Nintendo DS

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February 6, 2007 While music games have typically been geared towards vicarious rock-stars, and not garnering much interest from those who can already play an instrument as a result, Plato's Hiite Utaeru DS Guitar M-06 for the Nintendo DS turns the genre on it's head. Essentially an acoustic guitar simulator, you're obviously not going to be able to belt out the riff for Ironman in its full glory - but if you're looking to further your knowledge of music theory (or show off your real skills on the weirdest acoustic guitar on the planet) this is a great deal more likely to tickle your fancy than games like Guitar Hero.

16 chords can be used simultaneously, chosen from a library of 120 chords - these are accessed by holding a direction on the D-pad (holding either of the L/R shoulder buttons giving you access to the other 8 chords) and the instrument is played by "strumming" the touch screen with a stylus or your finger.

Audio samples are unfortunately absent, so we're unable to comment on how it sounds - but no doubt we'll hear this on a number of recordings (whether we know it or not) if for no other reason than scoring geek-culture brownie points.

Unfortunately the game is currently only available in Japan - hopefully it won't be too long before gamers outside that region have an option other than importing (and brushing up on their Japanese to navigate the menus).

My inner head-banger hopes there is a chugging distorted guitar sequel in the works.

[inuyashaa]

only out in japan so it be monthes before usa get it then a year before the uk get it

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http://www.gamespot.com/video/943675/6184866/videoplayerpop?

Advance Wars: Days of Ruin Preview Feature #3: Battling Around the World
Our third and final in-depth preview looks at the extensive multiplayer and map-creation features in this anticipated tactical follow-up.

Over the last two days, we've been digging deep into Nintendo's upcoming turn-based strategy sequel, Advance Wars: Days of Ruin, with looks at the game's new aesthetics and darker storyline and the tweaks and additions to gameplay that longtime series developer Intelligent Systems has made. Now we're back to look at what we're sure will be the most exciting new feature for diehard Advance Wars fans: online play. Of course, there's a full interface for the editing and trading of maps here too, and those two features together will likely keep the most committed fans battling in this game for months or years on end.

Naturally, Days of Ruin has a local versus mode in which you can go head-to-head against someone in the same physical location--but hey, plenty of DS games have that. However, now you can also jump onto the Internet (via Nintendo's Wi-Fi Connection service) and battle for military dominance against other players anywhere in the world. When you select the WFC multiplayer option, you'll be presented with choices between "worldwide" and "friends." Selecting the worldwide option will randomly match you up with another player who's currently looking for a match, and before you start the search, you can specify whether you want to be matched up with players similar to your skill level, or with the first player available.

The combat can get pretty thick in the online multiplayer.
As per the Nintendo standard, you can only play with people you know by trading 12-digit friend codes with them, though once you've saved a friend to your list, it's a simple matter of looking to see which of your friends has an open game, and joining it. There's no communicating with other players in random matches, but we were delightfully surprised to find voice chat support in friend matches. Chatting with your opponent is as simple as holding down the Y button and speaking into the DS's microphone. We were able to speak in a normal conversational tone without putting our face right up on the DS and still be easily heard by our opponent. Other than a couple of small hitches, the audio quality of the voice was quite good and made for a perfectly suitable method of communication before and during a match.

From what we could tell, random matches will dump you into a random map, but when you're setting up a friend match, you've got tons of customization options. In addition to map choice, you can control the type of terrain and weather conditions (which can have relevant gameplay effects), the amount of starting money and the amount of income you'll get from cities, the number of turns the match will last, and so on. There's even a random weather option that literally changes the weather with each turn, so you never know what extra obstacle you'll have to contend with. We played one multiplayer match in which it seemed like we kept getting hit with snow every other turn, which severely limited our units' movement range and prevented us from capturing some key cities, ultimately costing us the match.
In case you get tired of the included maps, you can just make your own.
Once you tire of the numerous included maps, there's a full stylus-driven map editor in here that lets you create a map to your specifications. You can paint the map with specific kinds of terrain and obstacles, add units where you want, and even change the colors of your commanding officers. After you complete a map that conforms to certain requirements--it can't be more than 10x10 in size, and you have to have completed it yourself, for instance--you can upload it to the game's map center, where it will be categorized and added to the map rotation. When you get the itch for a new battlefield, you can select "random map" to have the map center send you any old map, or you can also browse recommended maps to receive the highest-rated ones only. Of course, you can trade maps with your friends directly if you have their friend codes.

Days of Ruin is looking like a hefty package for serious Advance Wars fans, with a lengthy and often challenging campaign, a makeover that offers something other than the norm (at least for this series), and multiplayer battles that ought to give the game's longevity a massive boost. The game is due to ship early next week, so come back for a full review then.

GameSpot

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Late last week, during a meeting with representatives from Tomy, we had an opportunity to get a little hands-on time with a preview version of Naruto: Ninja Destiny. This 3D fighting game for the Nintendo DS (yes, you heard that right) is based on the Japanese game Naruto: Shinobi Retsuden that was released last year. A number of changes and improvements have been promised for the US version. Having played the two games side-by-side, we're pleased to report that Tomy appears to be making good on said promises.
Ninja Destiny would easily win a fight against Shinobi Retsuden.
The first thing we noticed about Naruto: Ninja Destiny is that its in-game character models look much crisper than those in the Japanese game, largely thanks to the introduction of black outlines and improved shading. Within moments of starting our first wireless one-on-one fight, it also became clear that the US game's frame rate is significantly better than its Japanese counterpart. We're told that Ninja Destiny runs at 30 frames per second, while Shinobi Retsuden only managed 15. Although we can't be certain how accurate those figures are, the improvement is certainly significant.

As is often the case when Naruto games arrive in the US, the character roster in Ninja Destiny has been tweaked somewhat since the Japanese game's release. You can look forward to playing with 16 rather than 13 combatants this time around, although about 10 of those will need to be unlocked--presumably by playing through the story mode. Characters confirmed for inclusion in Ninja Destiny at the time of writing include: Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Kakashi Hatake, Gaara, Neji, Rock Lee, Might Guy, Shikamaru, Itachi, and Nine-Tailed Naruto.

All of the characters have unique moves in their arsenals, of course, but regardless of who you're playing as, the controls are the same. The DS's face buttons are used for light attacks, heavy attacks, special moves (some characters will have two different ones), and jumps. The left shoulder button is used to teleport behind your opponent (using up chakra energy in the process), and the right shoulder button is used to block. The D pad is used to move left or right and to sidestep around the pseudo 3D arenas.

Your six power-ups can be activated at any time using the touch screen.
Furthermore, the touch screen is used to activate power-ups. We're told that Naruto: Ninja Destiny features at least 15 different power-ups, but at the beginning of each match, you'll be randomly assigned just six of these to last you through all three (at least that's the default) rounds. Power-ups that we had an opportunity to try out during our time with the game let us replenish our health, replenish our chakra, become immune to knockdowns for a time, increase our attack power, prevent our opponent from using his or her own power-ups, and even to add a number of shuriken to our arsenal for ranged attacks. We had no trouble hitting the six large "buttons" on the touch screen in the middle of a fight. Because our matches were being played over three rounds, the use and conservation of power-ups definitely added an element of strategy to the proceedings.

Although Naruto: Ninja Destiny will feature eight different environments that look quite varied for you to fight in, they're essentially just flat arenas with different backdrops. Those of you who are fans of the show will be pleased to hear that all of the characters in the game are voiced by the same talent responsible for the anime series. And, those of you who are dedicated enough to have already imported a copy of Shinobi Retsuden will undoubtedly want to consider an upgrade when Ninja Destiny arrives in stores next month.

GameSpot

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http://www.gamespot.com/video/938848/6184747/videoplayerpop?

We've been big fans of Tecmo's upcoming Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword since Team Ninja mastermind Tomonobu Itagaki unveiled the pint-sized action game last year. The game packs impressive visuals and an innovative control scheme into Nintendo's dual-screen handheld. With Dragon Sword's March release coming up, Itagaki-san stopped by our offices to give us some hands-on time with three levels of the game and direct feed of a fourth level, which shows off how creative Team Ninja is getting with the promising game.

The levels we were able to get hands-on time with comprise the first three levels of the game and include the tutorial on the game's slick stylus-driven control scheme. The game's opening finds ninja poster boy Ryu Hayabusa training his protégé Momiji (yes, bit of an odd name but considering she can stab a man dead in two blows we won't dwell) in front of a waterfall. The short sequence serves as a primer for the game's simple control screen.

Once you've gotten a feel for getting around by moving the stylus, the game's story kicks in and you play a chunk of the level as Momiji. The lithe ninja in training handles pretty much like her mentor Ryu, sans ninpo magic, and acquits herself quite well as she makes her way through the forest locale, shanking enemies in search of an unnamed evil. Unfortunately, when she finds said evil, she probably wishes it would have stayed unnamed as she gets smacked down and kidnapped, which is a nifty segue to controlling Ryu who's distressed his star pupil got nabbed. The next two levels, one of which is based in part on the TGS demo we played, find Ryu working his way through different areas and interacting with an array of foes, as well as the residents in Hayabusa Village.

Tecmo has crammed a whole lot of ninja action onto Nintendo's handheld.
The game sticks closely to the structure we saw in our last few looks at the game. The different areas you'll go through are broken up into screen-sized chunks that you'll progress through by defeating enemies or solving puzzles. The first three levels we tried were basic and had a nice feel of progression in terms of difficulty. The game just threw a few handfuls of enemies at us at varying heights early on, as well as archers stationed on cliffs we couldn't attack that forced us to mix melee and shuriken attacks. The levels we tried had a mix of bosses, flying dragons, and ground-based bone-dragon critters. One interesting wrinkle to the proceedings came at the end of our hands-on portion of the game. We were exploring the village and instructed to find someone whom we found to be napping. After a bit of trial and error, we found that he needed to be literally spoken to via the DS mic to be woken up, which was a cool little twist.

The fourth level we saw was demoed for us and set in Egyptian-themed ruin that offered a more complex challenge by virtue of being further into the game. The basic action of the earlier levels was ramped up and the environment itself provided the challenge, courtesy of moving spikes. The enemies also offered a greater challenge. Thankfully, Ryu was tricked out with a wider array of ninpo magic, such as a lightning attack, as well as some wickedly powered-up physical attacks and extra weapons.

The action we saw demoed and played ourselves worked very well with the stylus control system. In many ways, it feels like the next step up from the Phantom Hourglass system, thanks to its faster pace. The game handles as well as it did the last time we played it, although we noticed Ryu's jump has changed to an upward swipe on the touch screen, which seems to feel better in the middle of all the action.

Dragon Sword looks like it will push the DS hardware pretty hard.
As far as the overall presentation goes, the game continues to impress us with what it's doing on the DS. The high level of detail, bright color palette, and smooth frame rate for the in-game graphics all make a very positive visual impression. The cutscene stills also stand out, thanks to a clean art style that blends a bit of anime and traditional comic art. Finally, the game's audio is robust with sound effects, music, and some sound samples all ringing out clearly during the action.

So far, Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword appears to be living up to its promising debut. The game looks great and has some very cool gameplay. We're pleased to see Team Ninja flexing its creative 2D muscles and turning out some cool, inventive stuff. If you've mastered Phantom Hourglass and are ready to graduate to some more intense stylus-driven gameplay, you will want to check out Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword when it ships for the DS this March.

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Illinois man claims to have touched first.
By Ben Silverman
Thanks to its innovative design and wealth of fantastic games, the Nintendo DS has scrambled to the top of the handheld gaming war, making the hardware wizards at Nintendo the darlings of the games industry.

But what if they don't hold the patent on the touchy tech?

As reported by video game blog Gamepolitics, John R. Martin has filed a complaint alleging that he owns the patent on the system's lauded touch screen. While the patent was updated in August of 2005 -- a full six months after Nintendo launched the DS -- it was originally filed a decade earlier in 1995.

The patent seems to cover the key input ingredient of Nintendo's popular handheld, citing "an improved method of operating a touch screen on a CRT or ICD computer screen [that] uses finger release as input registering" in "an electronic game device system [which] is switchable between an amusement mode and a gaming or gambling mode and is useful for vehicles such as airplanes or boats..."Sounds a little like the DS to us, minus the gambling bit.

Nintendo, however, doesn't see the connection -- the company has responded by requesting that the entire suit be summarily dismissed.

This isn't Nintendo's first scrape with patent infringement. Earlier this year the company coughed up $21 million to tech company Anascape over several Nintendo game controllers, including their famous Wavebird, widely considered the first legitimate wireless game controller

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TOKYO -- Nintendo Co. said it will release a new version of its popular DS machine that can take pictures and play music, as it seeks to cement its lead over rivals in the portable game market.

The new handheld comes as Nintendo seeks to bolster its product lineup to fend off rivals, including Sony Corp., who are gearing up to challenge its dominance ahead of the year-end holiday shopping season.


Associated Press
A model shows a Nintendo DSi, the revamped version of Nintendo DS.
Kyoto-based Nintendo, which also produces the Wii game console, said the Nintendo DSi is the first handheld game console to come with an on-board camera. The console will be priced at 18,900 yen ($179) when it is released in Japan on Nov. 1, and is set to be released overseas next year.

The new model will hit the market as Nintendo seeks new ways to sell the already established DS - short for "dual screen" - in Japan.

Domestic sales of the devices in the fiscal first quarter ended June stood at 580,000 units, down sharply from 2.08 million a year earlier, in a possible sign of saturation. Nintendo had already sold nearly 23 million DS players, accounting for one-fifth of Japan's population, as of June 30 since their launch in 2004.

Although some observers suggest the market for DS could be close to saturation in Japan, President Satoru Iwata said he sees room for further expansion. "In many households, family members are sharing a DS between them, so we are now aiming for one DS per each person," Mr. Iwata said at a press conference in Tokyo.

In August Nintendo lifted its global sales outlook for DS game players and software for this fiscal year ending March to 30.05 million units from its earlier forecast of 28 million, citing strong sales in the U.S. and Europe.

The announcement of the new DS model comes as game console makers get ready for the crucial year-end holiday season.

Sony plans to launch a new version of its PlayStation Portable handheld video game player in Japan and overseas later this month. The PSP-3000, equipped with an improved liquid crystal display and a microphone, carries the same price tag of 19,800 yen as the current PSP-2000 model.