My DS has been crying out for some attention. It’s been sitting unloved and feeling shunned next to the PSP for the last few months waiting for the chance to shine. Well, that opportunity has appeared as I’ve an upcoming trip planned which presents the perfect opportunity to get some DS gaming done while travelling. In preparation for the journey I’ve been messing around with a few games over the last few days.
Metroid Prime Pinball
This is a great pinball game which makes fantastic use of the Metroid license. As soon as the game starts up you know you’re in for a treat as you’re greeted with a familiar musical theme. The feel of the game is spot on with tables based upon different levels such as Talon Overworld, and Phazon Mines and feature some quite diverse objectives such as Burrower Bash and Space Pirate Panic which when successfully completed award Chozo Artifacts. The aim is to collect 12 artifacts in total to advance to the final tables.
As-well as Microsoft and Sony having E3 conferences revealing some nuggets of information, Nintendo also had there own little shin dig on Wednesday at the Civic Auditorium (Santa Monica). Even though this news is probably old hat now I thought it was only fair to extract some facts and information from the conference.
Of special interest was the announcement of Wii Fit with custom hardware (Wii Balance Board) and as anticipated release dates for some high profile first party titles were also revealed. However the dates listed were for the US only and European dates are yet to be announced. Nintendo platforms have experienced a 69% growth this year.
The Nintendo DS has now doubled its sales percentage of all videogame consoles sold from 12% to 23%!
Nintendo’s strategy of targeting the female demographic seems to be working as they have now achieved a 67 / 33 split for male to female gamers whereas it was stated this is usually 80 / 20.
The Nintendo DS has now sold over 40 million units worldwide and there will be 140 more new titles to appear this year.
Wii Fit was announced for the Nintendo Wii and features a new bit of hardware which is similar to a step aerobics platform known as the Wii Balance Board. The platform can measure weight distribution and calculate your BMI (Body Mass Index). The “game” covers different genres of activities such as aerobics, yoga, muscle conditioning and balance games. A price and release date has yet to be announced.
The Wii Zapper was announced which is basically a light gun incorporating both the Wii remote and Nunchuk and will be compatible with forthcoming games like Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles and Medal of Honour. The Zapper will be bundled with first party Nintendo software or sold separately for 19.99 USD.
A new channel is coming to the Wii called Check Mii Out. In the new channel you will be able to vote on Mii’s and search for popular Mii’s.
In terms of online statistics it was stated that 5.5 million players have used the Nintendo Wi-Fi connection with 230 gameplay sessions and the Wii Virtual console has had 5.6 million downloads.
Super Mario Galaxy will be released in US on November 12th.
Super Smash Bros. Brawl will be released in US on December 3rd.
Mario Kart Wii was announced and will feature online play. The game is scheduled to be released globally in quarter 1 2008. A custom steering wheel will also debut alongside the release of the game.
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass for the Nintendo DS has been given a release date as the 1st October 2007 by Nintendo of America. As yet there has been no official word on a European release date and given the usual track record for Nintendo Europe I think we’ll be lucky to see it on UK shores before the end of the year. However all is not lost for UK gamers and if you can’t bare to wait for a European release, and as the DS is region free, there will be plenty of importers lining up to supply you with the American version.
Newly released in Japan on June 23rd for the Nintendo DS The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass is the sequel to The Wind Waker and features the same cel shaded graphical style as its predecessor. Obviously the game caters for the reduced power of the DS compared to the Gamecube, but even so the game is looking stunning and as I’m a Zelda fan I really can’t wait to get hold of an English language copy. There’s been no confirmed European release date as yet, but with a bit of luck we may see it released later this summer.
Finally “Elite Beat Agents” has been given a European release date of July 13th. The Nintendo DS rhythm game is the westernised version of the frequently imported Japanese original “Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan” with government agents replacing black clad cheerleaders and a new track listing replacing the J-Pop listing of the original. The game has been available in the US since November 6th 2006 and Japan has recently seen the release of its successor “Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2″
I’ve been tempted to import Ouendan and Elite Beat Agents on a number of occasions but for some reason or another never got around to it. I’ve got a feeling I may pick this game up at some point after it’s released as it’s piqued my curiosity.
The other day Nintendo Europe confirmed that Pokemon Diamond / Pearl will be released in Europe on the 27th of July.
This is a full ten months after the Japanese release and only three months after the American release. At least we’re not too far behind the American release this time and we’ve actually got a release date, which is more than can be said for some other high profile Nintendo games we’re waiting for. I’ve only ever played Pokemon Red on the Nintendo Gameboy many years ago when it was released in 1999 and although I really enjoyed the game I’ve never felt the need to pick up one of the many sequels. However I’m tempted to try either Diamond or Pearl as it’s had positive reviews and I’m intrigued to see how it’s come on over the years.
I’ve not had much time to play games over the last week but I managed to get an hour or so on Puzzle Quest last night. I must admit I was getting a bit frustrated with some of the battles.
The AI was chaining together better sequences and whenever new tiles appeared on the game board they always seemed to favour the opponent. I had to replay a few quest battles, and some I couldn’t win even after a couple of attempts. Of course there is a simple and logical explanation; I suck at this game! So to solve the issue I resorted to the belief that the AI was cheating. I’m sure this is not the case, but it made me feel better all the same.
Puzzle Quest is available on both the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP and can be picked up at a bargain price from online retailers. I got the DS version delivered yesterday and finally got around to giving it a go later that evening.
I’m not really into puzzle games but I thought I’d give this a try because of its blending of fantasy RPG and puzzle genres. At the start of the game you’re asked to choose a hero from one of four classes: Druid, Knight, Warrior or Wizard. Once the class is chosen you can also choose your portrait and name before starting the game. As with most other RPG games you have the ability to customize what your character wears and the items you take into battle. There is a story arc to the game main quests to drive the story forward and side quests are available from a top down map, which is so far jotted with a few locations I can visit. Once engaged in a quest battle the puzzle elements of the game take over with players taking it in turns to swap adjacent pieces on a grid to create matching rows or columns of three or more pieces. A number of different types of pieces are available which can either build up your mana reserves, attack the opponent, gain gold or gain extra experience. During combat once sufficient mana has been accumulated you may also cast spells to aid your character or to directly attack the opponent.
So far the game has been a lot of fun, it was easy to get into and the early tutorials give you enough information so you can engage in combat without having to refer back to the manual. For me the story and RPG elements add extra depth and encourage you to continue playing when normally I’d put the game down after a short while. In fact I found that a couple of hours had passed when I only meant to give the game a “quick go”. My only gripe so far is that there seems to be an annoying “click” sound whenever the main music repeats its loop.
This is a great pinball game which makes fantastic use of the Metroid license. As soon as the game starts up you know you’re in for a treat as you’re greeted with a familiar musical theme. The feel of the game is spot on with tables based upon different levels such as Talon Overworld, and Phazon Mines and feature some quite diverse objectives such as Burrower Bash and Space Pirate Panic which when successfully completed award Chozo Artifacts. The aim is to collect 12 artifacts in total to advance to the final tables.
