NintendoDsLite
Latest
Magic Taizen import review
Upon announcing Magic Taizen for the DS, a game that allows players to take the role of magician and perform tricks illusions, we knew Nintendo meant business. Well, Gamebrink recently imported a Japanese copy of the game and took it through their strict, and very deadly, review gauntlet. What do they think of the game? It's not too shabby ...The game has three basic modes: Magic Alone, Magic Attraction and Mystery Training. Mystery Training is comprised of several different mini-games. The other two modes, which progressively unlock different tricks as you play through them, makes for the meat of the title. You'll progress by performing tricks and earning points, which you can use to open new tricks, but you have a limit on how many points you may earn in any given day.Sadly, they say the game is not all that import friendly as there is tons of Japanese text that informs you of how to perform these tricks and progress. Without the ability to at least read Japanese, we're all stuck waiting to hear an announcement for this game to release to territories outside of Japan.Anyone else wish to follow the ways of the magician?
November NPD breakdown
November is often the best of times and worst of times for gamers. Good in the sense that we are given precious fuel in the form of several top-notch games, bad in the way that we can't pay our utility bills for the month as all funds had been diverted towards gaming. It's really a vicious cycle as upon buying all these games, we have to wait until we can pay our electric bill to play them or, which often is the case this time of year, we just go over to a friend's house and perform a hostile takeover on their gaming rig.With the release of two new consoles this November, along with countless high-profile, AAA titles, it's no surprise that we spent a total of $1.7 billion. In the interest of creating a post that is both smooth and less-filling, we've gathered the top sellers and placed them into convenient bullet points:Console Sales (units) DS: 918k PS2: 664k Game Boy Advance: 661k Xbox 360: 511k Wii: 476k PSP: 412k PS3: 197k Software Sales (units and sales grossed) Gears of War: 1 million -- $61.5 million Final Fantasy XII: 896k -- $49 million The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess: 412k -- $20.2 million Guitar Hero II: 356k -- $20.2 million You may go over the rest of the figures here.[Via Joystiq]
Wario The Thief magazine scan
A scan for Wario The Thief has shown up over at French gaming site Jeux-France. The scan, which originates from Famitsu, popular Japanese gaming mag, and shows some of Wario's new costumes for the game. Featuring what is being called as Space Wario, Graffitti Wario and Doctor Wario, each costume gives Wario special abilities.Obviously, each of these special abilities will be necessary to pass the game's many obstacles. Currently set for release in January of the next year in Japan, nothing has been said in regards to a release in other territories.See also: Wario gets his theft on Wario The Thief Wi-Fi compatible?
Hello Kitty says hello to your DS Lite
With a variety of skins available for your DS Lite, and an unquenchable thirst for all things Hello Kitty, the pictured skins are probably something you'll want to import as they're only available, via Sanrio Japan, in, well ... Japan. Costing 680 yen (which is about 6 bucks US), they're an easy way to spruce up your DS Lite even more than its already appealing design offers.
It's A Wonderful World (of scans)
Coming from the latest issue of Famitsu, 4 pages worth of coverage for It's A Wonderful World is the prize for those willing to traverse the dangerous landscapes of the real world in order to acquire it. For those unfamiliar, It's A Wonderful World is the next project from those responsible for the Kingdom Hearts series and will feature both rythm-based gameplay, along with RPG influences.The game stars Neku, a boy who can read peoples' hearts. When he meets a young girl by the name of Tsuki, the two stumble upon Japan's Shibuya district and must play a mysterious game where they have a time limit of 7 days to win.See also: It's A Wonderful World revealed TGS 2006: It's A Wonderful World preview Concept art explosion: It's A Wonderful World It's A Wonderful World's wonderful scans
F-24: Stealth Fighter details emerge through the clouds
The details for Majesco's upcoming F-24: Stealth Fighter have finally been revealed. The game is to take place in the Middle East, where you, as a F-24 pilot for the US Forces must eliminate enemy forces and secure diplomacy in the area. The game is to feature 20 different missions with unique objectives and multiple targets, along with touch-screen controls. Also, the game is to feature 4 player wireless multiplayer, with no confirmation for Wi-Fi Connect compatibility announced. Any flight fans out there plan on hopping in the cockpit of this one?
Namco-Bandai brings Trioncube to the DS
var digg_url = 'http://www.digg.com/gaming_news/Namco_Bandai_brings_Trioncube_to_the_DS'; Namco-Bandai issued out a press release today, stating that they plan on releasing a new Nintendo DS title to North America in February of next year. This title, which is Trioncube, is a puzzler where the player must embark on a journey across eight different planets, into the depths of space, as the captain of the mighty space ship Penko, to rescue the princess from the grasp of Hell Metal. This is done by creating a Trioncube, which is a 3X3 block, fueling the space ship. The bigger the chain of Trioncubes, the further your ship will travel.The game is to feature four different gameplay modes in Arcade, Story, Endless and Vs.While creating these Trioncubes, players will also collect coins in order to purchase Effects and Arts: in-game items such as sushi rolls, dogs and tambourines, which are designed to aid the player in their quest of creating gigantic Trioncube chains and save the princess.Screenshots for the game have been included past the jump.
New Fullmetal Alchemist screens
IGN has updated, once again, their images section for the upcoming Full Metal Alchemist: Dual Symphony. These screens, which show some dialogue and combat portions from the game, instill in us a slow and sure salivation within our mouth that has, since it began, damaged a couple of T-shirts and our keyboard. You might be wondering, right now, based on this current information how we have managed to finish this post. Well, in our defense, we have superhuman abilities. You know that Yak over there, about 100 yards away? Yes, we killed it. We killed it with mind bullets.That's telekinesis, Kyle.
Luminous Arc website gets updated
The website for the upcoming Luminous Arc, from Marvelous Interactive, recently received a major update. This update, which adds a ton of characters, including bios and in-game screenshots of these characters, dumps a mound of juicy content onto our eyeballs. The site also explains the game's battle and inventory systems, however once again our inability to speak and read ancient Japanese script prevents us from commenting further.Are we the only ones who are interested in this game? With its Wi-Fi Connect compatibility, it has to be on many of you fine readers' radars. What do you say?
Crystal Chronicles to be shown at Jump Festa
According to German gaming site GameFront, Square-Enix will have Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles on-hand at Jump Festa, a gaming/anime/manga event held in Japan, taking place on the 16th and 17th of this month. The only information missing is just what version, or versions, of the game will be at the show. Will we see the new DS game or that installment that is Wii-bound? We'll update you as soon as we receive confirmation.[Via Go Nintendo]
DS Fanboy presents: Game Night (12/5/06 aftermath)
Another night of successful gaming action as we got our frag on with you all in Metroid Prime Hunters. On a whole, connections were a lot smoother and consistent than our previous weeks with Mario Kart DS, although after an hour of playing Metroid we felt our left hand had carpal tunnel syndrome. No pain, no gain though, eh? We played some Survival, Battle, Capture and Defender, having fun in all game modes. Once again, thank you all for showing up and we hope to see you next week where we'll play: What will we play during Game Night on 12/12/06? Mario Kart DS again, I need my fix! Metroid Prime Hunters was fun, frag me in! Clubhouse Games needs to be the game of choice! Animal Crossing = let's check out eachother's towns! Let's dogfight in some Star Fox Command! We wish to mingle blocks in Tetris DS! Free polls from Pollhost.com
DS Fanboy presents: Game Night (12/5/06)
The votes are in and our Game Night game has been chosen. We'll be meeting up in the same room as last week, at the same time. All of the details, including the results of the poll determining what game we'll be playing tonight, are after the break.
Final Fantasy III slated for spring 2007 in Europe
While we, in the states, have been enjoying the game for quite some time (several years less than Japanese gamers, though), European gamers have been waiting on their turn to take part in a fantasy most final, and now we finally have a window of time in which the game will release to the region. While we wish we could have received a more concrete release date, one involving a day and month, we're glad to have at least some idea of when to expect the game.
More e-books coming to the DS and PSP
Darren Reid, fantasy author who will be bringing his books to a DS near you, is now going to receive some company from Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson, who are responsible for the Fighting Fantasy series of books. In announcing the series heading to the DS and PSP, Ian sees the series of books' interactive nature perfectly suited for both handhelds."Fighting Fantasy built up a huge, worldwide fan base over the years. We believe that players will really enjoy the adventures in a new way on DS and PSP. Fighting Fantasy's interactive structure is ideal for bite-sized chunks of gameplay which is important for these devices"We must admit, we've never read a single book in the series. How many of you have read these books? Enjoyed them or hated them? Think this is a good move in bringing them to the handhelds?
90 days = 90 prizes to give away
Nintendo is holding one hell of a contest over the next 90 days (which began yesterday) where, each day, one lucky winner will be gifted with a DS Lite, DS game of their choice, as well as a GBA game of their choice. Obviously, the sweepstakes have some rules you're going to need to follow, so it's in your best interest to give them a read. Also, it should be noted that they do not specify which color DS Lite unit each winner will receive, however the contest graphic depicts the Onyx model.
Another DS mod from Kotomi
Kotomi, the fellow responsible for so many DS mods, has just finished yet another one. With a significantly purple look and glossy finish, the etching on the back of the top flap and overall color scheme make this one of our favorite DS mods. With such skill, we'd like to see him take a stab at modding a DS Lite.[Thanks creamsugar!]
Metareview - Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin [update 1]
We've been waiting for this one a long, long time. And, finally, it has arrived. Arrived and been well-received by the critics. Taking over as two heroes in Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, Jonathan Morris the vampire hunter and Charlotte Orlean, his magical sidekick, this latest adventure takes place during World War II. Of course, Dracula comes back into the picture and the ever-familiar conflict once again presents itself. The difference this time around, according to the game's critics, is that the adventure is the best the franchise has ever seen, presenting new gameplay mechanics and touch-screen interaction that lacks that gimmicky feel it did in Dawn of Sorrow. GamePro - 90%: "A game that not only reaffirms the series' greatness, but is easily one of the best handheld games released this year." Game Informer - 93%: "Putting two characters in the player's hands proves to be an ingenious way of expanding on Castlevania's bread-and-butter action. It's been done before, but Portrait of Ruin's system is particularly smooth in execution." Nintendo Power - 90%: "Portrait of Ruin provides a whole lot more of a very good thing, and Castlevania fans won't be disappointed with the results." [Jan. 2007, p.114] [Update: Fixed link in graphic.]
Donate DS games for cancer patient
Rich over at Xbox360Fanboy let us know about a very good cause. Turns out, a cancer patient by the name of Tori who is currently battling Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, which is a form of blood cancer, is in need of help. Defeating the disease once when she was younger, she relapsed recently. In preparing for a huge stay in the hospital, as her immune system will be vulnerable to germs and infection following the bone marrow transplant, her mother says that in-between treatments, she is always playing her DS.This is where you could come in. Her mother asks that anyone with defeated games or perhaps in possession of games which you particularly do not enjoy, you could help Tori through this ordeal by donating them to her. She's only 13 and in suffering something that no child should ever have to endure, she is certainly deserving.We've included the original forum post asking for games into our post, past the jump.
Another DS Lite case mimics a book sleeve
As if there aren't enough cases for the DS Lite owner to choose from, protecting their treasured electronic device from all manner of would-be destroyers, Game Watch is presenting a new choice from Gametech. Available in a wide variety of colors, our only concern would be the volume of DS games it holds. We've got well over a dozen games in our DS Lite case from E3 and switching to this new one, which looks to hold 6 cartridges at best, could be a mistake.[Via Go Nintendo]
First screens for Theme Park DS
EA has issued out the first screenshots for the upcoming Theme Park DS. A port of the PC game, there are few details still on the features this port will have. So, we're still in the dark on the game's features, but at least we now have some screens of the game to gawk at. We've included a hand full of them into the post, after the break.See also: EA announces Theme Park DS
