via IGN

Sid Meier's Pirates! is one of the greatest games ever made, and now it's headed to the PSP. Just as is the case with Civilization or many of the other titles that Sid Meier has been behind, the game constantly causes you to capture "just one more ship" or find "just one more treasure". It's incredibly addictive, and it's open and create-your-own-storyline type of gameplay is still refreshing in this day and age.

Sid Meier's Pirates! Live the Life is something of a mix between the recent PC update of Pirates! and the accompanying Xbox port. The map size is somewhere in-between, offering plenty of space for exploration while still keeping the world tight
enough for quick travel between areas. It also incorporates the Xbox title's overarching storyline helper - you're still attempting to accomplish the same thing in every version (find your family and such), but the quest meter helps you figure out your next main goal should you choose to stay on the main path.

While some of the game's aspects are taken from the Xbox release, developer Full Fat has brought back a number of the features from the PC game that were lost in the Xbox port, such as treasure hunting. Rather than having your crew automatically find treasure when you hit land if you have the correct map, you'll have to actually explore the land and use your map to find the buried treasure. But in addition, Full Fat has actually expanded on even the PC game in this aspect and added traps and other harmful things to impede your way.

Booby traps lay across the land, and moving across one will cause you to lose one of the men you took to shore. While they're not exactly hidden and are easily noticeable, there may be times when you want to do this as you may have quicker (and perhaps even safer) route to the treasure by sacrificing one of your men. Wildcats scour the land, much like a guard would in an old-school stealth sequence (timed path and all), and should your party be caught by one it'll rip one of your men to shreds.

Sneaking into town is back, though it's a tad different than the PC release. While in said version you were given total control of your character, in the PSP release you move on predefined (though unmarked) squares. This means that you can't hide right behind a corner as you'll either be just down the street or right in the middle of it. It works, but it's a bit strange given the action-centric audience on the PSP.

One thing that's been made a bit simpler is the dancing sequences. Instead of simply following the hand signs of your partner, a DDR-esque symbol bar scrolls across the bottom of the screen so that you can see which moves are coming up. This makes the dancing portions much easier to get into and thusly opens up that part of the game to more players.

While these areas have been changed or enhanced a bit (in mostly good ways, we might add), the rest of the classic Pirates! package is still intact. Should you disobey the pandect of any of the game's nations, they'll turn against you and you'll have to fight against their armadas and become shut out of their towns. Swordfights, ship battles, exploration and everything else that has made the game so great in years past is here and 100% intact.

Sid Meier's Pirates! Live the Life is set for release in a mere few weeks and we're really psyched to dig in a sail the open sea, and so should you.

Screens Via Comments ...

Already posted in the other Quake DS news thread here on DCEmu but for those of you who didnt see it heres the video that SimonHall posted:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIA7VHEBulM ...

Brandon has updated his archive of Books for the Moonshell application which now stand at a rather impressive 200.

Check them out here --> http://moonbooks.stonecypher.net/ ...

Those that know Wraggy know that im a massive Command And Conquer fan, well heres another test release from the Command And Conquer DS Clone Project :


Download and Give Feedback Via Comments ...

via dsfanboy

2007 looks to be one of the most exciting years, if not the most, gaming has ever seen. And the DS is looking to be at the top of its game in the coming year. So, we'd like to know, just exactly what game are you most excited about this year? If your choice is not represented in the available answers below, then leave a comment and tell us what you desire!


What game do you want most in 2007?
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Justice For All
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
Lunar Knights
Pokemon: Diamond/Pearl
SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters
Wario: Master of Disguise
Spectrobes
Custom Robo Arena
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Rings of Fate
Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings ...

via dsfanboy

A new Japanese trailer for Professor Layton has surfaced over at GameTrailers.com, showcasing some of the stylus-driven puzzles and excellent anime-inspired FMV the final game is to hold. It increases our desire for the game ten-fold, however we wonder if we are the only ones. Are you guys as excited as we are?

The game is currently slated for a February 15th release in Japan.

Trailer Here ...

via dsfanboy

You might have noticed that there was a conspicuous hole in our look at some of this year's most exciting games. Whither Diddy Kong Racing, you asked, tear-streaked faces turned up to the sky as you shook your fists in rage and dismay. Okay, maybe we're a little dramatic, but it was missing, and here's why: we wanted to take some time to get intimate with Diddy Kong without the pesky interference of so many other droolariffic games.

After Rare went to the dark side, we never thought we'd feel the shining spotlight of their love again, but it looks like they've come crawling back for a piece of the DS, and all may be forgiven. Even though Diddy Kong Racing DS is an enhanced port of the (beloved) N64 game, the mere fact that it's happening makes it a contender for this year's single most interesting game.


Of course, last week's big news of the Stamper brothers fleeing Rare might change things for the Nintendo-Microsoft-Rare relationship. Diddy Kong Racing may be the one thing we have to cling to over the next few years, or it may be the rekindling of a rich and lucrative relationship. We'll hope for the latter, of course, but the future is murky for Rare. Their last few outings haven't exactly been up to the level of promise that Microsoft obviously saw in them, since they paid a record $377 million for the company, which has since produced little in the way of commercial success. Critical success is all well and good, but it doesn't fill the pockets.

Now, with the company's future up in the air and few details about Diddy Kong Racing DS released to date, gamers are holding their collective breath and wondering just what it is that's in store for them with the handheld racer. We decided to take a little time out to recoup what we know. A short teaser video (included below) has been available for a long time, but actual facts are scattered hither and yon ... or they were.



The facts:


Diddy Kong Racing DS is an enhanced port of the N64 game. This means that gameplay will be largely similar, though the game will look (and perhaps play) even better than the lauded original. That promise alone gives Rare some pretty big shoes to fill.
All the original tracks are carried over, though they have been retextured.
The tracks may be the same, but significant changes have been made to the world itself; look for lots of little additions, like Taj the genie's upgrade to a tent in a tree-lined area.
Few changes have been made to characters. Predictably, Conker and Banjo will not be making their DS debut here, but will instead be replaced by Dixie Kong and Tiny Kong. It is as yet unknown if the two unlockable characters from the N64 game will be available, but we will assume so, as there are four spots for unlockable characters. Look for the N64's T.T. and Drumstick, as well as two unknown characters (though it seems they will have previously been NPCs who are now playable).
Eight person multiplayer. Once this game is released, we're gonna guess that Mario Kart DS Game Nights may be a thing of the past.
The microphone has been confirmed for use in Diddy Kong Racing, but don't get too excited about voice chat. So far, all we know is that players must blow into the mic to boost off in hovercraft.
In that same vein, to boost off with the car and plane, the player must rub the touchscreen. Mind those sweaty fingers!
DKR 2.0 - the DS game is set to be laden with opportunities for players to create their own content. In Wish Race mode, you can create your own tracks, and you can customize many other aspects of the game, such as your vehicles.

Share your works of racing art created in Wish Race mode with others via Nintendo WiFi.
The N64's Silver Coin challenges will not be included in the DS game. Instead, take Taj's magic carpet into the air for a target-shooting minigame.
Various changes have been made to power-ups, including the removal of the speed-boosting bananas.

The game is slated for February 5 for North America, and nothing beyond "first quarter 2007" has been announced for other regions, and DKR DS was conspicuously absent from NoE's recent rundown of games to watch in 2007, which focused largely on Q1 titles.
We are waiting very, very impatiently for this game's release. Okay, maybe that's not quite a fact in sense of the other items ....
There you have it -- the details we have to chew over for the remaining month until the debut of Rare on the DS. Are you as excited as we are? ...

Lotti has released a sound fixed version of his MancalaDS Game:


Download and Give Feedback Via Comments ...

Updated release of the port of Heretic by HEP to the Gp2X. Heres whats new:


Download and Give Feedback Via Comments ...