Over a year on from its launch, the DSiWare store is now starting to look like a decent-sized collection of downloadable titles – more so than it’s PSP counterpart, PSN.
However, as the number of DSiWare titles increases, it’s becoming harder and harder to navigate the store so, to give you a helping hand, ButtonMash has compiled the best five for your downloading pleasure.
AND…WE’RE BACK!
At ButtonMash we’re hungry for brand-spanking new games and May is set to be an exciting month with the release of a clutch of high profile and intriguing games which are set to leave us with a month of sore thumbs.
Yes, I know – this is kinda old now, but as the blog is new I thought the game needed a special shout out for its fantastic style, immersive gameplay and great use of anime/manga story elements.
The World Ends With You – or for the Japanese title, It’s a Wonderful Life (すばらしきこのせかい) – is an action-RPG set in modern-day Tokyo released for DS back in 2007/2008 by Square Enix.
From the image and video at top and bottom of this blog post, you can see how it’s art style is very much influenced by manga, with cutscenes played out like you are reading an actual manga strip as the story unfolds. It’s all very involving and an absolute joy to play.
Story-wise, it takes a few story elements from manga such as Bleach – with Soul Reaper and Hollow-like characters filling out the game’s cast. Also like Bleach’s Ichigo, the main character Neku sports strawberry-blond hair and receives assignments via text messages sent to his mobile.
The game’s soundtrack is also ace – very unmistakably Japanese, composed and produced by Takeharu Ishimoto. The game’s music encompasses many genres, combining rock,hip hop, and electronica, designed to fit the various moods of Shibuya, where the game is set.
Overall, a great game and well worth a buy, especially since it is now so cheap at £4.98 from Game (very limited stocks, so hurry). ★
So far, Nintendo’s trusty DS handheld has changed, changed, changed and changed again, but hasn’t really evolved as a platform since its release in 2004.
Today, Nintendo announced via a press release on its website that the first full platform upgrade, the 3DS, will allegedly feature 3D-native screens (no need for those beautiful red-and-teal glasses), two digital cameras, a motion detector and have backward compatibility for Nintendo DS and DSi games. The full details of the new handheld will be confirmed at E3 this Summer.
Nintendo describes the portable as allowing games to be “enjoyed with 3D effects without the need for any special glasses”. According to Nintendo, the product will go on sale between April 2010 and March 2011 – our guess is that the Japanese release will be way ahead of the international launch, with Japan receiving the handheld late April, followed by US/EU probably by Christmas this year.
Below is the official statement from the Big N:
Nintendo Co., Ltd.(Minami-ward of Kyoto-city, President Satoru Iwata) will launch “Nintendo 3D S”(temp) during the fiscal year ending March 2011, on which games can be enjoyed with 3D effects without the need for any special glasses.
“Nintendo 3DS”(temp) is going to be the new portable game machine to succeed “Nintendo DS series”, whose cumulative consolidated sales from Nintendo amounted to 125million units as of the end of December 2009, and will include backward compatibility so that the software for Nintendo DS series, including the ones for Nintendo DSi, can also be enjoyed.
We are planning to announce additional details at E3 show, which is scheduled to be held from June 15, 2010 at Los Angeles in the U.S.
Stay tuned for updates 
Wonder what our favourite action-RPG looked like during its infancy in Miyamoto’s notebooks? Well Nintendo has given us a good look, courtesy of president Satoru Iwata.
The historic sketches below include a world map, some pixel sketches and even a design outline. Amazingly, Iwata tells us that Miyamoto and Tezuka – the original LoZ designers – drew this all in one sitting.
SEGA has just posted some brand new images of Phantasy Star Ø, its upcoming DS Action RPG, ahead of the title’s UK and AU February release date, giving us a few extra shots of the combat and menu system in English.
Capcom has decided to treat y’all GameBoy junkies with a homage to the Mega Man Zero collection in one neat DS package (though only if you are in Japan, for now).
If you like classic 2D gaming, you are in luck – even though the GBA series flew under the radar for mainstream gamers, it has been widely praised for its plaforming experience, returning to the roots of the series’ NES/SNES predecessors.
Details on any enhancements are non-existent for the time being, so stay tuned for updates.
The game will make its Japanese appearance on 22 April and will be priced at ¥4,190.
Nintendo’s enlarged version of its successful DS has been given a European launch date; hitting shelves on March 5.
The price and international availability is still yet to be announced. However, there is typically a trend with DS-focused launches where the US launch follows merely days later, so those of you in North America, rest assured!
Nintendo’s DSi XL launched in Japan last November and gives gamers bigger screens and a chunky stylus to broaden the appeal to a larger demographic. Beneath the surface, it’s the same old DSi.
The DSi XL bundle features the platforms web browser, A Little Bit of Brain Training: Arts Edition and Dictionary 6 in 1 with Camera Function.
Nintendo has decided to roll-out its new Pokéwalker pedometer-powered device globally after being bundled in with the weirdly-named HeartGold and SoulSilver versions of the core Pokémon game.
The new gimmick allows players to wirelessly transfer any one of their Pokémon from one of the two games to the Pokéwalker and walk them through virtual routes as the player walks around in real life. By walking, players earn Watts, which are used within the Pokéwalker to encounter and catch wild Pokémon or search for hidden items, and can be transferred into Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver Versions to unlock new routes.
For those who are not truly enthralled by the prospect of carrying around a glorified pedometer everywhere yet, Nintendo tells us that there are even special versions of certain Pokémon that can only be found within routes on the Pokéwalker, which they describe as an “incentive” to keep (and level up) their Pokémon with them wherever they go.
The two new DS games take us back to the Johto region introduced in the Gameboy’s Pokémon Gold and Silver versions, giving us some new, but not radically different, graphics.
The two games are slated for release on 14 March.
