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Jun 30 2009
Professor Layton is not one to automatically dismiss popular new things as fads. In fact, he now has his own Twitter account! His username is @TopHatProfessor and, in classic Layton fashion, he has been tweeting riddles. This is, of course, a not-so-subtle way to promote Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box, which is due out in August. He’s totally worth following just to imagine his voice as you read his tweets. No internet shorthand for him!
Jun 29 2009
Too poor/young for The Conduit? Hudson has you covered this week with Water Warfare, a completely non-violent first person shooter with online play and a ranking system. In fact, Water Warfare has one feature that’s missing from The Conduit: local split screen multiplayer for two people. (Of course, whether the game is actually any good is anyone’s guess.) Meanwhile, if you prefer your shooting even cuter, the Virtual Console has Fantasy Zone II: The Tears of Opa-Opa from the Master System.
The DSi’s update is quite a bit smaller than the four-game update the Wii is getting. The DSi’s only new game today is Sudoku Master. If you’ve already finished all of the puzzles in Brain Age 1 and 2, however, this may be the best news you’ve heard all day. As always, check past the break for more details.
DSiWare
WiiWare
Virtual Console
Jun 29 2009
Tanooki pals Kevin and Erik are launching their Review Revue, a brand new series of video reviews starting with the recent Art Style game available from DSiWare. Be sure to check it out above and check back for future episodes!
Jun 26 2009
If you’re like me, you’re hyped up about the upcoming remakes for Pokemon Gold and Silver, which will include all of the original games – both Johto and Kanto regions – and their respective stories around Lugia and Ho-Oh. If that’s not enough to excite you, consider the bonuses such as the new female lead character (possibly named “Soul” if Leaf was any indication), the new PokeWalker device, the Hoenn legendary trio, the pre-order figurines, appearances by Cynthia and Arceus, and hopefully a Celebi event at Toys R Us.
As of this morning, we now have the Japanese release date for both games. Pokemon HeartGold and Pokemon SoulSilver have officially been dated for a September 12th, barely over two months away. That’s also a day shy of the one-year anniversary of Pokemon Platinum in Japan, so let’s hope that points to a North American release date of no later than March 21st, 2010.
Jun 22 2009
If you don’t mind completely voiding your warranty, you may be able to get a North American DSi that matches your Wii after all. One company has started offering replacement DSi cases (as in the hard plastic exterior of your DSi) in a not-so-wide variety of colors. They currently come in white, black, and the above pictured “crystal,” which looks pretty awesome. Also shown on the site is a DS Lite case that enables overclocking, which means you can increase the running speed of your DS games. Check out XCM’s site for more pictures.
Jun 12 2009
It seems that the Pokémon Gold and Silver DS remakes will feature at least one new addition. A device that lets you train your Pokémon by walking. Every step you take while wearing the “Poké Walker” will generate “watts” which can be used to catch Pokémon and find tools right in the device to send to your copy of Pokémon HeartGold or SoulSilver.
Feeling a bit of déjà vu? It definitely has some similarities to the old Pokémon Pikachu vitual pet that was released so many years ago, including getting “watts” for taking steps. The biggest difference is that you’ll actually be able to use them for something totally important now: Pokémon training. Well, and the fact that virtual pets are so 90s.
Jun 07 2009
Well, Square Enix really knows how to talk to their fans. Vice president Shinji Hashimoto isn’t impressed with the mere 870,000 copies of Chrono Trigger DS that have been sold. Or the 2.3 million copies of the SNES version, or however many copies of the PlayStation version were bought by fans. If you want to see a sequel, you’ll have to buy Chrono Trigger again, maybe a third or fourth time. When asked about the possibility, he laughed (really) and answered the question with another question:
Why does everyone ask about Chrono Trigger?
Because it’s popular, of course.
That’s not what the sales tell me! [...] If people want a sequel, they should buy more!
People want a sequel, and the fact that they try to make their own (a fact that Square Enix is well aware of) should be proof of that.
Jun 06 2009
5th Cell’s Scribblenauts is getting boatloads of attention after its appearance at this years E3, and deservedly so. The premise is simple: you play as Maxwell, a child sporting a pair of headphones and “Rooster Hat”, and you have to solve puzzles using words. After typing in the desired word it will appear on your screen, available for use to solve the puzzle at hand. Afterwards, you’re awarded points and achievements according to how you figured it out. For example, if your character is hungry and you simply use the word “cheese”, you’ll pass, but “hamburger” would net your more points for creativity. Simply put, the more inventive you are, the more you’re rewarded.
The vocabulary is said to be deep, with the developer going as far as saying, “People won’t write half the things that exist in this game…” The video above shows Scribblenauts in action, displaying its unique gameplay. I mean, where else would you be able to see Kraken and God duke it out?
Jun 05 2009
The sales numbers are in for Japan’s final week before the E3 news came out. I’m thinking we might see a spike in Xbox 360 hardware, even if the games don’t go with it, and expect Wii sales to drop maybe a little bit as those who would’ve bought a Wii might not next week, knowing a new color option is on the way. As for this week, everything was pretty consistent with the week before in terms of hardware.
As for software, Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days for the Nintendo DS owned the week. Launching with first-week sales of nearly 300,000 units, it nearly doubled the first week sales of Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth from Capcom. Full software sales rankings can be found after the break.
Jun 04 2009
It’s Friday! …in Europe, at least. That means new downloads, but unfortunately there’s only WiiWare and DSiWare for this week, only two of which are actual games. You can check out the list below and make up your minds.
WiiWare
DSiWare
