via dsfanboy

Oishinbo is a manga about cooking that is apparently well-known for featuring delicious food. And now it's a DS game that features, well, pretty much everything. Usually licensed games aren't renowned for their innovation, but this thing looks nothing short of amazing.

Oishinbo Recipe Shuu features recipes, of course, keyword-searchable with handwriting input, and browsable images. It also has a quiz game (about food), manga-style tutorials of cooking techniques, and-- here's where it gets pretty impressive-- Oishinbo manga with links to the recipes shown in the manga. We love it! Well done, Bandai Namco. You've gotten us interested in a cooking game! ...

via siliconera

Back in the mists of time 6 AA batteries could only buy you 4 hours of handheld dogfighting in a pseudo-3D 16-colored environment of a game heavily inspired from Sega’s Afterburner arcade. The game was Blue Lightning and ran on Atari’s now-forgotten Lynx. Apparently 15 whole years ago. Funny thing is Jet Impulse, an import game for the Nintendo DS, immediately reminded me of said game. Then my Nitnendo DS died a particularly gruesome death and I got myself a nice (and rather used) replacement unit.

Still, arcadey flight sims are too much of a childhood favorite to allow me to fret over such minor disturbances, especially when they come all the way from Japan (uhm, the flight sims, not the disturbances, that is), feature a distinctly manga/anime storyline, 19 missions usually broken down in 2 to 3 stages and engrossing gameplay. You see, Jet Impulse is the product of one of those rare moments Nintendo comes up with a new franchise and thus is extremely polished, highly enjoyable and quite addictive. It also is another game designed especially for handhelds, which mean it’s perfect for a quick 10 minutes long bus-ride, what with its non-existent loading times and short but frantic levels.

The game, in essence a pure 3D shmup, plays rather traditionally for a DS title. The top screen is where the main action takes place, while the touch-screen serves mainly as a zoomable radar and a handy way to alternate between missile types. The d-pad controls the plane’s movement, R+L buttons its throttle and you got one button for selecting targets, one for shooting missiles and one for the machine guns. Nothing fancy really, but a tried and tested control method that feels intuitive enough to overcome the games’ Japanese manual and instructions.

In-game updates, objectives and mission descriptions in Japanese, on the other hand, do pose quite a bit of a problem. I for one spent hours chasing a certain red plane I should have simply ignored. I did hone my flying skills mind you, but the futile chase and pointless waste of enough tons of ammunition to take down a moderately sized army got incredibly boring and frustrating. Then, I just discovered the damn thing wasn’t supposed to go down. I was supposed to merely avoid it and run away. Moral of the story? Either learn Japanese or use a walkthrough.

Speaking of stories, well, the story of the game, lavishly as it might be narrated, is equally incomprehensible to objectives written in Japanese. Then again, it’s probably a tacky near-future superpower vs superpower affair.

It’s moments like speeding with a jet-fighter through heavy rain, climbing above cloud level and enjoying a serene silence only marginally spoiled by two enemy bombers, that are eloquent beyond the barriers of language and show off the sheer class of Jet Impulse. Same thing goes for huge naval battles, stealthy night missions and most of the set pieces the game has to offer. Actually, baring a few lengthy cutscenes and the odd incomprehensible objective, the language is more of an atmosphere enhancer than a problem. Especially considering that the English version of the game (to be released at some undefined point in the future) will be shockingly called DS Air. Don’t believe me? There’s a whole website to prove the truth of my words, even though there’s only this humble article to tell the western world how great a game Jet Impulse is. Not innovative, neither ground breaking or visually impressive, just great.

As for the online element of Jet Impulse utilizing the DS’s WiFi capabilities, well, it seems pretty darn impressive, giving access to downloadable game content (via the official Japanese website) and the ability to go head-to-head against players over the Internet. Problem is my wireless connection has been generally non-existent for the past weeks, which means I’ll be covering online play at some other day, provided I don’t first microwave my router. Oh, and there’s a 1-4 players wireless multiplayer mode, too. ...

via evil dragon

Dr_Ian released River Crossing, a game in Game & Watch-Style.

Your sad man must cross a seemingly infinite sequence of rivers. How? With good timing and skills. Unfortunately the rivers are extremely dangerous and he is very likely to die many times.

Download: River Crossing
Homepage: http://www.paintindy.com/ ...

The Nes Emulator for the Xbox 360 made with XNA has been updated, heres whats new:


More Info ...

Eke-Eke has released a new version of the Master System Emulator for the Gamecube and Nintendo Wii (gamecube slot)

This is a sourcecode only release, info below:


Heres more info:

Notes:

Download and Give Feedback Via Comments ...

Eke-Eke has released a new version of the Genesis Emulator for the Gamecube and Nintendo Wii (gamecube slot)

Heres whats new in this release:


More Info


Download and Give Feedback Via Comments ...

via infendo

Waiting for the Miyamoto keynote to start, I’m sitting three rows from the front. Close enough to see Nintendo’s resident BMOC, Reggie Fils-Aime at the front of the crowd, working it with his trademark smile and good will. He poses for pictures, he signs Wiimotes, he presses the flesh with a good natured ease that would make even the most seasoned politician weep with envy.

“Kick his ass and take his name!” someone shouted from a few rows behind me.

“Who?” answered Reggie in mid-autograph.

“Phil Harrison, front row!” Sure enough, there was Phil Harrison, seated dead center, front row. Looks like he could show up on time for Nintendo’s keynote, but not Sony’s.

With a grin and a chuckle, Reggie replies, “Some would say we’ve already done that.”

Touchdown. The crowd goes wild.
Truth hurts. But it's damn funny. ...

Despite being culprit to cramped fingers, Sony has no intention of redesigning the PSP. Sony officials refuted the idea that that PSP was in need of a DS Lite-style remake, stating that the system will see no physical alterations. The design will stay the same, but the way interacts with consumers may change.

A Sony rep said that soon the PSP would reach its promise. That could be a hint that the PSP will finally be able to download movies and become a more interactive partner with the PS3. Sony hopes to one day allow gamers to download movies directly to the PSP. A resolution depends on Sony's ability to find a way to lock movie content, so that you can't simply copy a pay-for-download film to other PSPs.

Expect announcements on some new PSP functionality within the next few months

via ign ...

via pspfanboy

John Koller, Senior Marketing Manager, revealed an interesting internal statistic in last night's blogger panel: according to his research, only 11-14% of PSP owners have a DS. Although the system may be selling less than Nintendo's dual screened portable, it's clear that Sony's device is targeting a completely different market from Nintendo.

"We're not just competing against Nintendo," Koller explained. The platform has to compete against the iPod, the Zune, and a plethora of other multimedia devices. When asked how Sony will attempt to differentiate their offering even further, Koller simply smiled and hinted that the XMB will become much more fleshed out in the coming months. ...