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Square Enix creates the most boring training game ever

Posted Nov 21st 2007 11:30AM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: Screens, Imports

The latest DS Style program from Square Enix is, well, square. They've managed to reach profound new levels of non-game-ness with this one, whose name translates roughly to Pass the LEC Level 3 Bookkeeping Exam By Studying Seriously. That's right, it's Bookkeeping Training.

But not just any Bookkeeping Training. This program is designed in cooperation with Legal Mind, an education firm that focuses on professional certification, to help students pass the Level 3 Bookkeeping exam. In addition to a DS translation of Legal Mind's 10-day lecture course, the game includes exclusive DS-based interactive activities, which promise to be less fun than video games, but more fun than just taking a bookkeeping exam preparation course.

Square Enix continues mapping the world

Posted Nov 9th 2007 10:40AM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: Screens, Imports

Apparently Square Enix did decent business on the first series of World Walking travel guide things, or at least made back their teensy budget. Maybe the team knows a guy who travels a lot and has a poor sense of direction. Whatever the reason, they're expanding the line, with another set of DS cards with maps and helpful cultural information.

The World Walking non-games provide travelers with maps with landmarks and touristy points of interest marked. They also include pictures of attractions, information about local culture and food, and even niceties like dual time zone clocks. Oh, and also minigames, but you surely knew that.

Read - World Walking: Shanghai
Read - World Walking: England
Read - World Walking: Seoul
Read - World Walking: Hong Kong

DS Style screens for travelers

Posted Sep 6th 2007 1:10PM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: Screens, Imports

Screens of three new Square Enix DS "games" have made it to Famitsu. Before you get too excited, these are not new RPGs or anything, but rather three of the World Walking programs in Square Enix's DS Style series. There's sort of an upper bound to the enthusiasm that can be generated by maps, unless you're a cartographer, we suppose.

In the absence of megaton-level hype, we'll just say that these programs look very well-designed and incredibly useful for Japanese travelers. We love that they keep time for Japan and for the destination region, and we quite wish our maps were more automated, searchable, and compact.

Read - World Walking Taiwan
Read - World Walking New York
Read - World Walking Hawaii

Dragon Quest IV and others playable at TGS

Posted Sep 3rd 2007 5:45PM by Eric Caoili
Filed under: News, Imports

It's nice to see that even though Nintendo won't have a booth at the Tokyo Game Show this year, our favorite handheld will still be properly represented at the convention by companies like Square Enix (Sanuk Software, too!).

Square Enix has announced its sequels, remakes, spin-offs, and casual titles the company plans to present at the event, most notable on the list -- at least for us -- being a playable Dragon Quest IV. Dragon Quest IX, recently pushed back for a 2008 release, will only show up in video form. Check past the post break for Square Enix's full list of DS RPGs and Style Games for TGS.

Continue reading Dragon Quest IV and others playable at TGS

Would you like to read impressions of the DS Style series?

Posted May 14th 2007 7:30PM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: News, Imports

Game|Life's Chris Kohler got a chance to "play" with the DS Style collection at the Square Enix Party, and came away with positive impressions of the title we're most interested in: the classical music program which he translates as Would you like to listen to classical music on the Nintendo DS?

The program sounds pretty interesting: it contains 100 pieces of music, a shuffle feature, and information and images related to each piece. It also gives users information about buying the music on CD.

Kohler's impressions of the other titles weren't as positive, but it didn't sound like there was anything wrong with them. He just couldn't summon up the excitement for looking at maps.

Get serious with new DS Style screens

Posted May 9th 2007 11:00AM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: Screens, Imports

We're expecting a load of news when the Square Enix Party starts. For now, we've got new screens from the DS Style series, which is obviously too serious for parties. Specifically, new screens were released of Flower Blooming DS: Gardening Life, Shall We Listen to Classical Music on the DS?, and three World Walking map programs: Italy, France and Taiwan.

We could kind of see picking up a DS map program instead of a guidebook when we go on vacation, since we tend to take the DS with us anyway. We are definitely feeling a strong urge to buy the classical music "game" as well, since it's being developed by iNiS. Smart move, Squeenix.

Continue reading Get serious with new DS Style screens

DS Style details emerge-- screenshot-style

Posted Apr 6th 2007 1:00PM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: Screens, Imports

The first screenshots of Square Enix's DS Style series of nongames have shown up, and they look ... well, functional. The problem with nongames is that it's impossible to build hype for something that is used just for looking at a map of France, or teaching yourself yoga, even if the software in question is extremely well-designed.

These screens answer the biggest question we had about the series: how could a game about listening to classical music possibly fill two screens meaningfully? The answer: dog animations and quizzing you on your feelings about the music.

Continue reading DS Style details emerge-- screenshot-style

Square Enix brings lifestyle titles to DS

Posted Apr 4th 2007 12:00PM by Eric Caoili
Filed under: News

Continuing its praiseworthy support for the Nintendo DS, Square Enix has announced DS Style, a new line of software for the casual gaming audience. According to the latest issue of Famitsu, the company is venturing away from its RPG franchises for a moment, focusing instead on leisure activities like yoga, classical music, and gardening. It might not sound as exciting as SRPG battles or Chocobo mini-games, but different strokes for different folks.

Square Enix will also be releasing DS travel guides based on the popular World Walking tour book series in Japan. These guides will provide maps and other useful information for sightseers visiting countries like France or Thailand. Check past the post break for the full list of destination guides and verbose titles from Square Enix's DS Style lineup.

[Via NeoGAF]

Continue reading Square Enix brings lifestyle titles to DS

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