You can start learning about the mind-bending N+ experience with our hands-on preview, effectively taking "the best platforming engine in Flash, ever," for a ride. The thing is, no matter how many screens and videos you ogle, there's plenty more brand new levels being created constantly. Best of all, the DS version is just as full-featured as any other installment, including a full level creator and Wi-Fi multiplayer. N+ should be a sure-fire hit when it's released in August.
E308: N+ media leaps deftly into our grasp
You can start learning about the mind-bending N+ experience with our hands-on preview, effectively taking "the best platforming engine in Flash, ever," for a ride. The thing is, no matter how many screens and videos you ogle, there's plenty more brand new levels being created constantly. Best of all, the DS version is just as full-featured as any other installment, including a full level creator and Wi-Fi multiplayer. N+ should be a sure-fire hit when it's released in August.
E308: Age of Empires trailer, now with less developer
If you feel a twinge of déjà vu while watching this Age of Empires: Mythologies trailer, then let us explain -- this "new" presentation actually contains the exact same commentary from Project Manager George Collins as in the developer diary that we previously posted. This time, however, there's a lot less Gordon on camera, and a lot more game footage, which is how we prefer it. No offence intended, Gordon. You're perfectly presentable! A fine figure of a man. We'd much rather look at the game than watch you talking is all.
We're just going to shut up now.
E308: Clone Wars: Small screens, long title
[Via press release]
E308: Pop Cutie does a little turn on the catwalk
Maybe it's because the new season of Project Runway is premiering tonight, but we're feeling extra fashionable today. That's why we checked out these new screens of Pop Cutie: Street Fashion Simulation, which Koei is localizing for North Americans in September. We imagine the whole time we play, we'll be using "WWTGD" as our mantra (you know -- "What Would Tim Gunn Do?").Pop Cutie is about more than clothes, though. It's about fashion battles and designer dog costumes, too, for starters. At the very least, it's definitely a fashion game for geeks, if we ever saw one. So, if you consider yourself a geek who has a thing for chic, check out the new screens and art in the gallery below.
Gallery: Pop Cutie
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E308: DS Fanboy hands-on with Away: Shuffle Dungeon
Continue reading E308: DS Fanboy hands-on with Away: Shuffle Dungeon
E308: More Bangai-O shots fired off
For the past few months, we've bombarded you with regular updates on Bangai-O Spirits like so many missiles. You might even say that we have an obsession, and you'd be right: we adore -- nay, love -- Bangai-O. If we were in charge of this scummy joint, it wouldn't even be DS Fanboy, but Bangai-O Fanboy. All employees would have to work while dressed as Riki or Mami. All readers would have to provide photographic proof that they owned the original, Japan-only N64 game.But we're not in charge -- we're snivelly, subservient slaves to our paymasters. So the most we can do is upload these ten new screenshots and hope that you view them.
Gallery: Bangai-O Spirits
[Via press release]
E308: Rhythm Heaven bumped by Cammie Dunaway's wrist
I just came out of an interview with NOA's senior director of corporate communications, Charlie Scibetta. I asked about the noted absence of big games like Kirby Super Star Ultra and Rhythm Heaven, which hadn't even been announced previously, at their big press conference yesterday. From what he told me, the omissions weren't really some kind of strategy, but just part of an effort to keep the show short."We're showing them here on the show floor. We're pushing those games hard. The short answer to your question as to why they weren't in the press conference is that you only have so much time in a press conference. If we included every single title and did demos of every single the reaction from the people at the press conference would be 'you went a little long.'
At least there's no anti-Rhythm Heaven agenda, as speculated by ... probably somebody. Scibetta also said that Nintendo is still committed to the current DS for the foreseeable future:
"The DS is also very successful, and in the June NPD data we think that the DS might overtake the Wii as the number one console for the month. It's selling great; we've sold 70 million units of that worldwide. As Reggie said in the press conference, we'll be close to 100 million by the end of the year. You're seeing the creative opportunity for developers. You see Spore, Guitar Hero, and now Grand Theft Auto were just announced for the DS. You see a lot of publishers excited about developing for that platform. And so, to think about cutting that short and moving onto the next console right away, we just don't see a lot of logic in doing that."
Gallery: Rhythm Tengoku Gold
E308: Populous DS revamps an enjoyable classic
XSeed is determined to get in our good graces by bringing niche joys to American DS owners, including titles like Korg DS-10, Retro Game Challenge, Avalon Code, and now Populous DS.
Let's take a look now at Populous DS, a game that's sure to sate your lingering god complex. Putting this classic on the DS is a good move, and we also appreciate the nice-looking animations thrown into the mix. Expect to find more gods to choose from in this DS iteration, each of whom have their own demon counterpart. Another nice feature is the four-player wireless offering, though we're not sure how many carts will be necessary (hopefully one). Those of us in North America can expect to see Populous DS release in the fall.
We also added a handful of new screens to the gallery if you'd like to check those out.
Let's take a look now at Populous DS, a game that's sure to sate your lingering god complex. Putting this classic on the DS is a good move, and we also appreciate the nice-looking animations thrown into the mix. Expect to find more gods to choose from in this DS iteration, each of whom have their own demon counterpart. Another nice feature is the four-player wireless offering, though we're not sure how many carts will be necessary (hopefully one). Those of us in North America can expect to see Populous DS release in the fall.
We also added a handful of new screens to the gallery if you'd like to check those out.
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E308: Chrono Trigger's controls explained
Oh, and I played it. The big revelation here is the touchscreen movement. The touchscreen (which displays an automap of the room you're in) basically acts as a big analog stick: hold the stylus toward the right of the screen and Crono moves right; hold it farther toward the edge and Crono moves faster. Tap, or run into something, to make Crono interact.
It's awesome if you want to have a really hard time performing basic movement operations in Chrono Trigger. But the traditional button controls remain more than adequate. It doesn't really mar the fact that it's OMG CHRONO TRIGGER. And battling on the touchscreen is perfectly fine -- you just touch buttons on a menu.
In other Chrono news, an SE rep told me that the translation (yes, it was the English version!) was new! And according to a statement given to Spencer Yip, the single-screen version just as it appeared on the SNES will be added to the cart before release.
E308: New screens, new art, New International Track & Field
These latest screens from Konami's New International Track & Field look like time lapse photography in four acts; we often seen the beginning of the event (a lone figure preparing for a run at the vault), the middle (the wind whipping through her hair), the climax (a double twisting Yurchenko, just look at it!), and the denouement (throw those hands in the air). Really, it's about the very essence of (super deformed) sports: glory. There's glory in these screens.Also, gymnastics.
Blue Dragon Plus website adds a new trailer
The "promise" we experienced with the Blue Dragon Plus website has been somewhat fulfilled, after being updated with a new Japanese trailer. While this isn't especially handy for English speakers, it does run for over three minutes, giving fans a good deal of gameplay footage, CG cutscenes and character art. We've managed to circumvent the awkward media player on the website and rustle up the trailer in all of its YouTube glory, so check it out and get your Blue Dragon nerve twitching.
[Via videogaming247]
E308: Konami booth tour in photos
Click to head into the gallery
Quantum of Solace screens look pretty bad
Yep, pretty much. Bond games have never lived up to the astronomical heights of GoldenEye 007, and we weren't really expecting a DS game to pull through and take the crown. Action games in general aren't the best for the touchscreen -- but we want to be proven wrong. Will Daniel Craig's portable outing be an exception to the laws of crappiness? Unnnnnlikely.Using your keen spy senses, examine the gallery and predict the fate of Quantum of Solace. The movie will be undoubtedly cool, but that might be all we can hope for.
[Via press release]
E308: Hamtaro tries extra hard to scare off older gamers
You shouldn't be ashamed if you're an adult (or even just a non-elementary schooler) who's played a Hamtaro game. People who've tried Ham-Hams Unite for the Game Boy Color or the GBA's Ham-Ham Heartbreak know that the sickeningly cute series can translate into a fun adventure game. Even Ham-Ham Games, which strayed away from the adventure formula and landed itself in minigame territory, wasn't half bad.Hamtaro's handheld history was enough to make us consider picking up Hi! Hamtaro Ham-Ham Challenge once it released on the DS, but E3 swiftly changed our minds. Throwing up and spitting out everything that made Hamtaro bearable in the first place, the new game is not only a collection of minigames, but it features educational ones designed for young children. Basically, it looks like Brain Age for five-year-olds, with cute little hamsters taking the place of Dr. Kawashima.
Don't fret, though, Hamtaro fans. There is another title based on the license that came out in Japan last year, which seems to return to the adventure-like goodness we know and love. Unfortunately, that's not the game releasing this summer, and that's not the game Natsume decided to show off at E3. Hopefully we'll see it get localized soon enough, so that we can forget Ham-Ham Challenge ever existed.
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E308: Atari and irritating celebrity chef combine for cooking game
It was, we suppose, inevitable. Nintendo's Cooking Guide released in Japan two years ago (as Cooking Navi), where it shifted a decent number of units. It recently emerged in Europe, and did pretty well there, too (it'll be coming to the U.S. this November). And what happens each time Nintendo releases a successful non-game? Answer: as sure as night follows day, (usually inferior) third-party alternatives appear.
That's what has happened here, with Atari following Nintendo into the cooking-with-your-DS arena. What's Cooking? with Jamie Oliver will feature 100 recipes (Cooking Guide has 245), space for 100 of your own, a shopping list mode, and competitive cooking games. It's very similar to Nintendo's game then (though apparently you can share recipes via WiFi), except you get to look at Jamie Oliver and his smug, squishy, Mockney face a whole lot more.
If, like this blogger, you regard Oliver as an affront to all that is decent about humankind, it might not be your thing. But it might be okay as a game.
[Via press release]
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