We have a shameful confession: sometimes we play games on other systems. Yes, there is a Playstation 2 in our stately Fanboy Manor, and it occasionally has a game in it. But our DS Fanboy Power is such that even the least Nintendo-like task we can think of-- buying a PS2 game-- becomes more Nintendo-centric in our presence.
We recently ordered a copy of Soul Calibur III from Sony's own online store, and were surprised by what we received today. The game was in there as expected, but there was a large glossy piece of paper in the package with it. Upon unfolding the paper, we found ... a Spectrobes poster? Why on Earth would Sony send people promotional posters for a DS game? Have they given up on their own little project? Just in case there was some Spectrobes-Sony connection in the companies involved or something, we checked the fine print on the poster, and found only Disney and Nintendo copyright information-- nothing about Sony.
There's already enough video game cakes on the internet to give you a mouth full of cavities, but we couldn't pass on a slice of this dual-screened dessert from Patrick and his girlfriend, Zara. The UK couple celebrated Mother's Day yesterday by baking this treat for Patrick's mom, a 60-year-old gamer.
The attention to detail is impressive, taking into account a matching stylus, icing-covered screenshots, and even a red battery light! Every single curve and recess on an actual Nintendo DS Lite is mirrored on the cake, ready to be gobbled up. It's going to be tough for other video game desserts to meet the standard Patrick and Zara have set.
If you're, like, crazy obsessed with the Pokemon, then clearly this post is not for you. In fact, we suggest you head on out to the kitchen (or break room), grab yourself a popsicle and relax for a couple of minutes. You deserve it. You worked hard.
For the rest of you, who're looking to just have everything spoiled, we suggest you check out the link, as it presents you with all the dirt on the latest and greatest Pokemon set to be featured in next month's release of Pokemon Diamond & Pearl. There's a full break down of each, including their elemental properties and original Japanese name.
Now this is how you play Jam Sessions. Flickr user Mr. Atrocity and his girlfriend gave their DS systems (both Phat, and we're happy to see people sporting them) custom paint jobs-- his a replica of Eddie Van Halen's guitar finish, and hers a lavender with gold details.
Not only does the gallery contain pretty pictures of modded systems, but it is a great tutorial for spraypainting your own DS, which is exactly the kind of thing you should have a tutorial for, unless you want to play New Super B Button Is Stuck Down Bros. or Trauma Center: Under the Red Blob.
If you were concerned about having to love the new Disney version of Meteos because you're a huge Q Entertainment/Tetsuya Mizuguchi fanboy, well, now you can take a second, more critical look at it. As it turns out, Q outsourced their game to two companies: Platinum Egg, who did a Harvest Moon puzzle game, and Aspect Digital Entertainment, who are professional game ghostwriters, like Tose. This fact may be obvious from the title screen, but we hadn't seen any investigation about it until today.
This is news only because it's about Q-- this kind of thing happens all the time, but we thought that Mizuguchi's studio was kind of a "boutique" operation that only worked on games they wanted to. Why, then, would they take on a project that interested them little enough to outsource it? Oh, right.
One of our favorite touches of the new Phantom Hourglass' trailer shown at this year's GDC event was its use of the reworked Hyrule Castle theme from The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. If there's one thing we love, it's retro tracks brought back for another round. That's why we're featuring a medley of songs from the original Zelda game (NES) remixed by electronica musician Ochre, for your Sunday listening pleasure.
We imagine that trying to add anything on top of Koji Kondo's classic work without ruining it is a difficult task, but this arrangement doesn't miss a step. Ochre's interpretation blends the 8-bit pieces with his own playful style, taking the listener through a six-minute daydream of Link's adventures. If you're a fan of lush synths and summery rhythms, we definitely suggest downloading this song along with Ochre's other remixes and original offerings at his site.
One game, two very different videos -- that's what we're looking at in this week's video spotlight. Lunar Knights has had a great run of ads, and thanks to a Konami fan site's trailer contest, there are all new takes on the game. It's interesting to look at the impact music can have on a story. We've seen the footage in this trailer in other videos, but now the music is more dramatic, and it shapes a wholly different story. Lunar Knights has always come across as a little campy, but now those same images are painted with a more melancholy brush. We offer this (actual) trailer for comparison to the fan-made trailer after the jump.
Oh, we're not asking. This time, Miyamoto is. It seems the master himself is looking for more stories of happy gamers to add to his collection. At Yahoo! Answers, he's asked, "How old were you when you first heard the term, 'Nintendo,' and what does the name mean to you now?" With hundreds of answers and counting, it's likely he'll end up with more nostalgia than you could shake a mushroom at.
Since many of us started with Nintendo, back in a time when everyone was a Nintendo fan and no one was a fan of anything else, we've already hashed over a lot of the 'first encounter' memories. But the second prong of the question is intriguing. What does Nintendo mean to us now? There are a lot of possible answers, but most of them boil down to one thing: if you're here at DS Fanboy, then 'Nintendo' probably means fun. Through the ups and downs, for us, Nintendo always means a good time.
Jake Nickell assures us that he never ignored Norman, his Pug/King Charles Spaniel mix, in favor of playing the copy of Nintendogs that came with his Nintendo DS. If that's true, what could have lead the hound into chewing up the pet simulation's cart?
Maybe the puppy just grew tired of sinking his teeth into Jake's shoes, homework, and remote controls? Or perhaps Norman took the game's "Best Friends" label to heart, biting down on the newcomer in a fit of jealousy. We happen to think that this was his revenge on Jake for dressing him up in silly outfits and posting the photos on the internet. We would be pretty pissed too.
One of the most unlikely places one would find gaming, or gaming addiction rather, would be on Broadway. Alas, that is where this story takes place, as The Game Boy, Matthew Gandolfo and Robin Rothstein's musical, focuses on Chase, a guy who finds himself deeply in love with his Game Boy. This addiction, of course, interferes with his life as the musical shows us just how his love of the handheld fuels his desire to be the best of the best.
Eventually, this desire leads to a life of solitude and sadness, as Chase's adventures are documented in the video, available past the post break.
We really weren't fans of Mario's blue shell ability in New Super Mario Bros., because it tended to steer us inexorably into a lava-filled grave. But we want to hug this plush Blue Shell Mario. And then maybe toss him into lava.
Play-Asia is selling these adorable NSMB toys, produced by Banpresto, for about $11 each. You have your choice of the aforementioned Mario, a Mega Mushroom, Boo, Luigi (in casino minigame regalia) and Toad. Does anyone else find it odd that Luigi still wears his green hat, even when he's in formal attire?
It would appear that, according to the DS Fanboy community at least, the Game Boy is officially dead. We can't remember the last GBA game we purchased or looked forward to, so we'd have to agree. This could bode well for thoseof us with the thrifty gamer's eye, however, as the GBA fades away, its games will be available in clearance bins in our local brick-and-mortar outlets and online sales. Now's the time to pick up some of those stellar GBA games we missed, wouldn't you say?
For those of us in the U.S., the DS browser is finally being released. For those of you in other markets, you've already had several months to check it out. But here's the thing: do you browse on your DS? If you're thinking of getting one when it's released in America, do you plan to use it often? For those who have it or want it ... do you have any other portable means of accessing the internet? We're curious about how many readers are out there browsing on the go.
We have to thank Spencer Yip of Siliconera for doing an interesting bit of investigative reporting on the subject of what is and isn't acceptable in Spectrobes. So, there are a lot of things you can't name your Spectrobes ... mostly things you probably wouldn't say in front of your mother unless there were major extenuating circumstances. And we all tend to agree on a working list of what those words are, right? Well, apparently, someone at Jupiter has a mother who reaches for the soap for things we wouldn't even consider minor infractions, like "Sega."
Yes, Sega. In Spectrobes, you can't name any of the critters "Sega," though other developers are fair game. We have a theory about this Sega hate. We're guessing it just may be due to those commercials. You know -- pretty much all of them, and particularly the EXTREME!! Sega shout. We're guessing that someone heard that one too many times, and after Blast Processing, it was just the last straw.
We can't tell you to download them (in fact, we'll tell you not to), but we can definitely applaud the technical achievement. A homebrew genius called papafuji has ported a massive selection of classic textadventures and early graphic adventure games to the DS, including all of Infocom's text adventures and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy author Douglas Adams' interactive fiction.
These aren't just barebones ports, either: you can save games, and you can choose to enter text via an onscreen keyboard or handwriting input! And the game engine contains shorthand functionality for common commands like cardinal directions and "get".
Some of the games are public domain, but most aren't, and we aren't sure which games fall in which category. Therefore, we're officially warning you: if you download these games, there's a good chance that you are a pirate.
If you're, like, crazy obsessed with the Pokemon, then clearly this post is not for you. In fact, we suggest you head on out to the kitchen (or break room), grab yourself a popsicle and relax for a couple of minutes. You deserve it. You worked hard.
If you were concerned about having to love the new Disney version of 
One of our favorite touches of the new Phantom Hourglass' trailer shown at this year's 
One game, two very different videos -- that's what we're looking at in this week's 
Oh, we're not asking. This time, Miyamoto is. It seems the master himself is looking for more stories of happy gamers to add to his collection. At Yahoo! Answers, he's asked, "How old were you when you first heard the term, 'Nintendo,' and what does the name mean to you now?" With hundreds of answers and counting, it's likely he'll end up with more nostalgia than you could shake a mushroom at.
Jake Nickell assures us that he never ignored Norman, his Pug/King Charles Spaniel mix, in favor of playing the copy of 
One of the most unlikely places one would find gaming, or gaming addiction rather, would be on Broadway. Alas, that is where this story takes place, as The Game Boy, Matthew Gandolfo and Robin Rothstein's musical, focuses on Chase, a guy who finds himself deeply in love with his 
For those of us in the U.S., the DS browser is finally being released. For those of you in other markets, you've already had several months to check it out. But here's the thing: do you browse on your DS? If you're thinking of getting one when it's released in America, do you plan to use it often? For those who have it or want it ... do you have any other portable means of accessing the internet? We're 
We have to thank Spencer Yip of Siliconera for doing an interesting bit of investigative reporting on the subject of what is and isn't acceptable in 
