Advance Wars: Days of Ruin

One of the most anticipated games for the Nintendo DS this 2008, is out now. Advance Wars: Days of Ruin is currently available at Play-Asia, with free international shipping to some countries, and for those of you living States-side, take advantage of free shipping on Amazon.com.

To whet your appetites, here's an Advance Wars: Days of Ruin trailer:

Ouendan 2 Now At A Low Price!

News flash! Fans of import Nintendo DS games can now rejoice as the sequel for Osu Tatake Ouendan, Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2, is now available at a low price of USD 29.90!

Click here for purchase details.

Bargain Nintendo DS and PSP Games for under 20 Bucks

You know what, I like bargains, and I bet you do too. So while I'm waiting for my Jam Session DS, which I purchased for USD 14.90, to arrive, lets have a look at some PSP and Nintendo DS games that you can purchase for less than 20 bucks.

Sony Playstation Portable (PSP) Games:

• Coded Arms Contagion (USD 14.90). Click here for details
  
  
• Luxor: The Wrath of Set (USD 14.90). Click here for details
  
  
• Wild Arms Crossfire (USD 14.90). Click here for details
  
  
• Dave Mirra BMX Challenge (USD 19.90). Click here for details
  
  
• Darkstalker's Chronicle: The Chaos Tower (USD 19.90). Click here for details
  
  
• Final Fantasy II Anniversary Edition (USD 19.90). Click here for details
  
  
• Powerstone Collection (USD 19.90). Click here for details
  
  
• Prince of Persia Revelations (USD 19.90). Click here for details
  
  
• R-Type Tactics (USD 19.90). Click here for details
  
  
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Essentials (USD 19.90). Click here for details
  
  
• Ultimate Ghost 'n Goblins (USD 19.90). Click here for details
  

Nintendo DS Games:

• Flipper Critters (USD 16.90). Click here for details
  
  
• Chameleon: To Dye For (USD 14.90). Click here for details
  

Of Mario Plush Toys and Discounts - Nine Over Ten 9/10 Holiday Shopping Guide

If you were to ask me where to get Mario related plush toys in the Klang Valley, I can give you a few pointers. There's a stall at Midvalley's lower ground floor opposite Kenny Rogers that sells them. There's also another stall at Sunway Pyramid, located at the floor below the cinema, towards the new wing.

However, don't ask whether these are original merchandise or not, because having set eyes on one of the mushroom plush toys sold at the Sunway Pyramid stall, I don't really care.

Speaking of plush toys, here are some to look out for:

• Final Fantasy Plush Doll: Chocobo (Santa Claus Version)
• Final Fantasy Plush Doll: Chocobo (Black Mage Version)
• Mario Party Plush Doll: Toad
• Mario Party Plush Doll: Bowser
• Mario Party Plush Doll: Princess Peach
• Mario Party Plush Doll: Yoshi
• Mario Party Plush Doll: Luigi
• Mario Party Plush Doll: Wario
• Mario Party Plush Doll: Donkey Kong
• Mario Party Plush Doll: Mario

The Mario Party plush toys are being sold at a discount at Play-Asia, so don't miss it. And yes, these are official merchandize.

Check out as well the extensive Toys & Figurines section at Play-Asia.

Nine Over Ten 9/10 Holiday Season Shopping Guide for Nintendo Wii Owners

Welcome to Nine Over Ten 9/10's 2007 Shopping Guide for the Holiday Season. Looking for a gift for your gamer friend, or someone who is into Japanese anime figurines and collectibles? You just about came to the right place.

Now, if your friend has a Nintendo Wii, he would be like those Playstation 3 guys, complaining about the lack of games, and also the rather expensive price tags of current games. No matter, he should be happy this holiday season as you would be the one buying, not him.

So what should be on your shopping list? Here you go:

• Wii Zapper with Link's Crossbow Training - Nothing better than a whole new way of playing with the Nintendo Wii (as if it doesn't have enough options as it is) with the Wii Zapper. Click here for details.
  
  
• Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle - Bring down the house with the latest in the Guitar Hero franchise, now available on the Nintendo Wii. Comes with a wireless Guitar Hero Les Paul Guitar Controller. Click here for details.
  
  
• Super Mario Galaxy - Mario is back in what maybe the best and prettiest Mario game yet. Click here for details.
  
  
• Metroid Prime 3: Corruption - Plunge into one of the best First Person Shooter experience on the Nintendo Wii in the role of Samus Aran with her suit, and her nifty morph ball mode. This is the latest installment of a franchise nearly as old as Nintendo's involvement in home consoles. Click here for details.
  
  
• Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition - Some people I know bought a Gamecube just so they can play the Gamecube version of Resident Evil 4 when it first came out. With its pedigree as a systems mover, RE4 gets its very own Wii Edition with controls featuring the Wiimote and Nunchuk. Click here for details.
  
  
• The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - Mario, Zelda and Metroid games form a bastion of old school franchises that have become hits in this current generation of video game consoles. A classic and a must have in its own right, click here for purchase details.
  
  
• Mario Party 8 - What's a Wii without a party game or two? Fill in the blanks with the latest edition of Mario Party! Click here for details.

Tired of games? Give your Nintendo Wii-owning friend of yours some accessories!

• TAKU Professional Skinguard
• Designer Remote Power Glove for Wiimote
• Wii Remote Controller Protect Film
• Wii Remote Controller Sheet
• Dust Prevent Silicon Cover Bundle Pack

Another great gift idea would be guide books:

• Super Mario Galaxy Collector's Edition: Prima Official Game Guide - Comes with a signed note from Mr. Shigero Miyamoto
• The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess Collector's Edition (Revised): Prima Official Game Guide - Hardcover with new content!
• You and Wii: Everything You Need to Know - Comes with stickers and whole lot of stuff to do with your Nintendo Wii.
  

Nine Over Ten 9/10 Holiday Season Shopping Guide for Xbox 360 Owners

Welcome to Nine Over Ten 9/10's 2007 Shopping Guide for the Holiday Season. Looking for a gift for your gamer friend, or someone who is into Japanese anime figurines and collectibles? You just about came to the right place.

If you have a friend who owns an Xbox 360, chances are his machine would be spending the entire holiday season at Microsoft due to 3ROD, but if he's lucky to have his machine with him, here's some games that you should look into to spread some holiday cheer! Games come with no region protection unless specified:

• Half Life 2: The Orange Box - This value for money compilation features Half Life 2: Episode 2, Portal and Team Fortress 2. And it comes with Half Life 2 and Half Life 2: Episode 1. Available at Play-Asia, USD 49.90, with free shipping. Click here for details.
  
  
• Gears of War (Platinum Collection) - No holiday will not be complete without a classic or two, and here's one which should stand the test of time. If your friend doesn't have this game, kindly enlighten him. Besides, at USD 29.90 with free shipping, it wouldn't burn a hole in your pocket to get him this. Click here for details.
  
  
• Assassin's Creed - This, is a rather pretty next-gen game from Ubisoft. It's new and shiny and comes with alot of hype (and some good reviews) to back it up. A bit expensive at USD 64.90. But don't worry about the shipping fees, it's free (with a price tag like that you would expect some concessions as well). Click here for details.
  
  
• Call of Duty 4 - What was formerly a franchise featuring World War 2 era combat, Call of Duty 4 takes a shot at modern warfare instead, and it takes no prisoners. Available at Play-Asia at USD 64.90. Click here for details.
  
  
• BioShock - The spiritual successor for System Shock 2, BioShock places you in Rapture (lol), a city underwater, instead of a space ship with a really creepy computer. Available at Play-Asia at USD 49.90. Click here for details.
  
  
• Halo 3 - Like Gears of War, this is gonna be a legend (if it's not already one) on the Xbox 360. Available at Play-Asia at USD 59.90. Click here for details.
  
  
• Viva Pinata (Limited Edition) (NTSC-J) - Sick and tired of buying a shooter for your friend year in year out? Check out Play-Asia's weekly special which is Viva Pinata Limited Edition at USD 14.90. Click here for details.
  

For more holiday gift ideas, such as Xbox Live subscription cards and games, visit Play-Asia. Stay tuned for more recommendations on what to get for a console gamer (Playstation 3, Nintendo Wii, PSP and DS) and figurines/gashapon collector.

Own The Fella On The Cover of That Video Game...Literally

Video games are generally a part of a mixed-media industry. There's the game, there's the website that promotes the game, there are the YouTube spots, posters, flyers, advertisement and finally, and probably most interesting other than the game itself, are the figurines.

Figurines range from mundane bean bags to highly detailed PVC constructs, and are considered a dime a dozen these days. Fancy owning one of those characters on the cover of your favourite video games? This is the guide for you, and will the first of many in a series.



First up is the cover for Final Fantasy XII (NTSC U/C) By the way, the Greatest Hits version (a.k.a budget-priced version) is now available at Play-Asia, click here for details.

Out of all the characters in the cover, I managed to find 3 in Play-Asia's Bargain Bin, each of them priced at USD 29.90:

• Ashe (click here for purchase details)
  
  
  
• Vaan (click here for purchase details)
  
  
  
• Balthier (click here for purchase details)
  
  
  

Moving now to the cover of Assassin's Creed. This is a new game, a highly anticipated one from Ubisoft which should be coming out anytime soon this November.


The main protagonist, Altair, featured on the cover of the game, is available as a highly detailed 7 inch figurine at Play-Asia, for a bargain bin price of USD 16.90! Click here for purchase details.


Stay tuned for future installments of "Own The Fella On The Cover of That Video Game".

They Are Yellow, Four Fingered, Dysfunctional And Are Now In Your Nintendo DS..and every other console..

Those 4 thumbed, yellow coloured folks from Springfield seem to follow me everywhere, even on my trip to Dubai. First there was TV series showing on Emirates' ICE during my flight there. And then there was the newly released game, available at Geekay and Sharaf DG.

Last but not least, I had the series AND the movie accompany me home in my flight back to Malaysia, on the excellent ICE. On a side note, it's with regret that I inform everyone that Emirates' ICE pwns our national carrier's (MAS) in-flight entertainment system.

Now, if you don't know who are the 4-thumbed, yellow coloured folk I'm talking about, it's the cast of The Simpsons. With that out of the way, lets talk about the game. While in Dubai, I had the pleasure of playing The Simpsons Game, for the Nintendo DS.

In a nutshell, it's a 2D platform game, where you get to play as Bart, Lisa, Marge and Homer Simpson in a game about the Simpsons being in a video game (cue a collective "huh?"), which would explain why each character has superpowers.

Example: Bart can change into Bartman, Homer becomes a big fat ball, Marge can command "angry mobs", and Lisa has telekinesis.

There are a lot of quotes from the show and quite a number of videos, often at the start and at the end of levels. The game exhibits good production values with the voice acting, graphics, videos, being spot on.

It also has a certain cool vibe, parodying popular video games and much maligned video game cliches, which is almost certain to give birth to a new video game cliche: video games about video games. (cue collective moan)

Despite all that, there's still a drawback. Like most platformers, The Simpsons Game can be a frustrating experience. The lack of pointers in certain levels will definately frustrate new comers and the 2D art, while staying true to its 2D roots, cannot give a sense of depth which will lead to players asking: "Is that a platform I can jump on, or is it just background art?"

I'm generally allergic to platformers; yelling to the Nintendo DS while playing Super Mario World with the help of an emulator is a particularly favourite activity of mine. All the jumping, running and the timing involved simply doesn't exactly jive with me and it's no wonder shoot-em-ups like Quake appeal to me; just shoot anything that moves.

And if you are like me, The Simpsons Game may not be for you, despite the appeal of having unlimited lives for each character, which technically means no game over screen (scratch one video game cliche).

Anyways, here's a tip:

In the "Enter the Cheatrix" level, should you find yourself stuck, you are supposed to do the double jump from one platform to another. Yeah, I spent an inordinate amount of time on a game in a genre that has done nothing but give me frustration over the years. What can I say? I'm a fan of the series.

The Simpsons Game is available across platforms, and is available at Play-Asia.com with free shipping. Click here for details.

Nintendo DS Games This October - What To Buy, Where to Get Them and Free Shipping!

Things are starting to get more interesting for Nintendo DS gamers as some of the more interesting games are released in this month of October.

First up we have The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (USD 39.90 @ Play-Asia), released earlier this month. This game, with the touch screen as its sole means of control, is bound to please both casual gamers and dedicated Zelda fans.

Also coming in this month is Bleach: The Blade of Fate (USD 34.90 @ Play-Asia). This SEGA release based on the popular anime Bleach, promises to be one of the better 2D brawlers on the Nintendo DS. Just be prepared for some sore thumbs.

Returning as more than a sequel to Touch Detective, is Touch Detective 2 1/2 (USD 34.90 @ Play-Asia). That's something you don't see everyday (the 2 1/2 moniker) but apparently the sequel's content justifies it being called a true sequel and then some.

Also returning is The Birdman himself, with Tony Hawk's Proving Grounds (USD 34.90 @ Play-Asia). I love the previous Tony Hawk game on the Nintendo DS as well as the latest one on the PS2 and if the two serve as an indication on what this latest one will be, this certainly will be a blast!

One of my personally anticipated titles would be World Soccer Winning Eleven DS: Goal X Goal! (USD 39.90 @ Play-Asia). I've had an overdose of the original Winning Eleven DS despite it being a Japanese game, and a bargain bin title, but this looks to take the cake as well. More gashapon machine spinning madness for better players!

Ever wonder what happens when you take one of those turn-based World War II PC games where you see nothing but a multicoloured map with lotsa unit names and stats, and put in on the Nintendo DS? Well, you'll get Panzer Tactics DS (USD 34.90 @ Play-Asia) I'm sure that this game will appeal to some of you out there.

These games should be available at Play-Asia, if not by the end of the month and do remember that Play-Asia has a free shipping option, something that I've always used. Expect a 5 to 7 day wait, depending on where you are.

Nerd Speak, Gamer Talk

Altogether now, "valign="top" width="50%"". Anybody with Transitional (or even Strict) XHTML and Visual Studio 2005 experience will know why the infamous Visual Studio red squiggle appears underneath the syntax "width="50%"". Want to know why? Go find out yourself and now, back to games.

Good things come to those who wait and for those of you interested in getting Jump Ultimate Stars, well this is your chance as Play-Asia is selling it for a discounted price of USD 39.90. I suppose I would get the game, sooner or later, considering that it should be a rather enjoyable experience when coupled with a translation guide.

You would probably want the Jump Ultimate Stars Emperor's Bible (it's a guide book) as well but too bad for the most of us, it's in Japanese. It does look more like a collectible item though.

But instead of buying games, wouldn't it be great if there were stores down the street where you can rent games for a fee. Those 7-11 guys should probably consider it, as I am more than willing to walk/cycle/drive to the nearest 7-11 store, put down a one time deposit, rent a couple of games (or try 'em out on the spot for free) and then rinse, repeat.

If that sounds like a long shot, get inspired by Mr Kolo Soro of the Ivory Coast. You can read about his entreprenual exploits here. Guy really has a keen business sense and has carved a niche for himself on access to things that we usually take for granted over here in Malaysia (telephone usage, games, etc)

I'll be reviewing more homebrew games this month, assuming that I have the time to load them up on my R4. Work has caught up with me in a big way and the Nintendo DS is hardly a sight in the office these days. Nevertheless I'm looking forward to playing "A Touch of War" and "Super Mario War". War is this month's theme boys and girls.

Altogether now: "I promise I won't whine about delivery dates after choosing the "free shipping" option on Play-Asia". That goes to you, you and you.

Mail Call

The first of my orders from Play-Asia made during their Crazy Week period (which just ended) arrived yesterday. Due to Play-Asia's free shipping to my area being rather consistent, I've opted to help out some friends on getting their stuff.

This first package is on behalf of a friend and it contains the full set of Nintendo Super Mario Bros. Phone Strap Gashapon. These are pretty unique as you have to pull the strap to see what's inside. Notice the ? marks and brick designs on some of the boxes? They come as stickers and you'll have to stick them onto the boxes.

Interestingly, these gashapon are still available on Play-Asia. If you want your very own set of Phone Strap gashapon, order them over here.

On a side note, I don't get it why people moan or contemplate so much about delivery dates after choosing the free shipping option on PA. Undestandably the parcel might take a longer time to reach the recipient, so just sit back after making your order, relax and then get on with your life.

You are not doing yourself a favour singing "Mr Postman...wait and see, if there's a letter, a letter for me....Mr Postmannnnn..". If you are that insecure, do spend more money on the Fedex option for your next order.