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Nintendo and DS in full force at Comic-Con
Nintendo is not without love for the comic geek, it would seem, as they plan to be out in full force at San Diego's Comic-Con 06 later on this month. While you would think they'd be on-hand with the Wii, attempting to get it as much exposure as possible before its launch later on this year, instead the company is looking to strengthen its already huge grip on gaming with the DS.That's right, no Wii and nothing but DS will be available to cosplaying comic fans in the southern California area during the ultimate show for comics. Those cosplaying as Nintendo characters will also get a chance to win prizes such as DS Lites, software, and other junk. Some of the titles available at Nintendo's booth are Mario Hoops: 3 on 3, Elite Beat Agents, Starfox Command, and Pokémon Mystery Dungeon. If you're a DS Fanboy reader attending the show and would like to send us some pictures, we guarantee you'll be *handsomely rewarded.*We're good at making people disappear.
DS America's top-selling game system, Wi-Fi users reach 1.7 million
I doubt anyone was all that surprised when they read the NPD data for June. The DS kicks ass and its games kick ass. This is knowledge shared by many around the world. What you may not have heard, however, is that the DS is the top-selling console in America, having already sold 600,000 units (almost double of any other console on the market). In the Wi-Fi department, Nintendo is reporting that they have reached a total of 1.7 million users worldwide, allowing people to visit a friend's animal town or frag bounty hunters on some distant space rock. It's been just 8 months since the service has launched and it's already beaten every other service's adoption rate to date.
DS Lites prone to hinge damage? [Update]
It would appear that a few forum posters are finding they share a common problem with their DS Lites. This problem, which is a very large crack in the top left hinge of the system, appears out of nowhere and from no abuse outside of opening and closing the unit in the way it was intended. Now, not a single one of us here at The Fanboy offices has yet to experience such a horrible circumstance, but what about you fine readers? Could this just be a case of users slamming their DS Lite closed with a little too much force? Or is this a manufacturing error on Nintendo's part? We know the unit can stand up to ridiculous amounts of punishment, so such a small flaw seems to be almost comical, in a sense.[Update: Left side...left side...]
Dogs love the taste of DS Lite
They say that a dog is a man's best friend, yet based on the image above, it would seem that statement is not entirely true. What kind of friend would do such a thing to a DS Lite? I guess the dog in question just enjoys the taste of plastic, or its owner's salty tears as they almost certainly hit the carpet in a flood when he arrived home to find his beloved gaming system destroyed. Nintendo, who were all kinds of understanding, decided they'd repair it for only 50 bucks.The real question, however, is not how kind is Nintendo, but rather should the owner of said DS Lite keep the dog and place his expensive toys out of reach of the bundle of gnashing teeth and fur that comprises his K-9 companion or take that puppy down to the pound for an extended stay?[Thanks Julian!]
And the Lites keep on coming
So first the Japanese get several different colors to choose from, then Europe gets a super-cool black DS Lite, and then the Japanese get noble pink. As if that wasn't enough, yesterday word hit that the Japanese would be able to acquire a special Final Fantasy III DS Lite. Now we find that there's a special Pokemon edition as well?! I mean, come on Nintendo, we aren't asking for much here! Throw us a bone! Give us some variety. Haven't you heard, it's the spice of life?[Thanks creamsugar!]
Screenshot roundup: The Settlers
With my undying love for Age of Empires: Age of Kings and good impressions of the small build I saw for Panzer Tactics at E3, I'm full of anticipation for Blue Byte's The Settlers. I feel it my duty to report to you fine readers that a new batch of screenshots for the game have been posted up at Gamespot. The images show several different locales and some of the stat-tracking of the game through its graphs.So while The Settlers is a real-time strategy game where Age of Empires and Panzer Tactics are both turn-based, some fans firmly aligned with one side might not be so willing to see what the other has to offer. Regardless, the DS, with its touchscreen capabilities and wonderfully-portable nature, is perfect for these types of games and we would love to see them keep on coming.
Final Fantasy III in action
Coming in at almost 4 minutes, this footage of Final Fantasy III in action is likely to cause your salivation for the title to reach new, disgustingly moist, heights. The footage, while hefty on the battling, shows some dungeon crawling and sheds some light on the load times of the title, which are easily put up with.
Confirmed: Nintendo DS headset
Confirmed by the big N, this external microphone/earpiece (we'll just call it a headset) will be releasing to the Japanese gaming public come September 14th for roughly $10 American. Rumor has it that the headset is going to be utilized by the upcoming cash cow Pokemon Diamond/Pearl, which will allow for full voice chat. Personally, we'd like for it to release a bit earlier, say right around the time Starfox Command comes out. Now there's a game that could benefit from the use of a headset![Via Go Nintendo][Note: That is not an actual shot of what the final product will look like. If you have access to such top-secret pictures, please send them to us.][Double Note: That is, in fact, NOT my father, despite popular belief. He just plays him on the internet.]
Special Final Fantasy III DS bundle
I have to admit, I'm not all that impressed. Maybe it's the white color or bland arrangement of the 4 characters on the unit. Regardless, I would've liked to have seen some of the wonderful boxart make its way onto the handheld. Personal taste aside, this is sure to kill in Japan when it releases bundled with the game.[Via NeoGAF]
DIY camera for the Nintendo DS
We're all aware that a digital camera/webcam for the Sony PSP is right around the corner, but how many of you knew that you could also snap photos with your Nintendo DS? Don't feel bad; we didn't know it was possible either until we spotted modder Kako's handiwork on YouTube -- apparently he's taken a Treva CMOS chipset, done a bit of rewiring, and written software that allows the unit to output images directly to his DS Lite. We can't vouch for the picture quality, and the frame rates are positively sluggish, but at least this mod gives Nintendo fanboys one less missing feature to defend when the PSP crowd goes into one of those regular, tiresome diatribes listing the many reasons why their product totally "pwns" the little dual screen console -- in fact, you'll probably catch a few examples of said diatribes right here in the comments section of this very post.[Via DS Fanboy]
Let there be Lite in Europe
More than 200,000 units sold in the first 10 days.Wow.You Europeans are loving the DS Lite. We completely understand. We had the same frothing mouth and silent, albeit strong, desire to acquire one of our very own. It's OK, you need not fear judgement here, we're with you, we love you.But, there are repercussions for buying up so many DS Lites, the biggest of which is a loss of productive time. We can understand for only a short while that, while excited for your new system, you'd neglect duties to both yourself and country. You've already stopped showering most likely, instead obsessed with clearing just one more world in New Super Mario Bros. That's fine, only yourself and roommate(s) need be concerned with that, but when you stop showing up to work, who will drive the school bus or operate the toll booth? Who will be the one to deny entrance to those wishing they could step inside the most trendy of clubs? Who's going to ring me up for the bag of oranges I want to buy?! WHO?! Anyway, while the DS Lite is a beautiful piece of technology, it is in a lot of ways a cancer on society and could very well be the single greatest contributor to the destruction of the human race. Well, that...and bears.[Thanks creamsugar!]
Brain Age paves way for Culinary Age?
Being dubbed Down Home Cooking, this "game" looks to show the Japanese how to prepare meals. What's even cooler is that the "game" has voice recognition, so that if you're stirring something in a bowl or whatever else you do whilst preparing a meal, you can progress in the recipe. It's all Greek to me, but it looks like you can also save recipes. Whether they're user-created or favorites included in the software is as of yet unknown. [Thanks Ben!]
Atlus talks about Deep Labyrinth
With the recent surge of role-playing titles hitting the DS, Atlus' Deep Labyrinth has received some major attention due to its development team, Interactive Brains, recruiting some key talent from one of the greatest RPGs of all time Chrono Trigger. What's even more interesting is that the game was originally designed for cell phones. So while the game could've been brought to the PSP and enjoyed the added horsepower, the choice to go with the DS was easy. With the touchscreen capabilities and wild popularity the handheld has received so far, the game looks like it could be a big success on the platform. The game will feature two different scenarios for play, one brought over from the original cell phone title and the other being an all-new adventure created specifically for the DS.
Get a tingle from Tingle's site
The Japanese site for Tingle's upcoming DS adventure has emerged from the murky depths of the internet, complete with awesome Flash game that will, more than likely, shed some light on exactly how the game will handle. Playing like an old-fashioned point-and-click adventure game, Tingle can interact with several of the items, and people, in his environment. The session is fairly brisk, but you can get an idea for how you would progress in the game, which appears to happen through Tingle gathering more rupees by performing tasks such as cooking. I don't know about you guys, but that little dance that Tingle does is mesmerizing. I need to make an animated .gif of that with the quickness!
DS Lite shortages still woe Japanese gamers
When the Japanese were recently polled about their trials and tribulations in acquiring the most awesome and best handheld in the world, the results were surprising. Even with the ramped up production of DS Lites to meet demand, it looks like said demand is not being met enough. Once the DS Lite went on sale over there, it seems since that fateful day, only 44% of those desiring one were even able to acquire it. As such, only 39% were still hunting down the elusive handheld and 16% have said they've basically given up their pursuit. [Via Gamespot]
Starfox Command looks to shake it up
With the news of 30 stages to traverse in the upcoming Starfox Command, the added news that the game will feature full support for the DS rumble pack, which a few of you might've been able to acquire on the cheap, is like a sweetest cherry on top of our sundae. Also, the game will see the return of mainstay characters in the franchise actually getting into their respective cockpits and taking to the skies alongside Fox across the various game areas. Multiplayer, both locally and through Wi-Fi, also looks to be a very good place to spend some time. August 28 cannot come soon enough...[Via Gamespot]
Mega Man ZX interacts with Zero 3 and 4
It looks like the first side-scrolling Mega Man for the DS, Mega Man ZX, has some functionality with Mega Man Zero 3 and Mega Man Zero 4. Japanese gamers obviously already know this, likely already having difficulties quelling a robotic revolution, but for us gamers outside those islands, this is news. Right now, the only confirmed feature is the ability to revive bosses from Zero 3 and 4, should the player have either of those GBA games in the slot on his/her DS while playing ZX.[Via Go Nintendo]
Iwata says Wii will not interfere with DS Lite production
Nintendo's president Satoru Iwata is no farmer, so it should be no surprise that he is in no way trying to place many, many eggs into a single basket. As such, his recent statements about Wii production and the insatiable desire for DS Lites having no effect on one another have left many of us Nintendo sheep able to sleep soundly, assured we will be able to procure our Wii without any worry and DS Lites may reach the hands of gamers the world over steadily, without a dry spell. Of course, this could very well be a different situation for Japanese gamers, who have bought up DS Lites as if they were the hottest, most delectable cakes. So with two completely different production lines manufacturing each of Nintendo's consoles, the company should (hopefully) be able to satisfy gamers in this generation and the next. We sure hope so...
DS browser lacks some essentials [Update]
In our continuing coverage of the Opera DS browser, the latest bit of information from IGN states that the browser will not support Flash, nor will it support .pdf files, video, or sound. Also, the browser will not allow for the saving of images. All of this is taken from the Nintendo DS browser page. Previously-stated nifty aspects of the browser, such as full stylus control, still remain intact, but the lack of support for videos and sound is a painful blow to the appeal of the add-on. Will this neglect in features affect your purchasing decision?[Update: Fixed some of the wording in regards to saved images. Thanks for the correction Probot!]
Nintendo opens Korean branch
At today's general shareholder's meeting in Kyoto, Japan, Nintendo revealed that they will be opening a new office in Seoul, South Korea. This office, which is set to open on July 7th, is focused on the booming gaming populace of Korea, which has quickly become one of the largest gaming markets in a short time. The starting capitol for this office is close to £12,500,000 (or a little under 23 million US monies). This is a first for the company, who used third-party Daiwon to supply their games to the territory before.
