You know, for how much we've seen on Guitar Hero: On Tour, we haven't seen too much on the peripheral. But now, thanks to a German gaming site that got their hands on the device, we all have something to look at. The images not only show an up-close look at the peripheral that attaches to the DS so that you may rock out, but also the whole set-up all ready to go and in someone's hands.
Click the image to the right (or right here) to check out the images of Guitar Hero: On Tour's peripheral.
Siliconera's Spencer Yip picked up a copy of Oshiri Kajiri Mushi Rhythm Lesson DS, possibly the only game this year on the DS about learning rhythm from a cartoon bug who bites people in the rear to help motivate them. He has written up some details of the rhythm gameplay found in the single-player Rhythm Lesson mode. Unsurprisingly, the game isn't a revolution in anything but concept, but it does sound like a cute multi-instrumental rhythm game.
The many instruments are played identically -- by tapping on the screen in response to audio and visual cues. Said visual cues include the Butt-Biting Bug flying towards groups of stars; when he contacts a star, the player is to tap the screen. Successful taps increase a meter, which, when full, triggers a butt-biting vignette. The lessons unlock special games like the voice-training lesson, in which players actually sing into the mic.
We're still a bit flabbergasted that the weird song about biting butts became popular enough to support a game, which is now a real thing that someone bought.
Like Bigfoot, fairies, and (sob) unicorns, the perfect Guitar Hero soundtrack simply doesn't exist. There'll always be stuff we love and stuff we hate on the damn things, and so it is with Guitar Hero: On Tour. Activision just revealed fifteen of the tracks that will appear in On Tour (there'll be 25, eventually), and it's the usual mixed bag. "Breed" by Nirvana? Great choice! "Helicopter" by Bloc Party? We like! "Rock and Roll All Nite" by Kiss? Fair enough. "All Star" by Smash Mouth? Umm ... "This Love" by Maroon 5? What?
Head past the break to see the full list (complete with handy YouTube links) and feel varying degrees of satisfaction/rage.
Fresh off his success placing fourth in Neoflash's Spring Coding Competition, homebrew developer Multiple: Option has followed up his Game Melody Oratorio software with a second volume, packing ten songs and new features into the virtual piano update.
Here's your chance to learn classic melodies from a diverse set of games:
Game Melody Oratorio Volume 2's new features include an extra piano key (C3), a new Practice Stage with hidden notes, a new Recital Challenge mode, improved flashcart support, and the ability to preview melodies on the song selection screen. Wow! All that for free!
We just dropped (like they were hot) a bunch of new screens into our gallery from the dance competition game with the Rub Rabbits-meets-Frankenstein aesthetic, Red Bull BC One. Unfortunately, these latest screens do about as much to flatter the game as the last set did: flat, detail-free backdrops with low-poly character models just don't look that great. We understand the kind of heavily stylized appearance they were trying to do, and if that had happened, we would have found it awesome. We respect the idea, at least.
We're willing to give BC One a certain amount of leeway just based on the fact that it is a game about breakdancing.
If there is one thing we can appreciate, it's talent. And these folk have it, as the students from Hermann Wesselink College manage to bust out into a pair of great Nintendo themes a capella style. They handle a choice selection from The Legend of Zelda, as well as Super Mario Bros. in the video above.
If our school had stuff like this back when we were in our developing stages, maybe we would've paid attention and not grown up to become blogging scum.
Update: Some readers point out that this isn't a capella. Sorry folks, we're not a music blog!
The Ace Attorney series is dear to our hearts, so when any information crosses the intertubes regarding Capcom's lawyering games, we foam at the mouth like rabid raccoons. Today's tidings regard both the Gyakuten Meets Orchestra concert, which took place in Tokyo, and the upcoming spin-off title starring Miles Edgeworth.
As much as we love Gyakuten Saiban and its music, we obviously weren't able to able to drag ourselves to Japan for what we're sure was an awesome concert. From what we understand, though, the CDs that you see so deliciously stacked in the video above will be made available for purchase on July 16th. Do want.
Also in the video (around the 4:00 minute mark) is a trailer for Edgeworth's game, called Gyakuten Kenji in case you haven't been keeping up (for shame!). The trailer is mostly just moving versions of screens we've already seen, but it also features a new character that will be showing up
Check after the break to see some promotional photos for Gyakuten Kenji, some artwork from the event (want!), and some Gyakuten Saiban swag, including an orchestra-themed tumbler (want want!) and even Snackoos (want want want!).
We love the kind of hyperenthusiastic trailers that Japanese game companies produce. When such a chipper announcer tells us how awesome a game is, we're inclined to believe them. And we have no reason to believe that Meccha! Taiko no Tatsujin DS: 7-tsu no Shima no Daibouken is anything but great, between the tried-and-true fake-drumming gameplay and the endless march of beloved characters.
But even if we didn't care about the game, or didn't even know what the hell it was, the super-adorable moment at the end of the trailer when the boy, dejected after a loss, raises a drumstick stylus and sleepily asks for another game would have sold us as our hearts were melting.
Just when we thought we were tired of seeing videos of people playing the Super Mario Bros. theme with wacky, nontraditional instruments (including bottles!), here comes this brilliant piece of video to completely change our worldview. We cannot even imagine the time and effort required to arrange every bottle at just the right distance, with just the right amount of liquid, to accurately reproduce the Super Mario Bros. theme when hit in sequence by a passing RC car.
It must have been a lot less jovial in there for the guys doing this than it looked, and a lot more tense. Each note was another opportunity for the car to veer off course a bit and set off a domino-style chain reaction. Or even just to knock one bottle over and force the musicians to refill it to just the right level. The end result is transcendant enough to be worth it.
This may be a little off the beaten path, but we here at DS Fanboy stumbled across the DIY-online-mixtape site, muxtape, recently, and we've had a lot of fun putting together and sharing our creations. So much fun, in fact, that we decided to try to bring everyone in on it. By everyone, we mean you, our beloved readers. Create (if you haven't already) your own muxtape and share it in the comments!
Those of you who pay attention to Japanese sales have probably noticed that week after week, Taiko Drum Master DS sits comfortably in the top thirty. It may not sell absurd quantities (according to Famitsu, usually around 6,000 copies per week as of late), but it can't be argued that the game has legs, especially considering that it debuted nine months ago. In fact, it's the only third-party game for a Nintendo system that shows up on the charts with such consistency.
It was only a matter of time, then, before the game hit the 500k landmark. We're glad to see Namco's game doing so well, and hopefully the DS sequel will find similar success.
Posted Apr 9th 2008 12:45PM by Eric Caoili Filed under: News
After Daigasso! Band Brothers' release in Japan over three years ago and its subsequent expansion pack, it's time that Nintendo of America follow through with its Jam With the Band plans and bring the rhythm game to the US. Perhaps with this new entry to the series, Band Brothers DX, stateside gamers will finally trade licks with the series' curvy mascot, Barbara the Bat, outside of Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
Japanese magazine Famitsu revealed the sequel in this week's issue, detailing plenty of additions to the original's offerings: 30 classical/J-pop tracks, 50+ playable instruments (including an NES/Famicom?!), a guitar which you can strum via touchscreen, and a new "Karaoke Bar" mode. Interestingly, according to initial translations, DX will only allow for six players in its multiplayer jam sessions, two players less than what the first Band Brothers supported.
As for its online features, DX will also have over 100 downloadable songs for players to add to the included tracklist. We're assuming that this is for-real downloadable content and not faux downloadable content, as seen with Professor Layton and the Curious Village, but you never know! Band Brothers DX is scheduled to ship in Japan this June 26th. We'll let you know if we hear anything about a US release!
Bring your axe and pick past the post break for the scanned Famitsu pages.
Not to be outdone by Korg's upcoming DS-10, the fine folks behind Groovestep are currently developing a homebrew music application that has one thing over Korg's entry: it won't cost you any money. We like saving money!
As you can see in the video above, the interface looks a bit less intuitive than Korg's, however the feature set in Groovestep closely resembles the DS-10's features. No word on a release date yet, but you can bet that once there is one, we'll be all over Groovestep.
[Update: Groovestep developer Martin Robaszewski let us know that neither the release date nor the price of Groovestep have been decided. He's hoping for a retail release for the project.]
To say we're interested in the upcoming DS-10 from Korg would be an incredible understatement. We're dying from a disease that only the DS-10 can cure! So imagine how pleased we were to receive this dose of video goodness above, where some of the features of the DS-10 are shown.
Are you all as psyched for this as we are? Will you be picking it up when it releases?
You've heard our arguments for and against Guitar Hero: On Tour's viability as a worthy portable successor to the series' console games -- now we want to hear what your expectations for the game are!
You know, for how much we've seen on Guitar Hero: On Tour, we haven't seen too much on the peripheral. But now, thanks to a German gaming site that got their hands on the device, we all have something to look at. The images not only show an up-close look at the peripheral that attaches to the DS so that you may rock out, but also the whole set-up all ready to go and in someone's hands.
