Official Nintendo DS and 3DS Thread (Including WiFi Codes)

[MJ4H]

Cool. Wife picked it up today and is on the couch playing it right now. She was asking me about digital clocks and consecutive numbers a bit ago.

[samifan24]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

The puzzles aren't as challenging as I thought they'd be (and some are just rather stupid), but it's still a good bit of fun.

I'm about 4 chapters in (I think, I don't have the DS in front of me) and the hardest puzzles I've encountered are about seven or eight worth "50 picarats." I thought I read somewhere they go up to worth "100 picarats?" I've found a couple of trick questions which made me laugh after I didn't read them carefully enough. I'm still having a blast, though.

[MikeVic]

I bought that Professor Layton game yesterday and Front Mission. Playing Layton and liking it a lot so far after the first couple of puzzles.

[MJ4H]

I am about 8 puzzles in myself (30 minutes or so of game time). I really like this. The puzzles are cool but the artwork and story are really great. That surprised me. I will probably keep this one in the DS for awhile.

Plus it gives me some things to challenge some of my students with if they get done with work early or something.

[General Mike]

I picked up Mario & Sonic at the Olympics today. I really like it. Decent use of the stylus as well.

[samifan24]

I've now completed 75 puzzles in Layton and am still having a blast. I'm pretty close to the end of the game, though.

[terpkristin]

Originally Posted by samifan24

I've now completed 75 puzzles in Layton and am still having a blast. I'm pretty close to the end of the game, though.

I finished it last weekend. I didn't think the puzzles were all that challenging, I only can't solve 1 of the main 120 (a stupid sliding picture puzzle) and all the others I got without hints. I haven't messed around with the extras yet on it, as I wanted to move on to other things.

I'm currently in the 2nd case of Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations (PW3). I picked up copies of Picross and Wordjong in a used bin at EB. I don't know when I'll get to them but they look like they can be decent, for brain-engaging activities.

Now if only I could get PSN to not have issues.

/tk

[dawgfan]

Layton has been a lot of fun. Anyone that's playing it/played it though should get a kick out of the Penny Arcade strip they did a few weeks back:

[MikeVic]

I'm dumb. I have so much trouble with the puzzles.

[MJ4H]

haha that is a great comic

[fflix]

Puzzle Quest, a puzzle/rpg game, is worth checking out. The battle mechanics uses a bejeweled game. I found the story to be very shallow, but the gameplay and building of my character through items and abilities was very addictive. A space themed sequel, Galactrix, was just announced which is probably now my most anticipated ds game.

[terpkristin]

Hmm I realized that in my post about finishing Layton, it kind of sounded like I was "meh" on the game...I'm not. I loved it, and I'm looking forward to getting to the downloadables and the other unlockables...when I get it back from the friend I lent it to. And, once I finish a few other games that are in my "stack to complete." Maybe ,just maybe one day I'll finish that last puzzle I didn't finish.

Oh, and that PA comic is fabulous! Some parts of the game I definitely felt like "oh come on already, I just want to move on, I don't want to solve your silly puzzle".

/tk

[MJ4H]

Actually I wish the rest of the game would get out of the way so I can get to the next puzzle most of the time.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by fflix

Puzzle Quest, a puzzle/rpg game, is worth checking out. The battle mechanics uses a bejeweled game. I found the story to be very shallow, but the gameplay and building of my character through items and abilities was very addictive. A space themed sequel, Galactrix, was just announced which is probably now my most anticipated ds game.

I loved Puzzle Quest for quite a while. I got up to around level 40 and my interest slowed quite a bit as there wasn't much challenge as I could almost always win unless the computer had some "super cheat move" that wiped out half of my life in one turn. Also, I noticed that each time you powered on the game and fought random monsters, you got the exact same puzzle and went through an identical sequence every time.

I should go back and finish it at some point, tho.

SI

[IMetTrentGreen]

So I just got Professor Layton, and I'm about 7 hours in. Right now, I'm trying to figure out how to rig the DS so I can have sex with it.

However that first downloadable puzzle can fuck right off.

[Terps]

I just finished Phoenix Wright: AA, and actually found the elusive 2nd one in a bargain bin at Circuit City. Awesome.

I also picked up New Super Mario Bros. and I am through the first world on that. About 9 levels (operations) in on Trauma Center, and finally beat the first boss on Castlevania: POR after about a month of trying.

I realized that I play the DS more than I ever did any of the more recent consoles. I even sold my PS3 on EBay for $600 after I got my DS.

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by Terps

I realized that I play the DS more than I ever did any of the more recent consoles.

Ditto. In addition, the majority of my gaming time on the 360 has come in the form of XBox Live Arcade games.

I love me a big, immersive game experience on a console, but I just don't have much time anymore for them, so casual gaming fills in what gaps I have much more easily.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by dawgfan

Ditto. In addition, the majority of my gaming time on the 360 has come in the form of XBox Live Arcade games.

I love me a big, immersive game experience on a console, but I just don't have much time anymore for them, so casual gaming fills in what gaps I have much more easily.

My wife plays her new DS much more than any of the consoles or the computer as well, and I expect it will remain this way even when the novelty of it wears off. She is hooked on Puzzle Quest and Professor Layton right now.

[terpkristin]

Originally Posted by dawgfan

Ditto. In addition, the majority of my gaming time on the 360 has come in the form of XBox Live Arcade games.

I love me a big, immersive game experience on a console, but I just don't have much time anymore for them, so casual gaming fills in what gaps I have much more easily.

I seem to be playing my DS and PSP more than my PS3 and 360 right now, but I think that's in large part due to my schedule and what's going on around me. I don't know that I think the difference between the handhelds and the big consoles, though, is that the handhelds are for "casual" gaming. When I think of "casual gaming" I think of Bejeweled, Peggle, and the like, but on my DS right now I'm playing Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations, which I don't particularly consider to be a casual game. Sure, the DS has probably more than its fair share of casual games, but just because I'm playing my DS doesn't mean I'm playing one.

In the last few months I've played: Phoenix Wright: Justice For All, Pokemon Diamond, Mario Kart, Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime (which is a fantastic game, sort of Zelda-esque in how it plays), Phantom Hourglass (which I thought was one of the worst games I've ever played), and Layton (which of all the titles I've played recently is probably the only one I consider to be a casual game).

Not really trying to argue, just saying that I don't really consider my DS gaming time as "casual" gaming time (when I want casual gaming, I start up Yahtzee on my jump drive or Peggle on my iPod).

/tk

[terpkristin]

Dola,
I just picked up Anno 1701, I can't wait to give it a whirl. Not quite sure when I'll start it, though, as I also have Disgaea going on in the PSP and MLB08 on PS3.

/tk

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

I seem to be playing my DS and PSP more than my PS3 and 360 right now, but I think that's in large part due to my schedule and what's going on around me. I don't know that I think the difference between the handhelds and the big consoles, though, is that the handhelds are for "casual" gaming. When I think of "casual gaming" I think of Bejeweled, Peggle, and the like, but on my DS right now I'm playing Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations, which I don't particularly consider to be a casual game. Sure, the DS has probably more than its fair share of casual games, but just because I'm playing my DS doesn't mean I'm playing one.

My main DS games of late have been all of the Advance Wars games, multiple Puzzle League/Tetris Attack games and Professor Layton. Puzzle League is definitely a casual game, and the thing about all of the other games is that they can be easily saved at any time and doing so doesn't seem terribly disruptive to the "flow" of playing those games.

By contrast, if I'm playing NCAA football, I feel like I need to at least get through either a season or an off-season (I sim only) at one sitting; if I'm playing Forza 2, I want to win a race challenge, and that often require multiple attempts. I haven't started Halo 3 or Bioshock yet, mainly because I want to be able to devote dedicated chunks of time to those games at each sitting (2+ hours). While I can certainly play my DS games for that long (well, the Advance Wars games and Layton), I can also very easily compartmentalize those experiences in much smaller chunks. And the Xbox Live Arcade games also fit that criteria.

[terpkristin]

Originally Posted by dawgfan

My main DS games of late have been all of the Advance Wars games, multiple Puzzle League/Tetris Attack games and Professor Layton. Puzzle League is definitely a casual game, and the thing about all of the other games is that they can be easily saved at any time and doing so doesn't seem terribly disruptive to the "flow" of playing those games.

By contrast, if I'm playing NCAA football, I feel like I need to at least get through either a season or an off-season (I sim only) at one sitting; if I'm playing Forza 2, I want to win a race challenge, and that often require multiple attempts. I haven't started Halo 3 or Bioshock yet, mainly because I want to be able to devote dedicated chunks of time to those games at each sitting (2+ hours). While I can certainly play my DS games for that long (well, the Advance Wars games and Layton), I can also very easily compartmentalize those experiences in much smaller chunks. And the Xbox Live Arcade games also fit that criteria.

Yeah, I guess we have a different interpretation of what a "casual game" is. When I think of casual games, I think of games my mom would probably enjoy, such as:
Brain Age
Layton
Clubhouse Games
NYT Crosswords
Planet Puzzle League
Peggle (iPod game)
Bejeweled
Solitaire

While I can agree that many DS games are easy to pick up and put down, most of the ones I have been playing only let you save in certain situations, so they're much more akin to the bigger console games in that regard, though the DS is easy enough to sleep if I need to put it down. Of course, I can also fairly easily play my DS or PSP for a good long while, if it's a game I'm digging, just as easily as I can play for a long gaming session on my bigger consoles...



/tk

[Big Fo]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

Dola,
I just picked up Anno 1701, I can't wait to give it a whirl.

I didn't know this game was finally out in the US, I might pick this up alongside Smash Brothers tomorrow.

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

Of course, I can also fairly easily play my DS or PSP for a good long while, if it's a game I'm digging, just as easily as I can play for a long gaming session on my bigger consoles...

Totally agree - I put in some long sessions solving Layton, and I can play any of the Advance Wars games for long stretches. But for a variety of reasons, I find I can more easily pause or save and play very short stretches on the DS as opposed to the 360.

[terpkristin]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

I didn't know this game was finally out in the US, I might pick this up alongside Smash Brothers tomorrow.

Just FYI, I think it's an EB/Gamestop exclusive, so if you don't see it anywhere else, that's probably why..

/tk

[hukarez]

Originally Posted by MikeVic

I bought that Professor Layton game yesterday and Front Mission. Playing Layton and liking it a lot so far after the first couple of puzzles.

I should've picked up Front Mission for the DS when it was $19.99...

[Godzilla Blitz]

For the first time in a long time, I messed around with a PC game this weekend. Otherwise, my timing has almost all been on the DS. Things have been silly busy lately, so I'm still playing the same three games I've been playing for the past few months:

Pokemon Diamond (DS)
Pokemon Emerald (GBA)
Final Fantasy IV (GBA)

One of these days I hope to actually finish one of them...

[Chubby]

Well I finally convinced the girlfriend to let me buy us a DS. When we bought her nephew a used GBA with a couple games she played it a good deal before we gave it to him so I know she'll like the DS. Had to wait til I got my tax refund before she caved

Picked up a red DS Lite and Ace Attorney: Apollo Justice

[ageofquarrel]

i just got Mystery Dungeon Shiren The Wanderer about a week ago it a remake of an old super famicom game. Its a console rougelike Ive been having a lot of fun with it.

Its been getting horrible reviews but this is a good explantion of it
http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2008/03/...ery_d.php#more

I just beat the main quest

[Godzilla Blitz]

Originally Posted by ageofquarrel

i just got Mystery Dungeon Shiren The Wanderer about a week ago it a remake of an old super famicom game. Its a console rougelike Ive been having a lot of fun with it.

Its been getting horrible reviews but this is a good explantion of it
http://www.gamesetwatch.com/2008/03/...ery_d.php#more

I just beat the main quest

Congrats on beating the main quest!

Shiren the Wanderer might very well be my Game of the Year. I love this game.

I did manage to make it to the Last Floor once, where a Skull Mage turned me into a riceball then hit me with a slowness spell. That allowed some other baddies to catch me and put me out of my misery. So close.

[Chubby]

grabbed FF III for me and Pokeman:Pearl for the wife, i think i finally figured out how to get my DS online thru my wireless router so I'm happy at that.

[oliegirl]

I just got Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney in from GameFly and am totally addicted...I'm in the 3rd trial/story now. There have been a few frustrating parts where I got a little stuck but overall I love the game. Already have the other PW games in my queue

[samifan24]

I never play my DS anymore. I have a bunch of games for it and I just got it in December but I just don't care about it enough to play it. I never finished "Hotel Dusk" either.

[hukarez]

Originally Posted by samifan24

I never play my DS anymore. I have a bunch of games for it and I just got it in December but I just don't care about it enough to play it. I never finished "Hotel Dusk" either.

Don't suppose you're looking to part with it?

[Big Fo]

Originally Posted by samifan24

I never play my DS anymore. I have a bunch of games for it and I just got it in December but I just don't care about it enough to play it. I never finished "Hotel Dusk" either.

If you like RPGs at all get The World Ends With You, it's really good. It's up there with Advance Wars: Dual Strike and Mario Kart for the best game on the DS for me.

[terpkristin]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

If you like RPGs at all get The World Ends With You, it's really good.

I just picked up The World Ends With You, I'm looking forward to giving it a whirl tonight/tomorrow. I finally finished Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (PSP), so my portable gaming is moving back to the DS for a little while. I have a large stack of games I'd like to get through, starting with TWEWY.

/tk

[sterlingice]

I'm curious about TWEWY from everyone. I've been wanting to get it, but my DS broke a couple of weeks ago and I just repaired it yesterday (new case since once of the hinges broke). So I broke out the GBA SP and started on Golden Sun and am having a lot of fun with it.

SI

[Terps]

MLB Power Pros is being released on the DS this fall. Awesome.

http://www.dsfanboy.com/2008/05/09/2...wer-pros-2008/

[Big Fo]

Originally Posted by Terps

MLB Power Pros is being released on the DS this fall. Awesome.

http://www.dsfanboy.com/2008/05/09/2...wer-pros-2008/

Great to see the DS finally get some decent looking sports games with this and Tecmo Bowl coming out this fall.

I'm curious about TWEWY from everyone. I've been wanting to get it, but my DS broke a couple of weeks ago and I just repaired it yesterday (new case since once of the hinges broke). So I broke out the GBA SP and started on Golden Sun and am having a lot of fun with it.

The battle system is different to anything I've played on the DS. On the bottom screen you control the main character with the stylus, dragging him around the screen and you also attack the enemies with the stylus depending on what kind of pins you have. With some pins you rapidly tap on the enemies to shoot a stream of bullets, or slash upwards at a group of enemies to hit them with a giant icicle, and some work in other ways but you get to use several of them at once. While this is going on your partner is also fighting on the top screen, and he/she is controlled using the D-pad or the four face buttons. If you do combos you can send a glowing puck back and forth from the top to bottom screen, control the person who has the puck and once you link enough combos together you can unleash a massive joint attack. If that all sounds a bit much you can set the top screen to be controlled automatically or set a delay where if you don't do anything for a few seconds your partner will attack without needing any input. The battle system is really fun if you don't mind stylus controls.

Your different pins all level up when you use them and can evolve into newer, more powerful ones. They even gain experience when you don't play the game for a few days which is kinda neat. Two more cool things about the battles are that once you've leveled up some you can pick which level you're going to fight at. Choosing to fight on say level 5 when your character is a 16 will increase the item drop rate considerably. You can also link battles together to fight several enemies in succession without getting your health bar refueled, also increasing the drop rate.

The 2D graphics are very stylish, the soundtrack is modern Japanese music and has a lot of catchy tracks, and the story is pretty good so far even if the main character starts off as moody little emo-kid. I really like the game, the battles are lots of fun and there's a lot of depth in terms of adjusting your level, choosing pins, clothes, and meals that can all give stat boosts.

[terpkristin]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

The battle system is different to anything I've played on the DS. On the bottom screen you control the main character with the stylus, dragging him around the screen and you also attack the enemies with the stylus depending on what kind of pins you have. With some pins you rapidly tap on the enemies to shoot a stream of bullets, or slash upwards at a group of enemies to hit them with a giant icicle, and some work in other ways but you get to use several of them at once. While this is going on your partner is also fighting on the top screen, and he/she is controlled using the D-pad or the four face buttons. If you do combos you can send a glowing puck back and forth from the top to bottom screen, control the person who has the puck and once you link enough combos together you can unleash a massive joint attack. If that all sounds a bit much you can set the top screen to be controlled automatically or set a delay where if you don't do anything for a few seconds your partner will attack without needing any input. The battle system is really fun if you don't mind stylus controls.

Your different pins all level up when you use them and can evolve into newer, more powerful ones. They even gain experience when you don't play the game for a few days which is kinda neat. Two more cool things about the battles are that once you've leveled up some you can pick which level you're going to fight at. Choosing to fight on say level 5 when your character is a 16 will increase the item drop rate considerably. You can also link battles together to fight several enemies in succession without getting your health bar refueled, also increasing the drop rate.

The 2D graphics are very stylish, the soundtrack is modern Japanese music and has a lot of catchy tracks, and the story is pretty good so far even if the main character starts off as moody little emo-kid. I really like the game, the battles are lots of fun and there's a lot of depth in terms of adjusting your level, choosing pins, clothes, and meals that can all give stat boosts.

I, on the other hand, really want to like this game, and I'm finding I can't stand it.

The controls don't work for me. I guess I must be in the minority, but no matter how many times I try, certain pin attacks (even in the riduculous tutorial) don't work as advertised for me, and half the time the stylus control is so sloppy that instead of moving my guy out of the way, it thinks I want to attack (and never with the attack I think I'm TRYING to use). Maybe SOME of this is because of the screen protector I put on it, but I can't imagine it all is. Then again everybody seemed to love the stupid stylus control of Phantom Hourglass and I thought that was a disaster. On the top screen, the game keeps thinking I'm going inactive, as it's doing a lot of auto-play, and even if I hit buttons in the direction the enemy is, it doesn't always bring up the control thingie for the girl character. Too often what happens is that I've hit the d-pad once too many times because it's slow to come up and instead of being able to do a useful attack, it thinks I've hit the button twice so I get locked out of certain moves.

The music is catchy at first but after awhile becomes annoying as sin as it's a constant repeat of some Madonna-esque song. The main character seems to start off as a whiny emo kid and the other one, the girl, is like any girl in most male-centric anime's (and I say this as one who typically loves anime).

This one's definitely going back to Gamestop for me...a shame, too, as I really WANTED to love this game. I've heard a lot of good things, but after a solid day of playing, I think it's the dumbest game I've played since Phantom Hourglass.

/tk

[terpkristin]

Dola delayed by a day..
I saw an article on Wired today about TWEWY (posted below). I agree with the article in general that the concept for the gameplay, going back and forth between the 2 screens, is unique and is a part of the draw of the game. For me, though, the game fell not because it was a challenge to manage both parts of the battle, but because the stylus control seemed...poor at best and the upper screen control seemed slightly slower than I expected. With the stylus, it would use the wrong pins/techniques even if I was tapping vs. slashing, and I could never seem to get Neku to move (it kept seeing that as a different pin usage).

Anyway, this is the article. Original link.

Complex Gameplay Saves the Day in The World Ends With You

By Clive Thompson 05.19.08 | 12:00 AM
Sometimes, a game is so ridiculously complicated it just begs you to throw it away.
That's how I felt after an hour of playing The World Ends With You, the hot new role-playing game for the Nintendo DS. In TWEWY, you're a classic Square Enix hero: a surly teenager who comes complete with mysterious secrets, a broken emotional life and spiky anime hair. Everyone gasps in astonishment a lot, and you're thrust unwillingly into a cosmic conflict with creepy monsters.
It's the "conflict" part that drove me crazy. TWEWY offers a combat system that is incredibly innovative and brilliant -- but also impossibly, annoyingly convoluted. It defied me to hurl my DS against the wall.
And yet I didn't. I actually wound up loving the game. And therein lies a very interesting lesson, which suggests that even in our age of superaccessible, EZ-games like Wii Sports and Guitar Hero and Bejeweled, there are rich delights to be had in videogames that are more complicated than a moon landing.
First off, let me explain just how bonkers this game is. In TWEWY, you fight in a cooperative duo, with one fighter on the top screen of the DS and one on the bottom. But here's the thing: You control both fights simultaneously.
You start off fighting on the bottom screen, where you execute attacks in several DS-unique moves -- swiping the stylus to perform a "slash," dragging it to produce a trailer of fire or hurl objects telekinetically, and tapping it to summon lightning or bullets. (Sometimes you also blow or shout into the DS microphone.) Meanwhile, on the top, it's a Dance Dance Revolution thing: You follow button-pushing sequences to initiate attacks.
To make things even more obtuse, you're trying to coordinate the actions of the two fighters. If you pull off a really good combo with one, a glowing green orb will float over to the other fighter -- giving him or her a power-up. Pull off a combo with that player, and the orb floats back to the first fighter. Keep it up, and your power grows to thermonuclear proportions.
But this means that your attention is not only flitting from screen to screen -- it's shifting from one control scheme to another. Gamers are familiar with the sense of flow that comes from repeatedly working with a single tool. Here, it's like the game is actually trying to disrupt that flow.
Oh, and yeah, I almost forgot: There's this nutty three-card monte game going on in the uppermost portion of the top screen. If you execute the attack at the right instant, it'll uncover one of the cards and release yet another power-up. Now you have to zip your eyes up to the very top of the screen every few seconds in addition to everything else.
"Oh, come on," I muttered after about 15 minutes of this. Seriously, TWEWY felt like some sort of information-age joke -- a grim metaphor for interruption-plagued office work. I couldn't keep pace. As the enemies piled on, I'd completely lose track of what was going on, and my team would either die or limp away from a battle.
Now, Square Enix clearly realized the madness it was unleashing on its audience. Thankfully, the developers offered a way to opt out: You can let the top team member fight on autopilot. Needless to say, I quickly opted for autopilot, heaving a sigh of relief.
Yet here's the interesting thing: I kept on getting lured back into the embrace of the dual-control system. Why? Partly for tactical reasons. I discovered that the autopilot AI is a good fighter, but not a superb one. If you use it, you won't achieve really spectacular, ground-pounding combo attacks. If you want to bring in the really big guns, you have to roll up your sleeves and wrestle with both screens.
At that point, it becomes a matter of pride. You're handed a really hard-to-control race car, and you've been dared to drive it. Sure, you're going to crash it at first -- but just imagine how much fun it'll be when you're in control.
Oddly, that's precisely what started to happen. I learned to control the game. Maybe I'd ambiently absorbed some dual-screen strategy from hours of watching the AI fight. Or possibly my nervous system went into a Darwinian panic and rapidly evolved some fresh muscle-memory wetware.
Either way, I suddenly hit my stride after a few hours of playing The World Ends With You. My brain began to shift effortlessly from screen to screen. I entered a new flow state, where the stylus-swiping and the button-mashing stopped fighting for control of my prefrontal cortex and became one elegant, ninjalike motion in the serene pool of my mind. Presto! I pulled off my first spectacularly long-chained sequence of attacks, unlocking one of those intergalactic, superultra-anime-death combos for which Square Enix is famous. When the dust settled, I stood amongst the seared remains of my enemies and basked in the angelic glow of a level-up.
Let me tell you -- it felt excellent. It's fun to excel in any game, of course. But when you excel in a game with such an aggressively challenging control system, it's more than success: It's like you've grown a third eye. I felt like some cocaine-jacked Wall Street trader, surfing my multiscreened Bloomberg terminal while reducing the U.S. economy to a cinder with millisecond subprime-mortgage gambits. I think I went about 40 minutes without blinking.
All of which brings me back to the Wii, Guitar Hero and the idea that simple control systems are the way of the future for videogames. Obviously, on one level it's true that there are tons of people who are turned off by complexity in gameplay mechanics. The huge success of the Wiimote and simple, casual games attests to that.
But there will always be a particular joy that comes from a game that asks you to rise above yourself. It's a steep hill, but there's a promised land on the other side. The World Ends With You is a game that kicks your ass, and then invites you to kick back.
- - -
Clive Thompson is a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine and a regular contributor to Wired and New York magazines. Look for more of Clive's observations on his blog, collision detection.

[hukarez]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

I'm curious about TWEWY from everyone. I've been wanting to get it, but my DS broke a couple of weeks ago and I just repaired it yesterday (new case since once of the hinges broke). So I broke out the GBA SP and started on Golden Sun and am having a lot of fun with it.

SI

I've played it up to Day 3, I think. It seems like a nice enough game - just not exactly what I had expected. I have a tendency to play in spurts though. For a short while, I'll keep playing before one of my hands start to cramp up.

Every now and then, I would turn it on to accumulate some PP that have stocked up, and then shut it off again. I guess when Comic Con rolls around here, I'll eventually get to the point where I can have it on "mingle mode" or what not - I'm told some pins evolve that way... which, unfortunately, has me considering re-starting the game since I wasn't aware some of my pins can vary in evolving depending on experience accumulated via the shutdown or mingle mode...

Lately though, I lucked out on a brand new copy of Advance Wars: Days of Ruin for $20, a copy of FFXII: Revenant Wings. I've actually been going back and forth with Hoshigami: Ruining Blue Earth Remix and Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword as of late.

[samifan24]

I just beat Hotel Dusk tonight. It was a fun game although I really got stuck a couple of times. Maybe now I'll check out one of those much heralded Advance Wars or Phoenix Wright games. I'm trying to decide between the following, any suggestions?

- Advance Wars (I've played one of the older games in the series and liked it very much)
- Phoenix Wright (I've never played one of these but think I might like it as its similar to Hotel Dusk...why are the games so hard to find?)
- Animal Crossing (Seems interesting but maybe too childish?)
- Rune Factory (Same concerns as Animal Crossing)

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by hukarez

Lately though, I lucked out on a brand new copy of Advance Wars: Days of Ruin for $20, a copy of FFXII: Revenant Wings. I've actually been going back and forth with Hoshigami: Ruining Blue Earth Remix and Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword as of late.

I recently picked both up, too. Haven't gotten into them yet. Did you get Advance Wars from the Amazon clearance and FFXII from a Target clearance? It'll be a little bit before I get to anything else- I started up Golden Sun while my DS was down since I never played it on the GBA and am having quite a bit of fun with it. I also picked up Phantom Hourglass and Pokemon Diamond since they were $20 each at Radio Shack a couple of weeks ago.

BTW, my DS repair went pretty well. Ordered a new dark navy case off of ebay but kept some of the white from my old one so it's a little two toned. The only problem is that I think I need to do a little over again because the wire routing that I did wasn't the greatest so it doesn't fit together perfectly. The DS isn't the easist thing to work on and I don't think it's meant to be taken apart much. And this is from someone who takes apart laptops routinely for work.

SI

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by samifan24

I just beat Hotel Dusk tonight. It was a fun game although I really got stuck a couple of times. Maybe now I'll check out one of those much heralded Advance Wars or Phoenix Wright games. I'm trying to decide between the following, any suggestions?

- Advance Wars (I've played one of the older games in the series and liked it very much)
- Phoenix Wright (I've never played one of these but think I might like it as its similar to Hotel Dusk...why are the games so hard to find?)
- Animal Crossing (Seems interesting but maybe too childish?)
- Rune Factory (Same concerns as Animal Crossing)

I haven't played the new Advance Wars, but I'm a little reluctant since I really liked the presentation of the old one: kiddie but complex. The new one looks like it was made to appeal to teens or something. I know, it's a silly reason.

I definitely recommend Phoenix Wright but maybe it's time for a change of pace if you just did Hotel Dusk. They're hard to find because there really weren't all that many copies made. Pretty much niche games.

Animal Crossing is really fun if you have a community to interact with. As a solo game, it can get tired. Also, you have to be willing to go with the pace of the game. You can't do everything the first day or the first couple of days. You have to wait for the game to come to you. But it's definitely addictive and fun if it's up your alley.

SI

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

I haven't played the new Advance Wars, but I'm a little reluctant since I really liked the presentation of the old one: kiddie but complex. The new one looks like it was made to appeal to teens or something. I know, it's a silly reason.

The game is still damn fun - if you like Advance Wars, you'll like this version. Yeah, the storyline presentation is a little more adult, but I think it works. Plus, I like that by changing it up to a different world, they open up the franchise to endless sequels rather than feeling constricted to stay true to their original storyline.

[hukarez]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

I recently picked both up, too. Haven't gotten into them yet. Did you get Advance Wars from the Amazon clearance and FFXII from a Target clearance? It'll be a little bit before I get to anything else- I started up Golden Sun while my DS was down since I never played it on the GBA and am having quite a bit of fun with it. I also picked up Phantom Hourglass and Pokemon Diamond since they were $20 each at Radio Shack a couple of weeks ago.

BTW, my DS repair went pretty well. Ordered a new dark navy case off of ebay but kept some of the white from my old one so it's a little two toned. The only problem is that I think I need to do a little over again because the wire routing that I did wasn't the greatest so it doesn't fit together perfectly. The DS isn't the easist thing to work on and I don't think it's meant to be taken apart much. And this is from someone who takes apart laptops routinely for work.

SI

Actually, I picked up both titles from Game Crazy. One of my friends was really wanting a copy of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney and had not had much luck finding any used copies anywhere - let alone a copy that had everything (original case, good insert, the manual) until I found a couple of copies of it in rather perfect condition. I thought they misplaced the location of Advance Wars: Days of Ruin with the used games, and the guy behind the counter said that it seems to have been mislabeled - which I've noticed at Game Crazy, they sell it for what the sticker says - which was pretty much $20-22 for a shrink wrapped title.

I haven't really dove into Revenant Wings - I only picked it up now as opposed to later since I hadn't seen many copies of that game on the shelf at most of the standard places I go to...

[hukarez]

Just a little update:

Mario Kart DS friend code: 390950 427597

[sterlingice]

I wish we had a Game Crazy around here. I loved the Classic Plastic sale and got something like 20 games at one of the locations when I was training in Colorado Springs. Alas, there isn't one within 200 miles.

Also, I think my friend codes might have changed when I had to pull the battery to replace my case. I had to redo all the initial setup so it's probably like pulling the CMOS battery from a laptop or desktop. Further investigation will be required...

SI

[terpkristin]

Well, I'm back into Etrian Odyssey, though I think I must be attacking leveling-up incorrectly, as it goes sooo slowly and I really don't think I'm ready for the next floor. Oh well, I knew it was a grinding game going in.

On Pokemon news:

Official Press Release | May 28, 2008
It's a Pokémon player's dream come true! Pokémon USA, Inc. is offering an opportunity to receive the Legendary Pokémon Darkrai, during a two-day event at Toys"R"Us stores nationwide from 12 noon - 4 pm. During this time, all Pokémon aficionados who bring their Pokémon Diamond or Pokémon Pearl Game Card, along with their Nintendo DS, to any Toys"R"Us store in the United States have a chance to add one of the most sought-after characters in the Pokémon Universe, Darkrai, to their game. Darkrai, best-known for lulling people to sleep and causing nightmares, is the star of the latest movie, Pokémon: The Rise of Darkrai, now available on DVD, and is featured in the new Pokémon Trading Card Game Diamond & Pearl-Majestic Dawn.
Who: All Pokémon fans
What: Darkrai distribution for your Pokémon Diamond or Pokémon Pearl Game Card
When: May 31 and June 1, 12 noon - 4 pm
Where: Toys"R"Us stores nationwide