The DS and DSi Gift Guide [Shopping Gift Guide]

This year saw the launch of not one, but two additions to the DS family. The DSi, sporting two cameras and the ability to download games, hit in April. The DSiLL (XL to folks outside of Japan) is all of that a more, well more in the sense of size, super-sizing the screen and mondo-sizing the stylus. Of course, there were also games, plenty of games. Here’s some of the top titles we reviewed on Kotaku. What DS or DSi games would you suggest picking up for friends or family? Art Style: Digidrive Price: $5 (download for DSi only) Rating: E Genre: Puzzle Subject Matter: The world’s only game based on directing traffic, but fun Value: Not many modes, but very deep gameplay, Tetris-like. Buy it for: People who want an engrossing puzzle game for their commute — and the only puzzle game built well for one-handed play (good for shaky subway/bus rides.) Read the Full Review Art Style: Boxlife Price: $5 (download for DSi only) Rating: E Genre: Uh, puzzle box-folding? Subject Matter: Work in a factory, fold boxes, live the American dream Value: Second-best of all DSi Art Style games, based on a clever, deep mechanic, and a bevy of modes and unlockables. Buy it for: Fans of innovative game design. Read the Full Review Art Style: Pictobits Price: $5 (download for DSi only) Rating: E Genre: Block-dropping puzzle game Subject Matter: A Tetris twist with an artsy retro style Value: Highest of all downloadable DS games, offering many levels, great nostalgia for old pixel art, and a high-quality full chiptunes soundtrack that re-mixes classic Nintendo themes. Buy it for: Anyone with a DSi, anyone who is nostalgic for the Nintendo Entertainment System Read the Full Review Art Style: Precipice Price: $5 (download for DSi only) Rating: E Genre: Puzzle Subject Matter: Endless Tetris-style game featuring a man climbing falling blocks Value: Doesn’t have any modes, but its core gameplay is long-lasting. Buy it for: Puzzle game fans and those who enjoy the DSi’s innovative Art Style series Read the Full Review Bakugan Battle Brawlers Price: $29.99 Rating: Everyone Genre: Marble-shooting, creature-battling action game. Subject Matter: Based on the wildly popular collectible toy game and cartoon series, Bakugan follows in the footsteps of Pokemon but adds transforming marbles to the mix. The game does a good job of capturing the essence of the franchise. Value: With a relatively robust single-player campaign and ability to battle up to three friends on one television in a slew of interactive arenas, this game is a pretty good deal. Buy it for: fans of Bakugan and maybe even curious fans of Pokemon. Read the Full Review Domo Games Price: $2 each (five games – download for DSi only) Rating: E Genre: Music, Sports Subject Matter: The NHK TV mascot, Domo, stars in five re-purposed mini-games that were originally made in 2002 Value: Low, because the games are not fun. Buy it for: Only people who love Domo and whom you don’t love. Read the Full Review Drawn To Life: The Next Chapter Price: $29.99 Rating: Everyone Genre: Action/Adventure Subject Matter: Drawn To Life: The Next Chapter is a relatively simple adventure game with similarly simple side-scrolling platforming levels and a touching, sometimes sad story. What makes it unique are its drawing features, which let the player customize their hero, what weapons they use and various elements of the game world all via the DS’s touch screen. Value: Drawn To Life: The Next Chapter’s main adventure is brief, but the option to create new heroes, which can vary from flower people to ninjas to robots, extends the life of this charming 2D adventure. Buy it for: the creative kid who may be too young for a more challenging Nintendo DS game. Read the Full Review DSi Price: $169.99 Rating: N/A Genre: N/A Subject Matter: The next step for the DS Lite features two cameras and the ability to download games from the Nintendo store. Value: While the price isn’t exorbitant, more than half a year after launch the Nintendo Store is still lacking in quality downloadable titles. Buy it for: gadgetophiles, people who love Nintendo, children who don’t own digital cameras, anyone interested in a DS but who hasn’t taken the plunge yet. Read the Full Review Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon Price: $29.99 Rating: Teen Genre: Turn-based role-playing strategy Subject Matter: Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon is a thoughtful, modern day remake of an 8-bit medieval fantasy classic, telling the turn-based tale of Marth, heir to the throne of Altea who leads a band of soldiers in a tactical revolt against the Shadow Dragon Medeus. Value: Over twenty five chapters, loads of characters, ample upgrade options, rare weapons via the online shop, and an excessive six levels of difficulty should ensure that your purchase of Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon is money well spent. Buy it for: the fan of fantasy, strategy and epic adventure. Read the Full Review Grand Theft Auto Chinatown Wars Price: $34.99 Rating: Mature Genre: Open world action-adventure Subject Matter: Grand Theft Auto Chinatown Wars is a 3D, top-down adventure, putting players in the shoes of Huang Lee, a spoiled son of a Chinese gangster. The typical Grand Theft Auto rise to power through sex, drugs, violence and bad driving flows over the course of the game. Value: There’s a lengthy story to be told, with Grand Theft Auto Chinatown Wars throwing in plenty of side missions and mini-games to keep the player interested. Buy it for: the Nintendo DS owner sadly lacking in over-the-top violent content. Read the Full Review Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days Price: $39.99 Rating: Teen Genre : Action RPG Subject Matter: An action RPG that bridges the gap between Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2. Value: While those not familiar with the Kingdom Hearts franchise will find themselves a bit lost story-wise, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days is a lengthy game that fans will love for the back story and RPG fans will enjoy for its depth. Buy it for : Anyone who is a fan of the Kingdom Hearts series. Read the Full Review Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story Price: $34.99 Rating: Everyone Genre: Action RPG Subject Matter: Mario, Luigi and their nemesis Bowser band together to fend off a common foe in Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story. As role-playing games go, it’s heavy on the action, light on the story and packed with memorable, humorous characters. Value: Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story offers a lengthy adventure, about 20 hours worth of play time, but after the story’s complete, there’s little incentive to return to the game. Buy it for: the younger gamer looking for a long, not too challenging experience (or anyone with a Nintendo DS and a sense of humor). Read the Full Review Mario Vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again Price: $8 (download for DSi only) Rating: E Genre: Lemmings-like puzzler Subject Matter: Mainpulate girders and gadgets to enable Mario toys to march to their goals. Value: Very high due to a generous amount of levels and a level-editor that supports downloaded user-made maps. Buy it for: Fans of brain-bending puzzle games, as the solutions to some of these levels are hard to engineer. Read the Full Review Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box Price: $34.99 Rating: E Genre: Adventure/Puzzle Subject Matter: The Professor and his protégé, Luke, are out to solve a mystery surrounding a man who never ages and box that kills all who open it. Value: With a crazy amount of puzzles and a new puzzles to download every week, this is one game that won’t ever be very far from your DS during those long commutes. Buy it for: Yourself and anybody you actually want to give a good gift to. Read the Full Review Rhythm Heaven Price: $29.99 Rating: Everyone Genre: Music/Rhythm Subject Matter: Rhythm Heaven is a loosely connected series of rhythmic and musical challenges with very simple controls, requiring little more than good timing and simple touchscreen tapping. Simplistic though it may be, Rhythm Heaven is inventive and fun. Value: There are dozens of mini-games to unlock and play, with sound toys and more serious challenges for the player who masters Rhythm Heaven’s main mode. Buy it for: anyone with Nintendo DS that can keep a beat or longs for more WarioWare style mini-game fun. Read the Full Review Scribblenauts Price: $29.99 Rating: E10+ Genre: Open world, spell-checking puzzle action game. Subject Matter: Scribblenauts brings just about anything you can spell to life in the game, backing up a stunningly large visual dictionary with a web of interactions that can surprise and amuse as you work out how to solve puzzles. Value: With 150 puzzles and 150 action levels, and the ability to use more than 22,800 words to figure out what to do, this is one of the best values this year in gaming. Buy it for: children learning to spell, people who love lateral thinking and anyone with a sense of humor. Read the Full Review

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The DS and DSi Gift Guide [Shopping Gift Guide]

Domo Games Micro-Review: No Thanks, Nintendo [Review]

If there’s a good Nintendo and a bad Nintendo, then the release of five linked, downloadable games on the DSi represents that latter corporate personality at its worst. 1) Take five mini-games from what must have been an underwhelming 2002 Game Boy Advance game . 2) Bank on the fact that Americans will be delighted that these mini-games star a Japanese pop culture icon. 3) Charge two bucks a pop. That’s the seeming strategy behind Crash-Course Domo, Rock-N-Roll Domo, Hard-Hat Domo, Pro-Putt Domo and White-Water Domo, five downloadable games starring NHK TV mascot Domo which were all recently released for American Nintendo DS owners. This is the dark side of DSiWare, from the company you might forget brought you Super Mario 64, WarioWare and Wii Sports but that you might remember used to churn out the Mario Partys and sold NES games on the Game Boy Advance for $20. Hated Shallow Gameplay: In the deep end of DSiWare, we’ve got games such as Art-Style Pictobits and Mario Vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again, which layer complex gameplay atop the simple, offering variations on the essentials of Tetris and Lemmings pioneered years ago. In the Domo end, we’ve got a side-scrolling bicycling game that lets you change lanes, tap a button to speed boost, go up and down a few hills, with barely a touch of innovation beyond what was done in Excitebike. White-Water Domo is a downstream slalom. Pro-Putt is rudimentary one-button mini-golf. Rock-N-Roll Domo, which at least has an option of touch-control, is the simplest of music games — tap one of three circles in time with music note streaming through them. The only game demanding the player do something they haven’t done more interestingly elsewhere is Hard-Hat Domo. That game has the lead character painting floors of a half-constructed building as he tries to erect color-coded ladders that match the floor he’s standing on and the one to which he’d like to climb. Lowest Of Values: Nintendo’s frequent release of new cameras and clocks through DSiWare may bother some folks, but the company has provided numerous substantial games for those looking for something to play and enjoy. Even in the 200-points ($2) range, where the company has been releasing chopped-off pieces of larger retail games, there has been gameplay value. Take Bird & Beans, which was ripped from an old WarioWare and consists of nothing more than a single-screen Missile Command riff involving a bird sticking his tongue out to catch air-dropped beans. Its tight design rewards return play and harkens back to an era of single-screen arcade ingenuity. The Domo games, however, lacking in depth or more than a handful of levels of content, feel like clumsy side-attractions. The games make little use of the DS’ second screen other than for maps, minimal use of the touch-screen, and sport graphics barely better-animated than what was on the GBA . The DSiWare store doesn’t even offer a budget option for people who buy the full-set. What a strange way to sell such strange goods. Barely a half year old in North America, the DSiWare downloadable service may still be in its experimental phase. If so, these Domo games may be just another test tube shaken up and stared at. What’s the better concoction: The $5 and $8 DSiWare games that sparkle with creativity and nostalgia? Or the repurposed portions of a game that betrays no design breakthroughs conceived in the past decade? The ratio of quality to filler on DSiWare may still be superior to that of iTunes, but the Domo games hurt the credibility Nintendo was gaining as a curator of an online games store that emphasized quality and value. Crash-Course Domo, Rock-N-Roll Domo, Hard-Hat Domo, Pro-Putt Domoand White-Water Domo were developed by Suzak and published by NIntendo for the Nintendo DSi’s DSiWare service on October 19. Each retails for 200 points ($2.00 USD). Played them all. Only planning on playing Hard-Hat Domo again. Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ .

See more here:
Domo Games Micro-Review: No Thanks, Nintendo [Review]

Domo Games Micro-Review: No Thanks, Nintendo [Review]

If there’s a good Nintendo and a bad Nintendo, then the release of five linked, downloadable games on the DSi represents that latter corporate personality at its worst. 1) Take five mini-games from what must have been an underwhelming 2002 Game Boy Advance game . 2) Bank on the fact that Americans will be delighted that these mini-games star a Japanese pop culture icon. 3) Charge two bucks a pop. That’s the seeming strategy behind Crash-Course Domo, Rock-N-Roll Domo, Hard-Hat Domo, Pro-Putt Domo and White-Water Domo, five downloadable games starring NHK TV mascot Domo which were all recently released for American Nintendo DS owners. This is the dark side of DSiWare, from the company you might forget brought you Super Mario 64, WarioWare and Wii Sports but that you might remember used to churn out the Mario Partys and sold NES games on the Game Boy Advance for $20. Hated Shallow Gameplay: In the deep end of DSiWare, we’ve got games such as Art-Style Pictobits and Mario Vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again, which layer complex gameplay atop the simple, offering variations on the essentials of Tetris and Lemmings pioneered years ago. In the Domo end, we’ve got a side-scrolling bicycling game that lets you change lanes, tap a button to speed boost, go up and down a few hills, with barely a touch of innovation beyond what was done in Excitebike. White-Water Domo is a downstream slalom. Pro-Putt is rudimentary one-button mini-golf. Rock-N-Roll Domo, which at least has an option of touch-control, is the simplest of music games — tap one of three circles in time with music note streaming through them. The only game demanding the player do something they haven’t done more interestingly elsewhere is Hard-Hat Domo. That game has the lead character painting floors of a half-constructed building as he tries to erect color-coded ladders that match the floor he’s standing on and the one to which he’d like to climb. Lowest Of Values: Nintendo’s frequent release of new cameras and clocks through DSiWare may bother some folks, but the company has provided numerous substantial games for those looking for something to play and enjoy. Even in the 200-points ($2) range, where the company has been releasing chopped-off pieces of larger retail games, there has been gameplay value. Take Bird & Beans, which was ripped from an old WarioWare and consists of nothing more than a single-screen Missile Command riff involving a bird sticking his tongue out to catch air-dropped beans. Its tight design rewards return play and harkens back to an era of single-screen arcade ingenuity. The Domo games, however, lacking in depth or more than a handful of levels of content, feel like clumsy side-attractions. The games make little use of the DS’ second screen other than for maps, minimal use of the touch-screen, and sport graphics barely better-animated than what was on the GBA . The DSiWare store doesn’t even offer a budget option for people who buy the full-set. What a strange way to sell such strange goods. Barely a half year old in North America, the DSiWare downloadable service may still be in its experimental phase. If so, these Domo games may be just another test tube shaken up and stared at. What’s the better concoction: The $5 and $8 DSiWare games that sparkle with creativity and nostalgia? Or the repurposed portions of a game that betrays no design breakthroughs conceived in the past decade? The ratio of quality to filler on DSiWare may still be superior to that of iTunes, but the Domo games hurt the credibility Nintendo was gaining as a curator of an online games store that emphasized quality and value. Crash-Course Domo, Rock-N-Roll Domo, Hard-Hat Domo, Pro-Putt Domoand White-Water Domo were developed by Suzak and published by NIntendo for the Nintendo DSi’s DSiWare service on October 19. Each retails for 200 points ($2.00 USD). Played them all. Only planning on playing Hard-Hat Domo again. Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ .

Read more:
Domo Games Micro-Review: No Thanks, Nintendo [Review]

Domo Games Micro-Review: No Thanks, Nintendo [Review]

If there’s a good Nintendo and a bad Nintendo, then the release of five linked, downloadable games on the DSi represents that latter corporate personality at its worst. 1) Take five mini-games from what must have been an underwhelming 2002 Game Boy Advance game . 2) Bank on the fact that Americans will be delighted that these mini-games star a Japanese pop culture icon. 3) Charge two bucks a pop. That’s the seeming strategy behind Crash-Course Domo, Rock-N-Roll Domo, Hard-Hat Domo, Pro-Putt Domo and White-Water Domo, five downloadable games starring NHK TV mascot Domo which were all recently released for American Nintendo DS owners. This is the dark side of DSiWare, from the company you might forget brought you Super Mario 64, WarioWare and Wii Sports but that you might remember used to churn out the Mario Partys and sold NES games on the Game Boy Advance for $20. Hated Shallow Gameplay: In the deep end of DSiWare, we’ve got games such as Art-Style Pictobits and Mario Vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again, which layer complex gameplay atop the simple, offering variations on the essentials of Tetris and Lemmings pioneered years ago. In the Domo end, we’ve got a side-scrolling bicycling game that lets you change lanes, tap a button to speed boost, go up and down a few hills, with barely a touch of innovation beyond what was done in Excitebike. White-Water Domo is a downstream slalom. Pro-Putt is rudimentary one-button mini-golf. Rock-N-Roll Domo, which at least has an option of touch-control, is the simplest of music games — tap one of three circles in time with music note streaming through them. The only game demanding the player do something they haven’t done more interestingly elsewhere is Hard-Hat Domo. That game has the lead character painting floors of a half-constructed building as he tries to erect color-coded ladders that match the floor he’s standing on and the one to which he’d like to climb. Lowest Of Values: Nintendo’s frequent release of new cameras and clocks through DSiWare may bother some folks, but the company has provided numerous substantial games for those looking for something to play and enjoy. Even in the 200-points ($2) range, where the company has been releasing chopped-off pieces of larger retail games, there has been gameplay value. Take Bird & Beans, which was ripped from an old WarioWare and consists of nothing more than a single-screen Missile Command riff involving a bird sticking his tongue out to catch air-dropped beans. Its tight design rewards return play and harkens back to an era of single-screen arcade ingenuity. The Domo games, however, lacking in depth or more than a handful of levels of content, feel like clumsy side-attractions. The games make little use of the DS’ second screen other than for maps, minimal use of the touch-screen, and sport graphics barely better-animated than what was on the GBA . The DSiWare store doesn’t even offer a budget option for people who buy the full-set. What a strange way to sell such strange goods. Barely a half year old in North America, the DSiWare downloadable service may still be in its experimental phase. If so, these Domo games may be just another test tube shaken up and stared at. What’s the better concoction: The $5 and $8 DSiWare games that sparkle with creativity and nostalgia? Or the repurposed portions of a game that betrays no design breakthroughs conceived in the past decade? The ratio of quality to filler on DSiWare may still be superior to that of iTunes, but the Domo games hurt the credibility Nintendo was gaining as a curator of an online games store that emphasized quality and value. Crash-Course Domo, Rock-N-Roll Domo, Hard-Hat Domo, Pro-Putt Domoand White-Water Domo were developed by Suzak and published by NIntendo for the Nintendo DSi’s DSiWare service on October 19. Each retails for 200 points ($2.00 USD). Played them all. Only planning on playing Hard-Hat Domo again. Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ .

Original post:
Domo Games Micro-Review: No Thanks, Nintendo [Review]

Domo Games Micro-Review: No Thanks, Nintendo [Review]

If there’s a good Nintendo and a bad Nintendo, then the release of five linked, downloadable games on the DSi represents that latter corporate personality at its worst. 1) Take five mini-games from what must have been an underwhelming 2002 Game Boy Advance game . 2) Bank on the fact that Americans will be delighted that these mini-games star a Japanese pop culture icon. 3) Charge two bucks a pop. That’s the seeming strategy behind Crash-Course Domo, Rock-N-Roll Domo, Hard-Hat Domo, Pro-Putt Domo and White-Water Domo, five downloadable games starring NHK TV mascot Domo which were all recently released for American Nintendo DS owners. This is the dark side of DSiWare, from the company you might forget brought you Super Mario 64, WarioWare and Wii Sports but that you might remember used to churn out the Mario Partys and sold NES games on the Game Boy Advance for $20. Hated Shallow Gameplay: In the deep end of DSiWare, we’ve got games such as Art-Style Pictobits and Mario Vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again, which layer complex gameplay atop the simple, offering variations on the essentials of Tetris and Lemmings pioneered years ago. In the Domo end, we’ve got a side-scrolling bicycling game that lets you change lanes, tap a button to speed boost, go up and down a few hills, with barely a touch of innovation beyond what was done in Excitebike. White-Water Domo is a downstream slalom. Pro-Putt is rudimentary one-button mini-golf. Rock-N-Roll Domo, which at least has an option of touch-control, is the simplest of music games — tap one of three circles in time with music note streaming through them. The only game demanding the player do something they haven’t done more interestingly elsewhere is Hard-Hat Domo. That game has the lead character painting floors of a half-constructed building as he tries to erect color-coded ladders that match the floor he’s standing on and the one to which he’d like to climb. Lowest Of Values: Nintendo’s frequent release of new cameras and clocks through DSiWare may bother some folks, but the company has provided numerous substantial games for those looking for something to play and enjoy. Even in the 200-points ($2) range, where the company has been releasing chopped-off pieces of larger retail games, there has been gameplay value. Take Bird & Beans, which was ripped from an old WarioWare and consists of nothing more than a single-screen Missile Command riff involving a bird sticking his tongue out to catch air-dropped beans. Its tight design rewards return play and harkens back to an era of single-screen arcade ingenuity. The Domo games, however, lacking in depth or more than a handful of levels of content, feel like clumsy side-attractions. The games make little use of the DS’ second screen other than for maps, minimal use of the touch-screen, and sport graphics barely better-animated than what was on the GBA . The DSiWare store doesn’t even offer a budget option for people who buy the full-set. What a strange way to sell such strange goods. Barely a half year old in North America, the DSiWare downloadable service may still be in its experimental phase. If so, these Domo games may be just another test tube shaken up and stared at. What’s the better concoction: The $5 and $8 DSiWare games that sparkle with creativity and nostalgia? Or the repurposed portions of a game that betrays no design breakthroughs conceived in the past decade? The ratio of quality to filler on DSiWare may still be superior to that of iTunes, but the Domo games hurt the credibility Nintendo was gaining as a curator of an online games store that emphasized quality and value. Crash-Course Domo, Rock-N-Roll Domo, Hard-Hat Domo, Pro-Putt Domoand White-Water Domo were developed by Suzak and published by NIntendo for the Nintendo DSi’s DSiWare service on October 19. Each retails for 200 points ($2.00 USD). Played them all. Only planning on playing Hard-Hat Domo again. Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ .

Continue reading here:
Domo Games Micro-Review: No Thanks, Nintendo [Review]