According to Spencer over at Siliconera, the DSVision store isn't all it's cracked up to be. The launch of the service has left him wanting, considering there are only 30 items available in the online store, with users expecting much, much more from the launch of the service.
He does admit that the pricing is favorable, however. Episodes of television shows are only $2, with digital manga fetching $3 per chapter. The books on available on the service range from free for a trial to $6 for a 1,000-page novel.
We already showed you a snippet of the Shonen Jump scans for Tales of Hearts, but Gamekyo recently added more, this time showing off some enticing (albeit tiny) screens.
Like some of you, we're trying not to put our hearts into Tales of Hearts, just because we don't want them broken if the game doesn't get localized. Normally we're localization optimists, but after Namco Bandai decided to work on the Wii's Tales of Symphonia as well as the 360's Tales of Vesperia, but not the DS's Tales of Innocence, we've been a little bitter. We won't even mention our still stinging wounds over Tales of the Tempest, even if it wasn't too well recieved -- except that we just did. We've said it before, and we'll say it again: if any system deserves catering to niche audiences, it's the DS.
Rant aside, enjoy the lovely screens! We'll just be out back, crying softly to ourselves.
So, apparently the game isn't getting a visual overhaul in the slightest, as, should our memory serve us correct, the images in the scan to the right look exactly like the original SNES title. Hey, we're not complaining! Who has any right to complain about Chrono Trigger getting re-released for the DS? Nobody, that's who!
Seriously, we're so stoked for this game, we doubt any other happening could ever rival it. Actually, if Abraham Lincoln and George Washington rose out of their graves to take part in a zombie steel-cage match, it would probably rival Chrono Trigger. But, Chrono would still win.
Even though we have our own flash carts, we can't help but covet DSVision. We'd like to see for ourselves how an official cart compares to our own -- not to mention, this demo video makes the service look pretty rad. While it doesn't seem like there's too much downloadable content on the official website yet, we like that all different kinds of media (anime, manga, movies, novels) are readily available in one place.
Unfortunately, most of us who don't live in Japan have to adopt a "look but don't touch" policy if we want to do the nifty official things shown in the video, as we lack something vital for buying content -- a Japanese credit card. We're used to not having as many cool toys as our friends in the East, though, so we'll just suck it up as per usual.
Not one, but two amazing RPG announcements have been made for the DS this morning. First up, a timeless masterpiece of epic proportions -- second, a brand-new addition to the acclaimed Tales series. We could go on about what we prefer, but it really doesn't matter. Life is good.
Tales of Hearts has been scanned from Shonen Jump and shipped over the intertrons for your viewing enjoyment. The image is skint on details, but two characters make an apperance in anime and real ... human form. The release is scheduled near the end of the year -- just hope it makes it to America, unlike another awesome game.
It's been awhile since we asked you, and what with our community growing all the time, we figured it was time we discussed what model DS Lite you've gone with. Were you there for the first handhelds to release locally, or could you not simply wait and just had to import one like, say, the Enamel Navy model? Are you still rocking the Phat? How's your handheld situation?
Well, not really. But it is refreshing to see a game teach infants about the weight of things and angles of stuff, to prepare them for future careers in today's modern mills and processing facilities. Training the brain isn't necessary, so long as they can lift cats and cut wood!
It's probably best to elaborate. Bob the Builder (or, Bob and HATARAKU BUBUZU) has been commandeered for use in a Japanese children's learning game. It's not all heavy construction -- three modes of training are available. These include weight and maths training, 2D and 3D shape recognition, and vocabulary building.
Bob the Builder is a universally respected genius in the world of engineering and, well, building. He's also an affable English chap, and it's always handy to have one of those around. Check out the screens in the gallery for more learning fun -- but don't hope for a local release. We're sure Bob will show up when he is needed the most.
We're not ones to peruse the seedy underbelly of the adult film industry (hard to believe, with us working on the internet and all), but this story is too much to pass up. Does the above cover remind you of anything? Well, if it doesn't, you probably never played the Japanese title Brain Training (also known as Brain Age). Look at the game's boxart. See what we mean?
If you want to know more, you can check out Hikaru Wakana's blog (NSFW linkage), who is the film's star.
Members of Japan's Pokémon Daisuki Club will soon be able to (enter a raffle to potentially) buy a Giratina edition Nintendo DS Lite bundle, consisting of Pokémon Platinum and a swoon-worthy Lite that has been subtly branded with the Platinumcover star.
Like many limited edition DSes, supply is expected to be short, so hopeful owners will have to submit an entry form to enter the draw, where they could win the right to give Nintendo money -- ¥21,600 ($203), to be precise. The raffle ends on July 14th (and is for Japanese residents only), and 1,000 of the names drawn will be eligible for an even rarer metallic Giratina figurine. Remind us again, please: why are we still living in not-Japan?
The DS found itself back in cozy old third place in this week's chart, as the hype from Metal Gear Solid 4 died down a bit in Japan:
PSP: 59,531 (5,325)
Wii: 41,037 (4,527)
NDS: 36,599 (2,602)
PS3: 20,336 (54,975)
PS2: 6,346 (951)
Xbox 360: 2,555 (392)
Meanwhile, Let's Make a Pro Baseball Team's steady climb back into the top ten makes us wonder if supply just wasn't meeting demand a few weeks earlier, when the game fell out of the top thirty.
Yet overall, the DS had a relatively boring week in terms of software, with no exciting new releases to congratulate or poke fun at (unless you consider the budget-priced re-release of Puyo Puyo 15th Anniversary "exciting" and "new").
If you want to see what Japanese gamers were buying last week, though, just click on past the break.
Dementium: The Wardlaunches in Japan today, and Japanese publisher Interchannel-Holon could not have found a more perfect venue to promote Renegade Kid's horror title*. "Alcatraz E.R." is a novelty restaurant in Tokyo's Shibuya ward with a mental asylum theme where patrons must announce their blood type before entering. They are then handcuffed by girls dressed as nurses who serve up food in surgical trays and drinks in hospital drips.
In other words, it's a totally amazing and ideal place for a Dementium promotion. Hit the break for more gory pics of the press-only event (our invites must have got lost in the mail).
* Admittedly, they could have used an actual abandoned psychiatric asylum, but that probably comes with its own issues.
Golf is big in Japan. Training games are big in Japan. Hence, somebody at GungHo Works finally did the math and worked out that a golf traininggame would be huge in Japan. This is the result: Golf Cut 100 DS, a training title focused entirely on improving your ability to accurately hit tiny balls with long sticks, and teaching you the difference between plus fours and putters in the process.
Developed in conjunction with monthly golf magazine Golf Digest and out this October, Golf Cut 100 offers quizzes, lessons on course etiquette, and advice on 100 golfing techniques. Given some of the otherstuff Japan has already been trained in, a golf trainer seems pretty normal to us at this stage. Drive your golf cart past the break for more shots.
More manga/anime adaptations head DS-ward, this time in the form of Zettai Karen Children (Absolutely Lovely Children). Konami grabbed the license for the series and is making it into an RPG for the DS, which comes out on September 4th in Japan.
We never heard of Absolutely Lovely Children before, well, yesterday, but the story focuses around three young girls with ESP. It's not uncommon for people to have ESP (in this manga/anime-verse), but these ten-year-olds have the highest level of the power. The government thus forms them into a seemingly elite unit known as "The Children."
Since more details on this recently-announced-yet-soon-to-release game have yet to surface, it might be worth checking out some of the screens below to see if the style appeals to you. Keep in mind, though, that Zettai Karen Children DS: Dai-4 no Children probably won't be localized outside of Japan.
Gallery: Zettai Karen Children DS: Dai-4 no Children
Japanese students at Tokyo's Joshi Gakuen all-girls junior high school are getting DS handhelds for the classroom, but they're not playing New Super Mario Bros. on them. They're using them to learn a new language: English. What makes it such a great tool in aiding their studies? Perhaps it's familiarity ...
The handheld system is incredibly popular in the country and many students have one they enjoy using to play games on a regular basis. It's a system they're comfortable with, has an easy interface, and mixes a bit of fun in with the learning. If we would've had the option when learning another language in our schooltime studies, we'd probably remember how to ask where the bathroom is in German.
So, apparently the game isn't getting a visual overhaul in the slightest, as, should our memory serve us correct, the images in the scan to the right look exactly like the original SNES title. Hey, we're not complaining! Who has any right to complain about Chrono Trigger getting re-released for the DS? Nobody, that's who!
Well, not really. But it is refreshing to see a game teach infants about the weight of things and angles of stuff, to prepare them for future careers in today's modern mills and processing facilities. Training the brain isn't necessary, so long as they can lift cats and cut wood!
The DS found itself back in cozy old third place in this week's chart, as the hype from Metal Gear Solid 4 died down a bit in Japan:
5,325)
392)
Golf is big in Japan. Training games are big in Japan. Hence, somebody at GungHo Works finally did the math and worked out that a golf training game would be huge in Japan. This is the result: Golf Cut 100 DS, a training title focused entirely on improving your ability to accurately hit tiny balls with long sticks, and teaching you the difference between plus fours and putters in the process.
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Japanese students at Tokyo's Joshi Gakuen all-girls junior high school are getting DS handhelds for the classroom, but they're not playing New Super Mario Bros. on them. They're using them to learn a new language: English. What makes it such a great tool in aiding their studies? Perhaps it's familiarity ...
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_thumbnail.jpg "Mega Man Star Force 2")
