Just now, at the Nintendo Developers' Roundtable -- an apparent follow-up to yesterday's keynote -- Katsuya Eguchi announced that not only will players be able to transfer their characters and accumulated items from the DS version of Animal Crossing to the newly announced Animal Crossing: City Folk, but DS-Wii connectivity will feature in other ways as well. While we don't know all of the specifics (we tried to get clarification, but the Q&A wrapped too quickly), it sounds as though you can also use the DS to transfer AC data between Wiis if you don't have Wi-Fi.
Also planned for Japan (for now) is the use of DS Download Stations. Players will be able to download information to their handhelds and take it home for transfer to the Wii title. Sounds like this is meant to open up new buyable items, and Eguchi said they were hoping to bring that feature to the U.S. as well.
Yesterday's keynote wasn't the only big event on the calendar for Nintendo this week at E3. Right now, their second event, a developer roundtable -- private, low key, totally secretive in that everyone knows about it -- is about to get underway, and we're ready to bring you the big news as it rolls out. Check back for updates as we get them from DS Fanboy undercover ninja JC Fletcher, and in the meantime, let's speculate. Word is that something big will be announced ... but isn't that always how the rumors run? We'll have to wait and see. But don't worry -- as soon as we hear anything, you'll be the first to know! Now let's just hope there's something worth knowing.
Update: So far, looks like the same (Wii) titles from the keynote: Animal Crossing: City Folk, Wii Sports Resort, and Wii Music. Where's the DS love, guys? The love ... where?DS-Wii connectivity and transfers! Also, Joystiq is liveblogging the minutiae of this second conference.
You know how you spent the best part of two years tracking down every last bug, fossil, and fish (curse you, Coelacanth) in Animal Crossing: Wild World? Yeah, well Konami wants you to do it again. All of it.
<Insert evil cackle here>
Tongariboushi and the 365 Days of Magic is the company's latest DS venture, and is splashed across the pages of the latest Famitsu. It's already being labeled as a "clone" of Wild World by the internet, and although our inability to read Japanese means we can't confirm just how close it is to Ninty's cuddly life sim, the screens alone seem to suggest a very similar game. It pretty much looks like Animal Crossing: Wild World 1.1.
Not that we're complaining -- after all, Animal Crossing takes our socks and rocks them. It's easy to see why Konami would want to use Nintendo's title as a template. By the end of 2007, Animal Crossing: Wild World had sold over 4.5 million copies in Japan alone, while unofficial sales site VGChartz estimates worldwide sales to be close to 10 million. That's a whole lot of bells that could be sitting in Konami's account.
Hit the "Source" link below for a closer look at the full scan.
Remember that haaauuuuge list of Japan's 500 highest-selling games of 2007? Well, sorry, but you'll have to forget them all. Yep, every last one of 'em. That's because we now have a new list which is also claiming to feature the 500 best-selling games of 2007 in Japan. This one has been compiled by Enterbrain (the original was from rival data-gatherers Media Create), and it's ever so slightly different.
The good news is that, despite the origins of each list being different, the overriding message is still the same, and that message is: DS rules all yaaay. Both lists agree that Wii Sports was top dog, but the top DS games have been jumbled about. Now, for example, it is the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Explorers games that are top of the DS pile, while Mario Party DS drops to second. The changes are subtle, but definitely exist. Hit the break to see the top ten DS games!
There's no new DS software in the top of the charts to report this week, but that doesn't mean Nintendo's little handheld didn't completely clean house. In fact, nineteen of the top thirty were DS games, showing how gluttonous the dual-screened portable can get when it comes to sales. Some old favorites also popped back up around the bottom, including Brain Age 2, Animal Crossing, and the original Taiko Drum Master DS.
Hardware continues to be a struggle, though. That doesn't mean the DS is doing poorly, because it's not; sales for the handheld even jumped up almost 10,000 units since last week. However, since the PSP and Wii have been doing so well lately, it's hard for Nintendo's handheld to compete:
PSP: 89,884
Wii: 67,308
Nintendo DS: 51,228
PlayStation 3: 8,054
PlayStation 2: 7,464
Xbox 360: 1,298
We have no doubt that the DS will be on top again soon enough, but until then, you can check out the satisfactory software numbers posted after the break.
Nintendo is an odd company. While we won't argue the merits of doing something like this, we will argue that Nintendo could've used some new games. Confused? So are we, so let's break it down.
Basically, Nintendo is conducting an hour-long "beginner's class" with Animal Crossing: Wild World and Nintendogs, in the hopes that they can show people how great their really old games are. In all seriousness, we imagine the classes will mostly revolve around introducing the device to skeptical folks, as well as the ease of using the stylus on the touch-screen. It all takes place at ACMI, Screen Pit Room, Federation Square, Flinders Street Melbourne, so if you're anywhere near there this Thursday between 6:00pm – 7:00pm, show up and take some pictures.
For a continent that gave the world tiramisu, Audrey Tautou, and the Renaissance, Europe sure does disappoint us at times. Yep, it's another week of gray, predictable drudgery when it comes to sales of DS software.
All you truly need to know is that More Mario & Dr. Kawashima's Olympics Training sold really, really well, and almost everything we care about didn't. Except for Animal Crossing: Wild World, which popped in to the German top ten, and Mario Kart DS, which secured eighth place in Ireland, and fifth in Germany. So maybe the world isn't all that rubbish, after all. And if you really believe that, we advise you go and rent Eurotrip.
Something caused a Phoenix Wright sales revival, and we suspect it was the Gyakuten Meets Orchestra concert (which was also a Gyakuten Kenji hype event). Both the first and second Gyakuten Saiban games for the DS ended up in the top thirty this week.
Newcomer We're Fossil Diggers (a second-party effort by RED Entertainment that actually sounds really fun, at least to the dinosaur lovers in us) deserves all the glory, though. Debuting at third place, this unique piece of software did rather well for itself in its first week.
Besides the same old games that have been showing up in the charts for the past few weeks, the other notable is Square-Enix's dull-sounding bookkeeping game. It seems like a rather niche title to end up in the top thirty, but who knows -- maybe a lot of Japanese folks are getting ready to take the Level 3 Bookkeeping exam. Or, maybe they just can't resist a game by the beloved Squeenix.
To see all the placings and numbers for yourselves, just click on past the break.
In a strange turn of events, there's only one new DS game in Japan's top thirty this week, and that's Oshiri Kajiri Mushi's Rhythm Lesson DS. In case that title doesn't ring a bell, you may know it better as "that butt-biting bug game." If there's one thing we've learned from this bug, it's that biting is serious business. Despite Japan's love for DS software and quirky rhythm games, though, Oshiri Kajiri Mushi only debuted in the eighteenth spot. Perhaps butt biting is even too weird for Japan?
In hardware, the DS fell behind the PSP once again. Yet, there's already signs of the Monster Hunter hype beginning to dwindle, as the PSP sold 35,000 less units than the week before. Will the new brown model that comes out next week help the PSP keep a wide lead, or will the gap start to narrow again between the two handhelds? We're looking forward to finding out!
To see the Japanese placings and numbers, just check after the break.
In what is yetanother statistical landmark for the DS in its homeland, the data gatherers at Media Create have revealed that Japanese consumers have purchased their 100,000,000th Nintendo DS game.* Considering the handheld itself hit the twenty million mark only last November, we calculate that to be ... a pretty good attachment rate! In total, 922 titles have appeared in the region, 21 of which have been million-sellers. Hit the break for the top ten best-selling games to date.
* Rumors that the 100,000,000th game sold was Bangai-O Spirits are yet to be verified, and are suspected to have originated at popular Nintendo DS blog "DS Fanboy."
Sony dominated the first (and last) five in the top thirty software chart, but aside from that, everything else was Nintendo. The DS had fifteen games to represent it, but even if you added up the sales numbers for all those games, the total wouldn't come close to what Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G sold in its second week.
Pokemon Ranger: Batonnage was once again the best-selling DS game, but newcomer Tottado! Yowiko's DesertedIsland Life (which is about famous Japanese comedians being stranded on an island) did well, also. In hardware, the DS was crushed for the second week in a row by the PSP, which had its sales boosted by Monster Hunter and Star Ocean 2.
Hardware:
PSP: 120,964
Nintendo DS: 55,190
Wii: 44,618
PlayStation 3: 11,303
PlayStation 2: 10,423
Xbox 360: 1,452
To see the software listings, just check after the break.
At once? Then click the play button on the video above. But, be warned that this is ... well, it's weird.
Frankly, we don't understand why someone would do this. Sure, we want to hear every K.K. Slider song too, but we don't want to listen to them all at once.
Featuring charts from across the region, Another Week in Europe documents the buying habits and quirky tastes of a whole continent of DS lovers.
After a gray, unrelenting winter (for most of us in the unglamorous northern bits, anyway), the clocks went forward for Europe earlier this week, which we suppose means we're now fully immersed in spring (hence the daffodils, you see -- we really think longand hard about those pictures). Fittingly, the European sales charts are full of the joys of spring themselves!
Wait, no, hold on, we're lying again. Must stop lying. In reality, they're still pretty much unchanged from last week, with the one notable exception being Magic Made Fun (known as Master of Illusion in the U.S.) which debuted on the continent this week, where it reached 8th in Germany, and 7th in Spain -- we expected a little more from this sorcery sim, considering its catch-all appeal.
Featuring charts from across the region,Another Week in Europe documents the buying habits and quirky tastes of a whole continent of Wii lovers.
Germany, we salute you! This week's chart from the land of the brätwurst will make excellent reading for Nintendo of Europe. Not only is Super Mario Galaxy showing it has legs by making an appearance in the top ten, but the top nine -- NINE! -- spots are occupied by DS titles. The presence of New Super Mario Bros., Mario Kart DS, and Animal Crossing Wild World speaks volumes for the proud German people. With all of this in mind, a picture of one of Germany's favorite icons seemed like the only appropriate image for this week's edition of Another Week in Europe. Plus, we totally love Knight Rider.
Elsewhere, there's a significant DS presence in the UK, Irish, and Dutch charts, while Baby Pals could only crawl to a humbling 25th spot in Britain. Suddenly, everything seems right with the world. Full charts (minus the Spanish one, which failed to materialize this week) await you after the break.
First, watch this awesome video. It's an awesome video, right? A YouTube user 007craft remade The Legend of Zelda, from the first screen through the first dungeon, in the Xbox Live Arcade version of N+. It's wonderfully bizarre to see the screens so faithfully rendered in a completely different gameplay style. Simple things like reaching doors at the top of the screen become acrobatic struggles.
Have you ever used one game to recreate another game or its elements? Maybe you've edited all of the textures in your Animal Crossing town, Drawn Mario to Life, or composed some game music in Mario Paint. When you get access to an in-game editor, is making references to other games the first thing you do?
Remember that haaauuuuge list of Japan's 500 highest-selling games of 2007? Well, sorry, but you'll have to forget them all. Yep, every last one of 'em. That's because we now have a new list which is also claiming to feature the 500 best-selling games of 2007 in Japan. This one has been compiled by Enterbrain (the original was from rival data-gatherers Media Create), and it's ever so slightly different.
For a continent that gave the world tiramisu, Audrey Tautou, and the Renaissance, Europe sure does disappoint us at times. Yep, it's another week of gray, predictable drudgery when it comes to sales of DS software.
Something caused a Phoenix Wright sales revival, and we suspect it was the Gyakuten Meets Orchestra concert (which was also a Gyakuten Kenji hype event). Both the first and second Gyakuten Saiban games for the DS ended up in the top thirty this week.
In a strange turn of events, there's only one new DS game in Japan's top thirty this week, and that's Oshiri Kajiri Mushi's Rhythm Lesson DS. In case that title doesn't ring a bell, you may know it better as "that butt-biting bug game." If there's one thing we've learned from this bug, it's that biting is serious business. Despite Japan's love for DS software and quirky rhythm games, though, Oshiri Kajiri Mushi only debuted in the eighteenth spot. Perhaps butt biting is even too weird for Japan?
Sony dominated the first (and last) five in the top thirty software chart, but aside from that, everything else was Nintendo. The DS had fifteen games to represent it, but even if you added up the sales numbers for all those games, the total wouldn't come close to what Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G sold in its second week.
Featuring charts from across the region, Another Week in Europe documents the buying habits and quirky tastes of a whole continent of DS lovers.
Featuring charts from across the region, Another Week in Europe documents the buying habits and quirky tastes of a whole continent of Wii lovers.
