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!
During last night's Game Night, we were approached by reader Brad Mecoli, who asked us if we wanted to see some hacked Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin video. After about .68 seconds of deliberation (which, for an android, is nearly an eternity) we agreed, and Brad took us to a good place (heh, heh, heh): YouTube.
He found a character portrait test sequence in the ROM, which, using a hex editor, he was able to display. It features every character in the game cycling through all of their facial expressions while chanting ka ge ma sa, which, as Brad reminded us, is the name of the founder of Konami.
We find it very creepy for some reason whenever the veil is pulled back on internal development materials within a game. But we also find it funny. Watch after the break and enter a Kagemasa traaaaaaance.
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.
If there's anything that can be said about my life -- and that includes my gaming life -- it's that it's messy. I'm messy. I have all this organizational garbage that's supposed to make it easier to store and find all my stuff, but see, I keep accumulating more stuff, and so I need more organizational items ... it's a vicious cycle, and it's part of why I love cartridges. I know where the box is for Clubhouse Games. It's about three feet away as I type this. I could get it, but why? Clubhouse Games goes in and out of my beloved handheld so often, I usually just leave it here on my desk along with the other games I'm interested in at the moment, and I don't have to worry about it getting all scratched up because it isn't delicate like some pansy disc. This makes me happy. I have to be more careful with CDs and DVDs ... but that doesn't mean there aren't a few stacks of discs around my workspace. Believe me, if it's at all stackable, I'm gonna stack it, and to hell with the consequences.
Of course, the problem with the size of DS carts means that sometimes I lose my Clubhouse for a while, and that makes me unhappy to the extreme. Luckily, there are other games that can distract me ....
Here in the U.S., the best system ever DS might not have had much going on last week, but this week's release of Wario: Master of Disguise is likely to make up for all that and more. Everyone's favorite anti-Mario is one of the most anticipated games this year -- and so we can already guess what you'll be playing this weekend!
DS releases in the U.S.:
Rayman Raving Rabbids
Shrek Smash n' Crash Racing
Wario: Master of Disguise
For the rest of the world's releases this week, check out the lists after the jump. It's a particularly good week for (almost) everyone! For those of you in Australia ... well, next week looks huge for you, so bide awhile.
Okay, so you think you're cool because you got the preorder bonus package with your copy of Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin. Well, you're right. You are cool, and we are jealous.
But here's a Portrait of Ruin promotional item that we can all covet together. This poster comes with the soundtrack CD, and features art from Suikoden character designer Fumi Ishikawa that we wish had been used in the game. Oh, and about the actual item this poster is included with-- did we mention that the actual Portrait of Ruin music is amazing? We almost forgot about that part.
This poster is only being included with the first shipment of CDs, and, of course, this package is only available in Japan. We grudgingly accept that; our wallets ill need a drain such as a $21 CD.
According to our Game Night polls, Mario Kart DS is probably the most universally popular DS game -- or maybe it's just the one more people have. But what's your favorite? Which DS game really makes you want to get in there and fight it out online? Do you like fragging in Metroid Prime Hunters, or the versatility of Clubhouse Games? We'd love to hear about it.
A certain blogger may or may not have an extreme obsession with everything Castlevania (cue shifty eyes), but all that aside, there's nothing like a good ol' video review for a Friday afternoon. Especially when it's a review of Portrait of Ruin! Is this your weekend timesink or are you kicking back with another game? Don't forget to stop in and tell us what you're playing.
Out of all the games released this week, only one was really on everyone's radar. So, how many of you are currently stuck in the past, battling vamps and other ghastly ghouls during World War II? We have yet to pick up the game ourselves, with the intention to do so this weekend. So, you know what we're (planning on) playing, but what are you playing?
Plan on staking Dracula right in his chest, as well? Or do you not care about the eternal struggle between good and evil, instead looking toward other titles to provide amusement?
If you're a realCastlevania fan, then it's likely the sweet preorder bonus for Portrait of Ruin from GameStop and co. got your blood pumping. There's nothing like teasing the flap on a beautiful box and dipping your fingers inside to stroke the goods. We know you want it. Flickr user and DS fan Gil knows, too, and he photographed his very special unboxing odyssey just for you. The smooth, slim stylus and DS case, the poster with handy timeline and luscious artwork, and the collector's edition music CD -- it's all inside. And even if you couldn't get your hands on one, now you can at least watch as it is undressed, left naked and open for your roving eyeballs.
And even if you don't love Castlevania in that special way that we do, it's always nice to see a collector's set with some real goodies ... and any fan knows the music from the series is worth having on disc.
[Thanks, Gil!]
[Update 1: Looks like I've forgotten how to spell.]
The folks over at Gamebrink imported a Japanese copy of Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin and ran it through their gauntlet for review. What did they have to say about the game? Well, mostly good things mixed with great things, obviously! We wouldn't suggest reading the review unless you enjoy having things spoiled for you. Commenting on the new two-player combo aspect of the game, Gamebrink details how fighting and puzzle solving have been changed:
"The first most obvious thing is that some enemies are pretty much immune to physical attacks and vice-versa so you'll find yourself making use of both characters' unique fighting abilities. Also, once you manage to collect the required scrolls, you can pull off a combo attack known as "Duel Crush" during battles to inflict some greater than average damage. As you explore Castlevania, you'll find areas that are too high to reach so when this happens, most of the time you'll be summoning your partner to give you a little boost up but sometimes, you'll just have to use the "stay" command. "
We aren't experts in the fine art that is speaking Japanese, if you hadn't already noticed. On top of that, translated pages aren't exactly the best place to get info either. If you've ever doubted that a sentence in English could not make sense, spend five minutes trying to read one of Google's translated pages. They could make Winnie The Pooh look like a perverted old bear.
From what we gathered, this is the intro to Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin. There's lots of ass kicking and no monster gets spared. We were surprised to not hear any voice acting but we are hoping to see that get worked on in the extra months Konami has taken to improve the game.
As always, the video is after the break unless you want to wait and see the intro for yourself when the game is released like a sissy. Enjoy!
For those of you chomping at the bit to bust out that whip and vanquish a force of evil or two in Konami's Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, you might want to pre-order the game through a GameStop, EB Games, or Gamecrazy store because you're going to get one sweet package. The package consists of:
48 page book detailing every game in the Castlevania series
20th anniversary soundtrack CD
Timeline poster detailing key events and characters in the Castlevania universe
Special edition Castlevania DS Lite extendable stylus and game case
So who else plans on taking advantage of this sweet deal?
[Thanks duscom and Andrew!]
You said it, Stella. Especially now that there's a nifty preorder bonus, we're also tired of waiting to fight the legions of darkness. Bring on Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin! Thanks to IGN and their giant watermark department, however, we've got some new screenshots to tide us over for a while.
Check after the jump for a few more, including some shots of Charlotte bringing the beats, which we rarely get to see.
There are few people allowed to crack whips other than Devo (they just do it so well). Fortunately for the gaming world we are more than happy to see a member of the Belmont family authoritatively crack one in the name of beating down one of time's most ferocious night stalkers -- vampires.
Even though being able to live forever would be pretty cool, we aren't huge fans of sucking blood or having our blood sucked, so they must ultimately be destroyed. The poor Belmont family has been trying to do this for years and they do it so well, it almost looks like an art. Then again, if they were to ever fully succeed in killing off these blood suckers, what or who would they fight next? We see where you are going with this and no, cowboy-space-vampires riding pink mechanical horses across the galaxy is not a good idea. Sorry.
Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin is really catching our eye and we recently found out that the Japanese site for the game is up. As usual, knowing Japanese would help while exploring it.
This winter, Konami is hedging their bets by releasing a flurry of games on both the PSP and the DS. The upcoming titles Marvel Trading Card Game (trading cards for a handheld? really?) and Xiaolin Showdown will be released for the competing platforms, and Konami is also debuting a pair of games based on the animated series Winx Club. But their real winner, Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, is exclusive to the Nintendo DS -- and a good thing, since it makes heavy use of the Nintendo handheld's touchscreen. Anyone wanna guess which console's games will win in this deathmatch? Where did we leave those sales figures ....
Here in the U.S., the 
According to our 
A certain blogger may or may not have an extreme obsession with everything Castlevania (cue shifty eyes), but all that aside, there's nothing like a good ol' video review for a 
If you're a real Castlevania fan, then it's likely the sweet 
The folks over at Gamebrink imported a Japanese copy of Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin and ran it through their gauntlet for review. What did they have to say about the game? Well, mostly good things mixed with great things, obviously! We wouldn't suggest reading the review unless you enjoy having things spoiled for you. Commenting on the new two-player combo aspect of the game, Gamebrink details how fighting and puzzle solving have been changed:
You said it, Stella. Especially now that there's a nifty 
There are few people allowed to crack whips other than Devo (they just do it so well). Fortunately for the gaming world we are more than happy to see a member of the Belmont family authoritatively crack one in the name of beating down one of time's most ferocious night stalkers -- vampires.
This winter, Konami is hedging their bets by releasing a flurry of games on both the PSP and the DS. The upcoming titles Marvel Trading Card Game (trading cards for a handheld? really?) and Xiaolin Showdown will be released for the competing platforms, and Konami is also debuting a pair of games based on the animated series Winx Club. But their real winner, Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, is exclusive to the Nintendo DS -- and a good thing, since it makes heavy use of the Nintendo handheld's touchscreen. Anyone wanna guess which console's games will win in this deathmatch? Where did we leave those 
