Coming this Christmas, a Build-A-Bear Workshop DS game. Save yourself the hassle (and shame) of taking your kid to the Build-A-Bear store at the mall and get her the DS version instead. Think of all the money you’ll save! Thank you, The Game Factory, you’re finally giving me a game my four year-old daughter can enjoy on the DS. (via The Game Blog)
Nintendo DS
Christmas wishes (for me)
It’s that time of year again — my yearly plea to the Jolly Ol’ Elf. My Holiday Wish List. I actually don’t want a lot this year, just a few more games to play on my 360 and DS. There are a bunch of DS games I wouldn’t mind playing, I just don’t think I have time to get to more than a couple. So here’s what I’m hoping I find under the tree next week:
Viva Pinata – This game has always intrigued me. The premise sounds like fun and it would definitely give me something to satisfy the obsessive-compulsive part of my brain. I am a huge fan of Animal Crossing, and while I know that this isn’t exactly Animal Crossing, it has some similarities. The biggest similarity being that it’s a game I could play with the kids around. I’m usually waiting for them to head to bed before I can fire up Dead Rising, so it’d be nice to play something that they’d like and I’d enjoy. The bright colors and beautiful scenery would definitely hold their attention.
Tiger Woods 2007 – It’s been a long time since I’ve played more than a few minutes of a golf game and I was quite impressed with the TW2007 demo, so I’m ready to give this the full game treatment. Since I won’t be getting a Wii anytime soon, Tiger Woods should fill the hole in my gaming library that was set aside for Wii Sports.
Elite Beat Agents – If you’ve been reading this site over the past couple of months, it will come as no surprise that I love Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan, the Japanese rythm game on the DS. I have spent a ton of time tapping little targets to such awesome songs as Guts Da Ze!! and Kokoro Odoru and have enjoyed every minute of it. The thought of playing an “American” version of it, complete with stories I can actually follow, makes me very excited.
A nice Surround Sound System – Now that I’ve got a big TV on the way, I need a sound system to compliment it. I’d love to get my hands on my dad’s old Bose system, but that may not happen. So I’d be happy with any decent surround sound system. Any suggestions?
So that’s my spartan list. Not very huge, but hey, I’m easy to please. What’s on your wish list?
Ouendan translations
I’m letting a friend borrow my copy of Ouendan for a couple days to give it a try, see if it’s what he’s looking for. Since everything is in Japanese, I figured I’d try to explain to him what the different menu options were. Sure, I don’t know a lick of Japanese, but I have figured out what each option does, so I thought it’d be easy to explain the basics.
Then I found the site Cracked Rabbit Gaming. In addition to their ongoing translation project for Ouendan, they also have a mini-fansite that includes a translation for the menus. I wish I would have found this a couple months ago!
They’ve overlayed the English translations over actual screenshots of the game, so you can figure out what the heck is going on. This makes things a lot easier. My Resident Evil 4 translations are the most visited page on buttonmashing.com, so I know there are people out there looking for this kind of thing. I’m glad I found Cracked Rabbit. Makes things a lot easier.
I wish I knew how to quit yOu(endan)
Last night I got ready to play some Burnout Revenge before I retired for the night. Then I saw the DS sitting there, calling me. I fired up Ouendan around 10 o’clock, figuring I’d help out the fat Egyptian lady win over her Roman heartthrob. Then, three and a half hours later I was struggling to keep my eyes open while I was trying to help out a dad save his city from a giant rat. The game is that flipping good. I must have said, “one more try,” an hundred times.
What sets Ouendan apart from other games that rely on patterns is that it’s actually fun doing the same level over more than once. Even though the patterns are exactly the same, the music is so infectious and the rythm tapping is so satisfying that you never feel cheated when you fail at the level once again. It’s just “oh well, let’s do that again.” No biggie. That is the hallmark of a great game.
Another bonus is that it passes the “Wife Test.” Mrs. Buttonmasher loves this game. She is very casual gamer, so getting her involved with this game was something I didn’t think I could do. But all it took was one round at the easy level and she’s already hooked. In fact, she’s probably better than me at it. I only get to play when she’s done.
Speaking of the music, even though I have no idea what they’re singing about, I am now a huge fan of Japnese Pop music. I found all the soundtracks from the game and there are on heavy rotation in both iTunes and my iPod. It is so easy to listen to. Even the little buttonDaughter loves it.
So even though I have a pile of good games I could be playing, I just can’t quit playing Ouendan. I owe the Nintendaddio a huge thanks for recommending this game to me more than once.
Thank you sir, may I have another?
That’s basically what my wallet will be saying all month long. First and foremost, we’ve got the release of the Wii. It’s up in the air whether I’ll be able to secure a Wii at launch or not, but I’ll still try my best to grab one. That is the first whack on my wallet’s behind.
Then we’ve got Gears of War and Call of Duty 3 for the 360. While it’s doubtful I’ll grab CoD 3, Gears of War is already on the shopping list. Whack!
My current console of choice gets two games I’m particularly excited about, Elite Beat Agents and Final Fantasy III for the DS. Ouch, this is getting ugly.
And finally, the coup de grace for the Gamecube, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess will be available for both the ‘Cube and the Wii.
It’s just not fair!
In my hands…
After reading some mostly positive reviews I was intrigued by Contact. Then I started hearing some serious buzz on a couple video game forums and decided I’d give it a try.
As always, impressions to follow…
Someone forgot to tighten the levels
Via Matt from PTB, it looks like the new Bubble Bobble game for the DS has shipped with a game-crippling error — there’s no level 30 boss. So ya, all those hundred levels you paid for? You ain’t seeing the last 70.
Opps. I’m sure Nintendo will make things all better, but this is pretty embarassing.
There’s a video of the “glitch” at Go Nintendo.
Son of a …
I knew it! Even though I professed my desire for a Black DS Lite, I couldn’t wait and went with the beautiful and pure White DSL. Four Color Rebellion is now saying the the Black and Pink (woohoo!) DS Lites are heading our way.
Son of a…
Anyone want to buy a white DS Lite?
The Ultimate DS Library
I’ve been playing my DS Lite so often now I should probably change the name of the site from “buttonMashing” to “screenTouching” or something like that. Touching is indeed good. I’ve been speding some time on eBay recently, hunting for some DS titles to round out my library. It got me thinking about what would make up the “Ultimate DS Library.” So I present to you my idea of the “Ultimate DS Library.” (Note that I don’t, as of yet, own some of these titles. But I have enough faith in them that I am actively pursuing a copy of them.)
In my hands…
I know I’m over a year late to the party on this one, but I’ve finally scored myself a copy of Meteos. I’m browsing eBay, picking up some of the DS games that have received a fair amount of good word-of-mouth. On the recommendation of agentgray (or is it Nintendaddio now?) and anyone else who’s played it, I’m also looking to get my paws on Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan as soon as I can. I’m working on a new post that will hopefully encompass all that is good about gaming with the DS (here’s a preview — it’s pretty much all good).
Reading through the instruction booklet (which is printed “portrait” instead of “landcape”, giving it a flip-book feel) looks like Meteos is pretty complex. But, like I always do, I’ll just throw it into the machine and dive right into it.