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E308: Hamtaro tries extra hard to scare off older gamers
You shouldn't be ashamed if you're an adult (or even just a non-elementary schooler) who's played a Hamtaro game. People who've tried Ham-Hams Unite for the Game Boy Color or the GBA's Ham-Ham Heartbreak know that the sickeningly cute series can translate into a fun adventure game. Even Ham-Ham Games, which strayed away from the adventure formula and landed itself in minigame territory, wasn't half bad. Hamtaro's handheld history was enough to make us consider picking up Hi! Hamtaro Ham-Ham Challenge once it released on the DS, but E3 swiftly changed our minds. Throwing up and spitting out everything that made Hamtaro bearable in the first place, the new game is not only a collection of minigames, but it features educational ones designed for young children. Basically, it looks like Brain Age for five-year-olds, with cute little hamsters taking the place of Dr. Kawashima.Don't fret, though, Hamtaro fans. There is another title based on the license that came out in Japan last year, which seems to return to the adventure-like goodness we know and love. Unfortunately, that's not the game releasing this summer, and that's not the game Natsume decided to show off at E3. Hopefully we'll see it get localized soon enough, so that we can forget Ham-Ham Challenge ever existed.%Gallery-27850%
E308: We fit into Natsume's niche
Natsume will be sharing some DS love at this week's E3 convention, showing off Princess Debut and Rune Factory 2 for the first time. Island of Happiness and Hamtaro will also be on the company's E3 agenda, balancing out the lineup nicely. Harvest Moon fans (like ourselves) will probably be the most excited by this schedule, as we'll get more media and details on Island of Happiness and Rune Factory 2, which come out this summer and fall respectively. At the same time, we can't help but be intrigued by Princess Debut. Depending on how the "adventure" parts work, it might be the closest thing to an otome (girl's dating game) that we've seen for the DS outside of Japan. We're also not going to complain about the rhythm-based dancing segments, as we're rhythm game fiends. Granted, all these titles are rather niche, but we wouldn't take Natsume any other way. %Gallery-25983% %Gallery-27282%
Gamefly: Japanese and Chinese Coaches, Princess Debut this fall
According to Gamefly's list of upcoming games, Ubisoft is following up their excellent My French Coach and My Spanish Coach with something that is going to excite a lot of you: My Japanese Coach, with a tentative September 18 release date. Hopefully it's a language trainer and not a game about, say, a tennis coach who happens to be from Japan. It's being joined by My Chinese Coach, with a release date of August 28.In addition, Gamefly lists two unannounced titles from Natsume. Cave's Princess Debut is apparently being released on September 26, and on August 28, Natsume will release Hi! Hamtaro Ham-Ham Challenge, recently announced for Europe by 505 Games. These releases are unconfirmed, of course, but likely.
