Gaming on the Go: February 2007

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

The Nintendo DS goes retro adventuring

Already a loving home for such brilliant adventures as Hotel Dusk, Phoenix Wright and the GBA version of Broken Sword the Nintendos DS just got one step closer to becoming the ultimate adventuring on the go console. It got an excellent port of ScummVM, the cunningly named ScummVM DS, that will allow it to run all those classic adventures created by Lucasarts (Lucasfilm) back in the good days of Ron Gilbert and Tim Shaffer. Ahh, the days... Anyway. Download ScummVM DS here and don't forget to read the advice on how to get the thing to properly run.

NDS Homebrewcast

The NDS Homebrewcast, an excellent podcast covering the Nintendo DS homebrew scene and a pretty interesting blog, has apparently been around for quite some time. Unfortunately I just found it. Find it too. Failing that, do have a look at this lovely howebrew bouquet or this homebrew how-to.

Related Tags: Nintendo DS, NDS, NDS Homebrew, DS, Games, Nintendo

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

MAME the PSP

Even though those lovely arcade games weren't meant to be played on tiny handheld screens, I'm sure most Sony PSP users will definitely appreciate a chance to enjoy Street Fighter 2 on their pricey consoles. Apparently having a look at the CPS2 Emulator would be a step in the right direction, then...

Monday, February 26, 2007

FPSEce brings PSOne to the Pocket PC

Provided you got a brawny Pocket PC, you'll never need an expensive PS3 and a PSP in order to enjoy classic Playstation games on the go. Isn't this lovely? Of course it is, and it also is a miracle achievable thanks to the impressive FPSEce emulator, that's freely available here.

Related posts: Respox for free, the 5 best Pocket PC emulators, Pocket UFO

Related Tags: Pocket PC, PPC, PSOne, Playstation, Emulations, PocketPC, Retro, Games, Game, Emu

Oops! I Did It Again...

Just a very quick note to say I've crumbled and bought Resident Evil Deadly Silence for the DS...

This is in complete contradiction to what I posted the other day, and therefore completely in keeping with my contrary nature and compulsion for buying games I don't need.

However, it does mean that I can write a review of it and have boosted my DS games collection from two to three!

I'm hoping it will arrive from eBay before Friday when I go and stay at Centre Parcs in Sherwood Forest (a much needed micro holiday...)

For 'Gaming On The Go' potential I'll be armed with my DS, my Treamcast, my Nokia N70 (Mafia Wars Yakuza) maybe my Game Gear and as many games as I can sneak away...

If I manage to get any portable gaming in whilst I'm away, it might allow me to get all creative on GGOTG when I get back!

Friday, February 23, 2007

Respox just gone freeware

Which apparently means that 60 taxing levels, designed to challenge both your brain and your reflexes, can be yours for free. Provided you have a Pocket PC, that is. See for yourselves, get Respox from clickgamer.

Related posts: Apple II for PocketPC, TOP 5 PPC emulators, Jazz Jackrabbit

Related Tags: Pocket PC, Pocket PC game, PPC, Respox, PocketPC, Free game, Freeware, Games, Game

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Simpson's Road Rage GBA Review

Well having decided I needed a night away from Resident Evil Code Veronica, I thought I would post something on the best god damn "handheld" gaming site on the web.

(This one of course!!...)

Having read Gnome's almost encyclopaedic, interesting witty and insightful posts about homebrew, freeware, retro and innovation in the world of the hand held, I looked deep into the recesses of my Zombie pickled brain and found... Bugger all!

T'was then that I decided to hatch a cunning plan... I would buy a new game for the Gameboy Advance for cheap at Gamestation. I would then play it on my DS, thus giving me something to actually review, a chance to dust off my beautiful little Nintendo hand held console that had remained unplayed since I abandoned X Men DS after Christmas, and a valid reason for having my name attached to GGOTG...

So without any further ado, I sneaked off to GS, and scoured the retro cabinet for something worth scoring... The choice on offer was abysmal... I mean truly terrible, but I settled for 'Simpson's Hit & Run' .

So I got it home sneaked past the Mrs. and Hey Presto! Its.... GREAT! I had no idea about this game but it's essentially 'Crazy Taxi' but with the Simpsons!

Jump in the family Sedan, pick up such characters as The Sea Captain or Moe and take them to their desired location in the quickest possible times to amass the most $$$!

There are various modes to play on which include:

Road Rage (the basic "arcade" style version of the game)
Performance (skills)
Mission Mode (playing through set tasks in a specific order against the clock)
And 'Head to Head' (racing against an opponent using the GBA "Gamelink" cable. )

I basically bought this as a means to an end... I wanted something to write about!
However, as luck would have it, I managed to score myself a very decent game (and at a fraction of the price that you would pay for the Crazy Taxi re-issue on the inferior PSP...)

But it also made me think... The DS is the most current console I have and my games repertoire is shit! I play more Game Boy games on it than DS ones.. It extends to Ridge Racer DS...

X Men DS

...and my son's games... Nintendogs, Cats and Ping Pals! Oh and a SpongeBob game...

Pitiful really...

What I really want is Resident Evil Deadly Silence... Or do I? OR DO I??????
OR DO I????

Do I really want a port of the original Resident Evil when I have a version of that game for the Saturn and have never played it to it's conclusion?

Do I really want to immerse myself in another chapter of the S.T.A.R.S. odyssey when the first two I have played have turned me into an obsessive, twitching, Zombie-paranoid, flinching hermit?

No, for the same price I could get the wonderful and innovative Hotel Dusk or Phoenix Wright... Graphically original and intriguing in their formats... Hopefully a new dawn of DS gaming is coming my way...

Won't you join me on my journey? (Cue cheesy ending music...)

Atari Lynx. Before the feature.

A feature on the brilliant Atari Lynx console will definitely appear on this very blog. Probably sooner than later too, and -believe me- it won't be objective. Till the moment arrives though, you're better off reading this fine RetroMo: Atari Lynx feature. Just don't trust everything you read there. Lousy screen resolution? Pah! Obviously penned (well, ok, typed) by Sega Game Gear fanboys... ;)

Related posts: Sega Game Gear, Nintendo Game Boy Color, Game & Watch v.2.1

Related Tags: Atari Lynx, Atari, Retro gaming, retro handheld, Handheld, Games, Retro, Lynx

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Rumours Abound At Sega Nerds...

From:

Rumour Mill: The Sega ‘Hedgehog’

Reports from RetroBlast! indicate that French based website INpactVirtuel have the latest scoop on what could possibly be the next Sega console!
Dubbed the ‘Sega Hedgehog’ this console will be a portable games device built on the same technology that the ill-fated Gizmondo platform ran on. Despite the flop that the Gizmondo was- the technology it held was actually more advanced and more powerful than the PSP- just very few games managed to show this and the Gizmondo company fell through soon after they launched the device in the US. The Gizmondo's main feature was that of the Satellite Navigation built in, which was not only used for in car SatNav, but was set to be used in many games too. It’s just a pity that the device was never marketed properly, nor had the support from the gaming community. On a side note- the Gizmondo's SatNav is actually very good- I use it in my car still today.
Whether the ‘Hedgehog’ will have the same SatNav technology the Gizmondo had we do not know. Reports Rumours indicate that the Hedgehog will possibly have ‘retrocompatibility’ with old Sega consoles, namely the Mastersystem, Saturn and Dreamcast. Though how that is done, it is not yet known. From the rough image we have seen the device is set to have a USB port for possibly connection to printers, scanners, PC and possibly for wireless Internet access.
Of course this is all heresay right now, and to be honest I don’t believe it to be true. Especially as it is said to be available at the end of 2007. But it’s always nice to dream isn’t it? Imagine a handheld Dreamcast or Saturn?"

Yes folks it's the errant Father Krishna nipping in with a bit of plagiarism that I appropriated over at the excellent www.seganerds.com . Not really believing it myself it was just a sneaky way to ingratiate myself back on this esteemed site. Real posting soon I promise...

Related Tags: Sega, Dreamcast, Gizmondo, Saturn, Sega Hedgehog, Rumors, Games

Nintendo DS gets Quake

MaxConsole discovered something truly brilliant. Something purely homebrew and solely for the Nintendo DS. MaxConsole apparently discovered Quake DS, a rather ambitious effort to bring classic PC FPS action to the DS, while also taking advantage of the WiFi multiplayer DS-to-DS capabilities of the console. Learn more by visiting the Home of Quake DS.

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Atari Lynx mystifies PSP owners

Sony PSP isn't the first really powerful high-tech handheld console to get its arse chopped from Nintendo. Oh, no. The dubious honor belongs to my ever-favorite fetish-console: the Atari Lynx. Want to find out more about it? Well, do have a look at the PLynx Lynx emulator for the PSP. Install it and AtariAge should be able to provide the games.

Sunday, February 18, 2007

Nintendo DS homebrew bouquet

Yes! It's another post linking to PocketGamer! Exciting, right? Anyway, just follow the link and you'll find one more way to run homebrew software on your Nintendo DS, two interesting DS apps and two lovely free games, one of which just happens to be DS DOOM.

Related posts: Atomix DS, Hotel Dusk, DS Game&Watch

Related Tags: Nintendo Ds, DS homebrew, Doom, DS Doom, NDS, DS, Nintendo, Games, Freeware

Saturday, February 17, 2007

Could be worse, could be raining...

Ahhh, pointless and quite ridiculous handheld console add-ons and peripherals. Where would we be without them, really? Well, for one, definitely not visiting Modojo reading excellent features on Ridiculous Handheld Peripherals...

Related posts: the Pong Watch, Game Boy Color, Game Gear TV

Related Tags: Handheld, Handheld peripherals, handheld consoles, gaming, game, games, gameboy, game boy

Friday, February 16, 2007

Nintendo DS gets Atomix for free

Atomix (Mobygames entry), the brilliant molecule-building puzzle game released back in 1990 for the Amiga and the Atari ST, has just been re-released for the Nintendo DS. As a freeware retro-remake no less. It's still in (a very stable, fully playable, extremely addictive) BETA, mind you, and you should immediately download it from this place.

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Apple II for Pocket PC

Lode Runner, Aztec, Neuromancer, Dig Dug, Karateka, Bard's Tale II, Stellar 7, Champions of Krynn and dozens of brilliant Apple II games of yore are now ready to migrate to your beloved Pocket PC. All you need to do to encourage them is simply install the freeware appleCE Apple II emulator. You can get it here. Want the games too? Well, google them, you won't be disappointed.

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

DOOM TI 83 calculated

What you just saw, provided of course you clicked the play button, claims to be a version of DOOM running on the Texas Instruments TI-83 calculator, even though it obviously is Wolfenstein 3D. Still, it's quite an impressive programming feat and you'd better visit the PocketGamer Blog to find out more. You could read a bit on the history of the FPS too, you know.

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Qwak indies on the GBA

Qwak is a pure old-school arcade platformer. It also is one of those rare homebrew games for the Gameboy Advance that seem both refreshingly interesting and well polished. Highly playable too. Then again, Qwak is not a humble freeware game, but more of a commercial release of 300 reasonably priced cartridges. Further information, purchase options and a playable demo are available at Qwak.co.uk.

Mario invades PSP

Yes, that's a Mario game for the Sony PSP. Then again, it's only a demo of a 3D Mario Brothers adaptation coded in 6 days and it'll never grow to become a full proper game. Still, Mario PSP... Tsk, tsk. Try it here.

Related posts: Windows & Linux PSP, Crush video, How-to: PSP homebrew

Related Tags: Sony PSP, Mario, Mario Brothers, Mario PSP, PSP, Game, Games, Free game, Free PSP game

Monday, February 12, 2007

More adventures for the Nintendo DS

Even though Nancy Drew is definitely not my favorite adventure gaming franchise, I must admit it possesses a certain ...uhm... nostalgic charm. What's more interesting though, is that young and hugely popular Nancy will soon be debuting on the Nintendo DS too, obviously following the success of Hotel Dusk, surely strengthening the adventure gaming genre and acquiring a certain handheld charm too. The DS is after all the perfect console for point-and-clickers.

Read more on the forthcoming Majesco release of Nancy Drew and The Deadly Secret of Olde World Park over at Just Adventure +. Also, do give the Majesco site a try. Perhaps even the Her Interactive one too.

Sunday, February 11, 2007

Project Gotham Racing for mobile phones

Well, Siliconera discovered something to make your mobile phones smile (figuratively, of course): Project Gotham Racing will soon be invading their tiny SD cards. The game's graphics seem quite impressive, even though definitely not comparable to any current or last gen console, the game experience is reportedly substantially deeper than any phone-racer yet, a decent physics engine has been incorporated and hardcore phoners(?) will be able to drive 8 different cars and earn kudos. Interesting, huh? Read more...

Saturday, February 10, 2007

Hotel Dusk: Room 215 Walkthrough

Besides being an excellent Nintendo DS game, Hotel Dusk also got itself a rather brilliant walkthrough by the wise people of MyCheats. Did I say walkthrough? Well, I meant Superguide! Read it all here.

Friday, February 09, 2007

Fixing DS screen calibration problems

Let's face it, shall we? You're getting older and so is your beloved Nintendo DS. Your dog too, apparently. Problem is -well, beside your aching back- that the touchscreen of the DS seems less and less responsive. Sad, I know, but true. Thankfully, and you'll have to thank PocketGamer.co.uk for that, replacing the console isn't the only option you have. You can also have a look at How to fix DS calibration problems. Failing that, attempt something desperate: this. Now, you can replace your console without fear.

Related posts: Hotel Dusk, How to: DS Homebrew, X Men DS review

Related Tags: DS, DS calibrating, Nintendo DS, Games, Game, Nintendo

Thursday, February 08, 2007

Hotel Dusk & the brilliance of the DS

Hotel Dusk for the Nintendo DS is one of the best games few will play. It also is one of those rare but excellent DS point-and-click adventures that made the machine such a huge success among old-fashioned gamers and gnomes. Also has a beautiful trailer. A great website too. Oh, and a whole page @ 1up.com.

Related posts: Spore DS, Hidden Game & Watch games, Freeware Lemmings DS

Related Tags: DS, Hotel Dusk, Nintendo DS, Games, Game, Adventure, Nintendo

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

A quirky PSP card game

Richman, Poorman is a Japanese card game that has absolutely nothing to do with poker, but slightly feels like UNO. Interestingly, a freeware version of it has been released for the Sony PSP. Follow the link and be enlightened.

Related posts: Windows and Linux on the PSP, Dungeons 3D, PSP Sinclair ZX-81

Related Tags: Sony PSP, Free game, game, PSP free game, Sony, games, PSP

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Duke Nukem 3D for Symbian Phones

In the long and interesting history of the First Person Shooter, DOOM was admittedly the first game to truly nail the basic FPS formula. Duke Nukem 3D (MobyGames entry), though, was the game that truly expanded and enhanced it, by adding all sorts of then-impressive tech improvements, an outrageous sense of humor and pig-like cops. Duke also was the better game.

Apparently the one you can also play on your mobile phone for free too. Just click here and download a few Duke 3D levels for some wholesome pig-shooting, hooker-petting mobile phone fun. Alternatively get all impressed by watching a video of Duke Nukem running on a Nokia N73.

Monday, February 05, 2007

Gargoyle's Quest retro-video-review (!)

Sunday, February 04, 2007

Pac-Man Pocket PC. Thankfully for free.

Nothing beats a good game of Pac-Man, especially if it's played for free and on your very own, much travelled Pocket PC. Clubic.com, a great French gaming site, has an excellent version available here. Follow the link, click on "Pac Man pour Pocket PC 1.0 (Anglais)", select a download server, download, install, play. Simple as that.

Saturday, February 03, 2007

Guybrush phone home

ScummVM, an emulator that allows gamers to play the magnificent 90s adventures of Lucasarts (and a select few other publishers), has been ported to series 60 phones. It may not be (not yet at least) the most stable program you'll ever run on your mobile, but it will definitely allow you to enjoy Monkey Island, Day of the Tentacle and Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis on your Nokia, preferably while waiting for the bus. Download it here.

Related posts: Stranded review, Mafia Wars Yakuza!, the freeware Zelda mobile

Football Manager Handheld 2007 strategy guide

Football Manager Handheld 2007, a simplified version of current PC versions of Football Manager mixed with some Championship Manager 97/98 retro goodness, is arguably the best football related game on any handheld ever. That's why the brilliant and stunningly huge guide posted over at PocketGamer is such a precious thing. Go on, click and learn How to Play Football Manager Handheld 2007.

Metroid Prime Hunters Walkthrough

Strategy Wiki, having ceremonially posted its hundredth walkthrough, is celebrating and seems to be heavily intoxicated. This, then, is the time to sneak in there and read the best Metroid Prime Hunters walkthrough the web has to offer your faithful Nintendo DS. The best multiplayer strategy guide too. Simply click here.

Friday, February 02, 2007

Windows and Linux on the PSP

Everything is possible, apparently more so on Sony's extremely hackable PSP, and what you see above are the pictures to prove it. So, if for some peculiar reason you do feel like running Win95 or DLX Linux on your handheld, then by all means do click here and do follow the instructions you're destined to read.

Related posts: N64 PSP, PSP keyboard fun, Crazy Taxi: Fare Wars

Related Tags: Sony PSP, Win95, Linux, Psp, Sony, Emulation, PSP Linux, PSP Windows

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