Nine Over Ten 9/10

at 6:56 AM

My nearly 3-year old nephew had a shot at Speed Racer DS yesterday and while the game confirmed my initial findings that it IS a great game, it's also quite forgiving/accomodating to new players, which is a really good thing as well.

So what to expect this week at Nine Over Ten 9/10?

A review of a new Sherlock Holmes game!
A new ROM REPORT!
A review of Japanese import Kage Densetsu: The Legend of Kage 2
More highlights on bargains and discounts for video games!
And many more :)

So keep Nine Over Ten 9/10 bookmarked, or better still subscribe to my RSS feed (here) or receive Nine Over Ten 9/10 in your e-mail (here)!

at 5:30 AM

For more video game reviews, head over to the brand new www.nineoverten.com.

Iron Man for the Nintendo DS has been great experience so far, and while I'm playing to unlock the "One Man Army" mode, which I think will get you to blow up more stuff compared to the story mode, the story mode seems to be intriguing on its own. For one, there is that research points thing and secondly, each level is expansive, with multiple objectives and a boss fight of sorts at the end.

Lets talk about the levels first. The levels are so big I have trouble finishing them in a single casual sitting of 5 minutes. Going along with the expansive levels are the rather nice graphics as well. The textures may look a little basic, but hey, it's on DS, not the PSP.

Gameplay is a mixed bag here, but its not necessarily a bad thing. The first level will have you playing a little like Tomb Raider as you fight your way out with the first version of the Iron Man suit. The second level however, transforms into a shmup, as you get to fly around in the latest Iron Man suit, shooting repulsor beams and firing the occasional rocket or unibeam and even release an EM pulse.

You'll require the use of both buttons and the touch screen in order to play. Use the touch screen to aim and fire repulsor beams/flamethrower, or to shoot a unibeam. The touch screen also serves as a guide with arrows pointing to the next objective.

I don't think it would be hard to add a mini-map, like the one found in football games, with dots representing enemies, buildings, powerups and the ilk, on the touch screen, but no such think here. Come on, the levels are big and it's an Iron Man game... high tech and all that jazz.. a mini map would definitely help.

Remember that I mentioned Research Points? Iron Man for the Nintendo DS displays a little more depth compared to other super hero games on the same platform by allowing you to go all RPG on it.

You can spend Research Points to upgrade your Iron Man suit (better shields, repulsor beams, upgraded rockets, etc etc), which you get to pilot from level 2 onwards, but you'll have to destroy ALOT of enemies (and buildings) to obtain them points. Whatever happened to good old (but boring) R&D.

A Story Mode is nothing without a story and Iron Man tells its "cutscenes" in the form of stills with shots from the movie as well as stylize comic book art. Apparent Robert Downey Jr. reprises his character from the movie by lending his voice for the game. And speaking of sound, it's largely forgettable, so don't aim for a sonic experience.

Iron Man has a pretty solid outing on the Nintendo DS, with interesting gameplay and RPG elements and is available at Play-Asia (click here for purchase details).

at 6:50 AM

Last year, I purchased a Magnet Stand for my Nintendo DS which helped in keeping the console upright and I need not hold the machine all the time. It's a pretty nifty device by Hori, with very strong magnets at its base. I can attach it, along with the DS, unto the fridge door without worrying about the entire contraption falling off.

I didn't know that there was something similar for the Sony Playstation Portable (PSP), but minus the magnets. Turns out to be that the Display Stand Portable (available in Black and White) is also manufactured by Hori. It supports both the original PSP (PSP-1000) and the new PSP Slim & Lite (PSP-2000).

Have something like a silicon skin or armour protecting your new Slim & Lite? No problem as the display stand will take on all comers as it will accomodate the extra protection in its PSP-1000 mode.

The Hori Display Stand Portable is currently available at Play-Asia in two colours, black and white, at a discounted price of USD 4.99. Click here for further details.

The Nintendo DS Magnet Stand is also available at Play-Asia, for a price of USD 14.90. Click here for further details.

at 6:10 AM

For the latest highlights on bargains and discounts for the Nintendo DS, head over to the brand new www.nineoverten.com.

Most readers of Nine Over Ten 9/10 would know that I'm import-friendly. That would mean I'm not adversed to buying and playing Japanese games, especially for my Nintendo DS and GBM. And I just bought 2 Japanese games, Arkanoid DS (with Paddle Controller) and Love and Berry (with card reader) for just USD 55!

Since Play-Asia is having it's Easter Egg sale (20% off all in-stock items), here's a list of imported Japanese Nintendo DS games that you might want to check out, given the cheap prices:

Oto o Tsunagou! Gunpey Reverse (USD 7.12) ~ Ridiculously cheap. I even bought one for a friend not too long ago when it was selling at USD 9.90
Ryusei no Rockman: Dragon, Leo, Pegasus (USD 7.12)
Kimochi Chiyosa Rensa Puzzle Trion Cube (USD 11.92)
Kouchuu Ouja Mushi King: Greatest Champion e no Michi DS (USD 11.92)
Zoids Battle Colosseum (USD 11.92)
Platinum Sudoku (USD 13.52) ~ US Release
Ash: Archaic Sealed Heat (USD 15.92)
Oshare Majo Love and Berry (DS Collection) (USD 15.92)
Slide Adventure: Mag Kid (USD 15.92)
Theta (USD 19.90)
Prince of Tennis 2005: Crystal Drive (Konami the Best) (USD 23.92)
Rockman ZX, Rockman ZX Advent (USD 23.9
Subarashiki Kono Sekai: It's a Wonderful World (USD 27.92)
Arkanoid DS with Paddle Controller (USD 39.90)

As mentioned in my earlier post, the sales period ends on the 31st of March. So better hurry! Click here to read about GBA games that you should buy during Play-Asia's Easter Egg sale.

at 6:04 AM

Just a short post in this morning. What I'm currently playing now on my Nintendo DS and Game Boy Micro? Here goes*:

What would I really love to play*?

I wonder whether would I be able to accomodate a PSP while there are so many games on the DS to play. What about you guys?

*Titles listed here are available at Play-Asia. Click on the links for purchase details. Play-Asia ships for free to certain countries.

at 9:30 PM

For more video game reviews, head over to the brand new www.nineoverten.com.

In retrospect, Sega's decision to quit making consoles and instead focusing on making games for other consoles is a good one for gamers in general. Otherwise we wouldn't be enjoying such an excellent tennis game for in the Nintendo DS in the form of Sega Superstars Tennis.

I admit that I approached this title with rather high hopes, as the previous tennis game I played, Prince of Tennis: Crystal Drive, although GBA-ish, delivered quite an enjoyable experience. I'm happy to say that Sega Superstars Tennis has exceeded even my expectations and probably is one of the better games I've played this year.

Almost every part of the game screams excellent production values and from the start you are greeted with a FMV sequence which would probably give the Crystal Chronicles or Revenant Wings developers a run for their money.

With its player roster being a showcase of Sega icons such as Sonic the Hedgehog, Nights, Amigo, Dr. Egghead and Ulala, the developers have set out to provide just that, and then some. Gameplay is realised in 3D, not unlike another Sega title, Virtua Tennis for the PSP.

While the DS is not much of a pixel pusher compared to the PSP, character models and the various courts that they play on are jaw droppingly pretty, and look Ma, no lag! As a nice touch, the tennis courts in the Sega Superstar Tennis are based on past Sega titles. Among those titles featured include Curien Mansion (House of the Dead), Space Channel 5, Samba de Amigo with more to be unlocked.

The usual suspects are here when it comes to gameplay options. There's the Quick Play mode and the Single Player mode which allows players to have a match against the computer opponent in either singles or doubles matches. If you are up for it, there's a tournament mode within the Single Player mode as well.

As mentioned earlier, the player roster reads like a who's who list of Sega icons and while you have 8 characters to choose from the start, there are 8 more waiting to be unlocked! Each character has his/her/its own style of play, some are power players while some are spin or all-rounders. In addition to that, characters such as Nights handle differently then others as she floats instead of being grounded.

Each character has also a special ability which can be triggered during gameplay with the right-shoulder button. Abilities work like those featured in Crystal Drive and can only be triggered when the star on the character's feet starts glowing. It is not a convulated as Crystal Drive and while the number of abilities are noticeably lesser, at least you don't need to remember combos :).

Multiplayer mode is confined to local WiFi, which is a little bit disappointing, as I planned to take my A-game online :).

One of the more interesting aspects of Virtua Tennis for the PSP was its collection of mini games and likewise, Sega Superstars Tennis doesn't disappoint. Accessible from the Single Player mode screen, these mission games are themed according to various Sega games such as ChuChu Rocket!, Super Monkey Ball, Virtua Squad and Curien Mansion (House of the Dead).

For example, the House of the Dead mission will have you hitting tennis balls at zombies crawling out from the ground amongst other things. The Virtua Squad mission will definitely give fans of the arcade game a pleasant surprise. I wouldn't spoil it for you; get the game and find out for yourself!

I am so getting this game. Sega Superstars Tennis is available at the following online retailers, click on them for further details:

Play-Asia ~ USD 34.90 (Free International Shipping)
Amazon UK ~ £24.98 (Super Saver Delivery - within UK)
Amazon.com ~ USD 29.95 (Super Saver Shipping - within US)

I would recommend International buyers to opt for Play-Asi a. Never failed me once.

at 1:00 AM

For more video game reviews, head over to the brand new www.nineoverten.com.

Throughout my entire TV-watching life, Mr. Bean is probably the funniest character on TV who no one would dare associate with. Come on, being called or compared to Mr. Bean isn't funny at all even though his silly/funny antics kept us tuning in week after week.

One spin-off from the live-action Mr. Bean TV series is the animated (duh) series by Tiger Aspect, which is currently being shown on Astro's Disney Channel. Animation probably adds more effect to Mr. Bean's already absurd behaviour. According to the Wikipedia article on the series, Mr. Bean's animated actions are taken from Rowan Atkinson (the guy who plays Mr. Bean in the live series) himselft!

Anyways,Pinnacle has just released a video game based on Mr. Bean: The Animated Series, and it is actually quite a bit better than most tv-show/movie tie-ins. Remember The Golden Compass on the Nintendo DS? I don't think so.

Mr Bean for the Nintendo DS surprises by being quite an adept platformer. Graphics-wise, it adopts a cell-shaded look while retaining the character designs from the animation series. One thing that makes the game stand out is unlike The Simpsons game which took a 2D approach, Mr. Bean is actually in 3D but the game restricts you to the X and Y planes on a linear path. Hence, a 3D 2D platformer...if such a thing existed in the first place.

Like any platformer worth its salt, there is a Story mode. Mr. Bean's teddy has been kidnapped by that dratted cat. Mr. Bean must collect cat biscuits in order to free him. Mr. Bean encounters a lot of enemies along the way, including frogs, bees, guard dogs and moles! To assist Mr. Bean in his endeavours, there're some items such as bug spray, cooking pans and a weird looking hat that renders him invulnerable for a few seconds.

The game will have the player jumping onto moving platforms (it's a platformer alright), pulling and pushing crates, and avoiding environmental obstacles such as explosives(!), pits, garden hoes, water hazards and pointy stuff that come up from the ground. If it does sound daunting, rest assured that the gameplay caters for children and it is rather forgiving.

Finishing levels provides not many incentives except for unlocking mini games such as "whack-a-mole" and jigsaw puzzles. Replay value is limited in the Story mode as the only other thing you can do is to play as Mr. Bean's girlfriend.

Despite that, this game would most certainly appeal to children and fans of the TV series. Currently an European release, Mr. Bean for the Nintendo DS is available on Amazon UK. Click here for purchase details.

at 1:34 PM

When I first read about The Eye of Judgment for the Playstation 3, I thought how nice would it be if WotC would release a Magic: The Gathering game for consoles, featuring the same concept.

The Eye of Judgment features a playing mat, cards with barcodes and the Playstation Eye camera. The camera works to capture card details and gestures from players. Players get to boost their collection of cards with what else, booster packs and like other collectible card games, each booster pack contains a certain number of rare, uncommon and common cards.

Recently Konami released something similar, a collectible-card based game for the Nintendo DS, complete with booster packs and in place of the Playstation Eye, a card reader. Sad to say, it's not Magic: The Gathering.

Titled Juushinden: Ultimate Beast Battlers, you basically get to battle against the AI, or another player with a deck of 40 REAL, not virtual cards (that's why there's a card reader). Think of it as a Yu-Gi-Oh DS game, with real cards. Such an interesting concept.

Now, if only it were in English. Or maybe I should just import it anyways. Juushinden is available at Play-Asia at a discounted price of USD 39.90, booster packs come in 3 volumes, and are priced at USD 1.99 each.

There are actually more collectible card based games on the Nintendo DS. More often than not, they are conversions from their arcade counterparts and thus arcade players can make use of their existing cards.

Oshare Majo Love and Berry (Fashionable Witches: Love and Berry)'s target audience is young girls and has the same mechanics as the arcade game. The supplied card reader reads cards produced from the arcade version of the game and these cards are used to dress up the players' avatars. This game is available also at a discounted price of USD 19.90 at Play-Asia.

On the other hand, Mushiking: Super Collection is an Nintendo DS conversion of an arcade based collectible card game that allows players to battle with beetles. These beetles are obtained from scanning the arcade version's cards.

The game itself comes with 7 cards and is played on a rock-paper-scissors format. The best thing about this game is that it is WFC enabled, allowing players to battle over the Internet. If you are interested, Mushiking is available at Play-Asia at USD 58.90.

at 9:40 PM

Acid Drop, Varial Kickflip, 540 Melon, Tail Grab, Spine Transfer. For the uninitiated, Nine Over Ten 9/10 hasn't gone gibberish, and instead, it welcomes you to Tony Hawk's American Sk8land!

This Nintendo DS title is actually quite old, by virtue of being released back in 2005. Being the first Tony Hawk title, and perhaps the first skateboarding game on the DS, Sk8land can still hold its own against other, newer games on the DS. You would be better off purchasing this off the bargain bin then getting, say, Assassin's Creed: Altair's Chronicles.

The premise of the game's Story Mode is pretty simple, as you might expect from any other skate (or snow boarding) game. Start of by customizing and naming your character and in no time the game will drop you in the first of 7 maps/levels.

The thing I like about Sk8land is that you get down to business quickly. What business am I talking about? It's the business of SKATING and doing tricks all around the rather big map. And not forgetting the great cell-shaded graphics, reminiscent of Jet Set Radio (Sega Dreamcast), compliment the gameplay really well.

The level of freedom is not unprecedented, given the fact that Animal Crossing allows the same thing too, but Sk8land has more in common with Grand Theft Auto. You skate around, performing tricks and you can approach any of the NPCs populating a level, and they will pay cash if you complete their challenges.

What's the cash used for? Well, to build your very own skate park of course. Known as the Warehouse, you'll be spending your hard-earned cash buying elaborate ramps, jumps and the like to transform it into some sort of skating wonderland.

In Classic mode, you are given two minutes to complete 10 goals in each of the map. Nothing better than to let lose and see what you can get within 120 seconds. You can then upload your replays online!

Rounding up the skate modes is the Free Skate mode. The name just says it all.

Sk8land was one of the first non-Nintendo titles to offer a WFC connectivity. As mentioned earlier, you can upload your replays online but do you know that Sk8land has several more tricks up its sleeve? You can get onto an online match with a friend or have a random opponent. You can also download custom art, view pro and rookie scoreboards for players connected to the WFC service!

I got this game purely for the skating action, but it turns out that I got more game than what my money's worth! So if you are looking at a bargain bin in a game store near you, be sure to look out for this game.

at 7:34 AM

For more video game reviews, head over to the brand new www.nineoverten.com.

OMG OMG. Why are these funny shaped things chasing me? No, I'm not another substance abuse casualty, but welcome to the world, or should I say universe, of Geometry Wars: Galaxies.

Now, the first impression that I got when I started playing the game was it was similar to that old-time classic Asteroids. And even though GW:G is abit deeper than that, it essentially plays the same.

On the DS, you control the movement of your ship using the D-pad (or the ABXY buttons, depending on orientation), and the touch screen is used to control your "drone", which fires automatically at the direction you are pointing at.

The objective of the game is simple, shoot down enemies to get points, score multipliers and "Geoms. Geoms is the currency of the game, with which you can upgrade the behaviour of your drone and unlock new levels (a.k.a planets).

I'm totally having fun now with the single player portion of the game, and before I forget there's single card download play to play with a friend who doesn't have the game, and also multi-card play throw in as well. The WFC connectivity is used to access online leaderboards.

The inclusion of Geometry Wars Retro Evolved (which is the classic infinite version of GW) presents a nice respite, as it's less frantic and less claustrophobic compared to GW:G, but it's still fun.

So if you are looking for a casual game, and an exciting one at that, get Geometry Wars: Galaxies for the Nintendo DS. It is currently available with free shipping (international and domestic depending on location) at Play Asia (click here) and Amazon.com (click here).

at 10:51 PM

After playing the Golden Compass game on the Nintendo DS, I really would like to have a. A stuffed polar bear, b. Tickets to the movie! Why? Read on.

I have not read any of Philip Pullman's books, especially his best selling "His Dark Materials" trilogy of books. I only read about him in a Time magazine article just recently. A pretty controversial chap who penned an equally controversial trilogy of books, this just makes me want to watch the movie to see what is all the fuss about.

Now, going back to the game. The Nintendo DS version of the Golden Compass is a pseudo-3D platformer of sorts, and after playing 2 levels, the entire experience can be summed up as "boring". The protagonist, Lyra, yawns alot when being idle, a metaphor to what the player might be experiencing through a largely unassuming, uninspired game.

Even some parts of the levels seem to be rehashes, prompting the player to think, "Have I been here before?" or "Is this a loop?"

I can't help but feel disappointed for another poor movie tie-in of a game and the only things that can make up for this have been stated in the first paragraph. A. A stuffed polar bear, because the one in the game looked really fugly with washed out textures. B. Movie tickets to the Golden Compass!

at 6:39 AM

For brand new The ROM Report articles, head over to www.nineoverten.com.

As some of you might notice from my previous The ROM Report installments, I experiment with quite a number of emulators (SNemulDS, jEnesisDS, Lameboy) and also quite a number of old-school ROMs on my Nintendo DS. To keep track on what works, what doesn't and ultimately what have I tried out, I decided to create a spreadsheet in Excel.

It's a relatively simple one and soon you, dear reader, will be able to download it.

Here's a screen capture of what's in store:

So stay tuned for more update with The Rom Report!

at 8:39 AM

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 :).

at 7:15 AM

For brand new The ROM Report articles, head over to www.nineoverten.com.

I really liked the "Notable Homebrew" section in the Nintendo DS Homebrew Wikipedia article before it was editted out, with the reason that "Wikipedia is not a list of links". In any case, the list of links from that section can still be retrieved from the revision history.

I'm putting up a portion here for posterity. More specifically, it's a list of emulators.

I've taken the liberty to enhance this list of emulators that run on the Nintendo DS. Included now are the manufacturers of the consoles as well as the year that they were introduced. The format is as such Manufacturer ConsoleName Year : EmulatorName. Emulators that I've tried before have an asterix (*) next to their names.

Feel free to click on the links to find out more about the consoles and also to download the emulators:

Bandai WonderSwan (1999) : DualSwan
Sega Dreamcast VMU (1998) : VirtuaMUnstaz DS
Nintendo Game Boy (1989) : Goomba
Nintendo Game Boy Color (1996) / Game Boy (1989) : Goomba Color / Lameboy*
Texas Instruments TI-85 (1992) : DS85
Texas Instruments TI-83 (1996) : WabbitDS
Watara Supervision (1991) : Wasabi
SNES (1991) : snesDS / Snezzi DS / SNEmulDS*
Sega Mega Drive (Genesis) (1988) : PicoDriveDS / jEnesis*
NEC PC Engine (1987) : PCEAdvance
Amstrad CPC 6128 (1985) : Croco DS
ScummVM : ScummVM DS
SNK NeoGeo Pocket (1998) : RACE!
Apple Macintosh Plus (1986) : MiniVMacDS
Sega Master System (1987) / Sega Game Gear (1990) : SMSAdvance DSMasterPlus
Sierra Entertainment : GBAGI
MSX : MSXAdvance
MSX2 : Penko DS
Nintendo NES (1983) : NesterDS / PocketNES / nesDS* / midori
Commodore 64 (1982) : FrodoDS
ColecoVision (1982) : COLECODS
Sinclair ZX Spectrum (1982) : DSpec SpeccyDS
Sinclair ZX Spectrum 128 (1985/86) : ZXDS
Atari 2600 (1977) : StellaDS*
Atari ST (1985) : StyxDS
Arcade/MAME : MarcaDS

I've been trying out StellaDS, an emulator for the Atari 2600, and I can't believe how ugly Mario Bros looked liked 30 years ago. Anyways, it's all very nice getting to play really old games on the DS.

Be warned though that emulators are not perfect, the ones that 'm using have compatibility problems with some games on their respective platforms. Those games either look terribly jumbled up or refuse to run on the emulator.

Click here (or alternatively the picture on the left side of my blog) for The ROM Report Archives.

at 11:32 PM

For brand new The ROM Report articles, head over to www.nineoverten.com.

I seem to have more fun playing retro games on the Nintendo DS than my bunch of DS games. The Encyclopedia of Game.Machines has been a great read, full of retro stuff (Play-Asia, USD 29.90)

Normally when it comes to running Gameboy and Gameboy Color on the Nintendo DS, the homebrew programs of choice to run those ROMs would be Goomba and Goomba Color. However, those progams utilise a .gba extension that would require a Slot-2 solution such as a Supercard to run.

I've found a great way for playing GameBoy Color games on the R4DS, or practically any Slot-1 solution such as the M3 and it's called Lameboy. Downloadable via GBATemp, Lameboy is currently in version 0.9 and it's pretty easy to run.

Provided that your R4's firmware is the latest, you would not need to manually apply the DLDI patch on to the Lameboy ROM before running it. The latest R4 firmware will perform an automatic DLDI patch.

So, here are the games that I tried:

Super Mario Bros. DX: Runs like a charm, with very minimal slowdowns. All Mario goodness in 56 colours.
Street Fighter Alpha: With just two fire buttons, fighthing is made easier. Just nice for 2D fighthing n00bs like me.
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening: Runs pretty fine.
Metal Gear Solid: Like Link's Awakening, it runs fine too.
Wacky Races: Framerate problems abound, not recommended unless you have a wish for epilepsy

Here's a tip while running GBC games on Lameboy, press the "Y" button to expand the game's display to almost the entire top screen of the Nintendo DS.

For previous editions of The ROM report:

at 7:07 AM

As the title mentions, there is a problem when it comes to running Sega Genesis/Mega Drive games on the Nintendo DS: the emulators have not found a way to produce sound! It's a rather quiet experience playing Sonic the Hedgehog but even though the lack of sound is a shame, the game runs really fast on a particular emulator: jEnesisDS 0.5.

I've tested two Genesis/Mega Drive emulators, PicoDS and jEnesisDS 0.5. Both have their similarities but only one had the larger set of advantages. Both emulators run without sound and while both CAN run whatever I've thrown at them, jEnesisDS is faster,smoother and has a way nicer user interface. Kind of like comparing a European supermodel to one of those local race queens and the supermodel has some brains to boot.

I'll be writting a more in-depth review in the future but for the moment, get jEnesisDS 0.5 at DCEmu. Registration is required, but free.

at 3:35 PM

Let's say that instead of trick-or-treating this coming Halloween, you decide to give out gifts and you happen to have a friend who is a.. horror movie enthusiast/figurine collector/anime otaku/ videogamer all in one.

What are you gonna get for your friend? Let Nine Over Ten and Play-Asia help you with that (click on the links for purchase details).

First up, figurines. Neca has released Series 2, a bunch of figurines commemorating anniversary of the original survivor horror video game, Resident Evil. There's the Tyrant, Licker, Labcoat Zombie, Crimsom Head Zombie, and the Hunter. All of them suitably creepy and scary enough for Halloween.

There's also the ultra-cute, but still horror themed Neon Genesis Evangelion Horror Summer Mini Display Figure. Order a total of 4 from Play-Asia and you stand a high chance of receiving a complete set (no gurantees).

Castlevania fans will have something up their alley with the late September release of Neca's Castlevania 7-inch action figures. Collectors get to choose from Simon Belmont, Dracula, Alucard and Succubus (or get them all for that matter).

If your friend can't bulk up in time to look like Kratos for Halloween, cheer him up with a couple of God of War action figures from Neca.

Enough about figurines, what would Halloween be without some video games? Do you go old-school survival horror and pick up titles such as Resident Evil: The Essentials for the PS2 or Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition?

Or go for newer upstarts such as Dementium: The Ward for the Nintendo DS or F.E.A.R for the PS3 and Xbox 360 and based on its scary predecessor (System Shock 2) alone, Bioshock. And who can forget the Castlevania franchise with games such as Dawn of Sorrow and Portrait of Ruin for the Nintendo DS.

On the other hand, you can head over to Ebay and trawl for even older horror games such as the aforementioned System Shock 2 (highly recommended by this particular blogger), Clive Barker's Undying and of course, those Blair Witch games which are pretty spooky as well.

at 11:00 PM

Looking through my Nintendo DS games library (which currently stands at 29 titles) for some writting material for the upcoming 1 year anniversary of my blog, I realised that I have 9 Japanese titles, seven of them for the Nintendo DS and two for the GameBoy Advance.

Jon's comment on my previous post did highlight an issue whereby while Japanese games tend to be really great, the language barrier makes their target audience a rather limited one. Short of taking Japanese classes, there is pratically no way that I could enjoy Mother 3 the same way a Japanese speaking/reading player can.

What can you do to make your Japanese gaming experience a better one? Well, start by choosing games that do not require much reading or better still, games that rely on symbols and non-Japanese characters to interact with players. In other words: "Import friendly"

Action games such as Jump Ultimate Stars and sports games such as Winning Eleven DS do not require much reading from players, and games such as Electroplankton are almost totally language barrier free. Should you need to know how "import friendly" a Japanese title is, head over to Gamebrink for English reviews of Japanese DS titles and look out for the "Import Friendly?" section in each review.

More information about a game wouldn't heard (afterall, knowledge is power), so don't forget to scour forums and review sites.

The second step would be to get a good guide. Guides are usually created by players to assist other players in navigating or going through the motions of playing, in this case, a Japanese language game. One site that I always go to for guides would be GameFaqs. The search option is pretty good, and you'll just need to key in the title of the game, and you should be good to go.

The last point that I'm about to mention, is rather moot and it can be epitomized in one word: "WAIT". While it is almost impossible to see an English version of Jump Ultimate Stars (due to licensing issues), some games have successfuly survived the conversion to English with some not without drastic changes (e.g. Elite Beat Agents, the English version of Ouendan).

Even so, not all Japanese games are translated to English, hence the moot point. I for one, would prefer the Japanese version of some games over their English counterparts due to the fact that they have better and more interesting box art (yes, looks do play a part in the whole purchasing process).

It's interesting to note that some Japanese games such as the Gyakuten Saiban (Phoenix Wright) series of games and Theme Park DS come with dual-language options of English and Japanese, but these are more of an exception than norm.

Back to my own collection of Japanese games, the games that I've enjoyed the most are Winning Eleven DS and Warioware: Made in Wario. Football is a universal game, you don't need a user manual/translation guide to play a footie game...that's what I always say and Warioware's mini-games are in two words a "no brainer".

at 7:15 AM

For more R4DS guides for the Nintendo DS, head over to the brand new www.nineoverten.com.

It has come to my attention that the R4DS isn’t exactly noob friendly when it comes to getting it up and running. I don’t have a problem with the manual in the website, but the following is a pictorial guide for anyone who is having trouble using it. Pictures are clickable to reveal larger versions.

Just some general requirements:

Make sure that the MicroSD card is connected to your PC/Laptop
This guideline utilises a blank SD card. So if you have one, format it. We are starting from scratch here.
Download the latest R4DS kernel from the R4DS website. Click here.

Part 1: Getting the R4DS up and running

First up, examine the contents of the R4DS kernel that you have just downloaded from the R4DS website. This is a compressed file so you might need software such as WinRAR or 7zip to open it.

Uncompress it (I don’t think I need to write a guide about this, no?) to a folder on your desktop. Shown below is an example of the uncompressed contents:
Now, using your Windows Explorer, open the MicroSD card. It should be empty since you have just formatted it.
Now, copy over the _DS_MENU.DAT from the R4DS kernel folder shown in Step 1 to the MicroSD card. The result should look like this:
This is followed by copying the moonshl folder and _DS_MSHL.NDS (from the R4DS kernel folder in Step 1) to the MicroSD card. The result should look like this:
Now, the last step would be to copy the _system_ folder (from the R4DS kernel folder in Step 1) over to the MicroSD card. The final result should look like this:
Remove the MicroSD card from your PC/Laptop and place it inside your R4DS. Place the R4DS into your Nintendo DS Lite and switch the console on to see whether it works.

Part 2: Running ROMS

First, let’s get this out of the way. Both homebrew and pirated games for the Nintendo DS exist as ROMs. Running them requires the same method and there’s no distinction other than if you are running pirated games, you are basically stealing.

For the sake of this example, I’m using a ROM file for New Super Mario Bros. I have the game in its original cartridge, so I guess its ok. For those of you who don’t, find another ROM file to experiment it (some R4 users justify their use with the term "playing back-ups" when they are "backed-up" to a corner..so get an original game so you can play back-up with. lol)

Most of the time ROMs are available on the Internet as compressed files (.zip or .rar), you’ll need to uncompress them before you can use them. The following is an example on how a ROM file looks like.

How to identify a Nintendo DS ROM? Nintendo DS ROM files have the .NDS extension with them.

Copy this file over to your MicroSD card. The result should look like this:

Remove the MicroSD card from your PC/Laptop and insert it into your R4DS. Start the console, and under the Game category, select the ROM file and the game will start.

at 12:18 AM

For the latest R4DS articles for the Nintendo DS, head over to the brand new www.nineoverten.com.

Look about the Internet and you would probably read reports/rumours that the R4DS is not readily available for sale. Now, the R4 has an unsavoury light in my books when it used to run pirated ROMs, but as a device that enables the use of homebrew on the DS, it's pretty top notch. And with the demise of the R4 forums, I probably need to go somewhere else for my homebrew fix.

All things considered, what are your alternatives for running homebrew on the DS? As far as Slot-1 solutions are concerned, there are plenty of choices.

First up you have the nearest cousin to the R4DS, the M3 DS Simply. According to one flashcart website, this is manufactured by the same factory as the R4DS and both are identical. However, do note that R4 firmware won't work on the M3 and vice versa.

Second would be the new kid on the block, the CycloDS Evolution Slot 1 Enhancer. A mouthful of a name with a feature set geared at pirated ROMs, it appears to be a good alternative to the R4 when it comes to homebrew. Amongst other things, it has support for SDHC (bigger storage space possible).

I remember reading in a forum that this particular Slot-1 solution doesn't boast a good built quality so caveat emptor.

Third up would be the G6 DS Real. This is probably for people who don't like using external media such as micro SD cards with their Slot-1 solutions. My R4 in particular is sometimes finicky and makes for an excellent SD card launcher. Talk about being as crazy as a spring. This on the other hand comes with 2 Gigabytes of internal flash memory, more than enough to store tonnes of homebrew and media files. Cool isn't it?

Last but not least in this feature is a Slot-1 solution from the very makers of Supercard themselves, the Supercard DS(One). This is probably one of the more common offerings at local game shops to "uninformed" buyers when it comes to "lowering the cost of ownership" for the Nintendo DS Lite since the R4DS is now hard to come by.