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Cooking Guide, Maths Training, Walking Rhythm DS rebranded for US
One of the less-reported announcements from Nintendo's conference is the "Personal Trainer" series of games. We were a bit confused to see the announcement of Personal Trainer: Cooking when we're still waiting for Cooking Guide. And then about two seconds later we figured it out. Personal Trainer: Cooking is Cooking Guide. We're guessing, but it seems like a fairly uncontroversial guess.Nintendo's press release about the conference details Personal Trainer: Cooking and two other Personal Trainer titles that make it much more obvious that these are existing/known training games. Personal Trainer: Math is "a collection of basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division drills based on the Kageyama method." Which means it's Maths Training, released in Europe back in February. And Personal Trainer: Walking "will introduce a wireless pedometer, letting consumers not only track every step they take, but also turn walking into interactive entertainment." It must be Aruite Wakaru Seikatsu Rhythm DS (Learn by Walking Rhythm DS), then!Cooking will be released on November 24, and the other two will appear sometime next year.%Gallery-33410%
DS Fanboy poll: Demos: do you dabble?
The Wii's Nintendo Channel, then. It's enjoyed a somewhat shaky start if you ask us, particularly where DS demos are concerned. Although we love occasionally receiving bite-size portions of games such as Arkanoid, most demos are ... well, to be frank, they're old. Not just regular old, either, but Jesus and his pet triceratops trekking across the ravaged plains of Pangaea old.The situation is especially grim in Europe, where Tetris DS (original release date: April 2006) has just joined a list that includes (amongst others) the ancient likes of Big Brain Academy, Brain Training, Mario Kart DS, 42 All-Time Classics, and Sight Training. Needless to say, we've only downloaded a small handful of games since the service debuted. To us, a demo of Brain Training is about as useful as a plasticine climbing frame.Then again, maybe we're being overly critical, grumbly bastards. Maybe some of you good people actually get quite a lot of use out of the service. So we thought we'd throw this issue open to you, our beloved readers, and ask: how often do you use the Nintendo Channel demos? %Poll-15495%
PAL Nintendo Channel DS demos are training-tastic
Training, training, training. That's all us Europeans and Aussies want, right? Day in, day out, there we are, blurting "blue" into our handhelds like obedient farmyard animals, and being told that we're doing it wrong and that we're thuddingly simple. We know this happens, because the sales charts tell us so, and now the first DS demos on the local Nintendo Channel (released on all PAL consoles today) reflect the self-improvement obsession that has swept many PAL countries.So, instead of getting demos of totally rad, new games such as Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword (which is what the U.S. got), we get four training games (only one of which came out this year) from the seven titles available, and adverts for Nintendogs and The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. The only bright spot? A couple of tracks from Mario Kart DS, and a Picross demo, but those are hardly fresh titles.We're not usually the types to look a gift horse in the mouth, but there's a stunning lack of variety on display here, Nintendo. Hit the break for the infuriatingly vanilla list.
Another Week in Europe
For a continent that gave the world tiramisu, Audrey Tautou, and the Renaissance, Europe sure does disappoint us at times. Yep, it's another week of gray, predictable drudgery when it comes to sales of DS software.All you truly need to know is that More Mario & Dr. Kawashima's Olympics Training sold really, really well, and almost everything we care about didn't. Except for Animal Crossing: Wild World, which popped in to the German top ten, and Mario Kart DS, which secured eighth place in Ireland, and fifth in Germany. So maybe the world isn't all that rubbish, after all. And if you really believe that, we advise you go and rent Eurotrip.
DS releases for the week of February 4th
Hey, guys! Check it out ... it's My Horse and Me! We know you've been waiting for this one for a long time, and at last, this week, your dreams can be fulfilled. The only thing that could possibly make it better is if it was instead My Horsez and Me. Everyone knows the 'z' is a mark of quality. What's that? You're actually interested in finding out more about Azzazzin'z Assassin's Creed DS? Well, okay, if you insist. We're really leaning toward the horse(z) here, though. Assassin's Creed: Altair's Chronicles My Horse & Me Paws & Claws: Pet Resort Puppy Palace Real Soccer 2008 The Spiderwick Chronicles Zoo Tycoon 2
Maths Training packed with ... math
Listen, we know you might have expected llamas or butts or something in Professor Kageyama's Maths Training, but the recent screens that surfaced indicate that it's gonna be full of math. Numbers. And, apparently, lots of lightning-bolt-squiggle-four-three-two hybrids or something, because we don't know what is going on in this shot. We can only surmise that someone needs Handwriting Training, or that this is an early stealth advertisement for such a title. Also, there's some Hundred Cell Calculation Methodizing going on, but we'd rather focus on the simpler, funnier side, because all those numbers make our eyeballs go curiously melty.If you happen to really like math, click on through to the other side to see more number-packed screens.
Professor Kageyama's Maths Training uses a familiar formula
You'll all be familiar with Dr. Kawashima by now, right? Angular, disembodied head, constructed entirely from polygons? Can't miss him. Oh, hai Dr. Kawashima!Anyway, the video above introduces us to his arch-rival in the rapidly expanding world of Nintendo non-games. Round of face and blue of hair, math genius Dr. Kageyama may look like a slightly different proposition to Dr. Kawashima, but his reassuring words and friendly tone makes one think of the Brain Training doc, and that in turn makes us want to relearn all of that long division we forgot in our late teens. Or until we get bored of doing so after, like, three minutes. Math ain't our thang, see. We am writers.Any of you European folk plan to get your math on when Professor Kageyama's Maths Training launches next month?[Via Go Nintendo]
Nintendo of Europe suddenly announces Maths Training
Nintendo of Europe sent out a press release announcing a new Touch! Generations game called Professor Kageyama's Maths Training: The Hundred Cell Calculation Method. With the professor's name on display, the clinical boxart and the awkwardly long title, it's obvious that Nintendo is following the Brain Training model with this game, but unlike Brain Training, Maths Training isn't a Nintendo original. Maths Training started its life as a third-party game, part of the Kageyama Method series published in Japan by Shogakukan. It's a localized version of either 2006's Kageyama Method: Masu x Masu Hyaku-masu Keisan (Kageyama Method: Repeat x Repeat 100-cell Calculation Method, basically) or its sequel. Sadly, this probably isn't the Masu x Masu game advertised so breakdancically last month, because that one also contains kanji training. Even though we are just now hearing about this, Nintendo is planning a February 8th release in Europe. We've included the press release after the break. Try out the 1-button Clicking Method to give it a look.
