We were pretty skeptical of Mario Party DS, having been nonplussed by the previous portable Party (and most of the console versions, as well). In fact, we had resigned ourselves to just not being Mario Party people. But then we saw this commercial, with its bouncy, nonsensical Kidz Bop song, and ... let's just say we were successfully advertised to. If the song is in the game, we're definitely buying it; if it's not, we're still buying it to show our support of the song.
At first we thought this must be some other region's crazy Mario Party commercial with the speech overdubbed into English. It appears on the American Mario Party DS website, though, which means that it must be a U.S. commercial. Is the song even ... language?
According to GameFront, Mario Party DS had an alright first day of sales in Japan, selling over 90,000 copies of the game. While it isn't as impressive of a first-day showing Nintendo would have liked to see for a game with Mario on the cover, it's not exactly the worst sales day for a game, either.
As of now, projected estimates see the title selling between 200,000 and 400,000 in its first week.
Due to release later this month, we can't wait for Nintendo's franchise to hit the DS. We're like incredibly crazy right now, anticipating this stress-reliever like we would anticipate a cure for some kind of deadly disease. We need some Mario Party DS in our lives and we care not who knows.
Are you guys as anxious as we are? If so, hit up our gallery below for some fresh screens, which number in the ridiculous. If not, well ... we aren't BFF anymore.
A new trailer for Mario Party DS has hit the intertrons and where it lacks in length, it more than makes up for in content. The trailer gives us a glimpse at everything we would want to see, from navigating the game board to a look at some of the different minigames that make up the title. Clearly, this is going to be a Mario Party to remember.
The Japanese Mario Party DS site is open, and full of screens, videos and general festiveness. There's some information about the different multiplayer modes of the game, which include Party Modes such as 4-player Battle Royal, 2-on-2 Tag Matches, and duels. All of them are just playing minigames against other people, but it's nice to mix it up however possible.
There are also Minigame Modes, which are different from the Party Modes in some way, and include Free Play, Battle Mode, Score Attack, and more. Extra Modes include Color Territory and Draw and Catch, both of which seem to involve capturing squares on a big board via winning minigames. One thing this website makes clear is that there are a lot of modes. We're happy to see Hudson putting so much effort into keeping this Party fresh.
JeuxFrance has put up a slew of new Mario Party DS screens, depicting some of the different minigames and game boards within. Mario party DS is easily one of our most anticipated titles for the DS and we're incredibly anxious to get our hands on it and see how the gameplay transitions to the handheld.
Be sure to hit up JeuxFrance and check out 16 fresh screens.
The non-disclosure agreements have just expired on what was shown at last week's Nintendo of America Media Summit; naturally, within seconds the Internet has become flooded with information about new games. Rather than post each trailer individually, we've decided to embed the newest DS trailers from this event into one roundup post-- because we're Bloggin' Cowboys!
We're anxious to see how the Mario Party franchise will translate to the DS. While the nature of the titles can easily lend themselves to the handheld gaming scene, the whole multiplayer aspect of it might lose something there. Especially so as the state of Wi-Fi Connect compatibility is still up in the air.
After hitting up our gallery below, be sure to head past the break for a scan.
Though we still aren't sure whether Mario Party on the DS will feature Wi-Fi multiplayer or not (though we so hope it does), we're still happy to check out new screens as they're released. Though the game is due next month, we really haven't heard a lot since E3. Then again, beyond the issue of multiplayer modes, is there much to say? We know the format for the game -- after all, we may have played a little Mario Party here and there over the years. And from the screens, particularly these latest, we know it looks good. So bring on the party!
... but all good things must come to an end, eh? It's always nice to wallow in the explosion of news that surrounds a trade show, and even the diminished E3 was no exception. Sure, for Nintendo fans, at least on the DS side, things started out a little slowly, but once the media hit, we no longer had anything to be disappointed about! So what was tops for DS owners? Here's the best -- according to us, at least.
Top E3 trailers:
Contra 4 -- After all our Contragasms, you knew we were going to say this!
Front Mission DS -- What can we say ... we're big fans of ass-kickery.
Brain Age 2 -- We know you'll probably disagree with us here, but we can't help it. We a) dig a good, brainy challenge and b) think the selection of games looks even better than before.
Less-discussed games we desperately want right now:
Professor Layton and all his mysterious locales -- Okay, we wanted this before. But it was mentioned in passing around E3, and now we're more rabid for it than ever!
Nintendo Magic -- Another game we weren't sure would head our way, but that just sounds like fun.
Advance Wars 2 -- The first is one of the best the DS has to offer, though it seems to rarely get a mention.
Worst trailer that should have been awesome:
Insecticide, hands down. Please pass us some Dramamine on your way out.
Biggest disappointment:
Probably the missing wi-fi for Mario Party DS. C'mon, Nintendo, slip it in there! We promise not to complain about friend codes for at least a week.
One is all new as of E3, and the other got a great media boost ... and together, they're about as different as DS games can be and still be played by roughly the same groups of people (and also have the potential to be any good at all). So, c'mon, we've beenherebefore. You know what we're going to ask. Which one sounds like the game you'd prefer, if you had to choose? Contra 4 or Mario Party DS?
Posted Jul 11th 2007 7:40PM by Eric Caoili
Filed under: News
With so much emphasis put on The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass and casual games during this afternoon's media briefing, Reggie neglected to mention a few titles that I'm sure gamers would've loved to have heard about. News of Advance Wars DS 2, for instance, was hidden in a European press release, dated for the fourth quarter. Freshly Picked - Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland, starring everyone's favorite cosplaying fairy, was also quietly announced for this September 14th in the same report.
On the North American side, Nintendo revealed that it will be publishing Professor Layton and the Curious Village on December 3rd, the same day Super Smash Bros. Brawl is expected to hit store shelves. Two previously unannounced titles, Nintendo Crossword and Nintendo Magic, were also listed. Follow the link below to see what other first and third-party games are due for the remainder of 2007.
Well, call it a controlled explosion, kinda like a smart bomb -- but we're still pretty pleased to see some sweet new media from a brand new DS game. Er, mostly new, considering it's a franchise title. Still, Mario Party on the DS sounds like a winner, though we would prefer more than just local wireless play. Mario Party could only make Game Night that much more fun, amirite? Oh well, enough complaining -- check out the images in our gallery and the spankin' new trailer after the jump.
There's a party going on tomorrow and the Tanooki got a sneak preview of the decor. It's a full-on Super Mario themed bash, complete with all the stuff you'd expect to find in a Mario game. This fantastic Chain Chomp piñata is just waiting to be smashed, hopefully by a jumping kid in a Mario costume. Seriously, if there's an invite going free, we'd love it.
Head past the break for the giant Pirahna Plants and chocolate coins!
Due to release later this month, we can't wait for Nintendo's franchise to hit the DS. We're like incredibly crazy right now, anticipating this stress-reliever like we would anticipate a cure for some kind of deadly disease. We need some 
The Japanese 
JeuxFrance has put up a slew of new Mario Party DS screens, depicting some of the different minigames and game boards within. Mario party DS is easily one of our 
We're anxious to see how the 
Though we still aren't sure whether 
With so much emphasis put on 
_thumbnail.jpg "Matchman")
