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Duel Love teaches proper nipple rubbing techniques
When we scrub sweat off of anime men, we like to make sure we do it right. That's why we were glad to see this helpful Duel Love chart, showing us the various moods that a proper sponge scrub can elicit. According to the chart, the boy with the blue-tinted hair really likes that right nipple rubdown, to the point of the game being even more disturbing than it was before.Somehow, the game manages to get even more risquè, with shower scenes encouraging you to blow away the steam that's hindering the view. You wouldn't want to miss anything, right? (We kid.)That last bit sounds more like a voyeur-in-training game to us, though. Ut oh, we hope we didn't just give anyone any ideas.[Via Kotaku]
Animal-things of Symphonia
Two "Centurion Spirits of Ratatoskr," some kind of spiritual protectors, will join your party in Tales of Symphonia: Knights of Ratatoskr. The first is a grey, sort of feline Pokémon-looking creature called Tenebrae who works with the power of darkness, and is responsible for protagonist Emil's status as a Knight of Ratatosk. The second is a cat-child-thing called Aqua, who is unsurprisingly expert with water-based abilities. Aqua works with party member Richter.We can't quite determine if the attachment between these Centurions and party members means that they'll be relegated to a support role or if they're in the party. We think a big magical cat-monster would be a pretty good asset on the team.
Our Video Game Delay
Our Video Game Certification (or Our Video Game Exams, however you'd like to refer to it) is one of the weirdest games coming in 2008, and as both DS fans (and therefore training fans) and retrogamers, we were looking forward to it with genuine interest. Even importers will have to wait to test their skills with teensy bits of Xevious and Mappy, as Namco Bandai has announced a delay of the title, from March to a vague "2008." The stated reason is to improve the game's quality, which could mean anything from more Wonder Momo content to less Wonder Momo content. We're a little upset about having to wait, but to be honest the first half of 2008 looks to be so comically overloaded with games that most of us would be forced to pass on an import gem like this anyway.
Gundam 00 looks better than you expected
With the number of Gundam games already released for the DS -- two SRPGs and two Mahjong titles, none of them ever localized for the US -- it's easy to ignore Bandai Namco whenever the publisher pushes a new mobile suit game out there. "Yahh! I'm tired of this Gundam mush and molasses. Get this out of my life! I don't need it!"But it's not so easy to turn your eyes away from this Gundam 00 trailer, is it? This is the business, right here. The fast-paced combat looks right out of Zone of Enders, exactly how a Gundam 3D action game should play. You'll also see clips of Gundam 00's model-building tutorials and text-adventure portions, so make sure to watch the entire two-minute video if that's the sort of stuff that impresses you. Whatever your Gundam interest, it's in this trailer.
Gundam 00 includes the full Gundam experience
Namco Bandai's latest Gundam game, Gundam 00, does feature, you know, flying around and shooting at other big robots and all that big-robot-game stuff. It looks pretty okay for a 3D DS game, although we react to new Gundam games with a mixture of apprehension and outright fear. It also features a graphical text adventure element, in which you carry on conversations with 2D portraits of Gundam 00 characters. But those two things aren't Gundam enough, nor are they DS enough. That's why Bandai Namco included a training mode designed to help you build Gundam model kits. An extra mode in the game, "GUNPLA Navi," provides step-by-step tutorials, with photographs, for building Bandai's line of Gundam models. The only part you have to figure out for yourself is how to divide your time between building models and playing the game! And, of course, buying more Gundam stuff!
Japan: Two Taiko no Tatsujin DS games, U.S.: still none
It's obviously New Famitsu Day, as all kinds of news is revealed via magazine scans. The latest new game announcement found in the magazine's pages is Taiko no Tatsujin: 7-tsu no Shima no Daibouken (Taiko Drum Master: 7 Islands' Adventure). It looks to follow the same formula as the other Taiko DS game: drumming on the bottom screen with two special styli, earning outfits for your adorable little drums, and engaging in 4-player local wireless play.Our reactions also follow the same formula as last time. With the single Taiko release in the U.S. having bombed, we're probably not going to get this one either, and thus we have no choice but to cry. We do our best to sob in rhythm.
Bandai Namco cheats on their own video game test
Our Video Game Certification is a collection of minigames based on old 8-bit Namco games, designed to test your skill in very focused retrogaming tasks. Therefore, you'd expect the old 8-bit Namco games to be old 8-bit Namco games. They've got a lot of the things, from Cutie-Q to Wonder Momo -- one of the largest libraries of classic games ever. So why the heck did they have to put together a fake 8-bit version of The Idolm@ster? Well, okay, we're not actually upset by the development. In fact, it's pretty cool that they mocked up a whole new scene for the collection when they really didn't have to. Do you think you can "grab her heart" (according to our awesome translation skills, but you get the idea) in thirty seconds?Other newly-revealed games in Our Video Game Certification include Xevious, Youkai Dochuuki, and Star Luster.
Playing the world's smallest violin in Nodame Cantabile
We don't mean that in a sarcastic fake-sadness way. We mean that in Nodame Cantabile: Dream Orchestra, you'll be playing a violin so small that it is insubstantial. We introduced you to Nodame Cantabile's novel gesture controls before, but now the unfortunate Namco Bandai staffer stuck in the mongoose suit is back to demonstrate the pantomime-based control scheme on video. It's like Air Guitar Hero.Each instrument has its own page on the Cantabile website, with a diagram of its Wii approximation and a short video of the dapper mongoose demonstrating it. The embedded trailer contains even shorter demonstrations. While you're at the website, be sure to download the calendar wallpaper! We suggest doing so while it's still December, for obvious reasons.[Via Siliconera]
Evangelion with all the weird parts taken out, and completely new weird parts added
You may know Neon Genesis Evangelion as a dense work with an inscrutable and debatable storyline built from religious, psychological, and philosophical themes. It's the giant robot anime with the completely nonsensical, abstract ending sequence. You may also know it as the source of a bunch of skeezy figurines and doujin comics. But Petit Eva is ... not those things.Petit Eva: Evangelion @ School, is, in fact, a reimagining of Evangelion as a super-deformed high school comedy. The three Eva pilots are now students at the NERV school under principal Gendo Ikari, and have to contend with bullying from EVA-01. Yes, the robot.Petit Eva is now being adapted into a DS game by Namco Bandai, and said game seems to be modeled after, of all things, Duck Amuck. It's a minigame collection in which events are triggered by interacting with various onscreen items. In the series of screens presented by Famitsu, Shinji and Asuka are fighting over some cake. We don't even think the cake represents unattainable happiness or anything. It's just yummy.
Rumor: Wii games face disappointing first day sales in Japan
This seems to be becoming a trend, but the handful of Wii games that were released this week in Japan are reported to have had poor first day sales. They were all third-party titles, which is also somewhat worrisome. Here's a look at the numbers: Chocobo's Dungeon (Square Enix) - 30,000 (30% sell through of initial amount shipped) NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams (Sega) - 7,000 (10% sell through) Soul Calibur Legends (Bandai Namco) - 5,000 (10% sell through) We Love Golf (Capcom) - 4,000 (10% sell through) Shikigami no Shiro III (Arc System Works) - 500 Granted, these are only rumored first day sales, and we'll have to wait until later in the week to get a better grip on the situation, but as of now it doesn't look good.So, what do we make of these numbers? If they're correct, is it bad news for the Wii and third-party developers, or just more evidence that Japan is shying away from console gaming? While the latter is certainly a factor, third parties certainly can't be happy to see low numbers. However, it's way too early to ring a death knell for any of these games, even if these numbers are correct. We'll just have to wait and see how these games perform in the next few weeks.[Via Cubed3]
Take me out to the robot cat ballgame
There is a noticeable dearth of robot cat baseball games on the DS -- or robot baseball games, for that matter. Or cat baseball games. Luckily, Dorabase will fulfill that obvious need for the Japanese audience, at least. It also fulfills another desire of ours. In addition to its wacky concept and equally wacky stylus control scheme, Dorabase will feature some nonstandard tactics. For example, a robotic-penguin-looking hitman can trip a runner by firing at him with a rifle. Kuroemon seems to be able to spin his bat so quickly that he creates a vortex, sucking the pitched ball towards his bat. An item called the "Big Light" increases the ball to an enormous size, so that it crushes any fielder who tries to catch it. As fans of wacky superpowered baseball, we wholeheartedly approve.
Double take on Duel Love boxart
Our eyes passed over Duel Love's cover design and dismissed the art as typical shoujo fare at first, but a second glance revealed a disturbing detail -- the shirtless figure in the foreground, Yuuki Jin, has no nipples. Sorry, Bandai Namco, but no nips, no sale.If you're planning on picking this one up next March anyway, don't miss out on the preorder gift, an "entrance guide" DVD. For the uninitiated, Duel Love has you currying your crush's favor by cheering into the mic while your he wrestles one of his classmates, toweling off his sweaty chest using the DS's touchscreen, and nibbling on his earlobe via a rubbery Ear Pak that slides into the GBA slot*. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like there'll be any opportunities for any tweaking minigames, given the dearth of male bumps.Though many have mistaken Duel Love as some sort of homoerotic adventure, this simply isn't the case! Not only do you play as a female student, but the game is marketed towards women and follows a plot/style very much in keeping with the melodramatic manga popular with girls in Japan. Maybe that explains the missing nipples? Perhaps women just don't find our manly nubs very romantic?*This last part is untrue and ridiculous.
DS Daily: Game Survey CX
A very simple topic today: would you play the Game Center CX game? Check out our previous coverage of the game and make a hard decision about whether parody retrogames, combined with parody game magazines, are the kind of thing you'd like to experience.Just in case somebody from Namco Bandai happens to wander into our little website, we'd like to have proof that there's an Anglophone audience for this game. Your comments will be that proof! (Note to hypothetical Namco Bandai representative: if nobody comments, it's just because our readership has puckishly decided in unison to play a little joke.)
How to Family Ski
The first reaction we had to Family Ski was surprise that it didn't use the Wii Balance Board. Skiing, which relies so heavily on leaning (we think) seems like a natural fit for the wobbly step, and Nintendo agrees. But these screens, coupled with diagrams of the game's ski-pole-simulating control system, make us think otherwise. Using the Wiimote and Nunchuk as ski poles is a pretty great idea, and the motions look fairly representative.For example, to crouch, you rotate the Wiimote and Nunchuk away from each other, as if you're rotating your hands to hold the poles up so you can assume a lower stance. And to turn, you move the controllers to one side, keeping them parallel.It's clear that with the simple, representative motions (and the cute chibi characters), Family Ski is aiming to be the Wii Sports of falling down a mountain. Whether it achieves this goal is a matter of how Wii Fit's skiing works, and how well these controls work, as well as loads of marketing. At least Featureless Wiimote Diagram Guy is doing his part!
A day on the Game Center CX set
Brian Ashcraft went to the Bandai Namco offices to witness the pain of Shinya Arino, the tortured host of the Japanese TV show Game Center CX, soon to be a DS game from the same company. The game is about kids playing fake retro games; the show is about one guy playing real retro games all the way through, even if-- especially if-- they're senselessly difficult. During the show Ashcraft visited, Arino tried his best and failed to complete the Tower of Druaga prequel The Quest of Ki. We would not like to be filmed trying to play The Quest of Ki. The feature, much of which is contained in the photo gallery, describes a normal day on the set of the show, as Arino spends the entire day trying to finish this game, getting covert tips from Namco staffers, applying cooling pads to his forehead to stay alert, and facing the constant danger of failure. Will the games in the DS adaptation be as hard as the real thing? Will we be expected to suffer?We have an ulterior motive for posting about Game Center CX. We continually hope that our posts about the show will convince someone at one of the companies who localizes and releases anime to pick up the license for this show and subtitle it in English. We'd totally buy the DVDs, and that's not something we can say for any current anime offerings! And then, in this hypothetical ideal universe we've built up, a localized version of the DS game could come out!
DIY characters in Tales of Innocence
Tales of Innocence just got a little more interesting. New screens on Famitsu reveal that Tales has a feature found commonly in western RPGs, but rarely in Japanese RPGs: character creation. In addition to designing a character's appearance, you can also mess with their AI rules for combat-- Tales of Innocence automates helper character actions, meaning that your input in combat comes from the rules you set for the characters (and the movements you make as the playable lead character). You can also assign different weapons with elemental and status effects to these new characters. You'll have to go find the materials to make these weapons, of course.
Nodame Cantabile brings classical rhythm gaming to the Wii
Nodame Cantabile on DS was an Ouendan-alike in which you conducted classical music by tapping the screen. The Wii version, called Nodame Cantabile: Dream Orchestra seems to expand on that premise by allowing players to not only conduct, but play multiple instruments as well. We can't exactly tell how the Wii version works-- whether you point at the little note icons before pressing a button, or if the game takes button presses only, but Bandai Namco promises a simple control scheme in the interest of attracting new gamers. We'd kind of like to swing the Wiimote like a baton, but we aren't sure if that'll happen.Of particular interest to us is the four-player mode, in which each player can use a different instrument and play one of the game's 50+ compositions together. We call triangle!
The new Family Trainer is a faithful recreation
We know you're all on the edge of your seats waiting for more details about the Family Trainer and the new version of Athletic World. We understand-- we know how long you've been waiting for a sequel to this NES classic, and we know that everyone is desperately awaiting some kind of Wii exercise game.Famitsu sought to feed our frothing demand for Athletic World with a new, close-up picture of the Family Trainer, which reveals it to have exactly the same button layout as the Famicom/NES pad, with a picture in the corner indicating that it can be turned over for the other familiar Power Pad button layout.Except for the colors and the icon designs, this is exactly the same as the original Power Pad. It's even got the grid pattern on the back. There are also a few more photos of actors pretending to enjoy Athletic World, with tiny inset screenshots of the games. The official website is open, as well, but features nothing but the same photos at the moment.We admit that we're kind of leaning (get it) toward this game now instead of Wii Fit, both as an act of retrogamer defiance and because we'd be amused by a new version of Dance Aerobics.
Bandai Namco brings back the Power Pad and Athletic World
Before the Power Pad was the Power Pad, it was the Family Trainer, released in Japan by Bandai. They actually marketed it briefly in the U.S. as the Family Fun Fitness pad, but Nintendo bought the rights, rebranded it as the Power Pad and started packing the peripheral in with NES systems along with a retitled Stadium Events (now called World Class Track Meet).One of the few Power Pad/Family Trainer games was Athletic World: an Olympics-style collection of games including hurdles, rafting, and "Hop a Log." And now, in one of the worst-timed moves ever, Bandai Namco is releasing a new version of the Family Trainer along with a new version of Athletic World. Regardless of the quality of the single screenshot included, is this really the time to introduce a new exercise peripheral for the Wii? We're actually not going to leave that as a rhetorical question. No, it isn't. The Family Trainer has somewhat of a nostalgia factor, but even that's disrupted by the fact that Athletic World wasn't that great on the NES. And its main competition, Wii Fit, has the invincible Wii Sports factor.The best we can hope for is another super-limited release in the U.S., as a moneymaking opportunity. Click on the image to see a larger version (with plenty of family air-paddling!) and click the link for the Japanese press release.[Via NeoGAF]
Club Nintendo members get exclusive Gundam figure
And we get exclusive jealousy. To promote the release of Mobile Suit Gundam MS Front 0079, Nintendo and Bandai Namco are giving away neat free stuff. Preorders of the game are rewarded with Gundam 0079 memorial DVD's. And Club Nintendo, purveyor of many frustratingly awesome freebies, is giving away limited-edition Gundam RX78-2 models-- in an exclusive color.There are some new screenshots of the game at GAME Watch, but we don't know if we even want to look. Games are just no fun unless buying them earns you junk you didn't even want in the first place.
