Show Posts
This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.
But thanks to the recently released Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time, the Wii/DS connectivity title, a new trailer was included as an added bonus on the disk.
The trailers starts with several minutes of gameplay showing the game’s main protagonist moving and throwing enemies using a kind of ‘force’ power. Elsewhere in the trailer the same power is used to flip switches and move objects around, or to throw for an attack.
The battle system appears to be mostly pointer based, allowing players to highlight enemies or items. It looks very fast paced and takes place entirely in real time, keeping the feel of previous Crystal Chronicle games.
The amount of gesture control is unknown at the moment, but a section was shown riding on the back of a wooden cart, where players appear to have to use motion to slash at enemies.
Fans of Chocobo riding will also be glad to know that the feature appears to be in this game as a method of traversing the environments.
Not much is known about the characters or story at this point, but from various points in the trailer, we can ascertain some tit-bits of information.
The main character appears to have been requested to save this world from a great danger, he is a ‘Crystal Bearer’ and therefore is in great demand for his services. A crystal supposedly gives him his ability, and there also appear to be evil characters with the same power. The climax of the trailer was the protection of a huge crystal that apparently brings balance to the world.
Previous trailers showed some flying/skydiving sections, and again were prominent in the new trailer. However it is still unclear if that is gameplay or cut scene-based action.
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers is set for a 2009 release in Japan.
Unless otherwise stated, all games are published by Nintendo.
Solitaire DSi (200 Nintendo Points)
This classic card game features both Spider and Klondike versions and will keep records of the player's best times and scores
DSi Clock (200 Nintendo Points)
This software looks to be Nintendo’s answer to a digital photo frame. It features a slideshow and different styles of clock to display. It also has an alarm with snooze function.
(Japanese title: Nintendo DSi Tokei)
Art Style : Somnium, (500 Nintendo Points)
Another game under the Art Style label, Somnium is a sliding block puzzle game that has 100 stages to beat.
Art Style : PicoPict, (500 Nintendo Points)
PicoPict looks very similar to Picross and features classic Famicom/NES picture puzzles with music from their original games.
Asobi: Playing Card Collection - Lite (500 Nintendo Points)
This collection of five card games includes Blackjack and Poker.
(Japanese title: Chotto Asobi Taizen: Jikkuri Trump)
Map Software 2009 Edition (500 Nintendo Points)
Featured maps include Tokyo, Sapporo, Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe, and Fukuoka, as well as train maps for all lines in those cities. Users can write notes, view photos of various landmarks and more.
(Japanese title: Hobonichi Rozenzu 2009)
Strategy War - Lite (500 Nintendo Points)
Theissen is a co-operative board game/puzzle game with Wi-Fi connection mode for 2 players. It was developed by Mitchell in collaboration with Nintendo.
(Japanese title: Chotto Suujin Taisen)
Panel De Pon – Lite (500 Nintendo Points)
Sometimes known as Tetris Attack or even Pokemon Puzzle League, this classic match-em-up has four modes; endless play, VS mode (human and CPU), score attack and stage attack. Developed by Intelligent Systems in collaboration with Nintendo.
(Japanese title: Chotto Panel de Pon)
Please note that there are no official English titles for these games as yet, these are all literal translations of the original Japanese. Whether any of these games will make it to the North American DSiWare store later this year remains to be seen.
Elsewhere, Nintendo’s Rhythm Heaven refuses to leave the charts and may well turn out to be another evergreen hit for the company. It may seem peculiar to have a predominantly western game such as Fallout 3 so high on the charts in Japan, but it’s not so strange in that the Xbox 360 version failed to enter the charts.
The phenomenal sales of the DS now span three systems, but even the DSi alone beat out everything else on the hardware charts this week. As it has been for sometime now, the Wii sits just below the PSP but just above the PlayStation 3 in weekly sales.
(This Week Sales / Lifetime Sales) )
Here is a more detailed breakdown of Nintendo DS units sold. It’s clear from this data that the DS Lite has far surpassed the sales of the original DS. Although the DSi is still far behind the sales of even the original system, after less than two months on the market it sits at nearly a million sold, indicating that it could prove to be another hit for Nintendo.
(This Week Sales / Lifetime Sales)
The 'Wii Golden Handle' sounds peculiar at first, buts fans of Club Nintendo Japan will remember that as being the special edition of the Mario Kart Wii Wheel, available to platinum members of the online points-for-prizes service.
The second item refers to a new type of DS card, called the 'Houi Sensor Card,' which can be translated as a motion/movement card.
A similar device was made for a Japan-only title called Slide Mag-Kid, however this was a GBA slot device that required the DS to be resting on a table. This device however seems to suggest a DS game card sized device to achieve similar results.
We can only speculate to what this means for gaming applications, and we hope our readers will leave some of those suggestions in the talkback thread.
Users of the 'Ugoku Memo Chou' (Moving Notepad) software on the DSi, will be able to upload their drawings and animations to Hatena servers, where user creations can be viewed and rated online.
Nintendo stated that 38% of all DSi users have downloaded the software and, just sixteen days after the service started, there have already been 100,000 user submitted creations
Moving Notepad is a free DSiWare application, which has been available since the launch of the Nintendo DSi store on the 24th of December.
There are already some excellent animations available, and the application could well turn out to be a proving ground for upcoming young animators.
Nintendo has not yet announced whether Moving Notepad or a similar online collaboration will happen outside of Japan as yet, but we can certainly hope it does.
Heh, thank you.
I admit the reason I know this because this is something common on Japanese shows and anime. They always show the character tuning in and hearing his or her horoscope for the day. In the US, they usually like to check the weather.
I know New Year's is a big Holiday there, since families go to temples to pray for a good year.
Finally, I once saw a show on the travel channel which showed people visiting temples to get their fortune read and acting according to such (ie praying for better love, doing good luck rituals and such).
Again, the Wii Horoscope channel makes sense since it dives deep into Japanese culture, so American gamers complaining about it is stupid. Its like if they announced an exclusive American channel that tracks the latest football stats and the Japanese complained about it...
As a special bonus, a hundred lucky people will receive three special songs for download: a Super Mario Bros, F-Zero and a Zelda Medley.
The request form will only be active until the 24th of December, so if you are a Japanese Club Nintendo member, get requesting as soon as possible
Band Brothers DX is the sequel to the Japanese DS launch title Band Brothers. Neither game has an official release date in Western markets.
Using the data contained within each Mii character, the channel can obtain the daily fortune of up to six people. The main section gives the Miis a fortune in five categories; work, love, studies, communication, and money. Each one is measured on a five-point scale and can be clicked for a more detailed description. At the end of the fortune telling, players will be given a lucky colour of the day, and their Mii will change clothes accordingly.
Other features include a compatibility feature, where in two Miis can be dragged onto an icon and will be told how compatible they are. This is not strictly a love-meter, rather an indicator of how well they could theoretically play or work together.
Other modes include Food, Play, and Beauty where keywords will be shown related to your fortune. The words are often general and it is left to the user to interpret their meaning.
Today And Tomorrow's Lucky Fortune Telling Channel is available free to download now from the Japanese Shopping Channel.
More details can be found on Nintendo's official website. (Japanese only)
Animal Crossing (known as Animal Forest in Japan) is Nintendo's only first party title for the Wii this Christmas holiday and has racked up another hundred thousand units this week.
Nintendo has several Animal Crossing commercials running on Japanese TV currently, mostly focusing on the bundled Wii Speak accessory.
The highest Wii branded software is Wii Fit at No.17, so Japanese shoppers appear to choosing Animal Crossing with their Wii consoles this Christmas.
Weekly Sales / Total Sales
01. [NDS] Professor Layton and the Last Time Travel (Level 5) 347,360 / New Entry
02. [PS3] Winning 11 2009 (Konami) 168,405 / New Entry
03. [WII] Animal Crossing: City Folk (Nintendo) 108,547 / 413,727
04. [NDS] Chrono Trigger DS (Square Enix) 80,157 / 351,025
05. [PSP] Yu-Gi-Oh Tag Force 3 (Konami) 64,179 / New Entry
06. [PSP] Gundam vs. Gundam (Namco Bandai) 56,557 / 323,489
07. [NDS] Hoshi no Kirby: Ultra Super Deluxe (Nintendo) 56,176 / 474,749
08. [PSP] Silent Hill 3 (Spike) 53,966 / New Entry
09. [PSP] Musou Orochi: Maou Sairin (KOEI) 45,809 / New Entry
10. [PSP] Higurashi Daybreak (Alchemist) 32,639 / New Entry
The camera-enabled Nintendo DSi is hanging on to its No.1 position again this week, keeping back it's biggest rival, the Sony PSP.
Meanwhile the Xbox 360 beat the PlayStation 2 this week despite not having a game in the top 20. The highest-ranking game for Microsoft's console is Last Remnant at No.23.
01. DSi - 87,185
02. PSP - 55,090
03. Wii - 49,848
04. PS3 - 34,978
05. DS Lite - 26,851
06. Xbox 360 - 11,423
07. PS2 - 5,628
Much like Wii Sports Tennis, players in Mario Power Tennis will swing the Wii Remote in the appropriate direction to achieve forehands and backhands. Slices and topspin will also be executed via motion whilst the game's special attacks are made with the A and B buttons.
Nintendo clarified that this version of Mario Tennis will not be compatible with any regular control-stick controllers, meaning the GameCube and Classic controllers are off the cards.
Nintendo must be hoping to capitalise on the huge success of Wii Sports, which is not included with the Wii console in Japan and boasts an almost 1:1 tie ratio in sales.
A North American and European release is expected, however there are no final details of a release date as yet.
Weekly Sales / Total Sales
1. NDS Kirby Superstar Ultra (Nintendo) 97,449 / 363,102
2. PS3 Way of the Samurai 3 (Spike) 81,047 / New Entry
3. NDS Tongari Boushi to Mahou no 365 Nichi (Konami) 71,914 / New Entry
4. NDS Fushigi no Dungeon Fuurai no Shiren DS 2: Sabaku no Majou (Sega) 45,327 / New Entry
5. PS3 Resistance 2 (SCE) 33,584 / New Entry
6. NDS DS Nishimura Kyoutarou Suspense 2 (Tecmo) 33,079 / New Entry
7. NDS MegaMan Star Force 3: Black Ace (Capcom) 33,067 / New Entry
8. NDS Rhythm Heaven Gold (Nintendo) 30,434 / 1,159,436
9. NDS Wagamama Fashion: Girls Mode (Nintendo) 29,870 / 183,431
10. NDS Pokemon Platinum (Pokemon Co.) 26,767 / 1,917,117
On the hardware side this week, Japanese consumers opted for the latest model of the Nintendo DS hardware, as expected, with the release of Nintendo DSi. As a result, DS Lite sales took a huge drop to way below even the Xbox 360. Whether this new hardware iteration can keep Nintendo’s handheld at No.1 above the PlayStation Portable for an extended period of time remains to be seen.
DSi - 85,327
PSP - 38,153
Wii - 26,787
PS3 - 17,448
360 - 7,983
PS2 - 5,421
DSL - 3,559
Players can control the game using only the touch screen. To move Dorothy, players must roll a ball on the bottom screen, building up momentum as they do. Once you enter a battle, characters and attacks can be selected in a traditional fashion. The main characters' attacks will reflect their personalities from the original story. For example, the Lion’s special is a retreat move.
An impressive trailer and artwork is available on the official site. The game is currently scheduled for a January 1st release in Japan.
