We know Nintendo is about bringing people of all ages, shapes and sizes together to enjoy a quick round of screen-touching. Everyone feels great, Nintendo rakes in the cash and hardcore gamers are getting plenty of recognition. Embrace diversity with Nintendo.
And yet ... it's still pretty funny watching non-gamers try their hand at even the simplest casual games and screw up royally. Sure, kindly old Grandpa and naive little sister are exactly the kind of people the DS attracts, but do you still feel slight twinges of amusement when they have trouble completing the most basic of tasks? We love the whole worldwide DS craze and all, but are the hardcore among us (that is, the hardcore that got so upset over a two-hour presentation) chortling silently, basking in gaming omnipotence when it comes to touchscreen prowess? Share your amusing anecdotes with the rest of us!
Our prayers after a vacant E3 have been answered. After complaining like little kids that we have no video for Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, a hefty sack of media has dropped by, showing off gameplay in several different areas of the upcoming RPG. The above portion is titled Green Hill, and it seems like the kind of happy chappy level present early on in most Sonic games.
Hit the break for four more videos, showcasing new levels and a few extra characters. Comments thus far? The environments look excellent, with the subtle painted style complementing the 3D character models very nicely. The lack of action in these clips is a little disappointing, but we know there will be plenty of that, what with it being a turn-based RPG and all. Quietly confident in this one.
The Castlevania series has found a great home on the DS, and despite the fact that it's side-scrolling action in every game as usual, there's usually some kind of twist to spice up the action. The new trailer for Order of Ecclesia shows exactly that, as Shanoa the vampire slayer uses a grappling hook to shoot around the level and reach unreachable areas.
Every fan of the series should be on an ultimate high for the game's imminent release in Q3 this year. Why, the fast slingshot action almost makes up for sluggish gameplay and boring combat, evident in all Castlevania games. We love Castlevania here at DS Fanboy. It looks great!
Posted Jul 22nd 2008 11:45AM by Phil Larsen
Filed under: News
The unsourced rumor of a 2008 European Metal Slug 7 release date must be acknowledged. It turns out that Europeans will not only get Metal Slug 7 in 2008, but they will also get it pretty much the same time as everywhere else. A press release has come through and announced an "Autumn 2008" release. Yes, that means Fall -- Autumn is for those lame Europeans and non-lame Australians.
To accompany this timely news, five new screens of the kill-o-rama have been updated in our gallery. With seven brand new missions six playable characters and apparently the biggest SLUG vehicle ever, this is exactly what hardcore Metal Slug fans need.
Everyone loves the Wii Forecast Channel. It's funny, because the most entertaining thing to do is spin the world really fast, randomly stop on a location and promise yourself that you will travel there. After that, you realize that you are dirt poor, you can't travel overseas because of those threatening references you made to the UN, and all your assets have been seized by the state. Sure, you did have that promising career in waste management lined up, but it's too late to do anything about that now!
... Ahem. So, there's a globe thing coming to the DS now. It's not an instant-weather application or anything, but rather a detailed map of various worldy data. In Earth mode, you can check out specific information for each country, including climate, population and economic details. In History mode, you can touch a region to learn about how it has evolved over time -- evidently dating back to 3100BC.
Finally, the Card mode lets you collect approximately 500 cards which have various puzzles and questions to answer. Obviously, the whole thing is in Japanese, but localization wouldn't be too much of a stretch considering the wealth of "edutainment" titles we see on the DS these days.
Most DS Lite cases are themed on something. These particular cases are themed just fine, but it's nothing we've seen before. Etsy craftsperson filmfatale has gone for a generic "critters" design. Someone might filch the idea and use critters in an upcoming game ... which would spawn a disturbing merchandising cycle. Coming soon from a developer near you -- Critters: The Case: The Game: The Case.
Some materials used here are none other than recycled clothing (among other suitable fabrics). That's a pretty good idea. In fact, anyone with a leftover surplus of puffy shirts or parachute pants should probably get to work, because homemade cases are all the rage. Check out filmfatale's store for more stock!
When it comes to racing on the DS, we have the good, the bad, and the monstrously ugly. Moto Racer DS looks to be a refreshing change from the usual flurry of mediocrity -- both as a motorbike racing game and as a pretty impressive technical showcase. The environments look nicely detailed, and the tracks scream FUN!
The biggest selling point we can see is the aptly-named Stylus Precision Handling (SPH). There isn't much of an indication on how this will work, and the touchscreen images in the gallery display only a map. Moto Racer DS supports up to 8 player Wi-Fi races, and features 44 tracks in a variety of road and dirt racing. That's quite a hefty amount of content, and we're hoping for a solid experience when it comes out in Q4 this year.
June was the month of Sony, Sony, Sony ... and DS. With the PlayStation brand achieving positive results across the board (MGS4 undoubtedly being the reason for doubling May's PS3 figures), Microsoft picked up a small increase in sales for the Xbox 360. The DS performed spectacularly as always, and gained a massive jump in sales thanks to Guitar Hero: On Tour.
The only console on a downslide for the month was the Wii, yet it still trounced all non-Nintendo competition. It's like those guys at school who barely even tried and still got top marks, while everyone else studied their butts off to scrape by. Ah, the mysteries of life.
DS: 783K 368.2K (+ 88.7%)
Wii: 666.7K 47.5K (- 6.6%)
PS3: 405.5K 218.4K (+ 116.7%)
PSP: 337.4K 144.7K (+ 75%)
X360: 219.8K 31.8K (+ 16.9%)
PS2: 188.8K 64.4K (+ 51.7%)
Software sales are waiting for you after the break! YA RLY!
If you've been waiting for Korg DS-10 to come out -- wait a little longer. In the meantime, we have the next best thing: a video of a badass Japanese dude rocking out with the portable synthesizer. This guy has a cool shirt, cool hair and an attitude of all-out righteousness. Unsurprisingly, he knows how to make Korg DS-10 really sing, especially since he's been hard at work before.
The less musically-inclined of us won't really have any clue how to use the thing, but we're sure all musos out there will know exactly how to configure an impressive array of blips and bloops into something worth listening to.
So ... huh? After sitting through the above four minutes of explosions, nuclear symbols and flashing lights, we have learned nothing about the upcoming Duke Nukem Trilogy for the DS. Quite frankly, this isnt the kind of trailer you want to show at E3, when countless other videos opt to show gameplay footage and new details. Also, four minutes long? Sure, there's a bit of metal rocking out there, but wouldn't we rather watch a music video instead of the words Critical Mass and Proving Grounds blasting all over the screen? You bet.
The rest of the Fanboy team thinks this irritable blogger is missing the joke of the (clearly satirical) trailer. They are probably right.
In the spirit of N+ featuring hundreds of levels, we've received hundreds (well, lots anyway) of screenshots and two new gameplay videos (head past the break for the second). If there is a limit to how long we can watch a little stick figure bouncing off walls and performing gravity-defying stunts, we haven't yet reached the critical threshold.
You can start learning about the mind-bending N+ experience with our hands-on preview, effectively taking "the best platforming engine in Flash, ever," for a ride. The thing is, no matter how many screens and videos you ogle, there's plenty more brand new levels being created constantly. Best of all, the DS version is just as full-featured as any other installment, including a full level creator and Wi-Fi multiplayer. N+ should be a sure-fire hit when it's released in August.
Blue Dragon Plus is only a few months away (if you happen to live in Japan). It's not too much of a stretch to expect a delay in North America, despite the vague "fiscal year" confirmations we've been hearing about. The artwork of Akira Toriyama must be acknowledged on a tiny screen real soon, or RPG fans are going to start dishing out angry mob justice.
The "promise" we experienced with the Blue Dragon Pluswebsite has been somewhat fulfilled, after being updated with a new Japanese trailer. While this isn't especially handy for English speakers, it does run for over three minutes, giving fans a good deal of gameplay footage, CG cutscenes and character art. We've managed to circumvent the awkward media player on the website and rustle up the trailer in all of its YouTube glory, so check it out and get your Blue Dragon nerve twitching.
Yep, pretty much. Bond games have never lived up to the astronomical heights of GoldenEye 007, and we weren't really expecting a DS game to pull through and take the crown. Action games in general aren't the best for the touchscreen -- but we want to be proven wrong. Will Daniel Craig's portable outing be an exception to the laws of crappiness? Unnnnnlikely.
Using your keen spy senses, examine the gallery and predict the fate of Quantum of Solace. The movie will be undoubtedly cool, but that might be all we can hope for.
Posted Jul 16th 2008 1:00PM by Phil Larsen
Filed under: News
If the DS Zelda team is helping out the Wii Zelda team, it could mean either of two things. One -- the next Wii Zelda is going to be beyond awesome. Two -- will the DS successor to Phantom Hourglass be neglected for longer than desired? It could cause longer development cycles, but the overall product will surely benefit from the extra talent.
Mitamoto explained that "the DS team is mixing in with the Wii team and working on the Wii version." Possible theory -- instead of a "realistic" Link for Wii and "cartoon" Link for DS, the two games might just be linked by more than just the name. All speculation, but speculation is fun!
Nintendo themselves would be the first to praise DS populairty with children and kindly elderly folk -- the polar opposite target markets for anything related to Grand Theft Auto. However, Cammie smiled that big smile of hers on stage at E3, spoke about Animal Crossing, Pokemon and Wii Music -- then casually slipped in the announcement of GTA: Chinatown Wars.
Does the DS have a place for GTA? Or, more accurately, should the DS have a place for GTA? With such a family-friendly system, are you at all surprised that Nintendo has opted to include such adult material?
Everyone loves the Wii Forecast Channel. It's funny, because the most entertaining thing to do is spin the world really fast, randomly stop on a location and promise yourself that you will travel there. After that, you realize that you are dirt poor, you can't travel overseas because of those threatening references you made to the UN, and all your assets have been seized by the state. Sure, you did have that promising career in waste management lined up, but it's too late to do anything about that now!
Most DS Lite cases are 
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If the DS Zelda team is helping out the Wii Zelda team, it could mean either of two things. One -- the next Wii Zelda is going to be beyond awesome. Two -- will the DS successor to 
