For people longing to play new demos via the Nintendo Channel, the frustration continues. All we saw on the channel today was the return of two demos that we never really missed in the first place (we're looking at you, Carnival Games and Crosswords DS Wordsearch).
Nintendo also extended the availability dates on three of the existing demos, probably because offering three new ones would have been too satisfying (/bitter). The good news is, you have another week to try out Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 and Contra 4 if you haven't done so already.
Click past the break to see yet another underwhelming list of demos.
For those of you looking to play something brand new this week, you're out of luck. Instead, Nintendo offers us a chance to catch up with some demos me might have missed in the past, allowing folks to download these up until next week. So, if you missed out last time, get on it!
With Trauma Center 2 and Contra 4 on the Nintendo Channel's demos list, you may wonder why exactly we're unimpressed. Perhaps it's because there's nothing new offered this week, unless you count the reappearance of certain demos on the list as "new." We don't.
To see why we're thoroughly uninspired, check past the break for the full list of "been there, done that" demos.
As DS fans, we play lots of games. There's just no getting around it, because the system is up to its eyeballs in great titles, always. So, we're often busy with this or that.
We imagine you game quite a bit on the handheld, too. So, we have to ask: what is your recent favorite game? What game have you played lately that has blown you away? A little game called Space Invaders Extreme? Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2? Well, what game have you played lately that has been just plain great?
It's Monday again, which means it's time to check out what the Nintendo Channel has in store for DS demos. Like last week, we don't get much in the way of new stuff to play on our DS, but it's not about quantity here, it's about quality. And, this week's lone demo has that in spades:
There's one thing you need to know right up front: Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 is one of the best DS games to date, even without the benefit of some of the things that were added to the Wii entries in the medical franchise. The gameplay is much improved over the already-excellent first title, and the biggest complaint made by the original's detractors -- the difficulty -- is mitigated here by the inclusion of a range of difficulty settings. The result is pretty close to spectacular.
But when the gameplay is so good that there are few complaints, it's a lot easier to nitpick other aspects of the title, and we've got nitpicks in spades. That's all they are, though: tiny complaints that hardly matter. Under the Knife 2 should be remembered as one of the most satisfying experiences on the DS. Unfortunately, that's not likely to happen.
Anyone need a kidney? It's fresh! We need the money so we can keep up with all these vitally important DS games, and after this week, we'll know how to remove it cleanly. Trauma Center is just like real surgery, right? It's important that we learn, so we can get 1 vs. 100 (omg!) the moment it's released.
Surgery may not be our thing, but we've got a handle on sarcasm.
1 vs. 100
AMF Bowling Pinbusters!
Ducati Moto
Journey to the Center of the Earth
Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2
Stagger past the break to see what's out in the rest of the world.
It's not that often that we hear about the creative process behind designing a game's box -- our own interview with Konami's contracted illustrator and packaging designer Julie Giles is a rare piece. Most people would rather read about the people who designed the actual games.
Seeing an opportunity to share his experiences with packshots, Atlus creative designer has posted an update on the publisher's informative series of Production Diaries, detailing the adjustments that were needed to adapt Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2's Japanese cover for the U.S. audience. Join us past the post break for comparison shots and a scan of the surgery sim's new print ad!
Good news for Trauma Center fans -- if you liked the first game, it stands to reason that you'll enjoy Under the Knife 2. All the slicing, stitching, and ass-kicking potential of the first is here, and with more options lifted from the Wii version. But if you didn't like Trauma Center the first time around, the Easy mode may not be enough to tempt you into this one.
Of course, if you didn't like Trauma Center, you're probably more interested in spending your time kicking puppies, or otherwise engaged in some horrific habit. Honestly, the pain of (repeated, egregious) failure aside, it remains one of the best and most intense experiences on the handheld. Can a sequel hope to measure up? We spent a little time with the upcoming title in an effort to find out.
Want to see the gameplay that Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 has in store for you? IGN came up with some videos, which we've put here for your viewing convenience. The one up top shows an instance of performing surgery on an African plague victim, which looks difficult -- but seeing as this is Trauma Center, we'd expect no less. Fortunately for those of us in North America (and for the rest of you who don't mind importing), we have less than a month to wait before we can try it out for ourselves.
The videos after the break include some of your ordinary surgery fodder, as well as Dr. Styles trying to save a land mine victim.
We're looking forward to applying a little more of that Healing Touch while spending some quality time with Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2, but this latest batch of screenshots has reminded us that the last game was, y'know, kinda hard. Perhaps even punishing. Why? Because so often you'd be on the brink of finishing an operation -- or so you thought -- and suddenly, 834 new challenges (we counted) would emerge from the depths of the patient's flesh. Who knew the human spleen could hold so many bone fragments? Check out the latest screens in our gallery below if you'd like to see some of the new challenges that await you with the Trauma Center sequel.
It's common knowledge that Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2's setting and storyline is to involve disease, civil war, and refugees, but now swearing has been added to this gritty mix. Shocking! We'd expect disease in a game about making people feel better, but we hope that Atlus' game doesn't start taking itself too seriously. For this blogger, the otherwise excellent Advance Wars: Days of Ruin was a little too dark for its own good, and yours truly missed some of the inherent silliness of previous games. Here's hoping Trauma Center 2 retains its sense of humor. On the other hand, we appreciate that some of you couldn't give two hoots about the story. Regardless, make a careful incision and enter the gallery below for six new shots.
July 1st can't come fast enough for people like us, who enjoy using our styli in virtual worlds to perform various surgeries. Although we love playing Trauma Center on the Wii, too, we can't wait for its return to the DS -- the little handheld that we never leave home without.
Until we can actually play it, though, we have no choice but to look at screens and other media to ease the pain of waiting. So, if you need a Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 fix, just check out our updated gallery below. The new pictures include some dramatic pre-surgery gestures that Trauma Center characters love making, the African refugee camp locales, and some of the surgeries that you'll be involved in.
It's only been a week since the news of Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 broke, and already we're awash in news of the upcoming title. We're not complaining, either; the original is the game you love to hate and hate to love, thanks to the fantastic concept and brutalizing gameplay.
The screenshots (found in our gallery), aren't the best news of the day, however -- the real kicker is that we'll see Under the Knife 2 in July. July 1, to be exact, and yes, that's before it's due in Japan. Rejoice!
The breakneck speed of the first trailer for Trauma Center 2 is, frankly, all a bit bewildering. As we blog from our La Z Boys, margarita in one hand and our masseuses kneading our shoulders, we can't help but wonder: is watching this as downright stressful and frenetic as day-to-day life in a real trauma center?
Well, uh, probably not, but it sure is exciting. The pace of it does mean that it's a little tricky to pick up on footage of gameplay, but what's there is comfortingly familiar, and there are old faces (under their Japanese names) and new faces (including Adel Tulba, who we learned more about recently) alike. No sign of the "improved functionality" of the instruments that has been promised by Atlus, but there's plenty of time for that yet. We need a breather.
With Trauma Center 2 and Contra 4 on the Nintendo Channel's demos list, you may wonder why exactly we're unimpressed. Perhaps it's because there's nothing new offered this week, unless you count the reappearance of certain demos on the list as "new." We don't.
Anyone need a kidney? It's fresh! We need the money so we can keep up with all these vitally important DS games, and after this week, we'll know how to remove it cleanly. Trauma Center is just like real surgery, right? It's important that we learn, so we can get 1 vs. 100 (omg!) the moment it's released.
It's only been a week since the news of Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 broke, and already we're awash in news of the upcoming title. We're not complaining, either; the original is the game you love to hate and hate to love, thanks to the fantastic concept and brutalizing gameplay.
_thumbnail.png "Defenders of Law, Inc: Crime in Willburg (PC Screens)")
