Can you believe it? It’s almost May already; time sure flies. This means that Mother’s Day, the Kentucky Derby, and the Indianapolis 500 are approaching, among other events. According to Wikipedia, no other month of the year starts with the same day as May does; if true, no other month in 2008 will start with a Thursday. Cool, huh? Oh, and there are a few DS games worth your cash during this month. Check out the following DS titles set to ship this May:
Crosswords DS – May 5: A new member of the Touch Generations series, Crosswords DS offers a ton of crosswords with multiple difficulty levels and intuitive touch screen controls. Not only that, but anagrams and word searches are also available to add to the fun, and get this; $20 gets it for you. If you can get one DS game in May, make it this one and get more bang for your buck.
Super Dodgeball Brawlers – May 27: True to the NES classic, this dodgeball-inspired title puts you in charge of a team ready to knock out the competition. Level up your characters, master Special Moves, and use the ball to smash your enemies, as well as other items that land on the field.
LOL – May 2008: No, I’m not laughing; LOL is the game’s name. This multiplayer-only title is like a piece of paper split into multiple DS systems; with a single copy of the game, a host can issue a challenge, such as asking for a certain picture, phrase, or even a mathematical equation, and the other players do the rest. Votes are then issued and the winner picks a new challenge. Simple, yes, but interesting and, well, funny as well (lol). Set to release sometime in May, this game will be sold online-only for $20. Our advice? Pick up an extra copy, keep it for a few years, and sell it on eBay for some neat profits down the road.
Spring is in full bloom, and that means that gamers can come out of hibernation, bring along their favorite handheld, and venture outdoors to greet the sunshine. If you are one of the few people who won’t be glued to Grand Theft Auto IV this month, or if you find you need to catch some fresh air, you may find something to satisfy your gaming tastes on the PSP for the month of May. Technically an April release, the SNK Arcade Classics compilation contains an impressive array of old-school arcade favorites including Metal Slug. Echochrome has a lot of puzzle fans excited for its unique “perspective” on gameplay, and sports fans have an up-to-date roster of teams to look forward in EA’s UEFA Euro 2008.
SNK Classics Volume 1 — April 29: If you haven’t already played (and enjoyed) Metal Slug, you probably aren’t fit to be a gamer. Fans might not realize that SNK crafted some other great titles, however, including Shock Troopers and Top Hunter, available in this compilation.
Iron Man — May 2: Games based on movies which are based on comic books don’t have a strong track record, but in preview videos seen online, Iron Man for the PSP seems to be a competent actioner with ground based fighting and flying levels.
R-Type Command — May 6: Irem strays from the shooter genre to bring a tactical turn-based R-Type to the PSP. You can read more about what to expect from the gameplay in our short preview here.
Echochrome — May 8: In this first-party puzzle title guaranteed to melt your brain, Sony asks you to guide a hapless wanderer through five dimensions of crazy perspective. The creative presentation and unique game design could make this another cult hit on the PSP.
World Championship Cards — May 13: Delyed by a month, this title features 30 different card games. If you are one of those that has to stay away from those addicting poker handhelds you might want to shy away from this one too, for your own health.
UEFA Euro 2008 — May 19: Almost as fun as watching the matches unfold live on TV, you can experience all the thrills of the Euro 2008 soccer tournament with this Electronic Arts release. Go Spain!
One of the biggest rumors circulating this week on the Nintendo DS front is the possibility of a Paper Mario port coming in July of this year. This news remains a rumor because the only source, a Japanese website, does not provide very much detail – or an official source – on the announcement. The site states only that the game will NOT be an original title, but rather a direct port of the classic N64 game, Paper Mario. This little detail has delighted some fans, who claim (with some justification) that the first game remains the strongest in the series.
Whether this report will prove to be true or not remains to be seen. On one hand, it seems like a logical choice, given the popularity of the series and the lack of a Paper Mario title on the current handheld. On the other hand, as some observers have already pointed out, the Big N seems to be well past the “port everything under the sun to DS†phase, and would most likely want to develop more original content for the system. Any thoughts?
Sorry male gamers, but we don’t mean “hot” in the Jade Raymond sense. The programmers we pay homage to below come from companies large and small (some are completely independent), but they all have one thing in common. Each of the teams featured here have taken on the challenge of bringing exciting entertainment content to the iPhone/iPod Touch. Given the amount of buzz that was created by the public release of the Apple SDK last month, we decided to showcase some of the lesser-known developers who have shown their commitment to the iPhone by announcing games using these new software development tools. Anyone with an Apple PC, and iPhone (or iPod Touch) and $100 can sign up to develop and release applications and games on the iPhone Application Store, which will open its virtual doors in June. Some of these projects are still in the early beta or prototype phase, but what we have seen so far leaves us impatient for more. Make no mistake, these indie programmers are hot!
In what might possibly be the most fun to be had online, the designers of Off-road Velociraptor Safari brag that their game gives players the chance to “Hit Raptors” and pull off “Sick Stunts” while driving around in a presumably dystopian dino-ridden landscape of death. Perhaps the nicest thing about the game is its vivid 3D graphical polish, provided by the use of the Unity 3D engine. The developers of this middleware have promised that they are bringing their powerful 3D authoring tools over to the iPhone, and there is no reason why Flashbang Studios won’t follow there with Raptor Safari and their upcoming game, Jetpack Brontosaurus, as well
What? Multi-player Quake 3 Who? A collaboration of awesome hackers
We have already reported on this working demo of Quake 3 multiplayer that HermitWorks bodged together using code from an earlier project by icculus, and you can follow this link to our earlier story to view a video of the ensuing one-handed deathmatch in action. Of course, there is little chance that Apple or whoever currently owns the rights to the Quake franchise will allow an official release, but the fact that these guys got multiplayer FPS working so flawlessly opens the door to all kinds of amazing possibilities in the FPS genre.
Yes, the rumors of yet another DS redesign continue. Everyone is talking about this, again. And with E3 fast approaching, a perfect moment for the mysterious DS revamping does as well. We even heard that this ‘new’ system is all done, sitting prettily, waiting for DS Lite sales to drop significantly. Many great DS games are on their way for this Summer, and Fall / Winter surprises could strike at any time; maybe this ‘DS the Third’ could breathe even more life and success to Nintendo’s current handheld. Do you see a new DS version unveiling at this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo? Perhaps not so soon? Is another DS model a given? We have talked about this, multipletimes, but it’s time to find out what you think:
Nintendo Power isn’t the only gaming publication bringing in the DS news. Japanese magazine Famitsu has blown the lid on two surprising DS titles. First, a sequel to the cult classic rhythm game Daigasso! Band Brothers, also known as Jam with the Band, is in the works, titled Band Brothers DX. This game will ship with 30 songs including classical tunes and catchy J-pop music. Over 50 instruments will be available, and apparently some feature different functionalities, such as the guitar that requires touch screen strumming. Local multiplayer is back, and a singing Karaoke function has been added. Even better, over 100 downloadable songs are planned; that’s quite exciting!
And we also have news concerning a bigger cult classic franchise. A ‘pseudo Phoenix Wright’ title had been rumored for a while and now it has been confirmed. Apparently titled Miles Edgeworth: Perfect Prosecutor, this Ace Attorney spin-off puts players on the other side of the table, controlling the prosecution, seeking a guilty verdict. The game’s main characters are Miles himself, Phoenix Wright’s old time buddy and rival, and his loyal assistant Dick Gumshoe. You will be investigating crime scenes, looking for inconsistencies and overlooked evidence, and new Search and Deduction systems will be introduced to spice things up.
Band Brothers DX is set to ship to Japanese retailers on June 26th. No word on a possible North American release, and seeing how the first Daigasso title didn’t make it, anything can happen. Miles Edgeworth: Perfect Prosecutor has no set release window at the moment. Count on PVG to bring you more information and subsequent reviews of both titles in the near future.
In anticipation of the Wachowski brothers’ film adaptation of Speed Racer, a handful of screens for the DS and Wii versions of the game flowed onto the web today. The movie, which has been in development for more than a decade, promises to attract large audiences due to its star power alone. The upcoming games, which will be loosely based on the action happening on the big screen, will need a little bit more help to attract an audience. While the majority of releases adapted from movies tend toward the desultory in terms of gameplay, we have high hopes for this DS title. Firstly, how hard do you have to try to screw up a game based on Speed Racer, seriously? Secondly, the DS has a real shortage of quality racing titles, so in order to be considered a “success”, all this title has to do is not suck.
The game is set to release on May 6, 2008, a couple of days before the movie hits screens.
The latest issue of Nintendo Power featured a hefty cover story / preview of the upcoming Square-Enix title Final Fantasy IV, an upgraded remake of the classic RPG. As great as it was, however, not a single hint towards a release date was given, until now. RPGFan quite openly states that the awaited role-playing game will ship to North American retailers this July. If you haven’t played the SNES original, its PlayStation companion, or the expanded GBA version, the upcoming DS title is the way to go, with gorgeous graphics and plenty of added features. To be honest, yours truly expected a Fall release, but hey, the sooner the better. With Final Fantasy Tactics A2, Trauma Center 2, and Guitar Hero: On Tour, and possibly FFIV, this Summer will be double-screen season for many gamers. UPDATE: A July shipping date has been officially announced by Square-Enix; hooray!
Yes, that’s right. Canadian developers HermitWorks have come out of their log cabin and impressively figured out networked play in Quake III for at least two players on the iPhone. The built-in accelerometer seems to work adequately well for controlling movement (as seen in the demo vid below), suggesting that the future looks bright for FPS gaming on the newest contender in the portable gaming space.
Can you believe it? It’s almost May already; time sure flies. This means that Mother’s Day, the Kentucky Derby, and the Indianapolis 500 are approaching, among other events. According to Wikipedia, no other month of the year starts with the same day as May does; if true, no other month in 2008 will start with a Thursday. Cool, huh? Oh, and there are a few DS games worth your cash during this month. Check out the following DS titles set to ship this May:
In September of 2006 Nintendo released two Pokémon Mystery Dungeon titles, one for each of its portable gaming devices, GBA and DS. Developed by ChunSoft, a team with more than enough experience with the genre, Nintendo seemingly started a revival of dungeon crawlers. Not only that, but these Pokémon spin-offs introduced an interesting idea; no longer do you play with Pokémon, now you are one of them, and it’s up to you to figure out why. This premise, the relatively obscure genre, and obviously the brand name made the games a success. Unfortunately, reviewers in general weren’t too keen on the titles, not able to look past the repetitiveness of gameplay and level design. These factors didn’t matter to gamers, though; the franchise quickly found a dedicated ‘cult’ of sorts, populating forums and exchanging rescue codes. A pair of sequels was released in Japan last year, and North American DS players just received the latest updates of the series, Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness. Unfortunately, most of the flaws present on the first titles remain.
One of the biggest rumors circulating this week on the Nintendo DS front is the possibility of a Paper Mario port coming in July of this year. This news remains a rumor because the only source, a Japanese 
Yes, the rumors of yet another DS redesign continue. 
Nintendo Power isn’t the only gaming publication bringing in the DS news. Japanese magazine Famitsu has blown the lid on two surprising DS titles. First, a sequel to the cult classic rhythm game Daigasso! Band Brothers, also known as Jam with the Band, is in the works, titled Band Brothers DX. This game will ship with 30 songs including classical tunes and catchy J-pop music. Over 50 instruments will be available, and apparently some feature different functionalities, such as the guitar that requires touch screen strumming. Local multiplayer is back, and a singing Karaoke function has been added. Even better, over 100 downloadable songs are planned; that’s quite exciting!
In anticipation of the Wachowski brothers’ film adaptation of Speed Racer, a handful of screens for the DS and Wii versions of the game flowed onto the web today. The movie, which has been in development for more than a decade, promises to attract large audiences due to its 
The latest issue of Nintendo Power featured a hefty cover story / preview of the upcoming Square-Enix title Final Fantasy IV, an upgraded remake of the classic RPG. As great as it was, however, not a single hint towards a release date was given, until now. RPGFan quite openly states that the awaited role-playing game will ship to North American retailers this July. If you haven’t played the SNES original, its PlayStation companion, or the expanded GBA version, the upcoming DS title is the way to go, with gorgeous graphics and plenty of added features. To be honest, yours truly expected a Fall release, but hey, the sooner the better. With Final Fantasy Tactics A2, Trauma Center 2, and Guitar Hero: On Tour, and possibly FFIV, this Summer will be double-screen season for many gamers. UPDATE: A July shipping date has been officially announced by Square-Enix; hooray!