Those that attended the launch party at the Nintendo World Store celebrating the release of Professor Layton and the Curious Village will likely find nothing of interest here. Actually, we're fairly certain you're playing the game right now, ignoring our blog posts in order to conquer the many puzzles found within the game. We don't blame you.
But, for those that enjoy seeing other people have fun playing DS, check out another snapshot taken from the event past the break. Looks like Nintendo had some extra swag laying around for the event ...
We'd obviously love to order an entire set of these Mario-themed mats, even at $23 apiece, but we're not sure we'd have the heart to stand on them. We like our floors, and particular enjoy, you know, using them to stand, but if you think we're going to tread all over a perfect recreation of the Mushroom Kingdom (which is inevitably what we'd end up doing with these), you can think again.
If you do have floors that are devoid of socks, old pizza boxes, and cats, these are available at NCSX now, and come in the five designs you see to the right.
Sci-Fi blog io9 has posted an absolutely fantastic, thinking-outside-the-box article -- exactly the sort of thing we love to share with you -- titled "I Was Programmed by Tetris to be a Better Person." The piece matches familiar Tetris scenarios with words of wisdom, like "Whatever you do, do it with dignity," and "The nail that sticks out should be hammered down."
Having spent over half of our existence playing the Russian puzzler, we've also picked up a few lessons and words to live by from the falling, multi-colored blocks. Here they are, plucked from the sage minds of DS Fanboy's staff (My wife contributed, too, since Alisha is off birthing her own baby block):
Dave: Immediate gratification just isn't worth sacrificing the long-term goal
JC: Don't buy the Tetris board game
Eric: Having a second player makes everything ten times more fun
Candace, channeling Project Runway's Tim Gunn: "Make it work"
Chris: If you pause for too long, you might find life passes you by (or that level 20 Tetris is REALLY FREAKING HARD to play from the off)
Alexis: Even weird blocks, the ones that don't look like they fit in anywhere, have a place
Once the preserve of circus masters, Lord Snooty from The Beano, and Mandrake the Magician, the trusty top hat has now been adopted by another group: Nintendo DS game reviewers. This glitzy top hat, modeled after Professor Layton's own, was a freebie that came with Kombo's review copy of Professor Layton and the Curious Village.
Needless to say, we are burning with envy. Our lives would be significantly improved with a plain top hat, never mind one emblazoned with the good Professor's name. Go past the break for a shot of this fine item being shown off by smug Kombo editor Phillip Levin.
Did you know that there are some rogue Moblins in Hyrule, just hanging out inside sealed caves waiting to give some dude rupees? This bizarre fixation with enclosure and charity is supposed to be a secret to everybody, but now Etsy's slothbot has let the cat out of the bag Moblin out of the cave. Way to go, slothbot.
In other crafting news, Kotaku reader Aaron revealed not so much of a secret as a new discovery: that a Mario mosaic table is probably the best thing ever and it is now probably impossible for the world to continue existing without one. Check after the break for the most exciting table picture ever.
The DS Life is a weekly feature in which we scour the known world for narrative images of Nintendo's handhelds and handheld gamers. If you have a photo and a story to match it with, send both to thedslife at dsfanboy dot com.
Have you already found someone to spend this upcoming St. Valentine's Day with? If not, you have only a week to develop a stratagem to trade Luvdiscs with someone, or you'll wind up spending February 14th playing Mario Party DS ... in single-player mode. Protip: Don't be that guy (or girl). Jump past the break to see how your V-day could turn out if you play your cards right (or if you use hackz).
If you have an old Game Boy brick lying around, no one has to tell you that it's nigh-on indestructible. After all, yours probably still works, and can often be tossed at people who irritate you at social gatherings, or used to fend off would-be muggers. That thing is a beast, and you can abuse it and immediately turn it on for a little Battletoads or Link's Awakening.
And now, folks, the Game Boy is being lauded for just that long-lasting quality. Over at CNET UK's Crave gadget blog, the original handheld monstrosity turned up on a list of "bombproof" gadgets. "If you ever saw one that was broken, it's because it lost a boxing match with a nuclear bomb -- on points," they say. Them's big words, but then again, we're talking about the Game Boy here, and it's way more hard than the other gadgets listed. Anyone still have one lying around, being all hard with its bad self?
Craftster user cristasaurus started to make a plush doll, but discarded the body when she was dissatisfied with it. Left with just a ridiculously cute plush head (with an expression commensurate with having your body thrown out), she did the humane thing and turned the unfinished project into a great DS case.
What this little critter lacks in, uh, torsos and appendages, it makes up for in DS-shaped cavities -- cristasaurus is lucky to have made a doll with a head roughly the size of a DS Lite. And stuffed with fleecy material, the little guy remains huggable.
For those of you who're fans of the Sonic of yesteryear (you know, back when he was limited to 16-bit romps and what we consider to be his best game, Sonic CD), you'll be happy to hear that First4Figures is working on a Sonic statue to end all Sonic statues. Modeled after the original Sonic, this statue will likely be at the top of any diehard's wish list.
Following up their previousMetroid Prime Hunters statues, they'll be working on these until completion in July of this year, when you'll be able to get your hands on Sonic, Tails and Knuckles. No word as of now on price, though.
For gamers not living in Japan, Dragon Quest tends to be considered "that other" Square-Enix series. There's no question that the franchise is constantly overshadowed by Final Fanasy, at least here in the U.S. That's not to say Dragon Quest doesn't have a respectable fanbase, but compared to the support that the series gets in Japan, anything else is peanuts.
There's much to be learned about this classic franchise, though. If you're a fan and want to brush up on your Dragon Quest knowledge, be sure to check out Gamasutra's in-depth history. We have to warn you, however -- reading it will only make you hungry for some localizationannouncements. Hopefully, it's only a matter of time before we hear something tangible.
In a recent piece summarizing Famitsu's 1000th issue and its extensive Shigeru Miyamoto interview, Next-Gen's Tim Rogers makes an impassioned plea to the celebrated game designer to visit a competent hairstylist. Well, geniuses have been known to let their hair go wild -- just look at Albert Einstein, Ludwig van Beethoven, and, uh, Don King.
Rogers argues that he's never seen Miyamoto with a decent haircut, adding, "My father, though he eats salad with his mouth wide open, has never designed a video game, and is not in the habit of being photographed for magazines or appearing on television, has a better haircut than Shigeru Miyamoto."
The father of modern video gaming will always be remembered for his classic characters and games, regardless of his hair situation, but we still want to hear your thoughts on his hair -- just fine or in need of a trim? Bring a pair of scissors past the break for a couple more Miyamoto photos.
eBay user luckey92 knows what to do with an old DS Phat: mod it! The second part of auctioning it off online and donating 20% of the sale to Child's Play isn't something that we'd probably do ourselves, however. It's not that we're horrible people who don't care about good organizations that bring fun and hope to sick children all over, it's that we're horrible people who love the DS and would hold onto this sucker forever. We'd probably sit it next to our N64 and take pictures, then conduct a mock wedding between two N64s, with this DS being their offspring.
Man, if you're a person living in Japan and reading DS Fanboy right now, do we have a piece of awesome news for you. Not only are you confined to listening to the wonderful music from the Ace Attorney line through your iTunes or by actually playing the games, you can enjoy a live performance of tracks from the series of games. Chalk this up as another reason why we wish we lived in Japan.
We do have time to move over there before this goes down. The event takes place on April 20th at the Shinjuku Culture Center, where the Tokyo Philharmonic will be behind select musical tracks from the games. Hey, if there's going to be any reason why we move there, it'd be this.
See also:2008's Biggest Blips - Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney
We actually don't know if this cute Zelda crochet block would be a suitable insulator for teapots (and also we're fairly in the dark about the scale of the thing), but it certainly looks the part. Maybe you can set your DS down on it, to keep it safe from that hard old table. Or you can just make it, and look at it to remember the good times you had 1) playing Zelda games, and then 2) making this crochet block.
There's a diagram available for this extremely cute project at the link (not the Link, but the ... you know), to facilitate your own nerd craftery.
Yet again, a Japanese Pokémon Center store is stocking a series of exclusive items that will drive foreign Pokémon fanatics crazy to eBay. From February 9th to the 29th, customers who can show staff that their Diamond/Pearl Pikachus have learned the skill Rest will receive a free sleeping Pikachu screen-cleaning strap. In addition, many heartbreakingly adorable sleeping Pikachu items will be available in the store, including plush dolls, t-shirts, and coffee mugs.
It's pretty hard to resist the cute sleeping mascot even if you don't like Pokémon. We're lucky that it's currently impossible for us to blow a bunch of money on this stuff.
We'd obviously love to order an entire set of these Mario-themed mats, even at $23 apiece, but we're not sure we'd have the heart to stand on them. We like our floors, and particular enjoy, you know, using them to stand, but if you think we're going to tread all over a perfect recreation of the Mushroom Kingdom (which is inevitably what we'd end up doing with these), you can think again.
Sci-Fi blog io9 has posted an absolutely fantastic, thinking-outside-the-box article -- exactly the sort of thing we love to share with you -- titled "I Was Programmed by Tetris to be a Better Person." The piece matches familiar Tetris scenarios with words of wisdom, like "Whatever you do, do it with dignity," and "The nail that sticks out should be hammered down."
In a recent piece summarizing Famitsu's 1000th issue and its extensive Shigeru Miyamoto interview, Next-Gen's Tim Rogers makes an impassioned plea to the celebrated game designer to visit a competent hairstylist. Well, geniuses have been known to let their hair go wild -- just look at Albert Einstein, Ludwig van Beethoven, and, uh, Don King.
Man, if you're a person living in Japan and reading DS Fanboy right now, do we have a piece of awesome news for you. Not only are you confined to listening to the wonderful music from the Ace Attorney line through your iTunes or by actually playing the games, you can enjoy a live performance of tracks from the series of games. Chalk this up as another reason why we wish we lived in Japan.
