14.99 $11.99 Gunstar Super Heroes - $7.99 $6.39 TMNT - $14.99 $11.99 If you don't see anything you're interested in, SecondSpin updates its inventory every day, so check back again tomorrow! [Via CAG]
Phoenix Wright case generator: choose your own OBJECTION!
To promote the release of the first three Gyakuten Saiban games on PC in episodic format, Capcom has released an Ace Attorney case creator. It's all in Japanese, but the editor is self-evident enough; you can choose characters, locations, music, and graphical effects for each scene; you can make each character perform three actions per scene, and you can write their text. The text is severely limited, since the editor is designed for strings of kanji, which of course means fewer characters. You could just use more scenes to write more text, though.Getting in is somewhat more difficult, since you need to sign up with Daletto. Luckily, there's a tutorial for navigating the Japanese signup page on Court Records. It's totally worth the trouble to be able to create near-instant Phoenix Wright animations. We only wish this had come out a couple of months ago. Check after the break for our first brief dalliance with Tsukurou! Gyakuten Saiban (Let's Create! Gyakuten Saiban).
Ace Attorney producer: big announcement at orchestral concert
Minae Matsukawa's final Apollo Justice developer blog entry has once again lifted the curtain on the development of our favorite DS lawyer-adventure series. Without going into too much detail, Matsukawa described the creation of the first video for the series to use motion capture, for which a male research-and-development team performed a female character's movements, and was a "natural" at it. What wasn't natural: Apollo's name. Apparently it took 22 meetings to come up with "Apollo Justice!"In case you're in Tokyo, you like game music, and for some reason you weren't planning to go, Capcom will also make an "exciting announcement" at the Gyakuten Meets Orchestra orchestral concert in Tokyo this April. Matsukawa didn't say what the announcement would be, but come on -- it's Gyakuten Saiban 5.[Via Capcom Blog]
DS Daily: Invested
Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney has been out long enough for the superfans (in the U.S.) to have gotten through the game, and for me to have finally made it to Gamestop to pick it up. So most of us who want to play the game have had time to become accustomed to the new cast.If you've played through the whole series: do you like the new characters? Will you play future games starring Apollo and friends? Are you interested in his storyline? Have you ordered your own red vest for Apollo cosplay?If Apollo Justice is your first Ace Attorney game: how did that happen?
DS Fanboy Review: Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney
There's no doubt that, although niche, the Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney series is beloved by many. Capcom had a great thing going for it with the first three games: a fun concept, compelling gameplay, and some ridiculous but lovable characters. After hearing that Capcom would be changing things around by introducing Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, I started to get nervous. Why mess with a good thing and change a winning formula? Innovation is necessary to keep any franchise alive, but at the expense of characters that fans have grown attached to, I wondered if it was worth it. Could Capcom really pull this off without alienating either longtime fans or curious newcomers? The task seemed daunting. Yet, if any series could pull a transition like this, it would be this one.%Gallery-10043%
Games that shouldn't be MMOs
Here's a corollary post to an earlier story. Our cousin site, Cinematical, has brought teh funneh with a post about which board games would make awful movies. In that spirit, we now present to you a list of games that would make terrible MMOs, in no particular order.Please note that these are merely our particular opinions, and we're not saying that a cleverer-than-thou developer couldn't make a great MMO out of these games ... but for reasons we'll state here, it's highly unlikely. Then again, sometimes the best-sounding ideas turn out some awful games themselves (*cough* Fury *cough*), so it all evens out. Excelsior!
WRUP: Welcome the nub edition
With this week's big release being Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, you can bet we're dying to sink our teeth into the game. Not only are we looking to see how the newbie attorney handles himself, but also how Capcom handled developing the latest iteration in the series specifically for the DS, instead of the GBA-to-DS porting that went on with previous installments. Of course, it's not that the porting was a bad thing; the Ace Attorney games are some of our most favorite of all time.So will you be tackling some of Apollo's cases this weekend? We know we will.%Gallery-10043%
Metareview: Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney
With the release of the latest Ace Attorney game, those of us in North America finally get to see the new hero in action, Apollo Justice. And, now that the game has been out for a few days, some of the reviewing outlets have gotten the requisite amount of time in with the game. How are the reviews? Generally positive, we're happy to report. 1UP (85/100) says this game's writing is great: "The localization team at Capcom should be commended for writing dialogue that is genuinely funny. Basically, if you're a fan of the earlier Phoenix Wright games, you will laugh...a lot. Couple the comedy with Justice's engrossing story and you have a case that would be criminal not to take." IGN (83/100) finds the game to be incredibly charming: "The gameplay and static looks of Apollo Justice are just as we've seen them before, and the music will be both familiar and new, but Apollo Justice retains a lot of the charm Phoenix Wright held before it, and adds to the series' legacy. What's old is new again, and damn good, too." Nintendo Power (80/100) thinks the game is a perfect fit within the series: "With that said, the latest Ace Attorney game is an excellent continuation of the series, featuring more compelling mysteries to unravel and lots of memorable characters." [Mar 2008, p.86] %Gallery-10043%
Achtung, baby! Apollo Justice gets dated for Europe
While we're sure many English-speaking, Ace Attorney-loving Europeans arranged to have the game imported already, the rest of you will be glad to know that Apollo Justice has been given a release date.Europe can expect the game on May 9th, which is tantalizingly far away for fans, but we've seen worse than a three month delay. Take Trials and Tribulations for example -- where is that game?Nintendo of Europe still doesn't list an official date for Phoenix Wright's third foray in the courtroom, and we haven't heard anything from Capcom, but the unofficial date of March 21st has popped up on some sites like GameSpot UK. While a March date is unlikely (as we probably would have heard something concrete by this point), let's hope it's correct so that non-importing Europeans can play their games in order.See also: 2008's Biggest Blips -- Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney%Gallery-10043%[Via GoNintendo]
DS Daily: Music to your ears
Recent news that the Tokyo Philharmonic is to belt out a selection of tunes from the Ace Attorney series had some of us fingering our passports and checking April flights to Japan.It also resulted in us taking some time to gaze into the middle distance, and reminisce about some of our favorite music from DS games. Ouendan and the Castlevania games are obvious choices, while Advance Wars: Day of Ruin is a more current favorite, but what about you, readers?See also: 2008's Biggest Blips - Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney
No objections to an Ace Attorney interview
If you visit this site often, you've probably come to realize that we're big fans of Phoenix Wright. Later this month, we'll be able to play the next installment in the Ace Attorney games, this time starring Apollo Justice. If you're as impatient as us, though, you might want to check out this interview at Siliconera, which reveals some more information about the title. Spencer Yip questions Apollo's product marketing manager, Colin Ferris, who manages to tease us even more about the game. One thing Ferris was pretty clear on is that there are no plans to bring the series to the Wii. After playing Harvey Birdman, we think the adventure game would fit well on the console, as much as we love it on our handhelds. How about you guys, though? Do you think the game should stick to the DS, or would you like to see it cross platforms at some point?
HOLD IT! Live orchestra to play Phoenix Wright tunes
Man, if you're a person living in Japan and reading DS Fanboy right now, do we have a piece of awesome news for you. Not only are you confined to listening to the wonderful music from the Ace Attorney line through your iTunes or by actually playing the games, you can enjoy a live performance of tracks from the series of games. Chalk this up as another reason why we wish we lived in Japan.We do have time to move over there before this goes down. The event takes place on April 20th at the Shinjuku Culture Center, where the Tokyo Philharmonic will be behind select musical tracks from the games. Hey, if there's going to be any reason why we move there, it'd be this.See also: 2008's Biggest Blips - Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney[Via Go Nintendo]
2008's Biggest Blips: Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney
Developer: Capcom Publisher: CapcomRelease: February 19 %Gallery-10043% Advance Wars Back Why don't you get a job?
