I just realized something reading over the IGN reviews. According to them, Sonic, Mario Kart, and Castlevania are the best iterations of those games ever. Pretty impressive.

Do you guys concure?

I really like what I see in the Mario Kart commercials. Glad I didn't sell my little El Toucho.

IGN's got a ton of excellent videos:

http://media.ds.ign.com/media/682/682877/vids_1.html

I can't believe how much content this kart racer appears to have.

I'll have to play Sonic and Mario Kart to decide, but while Castlevania on the DS was excellent it was still a slight notch below the almost flawless Symphony of the Night to me. I will agree though some games are just better on the DS hardware and those three games are perfect examples and all will probably be much better than any version released on current gen consoles.

As far as the Metroidvanias go, I'd give DoS the nod on the gameplay and SoTN the nod on style and general feel.

I get to borrow the DS this week! I bought Castlevania and she left me Metroid Pinball and Trauma Center. Castlevania is fantastic.. I can see some people might be growing tired of the formula at this point but it's still fun as hell for me. Metroid Pinball is surprisingly good, really good. Haven't played Trauma Center yet. I might go pick up Dig Dug or something this week as well.

I traded in my Atari Jaguar today ( ) and used the store credit to buy Metroid Prime Pinball. I've already had more fun with it this afternoon than I had all together with the Jaguar.

Hows the rumble on that work? Reports have been mixed...

Well, IGN was right about it making a sound, but I think it feels pretty good and the sound actually kind of sounds like a pinball sound. So for Metroid Prime Pinball, I think the rumble pak works. We'll just have to see if works as well with other games.

If you take into consideration it's all contained into a GBA-sized cartridge, it does incredibly well. It may not be enough to some, considering the overall size of the DS.. but it's pretty remarkable considering the method it's accomplished in.

I just want to mention what a frikkin awesome couple of weeks the DS is going to have. Mario Kart DS, Viewtiful Joe DS, Sonic Rush. YAY!

I can't remember any other system where I was overwhelmed with games I really wanted play in its first year.

Don't forget Animal Crossing next month too.

You guys are missing the best of the lot: Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time.

I haven't seen much info on this release yet, and this is the single biggest reason why I got my wife a DS. Is this confirmed for December? Is the Japanese version already out?

I know exactly what you mean. I am one of the cheapest bastards there are when it comes to games and have only purchased 4 games on release week within the past two years. One of them was GTA: SA for the Xbox and the other 3 all came from the DS. Nintendogs, Advance Wars, and Mario Kart. I also plan on getting Animal Crossing as well.

Nintendo and its DS is sure getting its money from me, and I am as cheap as they come.

Animal Crossiing reviewed in Famitsu netted a 37:

NDS
Nintendo
9/9/10/9
(9.25)
37/40

That is quite a good score.



Anyone play the Urbz/Sims game for the DS? It was on sale for $10 at FYE and I wanted to know if it was worth it for that price?

My wife and I went out tonight and bought a DS unit and Nintendogs. I figured with me getting a 360 here in a few days she would need something to keep her busy when I'm gaming.

We played around with Nintendogs a good bit tonight but the dog is too damn tired to really want to do anything. I thought she was going to buy another game tonight but she said that she is going to play what she has for a few days and then pick another one. I just hope I can pry it from her hands to take with me when I stand in line for the 360 launch.

I Want:
Metroid Pinball
Touched

She Wants:
Animal Crossing
Zoo Tycoon

I'm pretty up to date on games out there for systems I don't have just because I'm curious but now I'm really reading up about all the games I had mild interest in before.

There are certainly some great games out there and I'm enjoying the system far more than I did my PSP when I had it for a brief period of time.

The Japanese version comes out November 22nd, then the American release is set for December 5th, I think.

I have every console (PS2, PSP, GC, Xbox, Dreamcast, SNES and a top of the line PC), and I've been playing my DS more than all of those systems combined.

I can't wait 'till they start cranking out some Zelda and Mario platform games for the DS. And hopefully they'll put out a 2-D Metroid game in addition to the 3-D one.

There were some rumors of a 2D Metroid called Metroid Dread but then it was reported it was cancelled. No official sources for any of this though. I'm pretty sure Nintendo sees the potential for a large scale 2D Metroid game on this system.

Before Metroid Prime and Fusion I might have been leary about it but since then they have been churning out the Metroid sequels. I'm sure there will be 2D metroid. Hopefully sooner than we think?


Asking again, any opinions on the sims game for DS?

I just read that "Feel the Magic 2" is coming to the US as The Rub Rabbits. I seriously thought it had no chance of making it over. The japanese name of the game is "Where do Babies Come from?" Apparently it's got a lot more than the first game, and looks like it'll be pretty fun.

Sweet. I liked Feel the Magic, but didn't buy it because there wasn't a whole lot there.