Lately, it seems that for every tiny, persistent doubt that Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword just won't play quite right with the stylus controls, there's a preview that reassures that it in fact does. This time it's the fine folks at 1UP who got a chance to go hands-on with the action title, and they report that, not only is the game smooth and intuitive, with few hitches, but it will also be longer than gamers expected. Good news all around!
The only real issue, according to Matt Leone, comes with navigating Ryu Hayabusa's world when there's no ass-kicking to be done. Moving about an enemy-free environment seemed more awkward than combat, but Leone is willing to admit it may just be an adjustment period inspired by the speed of gameplay at every other moment.
Still not convinced? Then you might want to check out the videos we've tucked away after the break. It's a mix of new and old footage, extended sequences of some things we've seen before, and combined with what we've seen and heard about the controls, it should be enough to make anyone excited.
Ninja fanatics will be glad to know that a new title based on NARUTO is on its way to the DS in the form of NARUTO: Ninja Destiny. And, even better is that the title is due for release next month. It's no secret that those of us outside of Japan really have no kind of great fighting game (although we're hoping that changes eventually), so any kind of suitable title in the genre is something we're definitely fine with.
By promise, we really mean fist-fighting a snake. When a trailer has something of that magnitude within it, we're forced to pay attention. All of the survival stuff we can take or leave, but fist-fighting wildlife in a video game is too cool for school. It's only a step away from piledriving a shark.
So, what do you all think? Does Lost in Blue 3 look promising?
This lengthy new video offers not only a good look at the controls for Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword, but it's got more airborne action than a damn Nike commercial. Not that this is a bad thing; we're ready to get our bounce on, particularly with a pimped-out preorder sword stylus.
Along with the video, which includes a lot of regular gameplay, beyond the focus on the controls, we've got a pack of new screens for you to ogle in our gallery below.
Aksys' latest Super Dodgeball Brawlers videos take us to Germany, the land of Deutsches. Boasting a six-man squad of supermen, Team Germany has its own array of power throws to show off.
Those of you who've been following Aksys' updates should already know what to expect from this new set -- clips without sound or any lasting entertaining value. Also, while each of the eight special attacks shown varies in its style of dodgeball delivery, the result is always the same -- dudes getting beaned in the face. Not very exciting, but it's Super Dodgeball Brawlers!
When YouTube user efeffewgre assembled the above compilation, he could have just included Metal Gear Solid music. Seriously, that would have been enough for us to watch this from beginning to end.
Instead though, he went the extra mile, by also including a detailed look at the power struggle in Japan between Nintendo and Sony since 1996. And he did it in pie charts. We love pie charts, we love Metal Gear Solid music, and we love watching how the red of Nintendo has slowly consumed the blue of Sony over the last dozen years. Ladies and gentlemen, this is our YouTube clip of 2008 so far.
Promotional Consideration is a weekly feature about the Nintendo DS advertisements you usually flip past, change the channel on, or just tune out.
Given the anticipation for Advance Wars: Days of Ruin, at least among hardcore gamers, it's surprising that Nintendo hasn't launched an advertising offensive by now -- bombing strongholds with print ads, ambushing our television sets with commercials, and running its usual propaganda campaign.
But with less than two weeks away from Days of Ruin's release, we've yet to find the game advertised in any of the magazines we've cracked open, and the only commercial we've seen so far is the poorly thought-out one embedded past the post break.
You'll all be familiar with Dr. Kawashima by now, right? Angular, disembodied head, constructed entirely from polygons? Can't miss him. Oh, hai Dr. Kawashima!
Anyway, the video above introduces us to his arch-rival in the rapidly expanding world of Nintendo non-games. Round of face and blue of hair, math genius Dr. Kageyama may look like a slightly different proposition to Dr. Kawashima, but his reassuring words and friendly tone makes one think of the Brain Training doc, and that in turn makes us want to relearn all of that long division we forgot in our late teens. Or until we get bored of doing so after, like, three minutes. Math ain't our thang, see. We am writers.
Any of you European folk plan to get your math on when Professor Kageyama's Maths Training launches next month?
Bill Tangeman clearly has a pretty high tolerance of cramp, if his highest score on Geometry Wars: Galaxies is anything to go by. But what really gets us about the above video is that he could have gone on and on and on and on and Ariston, until he developed Carpal tunnel syndrome reached whatever score he damn well pleased.
As it happened, he was happy to settle for a piffling 5,000,000,000, a total that saw Bill top the regional Galaxiesleaderboard. We're slightly dismayed to learn there's a difficulty ceiling in the game, but it's safe to say that we're quite a distance from breaking it.
We don't have long to wait now, but for the legions of Advance Wars fans watching their calendars with a peculiar hunger, every moment without it is agony. Perhaps this latest video footage will serve as a soothing balm for the pain of ticking off every second between now and the game's release. Ah, if only it were longer! Instead, maybe you can flip through our gallery really quickly to create your own sort of stop-motion preview.
You may have noticed that we're big fans of the look and setting of the upcoming buggy noir adventure Insecticide. Why? We like the slick look, the setting, and the humor ... all of which seem pretty adult to us. So color us a little surprised at this new trailer, which is all about children playing Insecticide and loving it. It makes sense, sure. We hear kids sometimes like bugs, and the game is rated ten and up. It's just not what we expected, but we can get on board with it. There's nothing quite like the delighted giggles of children watching bug-on-bug violence.
We're going to be let down by any and all Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games advertising that doesn't feature bellowing from now on, but that doesn't mean we don't want to see more footage of the game. This latest trailer features some fencing and ping-pong, but also provides us with a good look at the "Dream Race" event, which is basically Mario Kart without karts.
More than anything, Sega's bizarre fixation on "rubbing" is on display here. Having already created two games built around the idea of rubbing (so much so that "rub" appears in the titles of both in Europe), Sega is using the term to describe the screen-digging back-and-forth technique used in most of these games. We don't mind -- our screen works hard and deserves the occasional massage.
We thought we weren't that into the DS version of Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games. But Nintendo has fully convinced us that the game is amazing and worth our time, using some innovative marketing. The first commercial here both influences our reaction to the game and mirrors our reaction to the commercial itself.
First, we just watched, from the perspective of a player, as he tries the hammer throw the first time. The controls are easy to figure out, and he's swinging at a pretty good speed almost immediately. Then he releases the hammer and AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! GO HAMMER! We love this game now. We want to buy the yelling-at-stuff sports game when it comes out on the 22nd. We'll be first in line to yell at all the retail employees.
Promotional Consideration is a weekly feature about the Nintendo DS advertisements you usually flip past, change the channel on, or just tune out.
The following DS Lite ads were taken from a series of Nintendo-sponsored station identification pieces (idents) aired over a year ago on Channel 4. For those of you unfamiliar with idents, they're short spots, often themed, stuck in between television shows to help "brand" the channel. In the case of this set, the UK public-service TV station bookended its comedy programs with Japanese theatre-styled advertisements for the DS's features and games.
They're some of the most creative commercials we've seen for the handheld, so don't skip this post!
Like the blinking dodgeball traveling two miles per hour in this short clip, Super Dodgeball Brawlers' release this coming spring continues its slow approach. Before you know it, the game will crash right into your face, leaving an imprint of your surprised expression on its box before sending you flying out of the arena.
Aksys has eight new videos in its latest Super Dodgeball Brawlers update, this time demonstrating the "super throws" from the "super tossers" of Team England. Once again, the clips are soundless and, in our opinion, not too exciting, but we'll take what we can get; we're just happy that the game is being localized at all!
Lately, it seems that for every tiny, persistent doubt that Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword just won't play quite right with the stylus controls, there's a preview that reassures that it in fact does. This time it's the fine folks at 1UP who got a chance to go hands-on with the action title, and they report that, not only is the game smooth and intuitive, with few hitches, but it will also be longer than gamers expected. Good news all around!
