With Bioware developing the new Sonic RPG for the Nintendo DS this is one title to keep a close eye on. Recently IGN awarded Sonic Chronicles as runner-up to the Best Nintendo DS RPG at E3, if you are curious which game was given top honors, it was Square’s Chrono Trigger DS. Sonic Chronicles is due in stores this coming Fall, in the meantime you can watch the latest trailer for the game here.

Gamecock Media Group brings us the first installment of Mushroom Men for Nintendo DS, this original 3D platformer developed by Red Fly Studios is due October of this year.   Rise of the Fungi will be a prequel to Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars which is also scheduled for October release for the Nintendo Wii, both Mushroom Men titles will feature original music by Les Claypool.

With the recently released Guitar Hero: On Tour for the Nintendo DS the popular franchise is now available in portable form. You may wonder how well Vicarious Vision was able to simulate playing guitar with the DS. Check out this video from Activision that demonstrates the new “guitar” attachment that’s bundled with the game.

The peripheral is called the “Guitar Grip”, it’s slightly smaller than a Nintendo DS Lite and plugs into the GBA cartridge slot of the DS.  While it was designed for the DS Lite, there is a small adapter that’s removable that makes it fit the larger original Nintendo DS model.

One difference between the console version and DS is the removal of one of the fret buttons, the four fret buttons are located on the side of the unit near the cartridge slot, there is a wriststrap included to help you keep your grip while playing.

You play Guitar Hero: On Tour like a book (similar to Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword and Hotel Dusk: Room 215), and use the included pick-shaped stylus on the DS touchscreen to “strum” with your free hand.  You apply whammy by moving the stylus across the on-screen whammy bar or anywhere on the touchscreen.

Here is the mostly favorable review by Geoff Keighley:

Yahtzee takes on the well received Square Enix title ‘The World Ends With You’ for the Nintendo DS. Watch the always entertaining Zero Punctuation review to find out how it holds up.

88 World Ends With You, The
85 Professor Layton and the Curious Village
83 Space Invaders Extreme
83 Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword
79 Crosswords DS
78 Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney
77 Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates
75 Nanostray 2
74 Bomberman Land Touch! 2
74 Drone Tactics
73 Speed Racer
70 Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer
69 Rondo of Swords
68 Super Dodgeball Brawlers
67 Teenage Zombies: Invasion of the Alien Brain Thingys!
67 Sega Superstars Tennis
66 Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time
65 Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness
64 Professor Kageyama’s Maths Training
62 Major League Baseball 2K8 Fantasy All-Stars
61 Naruto: Ninja Destiny
60 Zoo Tycoon 2 DS
60 Lost In Blue 3
59 River King: Mystic Valley
59 Spiderwick Chronicles, The
59 Dungeon Explorer: Warriors of Ancient Arts
58 Pro Evolution Soccer 2008
58 Assassin’s Creed: Altair’s Chronicles
56 Iron Man
56 FIFA Street 3
55 Insecticide
55 Eco Creatures: Save the Forest
54 Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, The
54 Ninja Reflex
53 Brain Voyage
52 Brain Assist
50 Bubble Bobble Double Shot
48 Spitfire Heroes: Tales of the Royal Air Force
46 Hurry Up Hedgehog!
44 Paint by DS
38 Chicken Hunter
37 My Horse and Me
32 Best of Tests DS
30 Toy Shop
23 Homie Rollerz

With rumors of Nintendo making a revision to their popular DS handheld there has been many concept designs floating around the internets. Check out this collection of Nintendo DS revision ideas.
      

From Gamespot:

While Lego Batman is being released on a multitude of platforms, Traveller’s Tales claims that this is the first Lego game that they’ve built specifically for next-gen platforms such as Xbox 360 and PS3. The environments are more detailed than those of Lego Star Wars, and they feature nice incidental effects, such as rats running around, and smoke rising from the grates. The game can also be played in two-player co-op across Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network, while both versions will support 720p and 1080p resolution output. It’s also still hitting PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable with all the same content, while they’re currently experimenting with motion-sensitive batarang controls for the Wii.

With Lego Batman, Traveller’s Tales look set to replicate the same sly humour and solid co-op play that they pioneered with the Lego Star Wars series. It’s clear that the game isn’t trying to break major new ground, but rather take the fundamentals of the previous games and transport them to an entirely different comic book universe. With this and Lego Indiana Jones in the pipeline, it will be a busy year for the British developer, but we hold hope that the game will still make its planned Q4 2008 release date. With plenty of time before now and then, expect to see more on Lego Batman in the coming months.

[source]

Talking as part of an in-depth interview published on Gamasutra, Game Republic founder and Street Fighter II creator Yoshiki Okamoto has issued a sharp warning on the glut of DS software

Okamoto was a 20-year veteran of Capcom, creating titles such as Time Pilot and 1942, and also ran independent developer Flagship (Zelda, Resident Evil titles), before going on to create Genji and Folklore developer Game Republic in 2004.

According to initial comments from Okamoto, whose firm recently signed a deal with Brash Entertainment to work on a major Western movie license, Nintendo’s success is still leading to problems in the market - firstly with first-party game software dominance:

“Looking at the way things are right now, it is a fact that first-party Wii games are the only titles selling well. But if the first-party titles are selling, third-party games should be able to sell too, so long as their creators have a good working relationship with Nintendo.

I think the problem is a lack of understanding between third-party developers, like us, and Nintendo, and this relationship needs to improve for the games to improve.

Also, as a developer, when you admit that Nintendo’s games are selling well, you also have to face the fact that the games you’ve made that flopped haven’t been good enough.”

Later on, when asked for specifically about the Nintendo DS market in Japan and worldwide, Okamoto explains the concerns of some:

“…actually, and again, and this is those whispering voices saying this, but you’ve started hearing the phrase “Atari crash” pretty frequently. People are talking about how the second “Atari crash” is around the corner. And Nintendo is the one that has to figure out a way to stop it.

In Japan we often say that history repeats itself, and it’s going to take some serious effort to keep it from happening this time.

Japan had its economic bubble in the late eighties, and that burst. I think some of the same things are happening in the American economy right now. Like, they’re going to have to do something to prevent it. It’s foolish to keep making the same mistakes people have already made.

So, Nintendo’s going to need some sort of strategy to deal with this. I think it’s a fact that the market blew up more rapidly than even they thought it would. And the faster something expands, the easier it is for it to deflate again, right? I hope they come up with a way to avoid this with the DS. But for one thing, there are way too many titles out all at once.”

Finally, when asked about the expansion of the kind of companies making DS software - particularly true in Japan, Okamoto explains:

“[At least in Japan] all sorts of companies that have never made games before are getting involved. I mean, the cost of development is really next to nothing. And what about this flood of “brain training” games? Can they really keep that up?

Nintendo put a lot of thought into the original, and ran some really cool commercials for it. But some of these companies just slap something together, put the word “brain” in the title, and release it. There are a ton of them, and barely any of them are interesting.”

The full interview with Game Republic’s Okamoto is now available on Gamasutra, with a wealth of other information about the executive and designer’s history with Capcom, his views on Game Republic’s titles to date, and much more.

1up made this list of the top 5 games to play when you’re drunk in honor of St. Patrick’s Day.

5. Breakout - Atari 2600

For some, the average Atari 2600 game loses its luster within the first 15 seconds. And while 2600 graphics are, to the sober mind, dated and blocky, to the sloshing brain the graphics are alive, immediate, and contemporary. I know for a fact that you can play Breakout boozily, because I’ve witnessed it. Once, I walked out of my living room just as a friend hit the reset switch on my 2600. When I walked back in, there he was, sitting on the floor with his eyes kind of misty, the paddle control in front of him. He’d beaten Breakout. “I’m a genius!” he told me. Breakout is a very twitchy game that requires fine, precise movements and astute snap decision-making. In that regard it’s practically a sobriety test. Of course alcohol hadn’t improved my friend’s hand-eye coordination (but don’t tell him that). However, he was in the Zone, in that Zen mindset where patterns and trajectories begin to make a strange cosmic sense. Also, a PBR had temporarily turned my friend into a struttin’ cock of the walk, which surely helped his game. If you don’t have Breakout at hand (and if you aren’t yet in your 30s, I can’t fault you), challenge your friends to Arkanoid. If you’re feeling really competitive, do Pong.

4. Rez HD - 360

Perhaps games like Breakout benefit from alcohol consumption because they do rely on visual abstraction. Modern shoot-em-ups like Rez also seem to benefit from beer buzz: The half-awake, primal brain focuses on nothing in particular, and yet, as if automagically, you manage to rack up a phenomenal score. “Have you ever experienced shooter Zen?” Scott Sharkey once asked. “It’s that trancelike state you slip into, where your mind merges with the game and no matter what it throws at you, you’re going to survive because you’re freaking Superman.” Mike Bracken of GameCritics elaborates: “To become a true shmup master, one must enter a Zen-like state wherein the gamer becomes one with the controller and his onscreen avatar.” Now they call trance music “trance” for a reason, and Rez is one of the few games that inexplicably combines lightning-fast action with vegetativeness (which is a real word; I checked). We’re not telling you to booze yourself into Buddha — but if you’re of age, gellin’ like Magellan can make Rez even more engaging and rhythmic. Just ask Mizuguchi. If you hate electronica music, we recommend Geometry Wars.

3. Guitar Hero - PS2, 360, Wii, Mac

With “beatmatching” rhythm games and alcohol, there’s a dramatic bell curve. You’re invincible after a beer, but after one too many, you’re so kicked out of the band. The reason you can play games after a whiskey is actually the same reason you don’t drive after a whiskey: Slightly impaired judgment means you’re more confident, more daring. Your score in Guitar Hero may markedly improve after a drink if only because, for instance, you wouldn’t ordinarily attempt that really difficult solo. There’s a fine line between taking risks and getting stupid, though, and it generally coincides with getting your toy guitar taken away. Waning, boozy attention spans might tire of Guitar Hero’s music catalog; in that case, we recommend Audiosurf as a viable alternative.

2. WarioWare: Smooth Moves - Wii

With alcohol, it’s easy to coerce your friends into doing things they would never ordinarily do. Turn that negative into a positive! Nothing feels quite so right as finding four of the burliest, manliest dudes you can, moving the Hummel figurines out of arm’s reach, and bringing out the Wii Remotes. In an event like this, many partygoers prefer WarioWare: Smooth Moves. Your friends will look silly playing any movement game, irrespective of whether it stars Wario, but WarioWare includes a lot more hopping, ducking, and flapping than tennis does. And if booze is good for anything it’s making you unafraid to look like an ass. Don’t forget the camcorder! In a pinch, you could make your friends play Wii Sports, but if coordination becomes a problem, why not bring out SingStar or Karaoke Revolution instead?

1. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - DS

So, you’re drinking alone. No, no, don’t explain. I am loath to admit I completed Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney with, literally, one eye open. And while you might not think booze and detective work go together (although, come to think of it, there is a certain Sam Spade appeal there), the truth is, point-and-click adventure puzzles seem to go down a little easier with a glass of wine. Especially when they’re mysterious. But why is that? Alcohol doesn’t necessarily improve your acuity or powers of deduction — not by any stretch! — but it does make you more brash, more determined. With point-and-click adventures, in which the only real adversary is your own sense of frustration, brash tenacity is a virtue worth rewarding. If courtroom battles aren’t your thing, settle into your easy chair with a pipe and a decanter and check out Professor Layton and the Curious Village to see how the juice affects your holmesian intellect.

[source]