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DS Daily: Narcissus Tort
So, some of you didn't like "Apollo Justice" as the potential name for the hero of the fourth Ace Attorney game. We don't even know if that's the name yet, but it didn't stop anyone from reacting to it.We want to see you do better. Here are the rules: the first name should be a mythological character (and not necessarily a Greek or Roman one, Anansi fans) and the last name should be a surname that has a relatively common homophone (like "Wright"/"Right"). Right? Right. If you can use a legal term, so much the better.Oh, and remember, this is us, so we encourage ridiculousness. Bellerophon Bench, anyone?
Nintendo featured in Fortune, employees worth millions each
While the article focuses more on Nintendo's newest electronic gadget the Wii, it does have some interesting tidbits of info for the DS-loving folk out there. Like the fact that each and every employee at Nintendo is technically worth $2.5 million each. How does one come to this figure? Well, you simply take Nintendo's $8.26 billion in revenue, divide by its 3,400 employees and you'll come up with the figure. That's simply amazing, especially when you compare it to two of the world's top companies in Google and Microsoft, where each employee is worth $994,000 and $624,000 respectively.[Via Game | Life]
Pokemon Center brings out yet another Pikachu portable
To celebrate the July 20th opening of its new Tokyo store, the Pokémon Center will be offering Pikachu-branded, yellow DS Lites to an unannounced number of gamers. Those who're looking for a chance to grab one of the special edition handhelds will be able to submit an "application" at any of the Pokémon Center's five locations in Japan. Submissions will be accepted up to July 1st, and those eligible to purchase the 16,800 yen DS Lite (approx. $138) will be notified by postcard later in the month. Even if you're not a Pikachu fan, you could always just acquire one anyway and tell everyone that the face on the lid is actually a rosy-cheeked rabite.Despite a near-decade's worth of handheld variants featuring the mousy mascot, these Pokémon-designed consoles show no signs of slowing down. Take a stroll through memory lane and check out all the Pikachu portables we were able to round up after the post break.
DS Fanboy presents: Game Night 5/31/07 aftermath
Now that Thursday has passed, we're all set to get Friday over with and enjoy the things that come with the weekend. But, before you can clock out of your job or ditch that last class for the week, we need you to help us determine what next week's theme game should be. We know, we work you guys to the bone. So, do us a favor and cast your vote below. What should be the theme game for 6/7/07? Pokemon: Diamond & Pearl Mario Kart DS Tetris DS Animal Crossing: Wild World Clubhouse Games
Pokemon never tasted so delicious
UK Pokemon fans are in for a treat (literally) as tomorrow has GAME stores giving away the above. It's a Pokeball, as you can imagine, that's chocolate. Combining our two favorite things (Pokemon and succulent chocolate), we find ourselves jealous that we're not there getting a chocolate ball of our own and beating up others for theirs after we devoured ours.Any of you in the UK plan on heading down to your local shop and gnawing on one of these?
WRUP: Battlin' tanks edition
With this week's releases sitting on shelves in a store near you, we imagine if you're interested in any of them, it'll be Tank Beat. Of course, that only pertains to the U.S. as Europe finally gets their hands on Wario: Master of Disguise and Australia gets almost nothing. Japan, of course, gets the most, but we're all used to that round here.So, what will you be playing this weekend? Will you pick up Tank Beat or Wario: Master of Disguise, or are these titles lacking that "need to buy" factor for you?
Agetec reveals Rhythm 'n Notes for DS this Fall
Agetec fired off a press release today, informing us of a new entrant into the rhythm-based game genre on the DS in Rhythm 'n Notes. Set to hit Nintendo's dual-screened handheld this Fall, the game will feature both note-and-chord recognition and rhythm exercises. "Educational games that are truly fun are hard to come by," said Mark Johnson, Producer at Agetec, Inc. "Rhythm 'n Notes gets it right with addictive, enriching play." Be sure to hit up the gallery below for some images and keep an eye on DS Fanboy for news on the game as it comes in.%Gallery-3573%[Via press release]
Final Fantasy IV developer interview
In celebration of the upcoming remake of Final Fantasy IV, Famitsu decided to remake a vintage interview with producer Tomoya Asano and director Takashi Tokita. No, we're kidding, it's a new interview, but we like giving Square Enix a hard time about remakery. We do that, and they take our money for games. It's an arrangement we have.The developers discuss Yoshitaka Amano's remake of the logo, which is "really good." They also talk about the story, which Takashi Tokita is going back over: "16 years ago I was still a young man so I want to try and see if there's any parts that I feel my inexperience had a bad effect on or maybe I wasn't expressive enough at the time." When asked why they decided to remake Final Fantasy IV after III, the two, in unison and without hesitation, yelled "CHA-CHING!" Okay, that didn't happen either. [Via GoNintendo]
Naruto RPG coming to the DS
Anime and ninja fans alike should get their fix come this Fall when NARUTO: Path of the Ninja becomes the first role-playing game in the NARUTO franchise for North America. Combat should be handled differently, as the game is to feature a "unique time based combat system." The game will feature six playable characters and allow players to navigate many of the places that inhabit the world of NARUTO, including the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Given the games' popularity in Japan and the fanbase the anime has cultivated here in the states, it was a natural choice to bring the game over.Keep an eye on DS Fanboy for more news as it becomes available.
Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword: no multiplayer, no mic gimmicks
Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword sounds cool; and by cool we mean totally sweet. Game Informer got a chance to play an early version, and they had a great time slashing ninjas and dragon bosses with cool stylus moves, and smashing the face buttons to block. Players will not be able to flip out and kill their friends in-game, as there will be no multiplayer functionality. Team Ninja's larger-than-life Tomonobu Itagaki cited potential issues with "speed and precision on the controls and trying to get it to work" as reasons they didn't pursue online play. On a much happier note, players will not be forced to embarrass themselves in public by blowing on their game systems. Team Ninja considered a microphone gimmick involving yelling, but decided there would be enough going on. That's fine. We're officially tired of the microphone gimmick.
DS Fanboy presents: Game Night 5/31/07
We've arrived at that day of the week again, where it signals the coming of a nightly meeting allowing many handheld enthusiasts to come together and get their game on. We're looking forward to it and hope you are too. So, head past the break for all the deets on what you need, where you need to be and what time we'll be starting.
Tons of Doki Doki Majo Shinpan screens
We've just updated our gallery of screenshots and art from SNK's Doki Doki Majo Shinpan. As is the norm for this game, there's a lot of weird stuff to enjoy.We'd like to point out the character seen here, who is a retro game freak and therefore totally not a witch so leave her alone. Oh, wait ... is that Athena? Hmm. Either she is a witch and she uses awful games as weapons, or she's proudly displaying a copy of Athena and something is terribly wrong with her. In either case, should you encounter this character in the game, just put your DS on the ground and run away from it until you pass out.There's also a boy witch, apparently. Good to know SNK is providing equal opportunity for everyone, regardless of sex or sexual orientation, to be uncomfortable. Gotta grope 'em all!%Gallery-3277%
Enpitsu de Oku no Hosomichi is lovely
Sometimes writing about the DS is kind of surreal. Like when we get to make a gallery of preview images for a poetry book. We doubt the Xbox 360 Fanboy dudes are doing that right now. They're probably writing about games.In addition to being as subtly beautiful in presentation as we're sure the original poetry is, Enpitsu de Oku no Hosomichi now appeals to us in another sense: it includes free junk. As a limited bonus, Success is throwing in a pencil stylus. Because "Pencil (Enpitsu)"is right there in the name.%Gallery-3547%
Evolve those Pokemon with nothing more than some wrenches
It isn't like it used to be. You'd sneak your Game Boy to school and level up your Pokemon (with the ultimate goal being to evolve them) at lunch or between classes, maybe even during class. On the bus ride to and from school; any available minute was spent battling and tending to those Pokemon. Well, now we've all grown up a bit and have responsibilities, we can't give our Pokemon the attention they once received. Enter Joshua, who managed to figure out that for every 256 steps you take with your Pokemon, it gains one happiness point. This means that in order to achieve the maximum 250 happiness points for your Pokemon, you would need to take 64,000 steps in-game, which is no small feat.* Joshua was determined to get his evolve on though and managed to find several spots in the game with moving floors, allowing him to take 13 steps every six seconds. He'd still have to sit there and do it though, right? Wrong. Joshua set up a pair of wrenches to handle his meatbag hands' job and after a good night's rest, he woke up to find several super-happy, fully-evolved Pokemon. Way to cut corners, Joshua!*We love puns.[Via Joystiq]
DS turns out to be a little popular in France
You might have heard that people kinda like that ol' DS, and it seems it holds true, even for France. The handheld's sales numbers are up over two and a half million in the European country. The DS isn't exactly what we think of when we think of France, but considering that there's a movement to reclassify video games as art there, maybe it should be.In its first eight months, the DS only boasted sales of 350,000. Back then, it didn't seem like that much, but the numbers have definitely grown to epic proportions. It seems no nation is immune to the Nintendo powerhouse these days. Maybe they need a little Metallic Rose action to get those numbers over three million. [Via NeoGAF]
Fresh Phantom Hourglass screens
The site for ONM (Official Nintendo Magazine) has some new screens for The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass up, depicting several different facets of Link's upcoming adventure. There's traveling the high seas, vanquishing enemies, talking to annoying fairies and obtaining elusive and mysterious items. Of course, we don't have to tell you that looking at screens for the game will only make your desire for it that much worse, so head on over at your own risk.%Gallery-3279%
Wi-Fi tops 5 million users, 200 million game sessions
Nintendo sent out a release today, lauding their Wi-Fi Connection service for the DS as it has reached a total of 5 million users and 200 million game sessions. This is impressive, considering the service launched in late 2005 and now boasts a library of 65 games supporting WFC play. Nintendo also let us in on what the top five games (globally) are: Animal Crossing: Wild World Mario Kart DS Metroid Prime: Hunters Pokemon Diamond Pokemon Pearl Considering that less than 10 months ago the service was only at 1.7 million users, this is an incredible increase. With such an impressive jump in usage, we're wondering what could've caused the spike. Oh wait ... we think we know.[Via press release]
Gyakuten Saiban timeline
We still get occasional comments from confused readers who can't decipher which Gyakuten Saiban games correlate to which Ace Attorney games. This has been especially confusing recently, as Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations (based on Gyakuten Saiban 3) was announced for the US at the same time as Gyakuten Saiban 4 was being released in Japan. 4cr must have gotten similar confused comments, but, unlike us, they decided to do something about it. Well, we're doing something about it now, but it's just linking their article, which is much easier. They've written a history of the series, detailing exactly which games were ported from the GBA, and the US and Japanese titles of each game. If this is too academic, you can always buy every lawyery-looking game you see, and figure it out when you get home.
DS Lite now bundled with hypnovision
If you stare long enough into the Hypnotoad's eyes, you'll only find madness. But, in a lot of ways, it is a beast similar to the DS Lite. Hypnotizing and a pleasure to stare at, we're given an example of how intoxicating the DS Lite is through the embedded video which shows a young girl playing her handheld and ignoring just about everything else in the world. We imagine she could enjoy playing her DS through a zombie apocalypse, the way she's so absorbed by the dual-screened platform.Check out the video past the break.
Thank you Mario! But our postage is in another country!
The Japanese Postal Service released a set of Mario stamps last year in a nice collectible binder. Somehow, NCSX has gotten a small shipment of these stamps, which carry a postage value of 80 yen ($0.66) each. The markup for this set ($105) is pretty severe, but if you are a desperate Mario collector, this is one of the coolest things you could have. They have fewer than 50, and of course we just publicized the item, so go go go buy buy buy.We want the US Postal Service to get in on the act. We're afraid that there's a short moment before opening mail from us that someone might not be able to determine that we're huge nerds.
