Portable Gaming Revolution

We have yet another port coming to the PSP in early 2007. In this case though, it might not be a bad thing. I know, I know… we all love the original titles, but we have to have something to play inbetween the releases of the PSP-specific titles! Take-Two Interactive has plans to make Sid Meier’s Pirates! portable. There are going to be some new features added into the game, including new treasure hunts, widescreen display and four-player wireless multi-player.

We love the new possibilities from handheld systems like the PSP,” added Sid Meier, Director of Creative Development at developer Firaxis Games. “Pirates! for the PSP system allows players to shape the heroic life of a pirate while embracing the pirate’s way of life — always on the go!

Those of you out there who are fans of both the PSP and DS and own one of each (I happen to fall into the category) might be interested to know that a coder out there has written an app where you can play Tic-Tac-Toe across the two systems via Wifi.

I just somewhat finished my first DS app. Thanks to El_Hobito’s PA_Lib Wifi Setup App, I was able to quickly code something up.. I had to do this for a school project, and I got enough done for that.. The code is really messy, and all IPs are hardcoded.. I am not sure when or if I’ll actually finish it, but it does work..
So you can check it out, and play tic tac toe using WIFI. On my site I also posted the PSP code too, so you can play a game against someone with a psp!

This game is the first of it’s kind, that I am aware of, that has the two portable systems speak to each other. Hopefully this will open up the flood gates for more of the same!!

Download DS version.
Download PSP version.

Sorry it’s a tad bit late this week, but here are the games that should have been released earlier this week:

The following games are out for the DS:

- Asphalt: Urban GT 2
- Bionicle Heroes
- Brain Boost: Beta Wave
- Brain Boost: Gamma Wave
- Charlotte’s Web
- Eragon
- Final Fantasy III
- Gunpey DS
- Happy Feet
- Monster Bomber
- My Frogger: Toy Trials
- Spider-Man: Battle for New York
- Tamagotchi Connection: Corner Shop 2
- Tomb Raider: Legend
- Uno/Skip-Bo/Uno Freefall
- Winx Club: The Quest for the Codex
- Yoshi’s Island 2

Once you’re done picking up the collection of DS titles that tickle your fancy, move on over to the PSP section where you’ll be able to choose from the following newly released titles:

- Activision Hits Remixed
- EA Replay
- Eragon
- GitarooMan Lives!
- Gunpey-R
- Hammy Goes Nuts
- Hard Rock Casino
- Luxor: The Wrath of Set
- Metal Slug Anthology
- Mortal Kombat: Unchained
- NFL Street Volume 3
- Pimp My Ride
- Pocket Racers
- Platypus
- Rayman: Raving Rabbids
- Sega Genesis Collection
- Shrek Smash ‘n Crash
- Star Trek: Tactical Assault
- Thrillville
- Warhammer: Battle for Atluma
- Xiaolin Showdown
- Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Tag Force

It’s no surprise that, given the success of the first game that Q Entertainment and Buena Vista Games/Bandai would decide to release a second Lumines title. The original was one of the games launched with the PSP back in March 2005 and is still considered one of the most addictive and best games for the handheld system.

The developers had a couple of goals in mind in creating the sequel: to include enough fresh material to bring in new fans, as well as to keep the same winning formula to appease those who have been addicts since the beginning.

One of the major new additions comes by way of the full-screen, full-motion videos that will be playing in the background. The previous incarnation of the game had mostly static images while you played. This time around you’ll actually be seeing high-quality music videos playing from the likes of Beck, Gwen Stefani, Missy Elliott, Fatboy Slim, Black Eyed Peas, Chemical Brothers and Hoobastank. The developers are advertising that there are over 60 of these full-motion skins included in the game along with 100 music tracks. Tetsuya Mizuguchi, the chief creative officer of Q Entertainment, had overall veto power over each and every music video to be included in the game.

In order to showcase my vision for Lumines II, we needed to find music and videos with just the right tone, mix and energy to incorporate into the game. I couldn’t be happier with the result and am excited to get the game into players’ hands.

When you first pick up the game, you will now be offered a choice of three levels of difficulty as well as four main play modes. Challenge Mode is back and the vs. CPU mode remains largely unchanged, but Puzzle Mode has been pumped up to include around 100 different stages. Mission Mode makes you think about how to solve each puzzle, often giving you very strict guidelines – for instance, having to clear the screen in five moves or less. You’ll find about 50 of these objective-based levels included.

Early in October, a website was launched, including all sorts of game details, samples of the music videos and downloadable content in the way of both wallpapers and screensavers. Apparently you will also be able to get in on Lumines competitions via the site eventually. This is definitely a page to bookmark for the monster Lumines fan in you!

So make sure your battery is fully charged, find yourself a comfortable spot with a minimal chance of interruption and get ready to settle in for a long stretch of gaming as Lumines II comes your way. It was released in North America on November 6th and is expected to explode onto the European market later this month, on or around the 17th of November.

As always, the DS:Life podcast will be in it’s own feed, and downloadable from DSLifePodcast.com. Please visit that site to download/subscribe for automatic download.

Get ready! A new episode of the DS:Life podcast is here!

We have lots to talk about, and talk we do! With the episode coming in at a little over 70 minutes, grab your popcorn and prepare to be entertained. In this episode we talk about Elite Beat Agents, a sweet homebrew comic reader, a unbelievable preorder bonus for Castlevania, and chat a little bit on the possible interactions between the Wii and the DS

Of course we start off letting you guys know what wer are playing, run down the release list for the next week, and play YOUR contributions to our little podcast. We love the feedback that we have been receiving on the DS:L, thanks to each and everyone who has emailed/called/IMd in their support and questions.

So until next time, enjoy your DS:Life.

Visit DSLifePodcast.com for downloads and subscription links.

The nominees have been selected for Time magazine’s prestigeous 2006 Gadget of the Year award! Their tech guy, Wilson Rothman, has narrowed down the list to eight gadgets. The following items appear on the list:

- Logitech VX Revolution
- Sanyo HD1 Digital Media
- Apple MacBook Pro
- Nintendo DS Lite
- Logitech Wireless DJ
- Nike + iPod Sport Kit
- Garmin StreetPilot c550
- Palm Treo 700w

As you can see, the DS Lite finds itself in quite the distinguished line-up of products! It turns out that the voters are definitely fans of the little handheld system, as the polls are showing the DS Lite ahead of the pack with a comfortable 59% of the vote (a full 32 percentage points above it’s nearest competitor, the Apple MacBook Pro) – these stats are current to the time I cast my own vote this evening.

This handheld game platform has two screens (including a PDA-like touchscreen) plus built-in microphone and wireless connectivity with a stylus. Nintendo wants to lure non-gamers, so a new series of games is geared towards older folks, dubbed Touch Generations including math-and-reading games, plus addicting sudoku and crossword puzzles.

Click here to cast your vote!

Prepare to settle in and listen to another PSP podcast. This week I bring you some news on GTA: Vice City Stories, talk about the PSP camera, and even talk about a custom PSP firmware.

Cara is also here to bring you a great episode of The Scene where she talks about Lumines II. A surefire hit for this holiday season.

Call our voicemail line and leave us a comment! 1-206-326-1221

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From now on, I’ll be combining the weekly DS and PSP game releases into one post.

Check out the following DS titles that are scheduled to be released this week:

- Barbie: 12 Dancing Princesses
- Bomberman Land Touch!
- Chicken Little: Ace in Action
- Digimon World DS
- Elite Beat Agents
- My Frogger: Toy Trials
- Tom and Jerry Tales
- Uno/Skip-Bo/Uno Freefall
- Winx Club: The Quest for the Codex

The following titles are scheduled to be released for the PSP:

- BattleZone
- Hard Rock Casino
- Lumines II
- Reel Fishing: The Great Outdoors
- SOCOM U.S. Navy Seals Fireteam Bravo 2
- Tony Hawk’s Project 8

Apparently Robert Workman over at GameDaily felt the need to give grades to all of the consoles, including the handheld systems. I would be remiss if I didn’t present his findings to you!

He based his rankings on a few different aspects, including the price, available games and possible future of the system.

The DS Lite was praised for it’s revolutionary touchscreen, bazillion games and a price tag that is fairly easy on the wallet, coming in at a reasonable $129.99 USD.

Next to the iPod, the DS should be next on the gotta-have gadget list. The vast game lineup caters to every flavor of gamer, and it won’t hurt the wallet.

The PSP didn’t do too badly for itself either, with the author commenting on the fact that for the most part, PSP games are geared towards a more mature audience, while having all sorts of other capabilities – at least he remembered that it’s not just for gaming!

The Sony PSP may be the more expensive handheld system on the market, but the variety of games available for it makes it an easy choice for those who aren’t into Nintendo’s style.

In the end, the Nintendo DS Lite came out on top with a grade of “A” while the PSP trailed behind with a “B”, mostly due to the elevated price tag.

Before it became a miniturized version of itself by allowing invitees only into it’s hallowed halls, E3 used to be the ultimate experience for a gamer. Unfortunately, I’m not speaking from experience myself… but I always planned on attending at some point! ESA (Electronic Software Association), the owner of the event, had to give in to pressure put on by the companies who put up displays… I suppose they just weren’t seeing enough return on the enormous pricetag of putting up an exhibit. So, E3 was ultimately scaled down from the 60,000+ fans who would descend upon the Los Angeles Convention Center to the paltry invitation-only event that it eventually became.

Well, GameSpot came up with some good news. E3 is coming back baby! It’s being renamed GamePro Expo, with the inaugural expo being scheduled for mid-October 2007.

According to a memo circulated to a short list of LA Convention and Visitors Bureau members this week, International Data Group, publisher of dozens of tech magazines and producer of hundreds of trade shows around the world (including Macworld), will produce a new games show to be held in Los Angeles.

The event is expected to bring in a crowd upwards of 30,000 strong and will once again take over the LA Convention Center. It might be a good idea to get those plane tickets and hotel reservations booked early if you plan on attending!

Check out the newly implemented minisite for the upcoming Yoshi’s Island DS. The game looks stellar… but then, I was and still am a huge fan of the original game, Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island when it was originally released for SNES. If you can believe it, I still dust off the old SNES and whip out the game every once in a while!

Yoshi’s Island DS isn’t just a remake, but an entirely new game… and from all the screenshots I’ve seen, the developers are sticking to the roots of the original.

Back to the website though, it’s bright and colorful and cheery… just like the game. It’s somewhat interactive at this point, playing some cutesy music in the background. The site isn’t entirely operational quite yet, with a “Check back for the full site” bubble in the corner. They’d better get on it, since the game is being released on November 13th!

In what I have to say is an absolutely awesome looking effect, Everett Bradford, a mechanical engineering student at RPI (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York) went ahead and rigged up shoulder button lights on his PSP that are activated when you push them. Apparently he took the mod that had shoulder lights that stayed on all the time and changed it up a little.

He has put up a rather lengthy tutorial, complete with very large pictures, on how he managed to set up the lights. Again, due to my mechanical ineptitude, this is definitely not something that I would ever attempt… but if we have any readers out there with fairly solid soldering skills, feel free to try it out!

If you are interested in cracking open and modding your PSP, check out the full tutorial here.