Gamernode: Latest Nintendo DS News

Sears ad reveals two new DS Lites

Sears recently put out their annual Black Friday ads to whet the greedy pallets of eager shoppers. In the ad, Sears revealed and confirmed two new DS bundles going for $149.99 each.

The first package is the Phantom Hourglass DS bundle, which was announced well before the ad. It comes with a Tri-Force engraved golden DS Lite, and of course the game Phantom Hourglass.

The second package is the Nintendogs: Best Friends Edition, a pink DS engraved with a paw print that comes with none other than that two year old Nintendogs game. Sounds odd, but think about how many little girls (and some guys in secret) will buy it just for a pink DS with a "cute" little paw print on it.

It's good marketing if you ask me.

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Rumors of downloadable games for the DS

A Virtual Console service for the Nintendo DS? Rumors from the UK magazine Edge says this is in Nintendo's plans. In the same article, they talk about the Animal Crossing MMO, a fact... maybe VC for the DS is a fact too?

Edge magazine says Nintendo is getting ready to release a Nintendo DS storage card for downloading and playing those old school Game Boy games. They didn't talk about how the service will be provided, but I'm guessing it will be over Wi-Fi.

The device sounds like it's a piracy dreamland, but Nintendo is pretty good at encoding and preventing Virtual Console games from being cracked. This could be a pretty sweet deal, but once again, these are only rumors so stay posted and we'll see if this is fact or fiction.

[via wired]

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Dementium goes gold, trailer looks awesome

By now, it may be quite obvious that I'm into horror games, but after viewing this trailer, I feel justified in saying that Dementium: The Ward is looking excellent. With development complete, the game is set to ship out for release on the spookiest of days - October 31st.

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Contra 4 dated, box art revealed

Let's get one thing straight, right now. Contra...is awesome. Few things are more satisfying than teaming up with a friend to shoot the sh*t out of everything you see, and Contra delivers that in spades.

On the NeoGAF forums yesterday, a couple of scans of the game's press sheet were leaked, revealing both the box art (which happens to be exceptionally badass, and worthy of the Contra name) and the release date for the DS title. Come November 13th, DS owners will all be treated to, "Guns. Aliens. Spread Shot, Carnage."

Yes, there will be co-op, and yes, I'm excited already.

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Mistwalker likes the DS, bringing 2 new games

Mistwalker, the studio behind Blue Dragon, has revealed that in addition to an already-announced DS title, two other games are also in development on the handheld.

The first is based on the Blue Dragon IP, but will not be completely true to the anime. The development team at FeelPlus+ will be claiming some poetic license with the project, which is scheduled for a March 2008 release in Japan.

The second DS RPG is a game called AWAY: Tsuresarareta Hitobito (Kidnapped People), which sounds infinitely more interesting - to me, at least. This one will be developed by Artoon, with Naoto Oshima (of Sonic the Hedgehog fame) handling character design. Other than that, no information about the game has been disclosed, so stay tuned for details in the (hopefully) near future. AWAY is scheduled to hit J...

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Metal Slug 7 announced for DS

SNK announced today that the latest installment in their long-running, much-beloved side scrolling shooter Metal Slug 7, will be coming exclusively for the Nintendo DS.

This should come as a bit of a surprise to most people, as the last game released bearing the Metal Slug namesake was Metal Slug Anthology for PSP and PS2. I guess we can derive from this move that sales on those versions didn't quite live up to what SNK had hoped.

No details have been announced about the game, but here's hoping they don't try to outfit it with a bunch of goofy convoluted touch screen or microphone functions. Metal Slug has always been designed with a few simple buttons, that's all it needs.

Obviously the enormous user base of the DS is most likely the presiding factor in the shift of game platforms. I'm wonde...

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Fashion concious gamers rejoice! Silver DS coming...

Not to be outdone by Sony, Nintendo announced a new DS Lite model for Europe, which will be released on October 12th. The new silver model (silver must be popular) will join the currently available black, white and pink models.

Unfortunately, the new model won't head to the U.S., so right now, I'm shaking my fist wildly at the marketing department of Sony.

Nonetheless, it's kind of funny to see Nintendo introduce a new silver DS when Sony just announced a new silver PSP model just last week.

Unlike the silver PSP model, the silver DS will be available individually and not as part of some required package. But Sony's silver PSP package is coming to the U.S. while the silver DS Lite is not.

In other related DS news, Nintendo announced some DS European sales figures; More Brain Training has sol...

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No touch screen feature for Guitar Hero DS

In what can only be described as very questionable judgment, Vicarious Visions, developers of Guitar Hero DS, have opted against use of the touchscreen for the game. According to Wii News:

Unlike in Ubisoft's guitar simulator Jam Sessions, which has players using the stylus to strum on-screen strings, Guitar Hero DS won't use the touch screen as a primary input at all, revealed design manager, Adrian Earle.

Then, there may be a silver lining to this cloud. The exclusion of touchscreen functionality might indicate that there will be a bundled peripheral of some sort to fill the gap. Maybe we'll end up with a twisted Frankenstein's monster of a DS controller, with a grafted on fret board and some other method of strumming the thing. Then again, probably not. We'll see come 2008.

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Nintendo squashes Metroid Dread rumors

Rumors of the phantom DS game "Metroid Dread" ran rampant after an in-game easter egg in Metroid Prime 3 was discovered. Using Samus' scan visor players can find the encoded message "Experiment status report update: Metroid project ‘Dread' is nearing the final stages of completion."

Just in case you didn't know, Metroid Dread dates back to 2005, when the title was "accidentally" leaked to the public as a 2D Metroid sidescroller for DS.

So like most fans of the series I say to myself "By Odin's beard! I get to play a throwback version with the old school game play that originally made this series popular? Only this time I get to use two screens at once? And perhaps even a touch screen? This is too good to be true!"

Then I curse the ground I stand on for being right... apparently it real...

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Dragon Quest IX delayed till 2008

According to IGN, Japanese Nintendo DS owners will be feeling a little lonely this year since Square Enix announced that Dragon Quest IX has been delayed till 2008. Originally planned for release this year, the reason for the delay is the usual, "needing extra time to make a game that will better satisfy players."

Even though it's guaranteed there will plenty of other DS games that'll be released for the holidays, Dragon Quest fans will have to wait even longer for #9. The demand is certainly present since Dragon Quest VIII became the fastest selling Japanese PlayStation 2 ever.

Not much information about the game has been released recently, only that it will feature turn-based combat and up to four player co-op multiplayer on Wi-Fi. In the meantime, U.S. Wii owners can expect Dragon Quest S...

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Ninja town trailer is confusing...yet alluring

I've got to be honest: I have absolutely no idea what's going on in this trailer. From what I can gather, this game is about semi-amorphous ninjas who in all likelyhood fight each other. The prospect of a baby ninja fighting a businessman ninja does make me a little happy though, so I can't complain about the weirdness. In a strange way, it kind of resembles a cross between Kung Fu Chaos and Teletubbies. I await further information with nearly bated breath.

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Final Fantasy CC: Ring of Fates intro trailer

I don't know if anybody else is as excited about this game as I am, but you all should be. The original Crystal Chronicles may be one of the most tragically overlooked games in a while (and for good reason, it was nearly impossible to find all of the functional equipment needed to play). However, when it did work the experience was nothing short of magical, and one of the best cooperative games of our time. So if you take out the hassle and leave in the the fun, that's one tasty proposition for those of us who know what it's like. And if you never got to play it, just trust me: it'll be worth the money of you and your friends (especially if it's single-cart multiplay).

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Guitar Hero III DS confirmed

In an interview between CNET and Charles Huang, Co-founder of RedOctane, it was confirmed that Guitar Hero III will be heading to the Nintendo DS. Despite no release date yet, Huang disclosed that the game will be "a very unique experience just like Guitar Hero was on consoles".

"We are working on that. We're exploring a lot of things. We're hoping to really bring the experience to the DS and to do some very, very different approaches. We're working through a lot of engineering issues with Nintendo. This will play probably unlike any other DS game that has come out, and at this stage, that's all I'm afraid we can talk about until we have the engineering paths laid out with Nintendo."

RedOctane is also exploring the possibility of custom DS peripherals for Guitar Hero III, "That is definitel...

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Viva Piñata going to the DS. Yay!

Viva Piñata could have very well been a game developed for Nintendo -- the cute animals, soothing gameplay and general appeal to the non-shooting crowd made VP a tremendous hit - on the Xbox 360. But now, game history will right itself and finally make this cute game available for Nintendo.

The port to the DS will not be a stripped down version, but the full working game with some minor improvements and tweaks to make it playable for the dual screen wonder.

This must be the day for fuzzy photos because here's one that was taken at the Comic Con event yesterday showing some of the screen action:

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DS Wine Game... you know, for snobs

In yet another bizarre move from Japan and EA, out comes Sommelier DS (Pronounced [Suhm-uhl-yey] for anyone that cares), a Japan only game that teaches gamers/users/crazy people how to tell the difference between a Pinot and a Zinfandel, and to make you an expert in all things wine.

Now I know what you're thinking, and it's probably along the lines of WTF? But apparently there's a market for would-be wine snobs in other countries. Although I can't help but wonder how classy you'd look whipping out your svelte DS lite to tell your date that her duck would go better with a Chardonnay.

Hell, if you did that in America in a fancy enough place, you might get booted out, or at least a disapproving sniff from the snooty waiter.

Where will we draw the lines on DS peripherals and software? A game o...

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Sonic RPG coming to the DS! Bioware in charge

SEGA announced that notable RPG developer BioWare has signed on to develop a brand-new, exclusive RPG for the Nintendo DS starring our favorite blue guy -- Sonic the Hedgehog. There's no other news about the game itself other than the game carries a 2008 release date.

Considering the near spotless track record BioWare has when it comes to crafting awesome RPGs, I really have nothing to worry about for the new game.

Ray Muzky, CEO of BioWare, stated, "As huge fans of Sonic ourselves, we're committed to delivering a truly amazing story-driven experience within the Sonic universe, focusing on capturing the character's broad appeal and placing him in a completely original adventure."

Back in September 2006, BioWare announced the formation of a new handheld gaming division and that their debut ga...

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RBI Baseball comes to Japan in September

Do you remember the classic game Famistar back when it was released in 1986? Well, you probably don't, unless you were living in Japan at the time.

What you probably do remember is the NES classic RBI Baseball that was released in the U.S. (same game, different title).

Famistar (or RBI Baseball) is to be released on the DS in Japan on September 27th.

The modes will include Famistar, Dream League, and Network Multiplayer.

The Famistar mode is just like an exhibition mode in a regular baseball game. Dream League is sort of like a lighter version of a franchise in MLB 2K7.The Network Multiplayer mode will allow for one-catridge play as well as being able to play on the Internet via Nintendo Wi-Fi.

There is no word on a possible U.S. release for the title as of yet, but all true NES fans will b...

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Not for kids: new survival horror game for the DS

Following the release of Eidos DS game, Touch the Dead, GameCock Media Group has announced a survival horror game of their own, entitled Dementium: The Ward.

Developed by Renegade Kid, Dementium will also be experienced from a first-person perspective, and the publisher says that it will be "one nightmarish experience" that will "set the bar for mature handheld games."

The setting is an abandoned hospital, "frozen in time." The unfortunate protagonist wakes up there and is confronted by a slew of horrifying creatures. His weapon? Screenshots say, "flashlight."

The game looks to follow the Silent Hill route of storytelling and exploration, and that is not a bad thing at all.

[via gamespot]

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Flash game N coming to DS and PSP

The casual portion of the gaming industry has been experiencing much growth as of late. Even internet flash games are now being ported over to home and handheld consoles. The latest in this trend is N, a game that stars a tiny ninja who performs basic run-and-jump action while collecting gold.

The DS and PSP ports will be entitled N+, and will include some bonus features not found in the original. Wireless competitive and cooperative play, level editor with wireless sharing, and online leaderboards will enhance the experience of the original.

The game is due to release in November of this year. If you'd like to find out what all the buzz is about, logon here for a look at the game.

[via kotaku]

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Fly high with DS stations at airports

The tedius task of waiting at airports is not something anyone looks forward to, (except for you folks who like to watch new fliers get lost) but to ease some mental anguish, Nintendo has partnered up with American and Delta Air Lines to provide Nintendo DS download stations at major airports.

Some of the preliminary locations include New York's Kennedy International, Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International and Cincinnati's Northern Kentucky International with more to come.

These DS hotspots will offer game demos such asBrain Training, Beat Agents, Cooking Mama and Tomb Raider: Legend. In addition, the games will be rotated out for fresh new ones periodically. Note that you can only store one demo at a time and once you turn off your DS, the demo is gone. So one handy trick is to...

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