dropcast
Latest
THQ picks up Dropcast for a September release
Puzzle games lacking online functionality are a hard sell these days, but as Puzzle Quest has proven, if you can deliver something with a new spin and addictive mechanics, people will still flock to your title.Mikoishi's Dropcast, possibly the first DS game developed by a Singapore studio, is trying its best to make up for its missing online support with its distinct gothic/cartoon style and a lot of character. As the story goes, Ingrid, an eccentric young girl, has brought her cadaverous stuffed animals to life and has taught them an array of destructive spells.Dropcast offers two different modes, Ingrid's Curse, which is a mix of Tetris and Collapse utilizing both screens, and Battle Royale, which fuses puzzle and battle mechanics for "cut-throat head-to-head puzzle combat." Here's a quick list of additional features: "Book-style" gameplay 8 playable characters 24 "devastating" spells to use and abuse Single-cart download play for up to four players THQ will be shipping this one out to U.S. stores on September 22nd. If you're at all interested in the game, make sure to visit the official site, as it's already teeming with information and downloadable knickknacks -- mobile backgrounds, screensavers, and even a 2008 wallpaper set! Unfortunately, the only gameplay trailer available at the site is terribly uninteresting, but we'll wait for more video before writing this one off.%Gallery-26797%
New release dates for THQ games including Lock's Quest
Gamefly's DS listings have been updated with a bunch of tentative release dates. A bunch of them are THQ games, leading us to believe that the rental service received some kind of communication from the publisher -- which makes the dates more believable. Lock's Quest, the new strategy/action/tower-defense game from Drawn to Life developers 5th Cell, is listed for September 17. The Nickelodeon stuff has dates too, if you're interested (Drawn to Life: SpongeBob SquarePants Edition September 24, Naked Brothers Band October 15, Tak Mojo Mistake, SpongeBob: Globs of Doom, Back to the Barnyard: Cowlympics all October 22). Our Gamefly search has also revealed that THQ has picked up Mikoishi Studios' Drop Cast (website here) for U.S. release. According to the listing, it'll be out October 14. %Gallery-19901%
Dropcast: The first made-in-Singapore game for the DS
When we last heard from Mikoishi Studio (Phoenix Wright cell phone port), the Singapore-based developer was putting together an unnamed MMO for the DS. We're not sure if those ambitious plans have since been abandoned, but the company has just announced that another of its DS titles will be shipping to Japan by year's end, eventually making its way to North America and Europe early 2008.Dropcast, a puzzler with a cartoonish/gothic theme from the looks of its artwork so far, will support four-player local competitions with a single card, as well as four-player matches online. Gamers will have three multiplayer battle modes and four single-player modes to choose from. So far, Mikoishi hasn't revealed much about Dropcast's actual mechanics, save two details:
