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Posts with tag RTS

It came from the Internet: Robocalypse trailer


Between this and the Xbox Live Arcade Poker Smash trailer, a vintage-B-movie-trailer fad seems to have taken off! We are more than okay with this development, as trailers like these, with sharp narration and goofy text, are infinitely more entertaining than, say, the "moving DS" trailers.

This trailer for Robocalypse outlines the storyline, which is just your basic "robots take over, humanity fights back by putting the brains of WWII vets into some other robots, who then lead the battle" thing. Total cliche, right? Much like the trailer, the personality in the game helps distinguish it from all the strategy games that seem to be piling up on the DS.

Gallery: Robocalypse

Anno 1701: Discovered early?

Anno 1701: Dawn of Discovery isn't scheduled to land on North American shores until March 4th, two weeks from now, but several Canadians are reporting that they've already spotted copies of the strategy game in the wild. And by in the wild, we actually mean in Best Buy and Wal-Mart.

We won't hold it against you if you're unfamiliar with the title -- it's a port of a German RTS in which players settle and maintain an 18th century "New World" colony. In Europe, where the history comes from the DS game has been available in stores since last July, reviewers have given Anno 1701 very positive reviews, applauding its depth, touchscreen interface, and four-player multiplayer mode. Sail the ocean blue, right past the post break, for a four-minute trailer for Anno 1701: Dawn of Discovery.

Continue reading Anno 1701: Discovered early?

DS Daily: Download stations

With Majesco's environmentally aware RTS, Eco-Creatures, scheduled for the next DS Download Station update, we're reminded of how great it is that we can actually try out some handheld games now before buying them. And it's not all Nintendo-developed titles, either -- third-party manufacturers are putting out demos for quality titles, too.

So, have you taken advantage of Nintendo's DS kiosks yet? Or are you waiting for Nintendo to finally bring Everybody's Nintendo Channel to North American Wiis so you can download demos without ever leaving home?

Eco-Creatures demo to come to a DS download station near you


Should you know the location of a DS Download Station near you and want to give Eco-Creatures a whirl, then today is your lucky day. Majesco has revealed that a demo of the game will be hitting DS Download Stations in the United States starting this month. The demo will be available at over 10,000 stations located in major retail locations throughout the country, residing on units until the month of May (where these cute and cuddly creatures will no doubt have to hibernate for the upcoming winter).

Gui Karyo, Executive Vice President of Operations for Majesco says the company is excited about this, stating that "Eco-Creatures now joins the ranks of Cooking Mama, Cooking Mama 2: Dinner with Friends and Cake Mania as a phenomenal game launching with the support of a great demo available through the Nintendo kiosk program." He adds "We are confident that anyone who tries Eco-Creatures will be compelled to pick up the full version once it ships and help save the world from ecological disaster."

Are you going to be running out to your local download spot to give this a try?

Gallery: Ecoris

Robocalypse reminds us that our failing economy is the least of our worries [update]



Did we not warn you that this would happen? Did we not explicitly state that our mechanical slaves would one day rise and turn their iron claws against us? Well, that day of retribution has finally come -- humanity has been living on borrowed time, and the robots have come collect.

Developed by Russian New Jersey studio Vogster, Robocalypse -- or Kaboom Kaboom, as it was previously known by -- is an RTS armed with a humorous script penned by Spongebob Squarepants writers Jay Lender and Micah Wright. According to the plot details released so far, automatons have been accidentally programmed with military routines (Why do people keep doing this?!) and are now out to destroy the human race. Another batch of droids with implanted "brain scans of retired WWII vets" have been sent out to fight back the rebel robots and delay our inevitable extinction.

As every RTS on the DS should, Robocalypse will feature versus and cooperative modes for 2-4 players online when it ships out this spring. You can expect complete touchscreen control, 20+ unique weapons, 10+ distinct robot types, and "hero characters" with special powers like Conversion, the ability to turn enemies into refrigerators. You can check out Robocalypse's official site or hit the gallery below for screenshots, artwork, and a logo.

Gallery: Robocalypse


[Update: While Vogster has a development studio in Moscow, Russia (and one in Kiev, Ukraine), the company is based in Saddle River, New Jersey.]

[Via press release]

StarLite blinks out

We all knew it was coming, but that doesn't make StarLite's cancellation hurt any less. The developers behind the unofficial DS port of StarCraft have taken down all traces of the homebrew game, apologizing with a short note: "For legal reasons, we must abandon this project."

It's no mystery what transpired -- Blizzard's lawyers zerg rushed sent a Cease and Desist letter to the aspiring programmers, just after they released an update to the RTS with multiplayer support. It was fun while it lasted, wasn't it?

"Didn't we almost have it all?
When love was all we had worth giving?
The ride with you was worth the fall, my friend.
Loving you makes life worth living.
Didn't we almost have it all?"

Gallery: StarLite


[Thanks, Dana!]

'My god, it's full of StarLite updates'

Despite the legal quandaries that often follow these unsanctioned projects, progress continues on StarLite. This update (version 0.03) to the homebrew StarCraft game for the DS introduces two important features to the RTS port: 3D sprites and a local multiplayer mode.

This limited build seems more buggy than usual -- we couldn't even get it running on an emulator -- but if you have two sets of DSes and flashcarts handy, you should be able to test out StarLite's two-player setup by following this series of steps:
  1. Download Starlite.nds and equipe.txt
  2. Copy StarLite.nds onto both of your flashcarts
  3. Copy equipe.txt onto the root of one cart, making sure the only text in the file is the number "1"
  4. Copy equipe.txt onto the root of another cart, making sure the only text in the file is the number "2"
  5. Boot up the DSes and load the game on both systems
  6. Mutter with satisfaction, "Excellent," while tenting your fingers

Gallery: StarLite

Days of Ruin official website advances on the internet

It goes without saying that the end of the world won't be a good time. If it's anything like the apocalypse presented in Advance Wars: Days of Ruin, we'll probably spend most of our time crying in a corner while a big, burly man named "The Beast" tell us "tough beans!"

If you can handle such harsh words, though, then you should head on over to the official Days of Ruin website. The site, which launched this weekend, has a new video and some old screens, with what seems like more to come.

You might also notice that the website lists a January 23rd release date, which is two days later than we expected the game in the U.S. If this date is accurate, we suppose we'll just have to wait a little bit longer for our post-apocalyptic war romp.

[Via Advance Wars Net forums]

Famitsu treats us to more Blue Dragon


Click image to enlarge

The latest issue of Famitsu didn't only have some interesting stuff regarding Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword, but also a spread on Mistwalker's upcoming DS entry Blue Dragon Plus. And, as intrigued as we were when it was initially thought to be a card-based game, we're now even more interested in what the game will bring to the DS. Sakaguchi never disappoints, after all.

I wish I may, I wish I might: Starlite 0.02

We're just as surprised as you are that Blizzard hasn't sent these guys a cease-and-desist letter yet, but the developers of StarLite, the unofficial StarCraft port for the DS, have put out an update (version 0.02) for the homebrew project.

While the demo's changes are few -- a new tileset (Jungle), improved collision management, and a bug fix for overlapping buildings -- and it still has its share of early-alpha glitches, it's great to see that the RTS port wasn't immediately abandoned after the first release appeared and showed so much promise. You can download and try out the ROM yourself to see how the port is coming along, or you can check the revised gallery we've embedded below!

Gallery: StarLite

Eco Creatures trailer shows that saving our planet is the thing to do

From watching trailers of Eco Creatures, we've come to learn that having an army of squirrels is the best way to go about saving the environment. What we've also learned is that Eco Creatures might be a pretty fun game. There's a certain charm about this giant orange protagonist (Dorian) and his squirrel army, out to stop industrial harm from polluting and destroying their forest. Besides, how many other environmental RTS games can you say you've played? Also, multiplayer battles with level-create aspects are always a plus.

We can't say that we're champing at the bit for this game, but, at the very least, we're looking forward to it. How about you all?

Wish upon a StarLite: StarCraft homebrew

Yes, dreams can come true. With no official plans announced for a DS port of StarCraft or any of Blizzard's other PC games, two French homebrew developers have begun working on bringing the popular RTS to the handheld themselves, titling the game StarLite.

A limited demo (version 0.1) is available for you to test out in an emulator or flashcart of your choice, and, while it's clear there's still a lot of work ahead for the project, it's impressive how much the two-man crew has already accomplished in just three weeks of development. So far, players can select and direct units via touchscreen, build simple structures, and produce additional units. There are even a few enemy troops to attack.

The team plans to continue their work, eventually implementing the rest of the units/structures and a WiFi ad-hoc multiplayer mode for two players. To do all that, however, they'll need some help from several more programmers, so don't be afraid to volunteer your skills to the effort! Hit the gallery below for more early screenshots from StarLite.

Gallery: StarLite

WRUP: Squad-based vehicles edition


This week, the new releases pretty much deal with squad-based combat or vehicles exclusively. So, if you aren't down with that, you're likely to not be picking up a new game. But, have no fear, as the holidays come next week and you're likely to receive some kind of gaming gift, if you were a good boy or girl. There's that to look forward to as you spend the weekend without a new game.

So, what are you playing?

A closer look at Blue Dragon


The deluge of pre-Jump Festa info continues, and with it comes a three-page spread on Blue Dragon, complete with new images. Unsurprisingly, there's a lot of blue in the pictures. Who'd have thought?

We've seen and heard a lot of rumblings about whether or not Blue Dragon can make the leap from console to handheld, but it's worked for so many other games and franchises that we don't have any major worries. Certainly it will look good, but after the mediocre reaction to ASH, we've got fingers crossed concerning the game play. We'll have to wait a bit longer to see that, however. For now, you can check out the scans after the break.

Continue reading A closer look at Blue Dragon

Blue Dragon DS nothing to do with cards after all



Remember those vicious rumors regarding Blue Dragon DS being a card-based RPG? Well, looks like they may have been wide of the mark, as a new scan gleaned from the pages of Japanese publication Shonen Jump suggests otherwise. Instead, the magazine describes the game as a "real-time simulation RPG," a label that brings to mind the recently released Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings. Whatever the hell Mistwalker's game is -- and the screens do suggest a kind of real-time strategy/RPG hybrid -- there's certainly no mention of cards.

Pleasingly, that March 2008 Japanese release date seems to have held, which surely means we'll have more information on this in the not-too-distant future. Go past the break for the Shonen Jump scan.

Continue reading Blue Dragon DS nothing to do with cards after all

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