Sometime during this weekend, homebrewster Noda is going to release a new game based on the Tower Defense mod from Warcraft 3. By looking over the available screens for the game and going down the laundry list of promised features, we find ourselves excited at the possibility of some fresh RTS gameplay on our DS (we're RTS fiends).
Of course, there are some graphical limits that prevent more than a set number of towers and units from being on screen at once. The translation is a little vague; we do not know if it's 40 towers and 40 units on screen at once, or if it is 40 total. Towers themselves The ten available powers for each tower include:
slow fox trot
poison
critic ramming
pierce
fire magic
toilets magic (?!)
lightning magic
wind magic
splash ramming
reveal invisible monsters
So, anyone plan on downloading this over the weekend?
Welcome to DS Daily, a new daily (yeah, really!) feature here at DS Fanboy wherein we'll open up a discussion for a little morning chat. We've shamelessly stolen this idea from our friends at WoW Insider, but hey, shameless theft is what blogging is all about, amirite?
The first ever DS Daily question is pretty simple: are you into the homebrew scene? If not, are you interested, just too uninspired (or lazy, cheap, or perhaps uninformed) to try it? Or are you just not a fan of the whole grassroots DS development scene? Inquiring fanboys want to know.
The DS motion card we told you about before is now available for the promised price of $25. It's tempting, because that whole DSaSketch bit sounds cool, but the novelty may wear off too quickly. We do hope that this catches Nintendo's attention, though, or at least the eye or more homebrew developers. We'd love to see more games, either community or officially produced, that take advantage of this nifty DS motion sensor. But if Nintendo made one ....
While the usefulness of such a homebrew application is definitely arguable, what is not arguable is how well it mimics the iPod interface and the aesthetical appeal of said interface. Personally, we would like to give this a try, but with memory issues and more viable solutions for portable music, we don't see ourselves utilizing this application in the long run.
How manydifferentversions of Sudoku do we really need? Maybe some of us are just a little slower at solving them, but apparently there is some gaping void of demand for brain-crunching number puzzles. If you've already devoured all available Sudoku like a ravenous beast and are desperate for any puzzle fix, one homebrew artist whipped up a fresh batch over the holidays just for you. Yeah, between pinched cheeks and presents, this guy programmed a (mostly) working homebrew Sudoku game. And here we thought we were doing well not to just pass out on the sofa on our off days. Maybe we need to aim a little higher. That t-shirt project sounds a little easier, though.
Forgive the digression. DSudoku, by Crescent Moon, the homebrew solution for your raging number puzzle needs.
If any system is well-suited to guiding chains of lemmings through levels filled with danger, it's the DS ... and thanks to homebrew developer Matt, that potential has been realized. LemProject brings a homebrew Lemmings game (based from the Amiga version) to the DS, with full stylus functionality and all the tools you need to build your own levels. And if you're the type who wants to dig around on the back end, it's all open source.
It's not perfect -- not all the old levels could be transferred to this game, there are a few reported bugs, and some people are pulling sad faces that it doesn't work with DS-X, but nothing's perfect. All in all, this looks like a great homage to a classic.
Now that the e-bookfloodgates are open, there's no stemming the tide. And thanks to the wonders of homebrew, we can move beyond sci fi and onto some heavy-hitting literary classics. One intrepid fellow named Brandon is working to format literature that is in the public domain for use with Moonshell, a homebrew media viewer/player for the DS, and his Moonbooks library already boasts works from Edgar Allen Poe, Thomas Malory, and Dante Alighieri.
The Moonbooks Project also features a heartfelt plea for Nintendo to develop their own plain text viewer, and to capitalize on the capabilities of the DS. We approve -- the DS is great for more than just games.
Yes, you read that correctly -- thanks to the power of homebrew, you'll soon be able to turn your trusty DS into an etch-a-sketch. This new DS motion card plugs right into the card slot and includes a 3-axis accelerometer and single-axis gyroscope functionality for a rich motion-sensing experience that you can take with you. But what can you do it with? Just think -- tilt sensing, gesture recognition, twist functions ... the possibilities for applications here is huge. There are already a few apps on ndsmotion.com that have been designed to work with the sensor card: the aforementioned DSaSketch, and two other simple games, Spout and Water Drops Tilt.
The DS motion card has not yet been released, but is available for preorder at the very reasonable price of $25. You need to already be familiar with homebrew and be able to run new apps on your DS, so if you haven't already done so, you might want to look into a handy tutorial to help you get started. Since this card won't be available until the first of the year, you've got some time! Until then, we'll just have to wait until someone gets their hands on one so we can see a full review of how well this is actually going to work. If it's even half as exciting as it sounds ... well, we just don't know if we could handle it.
Who wants to be the first to make a joke about Sony's tilt-o-matic PS3 controller now that the DS can perform in a similar fashion? We know someone is gonna do it ....
This demo for a new application, DSMidiWiFi, just looks incredible. Though the program is still in early stages, the potential for music creation is vast. DSMidiWiFi turns any DS into a wireless MIDI controller that can interact seamlessly with a computer or other DS units running the application. So take a few musically-inclined souls, arm them with a DS, and voila! DS MIDI band. Now we just need to get some people together to reproduce some Phoenix Wright jams ....
Check out the demo video after the jump, which also includes a quick glance at some of the other functions of DSMidiWiFi.
Just in case the last homebrew guide we told you about wasn't quite enough, now we've dredged up a video tutorial to help you on the path to custom content on your DS. This video shows you, step by step, how to use an SD card to get games purring cozily on your favorite handheld. So go ahead. We know where the fun is -- it's in your pocket. You just need to let it out.
Of course, the tutorial focuses on getting illegal DS ROMs from the web to your handheld. We prefer to give our money to Nintendo, since they are our video game overlords and thus own our fanboy souls. Every time you pirate a game, Miyamoto drinks the blood of a newborn kitten and grinds the bones to make his bread. And no one wants that. However, the principles are sound -- this is the same way one goes about loading homebrew games onto the DS, so the tutorial is worth a watch.
As if the current Sonic game available on the DS isn't enough, you can now look to the homebrew community for some ring-gathering, side-scrolling action. In the alpha build of his project SonicDS, coder Bonic's first game looks to bring the speedster's style and addicting action of old to the handheld. The current build is a very early version of the game and has many bugs, so be warned.
We've reported on the surprisingly well-established homebrew community on the DS; there's a whole wealth of wonderful applications you can coerce your DS into performing. To most, however, the prospect of "hacking" the DS is "scary", and despite some of the easier methods out there, it still seemed a little much.
Well, we no longer think it could get any easier. The newest device to come out of haX0r-land, the sillily named DS-Xtreme, is nothing more than a DS cartridge. It works as a simple mass-storage device ... simply move the applications or files to the cartridge using a USB connection, and poof, instant homebrew. It comes with a built in MP3-playback app, and it has two bitchin' LEDs for good measure (check out the embedded videos after the jump). The downside? It only contains 512 MB of memory, and it can't run anything built for the Game Boy Advance. Still, for the fence-sitters out there, this might be enough to push you over the edge. Check it out. [Sillily is so a word.]
Not long ago, we told you about a nifty homebrew application that brought a map of Paris to your DS. Now the developer brings you a map of the London underground as well, with the same stylus functionality that allows for easy navigation. If you're planning to travel in London, you can use this handy tool to help you navigate the labyrinthine transportation system. For travelers, Christophe Andreani is a homebrew artist worth keeping an eye on. There are a few other maps on his site, and likely more to come. We'll keep you updated!
Comic Book DS, a nifty little homebrew application, allows users to view comics or pictures on their DS. We haven't given it a whirl yet, but you can check out some impressions from 4cr here. Eric over at 4cr also gives a step-by-step rundown on how you can get your comics onto the DS, as well as navigating them through the application.
Personally, we're looking forward to scanning some of our Berserk mangas and having at it. Anyone else give the program a whirl?
Intrigued by the notion of playing old school games on your DS but don't know where to begin? Would you like to use your DS as a map or check out a free browser? Never fear -- no matter how technically challenged you may be, there's a solution for you. This time, it comes in the form of a beginner-friendly guide to checking out homebrew options for your very own Nintendo DS.
So what is homebrew? It's any unofficial application (game, program, or other) for a particular system. Still not getting it? Just think of these apps as homemade. Many armchair (and some official) developers see uses for the DS that go beyond Nintendo's vision for their system. That's where homebrew comes in. However, most systems (the DS included) are protected from such unofficial use, and so would-be users need to employ a workaround. This means that there is some element of risk, however small, when you turn to homebrew. Be careful with the things you put into your DS -- make sure they're tried and tested before you take a chance, and remember, you try these things at your own risk. And when you're just starting, it helps to have a guide. That's where the first s0rethumbs guide to homebrew comes in.
The guide takes you step by step through the process of preparing to use homebrew apps. After all, understanding is one thing -- actually taking the plunge is another, and the guide is very helpful when it comes to recommendations on what to get and what to do with it once you have it. While this guide covers the basics about preparing for homebrew and looping around the built-in protections, it doesn't get into applications. Baby steps, people. They're saving those things for future guides. So if you're looking to get started but haven't a clue what to do, check it out.
Sometime during this weekend, homebrewster Noda is going to release a new game based on the Tower Defense mod from Warcraft 3. By looking over the available screens for the game and going down the laundry list of promised features, we find ourselves excited at the possibility of some fresh RTS gameplay on our DS (we're RTS fiends).
How 
If any system is well-suited to guiding chains of lemmings through levels filled with danger, it's the DS ... and thanks to 
Yes, you read that correctly -- thanks to the power of 
This demo for a new application, DSMidiWiFi, just looks incredible. Though the program is still in early stages, the potential for music creation is vast. DSMidiWiFi turns any DS into a wireless MIDI controller that can interact seamlessly with a computer or other DS units running the application. So take a few musically-inclined souls, arm them with a DS, and voila! DS MIDI band. Now we just need to get some people together to reproduce some 
Just in case the last 
As if the current Sonic game available on the DS isn't enough, you can now look to the homebrew community for some ring-gathering, side-scrolling action. In the alpha build of his project SonicDS, coder Bonic's first game looks to bring the speedster's style and addicting action of old to the handheld. The current build is a very early version of the game and has many bugs, so be warned.
We've reported on the surprisingly well-established 
Not long ago, we told you about a nifty homebrew application that brought a 
Intrigued by the notion of playing 
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