picross-3d
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Best of the Rest: JC's picks of 2010
Dragon Quest IX DQIX is secretly two games: when you're playing through the main quest, it's a traditional JRPG with a light but interesting story populated by unexpectedly engaging characters and perfectly brisk pacing; then as you approach the end, it becomes a dungeon crawler driven by a dungeon map trading mechanic using the passive communication of the DS. How compelling is that "tag mode" mechanic? I can't think of any other game for which I would go hang out at a GameStop and then a Best Buy, but that's exactly what I did when Nintendo held DQIX events this summer. I needed those maps. That's how I know this is my favorite game of 2010.
This Week on the Nintendo Channel: Picross 3D on TV
It's slim pickings this week on the Nintendo Channel. Aside from the TV spot for Picross 3D above, there's only a handful of info videos for this week's downloads and a video of people reminiscing about Pokemon. There aren't even any new DS demos to check out. Come on, Nintendo -- throw us a bone! Preferably a DS demo-shaped bone ... Head past the break for the full list of this week's content.
Review: Picross 3D
I hate picross. I've never been able to figure out the "trick" to the traditional square picross puzzle, driving myself to frustration any time I try to teach myself how to fill in the correct number of squares on a grid to draw a picture. As a result, I've had to let games like Picross DS pass me by while others raved. Picross 3D, then, seemed like something of a nightmare: the same idea as picross, but applied to three-dimensional structures, adding another layer of complexity. And that's why I was very surprised to find myself hopelessly addicted to Picross 3D. And I mean addicted, in that way that only a puzzle game can hook someone. I've been up later than intended every night since I got it, in unintentional marathons of "one more puzzle." %Gallery-86436%
Picross 3D shaping up for May 3 release
If you've been looking for a way to tease your brain into an overloaded, catatonic state while on the go, Nintendo and HAL Laboratory will soon deliver an application that should aid in your endeavor. Picross 3D, the DS puzzle game that hit Japanese retail last March, will be released on May 3 in North America. The announcement came during today's Nintendo Media Summit and added that the game would receive DLC in the form of extra puzzles, à la Professor Layton. With continued support like that, Picross 3D could be capable of frying our brains for the foreseeable future. We can't wait. %Gallery-86436%
Rumor: Picross 3D in Europe this February
Picross 3D for DS was one of the titles announced by Nintendo at E3, but not dated or mentioned again, like Line Attack Heroes, Monado: The End of the World, and, until recently, WarioWare DIY. According to posts on Cubed3 and NeoGAF, the puzzler will be out on February 5 -- in Europe. Though Nintendo UK still lists the date as "TBA", Cubed3 reports that Nintendo has confirmed the February 5 date. Picross 3D, developed by HAL Laboratory, is based on the familiar Picross puzzle, in which players make marks in squares based on clues about how many in each row or column should be numbered. But Picross 3D starts with cubes instead of squares, with each mark chipping away at the cube to reveal a voxel-based 3D object. There is no release date, rumored or otherwise, for North America, though the game was announced for release here. %Gallery-65414%
DS trailers and screens you may not have seen yet
Nintendo announced a ton of new games at its E3 keynote, but it announced even more afterward. We've decided to round up the trailers and screens we haven't shown you yet all at once, in the interest of getting all this stuff out as quickly as possible! The trailer above is for Fossil Fighters, the game released in Japan as We Are Fossil Holders. It's about digging up fossils, reconstructing dinosaurs, and then making them fight. After the break, see trailers for Style Savvy, the latest Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, and the new DSiWare lineup, as well as screens for Picross 3D, Glory of Heracles, Style Savvy, and the one game we really wanted to play at E3 but couldn't, WarioWare DIY.%Gallery-65413%
3D Picross causing meltdown of Japanese brains in March
Quiet as you like, Rittai Picross (Picross 3D) recently slinked its way onto Nintendo of Japan's release schedule, with a launch date of March 12th. As a puzzle game, Picross has never really relied on lashings of dialog, so this may just be import-friendly enough to consider buying!That said, we do sort of fear this funky-looking update to the excellent first game. If any puzzle game on the DS has made us feel thick as mince, it was the later stages of Picross. Adding a third dimension risks driving us ever so slightly mad, as we attempt to wrap our mushy minds around the concept.%Gallery-33412%[Via Siliconera]
It's-a Mario World: In the fall conference
As you all well know, Nintendo's fall media summit dropped some serious megatons this week. In the wake of a fairly exciting press conference, the Internet is predictably bustling with skeptics reaching for a reason to be angry with Nintendo's business model. But to be fair, Tuesday's presentation sort of displaces the disappointment of E3. So how should we interpret this onrushing flood of Nintendo news? If you have any idea what this feature is about, you know where we're headed."But wait," we hear you ask, "is it healthy to filter all of our life experiences through a Mario-centric worldview?" And the answer, fair reader, is yes. Perfectly healthy. So let's begin: Aside from the obvious Mario & Luigi 3, how does our Super Bro factor in to Nintendo's recent news? Direct your attention to this week's gallery in which we process all of this hubbub in terms we know best. It's-a Mario World is a weekly feature in which the ubiquity of Nintendo's flagship character is celebrated: We'll incessantly ruminate about mustache wax, debate the curious whereabouts of the princess and covet the luminous power stars strewn about the galaxy. Check back here every Friday to find out what strange and wonderful thing has got us tipping our caps.
DS Fanboy's Media Summit screen round-up
The worst bit about big industry events for impatient bloggers and readers? The game assets. Oh Lordy, the assets. An absolute landslide of screens, usually scattered about across, ooh, dozens of pages. But not at DS Fanboy! Not on our watch! Because we wub you, readers, we've collected a big old stack of new screens for your viewing pleasure and placed them all after the break of just one post. This post, in fact. From the well-known to the obscure, we'd be amazed if there's not at least one game that appeals to everyone past that line of blue text. Mario & Luigi 3, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time (right), Professor Layton and the Last Time Travel, Shining Force Feather, and Picross 3D is only scratching the surface, so make the jump!
