Advance Wars
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Promotional Consideration: Quote-based strategy II
Promotional Consideration is a weekly feature about the Nintendo DS advertisements you usually flip past, change the channel on, or just tune out.Since we bemoaned Advance Wars: Days of Ruin's lacking marketing push last week, Nintendo has kept us holed up in our bomb shelter, walls trembling and lights flickering as wave after wave of advertisements, massive shells blasted from Leo Burnett's distant dreadnoughts, pound the smoking city above.Here's every salvo we've been hit with in just the past week: an official web site launch (with new media) media-heavy previews and several interviews with Nintendo's localization team two promotional emails sent out to Nintendo's online newsletter subscribers a launch event held earlier today at the Nintendo World Store (New York City) television commercials on both network and cable channels a two-page ad running in at least three video game magazines -- GamePro, Game Informer, and Electronic Gaming Monthly We stand, crumbs of concrete falling from our hair, corrected. As we promised in our last installment, we're taking a look at that two-page magazine ad for Days of Ruin, a print piece which features flattering quotes from three online video game sites.
Nintendo's O'Leary enjoys talking about Advance Wars
Chris Kohler barely needed to ask any questions in this interview with Tim O'Leary, part of Nintendo's Treehouse localization team. It just took the faintest hint of a question about Advance Wars: Days of Ruin to set O'Leary off on a longform discussion of the game's new style and the new gameplay changes (such as new units) that are currently being overshadowed by that style.According to O'Leary, the change in tone (from the bouncier, happier style of the games to a more Linkin Park kind of thing) had less to do with reflecting the harsh reality of war and more to do with players just wanting something different. So, indirectly, you guys sent a meteor to the game's world because you were bored. The change in display, now featuring the map on the bottom screen and info on the top, was a streamlining effort to allow "all of the action (to take) place on a single screen." It's, again, part of refreshing the whole series. Read the full interview for tons more info gleaned from O'Leary's conversations with the game's Japanese developers. We got the feeling that O'Leary may just like Advance Wars.
Days of Ruin official website advances on the internet
It goes without saying that the end of the world won't be a good time. If it's anything like the apocalypse presented in Advance Wars: Days of Ruin, we'll probably spend most of our time crying in a corner while a big, burly man named "The Beast" tell us "tough beans!" If you can handle such harsh words, though, then you should head on over to the official Days of Ruin website. The site, which launched this weekend, has a new video and some old screens, with what seems like more to come.You might also notice that the website lists a January 23rd release date, which is two days later than we expected the game in the U.S. If this date is accurate, we suppose we'll just have to wait a little bit longer for our post-apocalyptic war romp.[Via Advance Wars Net forums]%Gallery-8563%
DS Daily: Coming up next
There are a lot of exciting games coming out in the next few months (some pretty soon, too!), but what we're curious about is what's on the schedule for the gamer-on-a-budget? If you could only buy one new DS game in the next few months, what would you pick? Are you dying for Advance Wars? Are you a diehard for the Ace Attorney? Or is there something else that's caught your eye (and your wallet)?
Promotional Consideration: Quote-based strategy
Promotional Consideration is a weekly feature about the Nintendo DS advertisements you usually flip past, change the channel on, or just tune out.Given the anticipation for Advance Wars: Days of Ruin, at least among hardcore gamers, it's surprising that Nintendo hasn't launched an advertising offensive by now -- bombing strongholds with print ads, ambushing our television sets with commercials, and running its usual propaganda campaign.But with less than two weeks away from Days of Ruin's release, we've yet to find the game advertised in any of the magazines we've cracked open, and the only commercial we've seen so far is the poorly thought-out one embedded past the post break.%Gallery-8563%
Euro trailer brings us a step closer to Advance Wars
We don't have long to wait now, but for the legions of Advance Wars fans watching their calendars with a peculiar hunger, every moment without it is agony. Perhaps this latest video footage will serve as a soothing balm for the pain of ticking off every second between now and the game's release. Ah, if only it were longer! Instead, maybe you can flip through our gallery really quickly to create your own sort of stop-motion preview.%Gallery-8563%
Menu-tacular! Advance Wars screens expose nuts and bolts
Nintendo has fired a volley of fifty Advance Wars: Days of Ruin screens in our direction, a fortnight before the game launches on January 21st. This fresh batch focuses on the title's wealth of options, and it's fair to say that the game is looking as menu-heavy as ever.As well as the title screen, we also get to see quite a bit of the Map Center, some shots of the various Wi-Fi functions (including a reminder that the game will support full voice chat online), and even, uh, what the game's icon will look like as you boot up your DS to play; comprehensive, much?Fortunately, there's also lots of nice fighty-fighty screens, such as the one to the right, so get clicking, future COs!%Gallery-8563%[Via press release]
Advance Wars goodies make us wish the days would go by faster
In case you missed it, you can see from the video above that Advance Wars: Days of Ruin has a much darker style than its predecessors. The gameplay is looking great and we're liking the mature style, especially after hearing some of the reasons behind it.1up recently interviewed Hitoshi Yamagami and Masaki Tawara of Nintendo's Software Planning and Development Department, who shed some light on the darker style behind the game. They decided to drop the light-hearted scenario of the game because they didn't want to depict war positively. The more realistic tone then led to different visuals and a few tweaks to the gameplay. While the fundamentals are the same, Yamagami and Tawara say that Days of Ruin will have a faster pace than before.Because the previous Advance Wars games were great in of themselves, change to the series can seem a little daunting. Still, we like it when developers take risks, and we think the game will be all the better for it. We'll find out for sure soon enough, though, as the game is scheduled to release in a few weeks.%Gallery-8563%
New Advance Wars images show off new COs, new belly buttons
Supplementing its latest preview of Advance Wars: Days of Ruin, GameSpot has posted over twenty screenshots, faction emblems, and commanding officer portraits for the turn-based strategy title. Among the new cast of COs are two similarly designed gothic lolitas (possibly sisters?), a nefarious scientist with watercolor stains on his labcoat, and what could possibly be Advance Wars' first black CO. Also worth noting is the leather-clad redhead who looks a lot like an older version of Sami. The darker palette, reportedly "heavier" soundtrack, and serious expressions on the COs really reflect the series' new mature direction. -- we can't wait to see how much further away Intelligent Systems will take the game from its lighthearted roots after having killed off 90% of the world's population. You can preview the new images and COs yourself with the convenient gallery we've embedded below. As promised in our headline, there are plenty of belly buttons -- both male and female -- for you to appraise.%Gallery-8563%[Via AWN]
Confirmed: Advance Wars: Dark Conflict laying siege to Europe on January 25
var digg_url = 'http://www.digg.com/nintendo/Confirmed_Advance_Wars_2_dated_for_Europe_boxart_revealed'; Following yesterday's speculation, we've just received confirmation from Nintendo of Europe that Advance Wars: Dark Conflict will be hitting European stores on January 25, just four days ahead of the game's U.S. release.Also confirmed to us was the name change, though judging by the leaked boxart that materialized on NeoGAF recently (and which seems to fit in with the game's new, oh-so-serious approach), this will only apply to Europe. Looks like the title will still carry the Days of Ruin suffix when it launches stateside.%Gallery-8563%
Nintendo Power reconstructs Days of Ruin facts
One of the folks over at NeoGAF got their grubby little mitts on the latest issue of Nintendo Power and, as you can imagine, it's chock full of factoids and other interesting information. And, there's a good deal of stuff on the Advance Wars sequel, Advance Wars: Day of Ruin. While there isn't anything new to look at, per the last few videos of the game in action or the screens we have in our gallery below, Nintendo Power still has some stuff to present: The game stars Will, a survivor of the meteorite. He dug himself out of the rubble, living only on canned bread. There are 26 main missions, 30 training missions are unlockable and over 150 multiplayer campaigns Ranks are raised when a unit destroys another unit, with a maximum of three before it becomes a Veteran CO powers have been nerfed, making them weaker and they now ride in your unit of choice and have Veteran status CO Zone has been incorporated, giving your CO specific power-ups based on what kind of CO that person is. Also, your CO will strengthen nearby units. The rest of the information in the post is old hat, if you frequent our site on a regular basis.%Gallery-8563%
DS Daily: The pinnacle of strategy
It seems like the DS is suddenly inundated with strategy-based titles. If variety is the spice of life, the DS is like a delicious array of strategy salsas, ranging from mild to fiery hot. Yet, are any of them even fit to shine the shoes of Advance Wars: Dual Strike? Listen, we're talking about games from a variety of studios, and Square Enix is all sorts of up in the strategy mix, so it's not like we're comparing shovelware to diamonds here. The first Advance Wars for the DS was just phenomenal -- so good, in fact, that we can't help but wonder if even its own follow-up can live up to the glory of that title.What do you think? Can any of them stand up next to Advance Wars? What are some of your favorites among the current strategy offerings, and what are you looking forward to most?
Promotional Consideration: Black Hole Advertising
Promotional Consideration is a weekly feature about the Nintendo DS advertisements you usually flip past, change the channel on, or just tune out.Considering that you've put up with the dozens of posts we've published for Advance Wars: Days of Ruin so far, we're sure you'll forgive us for revisiting War Worlds again so soon with this column. This week, Promotional Consideration examines the print ad Nintendo rolled out in 2003 for Advance Wars 2: Black Hole Rising. Position your units, end your turn, and peek past the break for more text.
Joystiq hands-on: Advance Wars: Days of Ruin (DS)
The "Days of Ruin" addendum to the standard "Advance Wars" title is more than a surprising acronym that doesn't stand for "DS." (DR? What?) Days of Ruin marks the bleak setting and style for the latest version of this turn-based strategy game. The plucky Advance Wars characters have been retired in favor of an all-new, more tempered cast. And while this is still a Nintendo game -- don't expect anything too edgy -- the company anticipates it'll earn a T-rating for the game's language and tone. The plot is about a more serious, war-decimated planet, after all. More than just the setting, this Advance Wars was described as an Intelligent Systems relaunch of the series. CO powers have been reduced; don't expect them to let a losing side suddenly win the game. And the dual-screen gameplay from the previous DS version has been removed; the top screen shows dedicated battle info, while the bottom screen shows the game area. We recently played a few levels of the new title, and we're looking forward to an Advance Wars game again. We never liked the dual-screen battles, and the CO powers seemed to have gotten out of control in the previous version. Days of Ruin felt like a much needed course-correction for the series. Features like Wi-Fi play with voice chat, and map creation and sharing, remake the title while keeping its addictive strategy gameplay. %Gallery-8675%
Advance Wars: Days of Ruin to support online, voice chat, and Map Center
Previews for Advance Wars: Days of Ruin reveal that the game's cheerful tone isn't the only thing Intelligent Systems stripped from the turn-based strategy title; fans of the series can expect to find a lot of the "distractions and unnecessary elements" that plagued previous games to be missing. Dual-screen battles and "many advanced units" were cut, and unbalancing CO powers have been softened in favor of more strategic maneuvering.Gamers waiting for online support's inevitable addition can rejoice, however, as Wi-Fi battles and voice chat made the list of new features planned for Days of Ruin's January 21st, 2008 release. A Map Center system of sharing, rating, and downloading online maps will also come included with the 170 scenarios on the cart.New troops like the Motorbike (lightly-armed vehicles that can capture territories), Flare (infantry capable of clearing fog-of-war from a distance), and Duster (air units equipped to fight off aerial and ground opponents) promise to add creative angles to past tactics. Check past the post break for more off-screen videos of those units in action.Read - 1UP's Advance Wars: DoR hands-on impressionsRead - GameSpot's Advance Wars: DoR hands-on impressionsRead - Kotaku's Advance Wars: DoR hands-on impressionsRead - IGN's Advance Wars: DoR off-screen videos
Nintendo remembers that war isn't always so jovial
Along with its grittier, browner, and more next-gen art style, Advance Wars: Portrait Days of Ruin brings a much darker story to the turn-based strategy series, deviating from Wars World's usually colorful and light-hearted tone. The apocalyptic plot begins with a storm of meteors devastating the planet, setting off a chain of natural disasters that kill 90% of mankind. Cutscenes show Commanding Officers contending with non-combat issues like starvation and disease, a drastic departure from Jake's inane quotes that peppered Dual Strike.While we're on the topic of maturing the brand, we wonder if the game will take a chance and tackle themes from current wars and conflicts -- occupying a country in the midst of a civil war, outsourcing private military firms, or suffering losses to unconventional threats (e.g. IEDs, suicide bombers). It's unlikely, but it would be interesting to see executed.Nintendo also put out over a dozen English screenshots for the game which you can view in the gallery below. The new images betray a great deal of unannounced details, like an improved map editor, new terrain and terrain stats, and a unit leveling system. %Gallery-8563%
Advance Wars DS 2 videos turn the series on its side
As much as we appreciate this first video look at Advance Wars DS 2, shot at Paris' Micromania Game Show, couldn't Nintendo Masters' video editors have rotated these clips counterclockwise before uploading them to their site and exacerbating that crick in our neck? If you don't mind rotating your monitor onto its side -- and when it comes to new media for the tactical RPG, we're sure you don't -- there are two more clips past the break for you to watch.See also: Advance Wars 2 gets shown off in Paris
E307: Advance Wars 2, Professor Layton, and other games Nintendo forgot to mention
With so much emphasis put on The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass and casual games during this afternoon's media briefing, Reggie neglected to mention a few titles that I'm sure gamers would've loved to have heard about. News of Advance Wars DS 2, for instance, was hidden in a European press release, dated for the fourth quarter. Freshly Picked - Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland, starring everyone's favorite cosplaying fairy, was also quietly announced for this September 14th in the same report.On the North American side, Nintendo revealed that it will be publishing Professor Layton and the Curious Village on December 3rd, the same day Super Smash Bros. Brawl is expected to hit store shelves. Two previously unannounced titles, Nintendo Crossword and Nintendo Magic, were also listed. Follow the link below to see what other first and third-party games are due for the remainder of 2007.
System envy: 7 DS games I wish were on PSP
I may write about PSP gaming news, but I own and play every system (including the new and next-gen consoles). So while I do get to play most any game I want, I can't help but wish in a feverish state, that certain system exclusives went to other consoles. In this case, if I wanted to list 7 DS games I'd love to see show up on PSP (however unrealistic that may be). So here it is: New Super Mario Bros (My favorite DS game, but I would like better power ups and more variety. It would also be great to see what the creators could do in 2D with the power of PSP) SNK vs Capcom Cardfighters (Addictive and strategic gameplay that makes me giddy. Only if it comes to PSP, add back in free-roaming and take out the game killing bug) Ace Attorney (Great characters, funny cases and it makes you think. That sorta game would work on any system) Kirby (He may be cute, but the gameplay is classic) Advance Wars (Because Field Commander is good, but not THIS good) WarioWare(Because there aren't enough mini-game titles on PSP) Meteos (Because every Q? Entertainment game should be on PSP) What about you reader? Are there any DS games you'd like to see on PSP, or do you refuse to even entertain the thought?
Friday Video: Make it a double
In honor of our week of fanboy love, we thought we'd give you not one, but two videos. It's a double shot of wacky Nintendo commercial goodness ... and we hope the fact that they're not new doesn't put you off. After all, the top two DS games aren't exactly new, so we had to take a little trip back in time to grab these two commercials, but it was worth it. Light on the gameplay and heavy on the funny, these two ads make for a good end to the week.
