Lucky for me, I have a good grip. So I get plenty of play time with what is sure to be one of my favorite DS games this year.
Posts with tag marvelous
E308: DS Fanboy enters the Retro Game Challenge
Lucky for me, I have a good grip. So I get plenty of play time with what is sure to be one of my favorite DS games this year.
Continue reading E308: DS Fanboy enters the Retro Game Challenge
E308: From mop-tops to monsters, Avalon Code looks the part
Put this in your logbook: Avalon Code looks resplendent. Matrix Software has already demonstrated its mastery of the DS hardware through its remakes of Final Fantasy III and the soon-to-be-released Final Fantasy IV; and if the latest dozen screenshots are anything to go by, Avalon Code and its mop-topped hero can stand proud next to either of those. Thank goodness it's heading this way!Gallery: Avalon Code
[Via press release and Gamekyo]
Marvelous/XSeed deal means more Wii, DS games
According to Marvelous director Yasuhiro Wada, the deal with XSeed to publish the company's titles in the U.S. is the result of success in Europe. Unlike most companies, Marvelous focused on Europe first (through Rising Star Games) before expanding into the U.S.The agreement with XSeed is more than a simple deal to publish Marvelous games. In fact, Marvelous plans to do their own publishing, with XSeed distributing. They intend to localize other companies' games, as well, and the current plan is to focus primarily on the development and publishing of Wii and DS games. We suspect that their announced European releases -- Lux-Pain and Flower, Sun, and Rain -- are high on the list of potential American releases under the new announcement, along with Avalon Code.
North America harvests Rune Factory 2 this fall
In the best DS news we'll hear all day (depending on which DS Fanboy staff member you ask), Natsume announced that they're bringing Rune Factory 2 to North America this fall. While we predicted localization would happen eventually, it was always a matter of when, so we're glad to see it being taken care of. Considering that the first game in the series took a year to find its way over here, a nine-month delay (Japan got the game last January) doesn't seem too bad at all.While we initially thought this sequel would be too similar to the original Rune Factory, the premise adds some freshness into the RPG-Harvest Moon formula. In Rune Factory 2, you not only play as the main character, Kyle, but later you take over as his child. The game therefore spans two generations, providing us with double the fun.
If you share our excitement, make sure to check out the first English screens in our gallery below.
[Via press release]
To-Love-Ru: Do I have something on my butt?
File this one as another crazy Japanese game. We knew about To-Love-Ru awhile back, but we never knew it'd be like this. As you can see in the video above, the main goal of the game seems to be slapping young ladies on their bottoms. Well, maybe not slapping them so much as clearing evil little things away from their backside.
Move over, Doki Doki Majo Shinpan. There's a new almost-obscene title in town.
[Via Kotaku]
Avalon Code heading west, Steal Princess, Luminous Arc staying put
Marvelous has some intriguing DS wares on the horizon, yet it looks like that's where most of it will stay -- on a horizon far, far away from the majority of us. Sob.Part of a recent financial report from the publisher contained forecasts for forthcoming releases, as spotted by a keen-eyed Siliconera commenter and posted on NeoGAF. The estimations for Avalon Code's were notable, as they included figures for the U.S. and Europe, which in turn tells us we'll be getting the diary-keepin' ARPG here in the west at some point before March 2009.
Alas, we'd only just finished chest-bumping one another and shouting stuff like "HELL YEAH" when our excitement was tempered by the realization that Luminous Arc 2 and Steal Princess didn't have figures for the U.S. or Europe. This (probably) means that those games won't be localized this financial year (despite our hopes for the former). That's not to say they'll never make the trip across, of course, but for now it's one in, and two out.
Gallery: Avalon Code
Gallery: Luminous Arc 2
[Via NeoGAF]
Steal Princess to include Wi-Fi level-sharing
Players will be able to share their own custom maps, adding depth and replay value to a game that's already chock full of both these things. Too bad the game's staying in Japan.
Steal Princess site updates with new video content
And that's exactly what we're talking about here! Lucky, right? Indeed. Once you click on over to the official site (sorry, we can't embed it), you'll see the video in the bottom right-hand corner (the box that has the "PV" on it). Just give it a click and it'll pop up in a new window.
[Via Go Nintendo]
These Steal Princess screens fell off the back of a truck
The latest on the game, courtesy of Famitsu's site, presents us with a glimpse into some of the items players would be using. Also, by way of these screens, we get to check out some of the game's environments. Which, by the way, look pretty good. Overall, we're liking everything we're seeing on the game.
If you're looking for more, check out the official website for the game.
Harvest Moon: Chicken of Happiness
Those "other recent updates" form the good news: if you preorder Island of Happiness from Amazon, you get this amazingly cute plush chicken and chick, both of which look like they came from the Pac-Man cartoon. We don't care when it's coming out or, really, what the game is: we just want the spheroid chicken.
[Via CAG]
Filling your diary in Avalon Code
This gameplay trailer for Matrix Software's Avalon Code provides a nice representation of the ARPG's gameplay, as far as we can tell: fast-paced battles against big hobgoblins in silly hats, with menu controls in the lovely book-like interface on the bottom screen. Here, we can see a player switching out characters in the middle of this hobgoblin battle.
Interestingly, data about the hobgoblin doesn't appear in the book until the hero has pulled off a combo attack against the creature. It appears that the basic attacks still caused damage, but that there's some kind of prerequisite for obtaining monster information.
We're pretty sure the actual game will have sound, by the way.
Gallery: Avalon Code
Flowers, Dungeons, and Pain confirmed for Europe
A new batch of European release dates has suddenly materialized from Nintendo, and is packed with all sorts of exciting confirmations. The most thrilling, for us at least, is the news that Flower, Sun, and Rain will be getting that rumored European release this October, followed by Lux Pain in November. If you want to know where to send your effusive "thank you" letters, Rising Star are the ones in charge of localizing both titles. Other items of interest include a specific launch date for Bakushow, and Euro versions of Pokémon Platinum (big surprise, right?) and Dungeon Maker.
But here's a question: what's with DS Novel? It's been hanging around on these lists for the best part of eight months now, and we're still no nearer to learning a release date or what it even is. Check out the full list for yourselves past the break!
Gallery: LOL
Continue reading Flowers, Dungeons, and Pain confirmed for Europe
Steal a glimpse at Steal Princess commercial and art
With Climax and publisher Marvelous preparing Steal Princess for a July 31 release, we've been given more reason to pay close attention. First, they've released four pieces of artwork that we wish were wallpaper-sized, which can be found at Inside-Games. Of course, the game doesn't use the same high-contrast anime look as these images, but they're still effective advertising (in that they are really cool). Second, if you want to know more about the actual game, Marvelous has released a commercial, featuring several simultaneous tiny gameplay clips.
We may have reason to be interested in Steal Princess. AQ Interactive's announcement of their U.S. publishing plans includes a lot of Marvelous games whose identity has yet to be revealed. It seems likely that they'd pull from their DS lineup.
Blue Dragon, Away: Shuffle Dungeon confirmed for U.S.
As if our recent poll regarding Blue Dragon Plus and Away: Shuffle Dungeon hadn't already put you on the spot enough, now you'll have to choose one for really reals. AQ Interactive's latest financial report confirms that both will hit North America in this fiscal year, and also mentioned a localized version of the Korg DS-10 (which we already knew about).Incidentally, there's a further four third-party portable games being brought over by Xseed, and Siliconera reckons that those could include Flower, Sun and Rain, Lux Pain, and Dungeon Maker DS. As European versions of the first two have both been rumored, we'd tend to agree!
Rumor: Harvest Moon: Delay of Frustration
Once mooted for a June 8th release, Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness now looks like being held up for almost two months, after Gamestop listed a revised release date of July 29th.Oh, sure, that's not the same as official confirmation from Natsume by any means, but we won't lie to you: we're all worried sick. Our cow, Clover (far right), is so concerned she's barely yielding any milk, the sheep are bleating more than usual, while mealtimes at the old farmhouse are now conducted in deathly silence. Even the chickens look sort of anxious.
[Via Go Nintendo]
