via dsfanboy

Treasure Gaust, Bandai Namco's Pokemon-esque monster game that uses magnetic fields to generate monsters, is headed toward a Spring 2007 release in Japan. We've got some new screens that show off the battle mode, which is more Pokemon Stadium than Pokemon Ruby, in that it is presented in full 3D. We like the pseudo-cel shading they've used.

Treasure Gaust's battling appears to be more action-based than Pokemon, as well. Players pick three creatures and battle with an opponent's three creatures in an underwater arena. You can capture defeated enemies to train them as partners. If a monster-collecting game with more action and more mysterious natural forces sounds good to you, then this may be exactly the game you're looking for! At least, it's as close as anyone's ever going to get to that specific description. We hope Banco decides to localize this one, because we're eager to play with the magnetism gimmick.

Screens Here ...

via dsfanboy

One of our favorite touches of the new Phantom Hourglass' trailer shown at this year's GDC event was its use of the reworked Hyrule Castle theme from The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. If there's one thing we love, it's retro tracks brought back for another round. That's why we're featuring a medley of songs from the original Zelda game (NES) remixed by electronica musician Ochre, for your Sunday listening pleasure.

We imagine that trying to add anything on top of Koji Kondo's classic work without ruining it is a difficult task, but this arrangement doesn't miss a step. Ochre's interpretation blends the 8-bit pieces with his own playful style, taking the listener through a six-minute daydream of Link's adventures. If you're a fan of lush synths and summery rhythms, we definitely suggest downloading this song along with Ochre's other remixes and original offerings at his site.

More Info ...

via dsfanboy

Cheerleading won't come easy in the upcoming sequel to everyone's favorite portable music game. The troupe of opposing ouendan are designed to be prettier and more charming than the gang you control. Of course, you won't let their beautiful heads of hair get in your way: you're going to out-cheer them, and put them in their place. Jeux-France has new scans of Ouendan's long-titled sequel, and not only do you get to see the new rival group you'll have to cheer against, you'll see a familiar, returning character go through yet another ordeal. (Japanese people sure have it rough, don't they?)

More Info ...

News from BJA:


Quake2x Wiimote is a quick modification of Woogal's quake2x which adds support for the Nintendo Wii remote controller. The current version supports joystick and button input on all three controllers (i.e. wiimote, nunchuk, and classic controller). Unfortunately, ir-sensor input had to be disabled because it crashes on my gp2x. But it's impossible to use, so no one would probably use it anyway.

Quake2x Wiimote can be downloaded here.

Try it, its fun! ...

Alekmaul has released a Single Game Arcade emulator for the game Ghosts N Goblins.

Heres the translated info:


Download and Give Feedback Via Comments ...

via wiifanboy

The Internet has been slightly a splode lately with rumors about a new Wii channel for game demos. Game blogs everywhere have been picking up the story, which originally came from German magazine Games Aktuell via their website, Cynamite. Unfortunately for those of us waiting for an announcement of a demo channel, this ain't it. Most of the sudden interest seems to come from a popular Digging of the article-- and both the Cynamite article and the Digg posting are, in Internet terms, prehistoric.

The Cynamite article uses (the German equivalents of) words like "official" and "confirmed", but we have our doubts-- stemming mainly from the fact that it was posted on December 1st of last year and nobody else has said anything about it since. We find it odd that Nintendo would reveal a new feature to only one magazine, over four months (or however long it may be before such an announcement occurs) before its official announcement in any region.

We also find it odd that this news would be delivered in Europe and nowhere else; Europe isn't exactly the first priority for video game companies, as any gamer living there has discovered. It seems more likely that this news would eventually come out of multiple Nintendo representatives in communication with multiple sources-- at least one per region. And we'd really expect this kind of big exclusive to come to a Japanese magazine like Famitsu.

Don't despair yet, small-free-game-segment fans. Just because this particular posting probably isn't an official announcement doesn't mean Nintendo won't eventually start offering demo downloads. They've got a nice Internet-capable console now, and they're delivering actual games over the Internet for the first time. Why wouldn't they throw some demos up on one of the Wii channels? ...

via PSU

Console and software sales for the month of February were recently announced, and both the PS3 and Wii did quite well.

In January, the average number of games owned by a PlayStation 3 owner was 2.7, while the average Wii owner had 2.2 games in his (or her) library. Only one month later, these numbers have jumped quite drastically to 3.4 and 3.6 respectively.

A representative from NPD commented: "While some detractors may consider the next generation cycle off to a poor start, we think that improving tie ratios indicate strong demand for the relatively light software lineup on the next gen consoles, and we believe that once a greater variety of compelling software is released later this year, demand for the new hardware will increase."

For the now current generation of consoles, it looks like there is no place to go but up. ...

Via mercury news

Less than three years ago, Nintendo, the venerable video game company, was looking like a fading icon.

With archrival Sony's PlayStation 2 game console leaving Nintendo's Game Cube in the dust, the company was in the midst of losing a second straight round in the video console wars. And Sony looked ready to replicate its success in the handheld arena, long Nintendo's strong suit. Though Nintendo planned to counter with a new handheld of its own, few gave its relatively dim-screened, underpowered DS much of a chance against Sony's powerful, multimedia PlayStation Portable (PSP).

Fast forward a few years, and things look a lot different. Sales of Nintendo's DS have trounced those of the PSP, thanks in part to Nintendo's focus on quirky, fun-to-play games for the machine.

The company is using a similar formula with its new Wii console - and seeing similar success thus far. The machine, which includes a unique, motion-sensing controller, has outsold Sony's new PlayStation 3 ever since they both launched last year, and Wii sales even topped Microsoft's Xbox 360 in January.

Reggie Fils-Aime, president of Nintendo of America, says this is only the beginning. Sales of game consoles are typically dependent on the number and quality of the games available for them. As Fils-Aime, notes, there's been a major shift in the game industry of late toward developing titles for Nintendo's platforms.

At the Game Developers Conference earlier this month

Mercury News reporters Mike Antonucci and Troy Wolverton sat down with Fils-Aime to talk about this shift and Nintendo's resurgence.
Q The Wii has been hard to find in stores ever since it launched. Will there be any change in that any time soon?

A Mr. (Sarturo) Iwata (president of Nintendo) has already publicly said that we are increasing our capacity.

He did not give a timeline, and he did not give specific numbers. What I will say is we are all acutely aware of the issue. And we all recognize that we have a limited period of time to address the issue, because more so than the core gamer, the casual gamer will get frustrated if they cannot get their hands on the product. And so, certainly from a total company perspective, we're making a full-court press. Now the interesting thing about this - and this is where I'll look back - we had the same issue with DS all last year. And so, when a product is in such high demand, you can't solve it overnight.

The fact that we sold 494,000 (consoles in January) ... certainly speaks to getting as much product into the marketplace as possible.

Q To what extent have you guys been surprised by the demand for the Wii?

A We knew we had magic in a bottle back at E3. Certainly our performance has been much more than the industry had anticipated.

Q Speaking of that, Electronic Arts said recently it's shifting resources over to the Wii and to the DS. Pandemic says it's doing the same thing. To what extent are you hearing about similar moves by other major publishers and developers?

A Every publisher has either made the decision and stated it publicly or made the decision and not stated it publicly, but the amount of resource shift has been tremendous. The natural follow-up question is, "What's driving it?" What's driving it is, they see the install base, they see the mix of established players ... with the potential for new gamers, and they see a business opportunity. Coupled with the lower development costs, it really is a no-brainer.

The decisions started at E3 for a lot of publishers. We had been having conversations with certain publishers, obviously, well before that. Ubisoft, for example, had early access. EA had early access. But a lot of non-traditional Nintendo developers really made the decision as they watched the lines and saw for themselves what the reaction was.

Q Outside the console arena, you guys saw strong sales of your aging Game Boy handhelds over the holidays despite having few new games. What was that about? Did it just get to the point where it's a stocking stuffer?

A Exactly. It's a mass market price point; fantastic library of games; frankly, better availability than DS; and that's what drove the numbers.

Q Conversely, you guys had a dip in U.S. sales of the DS in January. Sales of Sony's rival PSP handheld nearly caught up with you. What's the story there?

A Availability. All availability.

Based on worldwide production numbers, the Americas ran out of stock of Nintendo DS essentially on the 25th of December. And we were not back in stock until sometime the second week in January. So, effectively three weeks the consumer could not get their hands on a Nintendo DS. So what happened? They bought our competitor. And they bought Game Boy Advance. Now that we're back in stock, let's see what the February data says.

Q The data I've seen indicates that among the new consoles the Wii is the top seller in the U.S. and in Japan. What do European sales look like?

A Europe is in the same situation. They're selling out as soon as they're putting it ...

Via mercury news

Less than three years ago, Nintendo, the venerable video game company, was looking like a fading icon.

With archrival Sony's PlayStation 2 game console leaving Nintendo's Game Cube in the dust, the company was in the midst of losing a second straight round in the video console wars. And Sony looked ready to replicate its success in the handheld arena, long Nintendo's strong suit. Though Nintendo planned to counter with a new handheld of its own, few gave its relatively dim-screened, underpowered DS much of a chance against Sony's powerful, multimedia PlayStation Portable (PSP).

Fast forward a few years, and things look a lot different. Sales of Nintendo's DS have trounced those of the PSP, thanks in part to Nintendo's focus on quirky, fun-to-play games for the machine.

The company is using a similar formula with its new Wii console - and seeing similar success thus far. The machine, which includes a unique, motion-sensing controller, has outsold Sony's new PlayStation 3 ever since they both launched last year, and Wii sales even topped Microsoft's Xbox 360 in January.

Reggie Fils-Aime, president of Nintendo of America, says this is only the beginning. Sales of game consoles are typically dependent on the number and quality of the games available for them. As Fils-Aime, notes, there's been a major shift in the game industry of late toward developing titles for Nintendo's platforms.

At the Game Developers Conference earlier this month

Mercury News reporters Mike Antonucci and Troy Wolverton sat down with Fils-Aime to talk about this shift and Nintendo's resurgence.
Q The Wii has been hard to find in stores ever since it launched. Will there be any change in that any time soon?

A Mr. (Sarturo) Iwata (president of Nintendo) has already publicly said that we are increasing our capacity.

He did not give a timeline, and he did not give specific numbers. What I will say is we are all acutely aware of the issue. And we all recognize that we have a limited period of time to address the issue, because more so than the core gamer, the casual gamer will get frustrated if they cannot get their hands on the product. And so, certainly from a total company perspective, we're making a full-court press. Now the interesting thing about this - and this is where I'll look back - we had the same issue with DS all last year. And so, when a product is in such high demand, you can't solve it overnight.

The fact that we sold 494,000 (consoles in January) ... certainly speaks to getting as much product into the marketplace as possible.

Q To what extent have you guys been surprised by the demand for the Wii?

A We knew we had magic in a bottle back at E3. Certainly our performance has been much more than the industry had anticipated.

Q Speaking of that, Electronic Arts said recently it's shifting resources over to the Wii and to the DS. Pandemic says it's doing the same thing. To what extent are you hearing about similar moves by other major publishers and developers?

A Every publisher has either made the decision and stated it publicly or made the decision and not stated it publicly, but the amount of resource shift has been tremendous. The natural follow-up question is, "What's driving it?" What's driving it is, they see the install base, they see the mix of established players ... with the potential for new gamers, and they see a business opportunity. Coupled with the lower development costs, it really is a no-brainer.

The decisions started at E3 for a lot of publishers. We had been having conversations with certain publishers, obviously, well before that. Ubisoft, for example, had early access. EA had early access. But a lot of non-traditional Nintendo developers really made the decision as they watched the lines and saw for themselves what the reaction was.

Q Outside the console arena, you guys saw strong sales of your aging Game Boy handhelds over the holidays despite having few new games. What was that about? Did it just get to the point where it's a stocking stuffer?

A Exactly. It's a mass market price point; fantastic library of games; frankly, better availability than DS; and that's what drove the numbers.

Q Conversely, you guys had a dip in U.S. sales of the DS in January. Sales of Sony's rival PSP handheld nearly caught up with you. What's the story there?

A Availability. All availability.

Based on worldwide production numbers, the Americas ran out of stock of Nintendo DS essentially on the 25th of December. And we were not back in stock until sometime the second week in January. So, effectively three weeks the consumer could not get their hands on a Nintendo DS. So what happened? They bought our competitor. And they bought Game Boy Advance. Now that we're back in stock, let's see what the February data says.

Q The data I've seen indicates that among the new consoles the Wii is the top seller in the U.S. and in Japan. What do European sales look like?

A Europe is in the same situation. They're selling out as soon as they're putting it ...