Reggie could only offer an incredibly vague "well into 2009" when asked about the North American launch date for the Nintendo DSi, but Nintendo's European arm has been a little more specific. Over at the official site, the company says the DSi will hit Europe in Spring 2009, instantly bringing hope to North Americans who may have feared a release at the wrong end of 2009. It would be highly unusual if Europe received a piece of Nintendo hardware months before the U.S, so we're suddenly more optimistic about seeing this in North America soon ... ish.
Nintendo has confirmed a super official European release date for Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Trials and Tribulations, and it's soon: October 3rd. With any luck, the game will arrive before we're all sucked into the Swiss countryside (if there's anything that really gets our goat, it's our Trials and Tribulations play time being interrupted by the cessation of the universe as we know it).
This announcement comes after months of fretting over whether the third Phoenix Wright game would ever come out in Europe. At one point, we had serious reasons to doubt it would, but recent ratings and a confirmation from series producer Minae Matsukawa have since prevented us from egging Capcom Europe's windows. Even if the series is now out of order, we'll take October 3rd.
Gallery: Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney 3: Trials and Tribulations
But rest assured European gamers, you are getting Chrono Trigger DS. It just won't be hitting your shores for awhile now, as the window for the game's release has been pushed back to "early 2009." One would assume that to be Q1, but you all know what your teachers told you about assuming.
So who's looking forward to the DS update of this classic RPG? Some consider it to be the greatest game ever made, you know.
Tashiten: Tashite 10 Ni Suru Monogatari recently appeared on the OFLC's ratings database in Australia, and has now been officially announced in ... Europe (a.k.a. Land of the Training Game), where it will be released as Make 10: A Journey of Numbers.
That title is something of a misnomer, for the game is really only about one number. In over 30 different minigames, players have to add or subtract numbers to make ten, all while being guided through the "Make 10 Kingdom" by a pixie called "Num Diddly." They'll crowbar a story into anything nowadays, we suppose. Still, it's refreshing to see a Nintendo-published non-game abandon the austere presentation of Brain Training/Math Training, and opt for something more colorful.
Whereas Make 10 launched on the tenth day of the tenth month last year in Japan, the European version has a thoroughly unfunny release date: September 26th. If we can no longer find humor in release schedules, what else is there?
Rising Star Games has planted a European release date and the first English language media for Flower, Sun and Rain on the internet. Although the release date (October) is old news grandad, everything else is new, including the very lovely and understated boxart above, featuring a passenger airliner cruising across a calm, salmon-colored sky, a bomb presumably tucked away somewhere on board.
Some (very) minor details/impressions we picked up from the screens:
We've now got our first look at the memo pad that can be used to make notes. Handy!
Somehow, vampires are involved, thus escalating Flower, Sun and Rain's awesomeness.
The 3D sections look more crude than we recall. We wonder: will Rockstar be able to better this?
Posted Jul 22nd 2008 11:45AM by Phil Larsen
Filed under: News
The unsourced rumor of a 2008 European Metal Slug 7 release date must be acknowledged. It turns out that Europeans will not only get Metal Slug 7 in 2008, but they will also get it pretty much the same time as everywhere else. A press release has come through and announced an "Autumn 2008" release. Yes, that means Fall -- Autumn is for those lame Europeans and non-lame Australians.
To accompany this timely news, five new screens of the kill-o-rama have been updated in our gallery. With seven brand new missions six playable characters and apparently the biggest SLUG vehicle ever, this is exactly what hardcore Metal Slug fans need.
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon pair Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness reached mainland Europe this week and performed well on the whole, achieving lofty positions in the charts of Holland, Germany, Spain, and Italy (in the UK, they're occupying 21st and 24th place respectively). Cooking Guide (top ten in Ireland, Spain, and Italy) continues to help most Europeans to be better cooks (I emphatically do not count myself in that number), and would you check out that German top ten. Ho boy, go Deutschland!
Ignition won't be forgetting about Europe when it comes to localizing Tornado, Success's Katamari Damacy-esque action game about a bunch of heroic cats who employ tornadoes to tidy up the mess left by a devious galactic Prince who wants to claim all possessions on Earth. Hey, it could happen!
The game is currently slated for a fall release in Europe, but Ignition might want to hurry up -- the game still lacks a release date in its native Japan. While we wait for something more concrete, let the wind guide you gently towards our gallery and a dozen new images.
Last week, we nonchalantly predicted that the two Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games would lay siege to various European top tens. And we were right, if you replace "various European top tens" with "Germany." Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness came fourth and fifth respectively in Germany, 30th and 34th in Britain, and ... that's it. Such is the limited commercial appeal of the roguelike, we suppose.
Meanwhile, Cooking Guide: Can't Decide What to Eat? continues to look like a slow-burning hit, rising to fourth in Spain, second in Italy (yes, we're covering Italy from this week onwards! Go us!), and holding on to tenth place in Ireland.
Make the jump for the latest sprinkling of Euroland charts.
Game Watch has a plethora of new screens for Away: Shuffle Dungeon. They run the whole gamut from gameplay shots, down to concept art of a variety of the title's NPCs. There's also some nice information available, such as brief descriptions of all the NPCs and how they play into the game's story.
Forget all about the brutality and violence of ancient Rome by playing a happy chappy puzzle game! It used to be a PC game (no surprise there), but Cradle of Rome now wants to invade the DS, build an empire and bask in the magnificence of togas and sandals. It's a standard "swap colored tiles around to match three colors" puzzle game, but the goal is to collect resources from each tile in order to build Rome itself.
A unique twist on a formula everyone is familiar with can't be all bad. You'll eventually be able to build, several historical monuments, including the Arch of Titus, the Temples of Venus and Saturn and everyone's favorite bloodbath, the Coliseum.
Cradle of Rome is set for an October 10th release in Europe, but on account of Rome being a Europe-exclusive city and all, there's no word of a release in other regions. Well, that's probably not the reason it isn't coming to America, but it should be import-friendly all the same. The first screenies are awaiting a thumbs-up or thumbs-down in the gallery. Make your decision heard!
Developer Novarama has uploaded more videos of Music Monstars to YouTube, this time featuring music that is less ... contemporary. Our guess is that Novarama and publisher Tivola saved on the budget by mining the public domain. Two videos feature "Can Can" ("Orpheus in the Underworld") -- one in an easy mode, and one, seen above, played in hard mode. Another features a remix of Pachelbel's Canon that sounds distinctly like the soundtrack for a roller-disco wedding.
As long as the final game still has "The Final Countdown" in it, anything else on the card will be little more than a pleasant distraction anyway.
In a week when Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift and Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword failed to penetrate any of Europe's charts, the locals instead turned to the non-game. Ubisoft's My Health Coach: Manage Your Weight (My Weight Loss Coach in North America) was the highest-ranking new DS entry on the continent, with a TV campaign ensuring it reached 27th in the UK. Cooking Guide: Can't Decide What To Eat? also enjoyed a more successful second week, rising eight places in Britain and just squeezing into Ireland's top ten.
Next week, Europeans welcome the arrival of Bakushow and Arkanoid DS, and will hopefully not stave off the newest Space Invaders. Let them take you over, puny Earthlings! Heck, they'd run this planet better than us anyway.
As far as serious chart contenders go (because let's face it: none of the aforementioned three are going to sell in the bajillions), the two latest Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games are hitting stores. Expect some top ten finishes from those.
If Europeans feel their food has lacked variety and flavor this week, they've only themselves to blame. Cooking Guide: Can't Decide What to Eat? was a bit of a failure with consumers, despite our predictions of great things for the title last week, so don't come moaning to us when your beef bourguignon goes awry! Only the UK showed a mild appetite for the non-game, pushing it to 19th. New International Track & Field, meanwhile, didn't even get close to any chart.
Still, it's not as though Euro consumers Can't Decide What to Buy -- most top tens are filled with the usual suspects, at least until next week, when Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift and Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword arrive on our fair shores. Until then, scour all manner of charts past the break!
Europeans, rejoice! Today brings news regarding release dates for DS titles up until the beginning of next year. The list is populated with plenty of high-profile titles, yet is woefully absent of a certain Professor Layton. There's also a concrete confirmation that Trials & Tribulations is headed your way, even though we kind of knew that already.
Even more odd is the inclusion of Sonic Unleashed in the list past the break. Is the game coming to the DS? Maybe, but it seems more likely that this is nothing more than a typo.
Nintendo has confirmed a super official European release date for 
But rest assured European gamers, you are getting 
Game Watch has a plethora of new screens for 
Europeans, rejoice! Today brings news regarding release dates for DS titles up until the beginning of next year. The list is populated with plenty of high-profile titles, yet is woefully absent of a certain 
