Link to onscreen game graphics plus the controller:
http://www.famitsu.com/game/coming/2...76124,0,0.html

That's going to be kind of awkward to hold. May be a case where you have to set the DS on your lap or a table top to play.

So is anybody playing, or has played, Etrian Odyssey? I'm totally loving it.. but it's kind of a big culture shock to go from Final Fantasy III (simply hit the A button to win) to this.. seriously! It's a beautiful mix of those old US PC RPGs with a dash of anime visuals.

I checked it out. Not really my bag, but my brother seemed to be really into it

That's the one where you make your own maps in game as you explore the different areas, right? I saw a video preview of it, and the mapmaking aspect looked interesting. I'll have to put it on my rental queue.

Yup, actually I was really interested in the game until I heard about the mapmaking.. but I bought it anyway and it's totally unobtrusive and extremely charming. If you EVER bought graph paper for Wizardry, Might & Magic or Ultima back in the day, you'll get a kick out of it. The game itself is very fun.. it's tough like those games but not TOO tough. It feels like a good mixture of Wizardry and Dragon Quest.

Also, screw Resident Evil and its cheap scares. Once you start playing nothing will send horror chills through your spine as the sight of an FOE as you just picked up some nice loot or have leveled up recently. Nothing.

Most likely i'm just incompetent but i had a really hard time with the mapmaking.

I was too lazy to make maps back in the day, but I always liked the concept of it. Now that it's built right into the game, it should be a lot easier for me to actually do it.

Really? I think it's so well done, you can run down a long corridor and swish two lines across the screen really quickly.. the recognition on it has really impressed me. You can even draw in your map while in a battle waiting for the actions to happen!

Maybe i was misunderstanding the quest then. Do you just have to map the walls or do you add features to the squares (eg. trees, fountains etc.)

I used to be a hardcore mapper back in the day of the Zorks, Ultimas etc. Hell in college i mapped some of the MUDs a bunch of us played. I still have a binder somewhere with our clan's data. Maps of everything, crash running directions, drop % that we had calculated based upon our own research, even who had certain equipment on the server that would only load if nobody online was wearing it. Yeah, i was in the honors dorm and had a bunch of computer engineering students for roommates.

Alright. So I just received a free DS from a Ball Park Franks IWG. My G/F will primarily be playing it. She knows she wants Nintendogs, but what other games are simply must haves? She is more of a RPGer than anything else.

If you are referring to the first mission I think you just have to map the area in the red square, meaning simply the outlines.. and report back to the knight in the forest. I did that quest twice and on my second run I added more details so I can't vouch for how much it wants outside of just the basic map grid. As far as past that.. you can map as little or as much as you want.

I've been tempted by this one, but was put off a bit by the map making. I did finally pick up Deep Labyrinth and may give this one a try down the road.

I am so freaking addicted to Picross. I've gotten the US and European versions and I'm importing the Japanese version (different puzzles to download for each), and I got the Gameboy (B&W) Picross and I'm looking to buy he SNES one. Worth every penny and more. Cannot get enough of this. That, and the three version of NDS, the one for GB, and the one for SNES are going to be less than 2 current-console games and are going to give me hundreds of hours of enjoyment

It's an unofficial Nintendo site but http://www.wiipicross.com is Wii compatible and you can design and upload your games. It may be worth checking out for you Picross nuts.

I may buy the US version down the road for the downloadables. I have loved these since Mario Picross on the GB. An independent developer also did a version on the Palm OS called Crosslogic that I enjoyed.

The SNES one is also really good, but some of the puzzles are Kanji characters and those can be tough to picture.

If you ever want to do the pen and paper version just about every issue of Games magazine has picross puzzles as well as many many other puzzles.

I'm actually on the lookout now for some books of these puzzles to use in my classroom. If i can't find one i may have to sit down with my DS and transcribe some of the puzzles.

Here some fun ones:

Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time (RPG)
New Super Mario Bros.
Clubhouse Games
Tetris DS
Elite Beat Agents

Brain Age (Aug. 20)
Big Brain Academy
Mario Kart DS
Planet Puzzle League
Picross DS

The DS is really coming along as a thinking person's machine. That new Math game looks awesome. Maybe in the future it will be incorporated into classrooms - pass such and such level of a game as homework. I.e. finish Normal level 1 of Picross.

Don't know if I'm any smarter but I'm lots better at Picross

I'm really looking forward to that Ubisoft vocabulary builder game. Both my wife and i teach and have liberal arts degrees so a vocabulary game is right up our alley. If there is a competitive element (like in Brain Age) we will tear that title up.

Looking forward to that also. Maybe make a list of educational titles?

Brain Age
Big Brain Academy
Picross DS
The new math game
The new vocabulary game
NYT Puzzles

Any more?

I'd kill for those Kanji training titles to come over.

Nintendo also has their own crossword puzzle game coming out this fall, tentatively (and creatively) titled Nintendo Crossword.

Sure, why not. Another $20 time-waster for me. I imagine this will have downloads and puzzle sharing like Picross.

I'm importing the Japanese spot-the-difference-between-pictures one.