The Nintendo Effect

So, it's out. With surprisingly little hype (at least in my current gaming circles), the Nintendo 3DS is here.

Initial impressions have been mixed. First I was tempted, then I wasn't, but now I find myself tempted again. The launch line-up isn't exactly mind blowing, but then, when is a launch line-up amazing? Pretty rare I'd say. There are a couple of highlights though, Street Fighter IV looks great and Ghost Recon is apparently a rather good game. PES is also there, and whilst I know most people prefer FIFA these days, personally I prefer Konami's efforts, and this plays as well as the rest. The lukewarm line-up aside, my urge to indulge in the 3D side of gaming is luring me more and more. So that's it, I'm inevitably going to buy one aren't I? Well..........

The trouble is I have a bit of a dilemma about purchasing so soon after launch. Don't get me wrong, I'm certainly no stranger to buying consoles early on. I had the PS2 on launch day, and had the Wii about a month after its release. But it's the Wii and the DS that are causing the problem for me. Y'see, I've been burnt a little by Nintendo and now I'm wary. Let me explain...

Cast you mind back to late 2006. The Wii was almost upon us and we were being tantalised by trailers of people acting out their gaming moves. I watched (whilst salivating) at that Red Steel trailer. The guy sat in a comfy chair in his swanky lounge whilst pointing his virtual gun at the screen. So immersed was the gentlemen that he was actually dodging the virtual bullets in real life. "That's it" I thought to myself, "I may not be able to afford a PS3 when it comes out, but this looks like the future". The idea of playing the kind of games I know and love but in a completely new way sucked me in hook, line and sinker. Things looked good at the start. Red Steel was great fun although not perfect by any means, and whilst pointing a Wiimote at the screen seemed a little strange, it offered the new experience that I'd hoped for. Then it happened...

The party game market took hold. The non-gaming fraternity started seeing the potential fun in owning the little white box of tricks for the odd game here and there. The 'casual gamer' market was well and truly at full pace and the developers saw the opportunity to make a quick buck. "Why make an effort with the games when the Wii owning public don't read reviews, aren't particularly knowledgeable and will buy anything as long as it has the words 'sports' or 'party' in the title" I can imagine the devs saying. The market got drowned in shovelware, I got bored of sifting through the junk, desperately trying to find a decent game, and my love affair with the Wii was over.

Nintendo loved it though, sales were through the roof and it appears that they really had tapped into a niche market. The same strategy was applied to the DS. Brain Training games and puzzle games were made in abundance, and with advertising campaigns showing that the older generation can indeed own a handheld gaming without looking a bit odd, the DS's success had been laid out.

The thing is, I hate those types of games. I wasn't brought up on a diet of crap games like Beach Brain Sports Training Party 5: Extra Party Edition! I don't want an f'ing party, I just want a deep and fulfilling game!!!

Now the 3DS looks like it holds loads of potential. The list of games in development looks promising. Along with the already released SFIV etc there are games such as Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater and the Resi games. It all looks good, and if they keep this trend of software up then I reckon the DS could be part of my gaming future. But a part of my brain thinks "hang on, wait for the shovelware". If DS owners choose to upgrade to the 3DS, then surely a lot of those won't want to blast zombies, they'll want a puzzle instead.

If this happens will the 3DS start to go down the same road as the old DS? £180 for a big 3D producing paperweight doesn't float my boat.

It'll be interesting, that's for sure.

Professor Layton and Pandora's Box

Spoiler Alert! The video below shows the completed mini-games found in the Professor's Trunk.




If you are still stumped by the formidable challenges then head over to the Gameov3r Forum for some assistance

Banned and Reborn

The Great Giana Sisters, a Super Mario Bros clone, is getting a new lease of life long after being banned. Not by the fashion police though it's wonder why they didn't step in first.

This year will see an updated version of the game released on the .... wait for it……. W a i t for it! ….. on the Nintendo DS. Nintendo may be going soft in their old age seeing how it was they that had the Giana Sisters removed from the shelves for copyright infringement back in 1988. It’s true that the sisters copied the brothers. Blatantly and gloriously but they didn’t better the NES Mario Bros masterpiece. Nevertheless the sisters were very well received back in their day. Zzap64 reviewed the game and bestowed it with a Gold Medal award and a healthy 96%.

The Great Giana Sisters is well worth checking out if you have a penchant for platformers and have a C64 or a **cough** emulator **cough** handy. With the DS already laden with great platform games it’ll be interesting to see how the sisters do when they're released in June.

Maybe Nintendo really are going soft. Or maybe they want a to see the sisters fail miserably against New Super Mario Bros.

So, in a fight….. would the sisters kick the brothers into a pile of dismembered pixels or would the brothers flatten the sisters? Looking at that mohawk I’d have to say my money is on the girls!

Have a square go on the GAMEOV3R Forum

Nintendo DSi

Here it is then, the much rumored new Nintendo DS, the DSi. Arriving in Japan on November 1st and due in Europe sometime around Spring 2009. Features then...

• 17% bigger screens.
• Slightly thinner than a DS lite but slightly wider.
• "Audio enhancements", AAC playback.
• Built in 640x480 cameras, one external and one internal next to the mic.
• Built in browser.
• SD memory card slot (plus internal storage) for saving pictures and downloadable games from the DSi shop.
• Shorter battery life than the DS lite (depending on screen brightness) but a faster charging time.

For all those additions you do lose the GBA slot so no more GBA games or Guitar Hero on Tour.

Tempt anyone?

Join the GAMEOV3R FORUM

Professor Layton

I've been getting right into Professor Layton and the Curious Village over the last few weeks. It's been a great game to dip in and out of. Solve a puzzle or two and then put my DS away or play something else. For a game that's simply a collection of puzzles hung together by story it's surprisingly addictive and fun even if some of the "That reminds me of a puzzle!" moments are decidedly cringe worthy.

Despite the Prof having an "E" for Everybody rating I think he should have a far higher warning. Perhaps a "W" for weird happenings should be applied.

Rather strangely, after playing PFatCV I have a mystery of my own to solve. I played this game just before lights out on Thursday last week. When I'd finished playing I switched my DS off and put it on my bedside table. When I went to collect my DS the next morning it has now vanished and I haven't seen or heard from it since.

Has anyone got a Mii Business card for Prof Layton? I need his help!

Sleuth required! Apply HERE

Extremely Interesting Invaders

I’ll forgive you if you stop reading this when I tell you that I’m going to talk about the game that puts the “old” in “old school”, Space Invaders. But before you go and do something more interesting like watch a pan of water boil or de-flea the dog let me tell you this, I was extremely excited to learn that Taito has re-imagined Space Invaders, again, and has released it for the DS and PSP. If I were talking to you about this, face to face, you may detect just a hint of sarcasm in my voice.

So, there you have it, a new Space Invaders game. See you next time.

You’re still here? Ok, I’ll tell you a little more and let you into the secret. Space Invaders Extreme is fantastic. It is the best DS shooter I have played, ever, and the best Space Invaders remake, not that that's saying much. I love it. Imagine the original Space Invaders blended with REZ’s rhythmic blasting, some awesome Geometry Wars style glitzy graphics and you’ll have a good idea of what Extreme has to offer.

It’s fresh, it’s fast, it’s furious and it’s full of energy. It’s a veritable sensory overload. There are Fever Bonus Levels, Boss scenes, lots of power up - some more powerful than others adding an element of strategy, and it’s compatible with Taito’s Arkanoid Paddle. Collecting the power ups even feels like Arkanoid. Shoot four invaders of the same colour and they drop the POW for you to collect.

So far Space Invaders Extreme is a Japan only release although it’s rumoured that Square Enix have acquired the licence to release the game in Europe and the US in the summer. If you can’t wait until then Play Asia have Space Invaders Extreme for £19.88. And for that authentic feel you can order the Taito Paddle for £7.93 while you’re there.

Erase from your memory the dire experience that was Space Invaders Revolution and treat yourself to the only blaster you need on your DS this year. Check this out...



Come and shoot the breeze on the Gameov3r FORUM.

Scouting for Orcs

Orcs are the scum of any fantasy world and when you come across one you should kill it first and ask questions later. Orcs usually carry weapons, are heavily armoured, ugly and always stink. They live only to drain the blood from anyone or anything that fights for light and good. I have put many Orcs to the sword this week thanks to the DS game Orcs and Elves from id Software.

Orcs and Elves places you in the green pixie boots of a half-elf, called Eol. Playing as Eol you find yourself in the middle of a war in the mountain citadel of Zharrkarag, King Brahms’s massive Dwarven fortress. You’re accompanied in your adventure by a talking wand, Ellon, who likes to comment on your swordplay and interact with characters that you meet. You use Ellon to deal doom, in the form or killer spells, to the Orcs, Vampire Rats, Slime things, Wraiths and all manner of other evil creatures that have invaded the fortress. You’re also equipped with a sword, armour, a map, a quest log, a bag for items, rings that give you different powers, potions and some ale. Mustn’t forget to mention the ale.

O&E is a pretty standard action and adventure RPG game. You collect items, buy and level up weapons and magic enabling you to take on the tougher enemies as you progress through the dungeons. There's nothing particularly new but don't let that fool you. The physical puzzles are well thought out, if not too challenging, and the action based combat system is involving and fun. The grid based gameplay feels old school but perfectly suited to the D&D style of the game and adds to the overall experience.

The game looks old school too and is not too far removed from the look of Doom or Wolfenstein 3D. The 3D environment in O&E is well crafted, detailed and solid looking, Carmack has clearly been at work here, with nice use of dynamic lighting. The characters and monsters you meet are all sprite based and, although they would look at home on the Commodore Amiga, add to the atmosphere and charm of the game.

I've played through the game once at the normal difficulty level and it took about 10 hours. I did try to explore as much as I could of the 12 levels so O&E isn’t a particularly long game. There are two more difficulty levels and I’m sure "Nightmare" will present a stiffer challenge and take me bit more time to get through.

To me it's obvious that Orcs and Elves, despite the short development time - John Carmack states 6 months, is a labour of love. Carmack has been a fan of Dungeons and Dragons since before the days of Doom so there is probably no one more committed to releasing quality D&D titles.

So although Orcs and Elves isn’t perfect it is far more than just the sum of its various parts. It’s a lot of fun to play, has a charm all of it's own and it will keep you coming back for more. There's nothing else like it on the DS.

Elvish isn’t dead.

Evil Shapes

The Geometry Wars:Galaxies thread, on the Gameov3r FORUM, has rumbled along since September 2007 and has been generating quite a lot of excitement amongst the DS and Wii faithful as they impatiently waited for the release date and the chance to see what 360 owners have been going on about.

I had a few spare minutes earlier today, how these "spare" minutes occurred is for another time as it would take up a whole other blog entry, and as luck would have it I had the DS version of Galaxies and my DS to hand. Opportunity if ever there was one to find out how one of my favourite XBLA games has translated to Nintendo's DS. I only had time for a quick play but I tried out both Galaxies and the DS version of the XBLA classic Evolved which is included.

I should say before continuing that I am a big fan Geometry Wars Evolved on the 360, despite being rubbish at it, and my anticipation and expectation was running high.

Straight into Galaxies then and it's noticeable that the difficulty has been toned down in the earlier stages compared to Evolved on XBLA. This is not really a bad thing for me and helped me make progress quickly and not feel like I was going to see the gameov3r screen every couple of minutes. In fact I'd blasted past my Evolved XBLA score of around 220k by racking up 340k on my first go and after a few more tries I blasted my way to 850k. The enemy geometric shapes are considerably slower on the DS making them easier to avoid or obliterate. Easier, yes. Still not easy though. This is still a pretty stern test once your score get over 150-200k and it'll keep you playing for quite a while.

Galaxies tinkers with and expands upon the fabulous Evolved formula and whilst this is always a risky business it's safe to say that the changes here have had a positive effect and really do make Geometry Wars a more rewarding game. There's a sense of progression and of being on a mission rather than simply high score chasing. Changing size and shape of the play area adds variety, forcing the player to alter their tactics, and the appearance of the evil geometric shapes is staggered throughout the levels creating an excellent learning/difficulty curve so that Galaxies presents a consistent and solid challenge as you get further with every go. Something else I like about this game is that when you die, and you WILL die a lot to begin with, it's your fault. It's your fault every time. No mistake. There is no blaming the game for cheating with Geometry Wars.

The graphics are obviously not up to the 360's utterly gorgeous, eye meltingly retro-futuristic neon and there's some slow down when the screen fills up. Personally I actually found the DS graphics to be a bit too small making focusing a bit difficult for prolonged gaming. Remember the Gameboy Magnifier and light? Well forget that and just get me magnifier! My eyes felt like they were about two sizes to small for my head and could implode at any moment after 30 minutes! Even so I played on for another 40 minutes which is testament to the addictive qualities of the game and my lack of regard for the health of my eyesight. Perhaps it was just the bright lights where I was sitting and nothing to do with the graphics or my vision. I hope so. I think I'll play some more Galaxies when I'm tucked up in bed tonight. With all the lights off and a cup of cocoa. All For experimental purposes of course.

So far I think the XBLA Geometry Wars still has the crown but I've yet to play the Wii version of Galaxies, which links up your DS version unlocking a whole new galaxy, and I have a feeling that it could take over as the ultimate Geometry Wars game so far.

What do you do with the lights out? Perhaps your light's never on. Allow Gameov3r to counsel you on the FORUM. Discussion about Geometry Wars: Galaxies is also permitted.