Posts tagged Konami at DS Fanboy

Posts with tag konami

Rumor: Elebits to make shocking transition to DS?

Posted Mar 11th 2008 12:00PM by Chris Greenhough
Filed under: Rumors

If you ask us, Konami's Elebits is one of the Wii's truly underrated gems, so when we saw that a page for a sequel had appeared in the database of rental specialists Gamefly, we whooped, punched the air, performed chest bumps with one another, and said stuff like "OH YEAH!!" a lot.

Then we calmed down, only to realize that Gamefly has Elebits 2 listed as a DS title, with a release date of August 30th! Cue further bumping of chests and abusing of the exclamation mark key!

Unless this is a simple error (and Gamefly is usually right on the money with these kind of things), we're dazzled by this development. Could a DS version of Elebits successfully recreate the wonderfully tactile sensation of chucking furniture about that was such a key part of the Wii title? Why, yes, we think it could!

Rumor: Time Hollow to travel to North America?

Posted Mar 11th 2008 9:45AM by David Hinkle
Filed under: Rumors

Hardly a confirmation, but the Gamefly listing for Time Hollow does raise a few interesting questions. Considering that Gamefly has been lucky in spilling the beans on some titles in the past, we're willing to entertain the possibility of the game hitting North America. We will not, however, entertain the notion that the title will release during the tail-end of summer. That is far too long of a wait for us.

[Thanks, yanya!]

Promotional Consideration: Behind the boxart

Posted Mar 9th 2008 6:00PM by Eric Caoili
Filed under: Interviews, Features, Promotional Consideration

Promotional Consideration is a weekly feature about the Nintendo DS advertisements you usually flip past, change the channel on, or just tune out.

We spend a lot of time analyzing boxart, partly because many consumers are first introduced to a game by its cover, and partly because we're people with odd interests. We've brought in designer and illustrator Julie Giles to give us some insight on the packaging process. Julie has worked with Konami to lay out the covers for titles in the Castlevania and Metal Gear series. She also helped put together the award-winning Castlevania 20th Anniversary package, arguably the finest preorder offering for a Nintendo DS release.

Are you ever curious about how your favorite boxart pieces were put together? Or what decisions influenced a particular cover's look? Read on for our interview!

Continue reading Promotional Consideration: Behind the boxart

Snatcher Pilot Disk ported, fantastic

Posted Mar 7th 2008 11:15AM by Eric Caoili
Filed under: Homebrew

Fresh off its abridged port of visual novel Fate/Stay Night: Trial Edition, Multiple: Option has posted another homebrew adaptation of a text-heavy game, Snatcher Pilot Disk.

This release is based on the PC-Engine demo of Hideo Kojima and Konami's acclaimed adventure title, but uses still images from the Sega CD version. Though there isn't much players can do to deviate from the game's very linear progression, the cyberpunk plot and voice acting keep Snatcher Pilot DS interesting. For those of you who demand interactivity beyond selecting text options, there's also a fun bug-blasting segment towards the end.

Unfortunately, this "pilot" comprises only the first act of the full Snatcher game, taking players through the J.U.N.K.E.R. headquarters and factory scene (Multiple: Option does not plan to port the complete game). Still, it's an entertaining, 10-minute experience worth playing through.

[Via PAlib]

Diary Girl reminds us why we have no friends

Posted Mar 5th 2008 1:30PM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: Screens

We love the idea of a DS-based organizer and diary (and yes, we're aware that DS Organize exists) but we aren't sure about the rest of the content in Diary Girl. To be blunt, we find the art style off-putting, but then we aren't little girls. We would rather not stare into the faces of those Bratz-like characters as we confess our feelings to the touchscreen.

When you're not diarizing, you can keep up a to-do list, customize your horrifying avatar, check your horoscope, and play this little quiz game. If answering honestly, we'd have to pick option 2 here, which is why we're going to make a point to add "stop being a self-centered jerk" to our to-do list.

More Lost in Blue 3 info and screens surface

Posted Mar 3rd 2008 7:00PM by Candace Savino
Filed under: News, Screens

One of the biggest complaints about Konami's Lost in Blue series is that the games feel like too much work. If you weren't working your butt off in order to ensure your own survival, you were probably leading a vision-impaired girl around the island or doing some other sort of menial task.

Gamers don't necessarily mind doing "chores" in games -- if so, titles like Harvest Moon wouldn't exist. The work and play needs to be at least somewhat balanced, though, for a game to succeed.

Fortunately, it seems like Konami has come to realize this, and the third installment of the series will show improvement over its predecessors (and not just artistically). A new game page for the title claims that time will be equally spent exploring the island for fun and ... well ... doing survival stuff. Lost in Blue 3 will also include over twenty minigames if you're looking for other ways to break up your daily tasks.

There will be four playable characters in the game. You choose one character at the beginning to control throughout, and that person's attributes will affect the gameplay (this is something we've see before, but this time you get more characters to choose from). All in all, we think Lost in Blue 3 is shaping up nicely and might be the best game in the series yet. To check out some news screens of the upcoming survival sim (which will be released in America this month on the 18th), make sure you check out the gallery below.

Gallery: Lost in Blue 3

[Via CVG]

Cross-promote Cross-promote Revolution

Posted Mar 1st 2008 12:00PM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: Video, Imports

Despite the fact that, as alluded to in the post title, this stuff is basically marketing for other games, we love it when game music turns up in rhythm games. It may have something to do with the fact that video game music is awesome, especially from companies like Konami that care enough about music to make whole games about it.

This video is from the Japanese PS2 game Dance Dance Revolution Supernova 2 Super DREAM, and features original Time Hollow animation to go along with the game's surprisingly cool theme song. The song sounds vaguely Akira Yamaoka-esque (Yamaoka's works have also appeared in DDR games), though it was composed by Masanori Akita.

Where these Time Hollow screens are going, they don't need roads

Posted Feb 29th 2008 2:15PM by David Hinkle
Filed under: Screens

If you checked out the demo for Konami's Time Hollow, then you probably felt a lot of the same frustration we did. The large amounts of Japanese text that permeated the Flash demo for the game really halted all of our progress in it, not to mention our excitement for the game after we'd seen many screens.

But, wait. What is this? More screens? We're excited yet again! Glowing pen want.

[Via Go Nintendo]

Try to play Time Hollow

Posted Feb 25th 2008 2:15PM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: News, Imports

Konami is now offering a Flash demo of their time-traveling adventure game, Time Hollow. There's only one problem: adventure games tend to have a lot of text in them, and all of the text in this one is in Japanese. You can think of that as an extra challenge if you want, maybe.

We still think it's worth clicking through the reams of text to experience this demo, if only to have a look at the wonderful presentation of the game. The backgrounds are beautiful, and the music is lush (if a bit overwrought.) You'll also see a short cutscene or two showing the time-travel-pen gimmick.

This thing looks to have had money poured into it, so we wouldn't be too surprised to see Konami selling it worldwide.

[Via Famitsu]

New International Date & Details

Posted Feb 21st 2008 12:00PM by Chris Greenhough
Filed under: News

A press release for New International Track & Field just burst through the tape and into our inboxes, complete with news of a U.S. release window and fresh details.

Apparently, the game will be launching stateside this summer, with more than 15 characters available from the start. A further two are unlockable (and our money would be on Snake making his second non-Metal Gear Solid appearance of 2008), and there'll be 20 events to keep us distracted and our touchscreens gouged.

Also worth mentioning is the "Voice Boost" feature, which will allow players to bellow into the DS microphone to give their character a performance boost by cheering them on. We saw this idea used (briefly) in Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (one could psyche up the crowd by clapping near the microphone), but it seems like it could be a more significant feature here. "The louder you are," declares Konami's press release, "the bigger the boost!" That could get annoying.

Gallery: New International Track & Field

[Via press release]

A pair of dating games hit Japan on Valentine's Day

Posted Feb 12th 2008 2:15PM by Candace Savino
Filed under: News, Imports

If you're anything like this blogger, you'll be spending Valentine's Day alone ~~and bitter~~ again this year. If you live in Japan (or enjoy importing), though, rest assured that the Land of the Rising Sun knows how to take care of its single girl gamers. Not one, but two dating games will be released in the country on Thursday, hoping to let young girls in the lonely hearts club live vicariously through their handhelds.

The more popular of the two, Tokimeki Memorial: Girl's Side 2nd Season is not only a sequel to a successful game, but also a remake of a PS2 title (with additional content involved to sweeten the deal). Making full use of the touch screen, the game lets you fondle your man on the way home from dates, which in turn increases his affection for you. The "touching" parts probably aren't as scandalous as they sound, but when it comes to Japanese dating games, you just never know.

The second game is a bit more disheartening than the former. In Otometeki Koi Kakumei * Love Revo!!, you take control of a girl who's packed on a few pounds since her youth. Now that she's fat, she no longer has any gentlemen callers. In fact, all the hot guys in town are downright mean to her. Of course, it's up to you to get her back in shape so that she can get a boyfriend. The idea sounds a bit like the story in Yume Penguin Monogatari to us, only without the charm of having penguins involved.

[Thanks, Mariye!]

Homebrew game bears Devilish Resemblance to original Castlevania

Posted Feb 7th 2008 5:00PM by Eric Caoili
Filed under: Homebrew, Screens

Likely taking inspiration from Koji Igarashi's formula of remaking Symphony of the Night ad nauseam (har har har), homebrew coder Frosty Chaotix is working on his own vampire-slaying update for the first Castlevania NES game. He released a demo for Castlevania: Devilish Resemblance yesterday to show off his progress on the project's engine, and it looks fantastic! Of course, most of that can be attributed to the ripped 2D assets from previous titles in the series, but it's still an impressive project.

So far, this proof-of-concept build has Simon Belmont walking, jumping, and whipping to his heart's content, all within the confines of a single test room. While there's still a lot left to be implemented -- e.g. enemies, interactive objects, touchscreen controls, etc. -- the soundtrack, grabbed from OCRemix, is the cat's galoshes. We totally wouldn't mind vanquishing the Prince of Darkness to this music!

See also: Leaked Castlevania screens or whipped-up fakes?

Gallery: Castlevania: Devilish Resemblance

[Via GBAtemp]

Lost in Blue 3 screens wash ashore

Posted Feb 7th 2008 4:00PM by Chris Greenhough
Filed under: Screens

While it possesses a potentially awesome premise -- you're marooned on a desert island, now fend for yourself using only what nature gives you -- we're not sure that the Lost in Blue series has fulfilled that potential yet. The first two games had their heart in the right place, but were weighed down by unreasonably dependent AI partners and poor pacing.

In other words, it's been left to Lost in Blue 3 to patch things up and finally do this superb concept some justice. These screens -- the first English-language shots of the game -- feature two of the new characters, including James, who seems to have some aggression issues, and Claire, who (much like Skye from the first game) looks like an unbearable drip, and certainly not the type to take down a snake with her bare hands.

Gallery: Lost in Blue 3

Contra 4 sheds six dollars, shirts

Posted Feb 7th 2008 11:15AM by Eric Caoili
Filed under: Sales

Need an extra excuse to pick up 2007's manliest, exploding-est DS game? Amazon has posted a modest markdown for Contra 4, selling the run-and-gun game for a discounted $23.99. Women and men alike will flock to you when they see you're playing such a tough game, smitten with your virility. And, with six extra bucks in your pocket, you could probably take one of them out to dinner. Not to anywhere nice, like Ponderosa, but maybe Burger King.

Afraid that all the action will be just too much for you or too difficult? Fear not! There's a little trick you can exploit to steal 99 extra mans. Unfortunately, pulling off the cheat might be harder than the actual game ...

[Via CAG]

Friday Video: Stretch it out

Posted Feb 1st 2008 7:00PM by Alisha Karabinus
Filed under: Friday video

We thought this nice, relaxing yoga video (which showcases Let's Yoga) might be a great way to start off the weekend. After all, it's been a long week. You're probably tired, and maybe a little stressed. Perhaps you're planning to go out this weekend. Maybe there will be some drama, or drinking, or hey, both. Maybe you'll play games until your arm or back cramps (damn you, Metroid Prime Hunters!). Maybe you just need a break. But we have to warn you: if you do any of the moves in this video without buying Let's Yoga, you are officially a yoga pirate.

Konami's yoga trainer released last fall in Europe, and 1UP blogger onela has a great writeup here (and is the source of the video as well).

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