Among its other many virtues, Ouendan owed a lot of its overseas hype and success to its undaunting language barrier. Despite the menus and manga panels being filled with Japanese text, importers were able to follow the rhythm title's illustrated screwball plots and quickly pick up its self-explanatory controls. Ouendan's recently-released sequel, Moeru! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2, likewise requires little-to-no familiarity with the Japanese language in order to enjoy the game.
Even with these assurances though, there are still many import-shy gamers who hide behind their mothers' skirts at the sight of kanji characters. Fortunately for them, the Platformers has translated Ouendan 2's menu selections, providing a visual guide with an overlay of English text. Most of the buttons and icons are obvious, but having a quick reference like this would be useful for first-time importers. Now there's no excuse for avoiding the cheer squad!
The European Touch Generations page has a rather nice interactive Flash presentation that demonstrates how to work a Picross puzzle. It describes an aspect of gameplay, demonstrates it with an animation, and then the user can click to the next lesson. Sort of like an animated Powerpoint presentation. At the end of the short presentation, you get a small Picross puzzle.
We actually had a pretty hard time grasping the Picross "strategy" before running this demo. So we can give an honest DS Fanboy Testimonial-- It Really, Really Works!
MODD3D.com has a pretty sweet mod right now where a DS Lite is overclocked in a fairly simple fashion. Now, modded DSes are in no way new to us, but an overclock like this is something we have yet to see. The mod itself is also fairly versatile, allowing the user to set 4 different speeds for their DS Lite (ranging from .66 time speed to 1.8 times speed).
We've embedded a video of it in action past the post break.
Ontama is a new rhythm game for the DS. Which is, really, all we needed to know for our hype-generating machine to go into full power. In case you hadn't noticed, we tend to get worked up about the musicgames.
Rather than telling little mini-stories like Elite Beat Agents, Noise Factory's new game seems to be a somewhat more stripped-down, arcade experience, with characters that seem to be limited to describing gameplay. We don't exactly know how the game works, but we can tell that you touch little round creatures (probably the Ontama themselves, since that translates to "sound balls" or "music balls") to send them into icons on the top of the screen; you then hit directions and buttons that correspond to those icons at the right moment, like Parappa the Rapper.
Enjoy the trailer after the break, and see if you can figure out a little bit more of what's going on.
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.
We love it when people makeartifacts to celebrate their love of games. We're fanboys (it's right there in the name!) so we totally understand DS fetishism. We're guilty of it ourselves!
One of the most practical ways to combine craft and gaming is thehomemadeDScase. Craftster member MariskaLovesCrafts designed this striking DS Lite pouch with a nice little pocket for games, and we love it. We love the pocket, we (unapologetically) love the floral design, and we love the colors.
Mariska went on to write up a tutorial for the pouch, which she then posted to her blog. Why not give it a try, if you're looking for a DS Lite case? We'll remind you that you aren't forced to use the color scheme and floral motif here, so feel free to make something more macho to keep your DS scratch-free. Perhaps an Elite Beat Agents theme?
As if there weren't plenty of ways to mod that old DS Phat of yours already, someone has figured out a little trick that allows you to use it as an extra pair of speakers. Using a line-in cable and his DS Lite as an audio source, GameTrailers user (and avid site reader) MaHe1 manages to bust out the mp3s while playing a little Mario Kart DS. Hmm, we wonder where else he could play Mario Kart DS ...
First the DS gets turned into an iPod, now flickr user sirljohns has managed to transform the original Game Boy into an iPod, effectionately calling it the iBoy. The folks responsible for the DS mod provided a video, something which sirljohns did not do, so we cannot comment on which has the better functionality. However, the geek-cred that comes from lugging the OG handheld itself around is something that one cannot easily ignore.
Anyone interested in doing this to their old Game Boy?
After receiving the gift during Christmas from a friend, reader 20XX decided to put his newly-acquired t-shirt creation kit to work, choosing to stamp the silhouette of our favorite ace attorney onto one of the included shirts. The end product is the shirt pictured above, which turned out pretty good. Anyone care to object?
As always, if you spot a cool DS-themed shirt online or, like 20XX made your own, let us know!
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.
The iPod craze is still at large and we have seen the Apple logo spread to some pretty unusual places. If you are one of the brave souls who tore yourself away from your PC and ventured into the world of Mac, but still want to play your pals in some online MP:H or Mario Kart, PocketGamer can help.
They have posted an easy to follow process in six simple steps that will help you plug back into gaming. This way, you won't have to hide your embarrassed face after finding out your Nintendo wi-fi connector doesn't work with OSX.
We've posted case-mods for the DS and DS Lite before, but most of said mods usually involve a skin or cover of some sort, leaving the original color (probably a bland white, right?) still seething underneath, like an angry hornet. If you've got the guts to mess around with some hardware, however, then listen up. Project SHOCK! is a full hard-case mod of the DS Lite, soon to be available in several different colors. The material is made of composite polycarbonate and plastic, so the standard "cheap feel" you get with standard mods won't apply here.
They're offering several colors for preorder, including yellow, white, black, red, blue, and our favorite, clear. They check in at a pricey $35.00 each, and require some additional tools as well. They've posted a tutorial for those interested in how to perform the mod, so check it out to see if you think you can handle the job.
We love seeing what you folks are doing with your DS Phats now that just about every color imaginable has been released (or is in the process of releasing) for the DS Lite. We've covered countless other nifty mods for the hefty handheld, and now we see a flickr user has decided to add a bit of an animal aspect to their DS Phat mod.
While leopard print has been associated with sexual promiscuity in the past and remains a stereotype of Latino culture today, we feel such an original mod cannot go without praise as it is a fresh and fetching design for the handheld. Kudos to flickr user Luc_is_god for the sweet mod.
If you don't have the convenience of a Wal-Mart in your area to purchase an alarm to wake you for your daily adventures or lack the money to buy one, yet have enough dough to get a DS, then by all means, use the alarm feature. Honestly we think it silly.
We didn't even realize there was a need to create a guide to set the DS alarm. It is pretty simple after all. Even if you don't know how to tell military time, Google can help you out in 0.07 seconds (we checked).
What do you all think? Can you even hear the DS to wake up? Do you use the DS alarm feature to rise and shine every afternoon to catch the newest episode of Project Runway?
Cody Musser's goal in life must be to aid those outside of Japan attain the wonderful products exclusive to that country. His work over at Modojo, the latest of which is gauging the top 10 handheld games to import for the DS, GBA, and that other portable thing. In bringing up such titles as Ganbare Goemon (Legend of the Mystical Ninja) and Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan! (Elite Beat Agents), Musser gets the DS Fanboy stamp of approval. We suggest you give the piece a read and check out his previous article on introducing gamers to importing.
Top 10 games to import:
Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan! - DS
DJ Max Portable - PSP
Bleach: Souten Ni Kakeru Unmei - DS
Mother 3 - GBA
Kessakusen! Ganbare Goemon 1+2 - GBA
Daigasso! Band Brothers - DS
Taiko No Tatsujin Portable - PSP
Kururin Paradise - GBA
Densetsu No Starfi 4 - DS
Tokimeki Memorial: Forever With You - PSP
[Via Go Nintendo]
[Update: All of the games do not come from Japan, as is the case with DJ Portable Max. We apologize for the oversight.]
Among its other many virtues, Ouendan owed a lot of its overseas hype and success to its undaunting language barrier. Despite the menus and manga panels being filled with Japanese text, importers were able to follow the rhythm title's illustrated screwball plots and quickly pick up its self-explanatory controls. Ouendan's recently-released sequel, Moeru! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2, likewise requires little-to-no familiarity with the Japanese language in order to enjoy the game.
First the DS gets turned into an 
Just in case the last 
The iPod craze is still at large and we have seen the Apple logo spread to some pretty unusual places. If you are one of the brave souls who tore yourself away from your PC and ventured into the world of Mac, but still want to play your pals in some online MP:H or Mario Kart, PocketGamer can help.
We love seeing what you folks are doing with your DS Phats now that just about every color imaginable has been released (or is in the process of releasing) for the DS Lite. We've covered countless other nifty mods for the hefty handheld, and now we see a flickr user has decided to add a bit of an animal aspect to their DS Phat mod.
If you don't have the convenience of a Wal-Mart in your area to purchase an alarm to wake you for your daily adventures or lack the money to buy one, yet have enough dough to get a DS, then by all means, use the alarm feature. Honestly we think it silly.
Cody Musser's goal in life must be to aid those outside of Japan attain the wonderful products exclusive to that country. His work over at Modojo, the latest of which is gauging the top 10 handheld games to import for the DS, GBA, and that other portable thing. In bringing up such titles as Ganbare Goemon (Legend of the Mystical Ninja) and Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan! (Elite Beat Agents), Musser gets the DS Fanboy stamp of approval. We suggest you give the piece a read and check out his previous article on introducing gamers to importing.
