Nintendo DS

[Thalzon]

I got 20. I'd say the norm is about 12-15. Maybe longer than 20 if you don't use a guide (I did in parts because I was wandering around forever).

[vega12]

So I imported Planet Puzzle League (Panel de Pon DS - パネルでポンDS - basically, Tetris Attack on the DS) and it arrived yesterday. Thought I'd post some impressions.

First of all, I played the game for the first 5 or so hours using the D-pad instead of the stylus. The game gives you the option to play holding the DS normally, or holding it like a book left or right handed. You can only really play with the D-pad while holding it normally, while the book style is meant for stylus use. You can try to use the stylus for the normal way of holding it, but the panels are signficantly larger when held like a book, making it much easier to make moves.

I started off just playing VS against the CPU on hard. There were 10 rounds to play, and it took my 19 losses before making it through them all! Needless to say, the CPU blows Tetris Attack out of the water. The mean game length was like 5 minutes at least. I'd say it's on par with Pokemon Puzzle League in terms of difficulty. The big thing I noticed though is that the non-standard panels are more awkward to work with, because my mind is trained to work with the normal Tetris Attack ones. Don't fret though; it gives you the option to either use the stage panels, or chose a set for all stages. There's also items you can turn on for garbage battles which make garbage battles much more interesting, and less of a battle of attrition. I don't know what all do for sure, but some one would lock one row of your opponent down temporarily so they can't swap them, one would clear garbage off you completely, one would start randomly switching the opponents panel colors for a short time, one would change some blocks into grey duds temporarily. Not sure if that's all, but that's what I recall right now.

There's a few more modes to play with too. You can try to get high scores in a 2 minute interval in Score Attack, Garbage Attack, Clear Attack. Score Attack is the normal points for chains/combos. In Garbage Attack, you are continuously bombarded by garbage, and your goal is to clear as much garbage as possible. And Clear Attack is just like the stage clear mode where you have to raise the stack as much as possible.

Now, one option they give you that changes the dynamic significantly is the ability to raise the stack while panels are clearing. This means you can potentially chain for as long as you want! After a couple hours of playing, I already have a 49x chain, and score of 80000+. Although I think to break 100,000 points, you need to put lots of bonus matches in during the chain, because that 49x chain was for about 1:45 of the whole 2:00 . The other thing that makes it easier to achieve high scores is, believe it or not, the stylus. You can swap panels across the screen with lightning speed, and move the stylus from the bottom to the top of the screen much more quickly and accurately than with the D-pad. Also, if there are clearing panels in the way, you can basically 'queue' up a swap moving the pen like you would normally, but without lifting it off the screen, then when the clearing panels are done clearing, the panel will immediately swap. It makes for doing some things much easier, like catching some dropping panels, or double-swapping to continue a chain.

I don't have wireless at my home, so when I'll test out the competition online later. I guess this is a good enough post to tell you what I think of the game. If you liked Tetris Attack, get this game. It is different enough, yet similar enough to keep my interest, and has some new modes to keep an experienced player busy for a bit, before they become absorbed in online play . Also, I hear you can talk using the mic online.

EDIT: Oh yeah, it can also save movies of your feats in Score Attack. Sweet, eh?

[Kanthos]

Huge recommendation here for Etrian Odyssey. You have to like the old-school RPG format (it's turn-based, plus you make your own maps with the stylus, which is easier than it sounds). It's got good visuals, although the monsters and characters aren't 3D and the landscape confines you to a north/south/east/west grid. Haven't listened to sound much (it annoys people when you play with sound on the subway), but the bits I heard were good.

The best part is party formation and customization. There are a lot of options. You start with 7 possible classes and pick up another 2 later, and most classes have more than one way to specialize them. All skills, including spells, are learned by using skill points, similar to talent builds in World of Warcraft. You can have a guild of up to 16 people (I have 12 right now), and can have 5 people in your party at a time. I have a party of 5 for clearing out dungeons, plus one each of the other main classes just to play around with (troubadours are great for buffing in boss fights). I also have a second warrior-type class (called a landsknecht); the main one specializes in swords and gets an attack that hits everyone, but the other one specializes in axes and will be good in boss fights. I also have 4 survivalists (ranger types) who I'll use mainly for farming materials.

In the dungeon, there are spots where you can harvest plants, chop wood, or mine if you have skills for it. The higher your skill, the more attempts you get, so I use the 4 survivalists along with one other character to do farming runs to get money.

You buy all your equipment and potions in town, besides what you get as treasure, but the list of items available to you depends on the monsters you kill. Monsters don't drop gold, they drop various monster parts (hides, shells, wings, etc). You take them to town and sell them to the shopkeeper, and as you do, she becomes able to make different and better weapons using the materials you've given her.

There's no saving in the dungeon, but it's not a big deal, because after maybe 30 minutes of playing you unlock an item at the shop that lets you warp back to town, plus there are other ways to warp around the dungeon, so it's not like you have to run down 17 floors to get back to where you were.

Overall, it's quite well designed and it's the best RPG I've played in a while.

[watkinzez]

You know what's awesome? The fact that the DS is semi-resurrecting the adventure game genre.

Crackpot Entertainment, made up of old school LucasArts alumni, are developing a game called Insecticide. It's different, it looks great, and it's coming from some talented people. I'm almost sold already.

[Dhsu]

In other news, Gamecock is the best name for a company ever.

[atmuh]

http://www.joystiq.com/2007/05/25/gyakuten-saiban-3-to-include-english-translation/

yesyesyesyesyes

[UnforgivingEdges]

Huge recommendation here for Etrian Odyssey. You have to like the old-school RPG format (it's turn-based, plus you make your own maps with the stylus, which is easier than it sounds). It's got good visuals, although the monsters and characters aren't 3D and the landscape confines you to a north/south/east/west grid. Haven't listened to sound much (it annoys people when you play with sound on the subway), but the bits I heard were good.

The best part is party formation and customization. There are a lot of options. You start with 7 possible classes and pick up another 2 later, and most classes have more than one way to specialize them. All skills, including spells, are learned by using skill points, similar to talent builds in World of Warcraft. You can have a guild of up to 16 people (I have 12 right now), and can have 5 people in your party at a time. I have a party of 5 for clearing out dungeons, plus one each of the other main classes just to play around with (troubadours are great for buffing in boss fights). I also have a second warrior-type class (called a landsknecht); the main one specializes in swords and gets an attack that hits everyone, but the other one specializes in axes and will be good in boss fights. I also have 4 survivalists (ranger types) who I'll use mainly for farming materials.

In the dungeon, there are spots where you can harvest plants, chop wood, or mine if you have skills for it. The higher your skill, the more attempts you get, so I use the 4 survivalists along with one other character to do farming runs to get money.

You buy all your equipment and potions in town, besides what you get as treasure, but the list of items available to you depends on the monsters you kill. Monsters don't drop gold, they drop various monster parts (hides, shells, wings, etc). You take them to town and sell them to the shopkeeper, and as you do, she becomes able to make different and better weapons using the materials you've given her.

There's no saving in the dungeon, but it's not a big deal, because after maybe 30 minutes of playing you unlock an item at the shop that lets you warp back to town, plus there are other ways to warp around the dungeon, so it's not like you have to run down 17 floors to get back to where you were.

Overall, it's quite well designed and it's the best RPG I've played in a while.

Listen to this man. The game is old school to the max, but it looks great, plays great, instills the ever-addictive "I'll just do one more thing before I quit/oh shit it's three hours later" syndrome, has a great sense of adventure and exploration, is very challenging and super fun.

This is the ONLY RPG you'll need for your DS.

[Soma]

Listen to this man. The game is old school to the max, but it looks great, plays great, instills the ever-addictive "I'll just do one more thing before I quit/oh shit it's three hours later" syndrome, has a great sense of adventure and exploration, is very challenging and super fun.

This is the ONLY RPG you'll need for your DS.

Well damn, you just sold it. Now i have to pick that up too.

[AzureZeal]

Might be true, but I read on the Atlus boards that a sequel for Etrian Odyssey is already confirmed and the password option is used for it. Think I spent most of the evening playing that game straight.

[Imagist]

So I spotted the latest deals at EBGamestop online Saturday and went over to trade in several games I'll never play again (Red Steel, Call of Duty 3, Smash Bros. Melee, Mario Kart Double Dash and Tales of Phantasia) along with my old DS for some $130 in credit. I paid off a reserve for Mario Party 8 and with the credit on my card from something long ago found myself with $117. So I'm going in tomorrow with Sonic and the Secret Rings to pick up a DS Lite. Yippee.

The exciting part? I just noticed another part of their latest ad advertising the original Phoenix Wright for $19.99, and after checking availability it looks like all the stores near me have several copies, so I'll probably shell out the cash for that and I'll finally get to play it. I was kind of pissed off for the longest while when it looked like no one carried it new and I couldn't find it used any more.

The bad part? After that I'll probably want to buy Phoenix Wright 2, and then have to save up for Phoenix Wright 3. There's $60 more down the drain.

[Necrotic]

The bad part? After that I'll probably want to buy Phoenix Wright 2, and then have to save up for Phoenix Wright 3. There's $60 more down the drain.

Don't think of it as a trap, but more like the inevitability of something totally, mind-numbingly awesome entering your very soul.

-Nick

[Oddllama]

Hey - someone told me a while back, but I forgot...

Is it better for the long-term capacity of my DS battery if I only charge it when I need to, or if I constantly charge it whenever I can?

[Czar Diego]

You should only charge it when it's close to being dead. If you constantly charge it, it'll wear on the battery after a while. That's what happened to my first DS. It's life went down by like a third before I traded it in.

[Imagist]

So I picked up Phoenix Wright, but have no DS to play it on. The only color Lite any of the stores near me had was pink. I could settle for a black instead of the white I want, but no pink. Maybe they'll get some with their Mario Party shipment tomorrow and I can pick up both at once.

[Mr.Roboto]

So I picked up Phoenix Wright, but have no DS to play it on. The only color Lite any of the stores near me had was pink. I could settle for a black instead of the white I want, but no pink. Maybe they'll get some with their Mario Party shipment tomorrow and I can pick up both at once.

Get a Pink one you pussy.

[Imagist]

Who the hell capitalizes colors?

[AarowSwift]

Who the hell capitalizes colors?

Somebody who wants to Emphasize the word.

[The Mutericator]

Who the hell capitalizes colors?

The colors are, in fact, the special titles for each version of the DS Lite - Pearl Pink, Something Blue, et cetera.

[SirChadlyOC]

I have a pink one that was given to me for free

I plan on buying one of those skins for $10 to cover it up, and I might also buy a replacement stylus, GBA cover or even battery cover to make it more dual-toned and less blatantly FABULOUS!!

[Imagist]

Somebody who wants to Emphasize the word.

In other words, a retard? Possibly a Shakespearean or Victorian retard?

The colors are, in fact, the special titles for each version of the DS Lite - Pearl Pink, Something Blue, et cetera.

But pink is not a special title. In that case you should not capitalize pink.

It's not that I would refuse a pink DS. But I'm paying for it and I want to bloody pay for a white DS.

[Darth GourryGN]

I'd like to Emphasize something:

I have an R4 (Revolution for DS). It is Awesome.

That is all.

Not really...

I used to not care much about homebrew software besides moonshell (for pictures, mp3s, movies). I still don't.

But I found two programs that I actually like to use:

Phidias (<-link) and DSOrganize (<-link).

Phidias is a drawing program that's pretty fun to use. It's got just enough functions to let you create a masterpiece or two.

Behold:

So awesome.

You can even create custom brushes. It doesn't fix your suckiness, though. And the phidias.nds file size is 666kB, so, congratulations, you found the Pope's ds drawing program.

DSOrganize is a digital swiss army knife that has a Calendar, Day Planner, Address book, Todo list, scribble pad, file browser (now you can change filenames and copy and mess sh!t up just like you wanted), scientific calculator, IRC kjigger, and web browser(text only). Also, you can download ds demos and keep 'em without worrying about the power shutoff.

Speaking of drawing stuff, Drawn to Life looks interesting. It reminds me of Graffiti Kingdom. You get to draw your own character, and parts of the environment. I imagine that there will be a lot of people will have Phallusmen riding Wangships through the Testiclouds.

It looks like it will be similar to Graffiti kingdom in that it will be too short and easy, and more time will be spent drawing stuff than playing the rest of the game. But it should be fun.

I'm annoyed that Dragon Quest 9 is going to be a turn-based game now. I never enjoyed the previous DQ games, but I was hoping for a good long action RPG when I heard about the change for IX. The multiplayer portion sounds especially whack.

At least Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates still looks like it's on track to be great.

[Mouser X]

In regards to homebrew, here's somethng worth checking out. WordUp looks like a pretty interesting game. I don't have a flashcart, so I haven't tried it myself. However, the description definitely has me interested. I'm now (again) considering getting a flashcart... Mouser X out.

[UnforgivingEdges]

You should only charge it when it's close to being dead. If you constantly charge it, it'll wear on the battery after a while. That's what happened to my first DS. It's life went down by like a third before I traded it in.

NOT true. The DS uses a Lithium Ion battery, and as such, should be charged whenever possible to ensure maximum battery life (which decreases exponentially, not linearly, if you use your "charge when it's close to being dead" method).

-Unlike Ni-Cd (Nickel Cadmium) batteries, lithium-ion batteries should be charged early and often. However, if they are not used for a longer time, they should be brought to a charge level of around 40%. Lithium-ion batteries should never be "deep-cycled" like Ni-Cd batteries.

-Lithium-ion batteries should never be depleted to empty (0%).

-Li-ion batteries should be kept cool. Ideally they are stored in a refrigerator. Aging will take its toll much faster at high temperatures. The high temperatures found in cars cause lithium-ion batteries to degrade rapidly.

-It is significantly beneficial to avoid storing a lithium-ion battery at full charge. A Li-ion battery stored at 40% charge will last many times longer than one stored at 100% charge, particularly at higher temperatures.

-If a Li-ion battery is stored with too low a charge, there is a risk of allowing the charge to drop below the battery's low-voltage threshold, resulting in an unrecoverably dead battery. Once the charge has dropped to this level, recharging it can be dangerous. An internal safety circuit will therefore open to prevent charging, and the battery will be for all practical purposes dead.

So to answer your question Oddlama, charge it at night after any day in which you played your DS.

[Evilhead]

I'd like to Emphasize something:

I have an R4 (Revolution for DS). It is Awesome.

That is all.

Not really...

I used to not care much about homebrew software besides moonshell (for pictures, mp3s, movies). I still don't.

But I found two programs that I actually like to use:

Phidias (<-link) and DSOrganize (<-link).

Phidias is a drawing program that's pretty fun to use. It's got just enough functions to let you create a masterpiece or two.

Behold:

So awesome.

You can even create custom brushes. It doesn't fix your suckiness, though. And the phidias.nds file size is 666kB, so, congratulations, you found the Pope's ds drawing program.

DSOrganize is a digital swiss army knife that has a Calendar, Day Planner, Address book, Todo list, scribble pad, file browser (now you can change filenames and copy and mess sh!t up just like you wanted), scientific calculator, IRC kjigger, and web browser(text only). Also, you can download ds demos and keep 'em without worrying about the power shutoff.

Hey, thanks for posting this stuff. I've been looking for some good DS homebrew, especially a paint program. Cheers.

[q-pa]

If we're talking homebrew, don't forget DSAIM (an AIM client for the DS!)

Also, Dev-Scene is a great resource for all things homebrew on the DS and Wii.

Have fun.

Edit: Has anyone successfully connected to #ocremix or #vgdj using DSOrganize or IRCDS? It's not working for me...