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Set sail for new Phantom Hourglass footage
There isn't much to these latest clips from The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, which makes our job of presenting them that much more difficult. Still, what little we do get to see has us intrigued, as Link hauls around some pieces of the triforce and chats with his annoying little fairy cohort. If you're as excited as we are for the game (we're going to assume you're more excited), then you want to see any and all things related to Phantom Hourglass, so head on over and watch the videos.[Via Go Nintendo]
Secret Collect. reveals itself on the DS
Just when you think we've established what the Nintendo DS is capable of graphics-wise, homebrew developer Phillip Bradbury comes along and smashes those preconceptions with a Videlectrix port for the ages. If you thought Population: Tire shook the scene with its innovative touchscreen controls, prepare to be brought to your knees by Secret Collect. Epic in every sense of the word, this remake is half Indiana Jones, half God of War The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time:"The greatest secrets man has ever known have been scattered all over the globe and its [sic] your job to find them."Homestar Runner's Strong Bad stars in the game, represented by a magnificently detailed, red square. You'll navigate the agile hero through fifteen blocky mazes and collect yellow squares to advance to the next spine-tingling level. Picking up the blue power-ups (also squares) will boost your speed, keeping you ahead of the labyrinths' treacherous monsters -- so treacherous, they're invisible to the naked eye! The original Flash version is also available online for those of you who either lack the tools to play homebrew games or don't have enough room on your hard drive for the 18KB download.
SNK vs Capcom: Card Fighters replacement in full swing
We can honestly say we haven't purchased this game because of all the controversy surrounding it, however now that news hits that those affected by the broken carts are receiving the promised replacements, we're feeling a bit more confident. And, even though SNK Playmore took longer than we would've initially thought to help those in need, we think if there are any more problems from here on out, we'd be covered.Did any of you send in for a replacement cartridge? Receive it yet?
E307: Joystiq goes hands-on with Geometry Wars
Those lucky Joystiq folk got their hands on the DS adaptation of the Xbox Live Arcade hit Geometry Wars during the recently-concluded E3. After running it through their rigorous gauntlet of tests, Joystiq came to the conclusion that the game was sloppy and hard to handle. More like hard to swallow for all of those looking forward to playing the game on the DS, we imagine. Even with the ability to guide your attack ship with the d-pad, or exclusive use of the stylus, the game is harder to play than on the Xbox 360, according to Joystiq. With 60 levels to play, we imagine even a little bit of time with the game won't help correct this error. Guess the game just needs analog sticks ... %Gallery-4777%
E3 07: Hot diggity! The Simpsons DS videos!
Though the Nintendo DS version of The Simpsons Game won't have the 3D frills that its console counterparts will feature, that's perfectly fine with us! We didn't need 3D to enjoy The Simpsons' license when it was an arcade game in the 90s, and we don't need it now!Judging by these first two video previews, the family's first foray onto our dual-screened system looks fantastic! As expected, the 2D platformer is teeming with references and characters from the show, even including a a level where you get to eat your way through the Land of Chocolate. According to Game|Life, Electronic Arts will be packing the handheld title with 2000 lines of spoken dialogue.We weren't impressed with most of the minigames we saw unlocked in Noiseland Arcade, but the "Pet Homer" Nintendogs spoof definitely made us smile. We've always wanted a donut-chomping lout of our own to poke, feed, and care for. Do the Bartman and dance past the post break for GameTrailers' developer walkthroughs.
Promotional Consideration: Come As You Are
Promotional Consideration is a weekly feature about the Nintendo DS advertisements you usually flip past, change the channel on, or just tune out.If you missed our spotlight on Leo Burnett's "Communion Day" ad last Sunday, make sure to give it a glance. Even if you've already skimmed through our words on the award-winning piece, we've updated our summation with some insight from art director Rosemary Collini Bosso.This weekend's installment of Promotional Consideration takes a critical eye to an unconvincing ad that might actually drive away consumers. Read on for more details.
Disney wants you to get social on the DS with their Dgamer service
Joystiq has all of the deets on a new social network launching for the DS from Disney Interactive called Dgamer. The service is to launch with the upcoming Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian and will be included in all Disney titles from there on out. The service, which will allow users to create custom avatars, chat wirelessly and track their friends' progress in Dgamer titles, will also allow users to log in to their account at Disney.com, for further accessibility. The overall package resembles a fairly popular online networking service on another console, wouldn't you say?The rub lies in the fact that before you can add friends to the network, you still have to exchange friend codes. As if we could get around that ...
WRUP: Post-E3 playing plans edition
With E3 coming to a close, you've no doubt many things to think about this weekend. Upcoming games and future enjoyment of them is probably on your mind right now, as it is ours. That doesn't mean your, or our, responsibility to enjoy some nice gaming over the weekend can be overlooked, though!So, we ask: what are you playing? What will you be rocking in your DS this weekend? We've got some Puzzle Quest to play ourselves, having only given the game a few minutes of our time on its initial purchase.
DS Fanboy presents: Game Night 7/12/07 aftermath
Last night's Game Night session was less of a Game Night and more of a "sit in chat for awhile before playing a handful of matches" night. It was sad to see, as we were all excited and ready to play Planet Puzzle League. We guess you guys just don't enjoy the game, or a majority of you weren't able to secure it yet, full of intentions of doing so. Regardless of the why, we're going to make sure next week is a good night chock full of gaming by only including our top "classic" games into the poll.Cast your vote below! What should be our theme game for 7/19/07? Mario Kart DS Tetris DS Clubhouse Games Animal Crossing: Wild World
NOT E307: Fake Golden Sun DS announced
Only a couple of hours before Nintendo's E3 media briefing yesterday, rumors of a new Golden Sun game for the DS began to spread like a fast-moving cancer, traveling through the internet's lymphatic system, taking over gaming blogs and forums. Even Joystiq, the wind beneath our wings, fell victim to the malignant screenshots that were supposedly leaked from a "secret press gathering" by person-in-the-know gobo_4227.To your right, you'll see one of those supposed screenshots of Golden Sun: The Sooth Sayer compared with promotional artwork that was released for Golden Sun: The Lost Age back in 2002. Unless you count the bloom filter and "Touch to Start" text, the images are exact twins. The fact that we've heard no official mention of the new RPG -- or any other Camelot-developed title for either Nintendo console -- whilst E3 continues makes this rumor seem even more unconvincing. %Gallery-4800%
E307: DK Jungle Climber screens and trailer
As if E3 hasn't already brought us enough joy, we've got some nice pieces of concept art and screens for DK Jungle Climber. The game looks to be shaping up nicely and the included trailer only adds to the truckloads of awesome content we've all received so far. Check out the fresh screens and concept art in our gallery below, and be sure to head past the break for the trailer.DK Jungle Climber is currently slated for release on September 10th.%Gallery-3481%
DS Fanboy presents: Game Night 7/12/07
With all of the craziness that comes with E3, we still need to remember the important things in life. Important things like our wonderful Game Night gaming sessions. Last week, we didn't put up a poll to select tonight's game, so we're just going to call it ourselves. Our theme game will be ...
E307: Front Mission DS interview and media galore
We've got a flood of Front Mission DS media for you today. In addition to the new screenshots viewable in the gallery below, there's also a minute-and-a-half-long trailer for the Square Enix SRPG past the post break. If you need more than just combat clips and menu hopping to get you going, scroll down a bit further for the original Japanese trailer.Front Mission DS finally bring the series' first entry to the states, adding touchscreen controls, multiplayer battles (local only), and several new Wanzers to the mech-based title. While this release already includes the alternative UCS storyline from the PlayStation remake, five new missions specific to the DS version have also been added.RPGamer had a chance to sit down with producer Koichiro Sakamoto to discuss the handheld port and his thoughts on bringing more Front Mission games to the DS. According to the interview, were it not for the campaigning of a particular team member, North America might not have received the game: "There was one [who] was very passionate about the game, and wanted to give players in the United States the chance to experience. He felt that Front Mission 3 and 4 proved that there is a userbase, and since the DS is currently very popular, the thinking went, 'Why not give it a try?'"%Gallery-4781%
E307: Zelda screens and delightful artwork
It's true, we didn't hear much about The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass at Nintendo's E3 keynote. But Nintendo discreetly dropped some images into a press release and stuffed them into our briefcase, giving us the notion that if they happened to be shown to you guys, it wouldn't be terrible.A few new screenshots have been added to the gallery, as well as some character art. One of the pieces is the same artwork used in the supposed US boxart, which, to us, confirms the validity of that boxart. Man, the Wind Waker art style still out-styles pretty much everything else out there, especially in mainstream AAA games. Sorry, every other game.%Gallery-4748%
E307: Advance Wars 2, Professor Layton, and other games Nintendo forgot to mention
With so much emphasis put on The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass and casual games during this afternoon's media briefing, Reggie neglected to mention a few titles that I'm sure gamers would've loved to have heard about. News of Advance Wars DS 2, for instance, was hidden in a European press release, dated for the fourth quarter. Freshly Picked - Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland, starring everyone's favorite cosplaying fairy, was also quietly announced for this September 14th in the same report.On the North American side, Nintendo revealed that it will be publishing Professor Layton and the Curious Village on December 3rd, the same day Super Smash Bros. Brawl is expected to hit store shelves. Two previously unannounced titles, Nintendo Crossword and Nintendo Magic, were also listed. Follow the link below to see what other first and third-party games are due for the remainder of 2007.
E307: Chibi Robo Park Patrol trailer
Like most of the other E3 trailers you've set your eyes upon today, this one for Chibi Robo Park Patrol ischock full of the kinds of things you like. Gameplay segments including exploration and combat, along with some flower watering segments and bicycle riding. All in all, the game is shaping up to be the usual type of Nintendo game on the DS: an excellent experience.Check out the trailer past the break.
E307: FFXII: Revenant Wings screens
We love Final Fantasy and we're sure you do too. And, like us, we're sure you are of the mind that Revenant Wings is shaping up to be better than we could've ever hoped for. So, supplement your lust and dark desire for this game with some more screenshots in the gallery below, fresh from E3.%Gallery-4739%
Nintendo flashes us with Vision Training
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/E307_Nintendo_flashes_us_with_Vision_Training'; Halfway through its E3 2007 media briefing today, Nintendo announced that it will expanding its line of casual titles in the US with Strengthen Your Visual Power through Practice: Vision Training (Miru Chikara wo Jissen de Kitearu: DS Ganriki Training), retitling the game as Flash Focus: Vision Training in Minutes a Day.If neither of the titles suitably sum up the game for you, it is a collection of exercises and minigames that test you on field of vision and eye-hand coordination, using the results to determine the age of your eyes. Shift your eyes past the post break for some video impressions of the Japanese demo from CAG's CheapyD!
DS Lite case has that 50's feel with modern functionality
Doesn't this look like one of those big purses from back in the 50's? Maybe a purse someone might sell Avon out of? It reminds us of the crazy town in Edward Scissorhands for some reason. But, upon opening it up, we're shown that it isn't all looks with this case. There are compartments for cartridges, the unit itself, as well as any accessories on would need.
Our keynote reactions: Let us tell you them [update]
Eric Caoili: Unlike last year's E3 press conference -- in which titles like Yoshi's Island 2, Star Fox Command, and Elite Beat Agents were debuted -- there wasn't much new software shown for the DS at today's event that'd make us throw our arms up in celebration.Seeing The Hylia's Mike "TSA" Damiani take the stage to demonstrate The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass brought a smile to our faces, but there wasn't anything demonstrated that we haven't already seen in previews or import impressions. Though casual titles made an appearance, the only items that perked our brows were Vision Training's US localization and hints of Cooking Navi receiving the same treatment. Disappointment-ton? That's what it looks to be, so far.JC Fletcher: The best part of the DS coverage, I thought, was when Iwata started talking about Cooking Navi. But it turns out not to have been an announcement; he just really likes Cooking Navi. The whole DS presentation was like that: underwhelming. Reggie mentioned Brain Age 2 for a fraction of the time he should have spent talking about it. Nintendo really undersells that here. Even when he said that it outsold Brain Age in Japan, that's not telling the story. It outsold most things in Japan. It was enormous, and it was just a footnote over here. Baffling. Meanwhile, an unproven nongame is the focus of Nintendo's Wii presentation and massive hype. Not really presenting a unified front, are they?David Hinkle: Things didn't go so well for Nintendo during the keynote and especially for DS fans. They focused heavily on the Wii, which sucks for us because we wanted to see more. Phantom Hourglass? There are plenty of videos of that game already, seeing as how it was already released in Japan. Aside from that, no new colors for us. No software outside of a small mention of Brain Age 2. And Vision Training coming to the U.S. was good news, but what about Cooking Navi? Overall, I concur with my colleagues. I was underwhelmed.Alisha Karabinus: Sorry, guys, better late than never. While you were all sweating out and waiting for DS announcements that didn't come, I was suffering at the dentist. So even if you're underwhelmed by the keynote, I promise you had a better time than I did!As a serious DS devotee, I am disappointed at the lack of DS news. Brain Age 2, Phantom Hourglass ... these are great, and I will buy them both and hug them and squeeze them and all, but where's the new stuff? Just because the DS outsells everything but food doesn't mean we only want to hear about the Wii. That tide can turn. Throw us a bone here, guys! Where are our colors? Where are our new games? Where's my Cooking Navi? As a cooking enthusiast, I have lusted over that forever and it only gets namedropped? Lame. But hey, it's a Nintendo keynote, so frankly, I can't say I expected anything else. Reggie and co. are great to watch when they're doing their thing, but the information is often a little thin. Maybe we'll see some cool DS announcements over the rest of the show. Maybe.[Update: Added statements from Latey McTardypants (Alisha).]
