Posts by Eric Caoili at DS Fanboy

Eric Caoili
Cincinasty, OH - http://www.dsfanboy.com

Eric Caoili writes about video games more than he actually plays them. His other special powers include linking funny cat videos, falling off the bridge every dang time on the first level of Contra, and leaving snide comments on your blog. Admittedly, those powers aren't that special, but you've got to hold onto something.

Promotional Consideration: Advertising with Power, revisited

Posted May 11th 2008 7:00PM by Eric Caoili
Filed under: Promotional Consideration

If you recall, back in November, we put up a short piece on the increasing number of ads in Nintendo Power after the magazine was handed over to Future US, the same publisher behind the official Xbox and PlayStation magazines.

Chris Slate, Nintendo Power's new editor in chief, explained the ad-bloated issues: "Love or hate the ads, their number should go down significantly over the next couple of issues as we move away from the busy holiday selling season. We saw a huge upswing in ad pages last month because more games than ever are being released right now for the red-hot Wii and DS. However, new titles will slow down midway through December, and the ads will follow suit."

So, now that we've put a few months in between us and December, has the magazine kept its promise, scaling back the number of ads in favor of delivering more news, reviews, and previews? Jump past the post break for the breakdown.

Continue reading Promotional Consideration: Advertising with Power, revisited

Anguna brings back the old-school action-adventure game

Posted May 10th 2008 2:00PM by Eric Caoili
Filed under: Homebrew, GBA, Screens

It's not every day you get surprise homebrew releases like this! Anguna: Warriors of Virtue is a complete action-adventure game for the GBA, boasting five dungeons, unique enemies and bosses, and an expansive overworld. Hidden rooms, secrets, and special weapons -- bear traps, dynamite, and more -- are scattered around Aguna. It's all the work of a single programmer (with sprites provided by Chris Hildenbrand), Nathan Tolbert, who labored over the game as a hobby for the past three years.

Very much inspired by the original The Legend of Zelda, Anguna is an old-school experience that doesn't hold your hand whatsoever. Other than a few sentences to set the plot and a sword, you aren't given much to work with. After you fight your way through the introduction dungeon, you'll need to explore the overworld for a while before figuring out where to head next.

If a lifetime of easy gaming has turned you soft, the official site has a guide for getting started that should help you out. The site also offers physical GBA cartridges of the game if you'd rather not play Anguna on an emulator or off a flashcart, though pricing varies for that option.

To promote Anguna: Warriors of Virtue's release, Nathan is hosting a contest -- the first person to submit proof that they've gathered all of the game's hidden power-ups and items will receive a free cartridge of the game.

Gallery: Anguna

[Via GBAtemp]

Marvelous unlocks Avalon Code site, screenshots

Posted May 9th 2008 12:45PM by Eric Caoili
Filed under: Screens

Japanese publishers have game promotion down to a science, nowadays. The routine: announce a game in Famitsu, release a bare official site for the title several days later with artwork and a few shots, update the site sporadically for the next several months until the game's release, launch, and move on.

Marvelous Interactive has kicked off the second stage of its operations, putting an Avalon Code page online just days after debuting the ARPG in this week's issue of Famitsu. You won't find any video or downloadable items there yet, but you can preview a dozen images to check on what developer Matrix Software is preparing for the game's 2008 release.

The screenshots don't look bad -- they're about on par with what we've seen in Namco's Tales titles on the DS and the Final Fantasy III/IV DS remakes, the latter examples being titles Matrix had its hand in. Hit the gallery below to see if Avalon Code's 3D is for you.

Gallery: Avalon Code

[Via NeoGAF]

Geometry Wars: Galaxies price's volume decreases by a third

Posted May 9th 2008 11:15AM by Eric Caoili
Filed under: Sales

We've gone over why Geometry Wars: Galaxies was worth its full $30 price several times already despite its cheaper Xbox Live Arcade predecessor -- portability, a robust campaign, a cooperative mode, touchscreen support, drones, etc.

Now that the game has seen a universal price drop, bringing its retail price to $19.99, right in that budget-title range, you'll have a tougher time arguing that the added features aren't worth the price. Basically, if you're a fan of multi-directional shooters and if you have twenty bucks just laying around, pick this up!

Gallery: Geometry Wars: Galaxies

See also: DS Fanboy Review: Geometry Wars: Galaxies

[Via CAG]

Read - Geometry Wars: Galaxies at GameStop
Read - Geometry Wars: Galaxies at Amazon

The DS Life: The coolest guy on the train

Posted May 7th 2008 9:00PM by Eric Caoili
Filed under: The DS Life

As a somewhat respectable grown-up who makes a somewhat living on the Nintendo DS subculture, I have to stop myself from trying to see what someone's playing whenever I spot a handheld gamer in the wild. I restrain myself for two reasons:

I like to keep up this illusion of me being a somewhat respectable grown-up
I don't want anyone mistaking me for a pedophile just because I was stealing glances at some kid's Piplup

Children, though, have no such reservations with running up to a stranger to see what he's playing ...

Continue reading The DS Life: The coolest guy on the train

Hori Charge Stand delayed, coming to America?

Posted May 6th 2008 10:35PM by Eric Caoili
Filed under: Rumors, Accessories

We hope you haven't already put in a preorder for Hori's upcoming DS Lite Charge Stand! When we last previewed this accessory, Play Asia had put up a product page promising to deliver the stylish dock to your doorstep for $16.90 (plus $5.90 s/h) once it debuted in Japan this month.

Checking the online import shop earlier today, we spotted a pair of notable details, bad news and good news, if you will:.

Bad news: The charging base's shipping date has been moved to May
Good news: There is now a listing for the White DS Lite Charge Stand bearing a US flag, scheduled for June and priced at $14.99.

Is Hori's North American arm planning to bring the dock to the states as it has with many of the company's other DS accessories? If so, it might worth waiting an extra month to pick up the Charge Stand at a local store for a few bucks less. Hit the gallery below for glamour shots of the White and Black models.

Gallery: Hori DS Lite Charge Stand

Bargain Explorer: Sale Unit

Posted May 5th 2008 10:00PM by Eric Caoili
Filed under: Sales

If Shiren the Wanderer's turn-based system was too slow-paced to satisfy your dungeon crawling needs, you might want to look into Dungeon Explorer: Warriors of Ancient Arts, Hudson's Diablo-esque hack-and-slash follow-up to the original TurboGrafx-16 game. Amazon has Dungeon Explorer discounted to $19.49, a generous price considering the game includes online support for up to four players and even a bit of voice chat.

And if you're neither a fan of dungeon crawling or dungeon exploring -- perhaps you just want to steer clear of dungeons altogether -- Amazon also has LifeSigns: Surgical Unit marked down to $19.49. While the LifeSigns series isn't as popular as that other surgery sim, Trauma Center, apparently a few of our readers are big fans of the game!

Gallery: Dungeon Explorer Warriors of Ancient Arts

[Via CAG]

Read - Dungeon Explorer: Warrior of Ancient Arts
Read - Lifesigns Surgical Unit

This homebrew release is never going to let you down

Posted May 5th 2008 9:00PM by Eric Caoili
Filed under: Homebrew

Months after we'd thought this "rickroll" meme had died from overuse -- a recent survey showed that an estimated 18 million American adults have been rickrolled -- homebrew programmer Madcat1990 has brought it back, porting the popular prank to the DS.

We downloaded the application and loaded it up on our DS just to see if it really worked, and, wouldn't you know it, we rickrolled ourselves. How hilarious would it be if someone tried to run a pirated game on their DS, only to find themselves greeted with Rick Astley's sensuous, soulful voice? Expect to see flashcart manufacturers put out firmware updates with rickroll protection and anti-measures soon.

Promotional Consideration: Moons, Zombies, Dodgeballs, and Tactics

Posted May 4th 2008 11:00PM by Eric Caoili
Filed under: Features, Promotional Consideration

Aside from its preview page tease and Time Hollow's localization, there wasn't much in the way of exclusive DS news in this month's Nintendo Power, at least compared to what we've seen in recent issues.

Paging through the magazine, however, we spotted at least two advertisements that we wanted to share with you. As we were tearing them out to throw into our scanner, we thought, "Why not post all of the other DS ads (and the cover)?" Join us past the break for the scanned pages!

Continue reading Promotional Consideration: Moons, Zombies, Dodgeballs, and Tactics

Graffiti sees a Project Exile and wants it painted Black

Posted May 4th 2008 2:00PM by Eric Caoili
Filed under: Video, Screens

Graffiti Entertainment doesn't yet have a release date set for Black Sigil: Blade of the Exiled, formerly known as Project Exile, but the publisher has put out a new trailer and over two dozen new screenshots for the retitled game. Originally intended as a GBA game, Black Sigil's art direction still bears an uncanny resemblance to SquareSoft's SNES-era RPGs just as much as it did when developer Studio Archcraft first revealed the game in 2006.

The trailer boasts an "active-time tactical combat" system which we don't quite understand yet, and the top screen looks bare during battles -- hopefully we'll hear more specifics and see more features as Black Sigil's release approaches. With a retro-styled game boasting "30+ hours of game play with tons of side-quests," our expectations are high.

Gallery: Black Sigil

Drawn to Life: SpongeBob Video Pants

Posted May 3rd 2008 12:00PM by Eric Caoili
Filed under: Video

It's a credit to the original Drawn to Life's concept and quality that we're still interested in the follow-up despite 5th Cell's absence and its attached license -- SpongeBob SquarePants.

IGN previewed the customizable platformer, and while it doesn't revolutionize the draw-your-adventure formula, it's a "polished, Nickelodeon-ized" take on it. We've never played any games from Alton, the developer taking the reins from 5th Cell, so we'll have to try Drawn to Life: SpongeBob SquarePants Edition ourselves before developing an opinion with any firmness to it.

Word has it, a two-player versus mode will be included, so look forward to pitting grotesquely phallic avatars against crude renditions of cartoon characters -- Donatello, Heathcliff, skies the limit!

See also: DS Fanboy Review: Drawn to Life

Prices dropping like flies: Insecticide markdown

Posted May 1st 2008 7:00PM by Eric Caoili
Filed under: Sales

Insecticide never seemed like a title destined to set the sales charts on fire, so we're not surprised to see retailers already marking down the noir title. Less than two months after Insecticide's release, Amazon, GameStop, and other shops have chopped the half-adventure, half-platforming game down to $19.99, a two-thirds its original price.

And if that's still too much for you, you could buy Nirvana's Incesticide for only $7.97, less than half of Insecticide's price. What's the difference between the two, you ask? Well, it just so happens that we've put together a lovely comparison guide that should help you with that question.

[VIa CAG]

Ba-dum! Taiko No Tatsujin Clay Anime

Posted May 1st 2008 9:45AM by Eric Caoili
Filed under: Video, Imports

We already knew Taiko no Tatsujin's characters are pretty darn cute from playing the games, but this clay anime series, officially produced by Namco, makes sure we'll never forget it. Though it's supposed to be a show for children -- it originally aired on Japan's Kids Station channel, if that's any indication -- we've found ourselves totally drawn into the adventures of Wada Don, Wada Katsu, and their clay friends.

A total of 26 episodes were put out over two seasons in 2005-2006, and the first seven are subtitled and available to watch on Youtube. Like the clip above, each Taiko No Tatsujin Clay Anime episode is only four minutes long, so you could feasibly watch the entire collection of translated videos in the time it takes you to watch a single episode of a much less interesting anime.

On the topic of Drum Master, Siliconera has an excellent preview and walkthrough of Taiko no Tatsujin: 7 Islands' Adventure, which shipped to stores in Japan just last week. Combine that with these menu translations, and you've got nothing stopping you from importing the rhythm game!

[Via GameSetWatch]

The DS Life: Motherly love

Posted Apr 30th 2008 11:30PM by Eric Caoili
Filed under: The DS Life

The DS Life is a weekly feature in which we scour the known world for narrative images of Nintendo's handheld and handheld gamers. If you have a photo and a story to match it with, send both to thedslife at dsfanboy dot com.

As our own Alisha Karabinus can likely attest, raising a baby leaves little time for anything else in your daily schedule. Taking care of everything you need to do requires some creative multitasking. Jump past the break to see what we mean!

Continue reading The DS Life: Motherly love

Game Melody Oratorio Volume Two: More music to our ears

Posted Apr 30th 2008 12:45PM by Eric Caoili
Filed under: Homebrew

Fresh off his success placing fourth in Neoflash's Spring Coding Competition, homebrew developer Multiple: Option has followed up his Game Melody Oratorio software with a second volume, packing ten songs and new features into the virtual piano update.

Here's your chance to learn classic melodies from a diverse set of games:

Double Dragon
Dr. Mario
Duck Tales (a woo woo)
Final Fantasy VII
Halo
Leisure Suit Larry
Metal Gear Solid
Outrun
Streets of Rage 2
Super Castlevania VI

Game Melody Oratorio Volume 2's new features include an extra piano key (C3), a new Practice Stage with hidden notes, a new Recital Challenge mode, improved flashcart support, and the ability to preview melodies on the song selection screen. Wow! All that for free!

[Via DCEmu]

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