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It is looking like the US is going to be seeing the DS Lite arrive in June. While gamers had hoped that the DS Lite would be launched in tandem with Mario Bros. DS, GoNintendo.com has gotten a scan of a GameCrazy internal newsletter that shows the DS Lite arriving on the US shores in the June time frame. Unfortunately, the exact date and pricing of the console are not listed, but this is pretty strong confirmation that a May date will not be happening.
Read More 
| GoNintendo
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New Mario Bros. DS Movie
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Action, Corporate News, Nintendo DS, Trailers,
Nintendo updated the official Mario Bros. DS game site with a fairly long video highlighting some of the new power-ups in the game, including the new Mega Mushroom. Mario Bros. DS will be the first new version of the 2D Mario platformer series since the Super Nintendo, and should hopefully capture the feel of the original games and gameplay while updating the visuals to modern times. Looking at the video and the various elements, it is hard not to feel nostalgic for the original games in the series. Nintendo will be updating the site with more videos leading to the eventual release of the game on May 15. Maybe gamers will see the new DS Lite as well…
Read More | Official Mario Bros. Site
Square Enix Announces E3 Titles
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Corporate News, E3, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, Xbox 360,
Square Enix have updated the E3 2006 section of their website with the software titles they will be highlighting at this year’s Expo. The company will be showing Final Fantasy XII, Valkyrie Profile 2: Silmeria, Dirge of Cerebus: Final Fantasy VII, and Dawn of Mana, all for the Playstation 2. Square Enix will also highlight their recently released Final Fantasy XI: Treasures of Aht Urghan for the PC, PS2, and Xbox 360. DS gamers will see the port of Final Fantasy III in 3D, as well as Children of Mana and Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime. Other titles to be shown include Valkyrie Profile: Lenneth, a port of the original Playstation game on the PSP, and Final Fantasy V and Final Fantasy VI on the Gameboy Advance. Square Enix also will be showing off some of its new mobile titles. Along with everything previously announced, one should expect to have some secret titles shown for the next generation consoles.
Read More | Official Square Enix E3 Site
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Madden 2007 Cover To Feature Shaun Alexander
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Corporate News, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Gamecube, PC, PlayStation 2, PSP, Sports, Xbox 360,
EA Sports has just announced that they have selected Shaun Alexander of the NFC Champion Seattle Seahawks to be on the cover of Madden 2007. Responding to the selection, Alexander was reported as saying “To be on the cover of Madden NFL 07 is a big milestone in my career since I have always been a huge fan of this franchise…EA SPORTS is focusing on the running game in this year’s version, so I was honored when I was chosen to be on the cover to represent the improved running game.” Alexander was selected as NFL MVP, and holds the single-season rushing touchdown record (28). Seahawks fans are praying that Alexander manages to avoid the Madden Curse.
Read More | Press Release
Final Fantasy III: DS vs Original
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Nintendo DS, Retro, Role Playing Games, Screenshots,
An enterprising poster in the Dreamwiz forums has put up a image detailing the differences between Final Fantasy III on the DS and the NES release. The differences are quite striking when one can compare the two directly, and despite the relatively low quality of the scans, the game appears to be close to its next generation counterparts in graphical quality.
While previous re-releases in the series have been straight ports, the DS version of the game will be an upgrade, with everything moving to 3-D. There have also been rumors that the touch screen interface will be used in the game as well, signifying a possibly gameplay update, and other rumors suggest some kind of wireless play.
Squaresoft is targeting a Summer 2006 release for the game in Japan. No US release has been announced, but it is hard to imagine a modern Final Fantasy release not making its way to North America.
Read More | Dreamwiz.com
DS Download Stations Open Now
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Corporate News, Nintendo DS, Wireless,
The US DS Download Stations are now available in store locations across the nation. Stations should be appearing in local Best Buy, GameStop, and GameCrazy stores, and the nearest station can be found by using the station locator available on the Download Station homepage. The demo titles currently available include:
- Brain Age: Train Your Brain
- Mario Kart DS
- Tetris DS
- True Swing Golf
- Meteos
- Pokémon Trozei
- Metroid Prime Hunters Movie
Instructions on how to use the DS, and to locate your nearest station are available on Nintendo’s official Download Station site.
Read More | DS Download Station
Nintendo Reports 97 Billion Yen Profit
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Corporate News, Nintendo, Nintendo DS,
According to Reuters, Nintendo has reported a 97 billion yen profit for 2005/6. This is a 27% increase over their projected profit of 75 billion yen, and represents and 8% increase from last year’s 87.4 billion yen.
Nintendo credits favorable exchange rates and the incredible success of the Nintendo DS for its profit increase.
Read More | Reuters
DS Lite Imports in Stock
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Hot Deals, Nintendo DS, Portable/Mobile,
Play-asia.com currently has both the Enamel Navy and Ice Blue DS Lites in stock for $199.90 plus shipping, so if you just can’t wait for the more compact, brighter DS to hit stateside, this may be your chance. Users might want to consider that imported units will be difficult to impossible to return for warrantee repair, so if your DS Lite has dead pixels, you may be stuck with them. NCSX.com, at least, has warned that a fair number of the DS Lites they have received have had dead pixels, saying:
“Unavoidably, they are present on the NDS Lite. The five NDS Lites that we kept for our company use all have 1 to 6 dead pixels and there’s a better than average chance that the NDS Lite that you purchase will have dead pixels as well. Dead pixels on new hardware products such as the NDS Lite are common and manufacturers will not accept returns because of them - recall the PSP situation from 2004.”
Read More | Play-Asia.com DS Lite Page
NSCX.com DS Lite Dead Pixel Warning
New Super Mario Brothers Delay:
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Action, Internet, Nintendo, Nintendo DS, Release Dates,
Nintendo launched their preview site for the New Super Mario Brothers game for the Nintendo DS, and it came with some bad news. According to the site, the official release date for the game is now May 21, 2006, a week’s delay from the last announced date. EBGames.com still has the game listed as coming in on May 15, 2006, but gamers can expect that to change. Nintendo softens the blow somewhat by offering some desktop wallpapers for download on the site.
Update: The official site release date has been changed back to May 15, 2006.
Read More | New Super Mario Bros.
Pokemon Ranger: Gotta Draw Them All?
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Action, Nintendo DS, Role Playing Games,
A new preview of the Japanese version of the latest Pokémon game to tap into the “gotta catch ‘em all” compulsion, Pokémon Ranger for the Nintendo DS has surfaced. Ranger is probably the closest of any of the spin-offs to the parent RPG in gameplay yet, but with all input handled by the stylus. The gameplay is purportedly a mix of action-RPG style gameplay using the pen input and the more traditional RPG offerings of a standard Pokémon game. Pokémon are captured by drawing circles around them; the more advanced the monster, the more circles have to be drawn. Complicating this is the fact that the creatures move around, and there are obstacles to be dealt with. The Pokémon “rock-paper-scissors” style gameplay comes into effect when the player has captured some Pokémon, the various special abilities can be used to proceed further in the game, and to hinder enemies in battle. Nintendo has yet to announce a U.S. release date for the game, but this almost seems to be a lock for U.S. customers.
Read More | 1Up
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