Cooking Mama Inevitably Turns To Crafting [Game Announce]

A year after we discovered a trademark registration for it , Majesco is finally ready to make Crafting Mama official. The woman with the most free time in the world returns this fall with a whole new bag of domestic tricks. More

What Does Japan Really Think About Game Consoles? [Japan]

Ask Google. The Japanese language version of the search engine catalogues the most popular searches. Those automatically pop up when searching. So what displays for the Nintendo Wii, the PS3 and the Xbox 360? More

Dwindling Tokyo Game Show Hopes To Be World’s Biggest Game Gathering [Japan]

From a Japanese game developer saying that the Japanese industry was “finished” to lower attendance, last year’s Tokyo Game Show was disastrous. This year can only go up. Hopefully. This year’s TGS is the 20th Tokyo Game Show, and organizers have announced “a new midterm vision of becoming ‘The No.1 Information Network in the Asian Region’ and ‘The World’s Largest Event!’” Okay, the first one sounds doable. Maybe. But the second one? As part of its goal, this year’s Tokyo Game Show will feature a beefed up PC area, gadget area, mobile phone area and kiddy area. Because today’s kids are tomorrow’s adults or something. And this year, the private business-only days have been opened up somewhat. Business day tickets will go on sale to those in the game industry who register in advance. This is a change as in previous years, business days were invite only. [ Pic ]

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Dwindling Tokyo Game Show Hopes To Be World’s Biggest Game Gathering [Japan]

There It Is! The Most Amazing Use Of The Nintendo DSi Camera [Clips]

This is Rittai Kakushi e Attakoreda, a DSiWare game that makes brilliant use of the Nintendo DSi’s built-in cameras to control an in-game camera that lets the player explore a 3D diorama to find hidden objects. The downloadable game, right now for Japan only, comes courtesy of Wario Land: Shake It! developer Feel-Good. As one can see in the preview video above, players must locate hidden objects and form letter shapes by tilting the DSi, and, in turn, the game world. Movement is tracked by processing input from the handheld’s dual cameras. Maybe not the killer app that will get you to upgrade from your DS Lite, but perhaps the coolest use of the DSi’s unique features to date. Rittai Kakushi e Attakored a [Nintendo Japan via BoingBoing / TinyCartridge ]

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There It Is! The Most Amazing Use Of The Nintendo DSi Camera [Clips]

Super Mario Galaxy 2 Hits North America May 23 [Live]

Super Mario Galaxy 2 hits North America on May 23, Nintendo of America’s Cammie Dunaway told a group of writers gathered in San Francisco for the Nintendo Summit this morning. Super Mario Galaxy 2 will also be playable at today’s day-long event. Earlier today, writers at a similar event in Australia learned that both Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Other M would be hitting stores there “mid year”. First revealed at E3, Super Mario Galaxy 2 is said to have 90 percent new levels with the rest being levels from the original Mario Galaxy with different objectives. Shigeru Miyamoto said at the time that the original plan was to “essentially create new variations of the worlds in Super Mario Galaxy.” But, over time, the developers have had so many ideas that most of those originals were cut. Stay tuned for more news coming out of the summit as we continue to report live from San Francisco and of course check back later today for our hands-on impressions.

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Super Mario Galaxy 2 Hits North America May 23 [Live]

Link ‘N Launch Micro-Review: How About ‘Pikmin Rockets’ Or ‘Better Than Bioshock Hacking’? [Review]

The latest Nintendo-published downloadable game for the DS may be one of the worst-named Nintendo games of all time. It’s also another proof that top Nintendo-affiliated developers could school a lot of iPhone game creators. Link ‘N Launch is a DSiWare game from Intelligent Systems, the development studio behind such Nintendo-published greats as Advance Wars, Fire Emblem, and the Paper Mario series. For their second DSiWare game, IS has made a variation on the pipe-linking game Pipemania, a clever offering of linked puzzles that all involve connecting paths of pipes between fuel sources and and a rocketship, each “level” of this puzzle game resulting in the rocket being fired only as far and as on course as the player’s pipe-arranging enables it. Loved Tough-To-Describe Strategic Sci-Fi Puzzle Gameplay: The game’s main missions require that a rocketship be shot for a set distance through space, toward a planet far away. Satellite dishes need to be delivered, or something. To get the rocket there, the player must solve puzzle challenges along the way, each completed challenge serving to boost the rocket further along. The challenges involve connecting puffs of space fuel on the DS’ lower screen to any or all of the rocket’s three boosters that are rendered right at the top of that screen (the top screen shows the rest of the rocket and hints about the best path to send the rocket on next) . In the playing field are square pieces, each of them displaying a straight, curved or branching piece of pipe. With the deft swipes of a DS stylus, these pieces need to be twisted, flipped and moved in order to connect fuel to rocket. Once the connection is made, the fuel flows and the rocket launches a few astronomical units of length further toward the destination planet. As the rocket slows to a stop after its latest push, the player has to arrange a new set of pipes to push the rocket forward again. As the rocket journeys further into black space, the challenges get tougher. The pieces available and the paths that need to be made to join fuel and rocket are increasingly complex. The whole endeavor toughens as the player must focus on which of the three boosters they are are igniting, where they are pointing the rocket as a result, whether they are going off course, flying into a comet’s path, or running out of time before the mission fails. Better players will snag power-ups that extend the clock or allow the rocket to be upgraded. Best players will arrange the longest possible paths of pipe, which, for some reason, cause the rocket to get the biggest boost. Stellar Art Design: There are two wonderful things to look at in Link ‘N Launch. First is the upgradable rocketship which looks so much like something Captian Olimar from Pikmin games would fly that I’ve decided this game is a stealth Pikmin spin-off. Upgrading one’s rocketship via collected power-ups provides both a boost in the ship’s flight performance but a wonderful punchy transformation of dumpy vessel into sleeker ship, each upgrade creating a more fantastic and fun craft. What looked like a flying potato is now a mighty carrot, of sorts. The other visual stand-out is the fuel that flows through the pipe paths the player arranges. Once a path links fuel source to one or more of the rocket’s three boosters a pink goo flows through the pipes. That probably seems like nothing special when described here, but it offers the same satisfaction that Yosemite Sam appeared to have in those old Bugs Bunny cartoons when he got to watch the fuse he lit travel a winding path of gunpowder toward the barrel in which he was sure Bugs was hiding. I hope, though, that you can plan your paths better than Sam usually did. Hated The Game’s Terrible Name: Typed out, Link ‘N Launch looks like the name of a Zelda game that shouldn’t exist. Maybe Launch is Link’s ‘lil pal! The two guys hang out when Link is not rescuing Princess Zelda and this game is about their fun adventures? Or maybe the person who doesn’t get that bad impression merely hears me saying the name of the game to them. Do they think I just said Lincoln Launch? Are they wondering if this game is about one of America’s great presidents doing something or other? Worse, maybe they actually hear the correct words: Link ‘N Launch. And, unless they’ve been dying to link things and then launch things, I bet they’re hoping I change the topic. The name of this game is a liability for anyone who wants to, with good reason, make the game sound like something interesting and worth trying. In a downloadable games market where a game’s name may be its only selling point, having a bad one is unfortunate. Link ‘N Launch, despite its name, is impressive. At first, the game seems like just another twist on the same genre that was used for the pipe-connecting hacking system in the original Bioshock. But just 10 minutes with the game already reveals that there is a design thickness here of a layered and captivating puzzle game. This is a puzzle game in which how you play the board you’re on has much to do with whether you have a decent chance to do well on the next one. And while it suffers some from the problem of the original Lumines, that it can sometimes take too long to get tough enough for players who’ve played it regularly for a week, it’s novel for a long enough time to earn a recommendation. There’s a depth and cleverness in Link ‘N Launch that is rare among the smallish games offered for download on portable devices these days. This is true for several of the Nintendo-published DSiWare games. Based on that trend, perhaps some of the best Japanese game makers, those whom seem more spiritually tied to the simpler times of simpler hardware and more tightly-crafted game design, can establish a lead role in the development of tightly-made, downloadable games. I just hope that they try to name them better. Link ‘N Launch was developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo as a download-only game for the Nintendo DSi on February 8. Retails for $5.00 USD. I cleared the game’s 10 increasingly-challenging and lengthy fly-toward-the-planet missions, finished a dozen of the 100 standalone bonus puzzle challenges, unlocked one extra mode and heard the game’s single piece of music again and again and again. I think I’m still hearing it now. Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ .

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Link ‘N Launch Micro-Review: How About ‘Pikmin Rockets’ Or ‘Better Than Bioshock Hacking’? [Review]

Music? Yes. Movies? Yes. Commercials? Noooo, thank you [Style Savvy]

Beyonce nails sitting on a couch with a DSi. But not so much her interview afterwards.

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Music? Yes. Movies? Yes. Commercials? Noooo, thank you [Style Savvy]

Dark Void Zero Micro-Review: Classic, Focused Fun [Review]

Dark Void Zero is built around not one, but two stories. One is a story of a jet pack wearing hero named Rusty trying to stop the invasion of Earth by aliens. The second is the fiction surrounding the game’s creation, a false history that claims the game is a remake of a classic NES-era title for the Nintendo DSi. The truth is more interesting. Capcom, it seems, decided to make a Game Boy-esque retro version of its third-person action shooter Dark Void , to help promote the game. Dark Void Zero features 8-bit graphics, a genuine retro soundtrack and maybe two hours of gameplay with three difficulty settings. But is the 500-Nintendo Points DSi title a commercial or a game? Loved Classic Controls: Dark Void Zero is everything good about those classic Game Boy titles. The controls are almost painfully straightforward; you move your character around with the directional pad, jump with one button and shoot with the other. That’s it. No super special moves or weapon select. No clicking on thumbsticks or tapping bumper buttons. After I got used to it, and it didn’t take long, it reminded me how much fun it is to be able to focus on the gameplay and not worry about memorizing complex control diagrams. Retro Look: Other Ocean Interactive nailed the look of a classic Game Boy title, but without the pixelation. The game’s tiny graphics pop on the DSi’s touch screen and the top screen is filled with an easy to see map and some scoring details. Bit Bop By Bear: Battlestar Galactica composer Bear McCreary composed all of the music for Dark Void Zero using original 8-bit equipment, or so I was told. The soundtrack is a wonderful selection of upbeat original tunes the push the envelope for what you’d expect to play along a retro title. Dark Void, the more expensive console title, had its moments and I enjoyed the flight and cover systems, but Dark Void Zero is hands-down the better overall gaming experience between the two. I had forgotten just how much I enjoy these simple, straightforward games. For some odd reason, Dark Void Zero reminds me of all of the time I spent playing through Duck Tales on the original Game Boy back when plot and graphics were a distant second to fun. And that’s a very good thing. Dark Void Zero was developed by Other Ocean Interactive and published by Capcom for the DSi on Jan. 18. Retails for 500 Nintendo Points ($5 USD). A copy of the game was purchased for reviewing purposes. Played through the game in medium and easy modes. Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ .

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Dark Void Zero Micro-Review: Classic, Focused Fun [Review]

DSi XL Gets European Release Date [DSI]

The new Nintendo DSi XL – already out in Japan , where it’s known as the DSi LL – will be released in Europe in March, Nintendo has announced. It will be available on March 5, on both the continent and in the UK, in red and dark brown. The Nintendo DSi XL is essentially a Nintendo DSi, only with much larger screens and a bigger, more comfortable stylus. It was released in Japan in NOvember 2009, and will be out in the US sometime this quarter . Nintendo DSi XL to launch on March 5th [MCV]

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DSi XL Gets European Release Date [DSI]

DSi XL Gets European Release Date [DSI]

The new Nintendo DSi XL – already out in Japan , where it’s known as the DSi LL – will be released in Europe in March, Nintendo has announced. It will be available on March 5, on both the continent and in the UK, in red and dark brown. The Nintendo DSi XL is essentially a Nintendo DSi, only with much larger screens and a bigger, more comfortable stylus. It was released in Japan in NOvember 2009, and will be out in the US sometime this quarter . Nintendo DSi XL to launch on March 5th [MCV]

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DSi XL Gets European Release Date [DSI]

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