We would trade our souls for a DS version of X-Com: UFO Defense, had we not already sold the bedraggled things to Milhouse at a discount price of five dollars of course, but it looks like Blue_knight's homebrew port of the tactical RPG is coming along well enough. Three cheers for hobbyist programmers!

He has added a lot since we last covered the project -- tile selection, a tweaked UI, and an "entity rendering system." Though we're not sure what exactly that all means, the screenshots we grabbed and added past the post break look promising.

Now if you'll excuse us, we have some souls to track down. Last we heard, Milhouse exchanged them for Alf pogs. Alf pogs! Remember Alf? He's back ... in pog form.

We usually wait until a homebrew project has had time to mature past its alpha builds before calling the game to your attention, but we take exception with any and all plans for a portable X-Com: UFO Defense. Our love affair with the turn-based, tactical title has been a romance with few equals, inviting comparisons with Shakespeare's tragic coupling of Romeo and Juliet. Should society ever try to separate us, you'll find that we've already taken measures to leave this miserable world, our lifeless arms entwined with X-Com's diskettes even in death.

Blue_knight has posted screenshots of the progress he's made so far with adapting the game's data for the DS. The handheld clone already features tileset loading/creation, four height views, and touchscreen support for scrolling around the battlescape. Though there's still a lot left to implement, like fog of war and a map overview on the second screen, that hasn't stopped us from scouting countries for potential bases and trading tips on how to best attack Chryssalid terror sites.


[Via DCEmu]

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.

When my afternoons aren't busied by hours of photoshopping cat heads onto pictures of my friends, I pass the time with puzzlers and plumbers on my DS Lite. But those kitten-free days are few and far between, so I end up being able to only fit either the most polished or the most eccentric games into my packed schedule. Wario: Master of Disguise? Sorry, I've got things to do and feline faces to retouch. Lost in Blue 2? I'll have to pass -- I'm already lost in trying to get these whiskers to look perfect.

My collection is a mishmash of AAA titles and niche releases, their cases piled atop one another like a Jenga stack of mismatched blocks, threatening to topple over at any moment. Just pulling a game from the middle of the shaky structure is an act preceded by hours of anxiety and self-doubt. Having my wife provide commentary during the ordeal, remarking "Oh god, it's going to crash this time for sure, I just know it. Why'd you even try, Eric?! Game over, man! Game over!" as I tug out my copy of Advance Wars DS doesn't make the challenge any easier.

So when I do manage to put aside the pussycat photos and secure a game to play, it better damn well be worth it. Journey forth and read which of those titles have captured a place not only on my top five list, but in my heart.