[DS] TWO NEW NINTENDO DS GAMES LET PLAYERS EXPLORE THEIR INNER POKÉMON

Randomized Dungeons, Online Features Fuel Latest Mystery Dungeon Adventures

REDMOND, Wash., Feb. 26, 2008 – Ever wondered what it would be like to become a Pokémon? With the April 20 launch of Pokémon® Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Pokémon® Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness for Nintendo DS™, hand-held gamers will soon find out.

In this pair of action-packed adventures, players journey as actual Pokémon through a fantastic land untouched by humans. Before the game starts, players take a test to help them figure out which of 16 Pokémon best represents their personalities. Players then experience their adventure through the eyes of a Pokémon as they explore the land and embark on an epic journey through time and darkness. They talk and team up with other Pokémon to set out on an epic voyage while navigating an endless array of randomly generated dungeons.

More than 490 Pokémon populate these new games, guaranteeing strategic, intense battles and infinite possibilities, no matter which Pokémon players become. To widen their circle of Pokémon friends, Nintendo® Wi-Fi Connection lets users engage in wireless rescue operations and send alerts to their friends via e-mail or mobile text message.

“Only the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series lets players experience the thrill of actually becoming a Pokémon character,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “It’s a unique perspective that delights both longtime Pokémon fans and newcomers alike.”

Fans of the two previous Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games, Red Rescue Team and Blue Rescue Team, will marvel at the greatly enhanced graphics, new story and grand adventure in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness. For Game Boy® Advance owners, the fresh look and wireless aspects of these new Pokémon titles provide even more reasons to upgrade to Nintendo DS. And best of all for budget-conscious parents, Nintendo DS is also able to play the entire library of Game Boy Advance games.

For more information about these two new Pokémon games, visit Nintendo.com.

About Nintendo: The worldwide innovator in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii™, Nintendo DS™, Game Boy® Advance and Nintendo GameCube™ systems. Since 1983, Nintendo has sold nearly 2.5 billion video games and more than 430 million hardware units globally, and has created industry icons like Mario™, Donkey Kong®, Metroid®, Zelda™ and Pokémon®. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo’s operations in the Western Hemisphere. For more information about Nintendo, visit the company’s Web site at www.nintendo.com.

About Pokémon USA: Pokémon USA, Inc., a subsidiary of The Pokémon Company in Japan, manages the property outside of Asia, which includes licensing, marketing, the Pokémon Trading Card Game, an animated TV series, the Pokémon Trading Figure Game, home entertainment and the official Pokémon Web site. Pokémon was launched in Japan in 1996 for play on Nintendo’s Game Boy® and has since evolved into a global cultural phenomenon. Pokémon was introduced in North America in 1998 and today is one of the most popular toy and entertainment properties in the world. For more information, visit www.pokemon.com.

 

[WII] WII-KLY UPDATE: TWO NEW CLASSIC GAMES ADDED TO WII SHOP CHANNEL

Feb. 25, 2008 This week’s additions take players on a psychedelic trip down memory lane. Kirby® is back and armed with a bunch of new talents, including the option to combine abilities. Curious to find out what mixing the Burn and Cutter powers gives Kirby? We won’t spoil that for you here. If the colorful landscapes in the pink sphere’s world are too much for you and you’re looking for straight firepower instead, then try plunging your soul into the mind of a twisted demon. We’ll just see how you fare against wave after wave of bizarre enemy creatures in that kind of environment.

Nintendo adds new games to the Wii™ Shop Channel at 9 a.m. Pacific time every Monday. Wii owners with a high-speed Internet connection can redeem Wii Points™ to download the games. Wii Points can be purchased in the Wii Shop Channel or at retail outlets. This week’s new games are:

Kirby 64™: The Crystal Shards: (Nintendo 64®, 1-4 players, Rated E for Everyone, 1,000 Wii Points): Kirby’s first 3-D adventure is also his Nintendo 64 debut, and it finds the always-versatile hero battling a new enemy called Dark Matter. Dark Matter is after a distant land’s powerful crystal, but a young fairy named Ribbon attempts to save it by escaping with the gem to Dream Land. Now the crystal has been broken, and it’s scattered around the world. Take control of Kirby and help him journey across six worlds, battling a wide variety of enemies and challenging bosses, as he tries to collect all 100 pieces of the shattered crystal. Along the way, you’ll use Kirby’s trademark copying ability to use enemies’ strengths against them. Not only that, but try combining any two abilities to create a brand-new one that is usually stronger than the original. Throw in three exciting multiplayer minigames, and you’ve got a package of which even King Dedede would be proud. Fans of Kirby and action games with bright, colorful graphics should vacuum this one up.

Psychosis: (TurboGrafx16, 1 player, Rated E for Everyone – Mild Fantasy Violence, 600 Wii Points): This is a side-scrolling shooter played in a world created from the mind of a twisted demon. Your soul has suddenly wandered into that evil world that exists in every person’s heart. The only way out is to blast your way past the grotesque creatures that block your path in five “causes” (stages). You must face the dangers of this psychedelic world by making full use of three shot types and the satellite option. With power-ups, you can change your shots to a wide-coverage beam, a satellite-generated laser and more. Each shot type can be powered up to three levels. You can also block enemy fire by rotating the satellites to a desired position. How you use these features will be the key to successfully escaping this strange and surreal world.

For more information about Wii, please visit wii.com.

 

[OFF-THE-HOOK] J-ENT Tohoshinki article: 5.8.08 Update

Dear Tohoshinki/TVXQ/DBSK fans,

Great news!

DOWNLOAD THE 500-PAGE FAN BOOKLET HERE! (File Size: 88.86MB)

DOWNLOAD THE ARTICLE/SHORT VERSION HERE! (File Size: 4.72MB)

THANK YOU!!!!!

After four months of hard work and coordination with fans from over 40 countries, I’m so happy to say that the the 500-page booklet and the 33-page short version is now ready for download!

Thank you again everyone for your help and your assistance. YOU ALL ARE AWESOME!

TVXQ FANS FIGHTING!

 

[WORLD GROOVE] Currently listening to Tanimura Nana – Say Good-bye

ARTIST: Tanimura Nana

CD SINGLE: Say Good-bye

LABEL: SONIC GROOVE

CATALOG #: AVCD-16137/B

DURATION: 23:30

RELEASE DATE: November 14, 2007

OFFICIAL WEBSITE

1. Say Good-bye
2. JEALOUS GIRL
3. Gimmick
4. Say Good-bye (Instrumental)
5. JEALOUS GIRL (Instrumental)
6. Gimmick (Instrumental)

DVD: Region 2, 4:3, Duration: 3 minutes

1. Say Good-bye (Video Clip)

My first time of hearing Tanimura Nana was before she was signed to the SONIC GROOVE label and was actually in an idol audition in which she placed second place. Not long after that audition, I received promotional pieces for her and by May 2007, she would release her first CD single “Again”.

On November 14, 2007, Tanimura’s second CD single “Say Good-bye” would be released and I found it to be quite an experimental CD single.

The title track “Say Good-bye” would feature Tanimura change from the J-Pop sound of “Again” to an urban R&B track with deep bass, hip hop and wondered if this was the new direction that Tanimura’s career would be heading towards. Something that I was not expecting from the Aoyama Gakuin University law student.

The track is actually not bad, after listening to it several times now and I suppose that the soulful style that she utilizes on this track works. She’s no Kelly Clarkson in her ability to transcend from different genres but “Say Good-bye” turned out to be a cool track.

The first coupling track “JEALOUS GIRL” is where I talk experimental. From urban R&B, “JEALOUS GIRL” takes Tanimura to a different route in a rock track that I can see coming out of someone like ANNA TSUCHIYA. But this track also works for Tanimura.

And the second coupling track “Gimmick” returns Tanimura back to a dance, pop track. And again it works.

The three remaining tracks on the CD single are the instrumental versions of the first three tracks.

The accompanying DVD features Tanimura with her background dancers and interesting enough, it looks like the outfits she is wearing tends to have the viewer focus on her upper body and definitely interesting positioning of her image. She’s not a gravure model, she’s cute and has a gorgeous body but if that is the direction and image that she’s going for, I definitely would like to see some choreography from her than the basic movements of idol dancing past.

The CD insert is a bi-fold and features lyrics and track credit on one side and her front cover image on the other.

All three tracks work but there are certain things that I do feel cautious about her music is mainly her vocals. Sometimes she sounds as if she has a cold.

Sometimes there are notes that are just a bit off. Also, I like the sexy look on her music video but there are times I felt even the lip synch or her timing was slightly off .

But nevertheless, I can see potential in this developing artist and with vocal training and possibly even choreography, work I can see definite, positive potential in her music.

She’s smart, she’s beautiful but to survive among the many female solo singers in Japan, she’s going to find the music that she feels comfortable with because “Say Good-bye” and “JEALOUS GIRL” are two different tracks, which I don’t mind but curious to see which direction her music will go since both her CD singles are very different.

We’ll see what happens on her next CD Single.

 

[MANGA] Manga review “Nodame Cantabile”

Daily Yomiuri Stephen Taylor wrote, “The popularity of Tomoko Ninomiya’s romantic drama Nodame Cantabile proves that manga needn’t be filled with sex or violence to appeal to readers. This tale of music students is an engaging story that will appeal to a wide range of ages, both male and female.”

“It has been adapted twice for television, with last year’s anime series preceded by a live-action drama in 2006. That show featured Hiroshi Tamaki as Shinichi Chiaki, an aspiring conductor, and Juri Ueno–who played a saxophonist on the big screen in Swing Girls–as piano student Megumi Noda, or Nodame.”

“The series was first published in Japanese by Kiss magazine in 2001, and Volume 1 was published in an English translation four years later. More translated volumes came thick and fast, with Volume 11 appearing late last year.”

More on this article

 

[MANGA] Manga artist, publisher reject lawyer’s plagiarism claims

Mainichi Daily News reported, “Manga artist Hideo Iura and major publisher Shogakukan denied copyright violation allegations as they held a news conference Wednesday in response to a lawyer’s plagiarism claims against the popular manga “Bengoshi no Kuzu.”"The news conference was held in response to allegations from lawyer Masatoshi Uchida, who took legal action over the manga, saying material had been stolen from a novel he wrote.”

“Iura admitted that he had referred to Uchida’s novel but denied that he had violated any copyrights.”

More on this article

 

[VIDEO GAMES] GAME DEVELOPERS CONFERENCE HONORS NINTENDO WITH A GAME DEVELOPERS CHOICE AWARD

Feb. 21, 2008The 2008 Game Developers Conference has honored Nintendo with a Game Developers Choice Award. The Legend of Zelda®: Phantom Hourglass for Nintendo DS™ won for Best Handheld Game of the Year. The game continues to enjoy strong momentum in the U.S., with more than 1.1 million copies sold since its Oct. 1, 2007, release.

Nintendo received nominations in three categories: Best Game of the Year (Super Mario Galaxy™), Best Handheld Game of the Year (The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass), and Best Game Design (Super Mario Galaxy). The awards were presented during an annual ceremony the night of Feb. 20, 2008, at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco. The awards are among the highest honors in game development, acknowledging excellence in game creation.

For more information about Nintendo, please visit www.Nintendo.com.

 

[PS2] First Glance Review: NEOGEO BATTLE COLISEUM

GAME: NEOGEO BATTLE COLISEUM

CONSOLE: PS2

DEVELOPER: SNK PLAYMORE

RELEASE DATE: December 11, 2007

ESRB RATING: T for TEEN – Animated Blood, Suggestive Themes, Violence

OFFICIAL WEBSITE

A world on the verge of eternal darkness.. The Government has secretly dispatched its two best secret agents to a fighting competition known as the NEOGEO BATTLE COLISEUM. Their mission is to enter the competition and find out the secrets of the “Warez Conglomerate” and to stop the maniac who is reportedly planning to take down the NEOGEO world.

• A total of 40 characters, all taken from SNK’s most popular franchises, including: METAL SLUG, KING OF FIGHTERS, SAMURAI SHOWDOWN, WORLD HEROES and many more.
• 2-on-2 tag-team battle format. Switch tag-team members during matches.
• Color edit Mode – Modify the appearance of your favorite characters
• 6 hidden characters to unlock
• Exclusive new game mode – Tag Play!

I had no idea this game was coming out or was out. Just by chance, I was looking at the new releases and a single copy of “NEOGEO BATTLE COLISEUM” was on the shelf and I didn’t even need to hesitate, I’m buying this game!

Just by looking at the back cover, I was thinking…”THE KING OF FIGHTERS” but from all major SNK franchises. How cool is that?

Once I started paying the game, I quickly realized how different this game was compared to previous SNK fighters. The premise is the same…fight and survive and the cheap ass boss similar to a KING OF FIGHTERS game is oh, so present. He’s definitely a cheap boss that takes a lot of energy from you and you take so little off him. But of course, what SNK fighting game would it be without the cheap ass boss.

Available to the player are the following:

ARCADE PLAY: 2-on-2 battles against the computer.

ARCADE VS. 2-on-2 battles against another player

TAG PLAY – Play a series of tag-team battles against the computer

PRACTICE – Practice your moves

SURVIVAL CHALLENGE – Play tag-team battles until both characters health reaches zero.

During ARCADE PLAY, the goal is to fight against a number of computer-controlled characters that appear one after the other and defeat them within the time limit. When you defeat three tag teams, you are offered the following BATTLE BONUS: No Bonus, Restore Health gauge, Restore Power Gauge and Time Inrcease.

So, you can battle 6 teams and then get to the boss. Interesting enough is that the teams you go against are not so difficult if you are familiar with fighting games. You’ll be able to breeze through the game but once you get the boss, that’s another story. No breezing through the game. This boss is insanely difficult.

But the passion of this game goes to the characters. The 40 characters are just very cool to play and because a lot of them are appearing on a fighting game for the first time, it’s definitely fun to learn a lot of them.

Also, I enjoy the speed and the combos I was able to pull off. Definitely had fun with this game and still need to beat the game with other characters. But so far, this game was definitely worth the $19.

I have read that the PAL version of the game has bugs. Some people have complained about a few bugs in the PS2 US version but I have only encountered only one crash during battle and fortunately in the beginning of the match but all in all, it only happened once and never again.

The game is actually very fun and addicting, especially with all these characters involved. Definitely enhanced the enjoyment of the overall game.

I did find the boss Mizuchi to be a cheap boss that has everything coming at you. But figured out some patterns and learning what to dodge and was able to beat it with Terry Bogard and Haohmaru, Mai Shiranui and Jin Chonshu (utilizing Jin’s transportation abilities helped), K’ and Kisarah Westfield.

Some have criticized the graphics and where is the improvement? Sure, “Street Fighter IV” is doing something different image wise and SNK has done KOF in 3D format via Maximum Impact I and II. And its not all about nostalgia for me, it’s about gameplay and just having all out fun.

This game offers quite a bit for it’s price and if you are a KOF fan or SNK fighting game fan, you definitely need to pick up “NEOGEO BATTLE COLISEUM”. You won’t be disappointed!

 

[Nintendo] NINTENDO REVEALS ITS NEXT ENGAGING EXPERIENCES AT GDC

WiiWare, Wii Fit, Super Smash Bros. Brawl Shown at Game Developers Conference

REDMOND, Wash., Feb. 20, 2008 – The Game Developers Conference in San Francisco attracts the top creative minds in the video game industry. With that audience on hand, Nintendo announces news that reinforces its commitment to provide entertaining and enriching experiences for veteran and new gamers alike. WiiWare™, Nintendo’s new downloadable game service, launches May 12 and expands development opportunities for developers the same way Wii™ expanded the world of video game players. Wii Fit™, the upcoming title for Wii, launches May 19 and introduces the Wii Balance Board™ peripheral. And Super Smash Bros.® Brawl draws in fans of all kinds.

“We are excited to participate in the Game Developers Conference this year to share with developers and consumers alike our upcoming unique services and products,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “We are hopeful that they will appreciate our offerings of WiiWare, Wii Fit and Super Smash Bros. Brawl, which represent a trio that will continue to attract new players to the world of video games.”
At the conference, Nintendo speakers will outline a number of plans for the coming months on their respective panels:

WiiWare: Nintendo’s upcoming WiiWare changes the way both developers create and consumers access video games. Through WiiWare, Nintendo hopes to offer developers a virtual laboratory that serves as a breeding ground for new games, which encourages great ideas that creators always wanted to develop. The combination of low development barriers and unique game experiences found only on Wii should enable developers to try new ideas with lower risk in a quicker, more creative and affordable way.

Meanwhile Wii owners can download a multitude of cool new games from different genres, including some that are unprecedented, which can be purchased from home at a dynamic price range. WiiWare also empowers consumers to determine with their Wii Points which games have the right stuff to become the next big thing.

WiiWare will be a repository for all types of experiences – literally, something for everyone. Early WiiWare games will come from celebrated developers like Square Enix, which is creating FINAL FANTASY CRYSTAL CHRONICLES: My Life as a King, a simulation game for all ages. Also watch for games from up-and-coming developers like Frontier with its fresh, enchanting platform adventure LostWinds and a new episodic game series from Telltale. The first U.S. WiiWare games will be available on May 12.

Wii Fit: Wii Fit demonstrates Nintendo’s commitment to gamers of all kinds. It combines fun and fitness for every member of the family to keep active and play together. Wii Fit launches May 19 in the United States and comes with the weight-and-motion-sensing Wii Balance Board that Nintendo representatives demonstrated could hold great promise for future game development as well. Third-party publishers are already working on new games and applications that will make use of the Wii Balance Board. Additionally, Wii Fit includes access to the Wii Fit Channel, an interactive channel that lets users check in each day to track their fitness progress through weight and BMI. In Japan, Wii Fit has sold more than 1.4 million units since its Dec. 1 launch.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl: This action game launches March 9. With dozens of characters, settings, options and ways to play, it has something for everyone. The game includes characters from all across the Nintendo universe. The previous installment in the franchise went on to become the best-selling game of all time for Nintendo GameCube™.

Remember that Wii features parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about this and other Wii features, visit Wii.com.

About Nintendo: The worldwide innovator in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii™, Nintendo DS™, Game Boy® Advance and Nintendo GameCube™ systems. Since 1983, Nintendo has sold nearly 2.5 billion video games and more than 430 million hardware units globally, and has created industry icons like Mario™, Donkey Kong®, Metroid®, Zelda™ and Pokémon®. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo’s operations in the Western Hemisphere. For more information about Nintendo, visit the company’s Web site at www.nintendo.com.

 

[CAPCOM] CAPCOM’S DEVIL MAY CRY 4 SHIPS OVER 2 MILLION STYLISH UNITS

Fastest Selling Game In the DMC Series to Reach This Milestone

SAN MATEO, Calif — February 20, 2008 — Capcom®, a leading worldwide developer and publisher of video games, today confirmed that Devil May Cry ® 4, the latest installment in the Devil May Cry series, has shipped over two million units worldwide since its recent release for both for Sony Computer Entertainment’s PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™) and the Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft. A PC version of the game will be released in the coming months.

The Devil May Cry series is renowned for its fast-paced, stylish action and has wowed gamers around the globe. Since the release of the original title in 2001, the series has amassed total worldwide sales to date of over 9 million units and become a pillar franchise for Capcom.

Devil May Cry 4 immerses gamers in a gothic supernatural world, where a new protagonist clashes with series mainstay Dante. As new leading man Nero players will be able to unleash incredibly powerful and stylish attacks and non-stop combos using a combination of the Devil Bringer right arm and the Exceed system, both of which are new gameplay mechanics for the series. Taking full advantage of the advanced graphical and processing power of the next-gen systems it draws gamers into the Devil May Cry world like never before with highly detailed and expansive environments, even more enemies to defeat and some of the most breath-taking bosses ever conceived.

 

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