I finally got my rescue this morning in Shiren and decided to bomb through the rest of the Ravine on the Dead. As expected, while being more careful about traps I made it through rather quickly until the Ark Dragons started showing up. They can hit you for 50 damage every few turns from ANYWHERE on the floor. After going through a couple of hits of my only Chiropractic Jar I had, I decided it was time to just use up all my Air Devil and Wraith Devil meats (which practically make you invincible until you revert). Using a Staff of Postpone, which warps a monster to the exit and freezes them, helped me decipher the real exits from the trap ones and I made it out alive, floor 26!

So, I've only got two more dungeons to beat. :D2:

No free Wi-Fi at work, so I won't know what my WFC Rank is until I home. :(

Somebody offered me a Minotaur Axe (adds frequent critical hits to your weapon if melded) for a rather simple Table Mountain rescue earlier in the week, so hopefully that hasn't been taken care of yet so I can grab that sweet, sweet prize.

I picked up Uno/Uno Free Fall Skip Bo about a week ago and I'm HOOKED. This was a surprise hit. http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....ci_sku=8133423

$20 anywhere. I was playing Uno with my family and decided to pick it up. The comp beats me easily even at the easiest setting, so I haven't played it all that much. I had played and liked Uno Free Fall so I play that sometimes. But the winner was Skip-Bo. I had never heard of it before and I am completely and utterly hooked. I would have paid $20 for this game along. I have hours already put into it. Definitely recommend it! :)

Yeah, I picked up 2 copies of Uno/Skip-bo at Best Buy, I think it was $10 on sale one week, so I could rationalize picking up two copies for network play.

^ That's exactly why I never bought it. A game like that should be single-cart multiplayer and online. I stuck with the 360 version for $5. My daughter plays it more than I do, though.

FALL! 2008! HUT HUT HUT HUT HUT!!

It will be interesting to see what changes they make. I think most "sport games fans" would not like the NES version compared with what they have today.

TECMO BOWL® IS BACK!

The Legend Returns With TECMO BOWL®: KICKOFF For the Nintendo DS™

TORRANCE, Calif. May 1, 2008 — Leading video game developer and publisher Tecmo® today announced TECMO BOWL®: KICKOFF, exclusively for the Nintendo DS™. Based on the most popular Tecmo Super Bowl™, KICKOFF will deliver to long time fans and newcomers easy to employ controls, fun, huge plays and exciting cut-scenes. The classic, over-the-top, all-American football game enables players of all levels to engage in a fun filled, fast paced, arcade style of football.

“We are extremely excited to bring back everyone’s favorite football game to the Nintendo DS,” said Ryan Gilbo, executive producer, Tecmo, Inc. “KICKOFF is packed with everything that fans wanted to see in this revival. No other football game will ever compare to TECMO BOWL as this is the game that started it all."

TECMO BOWL: KICKOFF brings a host of new features that will further enhance the gameplay experience, including:

· Customizable Teams: Choose team colors, emblems, player names, team cities and abilities.

· Super Abilities: Tactically use over-the-top plays to take over a game.

· Wi-Fi and Wireless Multiplayer: Play against friends across the country or across the room.

· Stylus Control: Feel the action by using the stylus to control your player.

· Variety of Teams: Choose from 32 different teams.

· Cut-Scenes: All-new cut-scenes showing off the dramatic presentation of various plays.

· Customizable Playbook: Prepare for gridiron greatness by customizing your playbook.

· Music and Sound Effects: Turn up the heat on your opponent as you play the game to rock ‘n’ roll remixes of the most memorable tunes in football gaming history!

TECMO BOWL: KICKOFF is scheduled to launch Fall 2008. The game has not yet been rated by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB).

I'm actually kinda surprised that eh DS is so popular. Wheres all the promotion and hype? Hell an new Wii or XBox game comes out and its like the second coming. If I want to find out about a new DS title, I usually have to do a Google search.
Could be I'm just looking in the wrong places. But beign a dS user I kinda feel like the red-headed stepchild of the gaming world. :p

Currently playing:

Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword (brilliant gameplay dunno why this wasn't promoted to the heavens).

God help me I'm STILL a Meteos whore.

And I guess its time to turn in my man card, as the title I've been most hooked on lately has been a figure-skating career sim. Guess I'm a bit burned out on finding goddamn crystals, and slaughtering 500 monsters so I can go up a level, but I've been having fun damnit! It's nice for a change when my biggest concern is whether I can make that triple-spin, or what color of skimpy little skating costume I should get.

I'm psyched for Crosswords DS next week.

sweet, a new tecmo bowl. It has to be as good as Super Tecmo Bowl for me to buy it.

Same.

I've been psyched for a year now, I guess, since we first heard about it. However my psychitude took a significant hit about 2 or 3 weeks ago when I realized there would be no downloadable puzzles for it. I have no doubt I'll get my $20 out of the 1000+ it has, but it would have been nice to see.

I'm as big of a Tecmo Bowl fan as they come, but this will not interest me without the NFL license.

Fuck EA.

Yeah but come on, it's not like the sprites ever resembled actual players.

It's not about resembling the players. Well, at least for me anyway. It's about the familiarity of the teams and the names.

I really hope it sells well to everyone else though, so there may be hope of future iterations after EA stops being the devil.

I loved my DS until I bought a Xbox 360. Now the DS just collects dust and I plan to give it to my Mom for Mother's Day/Birthday.

If you travel a lot for your job, it is the perfect device for passign time but since I hardly do that anymore, it just doesn't get any use. But I can definitely see why it has sold as many as it has.

That basically sums up why Lost Via Domus sells millions and Beyond Good & Evil hits the bargain bin in two months.

Which is what makes EA the devil. We used to have the best of both worlds (Tecmo Super Bowl, NFL2K(series)). Now, just like with the "Lost" example, if you want to have the teams and players, you have to suffer through Madden, an inferior game.

To be fair, the NFL approached EA with the exclusivity deal.

But let's be realistic, while I think Tecmo Bowl was the first (or one of the first) football games to feature the real teams and players, people aren't still playing it today for that fact, they're still playing it today because it had extremely well done, easy to pick up, fast-paced, arcade-style football gameplay.

I disagree. I think people are still playing it today for the nostalgia.

I'm interesting in Tecmo Bowl with an NFL license or not.

Took advantage of the EB sale and picked up Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword and Advance Wars Days of Ruin on the DS along with Crisis Core on the PSP. Of course with GTA IV eating up a lot of time I'm probably not playing them much for now though I am sneaking in some Ninja Gaiden at lunch.

Exactly. I gave up on football games about 10 years ago. I think Quarterback Club 98 was the last one I owned. They just got way too complex and sim heavy. Tecmo Bowl should simplify things immensely and just focus on the fun factor.

So we have a new member in the DVDT DS family...I just bought my niece a pink DS for her 7th birthday today.

That might actually get me to take Picross outta my DS finally ;)

The Nintendo Channel is now live for the Wii. The channel features downloadable DS demos. Here are the DS demos currently available:

Brain Age 2
Flash Focus
Crosswords DS
Jam Sessions
Rayman Raving Rabbids 2
Cooking Mama 2: Dinner with Friends
Disney Friends
Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword

:D