IGN recently conducted a nice Q & A session with Team 17, the studio behind those little gun-toting worms. Since the game is due to hit your local retailer any day now, they aimed to get some final tidbits of information out of them before getting their hands on a final copy and slapping up a review.
Team 17 goes on to say that they indeed did have plans to take the game online via Nintendo's WiFi service, yet the development time did not allow for it. They do, however, confirm that they've already begun work on another Worms title, so let's hope they've decided that it will utilize the service.
G4TV has a video preview of the upcoming Metroid Prime Hunters, showcasing some of the other bounty hunters in the game, along with revealing a certain boss that Samus engages during her travels. While it's light on the content in regards to what's actually in the game (GASP!), all of the juicy multiplayer footage and cinematics should be enough to motivate you to head on over and check out the video.
It's almost here; who else is preparing to slam on some chumps? Which bounty hunter are you most looking forward to try?
Blogger Mike Zornek has hit the nail on the head when it comes to friend codes and upgrading to the DS Lite once it hits a local retailer near you. Since your Wi-Fi ID is dependant upon the combination of hardware and cartridge, popping in Mario Kart or Animal Crossing: Wild World for some WiFi action won't will only allow you to connect to your existing list of friends after some tweaking and transferral between your original DS and the new one.
Thankfully we all have wonderful sites like DS-Play to help make the transition easier.
[Thanks Mike!]
[Update 1: Oops! We totally forgot that you can transfer your Wi-Fi ID to your new DS via the Wi-Fi settings menu. Just don't sell your old DS before doing so! Thanks to our invaluable readers for rightly reprimanding us!]
With March in full swing, it's finally time for Nintendo to begin placing mysterious, oblong structures in various game stores spread across the North American continent. Emitting undetectable Wi-Fi beams, these innocuous-looking kiosks promote a very subtle form of mind control, implanting the desire to move closer, switch on your DS and download trial versions of "fun" upcoming games. There's no telling how many hours and relationships may be lost to this devious scheme.
In the interest of public safety, we must locate each and every one of these so-called download stations (Japanese version pictured to the right). It is with this goal in mind that we call on you, our astute readers, to help us track these monstrous devices down and warn other readers of the potential dangers that lurk within their nearest shopping complex. The task is simple: If you spot a DS download station in your area, send us the location or, even better, a picture of the beast as it whirs discreetly in the used games section. Please make use of our tips form to submit the information.
Once the sightings start rolling in, we'll post a weekly update (more frequently if required) informing you of the latest discoveries and their locations. Keep an eye out and above all, be careful out there. We can't afford to lose more souls to that Tetris DS demo.
Upon hearing that the NYC Nintendo Store had begun hosting a DS Download Station, Gaming Steve rushed to the scene with a phat DS in hand and some Brain Training in mind. After failing to find the actual station, a shocking truth was revealed: The Wi-Fi signals are coming from inside the store.
The omnipresent power of Wi-Fi flooding the building quickly enabled him to latch onto the download service and grab some demos. Download time is reported to be very quick indeed, though 15 seconds may seem like an eternity when you're waiting to play Tetris DS. The linked article also contains some impressions of the various demos and you'd do well to check them out if Nintendo still hasn't gotten around to dropping of a Wi-Fi kiosk thing at your local mall.
Oh disconnectors, how we loathe thee and thy cowardly response to defeat. According to an interesting interview hype piece at the official Nintendo site, Metroid Prime: Hunters will be keeping track of those who disconnect from a Wi-Fi game in an effort to avoid tarnishing their online records. Mario Kart DS was another game that fell victim to this "strategy", a fact that has encouraged Nintendo to implement and liberally dish out "chump points".
"We track a stat that the game calls Connection Percentage, but that I've been calling the Chump Meter. It keeps track of anyone who boots off. So, if I'm beating some kid and he tries to disconnect to avoid the loss, he'll be punished for that. When he turns the game back on, the game will know what happened and it will then hand out some Chump Points."
The game will also be able to distinguish between intentional disconnections and the forgivable ones caused by your router unexpectedly exploding. This is certainly excellent news that will soothe many a temper, especially considering that Metroid Prime: Hunters is likely to be one of the most aggressively competitive games on Nintendo's Wi-Fi service thus far.
And they're all playing Mario Kart DS. Shortly after a dramatic website countdown hit six digits, Nintendo has officially announced that their Wi-Fi service has managed to ensnare over 1 million hapless users. According to Reggie Fils-Aime, all those users represent more than 27 million game sessions. That's certainly an impressive number, but we expect it to grow even further once Metroid Prime: Hunters finds its way into the hands of eager online gamers. The total number of hours that will be lost to Nintendo's Wi-Fi nexus in the next few months is nigh incalculable.
This Earthbound-ish game has been in the news before, mostly due to it being one of the first online-ready RPGs to emerge from the colorful recesses of Japan. Contact, which centers around the adventures of a young man trying to reassemble a wacky professor's spaceship, has now been picked up for localization by Atlus. Given that some of the prominent team members who worked on Trauma Center: Under the Knife will be helming this title, we expect it to be a fine localization indeed.
We'll be posting more information on the title and its exact online capabilities as soon as we get it. Needless to say, we've already been won over by the promise of animal-training mini-games. We love those.
So anxious for the impending release of Metroid Prime Hunters that you're on the verge of a mental breakdown? Of course you are. Intent on devouring every last bit of information about the game that spews forth from the dark recesses of the Internet? Yes, that's you alright. Want to check out the IGN forums and discover a hands-on report, brimming with both major and minor details? Obviously, you do. Getting annoyed by this terrible question-answer approach to what should have been a simple introductory paragraph? Most definitely.
One of the IGN staffers posted some of his early experiences with the game and we have to admit--there's plenty of information to glean here. The game's scan-happy single-player section is supposedly looking superb, a revelation that is sure to put many Prime fans at ease. Well, at least until they get to this part: "And that's exactly what Hunters is: a FPS. None of this First-person 'adventure' crap." Hmm.
Other highlights include:
Samus starts the adventure with all her equipment intact.
Overall playtime of the single-player portion is just under the Gamecube's Metroid Prime.
The game has a "Rival Radar" mode which tracks a rival's stats on the web. It works a bit like Nintendog's "bark" mode.
19 multiplayer arenas are present in the tested version.
Each player gets a "Hunter's License". Penalties will be incurred on that following a forced disconnection.
In order to initiate voice chat, the X button must be held down.
It's almost here.
[Thanks, dwarpdesign!]
[Update: Corrected "a" typing error.]
Though they weren't due until next month, an avid Flickr user has discovered that the Nintendo DS download stations are already operational in the Nintendo World Store in New York City. After enterting the store and hitting "Download Play" in the DS' main menu, she grabbed a trial version of Brain Age, strangely ignoring the presence of Tetris DS.
It shouldn't be too long now before the download stations roll out to the rest of the US and bathe countless gamers in free software, videos and deadly Wi-Fi radiation. If you see these glorious structures appearing in your area, let us know!
In Engadget's most excellent interview with Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo's name gathering, posterior assaulting VP of Sales and Marketing, it was revealed that we shouldn't be completely caught by surprise should Nintendo decide to release yet another DS redesign. If you count the model originally unveiled at E3 2004, this future model would represent a 3rd redesign--not that it would stop us from buying it, apparently.
"Look at how many times we’ve improved on the Game Boy Advance in terms of the look, the feel, screen changes, and everything else. We believe that type of constant innovationis critical to driving this industry [my emphasis], and certainly if you look at the world wide sales of Game Boy Advance, I don’t think anyone would disagree." HOLD IT! Your Honor, there is clearly a contradiction in this story! (...At least I hope so! The whole controversial case is riding on this...) Are we to believe that the act of repackaging and updating the aesthetic qualities of a platform, however attractive, is now considered to be a form of innovation? In the past, the witness has attacked the competition on the same grounds, complaining that they were simply releasing shinier and better versions of previously popular products. The implication was that their approach was the wrong kind of "innovation"! I suggest the witness revise his testimony! (Uh oh, Edgeworth has his serious / constipated face on. I hope he realizes I'm only referring to the actual hardware, not the games!)
Food for thought, or lousy leftovers? Be sure to follow the link for the entire interview.
According to a listing on retailer EBGames.com, Nintendo is about to unleash a new Nintendo DS bundle--this time starring everyone's favorite anthropomorphic town simulator, Animal Crossing: Wild World. Of course, by new Nintendo DS bundle, we really mean old Nintendo DS bundle. We're afraid there's no Lite at the end of this $149.99 tunnel.
Though we don't have any official word, signal or sign of a US release as of yet, it hardly requires mentioning that we're excited about the upcoming Opera DS web browser. A small nugget of information we missed the first time around is that the program will be shipping with a memory expansion pak that slots into the GBA port. According to site CVG, it's meant to provide a "more pleasurable browsing experience". Naturally, we have to infer that this means that more porn can fit onto your DS.
Nintendo also points out that the cartridge will not be used to enhance games...yet. Though the extra RAM could undoubtedly be put to good use in some games (see: N64 memory expansion), we're not sure how keen DS owners would be to buy an extra accessory in order to play certain games. Your thoughts?
Footage from a Japanese TV news program detailing the DS Lite and its forthcoming web browser and TV tuner add-ons is now available online for your deeply personal watching pleasure. The clip contains plenty of DS Lite action shots, a brief demonstration of the Opera browser and above all, an unmatched level of politeness.
Infendo has some of the specifics regarding the recently announced Opera web browser for the DS. First of all, it will not support Java applets, Flash or PDF files, a bit of a bummer if you were particularly keen on watching animations or reading laborious technical documents on your DS.
The pint-sized version of Opera will allow for two browsing modes, namely "fit to width" and "DS mode", a zoom function and bookmarking (don't count on RSS support). It'll also be able to recognize your handwriting, allowing you to transform written URLs into text and forego the kind of slow and clunky on-screen keyboard you may find on other portable systems. A final note points out that the browser will be fully compatible with both variants of the DS.
The Opera DS browser has its Japanese debut sometime in June, with a US appearance sure to follow shortly.
IGN recently conducted a nice Q & A session with Team 17, the studio behind those little gun-toting worms. Since the game is due to hit your local retailer any day now, they aimed to get some final tidbits of information out of them before getting their hands on a final copy and slapping up a review.
G4TV has a video preview of the upcoming Metroid Prime Hunters, showcasing some of the other bounty hunters in the game, along with revealing a certain boss that Samus engages during her travels. While it's light on the content in regards to what's actually in the game (GASP!), all of the juicy multiplayer footage and cinematics should be enough to motivate you to head on over and check out the video. 
Blogger Mike Zornek has hit the nail on the head when it comes to friend codes and upgrading to the DS Lite once it hits a local retailer near you. Since your Wi-Fi ID is dependant upon the combination of hardware and cartridge, popping in Mario Kart or Animal Crossing: Wild World for some WiFi action 
With March in full swing, it's finally time for Nintendo to begin placing 
Upon hearing that the NYC Nintendo Store 
Oh disconnectors, how we loathe thee and thy cowardly response to defeat. According to an interesting 
And they're all playing Mario Kart DS. Shortly after a dramatic website countdown hit six digits, Nintendo has officially announced that their Wi-Fi service has managed to ensnare over 1 million hapless users. According to Reggie Fils-Aime, all those users represent more than 27 million game sessions. That's certainly an impressive number, but we expect it to grow even further once Metroid Prime: Hunters finds its way into the hands of eager online gamers. The total number of hours that will be lost to Nintendo's Wi-Fi nexus in the next few months is nigh incalculable.
This Earthbound-ish game has 
So anxious for the impending release of Metroid Prime Hunters that you're on the verge of a mental breakdown? Of course you are. Intent on devouring every last bit of information about the game that spews forth from the dark recesses of the Internet? Yes, that's you alright. Want to check out the IGN forums and discover a hands-on report, brimming with both major and minor details? Obviously, you do. Getting annoyed by this terrible question-answer approach to what should have been a simple introductory paragraph? Most definitely.
Though they weren't due until next month, an avid Flickr user has discovered that the 
In Engadget's most excellent interview with Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo's name gathering, posterior assaulting VP of Sales and Marketing, it was revealed that we shouldn't be completely caught by surprise should Nintendo decide to release yet another DS redesign. If you count the model originally unveiled at E3 2004, this future model would represent a 3rd redesign--not that it would stop us from buying it, apparently.
According to a listing on retailer EBGames.com, Nintendo is about to unleash a new Nintendo DS bundle--this time starring everyone's favorite anthropomorphic town simulator, Animal Crossing: Wild World. Of course, by new Nintendo DS bundle, we really mean old Nintendo DS bundle. We're afraid there's no Lite at the end of this $149.99 tunnel.
Though we don't have any official word, signal or sign of a US release as of yet, it hardly requires mentioning that we're excited about the 
Footage from a Japanese TV news program detailing the DS Lite and its 
Infendo has some of the specifics regarding the 
