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Bit Generations-style boxes for WiiWare’s Art Style games (click for a larger version), including the recently revealed Light Trax and Rotozoa, by Stephen Gibson.

Gibson used the Dotstream title instead of Light Trax because he wanted to use the Japanese logos and titles for the covers. Nintendo hasn’t announced Light Trax for Japan yet, but it will likely use the Dotstream name for the title considering the marvelous GBA game it’s based on.

Gamespot has a video interview with Nintendo’s localization team that shows some footage of Art Style: Light Trax and some of its modes. It looks great on a big screen, but I’m disappointed this isn’t a handheld title — the original Dotstream is a perfect portable experience (especially if you have headphones on you).

Gibson also updated his Bit Generations-style boxes for DSiWare’s Art Style games to add Digidrive.

Preorder: U.S. Nintendo DSi XL/LL (Burgundy and Bronze)

Buy: U.S. Nintendo DSi (White, Pink, Black and Blue)

[Via Stephen Gibson]

tags / bit generations / art style / wiiware / fanart / stephen gibson / light trax / rotozoa / fanart / ec / skip

/ permalink / / 1 week ago / Comments (View)

Five tiny Nintendo DS/WiiWare news items you might have missed today

With a new Super Mario Galaxy 2 trailer, glossy Metroid: Other M screens, and an array of release dates all revealed at Nintendo’s Media Summit this morning, there were a few second / third-tier news items that you might have overlooked today. Since we relish in covering second / third-tier games, we’ve gathered several quick stories and trailers that caught our fancy.

1. Attract Mode will begin selling its limited edition Cave Story shirts alongside the game’s WiiWare release on March 22nd. Designed by James “HARVEYJAMES” Harvey and Mitch “spacesick” Ansara, these tees were approved by Cave Story creator Daisuke “Pixel” Amaya himself.

/ permalink / / 1 week ago / Comments (View)

“You will see more games from us on the Nintendo DSi soon – beginning with Art Style: Digidrive which is already out in Europe (but is called Intersect there). There are more games in the pipe.”

Q-Games’s Dylan Cuthbert confirming to Finalboss that the company did in fact return to develop the DSi version of its bit.Generations game Digidrive. I was wondering!

On that note, Skip ltd./Art Style fans should pick up this month’s issue of GamesTM (#89) for its four-page article on the DSiWare series. It includes an interview with several surprising revelations, like Skip once working on a Wii MotionPlus sports title! I wonder what came of that?

Buy: U.S. Nintendo DSi (White, Pink, Black and Blue)

Import: Japanese Nintendo DSi XL/LL (Natural White, Dark Brown, Wine Red) & Standard DSi (White, Black, Pink, Red, Lime Green, Metallic Blue)

See also: Art Style: Digidrive gameplay

[Via Lovedelic, GoNintendo]

tags / art style / digidrive / jc / q-games / dsiware

/ permalink / / 3 months ago / Comments (View)

Art Style: Intersect (Digidrive in the U.S.) gameplay. It’s not Dotsream or another inventive puzzle game from Skip, but it’s nice to see more of the bit Generations GBA titles brought to DSiWare and outside of Japan. It’s a shame we don’t get the fancy bit Gen packaging, though!:

This released in Europe last week, so perhaps we’ll see it out in North America soon, too?

Buy: U.S. Matte White, Pink, Black and Blue DSi

Import: Japanese Nintendo DSi (White, Black, Pink, Red, Lime Green, Metallic Blue)

[Via Nintendaan]

tags / art style / intersect / q-games / digidrive / dsiware / bit generations / ec

/ permalink / / 5 months ago / Comments (View)

DSiWare-bound: New Shantae, Fieldrunners, and Art Style: Digidrive

Nintendo unveiled a surprising collection of first- and third-party titles slated for its DSiWare service, and I think we can all agree that the most exciting title in the batch is Sparkle Snapshots, which I presume is actually Itsudemo Print Club: Kira Deco Premium.

Oh, and another bit Generations game, Digidrive, is receiving a DSiWare/Art Style port, but consider these details before you get too excited about the game:

The original GBA Digidrive kind of sucked (IMO)
Digidrive is the only bit Gen title not developed by Skip; it was created by Q-Games
It’s not Art Style: Dotstream

Also announced from Nintendo’s end: 10 Electroplankton minigames, Art Academy: Second Semester, Picturebook Games: The Royal Bluff (this weird thing), and Pinball Pulse: The Ancients Beckon (I’m curious about this!).

As for other developers, WayForward is finally releasing one of its many Shantae prototypes, Shantae: Risky’s Revenge, after years of fanboys demanding a new game for the genie. It’s the first release of a three-episode series!

Subatomic is also bringing its acclaimed iPhone tower defense title Fieldrunners to DSiWare (and PSP Minis).

All of the games mentioned above (with the exception of Second Semester, releasing September 28th), are slated for the fourth quarter of 2009. Yay!

Buy: U.S. Matte White, Pink, Black and Blue DSi

Import: Japanese Nintendo DSi (White, Black, Pink, Red, Lime Green, Metallic Blue)

tags / art style / digidrive / bit generations / sparkle snapshots / itsumedo print club / electroplankton / art academy / picturebook games / pinball pulse / shantae / q-games / subatomic studios / fieldrunners / wayforward / ec

/ permalink / / 5 months ago / Comments (View)

Best Worst Game: BoxLife →

UK gaming radio show One Life Left hosts a semi-regular segment in which the entertaining Mathew Kumar elects a “Best Worst Game”, inviting listeners to try out interesting but flawed titles, such as Skip’s Art Style: BoxLife:

“When I was a student, fresh in my first year, I decided to get a job in a factory rather than somewhere sensible like at a Carphone Warehouse. The hours were longer, but I knew it was going to pay more.

So, when I went for the interview, thanks to my university education, I was given a job in quality assurance. My job was to open the boxes the factory produced, check them, then reassemble them. And so I did this for 12 hours a night, every night, all summer.

I never had the feeling that what I did had any point or any idea that the boxes were going to do anything useful. And all the money that I made was just frittered away on the pointless improvements to my life. They were just pointless. …

[BoxLife] captures everything about that one summer I worked in a factory and its sublime education in futility for the uninitiated.”

My transcription likely isn’t 100% accurate, as I couldn’t pick out a few words from Kumar’s thick Scottish accent. You can listen to the segment yourself in this week’s episode of One Life Left, starting around the 46:45 mark.

Buy: U.S. Matte Black and Blue DSi

Import: Japanese Nintendo DSi (White, Black, Pink, Lime Green, Metallic Blue)

tags / boxlife / art style / hacolife / skip / mathew kumar / podcast / one life left / ec

/ permalink / / 7 months ago / Comments (View)

Boxlife Cribs: It’s like the Neverland Ranch up in this bitch.

As you can tell by the mansion, the pristine golf course, and the imported Javan tiger (thought to be extinct, but evidently not so), the box folding life has been kind to me.

Mock the minivan if you want, but don’t get angry with me when your girl’s jaw drops as I cruise by on 28-inch rims. Don’t complain to me when you can’t figure out how to describe your rage in 140 characters after seeing your soulmate and I share a bottle of Le Montrachet ‘78, right next to the very vehicle you’d teased earlier.

I’m just sayin’.

I know what you’re asking yourself — “What sort of job do I need to get an estate like that? Where did he find this car dealership that apparently sells droptop minivans? How can I be more like Eric and live my life like it’s golden?”

Well, if you picked up Art Style: Boxlife for DSiWare, you’d have the answer to all those questions.

Buy: U.S. Matte Black and Blue DSi

Import: Japanese Nintendo DSi (White, Black, Pink, Lime Green, Metallic Blue)

tags / art style / boxlife / hacolife / dsiware / dsi / ballin / ec

/ permalink / / 8 months ago / Comments (View)

Art Style: Boxlife on DSiWare

The biggest handheld gaming news this morning has nothing to do with GTA: Chinatown Wars migrating to PSP; it’s the North American release of Art Style: Boxlife (known as Hacolife in Japan) for DSiWare!

As I’ve previously proclaimed, I believe this addictive puzzler from Skip is the finest DSiWare experience you can purchase today (500 Points), even more so than PiCTOBiTS. Nintendo’s official product description:

“Climb the corporate ladder in the world of Boxlife using your wits and… paper? Use the Nintendo DSi stylus to cut and then manipulate the paper into a box shape. Be careful — if you’re not efficient with your cuts, you’ll waste paper and be penalized.

R&D mode teaches you new patterns and challenges you to complete various ranks, while Factory mode gives you the chance to earn money by making as many boxes as possible from an endless sheet of paper.

Success in each mode brings its own reward: Clear ranks to earn a promotion, change your character’s appearance, and use your earnings to acquire new items for your character’s miniature garden. With this game’s stylish graphics and catchy sounds, thinking inside the box isn’t such a bad thing.”

If you haven’t read it yet, here’s my enthusiastic preview of the game, in which I described Boxlife as “Japan’s interpretation of the American Dream”.

See also: “Hacolife Theme”

tags / art style / boxlife / hacolife / skip / dsiware / ec

/ permalink / / 8 months ago / Comments (View)

bit Generations-esque Art Style covers by Stephen Gibson (click for a larger version).

“The Art Style series on DSi is the perfect follow-up to the bit Generations series. The one thing that didn’t make the jump to digital distribution though was the stylish little boxes that each game came in. I decided to try and create artwork for each of the new games, following the same structure and style of the bit Generations boxes.

And yes, these are the Japanese logos. Since the original packages were Japan-only (and half of these aren’t out in the US and Europe yet), I decided to use those to begin. I’ll put together some Western variations soon.”

~~The deviantArt watermark is distracting, but other than that,~~ these are great, very much like the original minimalist bit Generations covers.

[Update: Stephen removed the watermark! Yay!]

In other Art Style news, apparently Nalaku released in Europe as Kubos last week. What’s the deal with Europe having five (out of six) Art Style titles, while the U.S. only has two? At this rate, autumn will arrive before North America receives Hacolife.

Buy: U.S. Matte Black and Blue DSi

Import: Japanese Nintendo DSi (White, Black, Pink, Lime Green, Metallic Blue)

tags / boxart / art style / bit generations / dsiware / nalaku / hacolife / picopict / pictobits / aquia / aquario / decode / somnium / import / ec

/ permalink / / 9 months ago / Comments (View)

Free fonts from PiCTOBiTS' Art Director →

I doubt anyone but me cares about this, but Yuji Oshimoto, who worked on PiCTOBiTS’ art direction (and helped design Tingle RPG as well), is also the man behind famous bitmap typeface set 04. You can download 04 and his other fonts for free at Oshimoto’s site linked above. He also has several interactive bits worth playing with there.

If you own a DSi but still haven’t bought PiCTOBiTS, you really should! It’d be a great way to end Tetris’ 25th anniversary, playing this excellent puzzle descendant.

[Via Mtpfreak]

tags / yuji oshimoto / fonts / 04 / art style / skip / pictobits / dsiware / ec

/ permalink / / 9 months ago / Comments (View)

[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

“The Legend of Zelda Part 1” by YMCK (PiCTOBiTS)

The first half of this track is typical “Zelda remix” fare, but at around the 3:00 mark, YMCK turns it into something magical. Seriously, they totally killed this PiCTOBiTS/PiCOPiCT remix.

By now, you should have realized that I did not exaggerate about Art Style: PiCTOBiTS’ greatness. If you’ve yet to appreciate this essential truth, then either:

You haven’t purchased the DSiWare game yet, or
You don’t have any damn sense about

I know last week was expensive for Nintendo nerds, what with Punch-Out!! and Boom Blox: Bash Party out at stores, and Majora’s Mask on VC, but if you haven’t picked up PiCTOBiTS yet, you’re really missing out! And if you’re one of those forum/blogger dudes who refuses to buy the game but loves carping on the internet about DSiWare’s selection, basically you’re a dick.

tags / the legend of zelda / ymck / medley / art style / skip / pictobits / picopict / chiptunes / ec

/ permalink / / 9 months ago / Comments (View)

A good day for DSiWare news

Art Style: PiCTOBiTS now available on DSiWare!

The second-best DSiWare game, Art Style: PiCOPiCT (right under Art Style: Hacolife), is finally available in North America as PiCTOBiTS. It is imperative that you purchase this addictive puzzler, if nothing more than for its YMCK remixes of classic NES/Famicom songs:

Make sure to read my PiCOPiCT review, too.

Real talk: Dragon Quest Wars looks like ass.

As exciting as the idea of Fire Emblem developer Intelligent Systems teaming up with Square Enix to create a strategy game for DSiWare sounds, these screenshots make the 3D game look like total Buttsville, a town widely known for its population of butts.

Dragon Quest Wars will release in Japan this June for 500 Nintendo Points, and will allow up to four players to battle online with Dragon Quest monsters.

tags / dsiware / skip / pictobits / picopict / ymck / art style / dragon quest wars / square enix / intelligent systems / ec

/ permalink / / 9 months ago / Comments (View)

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