The DS Lite

Catan On DS

noreply@blogger.com (Edgar) — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 11:55:00 +0000

The German based boardgame, Settlers of Catan, always been a favourite for me since the first time I played it. Ever since I played it, I'll find an excuse to get away from work just to be with my buds having coffee and enjoying few games of Catan.

Good news for DS owners though, rumoured said there will be Catan for our dual screen portable. Sources said it will be a port from the mobile version of Catan for, obviously, mobile phones that was launched earlier this year called Catan: The First Island. Check out the video of it.

Yes, I found that crappy IF it will be a direct port from the mobile game itself. Please don't be. The DS can handle better. Still, it's a good thing that boardgames will be finding it's way to the DS. Let's hope for Betrayal at House on the Hill, Arkham Horror and few other boardgame favourites end up to the DS.

Source wired.

Nintendo DSi. Region Locked.

noreply@blogger.com (Edgar) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 07:12:00 +0000

The news of the new Nintendo handheld called the DSi shook the world. Nintendo tried so hard to keep this a secret till they revealed it early this month.

A follow up news came up and really tore the heart of Nintendo fans out there.

"DSi software (software that is only compatible with DSi) is region locked, eg: European DSi software can only be played on European DSi consoles."

So it's confirmed. DSi exclusive games and DSi downloadable software will be region locked. Now I have to scratch my head for Japan release only DSi games. What if Japan comes out Ouendan DSi and never be released in other regions? OH THE DRAMA!

Looks like I have to rethink when getting the DSi.

Source computerandvideogames.com.

Behold! Nintendo DSi!

noreply@blogger.com (Edgar) — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 01:09:00 +0000

Typical of Nintendo for not revealing the next generation of their portable gaming device. For some of us fans, we expected there will be an upgrade, just when is the question.

Oct 2nd 2008, Satoru Iwata announced the new Nintendo DSi during Nintendo's Media Summit. The new handheld console now jam packed with newly added stuff like 2 cameras, music playback capabilities, SD Card slot, DS download service and bigger screens.

The overall size of the console reduced 12%, which somewhat should be fair since they decide to ditch the GBA slot. There will be an external camera and another camera on the hinge, that makes 2 camera on the console alone. Music playback capability are one of the most wanted by DS owners, which finally Nintendo listens to their fans and upgrades their sound chip (rumoured).

The screen size of the DSi are 3.25 inches, just .25 inch smaller than the Ipod Touch. It has an onboard memory and an SD slot if any case you need the extra memory. It also ships in with an internal Nintendo DS browser.

The cherry topping will be, MATTE COLOUR! Matte White and Matte Black currently. No more fingerprints on your DS!

Rumoured selling price will be USD$179 or around RM600.

Source Nintendo.

When DS puts the DS in DSLR.

noreply@blogger.com (Edgar) — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 08:38:00 +0000

This is a cool hack for photography enthusiast and a DS lover, somewhat like me. This is one of the best mod I've seen so far. Since the DS was so portable, not to mention you can just pop out any game in between, why not make the DS more than playing games? Like setting up your Canon EOS 5D?

Steve thinks of nearly everything on when developing the mod for the DS, from taking bulb-mode to HDR interface. Amazing what some people can do.

Read more in his blog.

Source engadget.

Games to look at on September 2008.

noreply@blogger.com (Edgar) — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 02:48:00 +0000

Looks like I'm a bit late posting this, my apologies. I want to list out games that I might look at for the month of August 2008. It's more like my choice of what I'm might play.

Like July, theres not that much titles to look at but there are few worth to get out there while waiting for October.

List are from GameFAQs:-

09/15
Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen
- DQ is a must play according to JRPG fanatics.

09/16
Line Rider 2: Unbound
- This was brought foward to September, it's suppose to be out on August.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
- This might be good.

09/23
Disgaea DS
- I've been waiting for this for quite awhile.

Lego Batman
- It's Lego, nuff said.

Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure
- I played the one on the Playstation. I wonder if it's as good.

Time Hollow
- I got recommendations from a friend who played the Japanese version of the game.

09/30
Army Men: Soldiers of Misfortune
- Another cult classic for the DS.

It's been awhile

noreply@blogger.com (Edgar) — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 03:01:00 +0000

This one will sound a bit personal rather than the usual DS gaming and accessories topic I've used to post about.

The reason for my hiatus was testing games. Since I'm doing this on my own, I have no time for myself to sit and play loads of games.

Then, I've decided just to review about the games I played briefly and give a verdict IF it's worth playing till u finish the game or not. The reason is there are alot of game review sites and I'm not a full time game critic anyways.

So yeah, soon there are few post to let you guys know if a game is worth to finish or not. Regardless of cheating or not!

Stay tune people!

Ragnarok Online DS for Japan, Winter 2008.

noreply@blogger.com (Edgar) — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 05:30:00 +0000

Thanks to one of my friend who told me about this.

During my MMORPG days, Ragnarok Online was one of the online games I played with my pals. Good to know that GungHo brings this thing to the Nintendo DS! I missed this game so much.

As we all know, RODS was never meant to be ONLINE but it supports multiplayer up to 3 people to conquer dungeons.

Here's a summary from what my friend told me.

- Gameplay closely related to the online game on PC.
- Main focus on the offline story.
- Protagonist will be Ares, mild-mannered kid who wants to start his own guild and be an adventurer like his father.
- Takes place in the realm of Rune Midgard.

What you do is:-
- Recruit party members.
- Build up characters to gain new jobs and skills.
- Build up characters to gain new jobs, skills.
- Two brand-new jobs (Dark Knight can do special moves that drain HP, Shaman has various magic skills).

Gameplay will be:-
- Mostly stylus based control.
- Tap to pick up items, attack enemies.
- Draw circles and more for spells.
- Online play: three people team up to take on the Tower of Mirages, a 50 floor random dungeon.

Release:-
- December 18th 2008 in Japan.
- No US plans yet.

Lolita Style DS Accessories

noreply@blogger.com (Edgar) — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 04:44:00 +0000

Since Gothic Lolita or Lolita fashion is kinda hot right now, in order to match on what you wear, dressing up your DS would be tiresome. Not to mention gluing laces around it will ruin your DS long time. Them crazy Japanese people (whom we love so much) have a solution. Lolita styled DS accessories!

The makers of these things are Keys Factory and they made a special site just for these things but I'll just give it to you guys straight.

Fortunately, these things are ready to be ordered in Play-Asia, look below. So you Victorian Age lovers can match your outfits!

Click on the pictures to order directly from Play-Asia.

Games to look at on August 2008.

noreply@blogger.com (Edgar) — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 05:23:00 +0000

I want to list out games that I might look at for the month of August 2008. It's more like my choice of what I'm might play.

Like July, theres not that much titles to look at but there are few worth to get out there while waiting for September.

List are from GameFAQs:-

08/05
GRID
- Since the PC demo shows such potential for the PC version, why not expect the same in DS as well?

Puzzler Collection
- This was actually meant for July. It seems that it got postponed. Puzzle maniacs might love this.

08/12
Bangai-O Spirits
- Everyone wants to check out this game! Looks cool.

Line Rider 2: Unbound
- The pictures looks cool. I wonder if the game looks cool as well?

N+
- Addictive game. Somewhat Ninja Gaiden meets Lode Runner. Check out the flash demo.

08/26
Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness
- Harvest Moon title. 'nuff said.

More GrooveStep Goodness

noreply@blogger.com (Edgar) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 05:02:00 +0000

I'm keeping eye on this awesome music homebrew and it seems that the team doing this are aiming for it to be retail. Which I find to be fair enough. But being a homebrewed and going retail sounds tough.

Anyways, just enjoy the vid and the potential of Groovestep.

Laid My Hands on Guitar Hero: On Tour.

noreply@blogger.com (Edgar) — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 02:42:00 +0000

I finally laid my hands on Guitar Hero: On Tour (GHOT) 2 nights ago thanks to a friend of mine who works in a gaming shop. It was actually just for display but then they manager was kind enough to let me try it out.

picture courtesy of Philip of Mars Games & Toys Station @ City Mall, Kota Kinabalu

I played a few tunes and I liked it.

The only problem is the Guitar Grip itself. Vicarious Visions did great on it but its a problem to those who has medium hands and medium length fingers or bigger. I had a hard time putting it in place. I think the best way to put it on is Guitar Grip first, get comfortable with the placing, strap on then attach your DS afterwards.

I might get this for myself soon after my priorities are done.

Determine if your R4DS is genuine or not.

noreply@blogger.com (Edgar) — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 03:25:00 +0000

Important point:

1. After 15 September, Team R4 will do something for the fake card, original program(firmware) with Fake R4 may damage your DS machine (brick), original R4 will have no problem with this program.

2. Make sure you have buy a original R4 (see photo below), if you brick your DS with fake R4, please go ask the selling shop and Team R4 will not admitted this liability.

If this is the genuine R4 package then looks like you guys are somewhat safe.

According to my research the fake R4 using internal memory instead of using a Micro SD card on the genuine but we will know this when someone will end up bricking their DS.

To know more about the fake R4DS, read it in MyDS News.

R4DS fighting R4DS fakes.

noreply@blogger.com (Edgar) — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 04:08:00 +0000

R4DS now battling counterfeits of their own product by bricking your DS when using fake R4 with their new firmware. It will be released on September 15 in order to eliminate competition of the same product under R4's badge, which we know there are some fakes lurking around.

Rumoured said it will damage the DS permanently and trying to restore your bricked DS will be futile. For that Team R4 won't be held responsible and all you can do is seek the people who sold you the R4 cart.

Harsh move by R4, why don't they just make a warning sign or limited gameplay in order to show people that they bought fakes instead of killing of DS? This will make other homebrewers run for other carts. Do you think this is a good move Team R4?

Source from GBATemp.

I need the KORG DS-10 now!

noreply@blogger.com (Edgar) — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 03:04:00 +0000

It's finally out, quite unfortunate for the Japan market. I'd really want to try out this thing since the first time I laid eyes on it. Not to mention it being previewed live on one of the club in Japan.

Now that it's officially out, I hope I can grab this thing as soon as possible.

Hey, what about you guys grab it first and tell me how good it is? You can grab the KORG DS-10 via Play-Asia.

Play-Asia.com - Your One-Stop-Shop for Asian Entertainment

Forget about it being an Amazon Japan exclusive.

Going Under The Knife for the Second Time.

noreply@blogger.com (Edgar) — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 02:34:00 +0000

I gave this game a spin a while earlier and I must say, I'm impressed. Since I'm at work currently, I need to leave this alone for awhile. I'm sure you guys seen the screenshot posted a while back.

The first operation you'll be facing will be a guy with multiple fractures. On that stage too, you'll be introduced to a doctor called Adel. The girl looking character is actually a guy with a deep voice! DAMN!

I'll wait till after I get back home to continue the story.

Now I'm hoping it's not as hard as the prequel.

Games to look at on July 2008.

noreply@blogger.com (Edgar) — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 01:39:00 +0000

I want to list out games that I might look at for the month of July 2008. It's more like my choice of what I'm might play.

Not that much titles around July to look at but there are few worth to get out there while waiting for August.

List are from GameFAQs:-

07/01
Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2
- the sequel of the previous series, the art totally revamped while the challenge heard to be more merciful than the previous game. (I HATE TRITI!)

07/08
Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution
- what can I say about Sid Meier's Civilization?

07/15
Puchi Puchi Virus
- Puzzle freaks will love this.

07/22
Final Fantasy IV
- Long awaited remake of a great classic.

Izuna 2: The Unemployed Ninja Returns
- the sequel of one of the most talked about game.

New International Track & Field
- this is a great multiplayer game.

KORG DS-10 Making an Appearence in LINEAR, Shibuya, Japan.

noreply@blogger.com (Edgar) — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 10:17:00 +0000

Who said the DS is pure crap? Here's a video of a club in Shibuya called LINEAR where the Nintendo DS amazed the crowd with the KORG DS-10.

The start is a bit bad though but I'm sure with a bit of practice, this thing will hit the club scene like crazy! (A bit exaggerated!!) Imagine being a DJ without the heavy equipment and just the DS. Check out the vids!

Kung Fu Panda DS Review

noreply@blogger.com (Edgar) — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 02:28:00 +0000

I never liked movie based games or at least it was out because of the movie. I tried Ironman and few others. I hated it. Kung Fu Panda DS was an exception. This game is somewhat similar to Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword where you control Po, the Panda.

The game has less stylus movement than Ninja Gaiden or The World Ends With You, which actually spares your touch screen from the torture. The fun thing are the combos. In every level you progress, you acquired Kung Fu skills from the characters you save (because of them being Masters, they have the right of being captured and let Po save them) which enables you to do cool combos and rip the villains apart.

Bosses in the game are very easy to defeat. It's only the levels and stages that you need to cross over took most of the time.

The game somewhat died when Po got the highest of all Kung Fu in the game. Which I found it being boring afterwards.

My verdict. Good time waster, somewhat a good game but never meant to be bought.

Super Dodgeball Brawlers Review

noreply@blogger.com (Edgar) — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 18:04:00 +0000

What can I say? This is a great game. Yes, I'm being biased since I love this game since it was out in the NES. So, to be fair, I have some of complaints on this one.

Equipments - So far this thing don't do much for me, of course. I could actually finish the game by skill instead of equips.

Objects - The random objects falling to aid the opponent or you are just not good. This is Dodgeball not River City Ransom. Luckily you can turn this off.

Punch/Kick - Same goes as above. Not bad while playing Brawl though.

Did I say the difficulty was too easy even though you set it on hard? It was too easy for me. Maybe this will be fun if playing multiplayer. I still love this game alot though. These things are minor for me.

My verdict. Get it if you love the Kunio-kun series or their edition for Dodgeball for the NES. Don't get it if you're not a Dodgeball fan from the NES.

Games to look at on June 2008.

noreply@blogger.com (Edgar) — Thu, 29 May 2008 04:37:00 +0000

I want to list out games that I might look at for the month of June 2008. It's more like my choice of what I'm might play.

June looks like a good month for games with nearly every week the titles rolls out. Some games worth to look at after checking out the trailers and screenshots.

List are from GameFAQs:-

06/03

Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures
- Lego series is worth to look into. To be honest, I don't play Lego series that much but this is worth for those who are a fan of both Indiana Jones and Lego.

Summon Night: Twin Age
- The game I've been waiting for, the screenshot themselves tell you how good the game is.

06/17

Arkanoid DS
- Being a retro gamer, Arkaniod is a must get for people like me.

Space Invaders Extreme
- A worth time-waster. I played the Japanese version of this and I was hooked on the funky sounds and cool simple addictive gameplay.

Wacky Races: Crash & Dash
- This sounds like a good multiplayer game. But gameplay says otherwise.

06/22

Guitar Hero: On Tour
- I can't really say much on the Guitar Hero franchise, worth to grab! Unfortunately I can't get this on June due I have other commitments.

06/24

Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift
- This franchise is a MUST GET for SRPG fans.

06/26

Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2
- ANOTHER TRAUMA!! Even how hard the first one, I'm still getting this. Hopefully they toned down a bit on the difficulty.
- seems like it might be delayed till 1st July 2008.

New Colour for DS in Europe.

noreply@blogger.com (Edgar) — Wed, 28 May 2008 01:40:00 +0000

If I were to own one of those, I'm so into the red one. Our friends in Europe will be happy to get them. It's a sight not to be missed! How cool is that! Soon we'll see Europeans holding some funky colour DS around. Will it hit the Asian market as well?

Source Engadget.
Pic Jeuxvideo.

Protein[DS] worth trying and keep an eye on.

noreply@blogger.com (Edgar) — Tue, 27 May 2008 15:13:00 +0000

Thanks to my friend Jack for introducing me to this.

Protein[DS] is an audio manipulating software for the DS, taking advantage on the touchscreen on the DS. I tested this thing myself and I'm amazed the potential this homebrew can do.

Check out the vids.

We need more creative homebrews as this. You can test out this as well in Protein[DS] website.

HUDSON cracks up. DS Lite style.

noreply@blogger.com (Edgar) — Tue, 27 May 2008 00:16:00 +0000

Numero Uno problem of the DS are the hinges. I heard lots of stories about it but yet to encounter my DS buddies having such a problem. Then it struck Takahashi Meijin. He blogs:-

Well, well, the other day my DS Lite got a hinge crack.

Didn't the white DS Lite go on sale in Fall 2006? I've used this for the past two years, and then like that, a mysterious crack.

Since he's from Hudson, I think Nintendo don't mind replacing with a limited edition DS. Read Master Higgin's/Takahashi Meijin's Blog if you can read Japanese.

Source Kotaku.

Windy x Windham - Original 2D Fighting Game for the DS

noreply@blogger.com (Edgar) — Fri, 23 May 2008 05:31:00 +0000

Well, that's what's stated when I translated Famitsu.com from Japanese to English. I can't understand anything from what's been translated. Being a typical 2D fighting game, the storyline runs the usual storyline of "fighting tournament-participants join for personal reasons" thing.

For those who has been playing DS games should know Izuna from Izuna, Legend of the Unemployed Ninja. She's featured as well.

I have doubts on these but I'll give it a try when it's out.

Source Famitsu