MetaFilter posts tagged with nintendods

Professor Layton and the DS Adventure Game Revival

macross city flaneur — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 09:17:28 -0800

Despite the oft-declared death of the Adventure Game, Nintendo's success has raised the genre's mainstream profile and quality to a level unseen since the 90s. The DS in particular has been an ideal platform for AGs, leading to the release of a number of popular Japanese titles in the American market . Professor Layton and the Curious Village is only the most recent to receive praise from western game rags - but it is the most consistently well-reviewed - making many short-lists of the best DS games of 2008. Featuring beautiful illustration, engrossing puzzles, and a charming story, Professor Layton topped Japanese software charts on its release (as did its sequel, Professor Layton and the Devil's Box, still unreleased in the US), though all indications are that its American sales have been underwhelming. Is this a failure of marketing? Is the Japanese gamer's sensibility really so different? Can American game-makers use the AG as a tool for expanding the market to non-traditional gamers, something that by all accounts, they want? Or is the "dead and buried" attitude too entrenched to be overcome? After all, Capcom and Nintendo are relatively new at this. What's to prevent EA or Microsoft from trying their hand at it? Or could Lucasarts remember its history and revive the form? Maybe the game industry just can't get over how brain-dead the technology behind AGs is - but the same is true of Rock Band and Guitar Hero (and Brain Age and Nintendogs and Warioware: Smooth Moves).

GBATemp's Nintendo DS homebrew bounty.

archagon — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 23:08:51 -0800

GBATemp is offering a generous monthly bounty for the best Nintendo DS homebrew: $200, plus donations (currently up to $200), plus $50 from Dev-fr.org for the runner-up. This move will hopefully bolster an already thriving homebrew community. Some DS homebrew: a fairly comprehensive list on Wikipedia, a dated list of 30 great homebrew apps, a guide to emulators on the DS If you want to purchase a DS flash cart, browse this forum for advice. (Scroll down past all the subforums.) GBATemp is one of the best resources for DS homebrew. Unfortunately, there's a lot of piracy talk, even though ROM links are explicitly forbidden.

Nintendo DS: Is that a music production studio in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

lekvar — Thu, 22 May 2008 20:20:25 -0800

Looking for a new musical toy to supplement your current studio setup? You may already have a MIDI-via-WiFi-enabled* sequencer (1, 2)/drum-and-bass groovebox/audio sampler & scratcher/Mod Tracker in your pocket!
*a wired version is also available. Videos of the software in use: GrooveStep Korg DS-10 DScratch (warning: may be a little loud) NitroTracker: 1, 2 Compiled from Create Digital Music and other sources.

Doesn't quite look to be a Chu-Chu Rocket, but...

Rev. Syung Myung Me — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 05:47:37 -0800

The Japanese Trailer to Kokoro Scan. Japanese game trailers always seem pretty interesting and fun. And, well, most often more-or-less nonsensical. This is for the new game Kokoro Scan, which, um, looks like it might be a dating sim of some sort? Maybe? The animation and segues are pretty interesting, and, though it's 6 minutes -- awfully long for a trailer, particularly one sans any gameplay (I think) -- it's interesting/off-the-wall enough to be engaging. What do cartoon nipples, pixellated white things and bananas have in common? (via)

Happy birthday, Mr President. Here's a present.

Hogshead — Thu, 06 Jul 2006 17:36:22 -0800

For his 60th birthday, Nintendo of America sends President Bush a present: a DS Lite and a copy of the smash-hit game Brain Age: Train Your Brain In Minutes A Day along with a great covering letter. An astute piece of marketing? An honest gift? Or just a nice bit of guerrilla humour?