Category: Nintendo DS

Fifth Generation Pokemon Revealed: Meet Zorua/Zoroark

The first fifth-generation Pokemon has been revealed by CoroCoro magazine and its name is Zorua/Zoroark. After revealing what is essentially the god of Pokemon (Arceus) in Diamond/Pearl/Platinum, The Pokemon Company and Game Freak are going with a dark-type for the latest “feature” Pokemon. Serebii.net revealed:

First, the pre-evolution Pokémon is called Zorua/ Zoroa (???) and is a Dark-type Pokémon. Its classification is Evil Fox Pokémon, it is 0.7m tall and 12.5kg.

Secondly, the Pokémon in the sihlouette is said to be called Zoroark/Zoroaaku (?????)and is also a Dark-type Pokémon. Its classification is Monster Fox Pokémon, it is 1.6m tall and 81.1kg.

As I mentioned at the end of last month, there will be a new Pokemon RPG released by the end of 2010 in Japan. Unless you can read Japanese, I wouldn’t count on catching Zorua or Zoroark until 2011.

Source

Brand New Pokemon Games Coming in 2010 (to Japan)

North American and European Pokemon fans are anxiously awaiting the release of the HeartGold and SoulSilver remakes for Nintendo DS, but it looks like there are even more exciting titles to look forward to — brand new Pokemon games that will be release in 2010! Well, that will be the case in Japan, anyway. The outstanding Serebii.net reported:

The official site has just updated with some details stating that a brand new Pokémon game series, perhaps a fifth generation is scheduled for release on the Nintendo DS in 2010 in Japan. Further details on this game series have yet to be announced but the site has stated that it will be an RPG and the press release hinted that new Pokémon were in it. Will this series be a brand new series or the beginning of the fifth generation?

I absolutely love the Pokemon RPGs, but haven’t cared too much about the spin-offs, with the exception of Pokemon Snap. I’m totally ready for a new Pokemon journey with new critters and further gameplay enhancements.

How about you? You ready for a new Pokemon RPG? Are you are all Pokemon-ed out?

Source via Serebii

Foto Showdown Videos Set Bar for Unintentional DSi Comedy

Check out these two videos of Konami’s Foto Showdown for Nintendo DSi. The tech is pretty fun — the game lets you snap photos and transform them into characters in the game. More importantly, these videos are unintentionally hilarious. I love the sister in the vids. She should get an Oscar or an Emmy for her outstanding performance, particularly in the second clip.

I don’t understand the bully character though. He has the good sense to nail the little brother in the head with a ball, but doesn’t beat him up and steal his DSi. What kind of half-assed bullying is that?!?

Also, am I the only one that’s scared of someone snapping a picture of his schlong to use as an in-game character?

NPD Console Sales Figures Top 10 Games of December 2009

NPD Group has released its console software sales information for December 2009. What were the big holiday games? Let’s find out!

  1. New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii): 2,820,000
  2. Wii Fit Plus (Wii): 2,410,000
  3. Wii Sports Resort (Wii): 1,790,000
  4. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Xbox 360): 1,630,000
  5. Call of Duty: Moden Warfare 2 (PlayStation 3): 1,120,000
  6. Wii Play (Wii): 1,010,000
  7. Mario Kart Wii (Wii): 936,1000
  8. Assassin’s Creed II (Xbox 3600: 783,100
  9. Left 4 Dead 2 (Xbox 360): 728,500
  10. Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story (Nintendo DS): 656,700

As my favorite Irish bartender in New York would say, “Jaysus Christ!” I know a lot of you are Nintendo haters, but look at those numbers. Wouldn’t you love to have stock in the company?!? Ridiculous.

In other news, Activision continued its success with Modern Warfare 2 and Ubi posted some nice numbers with Assassin’s Creed II. Still, it’s hard to look at the list and not be floored by Nintendo’s performance.

Now kindly chanel your inner Michael Pachter and analyze this (please)!

NPD Hardware Sales Figures for December 2009

NPD Group has issued its console hardware sales data for December 2009. Capping off the year and the extremely lucrative holiday-shopping season, this is an extremely vital sales period. Let’s see how Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony performed.

  • Wii: 3,810,000
  • Nintendo DS: 3,310,000
  • PlayStation 3: 1,360,000
  • Xbox 360: 1,310,000
  • PlayStation Portable: 654,700
  • PlayStation 2: 333,200

Okay, tell me again how the Nintendo Wii is a fad? It has been whomping the competition for years and posted ridiculous numbers in December. Microsoft and Sony would kill for these “fad” numbers. As for those guys, both companies did well in December and should be proud of the numbers. In the pointless fanboy argument, the difference wasn’t really notable. Sony will have to hustle in 2010 to close the gap between the PS3 and Xbox 360.

What do you think of NPD’s December 2009 console sales figures? Any surprises? Any predictions for the new year?

Beyonce Gets Her Nintendo DSi Groove On in Style Savvy

I’m pretty sure that none of you are interested in Style Savvy for Nintendo DS, but a few of you will want to check out these photos of Beyonce filming a commercial for the game. She’s beautiful and talented…and according to a certain hip-hop artist is responsible for one of the greatest videos of all time. According to the press materials:

Beyonce has fun during filming of two upcoming commercials for Style Savvy, a new fashion game for the portable Nintendo DS and Nintendo DSi, in Long Island City, New York. Five designs from the real-life Dereon clothing line co-created by Beyonce and her mother, designer Tina Knowles, will be available for download in Style Savvy in the coming months.

Well, I’m glad she had fun. Ha!

Nintendo Serves Up Lame Response to Greenpeace Report

After being ranked the least environmentally friendly consumer electronics company by Greenpeace, Nintendo offered up some pretty lame excuses to defend its position. The most hilarious was this little tidbit:

The Wii console is notably the most energy efficient of its generation, and we have improved the design of some of our latest products, such as the Nintendo DSi, to minimize their energy consumption when in use.

So let me get this straight — Nintendo should be lauded for being environmentally friendly by having weaker consoles than the competition? That’s rich. While I think it’s foolish to judge the quality of the Wii or the DS solely based on processing power, it’s even more foolish to claim that their relatively underpowered capabilities are a form of environmentalism. Ha!

Source

Nintendo Confirms Pokewalker for Heart Gold and Soul Silver

Nintendo of America has confirmed that the Pokewalker accessory will be bundled with copies of the upcoming Pokemon HeartGold and Pokemon SoulSilver for Nintendo DS. The game is slated for a March 14, 2010 release. And no, the Pokewalker isn’t a walking device for your 70-year old charmander. Here’s some official info on the accessory:

In Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver Versions, players can wirelessly transfer any one of their Pokémon from one of the two games to the Pokéwalker and walk them through virtual routes as the player walks around in real life. By walking, players earn Watts, which are used within the Pokéwalker to encounter and catch wild Pokémon or search for hidden items, and can be transferred into Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver Versions to unlock new routes. There are even special versions of certain Pokémon that can only be found within routes on the Pokéwalker, giving players added incentive to keep their Pokémon with them wherever they go. The Pokémon in the Pokéwalker will gain experience points as the player walks, and can even go up one level when they are transferred back into the game. Players also can wirelessly connect two Pokéwalkers to trade items.

My March is so screwed. Between this, Final Fantasy XIII, and Dragon Age: Awakenings…I might have to skip this year’s Game Developer’s Conference. Perhaps one of you can take over the site for me when the ides of March hits. Ha!

This Week’s Videogame Releases

It’s still a light week in the videogame-release department, but there are a few titles of interest that you might want to keep an eye on. EA brings back its brothers of destruction in Army of Two: The 40th Day. That is, by far, the biggest release of the week. Outside of that, there’s an interesting DS RPG and a game for fans of winter sports…and that’s about it. As always, let me know if you’re picking up any of this week’s video releases.

PlayStation 3
Army of 2: The 40th Day — I’m pretty sure Kane and The Undertaker would wreck these guys.
Vancouver 2010: Offivial Video Game of the Olympic Winter Games — I totally forgot that the Olympics are happening this year. I guess I pay more attention to the summer games than the winter games.

Xbox 360
Army of 2: The 40th Day
Vancouver 2010: Offivial Video Game of the Olympic Winter Games

Nintendo Wii
Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces
Walk it Out — Base on the hit song by The Beatles…oh wait, it’s not.

PlayStation Portable
Army of 2: The 40th Day

Nintendo DS
Daniel X — A interactive retelling of one of the most powerful civil rights leaders in America. Okay, I totally made that up.
Sands of Destruction

Satoru Iwata Talks Motion for the Nintendo DS Successor

Although Nintendo is in no rush to release a true successor to the Nintendo DS, CEO Satoru Iwata hinted at what the future handheld gaming system will be like. Andrisang translated a recent article from the Asahi Shibun and reported:

Iwata told the paper that high resolution image output and a sensor that can capture player’s movements would be requirements for the followup system. However, he refused to comment on a release time frame, noting only, “DS saw its highest sales in North America in 2009.”

The unnamed portable is rumored to be packing an Nvidia Tegra processor, so a significant bump in graphics is expected. Going with motion controls for a handheld seems curious though. Nintendo is already experimenting with these kinds of features on the DSi, but it would seem silly to try to make what is essentially the Wii of handheld gaming. Then again, doubting Nintendo has been unwise for the last several years.

What do you think? Are motion controls on a portable gaming system silly? Or will people go nuts for it, similar to the Wii?

Source via Andriasang