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NPD: Nintendo rocks yet another month
Nintendo does it again, as they manage to utterly dominate the competition for yet another month. The latest NPD sales figures for May show Nintendo's DS and Wii topping the charts, with a surprise third place contender in Sony's PSP handheld (likely due to a price drop). The hardware break down is as follows: Nintendo DS: 423K Nintendo Wii: 338K Sony PSP: 221K Sony PlayStation 2: 187K Microsoft Xbox 360: 155K Sony PlayStation 3: 81K Aside from the hardware sales, Nintendo's software also kicked some tail climbing to the top of the charts. Not only were the obvious poking men on the chart, but also some Nintendo software you might not otherwise have thought could have sold so well in May. The software figures are: Pokémon Diamond (DS) Mario Party 8 (Wii) Spider-Man 3 (PS2) Pokémon Pearl (DS) Wii Play w/remote (Wii) Forza Motorsport 2 (Xbox 360) Guitar Hero II w/guitar (Xbox 360) Spider-Man 3 (Xbox 360) Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars (Xbox 360) Guitar Hero II w/guitar (PS2)
DS Fanboy presents: Game Night 6/14/07 aftermath
Look, last night was amazing. We can't imagine spending time with anyone else. We ... we think we're in love. And, the only logical thing to do when you're in love is to nurture that love and help it grow. To do that, we're going to add a new game to our weekly Game Nights. Check it out in the poll below. What should be the theme game for 6/21/07? Planet Puzzle League Tetris DS Animal Crossing Clubhouse Games
The Doki Doki Majo Shinpan empire expands into print
SNK is banking on the success of Doki Doki Majo Shinpan, which has become our favorite game to talk about. They have good reason to, since the game's been doing pretty well in preorders. They plan to start siphoning money from otaku pockets via an official Shinpan manga by Ken Yagami, in manga magazine Champion Red. We don't know anything else about it yet, except that it'll be totally hilarious and will make us uncomfortable at the same time.
DS Daily: Bonus GET
We hinted in the Phoenix Wright covers post that we're completely in the thrall of the preorder bonus. Sometimes, a free thing that we don't really want will help tip the scales in favor of buying a game. We were totally going to get Gyakuten Saiban 3 anyway, but now we're feeling more pressure to get our preorder in expediently. Have you felt this way? Are you drawn to free stuff that isn't really that great, because it's free, and because it's got pictures of characters from games you like? Does it influence your decision to purchase the game? Really cool stuff we understand, but we're talking about a 'meh' bonus that drives you to change your purchasing habits. We'll put it another way: Who's got the Pokemon stylus holder?
Dream Skincare for the DS
The DS is just amazing, isn't it? Such a world of possibilities for the system, which is showing us how to get liquored up, how to cook and how to learn foreign languages. Now, it can teach us how to take care of our skin. And, believe you us, we could use some help (the damp rock and shackles of our "office" really do a number on our pores).Of course, machine translation hasn't given us any insight into the title, but it isn't hard to figure out. It'll probably give us techniques on how to apply lotion, as well as other rejuvenating tips, we imagine. It'll probably never come to the U.S., but a guy can dream, can't he?
By our consoles combined, you are a Nintendo Short Cuts entry
Reader Joe sent us his entry in the Nintendo Short Cuts Showcase competition and we have to give it to him and his friends. Having a Track and Field pad for a cape and a hollowed out NES for a mask are just too good. He's like a deformed combination of Batman and Captain Planet. See what we mean past the post break.
DS Fanboy presents: Game Night 6/14/07
The results of the poll for this week's theme game aren't going to surprise you. Heck, we've been doing this for awhile now, so surprises have become fewer and farther between as we've progressed. Regardless, you'll still want to head past the post break for the info you need.
Headphones for the Poke-professional
So, you've got the T-shirts. You've got a couple of keychains. You even have your own replica Pokeball, where you imagine Pikachu is hanging out inside, kicking it on the couch sipping a cold one, ready to emerge and kick the crap out of any other Pokemon at a moment's notice. You might want to see a doctor, because you're obsessed. Or, if you're perfectly fine with the addiction, check out these Japanese headphones, depicting several different Pokemon. They're the kind of headphones that scream "Go away, I'm trying to level up my Manaphy."
Harry Potter and the Gallery of Screenshots
We were taken aback by these screens of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. They look fantastic. It could be using prerendered backgrounds to display these artistic views of Hogwarts, but whatever it is, it's working. Whenever Harry is walking around the (strangely empty) building, it's breathtaking, and one of the nicest-looking adventure games we've seen on any platform.And then we see the other screenshots. The combat-- for which you apparently rotate the DS Brain Age style, and the magical minigames. They might be fun, but they don't quite evoke ICO in the same way as the environments do. Oh, well, this is still amazing for an EA licensed game.
Doki Doki Majo Shinpan in-store advertising
By way of Senaka Blog, we're shown several different in-store advertisements for everyone's favorite upcoming grope-fest Doki Doki Majo Shinpan. The in-store advertisements, which feature a television running a trailer for the game and several posters showing ... well, you know what they're showing! We all know what they're showing.%Gallery-3277%[Via Go Nintendo]
Japan loves those Powerpuff Girls
The Powerpuff girls are still around? Personally, we had no clue, thinking they had gone the way of the Yeti (or it's North American cousin, the Sasquatch). But, in Japan at least, the girls are still popular, as the embedded trailer for their latest game, Powerpuff Girls Z, shows. Personally, we're indifferent to the title, as we haven't seen anything in this trailer that excites us. What about you, fine reader?
Toys R Us summer toys list contains up to one video game
Toys R Us has put out their list of the top 24 hottest toys for this summer, and, surprisingly, there is only one video game on the list-- and even that one's kind of a non-game, according to some people's definitions. Nintendo's brain-teasin' hit Brain Age represents the entirety of our hobby in Toys R Us's summer marketing campaign, despite being a game about math problems, and despite being over a year old. Technically, they also advertise the Leapster, but ... don't worry about the Leapster..Are we seeing early signs of a Japan-style Brain Age phenomenon? Should we start hoarding DS Lites? [Via Game|Life]
Speaker grips add more to hold, more to hear
Straight out of Japan comes this accesory, which adds grips to your DS Lite, along with some more speakers. Should you be of the mind that there nearly isn't enough to hold on to on the DS Lite alone, nor is there enough sound coming from those two speakers that flank each side of the top screen, then this might be the accessory for you. Through battery power, gamers can get 12 hours from this bad boy, rivaling the charge time of the handheld's lithium battery. Of course, we wonder if placing speakers in the grips is all that functional, but in a land where people cannot possibly get enough of the DS Lite (and it's available accessories), we're sure it'll find a market.
Taiko no Tatsujin DS boxart
Releasing on the 26th of next month in Japan, Taiko no Tatsujin DS (Taiko Drum Master) finally reveals its box art. Of course, if we weren't so interested in music-based games, we probably wouldn't have already known about the dual-stylus gameplay (the extra stylus is included in the package). We're dying to import this game ourselves, to tell the truth, but what about you? Any readers plan on having this shipped over from the land of the rising fun?
My Pokemon saves: Let me hack them
Pokesav is an editor program that allows you to hack your Pokemon Diamond and Pearl saves, adding rare Pokemon, changing their abilities, and doing all kinds of crazy hacky stuff. It appears that not only can you generate any Pokemon, you can then assign them abilities outside their type, and with more PP than the abilities can usually have. You need some kind of homebrew ability to do this, obviously, since you need to get your savegames onto the computer. There's even a database of downloadable Pokemon, so you can get started cheating right away. We wouldn't recommend you use ill-gotten Pokemon online, but for your own use, we don't see why you should be bound by the limitations of the game.Check after the break for a tutorial video sent to us by the Hall of Bards. Pokesav is serious business.
Etrian Odyssey the figurine
As gamers, we often like to surround ourselves with figurines and posters of the games and characters we love. Well, if you love yourself some Etrian Odyssey, then Hobby Wave has you covered. That is, if you don't mind importing it from Japan and waiting until September. The figure will set you back 3,990 Yen (or about $33 USD).[Via Go Nintendo]
Reasons to own a PSP, and there's 60 of 'em
Sony's PlayStation Portable holds a very odd little spot in gaming currently. It's not a failure in the portable market but, putting it next to the Nintendo DS, it just isn't as successful as it could have been. The PSP had a slow start, just like another recent Sony console, but if you picked up a PSP now, there's a pretty solid group of games. Not to mention that it's got some games in the pipeline, including the drool-worthy God of War: Chains of Olympus.Our chums over at PSPFanboy have started putting together 60 reasons to own a PSP. They got the first part up now, which includes five reasons to own it ... hopefully there will be another 11 parts. The first five reasons PSPFanboy gave to own a PSP, with a quick quote from them for each reason, are: Games: "The library features some real gems, such as Lumines, Wipeout, Grand Theft Auto, and Tekken: Dark Resurrection ... a quick look down the horizon reveals a plethora of Final Fantasy titles, a new God of War, Syphon Filter, Castlevania, Silent Hill, and more." PSone classics: "The advent of the PSP Store later this year, we're confident that even more great games are going to come out." Downloadable demos: "Who doesn't like playing games ... especially when they're free?" Great homebrew games: "Upcoming titles like No Gravity show an unstoppable momentum for this underground movement." Play Flash games on the go: "Love a Flash game on the web? The PSP can play that as well. In fact, some developers have even created Flash games specifically for PSP's widescreen." So, we're looking forward to the next 55 reasons. Clearly many people are not convinced, but the PSP is beginning to fulfill its potential. It's just the sad state of things that Sony is getting into the habit of manufacturing potential products. We want our systems good, and we want them good immediately or, at least, as soon as possible. Oh well, still much love for the PS2 -- that thing rocks!
Checking in with Taiko Drum Master
With machine translation being the bane of our existence, we can't provide much information of the new variety regarding Taiko Drum Master. It's still a game we very much need to have and it looks like once we have it, we'll be about the most happy of all the campers. Until that day though, we'll all have to suffer through the complexities of machine language translation and the love/hate relationship of gawking at screens.See also: Friday video: Masters of drums
DS Fanboy presents: Game Night 6/7/07 aftermath
We had ourselves a blast last night and we hope you did, as well. The turnout was great and even with Pokemon being the theme game, we were able to play some Tetris DS and Clubhouse Games. That's our goal: get enough people together where we can all play whatever we feel like comfortably. We feel like we're on our way to achieving that goal. What should our theme game be for 6/14/07 Mario Kart DS Tetris DS Animal Crossing: Wild World Clubhouse Games
WRUP: It's a wide world web out there edition
With the releases arriving this week, many of you U.S. readers are probably trying to get your surf on with your DS Phat or Lite. Other regions have more titles to choose from this week, so if you fall in that category, what do you plan on playing this weekend? For the rest of you in the U.S., will you be surfing the web, or are you looking to get your puzzlin' on?What are you playing?
