It might seem unlikely considering that Mario was born and developed in Japan by Japanese minds, but America forever changed how our favorite plumber played. Why? Because Nintendo thought the U.S. and European gamers couldn't play. As a consequence, they never released the real Mario 2 outside of Japan because it was too hard, and instead released Doki Doki Panic with the Mario name. Since then, the entire Mario franchise has picked up traits from Doki Doki Panic, like the card game at the end of each level in Mario 3. This article takes a look at what elements really belong to Mario and what belongs to Doki Doki Panic. It's interesting to see that, point for point, Nintendo changed almost nothing about Doki Doki Panic before releasing it in the states and Europe as Mario 2 ...

News from Lik Sang

Seems like every second day there is a new flavor of Nintendo DS Lite coming from Kyoto lately! After the initial three colors, the handheld has been recently made available in a Black iteration over in Europe and today was the release day for the Noble Pink edition over in Japan. We received a first batch yesterday night while the balance of our delivery is expected to reach our warehouse tomorrow. Unit retail price is set at US$ 199. We should be able to ship all preorders within the next 48 hours, new orders placed from this minute on are likely to be processed this coming Monday - provided that there is no shortage in the meantime, as our sources on the ground in Nippon report demand to be very high on the new unit. This has a reason: all other colors are sold out all the time, and out of 100 Japanese gamers searching to buy a Nintendo DS, only 55 to 60 in average can find one, and this for the last 2 months, according to some recent surveys. With Final Fantasy III coming up next month, the market is about to get even crazier on the island: DS fans will just snatch whichever color they can.

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News from Lik Sang

It's been an unlikely wet fantasy of followers of games based on Anime/Manga ever since the first Naruto title hit a gaming platform. As soon as a cooperation between Q Entertainment, the fresh production studio formed by Tetsuya Mizuguchi (Lumines, Meteos, Ninety-Nine Nights), and Anime big guys 8ing was announced, anticipation soared. We are talking about a brilliant cross-over that brings together popular Shonen Jump franchises Dragon Ball Z, One Piece and Naruto in the release of Battle Stadium D.O.N. for PlayStation 2 and GameCube! Imagine the possibilities, who wouldn't want to take part in a battle, where Son Goku faces Naruto Uzumaki? Or Luffy against Hatake, Freeza vs. Chopper, Vegeta fighting Rock Lee, etc.? Brace yourself for epic standoffs, where four players can have a go simultaneously.

Both the PS2 and GC versions of Battle Stadium D.O.N. are in stock as of today, pre-orders have been shipped out already, while new orders are very welcome for US$ 64.90 each (delivered!). Cool thing about the GameCube copy is that it plays perfectly on all GC systems world-wide if you use the Freeloader, which works as an easy Import Game Enabler.

Another addition is a new combo system called "Burst", which gives you a chance to change your character's form when entering that mode after building up your power. Fighting takes place on a 2D plane, where familiar stages like Tenkaichi Budokai Arena from Dragon Ball Z, Pirate ship "Going Merry" (One Piece) and various Hidden Leaf Village spots (Naruto) let you fight it out in colorful, lovingly crafted locations. Furthermore, look forward to legendary environments Planet Namek, Room of Spirit and Time, West City, Giant Jack, Valley of the End or Forest of Death for example. There's lots of interactivity and power ups to use on top. Killer action throwing fast-cut visuals at you, in an never-ending onslaught of battle screams, while colorful flashes of martial arts moves thunder across the screen. Don't forget to breathe once in a while!

Some might think of Battle Stadium D.O.N. as a console Jump Superstars, which graced the Nintendo DS a while back and has been fully embraced by the gaming community the globe over. Now a similarly genius playstyle can be enjoyed on the "big" platforms with this release. Battle Stadium D.O.N., after all is said about the related Japanesque Anime and Manga craze, is simply a fun, hysterically engaging Beat'em Up; it will pump you up so much that upon announcing your "last go", it might still keep you playing through another long, rewarding gaming night. ...

News from Lik Sang

It's been an unlikely wet fantasy of followers of games based on Anime/Manga ever since the first Naruto title hit a gaming platform. As soon as a cooperation between Q Entertainment, the fresh production studio formed by Tetsuya Mizuguchi (Lumines, Meteos, Ninety-Nine Nights), and Anime big guys 8ing was announced, anticipation soared. We are talking about a brilliant cross-over that brings together popular Shonen Jump franchises Dragon Ball Z, One Piece and Naruto in the release of Battle Stadium D.O.N. for PlayStation 2 and GameCube! Imagine the possibilities, who wouldn't want to take part in a battle, where Son Goku faces Naruto Uzumaki? Or Luffy against Hatake, Freeza vs. Chopper, Vegeta fighting Rock Lee, etc.? Brace yourself for epic standoffs, where four players can have a go simultaneously.

Both the PS2 and GC versions of Battle Stadium D.O.N. are in stock as of today, pre-orders have been shipped out already, while new orders are very welcome for US$ 64.90 each (delivered!). Cool thing about the GameCube copy is that it plays perfectly on all GC systems world-wide if you use the Freeloader, which works as an easy Import Game Enabler.

Another addition is a new combo system called "Burst", which gives you a chance to change your character's form when entering that mode after building up your power. Fighting takes place on a 2D plane, where familiar stages like Tenkaichi Budokai Arena from Dragon Ball Z, Pirate ship "Going Merry" (One Piece) and various Hidden Leaf Village spots (Naruto) let you fight it out in colorful, lovingly crafted locations. Furthermore, look forward to legendary environments Planet Namek, Room of Spirit and Time, West City, Giant Jack, Valley of the End or Forest of Death for example. There's lots of interactivity and power ups to use on top. Killer action throwing fast-cut visuals at you, in an never-ending onslaught of battle screams, while colorful flashes of martial arts moves thunder across the screen. Don't forget to breathe once in a while!

Some might think of Battle Stadium D.O.N. as a console Jump Superstars, which graced the Nintendo DS a while back and has been fully embraced by the gaming community the globe over. Now a similarly genius playstyle can be enjoyed on the "big" platforms with this release. Battle Stadium D.O.N., after all is said about the related Japanesque Anime and Manga craze, is simply a fun, hysterically engaging Beat'em Up; it will pump you up so much that upon announcing your "last go", it might still keep you playing through another long, rewarding gaming night. ...

News from Lik Sang

The first trilogy for Sony's portable wonder, Anime Beat'em Up Bleach Heat the Soul started off with a rather small character cast. The second incarnation already sported an extended pool of fighters to choose from. Now, with Bleach Heat the Soul 3 upon us, we look at an extremely crowded character selection screen of 33 (seriously!), featuring all your favorite sword adepts from the show, including eleven returning from Heat the Soul 2. Ichigo, Rukia, Orihime, Yasutora, Kisuke, Yoruichi, Shigekuni, Soifon, Gin, Kira, Hinamori, Byakuya, Renji, Sajin, Shunsui to name but a few plus Bankai versions including for example Ichigo, Renji, Toushiro, Byakuya and other Shinigami and "Final Form" appearances: They are all here! The goodness continues with a new pack of combos, relentless Beat'em Up action plus explosive graphics to boot. To show that the sky ain't the limit anymore, the developers have even moved the spirit meter down to the bottom of the screen. While the eleven homecomers offer the same movesets as seen in past versions, in Heat the Soul 3 all characters can now dash across the screen.

Now that pre-orders have been taken care of, we have enough stock for any new orders at just US$ 49.90. Eligible for our famous Free Shipping Worldwide promotion, get it right to your doorstep without having to shell out anything for delivery! As with all releases for PSP, Bleach Heat the Soul 3 works on any PSP worldwide due to the system's region-free capabilities. Straight out of the box, just insert the UMD and play, completely hassle-free!

Story-wise, Bleach Heat the Soul 3 sees Kurosaki Ichigo aiding a mysterious girl, who has lost her powers while saving him in the past. It's for this very Kuchiki Rukia, that Ichigo undergoes a tough training regimen, headed by Urahara Kisuke. In the course of this, Ichigo finally reaches full Shinigami status, allowing him to unleash the true powers of his Zangetsu, our main hero's cherished cold steel. Since it is considered close to blasphemy to infuse normal people with Shinigami forces, the hapless Rukia gets imprisoned inside the Senzaikyu, the palace of atonement. It's then, that Ichigo and his sword brothers make their way into the Soul Society...

A tremendous Beat'em Up effort, Bleach Heat the Soul 3 won't disappoint. A huge roster of characters with unique fighting styles each storm through diverse stages that allow you to bring the explosive Anime action with you wherever you go. Bleach gaming at its best: if merely watching the show doesn't kick your mule anymore, here's your twitching fingers' relief right there. ...

News from Lik Sang

Company lines and press releases aside, very few games can truly be called a phenomenon. The Brain Training series on the DS however is exactly that, and in particular with the English releases this year and their fantastic price points, they've become the talk of the town. This is quite simply unheard of for 'educational games', but after decades of exercising players' thumbs, Nintendo has moved onto our minds. Here we'll look at what all the fuss is about, and right now we have both titles in stock and shipping free worldwide within 24 hours. Since the DS is completely region free too, purchasing them is a no-brainer as these will work no matter which corner of the globe you bought your handheld from.



The series was inspired by the work of Professor Ryuta Kawashima, a prominent Japanese neuroscientist whose Brain Training books have sold over a million copies. His studies evaluated the effect of performing reading and mathematic exercises to help stimulate the brain, and the result is as Nintendo's main man Reggie Fils-Aime says, "a treadmill for the mind." Combined, the two titles sold over 5 million copies in Japan alone, and just for a fun comparison, that’s just more than The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker sold the entire world over!

Regular readers of our Weekly Gaming Update may have also noticed the games haven't dropped off Japan's Top 10 Weekly Sales Charts for, well the entire of 2006. Likewise in the States they’ve been on the Top 10 lists of Amazon and Best Buy since their release, and over in Europe the first title came out just recently and sold 250,000 copies in just a single month. This is indeed a gaming phenomenon.

Much more on this article at the link above. ...

News from Lik Sang

Datel passed word to us about a new Action Replay coming up for the Nintendo DS. Unlike the previous Action Replay Duo Max, which was more of a GBA device with an extra power-saves function for NDS titles, this new version is a pure Nintendo DS product. It comes as a NDS cart slotting in the top connector of your system. It offers a cheat-code feature, and tons of codes are preloaded for all the hot games, including the latest stuff like New Super Mario Bros and co. New codes can regularly be downloaded on Codejunkies in order to unleash new superpowers in new software titles. The adapter is expected to be in stock before the end of July and we are collecting preorders from this minute on for US$ 29.90 only. ...

We're trying to overlook the glaring irony in "Phantom" Entertainment, especially since year after year this company has been the most prominent vaporware hit since Duke Nukem Forever, but we just can't ignore the latest bit in their Phantom's comedy of errors that now has our favorite gaming company officially changing name in hopes of "invigorating its marketing approach." The path forward as of a few months ago had Infinium getting ready and set to change their name, the Phantom Lapboard set for release in Q2 of this year (wait, that's right now), and their Phantom Game Service to follow suit, but in a recent blurb from CEO Greg Koler, he astoundingly couldn't provide announcement dates for either. Previously blaming the annoyance of lawsuits and an inability to come up with $11.5 million, we've yet to hear a more recent excuse as to why we should still put faith in the powers at Phantom, but they did accomplish one thing: changing that name, and issuing another six hundred million worthless shares of stock. Regardless of the never-ending delays, we're keeping our fingers crossed, because the new and (potentially) improved Phantom Entertainment could seriously rattle the gaming market, erm, someday. And in the mean time, let the pumping and dumping begin! ...

It's been confirmed that Sony Computer Entertainment president Ken Kutaragi will deliver the pre-show keynote for this year's Tokyo Game Show when the event kicks off on September 22nd.

Kutaragi's speech will be titled 'The next-generation as created by the PlayStation 3' and it's thought that he could make some important announcements regarding Sony's future plans - particularly since the launch of the new console will be less than two months away. Last year's pre-show keynote was delivered by Nintendo president Satoru Iwata - who took the opportunity to unveil the Wii's unique remote controller.

Square-Enix president Yoichi Wada will also address visitors to the show with a speech that will focus on the problems and challenges facing the games industry. There will also be speeches on the MMO and mobile markets, and Epic Games' Jay Wilbur and Mike Capps will be on hand to discuss Unreal Engine 3.

The Tokyo Game Show will take place at the Makuhari Messe in Chiba, Japan, from September 22nd - 24th. It's already being billed as the biggest TGS ever, with record consumer and industry attendance anticipated. ...