DS Sept-Holiday 2008 Games

[Gadfly2317]

Haven't really sat down and looked at what I might be purchasing for the DS in the near future until yesterday. There is a shockingly large amount of games coming, many of which look very promising. I'm going to list a few that caught my eye as having potential, but there are also a ton of puzzle games coming too that I'm not listing, and a few of them are likely to be very good. (I like puzzle games on my handhelds).

First, two 360 titles making their way to DS:

Viva Pinata*--hope this does as much justice to its console version as Animal Crossing Did.
Blue Dragon DS--as a Real Time team based strat-jrpg.

Then, coming very soon:

N+* (just came out, got IGN's GOTM, brilliant platformer they say.)
Moon--FPS, supposedly better than Metroid
Iron Chef--its getting some hype if you liked Cooking Mama
Age of Empires Mythologies--Looks to improve on the first, which was good.
Spore Creatures*--Count me in for sure
Monster Lab--it's been called an "Igor Simulator. Who knows.
Dragon Quest IV
Disgaea

My Japanese Coach (not a game, but Ubi's language series is great and more than one of you have gone to Japan or want to.)

Kirby Super Star Ultra--The Kirby games are really damned fun

Korg DS-10* (not a game, another groovy lo-fi music tool, it simulates the MS-10. . . a synthesizer tool in your pocket. )

Exit DS
Chrono Trigger (I never got to play this on the SNES)
Grand Theft Auto China Town Wars
Elebits
Metal Slug 7

That's a pretty good handful of enticing titles, and those were just the ones that caught my eye. There are so many titles, probably most shovelware, but there are at least 5 for sure DS titles between now and the end of the year for me, which is plenty. . . there's at least 5 Ps3 titles between now and December I'm getting for sure, not counting the PSN titles. And 1 Wii title. Oddly, no PsP titles set in stone for me. Anyway, that makes for a busy 4 months of gaming for me, especially since some of the titles are so massive, like Little Big Planet.

And finally, my #1 DS addiction's sequel got bumped from holiday, to Q1 2009, and that is Puzzle Quest Galactrix, a Sci-fi version of the completely spellbinding fantasy RPG/puzzle game "Challenge of the Warlords." This new one has so many new additions, if you liked the last one, you just need to go read up on it.

I'm at a 100+ hours now on FFTA2, and still no sense that I'm close to being tired of it, but I need to wind it up soon. I got FFIV still unplayed, and Spore and Viva Pinata both come out in a WEEK!

[Gadfly2317]

Oh yeah, I just saw that there's a DS/Wii game coming called "Chrysler Classic Racing" probably bound to be a horrid piece of crap. Haven't read a thing, don't know what cars are in it, but I'd love to have a 1950's 300c. If it's not just classic, would like to float around a track in a 300c srt-8 too. Hopefully the Crossfire will be in it too. I really wish some cars like that were included in Gran Turismo.

[Aylmer]

I don't think that far ahead in my gaming, knowing the possibility of getting sidetracked by one thing or another, but there is one DS title that is destined for my library very soon, and that is...

BANGAI-O!!!

I cramped my hands for so many hours playing this on the Dreamcast, and the word I hear is the DS port and stylus use are fantastic. Arcade/trance in your hand.

[Gadfly2317]

I don't think that far ahead in my gaming, knowing the possibility of getting sidetracked by one thing or another, but there is one DS title that is destined for my library very soon, and that is...

BANGAI-O!!!

I cramped my hands for so many hours playing this on the Dreamcast, and the word I hear is the DS port and stylus use are fantastic. Arcade/trance in your hand.

I don't generally think that far out in my gaming, but I like to have a general idea what's coming. Lately, I haven't even had time to keep up with what's comng out next week. I've stopped pre-ordering and just get stuff when I see it usually.

The one thing that surprised me when I looked up the upcoming games was that both Spore and Viva Pinata are about to come out next week and I hadn't seen reviews anywhere yet.

[Rogue Bounty Hunter]

There's only one DS game I'm looking forward to, Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia. The well's pretty much dry after that, for me.

[Glockstar]

Ugh. I don't see anything hardly worth a damn at all, Gadfly.

The only game that looks any decent to me on your list is Viva Pinata: Pocket Paradise. Which I am not going to get. I'm nowhere near done with the original 360 game so why would I get the DS version, you know? But if I didn't have the 360 version, and yet still knew what I know about VP (that it's a great game), I would be all over VPPP. Listen to me very carefully, all you non-360-owning DS owners: This game not only needs to be on your radar, you need to have it on high alert status. I have never heard one person say one bad thing about VP. Ever. I've been playing a ton of Rainbow Six Vegas lately, and even those types say they like it! So pay attention to the reviews; and if they're good GET IT!

The only upcoming DS game that I might get is TouchMaster II. Going into the year it would have been considered a must buy for me, but something happened to me sometime along the way this year and my interest in videogames has begun to wane. Particularly my desire to spend a lot of time and money on new games anymore. Anecdote: I loved the first Hot Shots golf game for the PSP (even going so far as to say that it singlehandedly justified my purchase of the system), and loved the first Etrian Odyssey (it's already on my all-time Top 25 list), but haven't had the faintest interest in getting their recently released sequels. So while I technically want TMII, I doubt that I'll really have the time for it... and know that I'll have better things to spend my money on.

[Gadfly2317]

I could see the list having nothing that appeals to you. However, that was far from all the games being released.

Personally, there are reasons I wouldn't pick up a lot of those games, but I think the diversity of the software line-up shows why DS is such an unstoppable force. Take Dragon Quest, a popular series, but not a title I'm personally interested in. Aylmer brought up Bangai-o, which is a treasure shooter, and it makes Ikaruga look mellow.

What you said about Viva Pinata I second. It's one of my most coveted 360 titles, and even thought I'd prefer to play the console version, since I can't I hope the handheld title does it justice.

I'm surprised N+ doesn't appeal to you.

And Spore, since I'm skipping the PC version for now, the DS version will have to hold me over. I think its going to probably be pretty cool.

But, I play handhelds a LOT, so there's a big tilt for me with the DS. I can totally understand why a lot of types of gamers wouldn't waste too much time on the DS.