Professor Layton is a man who loves to solve puzzles. In fact, it’s what he lives for. Not useful real-life puzzles like “who kidnapped my cat?” or “where is my missing shoe?” but rather abstract mathematics and logic puzzles like “how many triangles are in this picture?” It strikes me as a skill that’s singularly useless in the world other than if you want to qualify as a puzzle-nerd, but somehow in the world of Professor Layton and the Curious Village this is considered the most quintessential skill anyone could have, and Layton is the highly respected master of puzzle-solving, and thus a most respected individual. Think Sherlock Holmes, but instead of solving murders and mysteries he solves matchstick puzzles.

Continue reading El33tonline’s review of Professor Layton and the Curious Village.

The Mario RPG series (which sometimes also stars Luigi) is pretty much my favourite RPG series. It’s so good and so unconventional (despite actually having a lot of the conventions) that even if you don’t like RPG’s you really should give these games a try. If you do, you should definitely start with Bowser’s Inside Story – it’s the best game in the handheld Mario and Luigi series and it’s more accessible (and available) than the GameCube’s Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door. In fact, this is one of the best games on the DS full stop.

Continue reading El33tonline’s review of Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story.

A new trailer for the upcoming LEGO Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues has been released by LucasArts and Traveller’s Tales Games.

Players will be able to experience the four cinematic adventures of the famous Indy, including for the first time Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, when LEGO Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues hits shelves on the 17th of November in the US and a few days later on the 20th across Europe. The game will be available for the Wii, NDS, PS3, PSP, Xbox 360 and PC.

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EA’s Maxis studio has announced that Spore Hero for Wii and Spore Hero Arena for the DS will be available across the US on the 6th of October and a few days later in Europe on the 9th.

Spore Hero sees players setting out on a quest to save their creature’s home planet from destruction. Players will engage in battles set in a vibrant 3D world, solving puzzles along the way to unlock over 250 new creature parts which can also be used to customize creatures in the Spore Creature Creator. The game, which will also feature a multiplayer mode where you can put your creature’s brawling skills to the test, will retail for £39.99.

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Eidos has announced that a demo for Mini Ninjas will be available for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC starting this Wednesday.

The demo will be released on Xbox Live Marketplace this Wednesday, the 19th of August, and will be available on the PlayStation Network on the 20th. PC gamers will be able to try out the ninja action today at www.minininjas.com.

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Eidos has announced that Mini Ninjas, the new adventure romp from IO Interactive, will be released for the Wii, NDS, Xbox 360 and PS3 next month.

The game will be available across the US on the 8th of September, a few days later in the UK and PAL territories on the 11th of September and on the 9th of October in France and Germany.

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Level 5’s upcoming RPG heading to the Nintendo DS, Ninokuni, is looking amazing, especially thanks to the visual work that Studio Ghibli is providing for the title.

Studio Ghibli, the famed Japanese animation studio responsible for My Neighbour Totoro, Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle, amongst many others, are working with Level 5 (Dark Cloud, Professor Layton and the Curious Village) to create Ninokuni, which is shaping up to look just as distinctive as both of the company’s previous signature works combined, as the latest screenshots released by Famitsu can attest.

In Ninokuni, players take on the role of Oliver as he uses a special magic book to take part in battles in the game, while the game itself will ship with a real booklet (to represent the in-game magic book) which will be required to play, which includes hints, a bestiary and other information to help players progress through the adventure.

Ninokuni is expected to release on the DS in Japan this year, while a release date for the rest of the world is unknown. Check out the rest of the screenshots from Ninokuni below:

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Unlocking ancillary content in a game (alternate costumes, superfluous characters and items, and maybe even the odd vehicle or map here and there), while naturally progressing through that game, is perfectly acceptable. Unlocking the game itself (the core content through which you would normally play in any other game) through extended play of a not fun, apparently meta experience of sorts, however, is unacceptable.

And when the ‘game itself’ consists entirely of singleplayer and multiplayer mini-games - all of which hardly add up to a solid, tangible game experience - unlocking that game is made all the more tedious, as though you’re wading through the chuff to unlock the fun parts, such as actually playing the game you’re presented with, accompanied by friends the way it was supposed to be ‘enjoyed.’

Mario Party DS, just as all of the Mario Party games before and after, forces players to do just this, testing your patience in a singleplayer boardgame which runs the gamut of all of the available mini-games, before you’re given access to the same mini-games to play on their own or in multiplayer. Unacceptable.

Continue reading El33tonline’s review of Mario Party DS.

If you happen to be a bit of a butterfingers, clumsily bumping and bruising your poor Nintendo DS Lite against every surface and entity you can possibly make contact with, you’re probably going to need a good defence system against the forces of evil, inanimate objects.

Enter the Hori Nintendo DS Lite Protector, a solid, clear plastic, clam-shell case that covers your precious console and protects it from nicks, scratches, bumps and bruises. The case itself is extremely easy to slip onto the DS Lite, as the DS fits into the plastic housing perfectly and ‘clips’ in to ensure it can’t slip out.

Continue reading El33tonline’s review of the Hori Nintendo DS Lite Protector for the DS Lite.

In what Square Enix claim is the first cross-platform game for the Nintendo Wii and DS, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time is a game in which not only the Wii, but the DS as well, is used to control the action, allowing up to four players to player co-operatively over any number of Wii consoles or DS handhelds. The story is explained thus:

“A triumphant return from a monster-infested forest marks the completion of the 16-year-old hero’s coming-of-age ceremony. However, the hero’s joy is short-lived as a young village girl is found to be afflicted by a mysterious illness known as ‘crystal sickness.’

Determined to obtain the cure, the hero steps out of the secluded village for the first time, only to discover a world in which crystals are merely artifacts of the past and no longer exist…”

Sounds thrilling! To see just how much fun players can have in the world of (deep breath) Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time, check out the Japanese TV trailer below:

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time releases in PAL territories, on Wii and DS, in ‘Spring’ this year.

Skate It, the Wii and DS editions of the EA skating franchise, Skate, is coming soon to a Nintendo console near you.

Skate It allows players to use either the Wii remote or Nintendo DS stylus to perform tricks and control their skater through the world. The Wii remote is used to imitate real skating manoeuvres, with the option to use a Wii Balance Board in concert with the Wii remote, applying pressure all around the board to simulate a skateboard.

Skate It is coming to North America on November 19th, while Europe gets to play on November 20th, available on both the Wii and Nintendo DS. Set your sights on some screenshots below:

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Developed by the legendary RPG team, Bioware, this re-imagining of the Sonic franchise has resulted in something that looks pretty special - Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, an RPG for the Nintendo DS.

In the trailer you’ll get a glimpse of Sonic’s main allies, as well as some of the environments and gameplay sequences on offer in the game, while some light is also shed on the (seemingly) dramatic story. Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood is available now, worldwide, on the DS.

In what is sure to be the most peculiar games news item you’re likely to read today, the new Tony Hawk game coming to the Nintendo DS will make you question whether Activision and developer Creat Studios are finally out of ideas for the franchise.

Dubbed Tony Hawk’s Motion, it comes bundled with an accelerometer that plugs into the DS, allowing you to control Tony by tilting and turning the console. Players will be able to navigate their way through Tokyo, Dubai and Vermont, as well as the Alps… Yep, Tony Hawk takes to the slopes to get some snowboarding in, assisted by reputed pro snowboarder, Todd Richards. It gets more bizarre.

Tony Hawk’s Motion is also bundled with a game called Hue Pixel Painter - also controlled via the accelerometer - in which you will “glide through more than 10 levels as they bring colour to various landscapes while preventing the vicious Drabs from devouring the colour and essence from the world in Hue Pixel Painter.” Really? More screenshots below.

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Sega has announced that Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games has sold five million copies worldwide in just over three months.

The game was developed by Sega for the Wii and Nintendo DS, with creative input and approval by Nintendo’s developers. It was the first title that brought Mario and Sonic together, along with their friends including Luigi, Knuckles, Yoshi and Tales.

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