Flood of new DS info...

[trebor]

Apparently, there was a DS floodgate of information that has been opened, because all of a sudden there is a ton of news such as...

Nintendo DS WiFi details...
http://ds.ign.com/articles/656/656195p1.html

Important tidbit: The service will be free to Nintendo DS owners, requiring no additional charge to play supported games over the internet. Households with Wi-Fi networks can access the service with only a minimal of setup procedures. For households with standard broadband internet access and no wireless router, Nintendo will sell separately the Nintendo Wi-Fi USB Connector that will enable the Nintendo DS systems to connect to the internet.

Unveiled upcoming titles...

Mario Basket 3 on 3
Sports, Working Title, 2006
A basketball game featuring the Mario characters. The top screen shows the on-the-court action in 3D with the bottom screen giving a 2D overhead map-style view.

Ash
Simulation-RPG, Working Title, 2006
No details have been released on this title.

Puzzeloop
Puzzle, Working Title, 2006
No details have been released on this title.

Wish Room
Adventure, Working Title, 2006
No details have been released on this title.

Custom Robo DS
Action-RPG, Working Title, 2006
Nintendo finally brings the Custom Robo series to the DS. During battle, the top screen shows the battle field in 3D, with the bottom screen showing detailed schematics of your robot.

Tingle RPG
RPG, Working Title, 2006
The mascot character from Zelda: Wind Waker gets his own RPG on the DS. We've seen a screenshot, but it's so confusing that we don't know what to make of it yet.

Densetsu no Starfy 4
Action, Working Title, 2006
Starfy is a Japan-only platform series from Nintendo that has seen three quality releases on the GBA and is now coming to the DS. Gameplay seems to take place on the top screen and sticks to the 2D roots of the series, with the bottom screen displaying what appears to be a map.

Kaitou Wario
Action, Working Title, 2006
The name of Wario's new DS platformer translates to "Thief Wario." The bottom screen shows a 2D stage with the top screen featuring what appears to be a map.

Detect Hacker
Adventure, Working Title, 2006
An adventure game featuring anime-style characters and 2D artwork. The game seems to take place in modern-day Tokyo. Red Entertainment, the developer of the Sakura Wars series, is listed as the game's developer.

New Super Mario Brothers
Action, 2006
We don't have any new details on Mario's return to side-scrolling platforming, but Nintendo did reveal today that the game won't come out in Japan until 2006. Also, the name "New Super Mario Brothers" seems to be the final title (this wasn't announced by Nintendo -- Nintendo's official materials just don't list "working title" next to the name).

Oideyo Doubutsu no Mori
Communication, 11/23/2005
This is the final Japanese title for Animal Crossing DS, and the name translates to "Come to Animal Forest," when translated directly into English. Nintendo of America has gone with its own name, Animal Crossing: Wild World. The Japanese version is set for 11/23, the start of Nintendo's wi-fi program in Japan. We'll have more details shortly.

Motto Nou wo Kitaeru Otona no DS Training
Brain Activity Software, 12/29/2005
The full name for this game is (please take a deep breath before reading) Touhoku Daigaku Mirai Kagaku Gijutsu Kyodou Kenkyuu Center Kawashima Ryuta Kyoujuu Kanhuu Motto Nou wo Kitaeru Otona no DS Training. This is a followup to the original DS brain training game that's already sold half a million copies in Japan. The titles may look the same, except for the "Motto" in the middle of the sequel's name. "Motto" is Japanese for "More."

Eigo ga Nigate na Otona no DS Training
English, 2006
Another adult-oriented title from Nintendo, this one will apparently train users in the English language. The name translates to "Adult DS training for people who are bad at English."

Gyakuten Saiban 4
Capcom, Adventure, Working Title, 2006
The next entry in the series that was recently brought to America as "Phoenix Wright." No details yet.

DS Tales
Namco, RPG, Working Title, 2006
Namco brings the Tales series to the DS. That's all we know at this point.

Castlevania
Konami, Action, 2006
Konami will continue the Castlevania series on the DS. Were there any doubters?

Tenchu DS
From Software, Action, Working Title, 2006
Xbox 360 isn't the only new platform getting From's Tenchu stealth series. Based on the screenshot we've seen, Tenchu DS features 3D visuals and an overhead perspective. Most of the action seems to take place on the top screen.

Yu-Gi-Oh Series
Konami, Card Battle, 2006
The Yu-Gi-Oh series has already seen one DS installment. Konami is working on another.

Bomberman Story
Hudson, RPG, 2006
An RPG based off the Bomberman series, it would seem.

New SD Gundam
Banpresto, Simulation-RPG, 2006
The DS will be getting another game based off the Gundam series' SD branch.

Puchi Puchi Virus
Kids Factory, Puzzle, 12/25/2005
No details have been released on this game.

Shanghai
Success, Puzzle, 12/2005
No details on this game, but we presume its just a videogame adaptation of the like-named tile game.

Harobots Action!!
Sunrise Interactive, Action, Working Title, 12/15/2005
An action-based DS entry in Sunrise's Harobots series. The series has also appeared on the Game Boy Advance and Wonderswan.

Table Game Spirits
Tasuke, Table Games, 11/10/2005
A collection of table games.

Zettai Zetsumei Dangerous Ojiisan
Kids Station, Action, 2006
Another Game Boy Advance mainstay makes the move to the DS. Based off a comic, the GBA games had you play as a school principal ("Ojiisan" is what you'd call an old man in Japanese) out to defend the Earth from invaders. Details on the DS version haven't been revealed, but the GBA games combined action and mini games.

Nobunaga no Yabou DS
Koei, Historical Simulation, Working Title, 2006
No details yet on the DS version of Koei's simulation series.

Daikoukai Jidai DS
Simulation RPG, 2006
This series is known as Uncharted Waters in America. Most recently, the series has been transformed into a persistent Online game for the PC. The DS version seems to be a port of Daikoukai Jidai IV.

Rainbow Island DS
Taito, Action, 2006
No details yet on this new action title.

Puzzle Series Vol. 1 Crossword
Hudson, Puzzle, 2006
The title should be self explanatory.

Puzzle Series Vol. 2 Jigsaw Puzzle
Hudson, Puzzle, 2006
See above.

Puzzle Series Vol. 3 Sudoku
Hudson, Puzzle, 2006
This third puzzle game from Hudson is based off the Sudoku number game. A board is split into nine rows and columns. The resulting squares are further split into 3x3 groups. The game starts off with some of the squares filled in with numbers between 1 and 9. You have to fill in the rest of the numbers so that each row, column and 3x3 grouping uses the digits 1 to 9 only once. Here's an online version to try out. This particular puzzle game has been brought to game consoles before.

Taisen Puzzle "Happinubekutaawan"
Mega Cyber, Puzzle, 2006
Not a clue...

San-X Dream Land Theme Park De Asobou
MTO, Board Game, Working Title, 2006
MTO gives the San-X characters their own board game. No further details at this time.

Ys Strategy
Marvelous Interactive, Genre TBA, 2006
News of this game was actually leaked last week. Based on the name, we presume the Ys series is being converted into a strategy game. No details have been revealed.

This list includes just the new titles that were announced at Nintendo's press conference today. Including the likes of Winning Eleven, Xenosaga, Monster Farm and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, Nintendo and its third parties have a number of other games in development as well, making 2006 look like a good year to own the DS.

[trebor]

Continued...

Mistwalker isn't working just on 360 games...


Final Fantasy Father Brings Ash to DS
New simulation game from Mistwalker and Hironobu Sakaguchi.
by Anoop Gantayat

October 5, 2005 - Mistwalker has kept its DS project under wraps since its announcement last year, only revealing that the game was being developed as a new simulation RPG. Today, the veil at last came off the title, with company founder and Final Fantasy father Hironobu Sakaguchi announcing ASH for the DS at Nintendo's DS press conference in Japan. Nintendo will be serving as the publisher for the game.

ASH stands for Archaic Sealed Heat. At the press conference, Sakaguchi explained this name and its relation to the game's storyline. ASH is about an ancient flame that was sealed away long ago. It's said that people who are burnt by this flame turn to ash and are then revived. However, while the body changes to ash, the person's heart and memories remain.

The game begins with the main character, Queen Aisha (a name that looks as similar to Ash in Japanese as it does in English), surrounded by people who were burnt by the flame but are in the process of being revived. The dead keep on coming back to life in similar fashion. The game focuses on Aisha as she attempts to better understand this mystery. Along the way, she'll meet up with people who've traveled back in time from the future, come into contact with a mystery that's been buried beneath the earth since ancient times, and become entangled in other mysterious affairs.

ASH is another DS game that pushes the system forward with 3D visuals. Sakaguchi commented that the game's visuals are meant to offer a realistic look, in contrast to most other DS games. During battles, the game seems to use the top screen to show an overhead view of the entire field of play with the bottom screen showing a behind-the-back view of your character.

Gameplay is still somewhat of a mystery. The game was announced as a simulation RPG, and it's known that it will feature battles in some capacity. Sakaguchi stated that the development staff refers internally to the game genre as "Team Tactics," and they're working it into something that will feel like a close counterpart to the simulation RPG genre.

Sakaguchi has drafted some big names to work on ASH. Character design work is being undertaken by Hideo Minaba, CEO of Design Nation. Manaba has worked on numerous Final Fantasy games in the past, but this is actually his first character design role. Hitoshi Sakimoto, CEO of Basiscape, is working on music composition for the title. Sakimoto is attached to a massive list of games, including recent work on Final Fantasy XII.

Sakaguchi closed off his presentation with some reassuring words, revealing that as a gamer, simulation RPGs are his favorite genre. Although he's never made a simulation RPG game, he has written numerous design documents for such titles. With ASH, he's at last being able to put his favorite genre into game form and he's pouring ideas that he's stored for twenty years into the project.

Definitely something to look forward to, along side Mistwalker's other games, like Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey. Like those two Xbox 360 titles, Sakaguchi is being shy with the details and screens for ASH, but with the game expected to see Japanese release in 2006, we expect details to start flowing soon.

All info list in these two posts courtesy of http://ds.ign.com/

[Gadfly2317]

There's just so much kick ass DS stuff I might also spend most of 2006 as a handheld gamer. This hardware blew my mind from the day it was announced, and I'm really happy its been so succesful. My biggest fear was always that it would flop and we'd never see the DS reach its potential.

I'm totally stoked that there's going to be a Tingle RPG. Also, if the new 2-D Mario isn't going to be out until 2006, and its been being worked on since last year by Nintendo's best and brightest, you know that game is going to be one deep, kick-ass mind-boggling cool game.

I know we'll never see it here because American's could care less, but I think its awesome the DS is also being used as an educational device in Japan. Gaming to teach a second language? Brilliant!

With all that's coming, I know its gluttonous to complain, but I really wish they'd bring Ouendan over to the states. Same with Electroplankton, even though I already imported it. I think the DS is so import friendly, though, that maybe they're just letting these lo-budget niche titles sell via import. Any US gamer likely to buy the game is so hardcore they definitely know about it before it reaches US shores anyway.

[trebor]

There's just so much kick ass DS stuff I might also spend most of 2006 as a handheld gamer. This hardware blew my mind from the day it was announced, and I'm really happy its been so succesful. My biggest fear was always that it would flop and we'd never see the DS reach its potential.

I think I'll be able to safely hold off on buying any new console based on the amount of titles coming out for the DS in the future. That, with the handfull of GC titles that are left to come out, will sate me for a very, very long time.

There are just so many announced projects coming out that I need to sort through them a few more times to figure out which ones I'm going to be keeping my eyes on.

[Aylmer]

Of that long list of games, two caught my attention. The Tales series coming to the DS is very interesting for us RPG freaks. I went to Namco's site and they are working on a game called Tales of Legendia for the PS? that will come out Spring 2006. The screenshots made me drool. Perhaps the Tales game for the DS is related to that.

The other thing was the Mahjong game for the DS. I have an import Mahjong game for it, Nintendo's own actually, with Mario and company as AI opponents. At least, that is how far I've gotten with it, given the language barrier. Mahjong in Asia is a very different game than what contemporary American gamers are used to. Here most of us think of Mahjong as a layout/stack of tiles to be played as a single player game. The 'real' Mahjong is a four player game that is gambling based, and is highly addictive, to be sure. The tiles are dealt like cards, and held with a Scrabble-like tray. In fact, it was so popular in the U.S. in the early part of the 20th century that it was outlawed in some cities. (you see, you can get a history lesson here at VGR!)

Anyway, the DS is without a doubt my gaming platform of choice. Such a young system with so many must-have titles, it's incredible. I've not seen anything like this since the Dreamcast days.

[trebor]

Of that long list of games, two caught my attention. The Tales series coming to the DS is very interesting for us RPG freaks. I went to Namco's site and they are working on a game called Tales of Legendia for the PS? that will come out Spring 2006. The screenshots made me drool. Perhaps the Tales game for the DS is related to that.

Tales DS caught my attention as well. I'd love it if it was related to Tales of Symphonia in some fashion - I really liked the characters in that one.