We were piqued by the puzzlish multitasking rhythm gameplay in Noise Factory's Ontamarama before its Japanese release as Ontama. But now that it's being localized and we may actually have a shot at playing the thing, we've graduated from piqued to some degree of interest that is a little greater than 'piqued.'
Siliconera's Spencer Yip played Ontamarama at E3 and wrote up a description of the game, which sounds as complicated as ever: it involves first touching a little creature of the correct color, then tapping the D-pad in the direction of a scrolling arrow. We knew that those two components were involved, but didn't know the chronology. We're glad somebody got to play it and tell us!
80Pan fans take note: this game, for once, will be keeping the original Japanese music. Is that a good thing? No idea! If it helps, we're pretty sure there was no Avril Lavigne in the Japanese version.
For the next week, online shop Play-Asia will be selling all of its in-stock items at a 20% discount, excluding weekly specials or anything released in the past 30 days -- cross Jump Ultimate Stars and Doki Doki Majo Shinpan off of your to-buy list. All of the import retailer's eligible products have been marked with the smoothie icon shown on the right, so it's easy to spot which games are on sale. We've picked out several noteworthy bargains that you might want to consider:
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Justice for All - $23.92
Naruto: Saikyo Ninja Daikesshu 4 - $15.92
Gyakuten Saiban 4 Limited Edition - $103.92
bit Generations: Orbital, Soundvoyager, Dialhex, Boundish, Digidrive - all $11.92
Urban Life Style Cases, White and Light Blue - $10.32
Headsets, Nintendo - $10.32, Dragon - $5.52
Play Stand DS Lite - $11.92
Though the sale doesn't end until next Friday, a lot of these items won't stay in-stock for long. Don't be that guy who has to leave a comment about missing out on a particular deal!
The Japanese always luck out when it comes to games! From June 28th to July 11th, Japanese gamers with a copy of (deep breath) Moeru! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2 will be able to head to the nearest DS Download Station and download the Elite Beat Agents characters, as well as Neko, for use in Ouendan 2. If we said we weren't jealous, we'd be bold-faced liars.
The time has come, faithful readers, for us to settle something once and for all. It's bound to be a heated issue, but it's a question worth answering. If you had to choose (and we grow faint just trying to imagine the horror of such a situation) between the Ace Attorney series and the Ouendan/Elite Beat Agents set, which side would you pick? Hot rhythm action or shouts of "Objection!" and an endless cast of wacky characters? It's a tough choice. Let's fight it out.
Among its other many virtues, Ouendan owed a lot of its overseas hype and success to its undaunting language barrier. Despite the menus and manga panels being filled with Japanese text, importers were able to follow the rhythm title's illustrated screwball plots and quickly pick up its self-explanatory controls. Ouendan's recently-released sequel, Moeru! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2, likewise requires little-to-no familiarity with the Japanese language in order to enjoy the game.
Even with these assurances though, there are still many import-shy gamers who hide behind their mothers' skirts at the sight of kanji characters. Fortunately for them, the Platformers has translated Ouendan 2's menu selections, providing a visual guide with an overlay of English text. Most of the buttons and icons are obvious, but having a quick reference like this would be useful for first-time importers. Now there's no excuse for avoiding the cheer squad!
It's out, and we don't have it. It kinda hurts. Some bloggers seem to have gotten their hands on a copy, so we know it's possible that one of our faithful readers has Moeru! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2! We need to live vicariously through you, hypothetical reader! We need your impressions!
Those of you who don't have it or just don't have it yet: do you have one on the way? Do you consider this the biggest game release of the year? Or are you holding out for a US release? Or an Elite Beat Agents 2: Beat Harder? Personally, we'll take any and all iNiS music releases and will be importing Ouendan 2 as soon as finances allow.
Cheeraholics will be glad to hear that four more songs for Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2 have been discovered by a savvy individual snooping around Nintendo's Japanese website. Of course, if you're anything like us, you don't want any of this sure-to-be amazing game spoiled for you, so we placed the track list past the break. Check it out if you wish.
This commercial may or may not be a direct parody of Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan! but it is certainly evocative of our favorite male-cheerleader-based rhythm game. And it performs a public service!
If you watch this ad for Nissin's UFO ramen bowls, you'll learn an important life lesson about without having to pay the no-doubt exorbitant tuition required to attend the "UFO man school." The lesson is as follows: finish your freaking noodle bowl if you value your life.
True story time! When we were in college (not that long ago!) you couldn't get these things in American grocery stores like you can now. We ordered a bunch of Japanese food online, and had a horrible allergic reaction to one of these noodle bowls. Delicious noodles, though!
The video is posted after the break, with no further embarrassing personal anecdotes.
This week, gamers in the U.S. have some options again, but the big news is in import titles, with the release of the Ouendan sequel. How many of you will be shelling out the extra cash required to bring this one across the ocean? Probably more than a few, considering this is one of the most hotly anticipated sequels ever.
With only a week to go before its release in Japan, Nintendo has put up a suite of videos for Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2. In addition to the traditional commercial spot and gameplay trailer, there are five "experience" clips showing people tapping and singing along with the rhythm title's songs.
We would post videos of our own experiences with Ouendan, but they'd consist of us sobbing in a corner as we played through "Over the Distance," a heart-rending ghost love story that calls for you to reunite a restless spirit with his grieving girlfriend for one last goodbye. We haven't cried that much since the last time we saw Grave of the Fireflies. Oh the humanity! Bring a tissue when you saunter past the post break for the melancholic scene from the original Ouendan game.
We've been playing a lot of Elite Beat Agents lately and the comparisons between it and its Japanese counterpart Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan! are unavoidable. We can't really say which we think is superior, as they both have their own distinct charm, but our mind floats back to when we first tried Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan! in a very inebriated state, in our hotel room, during E3 2005.
As we tried to follow the visual clues on-screen and tap in-time with the beat, we found that such an experience had to be a figment of our imagination. We visualized those cartoons of old, where a thirsty traveler searches the dunes for some sign of water, only to find a mirage and soon snap out of their delusion to find that they have nothing in their mouth but sand. We wondered how much we drank. We then remember how much it was and pretty much settled on it being a drunken fantasy.
But no, the next morning we played it again and it was as good as that first play, if not better. But, more appropriately, it caused us much debate at Fanboy HQ today. We wondered about Elite Beat Agents, and if it was good enough to cause some to import the Japanese game? We then wondered which version people preferred? We wonder a lot.
Do us a favor? Let us know! Did you import Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan! after playing Elite Beat Agents (and having it rock your world, natch)? Did you dislike Elite Beat Agents? Did you love EBA, but found the Japanese charm of Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan! to be anything but?
All this week, the DS Fanboy staff is letting you in on a few of their favorite titles. Each day, a different member of the staff will present their personal top five DS games along with a snapshot of their gaming paraphernalia and habits, in an effort to provide our readers with a little more information on the tastes and personalities of our writers.
As the lead blogger of PSP Fanboy, one might be questioning why I'm here. It's true: I love my PSP and take it everywhere (except the shower). But that doesn't mean I can't enjoy Nintendo's handheld. I've grown up with Nintendo handhelds, owning every iteration of the Game Boy ever. My stash of Nintendo valuables would make any Nintendork jealous. Now that I'm older and spending less time arguing in message boards, I've learned that true gaming bliss comes from having access to all the games I can get. Hopefully, you feel the same way too.
So please, take my "top five" list as an olive branch to end the bickering between the two Fanboy sites.
Due for release in Japan this May 17th, Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2's packaging art has two-stepped its way onto the internet. The cover features the sequel's two rival cheer squad team leaders with their arms outstretched, magnificent rays of light bursting behind them. Their eyes and expressions are brimming with determination, as if to say, "If you don't dance, well you're no friends of mine."
With a partial songlist, screenshots, and boxart now out on the internet, unchained, all that's left to cast loose is the actual cartridge. We've already put in our pre-orders for the rhythm game. Have you decided whether or not you'll be importingOuendan 2 yet?
Ontama is a new rhythm game for the DS. Which is, really, all we needed to know for our hype-generating machine to go into full power. In case you hadn't noticed, we tend to get worked up about the musicgames.
Rather than telling little mini-stories like Elite Beat Agents, Noise Factory's new game seems to be a somewhat more stripped-down, arcade experience, with characters that seem to be limited to describing gameplay. We don't exactly know how the game works, but we can tell that you touch little round creatures (probably the Ontama themselves, since that translates to "sound balls" or "music balls") to send them into icons on the top of the screen; you then hit directions and buttons that correspond to those icons at the right moment, like Parappa the Rapper.
Enjoy the trailer after the break, and see if you can figure out a little bit more of what's going on.
Some incredible new screens of Ouendan 2 have exploded onto the web and filled us with hot-blooded rhythm spirit. Two new scenarios are featured: the first involving a girls' choir who need HEEEAALP performing harmoniously, and the second involving a soccer player who requires the power of your dancing to succeed. Wait, cheering for a sport? Preposterous.
One especially notable feature evident in the screens is a new multiplayer mode, where one member of both the Ouendan squad and the new rival squad face off. Judging from the little antenna icon on the screen, it's definitely wireless play. Our case of rhythm spirit will be incurable if the game turns out to be online.
We were piqued by the puzzlish multitasking rhythm gameplay in Noise Factory's Ontamarama before its Japanese release as Ontama. But now that it's being localized and we may actually have a shot at playing the thing, we've graduated from piqued to some degree of interest that is a little greater than 'piqued.'
For the next week, online shop Play-Asia will be selling all of its in-stock items at a 20% discount, excluding weekly specials or anything released in the past 30 days -- cross 
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This week, gamers in the U.S. have some options again, but the big news is in import titles, with the release of the 
With only a week to go before its release in Japan, Nintendo has put up a suite of videos for 
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