Rune Factory 2: A Fantasy Harvest Moon coming to DS
In Fall 2008, Natsume and Marvelous Entertainment will welcome us back to the charming setting of the Kingdom of Norad in Rune Factory 2: A Fantasy Harvest Moon to the DS.
Similar to its Harvest Moon namesake franchise, the Rune Factory series separates itself by incorporating role-playing type elements into its gameplay. The main character’s actions are bound to meters which increase as he gains more experience through combat and farming. Players must battle with monsters in order to progress the storyline and improve their statistics for…
Apogee springs back into action, teases us with Duke Nukem
Apogee Software Ltd has woken up from its deep slumber and announced Duke Nukem Trilogy for PSP and DS handhelds. But it hasn’t bothered with any worthwhile details of Duke Nukem Trilogy, and there is no word on Duke Nukem Forever that has been in development for the past 11 years. All we know is that Apogee will start releasing new Duke Nukem chapters beginning Summer 2009 for the two handhelds. The three chapters are named Critical Mass, Chain Reaction and Proving Ground.
Apogee frugally revealed the following details about the upcoming chapters
Time Hollow, Persona 4 receive US release dates
Two sleeper hits from Konami and Atlus are coming to grace the US market this year with confirmed dates. Konami’s Time Hollow is slated for a late Summer 2008 release while Atlus’s Persona 4 is scheduled to appear on store shelves early December 2008.
Click through for an in-depth look at both releases…
Is Nokia planning another dedicated gaming phone?
The Nokia N-Gage, the dedicated gaming mobile phone, is lost to history and most see it as a failed wedding of a phone and a gaming device. Meanwhile, Nokia has moved on and is set to launch a new mobile gaming platform with the same name, N-Gage. Before this came about, there were rumors of an N-Gage 2 gaming phone, but then it appeared that the cellphone company had learnt its lessons and decided to focus only on creating a comprehensive game distribution platform for its mobiles.
However, in a fresh development, Nokia has filed a new patent application titled “Handheld Electronic Device.” This new device is described in the application as a “computer game console” which can be used to make phone calls and click photos. Here is an excerpt from Unwired - the patent application that has evoked a lot of interest:
“…is a computer gaming console, input elements 121, 122 being provided for user input by the left hand of a user and input elements 123, 124 being provided for input by the right hand of user. The games are displayed on the display 110, but in other embodiments, the games can additionally or alternatively be provided for display on another electronic device associated with the device. In the present case, the device 100 also allows the user to make radiotelephone calls (e.g. using cellular telephone functionality), take pictures (camera on reverse of device 100 is not shown), and play recorded/streamed audio (e.g. music/speech etc).”
The device looks very sleek and the control options are pretty similar to the PSP (see picture). If this device ever sees the light of the day, then the control options better be good and comfortable, as this has been one major issue with many handheld devices in the past. It is hard to tell at this point whether Nokia has any concrete plans of launching another dedicated gaming device, after the disaster that was the first N-Gage.
Related
- Rogers now offering the Nokia E71 for $49
- Nokia officially unveils the high-end N97
- Nokia’s unlocked N85 now available with Amazon
Plant Tycoon taking root on PC
Last Day of Work (LDW), an independent game studio, announced Plant Tycoon for PC and Mac earlier this week (July 9, 2007). LDW, which developed Fish Tycoon and Virtual Villagers, are known for real-time “Virtual Life” games and happily taking on the challenge of Plant Tycoon.
Originally a successful handheld game for Windows Pocket PS and Palm OS, Plant Tycoon places gamers in the shoes of a fledgling gardener as they breed and cross breed their way to the top of a botanical empire all while searching for 4 magical, mysterious plants. One feature has the developers at LDW particularly excited, the fact that the game will be…
No gaming on the Zune any time soon
I recently contacted one of Microsoft’s PR reps (from PR company Edelman) about the Zune to find out if there will be any gaming available on Microsoft’s portable music device. Here was the the response:
“At this time, gaming is not available on Zune. It makes sense that Zune could be a part of a gaming experience, but there has been no determination of how that will be executed or when it will happen.“
This may seem to contradict an earlier indication reported by ...
Contra 4 coming for DS later this year
Konami announced today that it plans to release Contra 4 (CONTRA FRIGGIN’ 4!) for the Nintendo DS later in 2007.
The game, currently being developed by WayForward Technologies, will be set two years after the events in Contra III: The Alien Wars.
C4 is being released to help celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Contra franchise. It will be another 2D sidescroller that utilizes ...
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