I am not usually one to love branded consoles, but when the words Ace Attorney are associated with said branding, well then my ears perk up. With the release of the latest Ace Attorney game, Gyakuten Kenji, Capcom and Nintendo are releasing a ‘premium’ DSi. The unit will debut for ¥23,940 (USD$240) and come with a copy of the game.

I wish this would come here, but that doesn’t seem to likely. The DSi unit is also pretty light one branding. Of course, we wouldn’t want it coated is logos and pictures, but it’s just a DSi with ‘stickers’ on it. I would no doubt buy it because of my love for the Ace Attorney series, but more would be nice. You know what would be nicer, if Capcom would bring this here. We’ll just have to wait and see (like always).

Source: Kotaku

]]> http://gamerlimit.com/2009/04/premium-ace-attorney-dsi/feed/ 3 http://gamerlimit.com/2009/04/final-fantasy-dissdia-trailer/ http://gamerlimit.com/2009/04/final-fantasy-dissdia-trailer/#comments Fri, 03 Apr 2009 11:51:44 +0000 David Rhinehart http://gamerlimit.com/?p=12082 The Final Fantasy: Dissidia trailer is out. Why you need a trailer for a fighting game that is already out in Japan is very unclear to me. Either way if you need something to tide you over until the game releases in the US this summer or September for Europe, just watch this to your hearts content.

Source: Kotaku

Excite Bots has Super Sandwiches, need I say more? Come on it’s a sandwich, mankind’s greatest food invention. It’s also Super, did I mention that? Moving on, the more details about Excite Bots that come out, the more of an improvement it seems over Excite Truck. Here is a game that has fully embraced the fact that it is a game. Building a sandwich by collecting power-ups while racing seems ridiculously fun and reminds me why I love games. Narrative experience be damned, we need more sandwiches!

So yes Excite Bots will have a sandwich building mode. It is funny how original gameplay modes emerge from what seemed like a rehash but with robots. I didn’t really care about Excite Bots because it seemed exactly that, a rehash. Now I can’t wait to play it. No it’s not just because of the sandwich, it’s because of a developer showing that by flexing creativity and just trying to make something fun they can make just about anything that has been done a thousand time fresh again.

Source: Kotaku

Professor Layton was fantastic. Unfortunately, it had appeared that we were not going to get it anytime soon. Fortunately for us, Level 5 confirmed that they were working on localizing Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box for North American and Europe, along with all the forthcoming Layton games. The second title should be released within the next six months.

Source: Joystiq

We here at Gamer Limit managed to get our hands on the Nintendo DSi. With all of the swirling comments on whether or not this would be worth the upgrade, which let’s be honest, happens every time Nintendo decides to release a new handheld regardless of what it is, we would like to throw our own two cents in.

The first noticeable detail on the DSi is its new, non shiny, matte color and design. Gone is the slippery smooth coating. While this is not a large change, it does make the DSi more rectangular, with sharper corners than the smoothed DS lite. We only managed to try out the black DSi, which looks great. The DSi is 12% thinner and slightly longer than the Lite, but it is not noticeable unless you are holding the two up next to one another.

The power button is no longer a slide on the outside of the unit, now a button near the lower left of the touch screen. The volume slider is also gone, replaced with very unobtrusive up and down buttons along the outer left side. The D-pad and the buttons themselves also feel much nicer than the Lite. They have a nice click to them (though they don’t actually make a click noise). Of course, the GBA Slot is gone, but some of the new features make do make up for it.

Of course, all those features are purely cosmetic, the real differences between the DSi and Lite are whats on the inside. Upon booting up the DSi, you are greeted with the stylish new interface. Gone is the simple play game, pictochat, or options screen. Now we have a brand new interface, similar to the Wii Channel system. Instead of the Wii’s ‘fridge’ appearance, the DSi channels are all along a horizontal bar that you navigate either by sliding it with the stylus or using the d-pad. The system is simple and clean, much more so than the ‘fridge’ layout.

Yes, the interface is nice and all, but that is not what is important. What is important is beyond the shiny… what lies underneath. I am talking about the programming; what Nintendo has to do to make the DSi different from the Lite. The first glaring additions are the cameras and their software. The two 0.3megapixel cameras, one located on the outer shell and one located on the internal hinge, where the microphone is located on the Lite.  The cameras can be switched between by a simple press of the X button while using the software.

As most, I had though that these cameras were nothing more than a useless, low quality addition. After tooling around with them, taking pictures of other attendees, t-shirts, the Nintendo rep, and anything else I felt compelled to snap, I went in and tried out the picture software. The DSi can store over 400 pictures on its internal memory and those can be easily transferred to an SD card (you can see a printed DSi picture amongst the swag). The pictures can be manipulated, contorted, and twisted however you want similar to the old gameboy camera. The imaging software can also zoom in on the picture and still retain a surprising amount of quality.

Music playback support had been previously announced and had not been lauded by all. By denying the universally accepted MP3 format and forcing the AAC format, most gamers, including myself, though that this was a completely useless function. I still feel that this is a useless function, but what I did find interesting was not the playback, but ability to record clips. The DSi contains a simplistic sound recorder that can record up to eighteen seconds by means of the built in microphone. Sure it is not the greatest software, but its a nice little gimmick that could come in handy.

Before we get to the DSi’s main selling point, there are a few features left. As stated earlier, the DSi now has an SD card sot. It can support any standard, meaning not High Capacity, SD cards. In the Lite, when you inserted a game, the system had to be off or restarted in order for it to read the new cartridge. The DSi supports ‘hot-swapping ;’ when you insert your cartridge of choice, and it appears immediately on the menu. The games also boot a bit faster than on the Lite. Of course the best feature is if you simply tap the power button, it returns you to the menu screen instead of just powering down. The DSi also supports five brightness settings and improved speakers. WPA Internet Security is also supported for WiFi connectivity. The only downside to these new features is the lower battery life. The DSi can run between 9-14 hours, compared to the Lite at 15-19 hours. Pictochat and Download play remain unchanged.

The real selling feature of the DSi is the new DSi Shop channel. We could not actually test out this feature, since the units we had still did not have this enabled. What we did acquire was details. The DSi Shop functions just as the Wii Shop does. You can go on and browse through the DSiWare titles and Virtual Console games. We did receive conformation of retro portable games coming to the DSi Shop channel. The DSi Shop channel will use the newly branded Nintendo Points (previously Wii points) though once you activate points onto a system they cannot be used on the Wii. Similar to the Wii, all DSi Shop products are region locked, but the games on cartridges are still not. If you go on the channel before March 2010, Nintendo will reward you with a free 1000 ($10) points. The DSi Shop channel also ships with a free DSi browser app.

Editor’s Notes:

I, like everyone else, was incredibly skeptical about the DSi. It seemed like another GBA Micro. Thankfully, Nintendo has actually made a decent console. Sure the GBA slot is gone, but I never used it anyways. If I really want to play the old games that won’t be featured on the DSi Shop channel, it is not that big of a deal to me to go get my Lite.

After getting to test out the DSi, I am convinced. Sure myhomebrew flash cart won’t work on the DSi, so I’ll have to get my pocket physics craving still satisfied by the Lite, but I think the DSi Ware will make up for that. The price does seem a bit high, but I’ve come to expect that with Nintendo in light of recent events. I just wish everyone could see what a good system this actually is, only time will tell.

Be sure and register at Gamer Limit, as we’ll be attending many more events like this in the near future!

Long time podcast listners like myself were very sad to see the passing of GFW Radio. After Shawn Elliot and Jeff Green departed from 1up, the show changed names and changed its feel. We now have the extrodinary news that the entire original cast will be reuniteing for one more show. It will take place at PAX 2009, if the crew can raise the money for the room. Donations are being collected, which will all go to charity.

This could quite possibly be the best podcast of all time. Let’s try to do all we can to get this to come to fruition. We all love the Brodeo, so let’s see it for one triumphant return.

Donations: here

Source: Joystiq

We here at Gamer Limit love a good free MMO as much as the next person, but what happens when these so called ‘free’ MMOs stop being free. Sony’s upcoming MMO, Free Realms is attempting to do just that. Shying away from the microtransaction model favored by so many MMOs, they have decided to go with a subscription to get several features. While this is only $5, it’s the principle of it.

Free Realms is still free, but if you would like to be able to try all of the jobs, quests, items, or have more than one character, you’re going to have to shell out said five dollars. We’ll just have to wait and see how Free Realms does to know if this is as working business model. I don’t mind a subscription, but I don’t want to be locked out of game changing content, especially in a game with free in its title. Also, look forward to the PS3 version that’s in development (though no guarantees, you know how console MMOs work).

Source: Massively

There are not too many games about bugs, or even more specific, Arachnids. So as a nice change of pace, Rainbow Studios has provided a new Wii game, which is coincidentally a nice change of pace for them and on the console which is also a nice change of pace. Enter Deadly Creatures, the action adventure game in which you explore the world as a Tarantula and a Scorpion. So is this breath of fresh air actually good? Read on to find out.

Deadly Creatures is a departure from the norm for Rainbow Studios, best known for the ATV series. It is also one in a new wave of ‘hardcore’ third party titles which should catch the attention of Wii owners. Deadly Creatures has you alternating between a tarantula and a scorpion as you explore a desert and find out why humans have invaded your territory.

Those humans are voiced by Billy Bob Thorton and Dennis Hopper, who’s talents lend significantly to the game. The story is a vague puzzle about buried gold that dates back to the American Civil War. From the detail light introduction cinematic, you are informed by Billy Bob Thorton’s character that a gas station has blown up and put someone in a coma and has something to do with gold and deadly creatures. From there the vagueness continues as you get more clues as to what they are doing there, but never any motivation for as to what you are doing beyond, ‘big things make go away.’ I must admit, I was compelled to find out what the hell was going on, but I was left questioning why a tarantula and a scorpion would even care.

Of course the real draw of Deadly Creatures is not the plot, but fact that you get to play as a tarantula and a scorpion. Rainbow did a great job by having you alternate between the two each chapter. It greatly aided the game by keeping gameplay ever changing and alleviated the main problem of games in this genre. As the tarantula you have much greater mobility and can hop around with ease. As the scorpion you are a bit slower, but much more powerful. Of course, each has abilities that allow it to take paths that the other could not. As the tarantula you will find yourself, for lack of a better term, ‘webslinging’ around and as the scorpion you can burrow in certain spots, granting you access to tunnels.

Each character has a unique set of moves, a number of which do require motions with the Wii Remote. HOLD ON! Fret not reader, Deadly Creatures, amazingly is one of the very few games on the Wii that does not obscenely abuse waggle. Each motion you perform has a specific attack associated with it and makes sense when translated to the motion. Combat felt great and was always fun due to the wide range of attacks available and the enemy diversity. There were many enemy types in the game, each with a factor that made approaching it different from the rest. Rainbow did a good job of slowly doling out the enemies to ensure constant variety. The attacks themselves differed enough from each other, though I found that I unlocked them all around half way through the game but that may be because my play style.

I have to say that the best part of Deadly Creatures was its level design and sense of scale. Sure you’ve been tiny in a big world before, but Deadly Creatures pulls it off in a remarkably unobtrusive way. I was just moseying along, killing bugs and feasting on rats when I exited the tunnel through which I was traveling only to come across the enormous vista of two towering people having a conversation. It was never the constant reminder that you are small, instead you would occasionally come across some piece of scenery, maybe you do not realize at first what it is, but is some towering object discarded like trash out in the desert.

Nothing is without problems. Deadly Creatures suffers from a problem that happens to plague this genre, the camera. For the most part, the camera works pretty well, but when you get into a heated fight or a particularly epic platforming section the camera has the intelligence to look in the opposite direction of which you want. The frame rate will also occasionally dip and I did have one occurrence of the landscape disappearing. Luckily these technical problems were rare and a bit shocking when they happened.

Deadly Creatures is another great addition to the Wii library. While the characters motivation for doing anything is never really explained, the gameplay was great and made me want to just do things because it was fun. That’s really the key here. Sure, Deadly Creatures had some problems, but it was fun. It played on my childhood fantasies of bugs. I encourage everyone to go give this title a try. Hey it’s a good game on the Wii, how can you go wrong?

Retro Game Challenge is a title like no other: it’s is a mini-game collection that is worth playing for more than 5 minutes, it’s a trip down memory lane, and it’s a reminder of the past and just how far we have come. Of course, the real question is whether or not Retro Game Challenge is worth buying. Read on to find the answer.

I had no real idea what I was getting myself into when I first booted up Retro Game Challenge. I knew that it contained several odes to classic games. I knew it had a crazy story and a made up in game magazine featuring tributes to some of my favorite journalists. I knew it was loosely based off some Japanese TV show. That was it. It was probably more than what you know, but either way I was not entirely sure what I was about to experience.

Retro Game Challenge is made up of eight tributes to classic games. Unfortunately, two of those eight are almost identical to two other of the games. One is a sequel, which adds new levels with a much harder difficulty, but it is still essentially the same thing. The other is a special edition sponsored by the in game magazine and a ramen company in the vein of the Gradius Archimedes Hen and All-Night Nippon Super Mario Bros. While they are both fun games, they are just retreads of the original versions you already played.

The eight games are all fun to play through. Cosmic Gate is a tribute to Galaga. Robot Ninja Haggle-man and Robot Ninja Haggle-man 2 is a tribute to Ninja Jajamaru Kun, which was never released here until the Virtual Console. Rally King is a tribute to both Road Fighter and MotoRace USA. Star Prince is a tribute to Star Soldier. Gaudia Quest is a tribute to Dragon Quest. Robot Ninja Haggle-man 3 is a tribute to Ninja Gaiden. At first I was befuddled at why these games were tributes and not the actual game, then it dawned on me, these games are completely new experiences. Countless collections have been released before and here were eight new games for me to play.

Each of these games are fantastic. When I unlocked the next game I immediately was flooded with nostalgia. Even the games that I had never played the game being attributed had some sort reference to games of that time. Robot Ninja Haggle-man was completely foreign gameplay wise, but its plot was very referential to Megaman. These references were in every game and added to the enjoyment. To the credit of Retro Game Challenge, even without all the extra in game references, the game still would be oozing with nostalgia and actual great gameplay.

At first I was compelled to complete the challenges, which are not that difficult, just out of sheer curiosity of what would come next. About half way through the game, that desire to rush through to see what is next was replaced by pure enjoyment of playing these ‘retro’ games. I had forgotten how great the classics were. The simplistic nature of these games made them perfect for the DS. They were great to pick up and play while moving about, yet just as the games on which they are based, are also great to sit down and play for long periods of time.

While the game part of Retro Game Challenge was great, what brought me the most enjoyment was the culture weaved throughout. At its simplest form it was simply chatting with the Game Master’s (the person who sends you back to the 80s to complete the challenges) child self. The most complex form was the in game video game magazine, Gamefan Monthly. A new issue would unlock upon completing two challenges. Every time an issue would unlock I would read it ‘cover to cover.’ I loved the callbacks to articles and editors of old, it made me giddy every time. I even read each game’s manual, which is done in the style of old when manuals contained more than a sentence on plot and a control diagram.

I loved every second of Retro Game Challenge. I was high off of nostalgia and pure fun. This is by far one of the best DS games I have ever played. I pray that it gets enough sales so that the sequel can find its way to our shores. I cannot wait to go back and find all the secrets and references hidden throughout each of the games. Retro Game Challenge will remain close at hand in the coming months.

The Wii seems like the perfect console for light gun shooters, one of its main functions is the IR sensor, but, with the exception of Resident Evil The Umbrella Chronicles, we have not had a well produced game to test this out. House of the Dead fans should also be wondering if this game is truly worthy of the House of the Dead name. It has long been synonymous with light gun games, so does this Wii exclusive version live up?

House of the Dead Overkill is the first, real, House of the Dead game developed exclusively for the console. I had never been a big fan of the House of the Dead series. Sure they were fun to mess around with when visiting an arcade, but I never bought a home version. To me they were just a way to pretend to shoot stuff, not any better than the other, quality light gun games. So the House of the Dead series never had a special place in my heart. I played a bit of the first, beat the second, tried the third, and have never even seen the fourth. Overkill, however, caught my eye. It seemed different, new, and perfect for the Wii.

The most obvious point to start with is the new style; it cannot be ignored. It is pulled strait from the recent Grindhouse movies, film grain and all. Not that this is bad, on the contrary, this is just what the franchise needed to reinvigorate itself. The new style does make Overkill feel fresh and sets it apart from previous iterations. The narration, cheesy movie titles of each level, corny dialog, and ridiculous plot have a nice feel to them and capture the vibe they were going for.

For the most part, it works great, but there are a few occasions that made me cringe, and not in the good way. An example would be the dialog that is played when you select the level “The Fetid Waters.” It is a little song that is wrong on several levels. While the dialog is bad, in a good way, some of it seems placed there for the sake that it could be there. As it has been noted in many other places, this game has more f**ks than a porn. While it is humorous at the beginning, then again in the last scene, the remaining time it seems arbitrarily thrown in for the sole purpose that they could. Even though it is cringe worthy, it fits the style perfectly.

The plot retains the same House of the Dead campiness. Instead of just accepting it, Overkill sprints into the ridiculous territory, pausing only to throw a mutated cripple or giant bug thing at you. Due to its console nature, Overkill is longer and more plot heavy than the others in the series. There is more plot, dialog, and cut scenes in one of the seven levels, then the entirety of any of the other installments. While the plot is never the draw for a House of the Dead game, its presence is a nice addition (it is also nice to see how Agent G became the ass kicker he is today).

The real meat of this game is, of course, the actual game play. To ensure that I had the optimal experience, I played three different ways: with just the Wii Remote, with the Wii Zapper, and with the Nyko Perfect Shot. Each had a different feel and effected my enjoyment of the game, so I feel that I need to address each of the separately.

When playing with just the Wii Remote it felt a bit off. The IR pointer worked perfectly. I had no trouble mowing down the endless hordes of zomb-I mean mutants. Though it did not feel right. I want to feel like I was actually shooting the mobs that rushed at me, not just clicking them. I also found that when I used only the Wii Remote, I tended to play in the laziest way possible. I would just sit, with my arm resting on something, and just move my wrist to aim. It worked fine, but it was not ideal.

I figured that I should give the Wii Zapper a try, since it is the Nintendo brand peripheral and it is on the instructions screen at the start up. I used the recalibrate option to make it so that When I looked down the “barrel” of the Zapper, it would be what I was aiming at onscreen. At first it worked fine. It felt right, I was playing House of the Dead the way it was meant to be played. Then the problems of the Wii Zapper began to kick in and I found that I would prefer to just use the remote. The Zapper made it hard to reload and kill the enemies who latch on to you both of which are done by shaking the Wii Remote.

I moved onto my last, and most hopeful option, the Nyko Perfect Shot. As as I recalibrated the aim and turned off the assist reticle, everything clicked. I was blasting away hordes of mutants with gusto. Memories of being in the arcade and shooting whatever that particular game wanted me to flooded my brain and I enjoyed every second of it. The Nyko Perfect Shot is the ideal controller to use when playing this game. The only downside of either the Zapper or the Perfect Shot is that changing weapons (the 1 and 2 buttons), using grenades (the – button), pausing (the + button), and the back button (A) are all on the top of the controller, which makes easy access hard. The trade off, however, is worth it.

No matter the play style, House of the Dead Overkill does not dissapoint in the mutant action department. There are enough enemies to make you want to call in Ash Williams. Each level feels different and unique along with each end boss. The bosses are a bit on the easy side, especially with two players. Each level is filled with targets that bring extra points, which get turned into cash to buy and upgrade new weapons. While the game is short, clocking in at about three hours, the weapon upgrading and Director’s Cut, which is unlocked upon completion and adds a few new aread to each level, coupled with the very nature of the game, provide plenty of reasons to continue to revist the House of the Dead.

Of course probably the biggest draw of the House of the Dead games is blasting through the hordes with a friend. Overkill makes playing with a friends easy, all they have to do is pick up a second remote and join in. This can make the game very easy though, it all depends on who you play with. Running through with an experienced player makes the game a cake walk. Playing with anyone else, and there should still be some challenge to the game, though it will still be considerably lessened. Either way, the game is still fun regardless of its difficulty.

House of the Dead Overkill has reassured my faith that the 3rd parties have not abandoned the Wii and will make great games for it. I am glad to welcome it into my stable of Wii games and hope that this game gets the praise and support it deserves. A game has been made using the Wii right, every Wii owner that is of Mature gameplaying age should get Overkill. I hope that a sequel is in the works and cannot wait to go back to blasting mutants with a friend.

After the tragic closing of Ensemble studios, there had been rumblings about the former employees forming new studios. Robot Entertainment has formed from the ashes of Ensemble. Nothing has been announced beyond that there are some “Big Ideas” in the mix.

Nothing is known whether or not Robot will make the promised DLC for Halo Wars, but we can only hope that it will be in good hands wherever it goes. The real question is, will Robot go into the RTS buisness or blaze new trails for the team.

Source: Joystiq

Atlus has officially announced Shin Megami Tensei Devil Survivor on the DS. This Strategy RPG will be a most welcome addition to the DS and the Shin Megami Tensei franchise.

Devil Survivor will have two levels of gameplay to its battle system. You will move characters around in traditional turn based strategy fasion, then once the battles start, it changes to the standard turn based combat.

The game will release on June 23rd for $29.99.

Source: Destructoid