Archive for May 26th, 2008
Filed under: News, Imports
Fast food chain McDonalds is to launch a new download service in Japan tomorrow, through DS download stations located in 21 Tokyo branches of McDonalds and train stations along the Tsukuba Express line.
The scheme, dubbed “Nintendo Spot,” is currently in a trial period, and will give DS owners access to free downloads featuring the latest “McDonalds news” (this just in: you need to learn to cook for yourself), nutritional information, and menus, as well as actual news, weather reports, horoscopes, a Brain Training demo, and hotel/restaurant guides for Tokyo (though we assume that guides to rival restaurants won’t appear in McDonalds). The trial ends on June 30th in McDonalds, and on December 28th at the railway stations.
Incidentally, our machine translation is picking up something about a “downloadable gift” related to Pokémon Diamond and Pearl. Here’s hoping the service heads west so we can find out more. While you wait with us, make the jump for a look at Ronald McDonald’s offspring as perceived through the eyes of Japanese advertising executives (warning: slightly NSFW).
Continue reading The DS: McDonalds is lovin’ it
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Continue Reading May 26th, 2008
Filed under: Screens
Carnival Games on the DS apparently features a “sideshow” feature not found in the Wii version! That is, if the title screen is any indication. Look at that guy! He’s about ten million times creepier than the jack-o-lantern-like barker found on the cover of the Wii game. That guy’s not a barker — he’s a warning. “Step right away! Don’t come in!”
Carnival Games‘ carnival also features a “game” in which you’re swarmed by giant bees. They may present it as a game, but we usually don’t find the presence of bees in our amusement parks at all amusing. Maybe after that, you’ll have to play a game about cleaning the spilled ice cream off of the ground so the park doesn’t attract so many bees.
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Continue Reading May 26th, 2008
Filed under: Nintendo Wi-Fi, Screens, Imports
Our recommendation of Kunitori Zunou Battle Nobunaga no Yabou (Domination Battle of the Brains: Nobunaga’s Ambition) as an alternative to Advance Wars is looking safer by the day, with Koei revealing to Impress Watch that the game would support certain modes that not even Intelligent Systems’ title featured.
In particular, the multiplayer seems to have had considerable attention lavished upon it. Not only is there wireless DS-to-DS play and the ability to play others with a single card, but there’s also Wi-Fi Connection battles for — get this — up to four players. Which is precisely what Advance Wars: Days of Ruin needed, if you ask us.
Aside from this super-happy news, Impress Watch profiled the eight daimyo (warlords from Japan’s feudal period) that will appear in the title, all of whom are historically accurate figures (with probably-not-historically accurate special abilities). Apparently, players will have the option of fighting actual battles that took place. Oh yes, and there are screens. Lots of lovely new screens. Many of which contain this strange device. What is it? No idea. First one to tell us gets our everlasting admiration.
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Continue Reading May 26th, 2008
Filed under: Fan stuff
What better way to test your drinking limits than with a 1up stein? This way, if you drink too much, you’ll have an extra life stored away that you can make use of.*
It’s too bad, then, that these nifty mugs aren’t available to the public. Designed as a gift for Die Krieger des Lichts clients, only a select few will ever get their hands on these limited edition steins. Yet, if you do administer to nab one somewhere, somehow, we recommend skipping the beer and trying out some Mario themed drinks insead.
Prost!
*Note: Seriously, drink responsibly and legally. This public service announcement was brought to you by DS Fanboy.
[Via Technabob]
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Continue Reading May 26th, 2008
Filed under: Rumors
Plugging Halo 3 Purple Reign into your favorite search engine will link you to almost every major message board ignited by the discovery of an image used in a NY Times article from October 2007. Halo fanatics are adamant that the image (above) is the first real look at the upcoming Halo 3 map, Purple Reign.
Based on the description from Bungie on the recently delayed map this image could be a division from Purple Reign. Skeptical message board users claim the image could be a stock photo from Bungie’s Halo 2 Midship days, pre-destruction photos of the Cortana level or even shots from the High Charity division of Halo 2’s campaign mode. One commenter is sure he heard former community direct Frank O’Connor and Luke Smith talk about this image claiming it wasn’t the new map but we couldn’t find a source to validate that point.
Be it Purple Reign or not one thing is certain, gamers are still itching for more Halo action. The official description of Purple Reign, which adds weight to this image being true, after the jump.
[Thanks, oriol]
Continue reading Ancient picture possible first glimpse into Halo 3’s Purple Reign
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Continue Reading May 26th, 2008
Filed under: News, Peripherals
If you recall, this past February a new (and still unannounced) Rock Band peripheral called the Stage Kit was spotted over on Gamestop’s website. Back then, we were only given images of what the light and smoke peripheral’s box looked like, but it was enough to warrant Stage Kit / WALLo.E / police spot light comparisons. Now, Gamestop has since updated their Stage Kit pre-order page with a new picture of the peripherals including what looks to be a 360 controller / strobe light hybrid. Gamestop also pegged the (GASP!) $100 peripheral for an August 15th release, so gather what info you can from that.
[Thanks, HazyCloud]
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Continue Reading May 26th, 2008
Filed under: News, Imports
Success’s Genmu no Tou to Tsurugi no Okite has gotten us interested in dungeon RPGs like no other, due almost entirely to its visuals. While most dungeon games are bland, Genmu’s default look can be likened to a black light poster. The alternate visual scheme, which is retro black-and-white line art, is also amazing.
You can play a little trial of the game, if you’d like the full Genmu no Tou experience. The arrow keys move you around, A is your main action button, B cancels, X confirms attacks, and Y turns the map on. You may not be able to read the text, but you can listen to the fantastic music and brute-force your way through some bats. If you like the way it looks, check out a bunch of screens in our gallery.
[Via Insert Credit; screens via Inside Games]
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Continue Reading May 26th, 2008
Filed under: PC, Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Driving
With the latest in Codemasters’ Race Driver series, GRID, expected to roll up to the starting line next week, the company has announced that the demo for the upcoming, not to allude decidedly un-boring racer has been downloaded over a million times over Xbox Live, PSN, and the PC.
The demo, which was released a couple weeks back, offers a look at what players can expect when Race Driver: Grid races to European retail shelves on May 30. Following this, North American players will be able to slip behind the wheel on June 3, while a more touchable version for the Nintendo DS is expected around the same time as well.
[Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]
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SPONSORED BY: Age of Empires III - Real-Time Strategy Game Control a European power on a quest to colonize and conquer the New World. AOE3 introduces new gameplay elements, as well as new civilizations, units, and technologies. http://www.ageofempires3.com/
Continue Reading May 26th, 2008
Filed under: News
Halo 3 matchmaking news (which was painstakingly mined from Friday’s Bungie Weekly Update) has arrived, informing us that next month Bungie will be switching up and tweaking Halo 3’s matchmaking playlists. Among the changes that are set to go live on June 1st are a new Head to Head playlist and random updates to nearly every other playlist that’s available, with special emphasis on making the underperforming Ranked Big Team Battle more inviting. Make the jump to read the complete June Halo 3 matchmaking update breakdown and get learnified.
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Continue Reading May 26th, 2008
Filed under: Homebrew, Video
The strange, seemingly cacophonous stream of sounds coming out your speakers is GlitchDS, a homebrew cellular automaton music sequencer inspired by Conway’s Game of Life. Developer Clone45 boasts that the program (his first) is “perfect for creating IDM and Glitch-style loops,” and, while we have no idea what that means, we’re sure he’s representing the software accurately with that claim.
In addition to being free and odd enough to be awesome, GlitchDS allows you to create “trigger points,” import your own audio files, save/load your work, control tempo with BPM settings, edit sounds with a 32-step frequency modulation sequencer, load six sounds at once, and fiddle with global distortion settings. If you administer to make any music with it, make sure to send it our way!
See also: Homebrew Week, Friday Video: Two DS Lites and a microphone
[Via DCemu]
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Continue Reading May 26th, 2008
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