Posts tagged Monster at DS Fanboy

Posts with tag monster

Plush destruction begets adorableness

Posted Feb 5th 2008 10:30PM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: Fan stuff

Craftster user cristasaurus started to make a plush doll, but discarded the body when she was dissatisfied with it. Left with just a ridiculously cute plush head (with an expression commensurate with having your body thrown out), she did the humane thing and turned the unfinished project into a great DS case.

What this little critter lacks in, uh, torsos and appendages, it makes up for in DS-shaped cavities -- cristasaurus is lucky to have made a doll with a head roughly the size of a DS Lite. And stuffed with fleecy material, the little guy remains huggable.

Monster Rancher DS and some guy in a puffy suit

Posted Jul 9th 2007 4:30PM by Alisha Karabinus
Filed under: News

We may love Monster Rancher like ice cream, but we totally draw the line at donning a huge, unwieldy Mocchi suit. In other words, we don't envy this guy's (gal's?) job one bit, but we still love the idea of a Monster Rancher event. Especially since attendees learned an interesting tidbit of information -- when the shop that hosted the event's name was spoken into the DS, the sounds produced a special monster. Considering preorder copies also come with a unique monster, Tecmo is starting gamers out right with the franchise's latest version. We'll have to give the phrase GAMES Maya a go when we pick up the localized version ... just in case.

The event also featured quality time with the Mocchi-suited mascot and a quiz about the Monster Rancher series, as well as a chance to try out the new monster creation features. Sounds like a good time was had by all! For those of you lucky enough to be around a Japanese download station, you can snag a Monster Rancher demo right now, as well.

Monster Rancher DS Japanese box art

Posted Jul 2nd 2007 5:40PM by Alisha Karabinus
Filed under: News

It's no secret around here that we love Monster Rancher, but the latest version headed to the DS has us a little wary, and the box art isn't making anything better. Is it just us, or does it seem like this image is striving for more of a Pokémon style? With the shift to RPG, we can't say we're surprised by that.

The classic Playstation games (hailed by us many as the best in the franchise) were focused on the monsters themselves, and that focus was reflected in the box art. Here, the focus seems to be equally on the childlike trainers and the monsters both ... and that, combined with the cartoony style shown here, is what makes us begin to doubt the potential for awesome in this game. When the series moved to the Playstation 2 and took on a cel-shaded design, the games suffered both graphically and content-wise. This box doesn't give us much hope that we'll see the series returning to its (incredible) roots.

But we're still willing to wait and see, with fingers crossed and fervent hopes.

Rune looks like a lady

Posted Apr 12th 2007 1:00PM by Eric Caoili
Filed under: News, Screens, Imports

With only a few weeks left before the North American release of Rune Factory: A Fantasy Harvest Moon (5/1), developer Neverland Co. has announced a sequel to its farming sim and RPG hybrid. The latest issue of Famitsu has screenshots for the follow-up, and they show a remarkable amount of improvement to the original's graphics.

It's still too early to call the redhead protagonist's gender, but our money's on the character being a guy. You can never tell these days, what with all the effeminate farmhands running around. Let us know what you think -- is he one of the dudes? Or is she the princess of Cootie Town? Check past the jump for the Rune Factory 2 magazine scans and a full profile shot of the androgynous hero.

Continue reading Rune looks like a lady

Monster Rancher DS has a surprising developer

Posted Apr 3rd 2007 4:00PM by JC Fletcher

We've been keeping a close eye on Monster Rancher DS (or, to use the more exciting! Japanese name, Kaite, Shabette, Hajimeyou! Monster Farm DS). Now we have more reason to be excited, we think. Who has Tecmo "farmed" (heh, heh) the development of this title out to?

Cing, for some reason! Cing, who is responsible for Trace Memory and Hotel Dusk, both of which were fairly well-received and high-profile. We aren't sure how their adventure-game development skills will transfer into monster-training, but we're optimistic. Cing at least knows a lot about making good use of DS features.

What do you think about the news? Is there another DS-centric developer you'd rather see on the Ranch?

DS Daily: Cartridge rancher

Posted Mar 31st 2007 10:00AM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: Features, DS Daily

Yesterday we mentioned that Monster Rancher was going to be ranchin' up some monsters on the DS. One of the most notable features of the new version is that it uses GBA games to generate monsters, in the same way that previous Monster Ranchers used CDs, or the Barcode Battler used dog food labels, or Treasure Gaust uses magnetic fields.

There have been a few games that give GBA bonuses, like Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, which rewarded Aria of Sorrow owners with an extra item, but this is different. To some extent, your success in Rancher is contingent on your GBA game ownership.

How does that strike you? Is it cool to be rewarded for having access to a nice GBA collection, or do you feel like you're being punished for not buying enough cartridges? Or has this news got you out searching for cheapo cartridges?

Monster Rancher DS sneaks past the Ninja Gaiden hype

Posted Mar 30th 2007 7:30PM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: Screens, Imports

With the whole gaming press freaking out about the new Ninja Gaiden game, another Tecmo franchise announcement has gone virtually ignored. And, like Ninja Gaiden, it uses the DS's unique features in surprising and possibly inappropriate ways.

Monster Rancher DS goes back to the Playstation-era art style of Ranchers 1 and 2. Like other games in the series, it makes use of data on other media to generate creatures. However, instead of random CDs like in the previous version, this one makes use of the GBA slot. Shapes drawn with the stylus also figure into the gameplay in ... some way.

We've rounded up some screens after the break. Get it-- "rounded up" because it's a "ranch" game, and... we're sorry.

Continue reading Monster Rancher DS sneaks past the Ninja Gaiden hype

Elemental Monster: new card battler from Hudson

Posted Mar 20th 2007 10:00AM by JC Fletcher
Filed under: Screens, Imports

Card-battling games seem like a natural for the DS-- the second screen is especially well-suited for managing cards while the game is in play. But we haven't gotten that many card games-- in fact, SNK vs. Capcom Card Fighters DS is the only one we can think of, and that one's not even out yet.

Hudson's Elemental Monster is a turn-based card-battling game that uses some pretty great 2D sprites. Between battles, the game has an RPG-style story mode, which also uses a lot of hand-drawn 2D. We're actually surprised to see a DS game coming out that has this much non-polygonal art (some backgrounds are 3D, but that's fine!) How about a US release, Hudson?

Continue reading Elemental Monster: new card battler from Hudson

The first Spectrobes webisode

Posted Oct 6th 2006 3:36PM by Alisha Karabinus
Filed under: Fan stuff

IGN's first Spectrobes webisode is here, complete with all sorts of space monster drama. Oh no! A guy with an attitude! A cut-off transmission! A cliffhanger! Whatever will happen to them? Guess we'll just have to wait for the next one ....

Check the video out after the jump.

Continue reading The first Spectrobes webisode

Spectrobes webisodes to back up DS release

Posted Sep 22nd 2006 7:58AM by Alisha Karabinus
Filed under: News

We know you're in pain. There are so few Nintendo games dedicated to collecting and training monsters that you're all in severe withdrawals. After all, it's been at least ... oh ... six seconds or so since another such title was announced!

Okay, so maybe we're being a tad sarcastic, but these days, you can't walk into a gaming store without tripping over monster-farming titles. In such a market, what's a company like Buena Vista to do that will make their new game, Spectrobes, stand out? It's not enough these days to have a kick ass developer -- and they do -- and the intergalactic setting might not do it, either. So what's left? Webisodes, of course! Six webisodes, designed to grant a little insight into the characters and their place in the world, will hit the game's official website over the next half year.

Wow, maybe they could even put one of them "telly-vision shows" on the magical picture box! Now that would be something really new and fresh.

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Plush destruction begets adorableness

Monster Rancher DS and some guy in a puffy suit

Monster Rancher DS Japanese box art

Rune looks like a lady

Monster Rancher DS has a surprising developer

DS Daily: Cartridge rancher

Monster Rancher DS sneaks past the Ninja Gaiden hype

Elemental Monster: new card battler from Hudson

The first Spectrobes webisode

Spectrobes webisodes to back up DS release

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