As you all should now, I just got back to LA after two-and-a-half-weeks of traveling with my girlfriend, where we did many things, met many people, and most importantly, played many games in awesome places. So my next few posts will be recaps of some of those awesome moments, starting with the video you see above of me playing one of my favorite DS games underneath a giant French chick.
Enjoy!
After watching the recently-released trailer for the upcoming Scribblenauts, I’m a believer. There has been a lot of hype about this game, and I’ve been let down by hype machines before (Crystal Pepsi was gross!), but this game looks like it could definitely live up to it all.
I just can’t wait to see how it’s going to handle all of the profanity I’m going to type into it.
Sometimes you have to look outside of your comfort zone to find something great, and the other day that’s exactly what I found when I started playing Mario and Luigi: Partners in Time on the DS.
This would normally be a game that I would never play for many reasons, but mainly because it’s a turn-based RPG, and I also generally don’t like Mario games unless it’s a main canon installment or a kart racer. Three hours into MAL:PIT has me rethinking all of that, though, as I’m having a great time with it. It helps that it takes place in the Mario Universe, which I already know all about and feel comfortable in, there are action elements to the battles, and there are NO FREAKING RANDOM BATTLES THANK YOU GOD!
So, at this point, Partners in Time is a great beginner’s RPG that has me thirsty for something a little more hardcore. Something a little more…Final, maybe?
Just in time for the release of the Nintendo DSi, the Japanese government, which consists of a group of Samurai, Ninjas, Yakuza, and businessmen eating sushi off of naked women, put their seppuku and hedonism on hold for a minute to officially outlaw the sale of the notorious R4 card.
I’m not going to lie, I have one, but I use it strictly for playing homebrew apps, as I’m sure most of you do. You can still get them in America at places like R4America.com, or by meeting a dude at the mall that posted them on Craigslist. Just do us all a favor, don’t get caught pirating games.
Remember way back in the day when the iPhone was first about to drop, and there were reports coming out saying that it could very well be something of a DS killer? I do, and I remember thinking that there was no way in hell that a cell phone was going to have games that would rival a dedicated gaming system, especially a Nintendo gaming system. Well you know what? As my DS gathers dust, my iPhone gathers fingerprints.
Obviously, that’s not to say that the quality of all iPhone games are better than that of DS games, but it comes down to two things: accessibility, and expendability. iPhone users have direct access to the iTunes library of games nearly 100% of the time. I can remember at least five time when someone has said, “Mark, you have to download this game,” or I read a glowing review of a certain game, I grab my iPhone, and within a few minutes it’s mine. The DS though, requires physically getting up, going to the store, and dealing with all the crap that goes along with that. For us lazy people, the choice between staying on our couch or going to GameStop ain’t no choice at all.
Next is the expendability of iPhone games, which has to do with many things, but most specifically: price. As Tyler said in a recent Threecast, “I’ll buy a $.99 app on general principle.” I will, too. Not only that, two and three dollar apps/games don’t take a whole lot of internal conflict for me to buy either. Since purchasing my iPhone about two months ago, I’ve probably spent about twenty bucks on various apps and games. Compare that to the average $30 price that accompanies a single DS game, and you have yourself the most one-sided bout in history.
Does this mean that I’m never going to play my DS again? Absolutely not. Actually, writing this is making me want to pick it up and play some games right now. After all, you can’t get New Super Mario Bros. on the iPhone, can you?
I’m about 3 hours into Chrono Trigger for the DS, and I’m really enjoying it. I didn’t really play any SNES RPGs, although I did give a half-hearted attempt at playing Final Fantasy VI a year or two ago, so this is my first real experience with this era of gaming.
What I like about Chrono Trigger so far is that the story is complicated in all the right ways. With FFVI I was so preoccupied with who-was-who that I had a real hard time following the game unless I played it every day. Chrono Trigger’s complexity comes in the form of time travel and alternate realities, which is definitely more my cuppa (tea).
I got an email from Nintendo the other day, I believe it was sent by Mario himself, that contained the above picture in juxtaposition with an ad for the “game” Personal Trainer: Cooking. This is the picture version of commercials like the one for Animal Crossing: City Folk, that tries to convince everyone that even people who you wouldn’t think play games (a.k.a. hot girls) actually do.
There are a few problems with this picture, too. First, she’s playing the DS Gameboy-style without the stylus, completely ignoring the handheld’s main selling point. Also, this girl doesn’t look like she’s excited or having fun, she looks shocked, like Professor Layton just flashed her his junk.
Please stop lying to us Nintendo. This never happened.
With Nintendo’s announcement of a new DS (“DSi”) and its built-in SD card slot, I immediately thought of piracy. And not the high seas kind, either. Everyone and their mothers have the R4 card which allows you to download games and play them, but can you imagine if they get that same functionality on a much-easier-to-get SD card?
Then again, I did all sorts of memory-stick-related stuff with my PSP when I first got it in 2004, and it was bricked by 2006.
I just did this puzzle in Professor Layton that was pretty much the same puzzle that John McClane and Zeus Carver had to do in the park in Die Hard With a Vengeance. There were three jugs: an 8oz, a 5oz, and a 3oz. The 8oz was filled with juice, and you had to get the same amount of juice into two of the jugs. Obviously, the solution is to get four ounces in the 8oz jug, and four in the 5oz jug, but actually doing it is the hard part.
It took me a couple of tries, but I got it eventually. Luckily I didn’t have Jeremy Irons threatening to blow up a school if I didn’t get it in 60 seconds.
I’m really liking Prof. Layton. It’s like a much more active and instantly gratifying Phoenix Wright. Russ, Blacktail, you guys will love it when you finally get/play it. Tyler, I’m afraid it might be a little over your head.
I know I’m months behind the curve here, but I finally started playing Professon Layton and the Curious Village on DS last night. I heard nothing but great things about it, both from V-game industry people, and a non-gaming girl that I work with.
So far, it’s great. I’ve only done a few of the puzzles so far, and they haven’t been too difficult, but I’m stumped on one right now. Here it is, see if you can help me out:
On a digital clock, how many times a day does it display three or more of the same number (ex. 2:22, 10:11, and so on). Remember that it’s a 12 hour clock, so you have to double your answer).
Whoever gets me the right answer first gets a free copy of the game I made up, as soon as it gets distributed.
This morning, I noticed my DS looking a little lonely, so I thought I’d show it a little love. I ended up playing the first few levels of Call of Duty 4 DS, and was actually pretty surprised with its quality. The DS is defnitely not set up for hardcore FPS-ing; the only other one I really ever spent time on was Metroid Prime: Hunters, which did a lot of things right. The Metroid controls were solid (and even better, customizable), and because it didn’t have to look realistic, it looked pretty sharp. A game based in reality, such as COD4, suffers visually from the limited DS capabilities, but this one doesn’t try to do too much, so it works out.
The other combat shooter I played on the DS a couple months ago was Brothers in Arms. It was a third person shooter, but there were definite similarities. I ended up playing all the way through that one, mainly because it took about thirty seconds to beat, but they were thirty good seconds (reminds me of myself).
I’m not sure if I’ll commit to playing all the way through COD4DS, but it’s definitely worth spening a little time on.
I’m going on a trip to the mainland (that’s what we here in Hawaii call the continental U.S.) next week, and one of the things I’m most looking forward to are the flights. Not because I enjoy making obligatory, meaningless conversation with strangers, but because it will be no less than 12 hours roundtrip solely dedicated to portable gaming.
When I travel, I travel prepared. I’ll be carrying on my DS and PSP, and even my iPod has games on it that I want to play, like Peggle and Phase. What I really want to do, though, is to buy and play all the way through an entirely new (preferably PSP) game in-flight. I went to Gamestop the other day to see what I could pick up, but I didn’t want to jump into something without being prepared.
So what are some games I should pick up and take with me? I’ll already be taking Patapon and Professor Layton, but other than that, I don’t know. I was really thinking about the Call of Duty PSP game, but the much less than stellar reviews are keeping me away. Thoughts? Suggestions? Donations?
Yeah dude, I beat Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: Justice For All the other night. I liked it better than the first one, which I beat in February. So, this means my life as a defense attorney has lasted for nearly three and a half months, and I still have two games to go. And I play these games for a few minutes every night as I get ready for bed.
I don’t know what’s going to happen in August when I run out of Ace Attorney DS games to play.
I just read on DS Fanboy about the Nintendo Fan Network, which is currently available for free (it used to be $5) at Seattle’s Safeco Field. Being that I spent my first twenty years in Washington state, I feel obliged to comment.
I guess you can look at stats and video and stuff on your DS while at the stadium, which is okay I guess. That’s what that big screen is for, amirite? But what is quite catchy is that you can order food right there on your DS. I’m a bit of a stadium nacho junkie, and if I can order them without getting off my skinny little duff, I’m in.
There are several reasons why I might like this game, and several why I might not:
Might like:
1. It is supposedly the most deep and innovative game on the DS.
2. It is getting some sweet reviews, and I haven’t played an RPG in a long time (Mass Effect doesn’t count in my book).
3. It is made by Square/Enix. Square made all the Final Fantasy games, Enix made all the Dragon Warrior/Quest games. And some other stuff.
Might not like:
1. It is made by Square/Enix. I haven’t liked a Square game since FF9, and I haven’t liked an Enix game since Dragon Warrior (yeah, the old one).
2. It is by the makers of the Kingdom Hearts games, which I didn’t like at all, because they were so juvenile.
3. This is supposed to be anime-inspired. I, like Mark (and maybe Tyler?), am not an animeniac.
I played the first ten minutes of the game, and it wasn’t bad at all. I may give it another whirl soon.
Russ Crandall:
Tyler Miller:
Steve McKay:
Giang Cao:
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