Old and New Shmups with Gradius Vic Viper Model Kit and Gashapon!

I've been playing abit of Nanostray and Gradius III lately, just to get a feel of how different shmups (shoot' em up games) are, now and then. Having gone through like 30 minutes of each (most of the time spent replaying levels since I, technically, am bad at this sort of games), the thing you would notice is that how similar these games are.

It's a classic case of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it". With all its 3D sheen, Nanostray looks like it had Gradius as its template. Even the enemies felt similar.

With that said, I really liked the weapons system in Gradius III, which is editable, and I had an easier time playing Gradius than Nanostray.

You might be wondering how would I be playing Gradius III, given that I don't have a Nintendo Wii (Virtual Console) nor a penchant for PC based emulators. I'm using SNemulDS loaded onto my R4DS to play SNES games like Gradius III on my Nintendo DS.

On a side note, Nintendo should introduce a Virtual Console type of service with that DS Vision thing that they are introducing. Now that's what I would call value.

Back to the topic of shmups, rabid fanboys would want to sit up and notice this gashapon (capsule toy) collection this coming February 2008. Known as the Shooting Game Historica - Classic Fighting Planes Trading Figures collection from Yujin, it features planes from games such as Gradius V, R-Type Final, Darius and Gradius II! Click here for more details.


And before I forget, pre-orders are open for Gradius Vic Viper model kit. I would really love to have one of these:


Click here to pre-order one as well.

Is the AM3 DSVision for the Nintendo DS A Big Mistake?

If you've been following news about the Nintendo DS lately, AM3 is going to bring in a Nintendo-backed special Slot-1 cartridge with a built-in Micro-SD card adapter for the DS. It will provide the means of playing/viewing downloaded content such as movies, tv shows, books, magazines and comics on the Nintendo DS.

Let us review here, Slot 1 cartridge with Micro-SD card adapter, check! Playing or viewing of downloaded movies, tv shows, books, magazine and comics, check! Sounds like something that is already out in the market and it is called the R4DS.

This might seem like re-inventing the wheel and even though it has a legitimate/legal slant to it, the download content is not free! It's like providing a Microsoft operating system that can and will only run original software.

I would rather much have AM3 provide software to run exclusive and copy-protected content on existing Slot-1 devices such as the R4 or the M3, more of like iTunes and the iTunes Music Store minus the iPod exclusivity. AM3 is not like Apple, which enjoyed first-mover advantage with the iPod, as the R4 and its ilk are already out in the market for nearly a year. Software, unlike hardware is key here.

With the R4 already prevalent even in Tokyo, and I bet it's going to be a favourite stocking stuffer this Christmas, an iTunes like service is the way to go. Even a person who plays original Nintendo DS games like me has one, and that's to run homebrew and old-school ROMS :).