DS has another victim.

Laird · Post by **Laird** » 2005-04-22 10:34pm

I decided which portable to get today.

Vendetta · Post by **Vendetta** » 2005-04-22 10:38pm

I want to want a DS, but there are no compelling games that I really want for it.

I can't get excited over it yet.

Animal Crossing DS looks pretty cool, but other than that, it's a wasteland of tech demos and no actual games save Wario Ware, which isn't enough. Even Yoshi Touch and Go, which looked exciting at first, turns out just to be a tech demo.

Praxis · Post by **Praxis** » 2005-04-22 11:35pm

Laird, congrats

When the online games come out I'll murder you.

I want to want a DS, but there are no compelling games that I really want for it.

The reason is that:
A) Lack of analog stick makes porting difficult
B) Touch screen means new games have to be built from scratch

Even the "original" PSP games are generally built using source material (models, engines, etc) from other games. The DS means that the game developers need to start from scratch, so the good games are still a ways off.

So far, it appears that these games are online:
Animal Crossing DS
Metroid Prime Hunters
Zelda DS
Ultimate Brain Games (Chess, Checkers, Go, and Reversi, as well as renditions of Battleship, Connect Four and others.)

And there may be others.

Other games I am looking at:
Katamari Damacy DS
GoldenEye Rogue Agent
Age of Empires 2 DS
Advance Wars 3
MegaMan Battle Network DS
Kirby: Cursed Canvas (think Yoshi's Touch and Go, except not as linear, with full stages and abilities that can be gained and bosses)
Mario Kart (possibly online?)
Metroid Pinball
Scratch! Viewtiful Joe
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (next month!)
Need for Speed Underground 2 (next month!)
Sonic DS

The complete (huge) list:
http://www.gamesarefun.com/gamesdb/plat ... tformid=84

If you don't see any games you want out, WAIT, but lemme tell you, by this September we will be WALLOWING in games

That's when most of the online ones will be out, and most of the others should be out before then.

Oh, and you RPG nuts will be happy to know, Baten Kaitos, Final Fantasy III, and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles have all been confirmed.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2005-04-22 11:36pm

*gasp* You got the Red vs Blue Cameraman figure!!

Cal Wright · Post by **Cal Wright** » 2005-04-23 01:12am

Is that where they get his scheme from? They have a shot of him on the Halo 2 shots, and in the strat guide. Always wondered why they had a white with blue stripes spartan. Sold it to a friend a while ago. Probably pretty damn scarce right now.

As far as a DS. I'm itching to get one myself right now. It has some great games right now, and is getting ready to just shotgun some hot titles later. News has it, that Animal Crossing DS will take advantage of the Wi Fi capabilities.

Praxis · Post by **Praxis** » 2005-04-23 01:39am

Yep, that (Animal Crossing DS online) was officially announced at GDC.

Zelda DS being online was claimed in a magazine.

Metroid Prime Hunters online was claimed to be online by Spong who are a major rumors site that get some insider info. It fits with the fact, since MPH was supposed to be released in May but the release date was bumped back to the same time as Animal Crossing.

Ultimate Brain Games was officially announced by the producer that it is online.

Darth Raptor · Post by **Darth Raptor** » 2005-04-23 02:20am

Praxis wrote:Oh, and you RPG nuts will be happy to know, Baten Kaitos, Final Fantasy III, and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles have all been confirmed.

You mean the actual FFIII right? Not FFVI? Oh my god! Please? I've been such a good boy! Nintendo loves me still!

Praxis · Post by **Praxis** » 2005-04-23 02:57am

Darth Raptor wrote:
Praxis wrote:Oh, and you RPG nuts will be happy to know, Baten Kaitos, Final Fantasy III, and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles have all been confirmed.

You mean the actual FFIII right? Not FFVI? Oh my god! Please? I've been such a good boy! Nintendo loves me still!

In the games list there, it's listed:
Final Fantasy III (Japanese)

Further, there is an on-stage teaser (sadly, in Japanese) that is CLEARLY Final Fantasy III.
http://www.gamespot.com/ds/rpg/finalfantasyiii/

IGN's statements:

October 7, 2004 - Square Enix revealed today that Final Fantasy III will be coming to the Nintendo DS system. While little has been revealed on the game, it's known that it will feature dual screen and touch panel support. The touch panel will come into play with how you collect crystals.

Another one:

Following a teaser trailer that announced Final Fantasy III's new status as a DS game, Miyamoto commented, "This is the first time that Final Fantasy III has appeared on hardware outside of the Famicom (Japanese NES), isn't it?" Offering up memories of the Wonderswan version of the game, which never surfaced despite a lengthy development time, Kawazu responded with, "Over the past 15 years we've tried numerous times, but as we couldn't get it to work, this time we've decided to make the game for DS."

No actual gameplay footage or screens of Final Fantasy III were shown, but Kawazu gave some hints at what we can expect from the game. "The interface has completely changed," he offered. "Please look forward to seeing how the game has been given a new life."

Steering the conversation towards other games, Miyamoto offered, "Aside from this, Square Enix is also in development with a new Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, right?". Kawazu responded with, "Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles was played by connecting the GameCube and Game Boy Advance, but for Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, that paradigm is gone, with the game played just on the DS. It's easier to get into."

And finally, AOL:

Also announced at the Japanese press conference today was that Square Enix will be bringing a remake of Final Fantasy III to the DS. The only Final Fantasy title to never be remade and never make it out of Japan, FFIII is considered one of the most intricate role-playing games ever designed for the Famicom.

That enough evidence for you?

*pulls out some popcorn and prepares to watch the reaction*

Darth Raptor · Post by **Darth Raptor** » 2005-04-23 04:28am

*squeals like a girl* Er, ahem. I. Shit. Wow.

As I understand it, a fan-translated version has been floating around on emulators for years, but the translation's all crappy and the original game is buggy as hell. After playing the original version of FFI and II, I can certainly believe that. I've made it a point not to play this one until they made an English version. I think the gameplay is supposed to be similar to FFV's job system in which case...

Oh, and I can't tell if that's going to be a sequel to Crystal Chronicles or just a remade port. I don't think the DS could live up to the Gamecube version. Best. Graphics. Ever.

Now all SE has to do is make an offline version of FFXI and they'll have full rights to my soul.

Vendetta · Post by **Vendetta** » 2005-04-23 12:13pm

One of the reasons FFIII took so long was that a good chunk of the original source code for the game was lost, so there wasn't any form of reference to write it from. The FFI and FFII code was retained, so all they needed to do was port and bugfix it.

There is quite a good ips patch for the NES version, and the game is quite a lot of fun, though I only got about 1/4 of the way in.

wautd · Post by **wautd** » 2005-04-25 03:18am

Its true, there arent many good DS games out... yet. (Got Mario64 and Urban GT and had a lot ,of fun with them already)

But I also bought Castlevania: Aria of sorrow and Baldur's Gate (both GBA games) and having a good time with those for the moment.

Speaking of Baldurs Gate, I really feel like playing BG1 again, finish it, import character to BG2, finish it, import character to the expansion, finish it. If only I had a few hundred hours to spare. Those games were huge

Anarchist Bunny · Post by **Anarchist Bunny** » 2005-04-25 11:19am

I am getting mine today, sure none of the release titles are spectacular, although Super Mario DS is something I am really looking forward to playing, like with the Gamecube, the future releases are exciting. Metroid Prime:Hunters, Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow, you know there is going to be a Zelda game, Advanced Wars 3 if they expand on it a little(didn't like 2), hopefully Boktai will use the touch screen as creatively as they used the light sensor in 1, Mario Kart, Harvets Moon, ... holy shit Peach is getting her own game(poor protoman), plus potential games. Like if they are smart they'll make a Super Smash Brothers DS and with it a dragon's fortune. And hopefully another 2d Metroid.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2005-04-25 02:26pm

God, people actually pay for the DS? Oh well.

DPDarkPrimus · Post by **DPDarkPrimus** » 2005-04-25 02:34pm

Spanky The Dolphin wrote:*gasp* You got the Red vs Blue Cameraman figure!!

They call him "Director".

Praxis · Post by **Praxis** » 2005-04-25 05:27pm

Admiral Valdemar wrote:God, people actually pay for the DS? Oh well.

I can't believe people pay for the PSP

$250 for a system without enough storage to use half the features + $50 for each PORTABLE game?...

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2005-04-25 05:36pm

Praxis wrote:
I can't believe people pay for the PSP
$250 for a system without enough storage to use half the features + $50 for each PORTABLE game?...

I can't believe people pay for either. Both are overhyped systems with nothing amazing to be honest. I'd spend my money on something useful or wait for the next Game Boy.

Hamel · Post by **Hamel** » 2005-04-25 06:06pm

Admiral Valdemar wrote:
Praxis wrote:
I can't believe people pay for the PSP
$250 for a system without enough storage to use half the features + $50 for each PORTABLE game?...
I can't believe people pay for either. Both are overhyped systems with nothing amazing to be honest. I'd spend my money on something useful or wait for the next Game Boy.

I've done two things with a PSP so far. Played Wipeout Pure and watched a bit of anime on it. Both were awesome and worked flawlessly. There are some who would say the PSP can't do anything well enough, as in tries to do too much. Well, that's total bullshit. I can agree with people on the price of getting the portable up to speed and fully functional, but I can't agree on the nonsense about the features and usability. The screen is wonderful, the sound is wonderful and doubly so through the headphones, watching video works very well, and PSP performs its main task excellently - that is, playing games.

Spanky The Dolphin · Post by **Spanky The Dolphin** » 2005-04-25 06:10pm

I'm actually thinking of getting a PSP once it has a small price drop.

Praxis · Post by **Praxis** » 2005-04-25 07:48pm

Wait till next year on the PSP.

Two things need to happen before I will buy one.

1) Price drop, at least $50.
2) Better battery technology.

By 2006 that should be rectified and I'll probably pick one up to go alongside my DS. Maybe after Christmas has passed.

Admiral Valdemar · Post by **Admiral Valdemar** » 2005-04-25 08:52pm

Hamel wrote:
I've done two things with a PSP so far. Played Wipeout Pure and watched a bit of anime on it. Both were awesome and worked flawlessly. There are some who would say the PSP can't do anything well enough, as in tries to do too much. Well, that's total bullshit. I can agree with people on the price of getting the portable up to speed and fully functional, but I can't agree on the nonsense about the features and usability. The screen is wonderful, the sound is wonderful and doubly so through the headphones, watching video works very well, and PSP performs its main task excellently - that is, playing games.

I'll confess, I wish I could go on Wip3out Pure and I do like the ability to play movie files, but I'm holding out for dedicated media players which are apparently rising this year, hence Sony making the PSP. The iPod is dead, long live the multimedia centre in your pocket!