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Posts with tag Tomy

New Naruto trailer is a step in the right direction


While we're still far from being obsessed with Naruto, the latest DS game did manage to catch our eye. Even after giving it some play time at GDC, our very own JC wrote that he found it was "openly an attempt by D3 and Dream Factory to pretty up a disappointing Japanese Naruto game -- the surprising thing is that it worked.". Suffice to say, we're going to keep our eye on the next game.

And here it is, Naruto Shippuden: Shinobi Retsuden II. As you can tell from the trailer above, the game is polished. We don't have to tell you again that we're excited for this, do we? What do you all think?

GDC08: Naruto: Ninja Destiny sneak-attacks with quality

Naruto: Ninja Destiny is quite a surprise. It's openly an attempt by D3 and Dream Factory to pretty up a disappointing Japanese Naruto game -- the surprising thing is that it worked. Screens and trailers don't convey the shockingly beautiful graphics, which run at a constant 30 fps. Developer Dream Factory upped the framerate and changed the graphical style to a more cel-shaded look for the American release. It worked! I don't usually have much motivation to be personally interested in a Naruto game, but I was somewhat convinced by the appearance.

As for the gameplay, it's an openly mash-friendly 3D fighter, controlled with the d-pad and buttons. There are two attack buttons, a jump, and a special "jutsu" attack that uses energy from the chakra meter. The jutsu attacks are these huge flashy sequences of attacks. The touch screen holds a random assortment of recovery and booster items that restore health, chakra, and also have other in-game effects.

The game comes out next week, so we don't have long to wait until we find out if longterm play is as fast-paced and fun as it is in brief gameplay sessions.

Gallery: Naruto: Ninja Destiny

It's your destiny to see this Naruto trailer


We've kind of been gushing over this game since getting our eyes on it for the first time. That's not because we're huge Naruto fans or anything, but because Naruto: Ninja Destiny looks like it could be a great fighting game, which is something the DS needs more of. Oh, how we like our fighting games.

Any of you out there excited for this, as well?

Gallery: Naruto: Ninja Destiny

NARUTO: Ninja Destiny gets beefed up for North America

Even though Japanese gamers know their way around a video game, it would seem that Tomy and D3 are doing all they can to make sure NARUTO: Ninja Destiny is better than its Japanese cousin when it arrives in North America. What they've done is smoothed out the framerate, increasing the tension of combat. Nobby Matsuo, the associate producer from Tomy , says "the gameplay experience markedly different is what you would be used to if you played the Japanese version in terms of the button responses, attacks and the speed of the combat. It's a lot more frantic, it's a lot faster." Hey, we're all for fast combat in a ninja-based game!

Other improvements include an overhauled story mode, where the North American storyline is completely different from the Japanese version of the game. The single player campaign will take place between episodes 100 and 140.

Gallery: Naruto: Ninja Destiny

NARUTO: Ninja Destiny hits stateside next month


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.

Head past the break for the full press release.

Continue reading NARUTO: Ninja Destiny hits stateside next month

Use your imagination and pretend you have an actual toy

What's more enjoyable for little girls than playing with a fashion doll? Playing with a fake fashion doll on the DS, of course! Licca-chan DS allows kids to play with an inferior, poorly-rendered, digital version of the popular Japanese doll, for what is likely to be a greatly increased cost!

Drawing clothing designs and turning them into dresses for the doll is about the only benefit to this thing. You can make a fake cake with the fake doll, but is it really going to be any better than Cooking Mama? Or just a regular cake? There's no other reason to choose this over a normal plastic doll. Well, actually, we don't know anything about fashion dolls, but we can't imagine purchasing a DS version of, say, a Spider-Man action figure.

Oh, we just realized who the audience was for this thing-- people who want to play with dolls, but don't want to be seen playing with dolls. In other words, girls who are slightly too old for Licca-chan.


Ninja Council votes to lower its price

This discount for Naruto: Ninja Council 3 only two months after its release probably isn't a good sign, but if you're a fan of the blonde-haired ninja, you were probably planning on picking this game up anyway. Might as well do it now while Amazon has its price cut down to $19.99! The online shop makes a point to ship all orders totaling over $25 for free -- it's how they get you -- so try to muster up $5.02 worth of stuff to take advantage of that offer.

Understanding that this anime/manga license has been around the block more than some of our ex-girlfriends, we've embedded a trailer for the game past the post break to jar your memory. Apparently, you can expect to fight a butt-ton of ninjas.

Continue reading Ninja Council votes to lower its price

New Naruto video is ninja-fortified


So have you guys heard about this Naruto thing? Apparently there's this show about a bunch of ninjas, and they like hang out together but also totally fight and there's headbands and stuff. The absolute coolest thing about Naruto is that it's the basis for a series of side-scrolling brawlers, known as the Ninja Council series in the US.

This officially makes the Naruto license awesome, because all side-scrolling brawlers are at least slightly awesome by default. Of course, it is already well-established that ninjas are cool (and by cool we mean totally sweet.) Jeux-France has a substantial gameplay video of the latest Ninja Council game, Naruto Shippuden Saikyo Ninja Daikesshu 5, as well as some magazine scans. We suggest checking them out even if you're not a fan of the series, because it is always life-affirming, in our opinion, to see a good old-fashioned beat-em-up.

Magic 8-Ball says: 'Signs point to disturbing'

Even StarFox's furry-friendly backdrop couldn't hold a candle to Fortune Channel, Capcom and TakaraTomy's latest installment to the puppy-fashion Wantame series. Predicting the future with minigames certainly sounds interesting, but we would rather not have to dress up virtual dogs in provocative outfits during the process.

The miniature daschund posing on the right is probably the second most unsettling image of a dolled-up animal that we've ever come across. If you want to see the most unsettling image -- and we're not kidding around here, your eyes may very well hop out of their sockets, scampering away at the mere sight of this one -- step past the post break.

Continue reading Magic 8-Ball says: 'Signs point to disturbing'

100% awesome Naruto footage

How does Naruto rate such incredible graphics? Yeah, we know, loads of people read, watch, and love Naruto, and that's fine; we support a love of ninja goodness in all things. But licensed games are just supposed to be there for our entertainment. Oh, we don't mean the gameplay. They're supposed to be, y'know, bad. It's a rule. But you know how those mischievous teenage ninjas can be. They don't like rules. They like violence and hey! So do we. So it's convenient that this game is going to be all about kicking ass.

The original video at Jeux France is definitely higher quality, but a version popped up on YouTube (just some color fading, not losing a lot) that we've embedded after the jump. Watch it here, watch it there, watch it anywhere -- just don't miss it.

Continue reading 100% awesome Naruto footage

Nintendogs trainable plushies

Just when you thought the Nintendogs franchise had gone as far as it could go, here comes one of the most clever uses of the license yet -- trainable toy dogs based on breeds from the games. There are two types; the simpler Trick Trainer Pups come with a magnetic bone that can be used to guide them through tricks. The more elaborate, aptly-named Interactive Play puppies do just that -- they interact by wagging their tails when they're stroked, howling when you howl, and some will even snarl and growl during a game of tug-of-war. Toss in a slipper-chewing feature and it's almost like having a real dog!

The plushy pups debuted last week in the UK from retailer Tomy and through Amazon UK for 9.99 (about $20 USD) for the Trick Trainers and 24.99 for for the Interactive Play Pups. Check out the commercial after the jump. We just hope you don't have to play with them every day to keep them in line ... take the dogs out of the video game and there's no telling what they'll get up to.

Continue reading Nintendogs trainable plushies

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