Category: Nintendo DS

GameStop Giving Away Three Shiny Legendary Pokemon

GameStop will be giving away some extremely awesome Pokemon in January and February 2011 — shiny versions of the legendary beasts Entei, Raikou, and Suicune! Getting legendary Pokemon for free is awesome. Getting shiny versions — super rare variants that use a different color set — is complete radness. Here are the dates:

  • Raikou — January 3 to January 9
  • Entei — January 17 to January 23
  • Suicune — January 31 to February 6

You will need your Pokemon Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, HeartGold, and SoulSilver cartridges, a free Wonder Card slot, and Pokedex access to download these legendary Pokemon. Getting a Pokemon that has starred in television and movies is cool, but a shiny legendary?!? That’s brilliant stuff!

Also, these legendary beasts are cats, not dogs. I hate when people refer to them as dogs. Translate the words “rai” and “kou” before you mistakenly call Raikou a dog.

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Download Ash’s Pikachu at Toys ‘R Us

From January 30 to February 5, 2011 participating Toys ‘R Us stores will be distributing a very special Pikachu — the one made famous by Ash Ketchum’s adventures! Here are the official details:

From January 30 to February 5, 2011 participating Toys ‘R Us stores will be distributing a very special Pikachu — the one made famous by Ash Ketchum’s adventures! Here are the official details:

Free exclusive event! January 30-February 5! Get Ash’s Pikachu as seen in Pokemon TV and movies at DS Download Stations only at Toys ”R” Us!

Bring your Nintendo DS system and your Pokemon Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, HeartGold, and SoulSilver Versions to Toys ”R” Us to receive the Character Download!

As a competitive player, I don’t really care about some wussy Pikachu. There are way better electric Pokemon out there. As a collector, I want it now! Gotta catch ’em all, right?

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Coffee Talk #261: Has Apple Doomed the 3DS and PSP2?

In a recent episode of Pach Atttack starring Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter (I’ll give you a few moments to soak that all in), your favorite videogame analyst and mine (not really) said that Apple’s iOS is the future of mobile gaming.

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, if the NY Knicks have finally gotten past years or mediocrity, Verve Roasters’ Ethiopia Nigusie Lemma, or your holiday shopping, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

In a recent episode of Pach Atttack starring Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter (I’ll give you a few moments to soak that all in), your favorite videogame analyst and mine (not really) said that Apple’s iOS is the future of mobile gaming. In fact, he felt so strongly about the iPod Touch that he doesn’t see a bright future for Nintendo’s and Sony’s next portable systems. Check it out:

I think the ubiquity of the iPod Touch is cutting into the handheld market, I think the PSP was dead on arrival and I think the PSP2 is going to be dead on arrival. It looks to me like young kids are just as happy playing with an iPod Touch or a Nano. The Touch is cool, it plays games, plays music, they’re going to put a camera in it and you’re going to get all kinds of cool stuff.

The 3DS will prolong the handheld market for the game manufacturers, but ultimately, I think handhelds are in trouble. After the 3DS has had its little rush I think the handhelds will continue to decline.

What do you think of Pachter’s stance? Is he on the money? Or is he just talking out of his ass to get more attention? Will the multifunction wizardry of the iPod Touch beat out the sheer power of the PSP2 and the 3D wonder of the 3DS? Can’t we live in a world where all of them do reasonably well? Share your feelings like a Care Bear (please)!

This Week’s Videogame Releases

The holiday rush has slowed down, but there are still some big games left in 2010. I usually don’t include PC games in the mix, but World of Warcraft: Cataclysm is too huge to ignore. Tying into the movie, TRON: Evolution hits every platform known to man…and robot. Technically, this game comes out next week, but Super Mario All-Stars hits Sunday with all sorts of excellent bonus goodies.

Any of you guys and dolls picking up new games this week?

This Week’s Videogame Releases

There’s not a whole lot going on this week, but if you want quality over quantity then this is a brilliant week to be a gamer. Disney’s Epic Mickey will be one of the most critically acclaimed games of the year. I’m a huge Warren Spector mark, so I hope you give the game a try. As most of you know, I’m an RPG mark as well, so I’m super psyched for Golden Sun: Dark Dawn.

Any of you picking up new games this week?

Pokemon Black/White Starters English Names Revealed

Nintendo and The Pokemon Company have revealed the names of the Pokemon Black and Pokemon White starters! The grass starter is Snivy, the fire starter (not “Firestarter“) is Tepig, and the water starter is Oshawott. I can’t wait to meet them!

How about you? What do you think of the English names for the starters? Which one are you digging?

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Nintendo Unveils Green and Orange DSi Systems: Do You Care?

Nintendo has announced new green and orange DSi bundles for Black Friday (that or the company really loves Aquaman’s colors). Here’s a clip from the press release:

These new colors join Nintendo’s other great value bundles for the holidays that are being released in honor of the 25th anniversary of the Super Mario Bros. game on the NES. These include the limited-edition red Nintendo DSi XL bundle, which features a red Nintendo DSi XL system with three iconic Super Mario Bros.-themed graphics, the Mario Kart DS game, and preloaded software titles including Brain Age Express: Arts & Letters, Brain Age Express: Math and Photo Clock at a suggested retail price of $179.99. In addition to those preloaded titles, each Nintendo DSi system comes preloaded with Flipnote Studio, which lets users create, upload and share their own fun animations.

Do you care? The Nintendo 3DS is months away. Are new colors reason enough to buy a new DSi? Or do you think these are strictly for mainstream gamers that don’t know that a new Nintendo handheld is on the way?

This Week’s Videogame Releases

After 72 years of delays (not really), Sony is finally releasing Gran Turismo 5 for PlayStation 3. Whether or not the game is worth the wait, it’s sure to sell millions. The games I’m looking forward to this week are from Namco Bandai: Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom and Splatterhouse. Need some pop in your life? Then check out Michael Jackson: The Experience. Last, but not least, is Raving Rabbids Travel in Time.

Random note: as of this writing, GT5 is #2 and Michael Jackson: The Experience is #11 on Amazon’s videogame best seller list.

Any of you picking up new games this week?

Kingdom Hearts 3DS Details

Tetsuya Nomura dropped some details on the upcoming Kingdom Hearts 3D for Nintendo 3DS. Andriasang translated a recent issue of Famitsu and discovered the following:

Past screenshots showed Sora and Riku as they looked in the original Kingdom Hearts timeframe. They reason they appear like this is currently a secret. Nomura would only say that it was a necessity for the story.

They’re also currently going through world selection for the game’s Disney areas. The plan is to use all new Disney worlds this time. It appears that Traverse Town and other original creations will carry over into the game, though.

There could be some deeper meaning to the “3” in the title. In addition to indicating the use of 3D visual output, the game will be connected to Kingdom Hearts III both in terms of gameplay systems and story. It’s possible that the ending of 3D will lead into the story of KHIII.

As a Kingdom Hearts mark, I’m super excited for this game (especially the new areas!). I’m sure it will be a system seller for the Nintendo 3DS. Are you psyched for this game? Would you buy a 3DS for it?

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NPD Console Sales Figures Top 10 Games of October 2010

It’s time for NPD Group’s sales figures! It’s the second month of neutered NPD numbers (*sniff* *sniff*) and I miss the flame wars the old numbers started. That said, the game sales data is still interesting. Let’s have a look!

It’s time for NPD Group’s sales figures! It’s the second month of neutered NPD numbers (*sniff* *sniff*) and I miss the flame wars the old numbers started. That said, the game sales data is still interesting. Let’s have a look!

  1. NBA 2K11 (Take-Two Interactive, Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, PSP, Wii, PC)
  2. Fallout: New Vegas (Bethesda Softworks, Xbox 360, PS3, PC)
  3. Medal of Honor (Electronic Arts, Xbox 360, PS3, PC)
  4. Fable III (Microsoft, Xbox 360)
  5. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II (LucasArts, Xbox 360, PS3, WII, PC, NDS)
  6. Halo: Reach (Microsoft, Xbox 360)
  7. Just Dance 2 (Ubisoft, Wii)
  8. FIFA Soccer 11 (Electronic Arts, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, PS2, PSP, NDS, PC)
  9. Madden NFL 11 (Electronic Arts, Xbox 360, PS3, WII, PS2, PSP)
  10. WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2011 (THQ, PS3, Xbox 360, PS2, WII, PSP)

I’m said that more people didn’t buy SmackDown vs. Raw. The people need games with superior writing and that game has the best writing (of any kind) of 2010. Combining platforms and market saturation have changed the way the top 10 has looked for the last few years — way fewer Wii exclusives on the list. I’m surprised  and pleased that NBA 2K11 and Fallout topped the list. Not that those games were release by “small” publishers, but it’s good for the business when Acitivsion and EA aren’t completely dominating the scene.

What do you think of October’s numbers? Any surprises for you?