Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Weekly Special - Juushinden: Ultimate Beast Battlers for DS


Anyone else wanting a PSP special? Oh well, it's another Nintendo DS game special this week and it's quite a cool one ideed. Do you like card games? I do, I think some of them can be really fun to play (such as Magic: The Gathering) but cost a lot of money to buy all the cards and what not. Also finding people to play against and the time to actually finish a full game can be a problem. That's why card games work perfectly on handhelds, all those those factors are easily compensated for. With Juushinden: Ultimate Beast Battlers you'll take a half traditional and half digital approach to the card game. You'll recieve a deck of 40 cards to start with, which you place into the additional accessory included in the package and your card will be read and come to life on screen!

Note, it doesn't work on the DSi unfortunately, due to the missing GBA port and also, the game is in Japanese. Anyhow, this innovative game can be yours to own for the super low price of just $9.90, an astonishing saving of $55! Such a price reduction is unlikely to last very long, it's while stocks last and one per person, so grab it now!

"Think battle card games are over in this digital age? Think again.

Beast Battlers, the ultimate card action game is here. Slip the magic reader into the Nintendo DS and have it turn your 2D beast into breathing monster in your console. You don't have to take the beasts as they are, upgrade their power and other attributes through a power-up card. The bigger the deck you have, the better an edge you have over your opponents.

Each package comes with a pack of 40 cards and a battlefield card. Be sure to get to know other beast battlers to play in different battle fields and keep an eye out on booster packs for the better beast warriors.

Please bear in mind however, that the game does not work on Nintendo DSi as there was no slot on the new console for the magic reader."

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Gamepark Wiz

If you've been reading along here, you'll know that I'm pretty into the Gamepark Wiz. If you haven't, that might mean that you're new here, so welcome. I'll do a bit of an overview of the Wiz for those of you that are new, then let's talk a bit about the state of things on the GP2X Wiz.


The Wiz is the new portable handheld from GamePark Holdings (GPH). GPH is the Korean company that produced and marketed the GP2X line of portables, and they were started by individuals that quit the company named "Gamepark." Gamepark was responsible for the GP32 hand held videogame console.

The most popular use of the Gamepark Wiz is open-source creations (mainly games but also some apps). The development environment is available free of charge, and there is an great online community supporting this open-source scene at GP32x.com.

Emulation has always seemed to be the most popular application of the Gamepark line (GP32, GP2X, and Wiz). This varies from emulation of older gamesystems like the Game Gear or the TurboGrafx 16 to computer systems such as the Commodore 64. It also includes emulators simulating a broad range of systems like the Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator (or MAME).

The most exciting recent news is that the Giana's Return freeware game has been released as a public beta on the Gamepark Wiz. If you remember the Great Giana Sisters, then you'll want to check this out. I've heard of people buying a Wiz just for this game.

Of course, emulators like Mame4All continue to get updated and run more games faster. The GameBoy Advance emulator "gpSP" is running well, and of course older systems such as NES, Genesis, and SNES are all emulating smooth. Ported games such as Quake, Rise of the Triad, X-COM, and Quake 2 are rather exciting for the old-school PC gamers. I feel like the Wiz is just hitting its stride, so now is the time to pick yourself up a Gamepark Wiz!

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Weekly Special - Hakuna Matata for PS3


Grab yourself a PS3 bargain this week and get set to explore Africa as you accept missions from others armed with your trusty camera and camping gear. Yep, you're a photographer and what better place to take some nice pictures of wildlife? Using the might of the PS3 to provide some stunning imagery Hakuna Matata can be yours to own for the exceptionally low price of just $19.90, a huge saving of $30! Yep, that's less than half price folks.

You'll be happy to know that the game is completely in English and will of course work on any PS3 worldwide, like every PS3 game out there. Isn't Region Free the coolest? It's time to snap some pictures of wildlife and enjoy the scenery, only while stocks last and only one copy per person!

"You are a photographer stationed in Africa in this adventure, as a professional you will have the newest equipment such as camera lenses and computers.

Accept missions by viewing proposals via your email system, finding and tracking animals are only the start of your mission, you might be asked to take photos of them at unique angles, such as taking a close up shot of a giraffe's face. You'd realize you need a lot of skills to be an accomplished photographer.

You'll have a lot of equipment to choose from, from cameras to your camping gear. Of course these cost money, so be sure to accept as much missions as you can manage, besides, some organizations provide you with useful equipment such as tripods that you can use even after you have completed their request.

The game makes use of PS3's stunning graphical capabilities to render animations of animals to the most life-like degree. Remember how a clip from the game is used as a demonstration of the PlayStation3 prowess during the console's promotion? Now you can see why."

Monday, July 20, 2009

Tanabata Monogatari - Tegomass

Being the first temporary duo to release an album is prove enough that Tegoshi Yuuya and Masuda Takahisa's popularity. By debutting in Sweden with the English version of Miso Soup/ Chocolate, the group defined their exoticness.

Music from Johnny's production are pretty much bubble gum most of the time, with Kat-Tun being the spicier type and NEWS being slightly softer.

However, Tegomass does have pretty nice voices, although not extremely powerful, they sing very sweetly. Their hit singles Kiss Kaerimichi no Love Song, Aiai Gasa and Kataomoi no Chiisana Koi are perfect as theme songs for the shojo anime/TV series.

Of course they are perfect for shojo series. Johnny's boys always looked as if they walked out of a Shojo manga setting. That said, the PVs, live performance and fan event video clips are very much worth looking at, just see how they managed to create that sparkly, pastel colored fantasy world.


Aiai gasa was the first, and most sparkly PV I have seen. Sugar level of the song rocketed. But again, that was to be expected. As the theme song of Koei's Neo Angelique anime, what is better than something pastel and sparkly?

Next time the producers of Twilight wants to do apply glitter on vampires, watch the video first. There are things that are more aesthetic than sweat.

Their newest single Tanabata Matsuri was just as sweet, but comfortably less shoji-ish. Filmed with a team of children, dressed in yukatas, the two displayed how fun a Japanese festival is in an innocently traditional way.

Wish fulfillment is very big part of the Johnny's boys' charm. Get Kat-Tun if you prefer something with a dangerous edge, Hey! Say! Jump! if you prefer the bouncy energy and Tegomass if you prefer the sparkly sweet.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Giana Sisters Download

Giana's Return Commercial Quality GP2X Wiz GameThe Giana Sisters download is finally available for you GPH Wiz users. This is the recent release from the Giana's Return team. From what I understand, this will be the public beta release to find errors in the code and determine the next steps for releasing it to other platforms.

To be clear, though, this is the full game of Giana's Return. It's quality is that of a commercial GP2X Wiz game! It is being released under the "beta" tag because the team wants gamers to test the game out and submit their opinions. If you have a GP2X Wiz, I would suggest that you take this opportunity to check out this new Giana Sisters download which is hosted over at PDRoms.

If you don't already know about or have a Gamepark Wiz, I suggest that you check out our GP2X Wiz review.

Weekly Special - Slide Adventure: Mag Kid for Nintendo DS


Fancy a new DS game to keep you entertained? This weekly special should do the trick! A fun game with a wierd name for a bargain price. Get yourself a copy of Slide Adventure: Mag Kid for one of the biggest discounts since this blog started. How big? Slide Adventure will set you back a mere $9.90, a whopping $49 discount off the regular price! It doesn't get much better than this, really.

While it is the Japanese version, it will work on any DS console worldwide and many previous buyers say that the game is easy to navigate and play even without being able to read any Japanese. Join Mag Kid in this tilting adventure as you use the slide controller to move him into enemies to defeat them and solve puzzles. Only one per person, so get in quick to avoid dissapointment, this one's gonna sell fast!

"Follow the wacky adventures of Mag Kid as he slips and slides into enemies while solving puzzles. Use the slide controller peripheral to make a stand for your DS and slide it around a smooth surface, making Mag Kid move around the screen with it."

Monday, July 13, 2009

RC Submarine | Sub-Sonic XP

Let's face it, radio controlled submarines are just a cool concept. Silverlit Electronics' remote control submarine named "Sub-Sonic XP" is no exception. I recently got a chance to play with one for a couple of days. Check out the footage of a couple of my friends and me playing with it in a pool while on vacation to the Rocky Mountain National Park.


I should also mention that if you like the music in the above video, it's done by "Owl City" which is a guy named Adam Young. They have a new album coming out in less than a day. In fact, if you use iTunes, log on there because his new single, "Fireflys" will be the single of the week (meaning it's free to download for the week) starting July 14th.

RC Submarine | Sub-Sonic XPFor a small toy submarine, the Sub-Sonic XP is fairly complex. The controller has dual thumb-sticks, each of which control one of the rear propellers. To go straight, you push both up. To go backwards, you push both down. If you want to turn or spin, then you either only use a single thumb-stick or do a combination of one up and one down.

The two shoulder-buttons control the submerge and emerge of the remote control sub. Essentially, there are 3 propellers on the sub. Two control the horizontal direction of the sub, and one controls the vertical depth of the submarine.

The best way that I found to get it to dive was to let the sub come to rest, and then hit the submerge shoulder button. When it was under water about 1 foot, hit the emerge button once (which would stop the submerging). Then, you could start tooling around with the thumb sticks. If you kept submerging, you might get it to suction on to the bottom of the pool (which isn't a problem). We even got it suctioned to the side a couple times. You can drive around with the submerge or emerge propeller running, too. This makes for interesting and fun loops and flips.

Radio Controlled SubmarinesThe Sub-Sonic XP comes with the controller, the charging base, and the mini toy sub itself. The remote controller takes 1 9V battery, while the charging base needs 3 AA batteries. The RC submarine itself has it's own rechargeable battery, and to charge it, you place it on the charging base for about 3 minutes. Then, they say it's good to go for about 3 minutes. It seemed to me that it lasted much longer than 3 minutes, but I would say that after about 3 minutes it would start to get a bit touchy about how close it was to the controller. If you started getting too far away, it might stop functioning, and that range decreased when the battery got lower. After the battery started getting real low, it would start to behave erratically and do things like only operate one of the propellers at a time.

All-in-all, this RC submarine is well worth it's low price. If you like hobby style radio controlled submarines or you're just looking for a fun lake or pool toy, look no further. Play-Asia has the Sub-Sonic XP, and I think you'll find it to be quite impressive and enjoyable.