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Video
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands

Let’s say you love Prince of Persia but just can’t stomach any more soft-focused publicity images of Chesty Jake. Good news! Ubisoft has your PoP fix sans Gyllenhaal.

Check out this gameplay trailer (complete with developer commentary) and prepare to be enthralled by the Prince yet again. What’s not to love about parkour mixed with elemental control and lots of baddies?

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Posted in Awesome, DS, DSi, Microsoft, News Bytes, PSP, PlayStation 3, Videos, Wii, Xbox 360 | 2 Comments »

PEW! PEW! PEW!
LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars Announced

Good news for Star Wars fans: Today LucasArts and TT Games announced that LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars is in development and scheduled to hit all platforms this fall. Awesome.

I’ve been a fan of the console LEGO games since picking up the prequel-based LEGO Star Wars for the GameCube years ago. The human characters actually had yellow faces back then, much like real minifigs! I wonder what happened.

While I’ve only played the LEGO Star Wars games and LEGO Batman, I have the utmost confidence that they’re well-designed console platformers. I can’t speak well for the DS counterparts since LEGO Star Wars II was by far the worst DS game I’ve ever tried to play.

That negativity aside, I’m especially stoked about seeing what TT does with The Clone Wars franchise. I still can’t figure out when this new animated series is supposed to take place, considering the fact that the original 2D highly-stylized Clone Wars cartoon spanned from the end of the film Attack of the Clones right up to the beginning of Revenge of the Sith. Does Lucasfilm wish to ignore the first series as it wishes to ignore the amazing Droids and Ewoks cartoons?

TT Games is promising that this will be the most action-packed LEGO game to date. It’ll feature all the characters from the show’s first two seasons (it’s currently in season two) as well as other characters from elsewhere in the saga. The game’s also said to contain new modes of play, including a battle mode allowing for head-to-head fighting, a level builder, and an interesting-sounding feature called “Lightsabre slicing.”

If you can’t wait till the fall to get some LEGO Clone Wars action, check out this cute Unity-based online game where you play as Anakin on a rescue mission to find R2-D2.

Posted in Awesome, DS, DSi, News Bytes, PC, PSP, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360 | No Comments »

Coming This Month:
KORG DS-10 Plus

XSEED Games recently announced that it will be launching the KORG DS-10 Plus in North America on February 16, 2010. I’m not sure how I missed the initial announcement, given my love for all things KORG, but I’ll be sure to make up for it by making lots of songs with the program as I have been with its predecessor.

For those wondering about some of the benefits the KORG DS-10 Plus will have over the KORG DS-10, here’s a big one: When used on a DSi, the KORG DS-10 Plus has a “Dual DS-10” mode it which it doubles its synth capacity. Its simultaneous sound reproduction total is 12, up from six; there are four analog synth simulators, up from two, and two drum machines instead of one. Additionally, those into jamming can sync up to eight units together. I can only imagine how awesome that must be.

Posted in Awesome, DS, DSi, Music | No Comments »

Pokémon SoulSilver and HeartGold
Meet the PokéWalker

Last month we caught wind that the upcoming Pokémon HeartGold Version and Pokémon SoulSilver Version games will include an interesting accessory: The Pokéwalker. Today we received a few more details, slim as they may be, about the peripheral.

Used in conjunction with either SoulSilver or HeartGold, players will be able to transfer a Pokémon to the Pokéwalker and take them along virtual routes while walking in real life. Through regular walking, players will earn Watts, which are then used to encounter and catch wild Pokémon or find additional hidden items. On top of this, any Pokémon in the Pokéwalker will gain experience points as the player walks and can even level-up this way. Two Pokéwalkers can also communicate with one another to get special gifts.

This kind of play mechanic seems to be concept birthed from the inclusion of two pedometers with Personal Trainer: Walking, though obviously expanded upon considerably. What a great concept!

Posted in Awesome, DS, DSi, Nintendo | No Comments »

Pokémon Pre-Order Promotion Prize
Pocket Plastic Pokémon

Pokémon HeartGold Version and Pokémon SoulSilver Version will be available in North America March 14. But given the retailer-encouraged consumer disposition towards pre-ordering things, Pokémon fans who just can’t wait (but will have to, anyway) can start pre-ordering either or both these titles and receive a neat little Pokémon figurine in the process.

Kaiyodo, a company known for making tiny plastic figures, is manufacturing the little toys. As with most Pokémon games, most gamers will have to decide between one game or the other, hoping a friend will buy the corresponding title so that trading can occur and everyone’s Pokédexes can be full. With this pre-order, gamers will get one of two figures depending one which title is preferred.

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Posted in DS, DSi, News Bytes, Nintendo, Pokémon | 2 Comments »

MADE OF WIN
Professor Layton Revoltech Figure

Revoltech figures are pretty cool, as Cobra Commander might say. The first one I saw was the Megatron that was released a few years ago and I was impressed by the amount of detail in the figure and the amount of accessories it included. Revoltech’s upcoming Professor Layton figure comes with a table, tea implements, several sets of hands, and two faces (that we know of).

Looks like I’ll be getting this as soon as it’s available.

Via Tiny Cartridge

Posted in Awesome, DS, DSi | 5 Comments »

DS To Get More Rhythm
Beat City Coming to Town This Year

Today THQ announced an upcoming DS game from developer Universomo called Beat City. While not much has been revealed in terms of details, it looks somewhat similar to Rhythm Heaven. Players will tap, swipe, and hold to the beat of the music in several mini games. Sounds cool, no pun intended.

While this happens, the city in the game will transform into a vibrant place. The above image is from the tentative box art from the game and reminds me of the Powerpuff Girls episode “Mime For A Change” in which the girls save a black & white Townsville through the magic of rock ‘n’ roll. Here’s a clip of that; it’s awesome.

So how about some bonus content for you exclusive to Toronto Thumbs? Here’s an mp3 of my friend (and part-time contributor) Kevin Hickey and me covering this tune. It was recorded in 2001 (or 2000). We used an old Tascam four-track I had borrowed from a friend and didn’t really know what we were doing. Enjoy!

Posted in Awesome, DS, DSi, Music, News Bytes | 2 Comments »

From DS To iPhone
Colors Is One Cool Sketching App

In the year 2007, I spent much of the winter months in transit thanks to a hectic visiting schedule with the extended family. While in the lounge areas of airports, waiting through delay after delay, I would scribble a few sketches on my Nintendo DS using the homebrew application, Colors DS. Above is a drawing of Mega Man that I did with it. The little app is so versatile that it handles colour blending, pressure variations, and even saves down the images and can send them to any email address.

The people behind this application have also released a version for the iPod Touch and the iPhone. At $4.99 it’s a great deal, particularly if you’re artistically inclined or just happen to like sketching and messing around with colours (no pun intended). It controls a little differently, considering instead of a precise stylus one has to use a finger. But it’s still as fun as ever.

Posted in Art, Awesome, DS, iPhone, iPod Touch | No Comments »

Wish List
Rhythm Heaven

Last year, I took a lot of my holiday money and put it towards buying up a bunch of Nintendo DS games I had always meant to get. In total, I purchased about five games for that system and completely ignored releases for the other systems I own. After all, the DS is the current-gen system I probably play the most.

This year, Nintendo released many high-quality first-party titles for the DS. In fact out of all the games that launched in 2009, a good number of my favourites were on Nintendo’s handheld. I was lucky enough to get to play, if not own, most of the first party DS games this year. Upon first play, Rhythm Heaven was immediately quirky, entertaining, cute, and fun. It’s a new take on rhythm titles – one which doesn’t really hold the player’s hand and has no genre-demanded note chart for players to cue up their actions to. Instead, other visual cues (some very subtle) and musical beats offer the player hints regarding when to tap, hold, flick, or slide along with the songs.

Rhythm Heaven is enjoyable in both short bursts and long marathon play sessions. For weeks after putting it down, I’d still have many of its songs stuck in my head from time to time. For these reasons, it has found its way onto my wish list this year, and I’m hoping this arrives as a stocking stuffer – which reminds me, I need to get a stocking.

Related: Rhythm Heaven Review »

Posted in Awesome, DS, DSi | No Comments »