Japan Gaming Guide

On August 7th a remake of the original Fire Emblem is coming out in Japan for the DS. As well as enhanced graphics and use of the dual screens, the game will feature online multiplayer for two players.

Details are being drip fed onto the game’s official site along with images of the game’s characters and story details. This version will feature additional characters and scenes, but will still center on Prince Marth’s quest to save his kingdom and his sister.

New Shadow Dragons and the Blade of Light will set you back Y4800.

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The new DS game Legend of Starfish came out a couple of weeks ago. We haven’t tried this but you might want to take a look at the official site. Looks like a cute and cuddly action game.

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Schoolkids in a Tokyo school got hit with the lucky stick recently. The Nintendo DS is being used to teach them English in classes. The whole thing is part of a trial by Nintendo – participating schools get 40 free DS consoles and English training software.

English teaching is a bit patchy in Japanese schools, it’s not uncommon to have teachers with little practical experience of using the language backed up by the occasional foreign kid on a gap year. Anything that gives them a little variety is bound to be an improvement.

The kids say they love it, but teachers have understandably mixed feelings. We think it’s great, there’s loads of potential for using games in schools, and if English teachers can be consigned to the wicked dustbin of history then hurrah!

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Band Brothers DX is coming to the DS in a couple of weeks. The DJ sim lets you pick any part of any song to play. You can also sing along via a karaoke mode and can take part in an 8 person multiplayer jam over wi-fi.

If you got a Wii you’ll be able to play the game sound on your TV via the new Wii Speaker Channel. Hundreds of new songs will be made available for wi-fi download.

A load of screens and info is on the official website now.

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The life of a super-cute zookeeper isn’t an easy one. You have to work out, put on shows for visitors and make sure everyone is looked after, including the cute rabbit, elderly monkey and that pesky human who thinks he’s running the show.

You can get your paws on Kumatanchi DS on June 13th. Two more pics after the break.

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A few pics and a video of the new DS game featuring the hugely popular Doraemon.

[Read, via Go Nintendo]

India is famous for producing some of the finest mathematicians in the world. There are apparently more Indians working for NASA than Americans, so they obviously know what they’re doing. But why do Indians produce such a numerate workforce? What can the rest of us learn from them?

Ever eager to unveil the deepest secrets of other cultures, we bring you news of Indian Calculation DS. The first game to teach Indian mathematical skills is coming out March 28th, and will feature a range of exercises and tests presented by elephants and men on flying carpets.

We can’t wait!

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Rumours that full DS games would be appearing on the Wii download channel have turned out to be false. The rumour allegedly came from Nintendo America’s Reggie Fils-Aime, but Nintendo have released a statement saying that he said nothing of the sort. Of course you’ll still be able to download demos from the channel, due to launch in the US ‘in the future’.

[Read, via Engadget]

New Year is a time for us to reflect on things and think about how we can make ourselves that little bit better than we were last year. Donate to charity, shed some pounds, learn a language. As if! Why worry about improving yourself when you could improve the whole world? Everybody would have to obey you, of course, but that wouldn’t be a problem if you were an all powerful God, capable of spewing forth volcanoes and thunderstorms with a mere click of your holy fingers.

That’s why it’s so great that Populous is being remade for the Nintendo DS – admit it, you always wanted to throw fireballs with the stylus, didn’t you? In February you’ll be able to!

Here’s a trailer to whet your appetites for destruction.

[Trailer, via DS Fanboy]

Thanks to the magic of the Wii Download Channel I was able to check out a demo of Winning Eleven: Goal x Goal. The demo lets you play a full match as Barcelona vs Real Madrid.

Apologies for the blurry video – it was pretty tricky playing the game with a camera between my head and the screen.

The graphics are functional – not beautiful, but quite impressive considering the limitations of the platform. It’s possible to recognize the more distinctive players, and the game is smooth and glitch free, unlike the earlier DS version of the game. The bottom screen is predictably used for map duty, again functional, but the way it’s positioned makes it much easier to take in what’s going on than in some other versions of the game. It really makes a difference to your play if you pay attention to the whole pitch and lets you make some defence splitting long passes. When you get a free kick the game switches to passable 3d, a nice touch – in fact all the basic gameplay features of the home versions seem to have been crammed in here. You can also use the touchscreen to change your tactics on the fly – and check which half of the pitch you’re supposed to be attacking – always good to know. There are only two shoulder buttons of course – I don’t know if the special moves made it into this version.The demo was pretty easy. I wasn’t able to tweak any settings, so I don’t know what difficulty options will be available in the full version, but I was able to score on my first game, and put 5 goals past Real Madrid on my third. Here’s hoping the final game will offer a decent challenge to series veterans.Aside from the difficulty, the gameplay seemed pretty much spot on. All the basic moves from the home versions seemed to work on this one. The game feels really fun to play and just right for the DS. It certainly doesn’t offer anything new, but it’s a really good translation of the game, and if that’s what you’re looking for, this should be a worth purchase. Read the rest of this entry »