DS

Posted on 15 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in DS, News, Wii | 0 comments

Some new details regarding Phantasy Staro Zero, Mario & Luigi 3 and a few other games have been released:

* Phantasy Star 0

– “the most ambitious, compelling, and robust online offering on the handheld to date.”
– “true spiritual successor to the original Phantasy Star Online.”
– fully realized single-player campaign, but the multiplayer modes are the big draw.
– Online or local play with up to four players. Free. No territory restrictions. Friend codes or random party assignment.
– Lobby area. Random map variations and cannot move from one level to another without going back to the lobby.
– “multiplayer modes have no overarching narrative”
– “remarkable graphics engine”
– can map actions to Y, B, or A, and to R+ Y, B, or A.
– “accuracy increases with each successful hit during a combo, making it easier to land heavy attacks (by going light-light-heavy, for instance).”
– “(Ardent fans of the series will be delighted to know that Phantasy Star Universe’s miguided linkage of Technics to certain weapons has been discarded.)”
– Visual Chat – Draw any type of message you want, like “Heal me!” Up to 20 messages can be saved to shortcuts. Friends-only. Random teams are limited to keyboard chat and premade symbols.
– Added the ability to dodge.
– Camera control could be an issue with the lack of an analog stick.
– “more than 350 unique weapons, the majority of which are brand-new.”
– Character designs are by Toshiyuki Kubooka, from the Lunar series.
– Mags are present.
– Can use same character in multiplayer and singleplayer, and experience/items carry over between the two modes.
– No comment on downloadable content/updates.

* Valkyrie Profile

– “It’s a strategy-RPG, with a much bigger emphasis on combat than before.”
– Control of when each character attacks is still in.
– Hit gauge at the bottom fills up with successful strikes. When full, a character can do a “Soul Crush” which also feeds back into the Hit gauge.
– Bonus when two characters are flanking an opponent.
– Grid movement in an isometric view.
– Doesn’t have a traditional overworld or dungeons to explore. The game is mainly about the combat.
– “What may be harder to take as the game goes on are the story’s darkness and the ruthless gameplay that grows out of it. … Wylfred is very much the anti-hero, and it’s hard to say whether players will sympathize with what he does and why he does it.” (Wylfred wants to kill the Valkyrie to get revenge for losing his father. He’s helped by Hel (from Viking Hell) who is using Wylfred for her own ends, thus the “Covenant” part of the title.)

Interview:

– Former Quest Corporations staff helped the team (already a lot of strategy-RPG fans among them) with the shift in gameplay to a strategy-RPG.
– “Where in other games it has always been in players’ best interests to defend the lives of their allies, Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume forces palyers to ponder the value of sacrifice in view of the greater goal.”
– “we really wanted to recapture the gravitas of the original Valkyrie Profile and tell the tale through the eyes of a dark hero who opposed the Valkyrie … I think those who see the full story will ultimately find the message to be an uplifting one, so I hope they’ll play it all the way through.”
– Just under 30 tracks from the original VP and 20 new tracks.

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Posted on 15 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in DS, News | 2 Comments

– Team working on Chinatown Wars “twice the size” of the one that worked on Vice/Liberty City Stories
– Has “more lines of code” than San Andreas
– The Satellite navigation system is “identical” to GTA IVs in appearance and functionality
– Ammunation has gone online! You order weapons with your PDA and they show up at your safehouse
– You can replay any mission by selecting it from a menu in the safehouse
– Grenades and molotovs are thrown using the touch screen – you touch one and drag it, with an indicator on the top screen (where the action is) showing you where it’s going to land
– The A button is used to fire weapons
– One minigame involves assembling all of the parts of a sniper rifle with the touch screen, before using it to assassinate a designated target
– Another touch-sensitive mini-game will be paying bridge tolls – you push the coin into the slot to get through the barrier
– While some might perceive them to be gimmicky, EDGE describes the mini games as being “short” and “smoothly integrated”
– Game already finished with development – going through final bug testing

Source

Posted on 15 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in DS, News | 1 Comment

A few weeks back, it was rumored that Japanese magazine Coro Coro would have a look at a new Pokemon Mystery Dungeon game. That information has been confirmed to be true. The first details (keep in mind that these details are unverified) on the next installment in the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon series have been transcribed and can be read below:

– Will be called Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of the Sky
– Game is being developed for the DS
– New starter Pokemon include: Phanpy, Eevee, Riolu, Shinx and Vulpix
– Might not be an actual sequel, but more of an update of Exploreres of Time/Darkness like Pokemon Platinum
– Unclear if there will be one or two versions yet
– Some believe game will include Shaymin and its Sky form

Source 1, Source 2

Posted on 15 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in DS, News, Wii | 0 comments

2008:
Wii – 300,000
DS – 349,000

LTD:
Wii – 530,000
DS – 950,000

Source

Posted on 15 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in DS, News | 1 Comment

January 12, 2009 – THQ Inc. (NASDAQ: THQI) today announced that SpongeBob Squarepants Frantic Fry Cook is currently in development and scheduled to make its debut exclusively for Nintendo DS™ in March 2009.

In SpongeBob Squarepants Frantic Fry Cook, Mr. Krabs has signed up to compete in the cooking contest that will determine who will cater Jack Kahuna Laguna’s Big Beach Party. Players will be tasked with assisting SpongeBob, Patrick and friends in running the Krusty Krab and training Plankton’s cousins in the creation of the best deep-sea dishes. Utilising the Nintendo DS touch screen and stylus, players will serve more than 100 different zany entrees, such as a perfectly done Krabby Patty, Anemone Meatloaf, Fried Seaweed Sandwiches and other Sponge-I-Fied foods. With more than 25 different cooking activities, players will also learn how to cook SpongeBob style, which will include new and unique culinary techniques such as “skipping,” “painting,” and “slingshooting”. As players progress through the game, they will earn rewards that will allow them to customise and decorate the Krusty Krab restaurant. Loaded with authentic voice-overs from Tom Kenny, the official voice talent of SpongeBob, the game also features wireless cooperative gameplay that will unlock additional Sponge-tacular recipes.

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Posted on 15 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in DS, News, Wii | 0 comments

1 1 FIFA 09 EA CANADA EA SPORTS ELECTRONIC ARTS
2 2 CALL OF DUTY: WORLD AT WAR TREYARCH ACTIVISION ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
3 3 NEED FOR SPEED: UNDERCOVER EA BLACK BOX EA GAMES ELECTRONIC ARTS
20 4 WII FIT NINTENDO NINTENDO NINTENDO
6 5 WII PLAY NINTENDO NINTENDO NINTENDO
4 6 GUITAR HERO: WORLD TOUR NEVERSOFT REDOCTANE ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
5 7 MARIO & SONIC AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES SEGA SEGA SEGA
9 8 QUANTUM OF SOLACE TREYARCH ACTIVISION ACTIVISION BLIZZARD
17 9 LEGO INDIANA JONES: ORIGINAL ADVENTURES TRAVELLER’S TALES LUCASARTS LUCASARTS
8 10 MARIO KART WII NINTENDO NINTENDO NINTENDO

Source

Posted on 15 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in DS, News, Wii | 0 comments

The latest EDGE review scores are as follows:

Rise of the Argonauts (PS3/Xbox 360, Codemasters): 3
Mushroom Men:The Spore Wars (Wii, Gamecock Media Group): 6
Destory All Humans: Path of the Furon (PS3/Xbox 360, THQ): 3
Persona 4 (PS2, Atlus): 9
Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon (NDS, Nintendo): 7
Skate 2 (PS3/Xbox 360, EA): 7
Away Shuffle Dungeon (NDS, AQ Interactive): 5
Space Invaders Get Even (Wii, Taito): 5
Big Bang Mini (NDS, SouthPeak Games): 6
Burn Zombie Burn (PS3, Pinnacle): 6

Posted on 15 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in DS, News | 0 comments

New Range of Titles for Aspiring Fabulous Fashionistas and Wannabe Make-up Masters
Milton Keynes – 505 Games is today pleased to announce the launch of a new range of games aimed at aspiring girl gamers, who have a passion for fashion or are budding beauticians. An extension of the successful Fashion Designer: Style Icon, The Academy is a selection of titles that will initially see players taking over their own beauty salon and entering the world of haute couture.

Alongside the previously announced Diva Girls brand, The Academy is an example of 505 Games’ continued commitment to providing female console owners with interesting titles that feature characters that are realistic and provide inspirational role models. The range is also based around real world vocations, which are brought to life in imaginative and enjoyable ways.

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Posted on 15 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in DS, News | 0 comments

Posted on 15 years ago by Brian(@NE_Brian) in DS, News, Wii | 0 comments

This was an email which was sent to XSEED, and Ken who has always responded to emails such as these replied:

1. Is Little King’s Story indeed releasing on January 6th in Canada?! My local Best Buy had the game on that date on their release schedule board in front of the store! Strange! O_o I was under the impression it was coming out on Feb 17th.

No, Little King’s Story is not releasing on January 6th. We were shooting for a February release date, but good chance that it will be delayed past that right now.

2. How goes the localizations on your Wii games and such? Run into any problems? Hope everything is going smoothly!

Localization is going well on most everything we’re working on, Retro Game Challenge is done and will ship in February, Avalon Code and Rune Factory: Frontier are both wrapping up now so shouldn’t be too long after Retro Game when they come out.

3. Is it possible at this stage to say what the framerates of each of your’s and MMV’s Wii games? Are all games going to have silky smooth framerates? Is XSEED able to smoothen any framerate problems if there are any?

Of what we’ve seen, all the MMV titles are moving at a smooth framerate so no concerns at this point.

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