As medical science suggests that a steady regime of Pringles, pizza, and Coca-Cola is not a suitable diet (pfft!), this blogger is looking forward to learning healthier recipes from Cooking Navi (or, as it's known in PAL regions, Cooking Guide: Can't Decide What to Eat?). After all, I'd quite like to live beyond forty, and my current repertoire in the kitchen (omelettes, toast, cereal) may prove an obstacle to that aim.
These first nine screens of the localized western version are all in French (which feels appropriate, given that country's culinary reputation), but it's not hard to see that this non-game caters to a range of skill levels -- for example, I actually know what Spaghetti Carbonara is! There'll be 200 recipes in total, with each informing users of the calorie count and preparation time. Hit up our gallery for more delicious screens.
We know many of you enjoy the Bleach. Whether it's the anime, manga, or very capable fighting game on the DS (and, we suppose, on some smaller level, the cleaning product), you folks are fans. In fact, you all just might convert us!
And with the Japanese sequel finally making its way to North America, we're pretty close to taking the plunge and checking out what you all have been going on about. In the meantime, we'll have to settle for the new Bleach: Dark Souls screens in our gallery. Give them a look yourself, then tell us why we need to be as excited about this game as you are!
In what seems like a very appropriate promotion, Namco Bandai will offer a specially-labeled wine to tie in with 99 no Namida, the game featuring short stories designed to elicit tears. Go ahead and start crying now unless you'll be in Tokyo between June 5 (the game's release date) and June 30, because the 99 no Namida wine will only be available in the Vinoteca wine bar located in the Tokyo Midtown area.
Banamco also announced that soccer star Naohiro Takahara had contributed a story to the game based on his own experiences. Short story writer Yasushi Akimoto also revealed that he had written one of the game's tales. Is this the first original short fiction anthology video game?
Level 5's Inazuma Eleven looks utterly fantastic. Combining a sports title with RPG themes, that alone was enough to sell us on the game. Of course, it also doesn't hurt that Level-5 is developing it. Looks like Japan will find out how awesome Inazuma Eleven is this August.
For those of you who're as intrigued by this title as we are, know there is some new media around the net. First up, Game Watch has some lovely screens for you to check out. After that, get some full-motion excitement from the extended trailer up at GameSpot Japan. After that, we'd suggest changing your pants. We had to.
Read - Inazuma Eleven trailer at GameSpot Japan
Read - Inazuma Eleven screens at Game Watch
Famitsu has revealed the next Castlevania game for the DS, confirming recent speculation over Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia. Judging by the screens in the scan above, those mysterious shots from last month were the real thing. The magazine also divulges the involvement of Koji Igarashi, producer on Portrait of Ruin and Dawn of Sorrow. As in those games, there will be support for two players, though the exact nature of the multiplayer (local play? WFC?) remains a miserable little pile of secrets.
And that's it for now! Leap past the break, whip in hand, to see another snippet of a scan.
Lately, there's been a lot of discussion over whether or not Nintendo is planning a redesign of the wildly successful DS Lite. The rumors surfaced, and were drowned in a wave of denials ... but those denials were suspiciously similar to the things we heard when Nintendo was busily denying the move from Phat to Lite prior to the launch of the newer model.
Nintendo redesigns things, especially when it comes to their handhelds. They love to launch the new model, the smaller, better design, and it seems likely that they'll continue that cycle with the DS. But will we see it this year? That's the question on the table today, and we'll look at both possibilities. After that, it's up to you to decide whether or not Nintendo will announce a new DS this year.
Ever since MySims Kingdom was revealed, we've been patiently awaiting details regarding the title. Now, we've got a bit more to go on, as EA lets us know what this game is all about. It is "a story of adventure, discovery and exploration to help King Roland and his subjects revitalize the Kingdom." Okay, sounds simple enough.
The DS version of this game, specifically, will offer several different mini-games and very much resembles Animal Crossing. EA's Rod Humble (is that not an awesome name?), whom heads up The Sims division, said MySims Kingdom will contain "rewarding quests, building houses, bridges or even making contraptions powered by electricity or water." It sounds like the title will have a lot of customization options, however we wonder if it won't be the simple little game that EA promised it would be back at launch. Is this not getting to be a bit too big for a casual title?
Be sure to hit up our gallery below for first screens from the game.
If you already read Japanese really well, that is -- because Touch de Nihao is a Chinese language-learning program for Japan.
Touch de Nihao is a utility program designed to help Japanese people get around in Chinese (Mandarin, we assume). It features a translation function that translates words written on the screen, as well as subway maps of Shanghai and Beijing.
The screenshots seem to show some sort of lessons, as well, or a dictionary organized by subject. The screen here, with the, uh, thing enjoying a beverage, is titled Nomimono (drinks) -- indicating some kind of subject page.
We probably won't see an English-Chinese version of Touch de Nihao, but we'd like to. We're fans of DS language learning.
Posted May 14th 2008 8:45AM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: News
Sega's Touch Darts was released in Europe last summer, but Sega didn't make any sign of releasing it in the U.S. Agetec has stepped in and picked up the publishing rights for the game, planning to release it next month. Agetec really knows how to spot easy localization jobs -- first LOL, and now this, which was already in English.
Touch Darts is exactly what it sounds like: darts, played on the touchscreen. It is not a game about poking your fingers, although that would be totally hilarious and weird. But despite just being a game about regular darts, it sounds feature-rich: it includes four modes: tournament, challenge, quickplay, and multiplayer, with four-player single-card gameplay. Challenge mode is dart-tossing minigames that provide variations on the basic rules of darts.
We're pretty sure they won't, but we'd be amused if Agetec planned to release the dart stylus along with the game.
One of the best things about the DS is not only does it have an incredibly large library of amazing games, but it also has several cool training titles. Things such as Cooking Navi, Let's Yoga and even Nintendo's Brain Age games, as well as the upcoming English of the Dead all offer users something other than a time sink. They offer real tips for changing or improving one's life.
That got us thinking about how many of you out there have improved your own life through these kind of self-help titles. Have you found your brain power increased through regular Brain Age use? Have you improved your vision with Flash Focus? What training titles have you used to enhance your life and how has it improved?
Because let's face it: you won't be rescuing that Triforce as a pile of ash. In fact, now that we think some more about this, these wouldn't be much good in the Water Temple either, or anywhere that is remotely windy (thus ruling out the Isle of Gust).
Heck, maybe these papercraft Links would just be safer making our desks look totally rad. Glad we agree.
If you're into the homebrew scene and you're not playing Pocket Physics, you should be. Not only is the game (or non-game, depending on how you view it) incredibly charming, but it also has a lot of great features. Take, for example, the ability to save your creations.
As you may or may not know, we're big fans of user-created content, so we're always curious about what kinds of levels other people are making. Now, though, we don't have to just settle for curiosity. Thanks to return1's Pocket Physics dump, players of the homebrew can both upload their creations and download other users' content conveniently.
There are already seventy-five files available at the site, so you'll definitely be able to feed any physics-engine addictions that you may be suffering from.
All of you Pokemaniacs out there, unbridled excitement was undoubtedly yours when the rumor broke out that a new Pokemon title is on the way. Seeing as how the franchise enjoys incredible amounts of success with each new release, it would be foolish to think that a new Pokemon game is not going to be headed to the DS.
Then, we all got our eyes on a blurry scan from CoroCoro Comic. And, the world changed. But, we're glad to report, some good soul managed to snag a better version of the scan and uploaded it for all to see. So, knock it off with the squinting and check out the clear view of Pokemon Platinum.
The ancient prophecies foretold of the one time someone would put a custom painted DS Lite on eBay and it would not look terrible. This Hero of Painted DS Lites, now revealed as viper640_0 from the idyllic POWER SELLER VILLAGE, whose earlyeffortslackedmagic.
Now, however, he has acquired the Airbrush of Paint and defeated the Impulse to Use Questionable Color Schemes, and has returned from his quest with the Triforce of Pretty Good Paint Jobs. And, uh, he's selling it on eBay. We would be proud to carry this DS Lite around in Hyrule or even somewhere that existed.
Every once in a while, GameFly throws a storewide sale our way. Fortunately, now is one of those times -- until May 19th, at least -- so it's worth checking out the used games that the site has to offer. Whether you're looking for something fun to play during Game Night or just want to pick up a cartridge that you don't already own, there are a lot of noteworthy titles available.
Here are some that we found intriguing, either because they're awesome games or they're just too cheap to resist (or some combination thereof):
As medical science suggests that a steady regime of Pringles, pizza, and Coca-Cola is not a suitable diet (pfft!), this blogger is looking forward to learning healthier recipes from Cooking Navi (or, as it's known in PAL regions, Cooking Guide: Can't Decide What to Eat?). After all, I'd quite like to live beyond forty, and my current repertoire in the kitchen (omelettes, toast, cereal) may prove an obstacle to that aim.
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In what seems like a very appropriate promotion, 
Level 5's 
Ever since 
If you already read Japanese really well, that is -- because Touch de Nihao is a Chinese language-learning program for Japan.
Sega's 
If you're into the 
All of you Pokemaniacs out there, unbridled excitement was undoubtedly yours when the rumor broke out that 
