DOS emulator for the DS

What a difference an O can make, eh? Hmm, feel free to ignore that, but -if you own a Nintendo DS- also feel free to grab the freeware and pretty excellent PC/MS-DOS emulator that is DSx86. It emulates both 286 and 386 PC on the DS and comes with complete Soundblaster, mouse, keyboard and VGA support and will let you enjoy all those unforgettable classics on the go. The emulator is already compatible with dozens of games, among which you can find such brilliant titles as Wing Commander, Ultima Underworld, Sensible Soccer, Stellar 7, Alley Cat, Dune 2 and Elvira.

Aliens: Infestation coming to the DS

Aliens Infestation, an action/exploration side-scroller by Sega, will apparently and according to Joystiq be released for the Nintendo DS this very September, emphatically proving that there is still life in the old handheld. And by life, I don't mean mini-game collections or pathetic pseudo-casual offerings; by life, I mean proper games. What's more, Aliens Infestation looks rather brilliant, what with its SNES-style graphics, the promised upgrades system, interesting interface, multiple characters and familiar setting. Hope it turns out as good as it sounds...

Pokémon Mini emulator

The Pokémon mini was the smallest and possibly quirkiest handheld console Nintendo ever released. Now, as the thing is a relatively expensive rarity, the best way to see what the fuss was all about would be grabbing the pretty excellent and suitably freeware pokemini emulator. It runs perfectly on the Wiz, but their are also ports for the PSP and Nintendo DS. 

Review: Atari Greatest Hits: Volume I (DS)

There comes a time when every console gets the retro compilation that will allow gamers to enjoy Atari's deeply retro classics from the late 70s and the early 80s, and this time has finally come for the Nintendo DS with the release of Atari Greatest Hits: Volume 1. It's a budget priced retro collection sporting 50 games that were released for the Atari 2600 and for the now (mostly) defunct arcades.

The games selection is pretty impressive, including among others the arcade versions of Asteroids, Pong, Centipede, Tempest and Missile Command, along with the 2600 versions of Adventure, Outlaw, Gravitar, Basketball, Football and a few dozen other games. Unfortunately Activision's classics -especially Pitfall- haven't been included, whereas some of the games thrown in are beyond terrible and badly aged (think Slot Machine or 3D Tic-Tac-Toe), though generally speaking this particular cartridge hasn't left my DS for the past 10 days I apparently needed to prepare this review. Don't think I'll be playing anything else on it for quite some time too, as Atari's Greatest Hits is indeed brilliant.

Asteroids and Tempest, just to name a couple of games, are as addictive and incredibly fun to play as ever and the simplistic sounds and visuals do help bring the gameplay forth. As for the emulation -and presentation- of the games it is, well, spot-on. Both screens of the DS are used to allow you to fiddle with your virtual 2600's switches or to display the marquee of the arcade game you are playing. Oh, yes, and each game comes with a complete manual too.

To make a sweet deal even sweeter Atari has also thrown in the military training version of Battlezone (boo-hiss for militarism), the 2600 prototype of Tempest, a few vintage ads and more than a few other digital memorabilia, to complement the single-card download multiplayer most games seem to support.

Verdict: If you are into old games and/or have fond memories of Atari's classics you simply have to grab Atari Greatest Hits: Volume 1 on the DS.

Mario's Nintendo DSi LL

If you haven't got a Nintendo DS yet and are still interested in Nintendo's (slightly) aging handheld, well, this definitely is the time to grab the excellent Japanese Super Mario 25th Anniversary Edition of the Nintendo DSi LL from Play Asia. It's a red thing of beauty, it is.

Atari's Greatest Hits on the DS

Gotta love the current retro releases for the DS. Really. I mean just look at the just released Atari Greatest Hits: Volume 1. It looks shiny, well-thought out, nostalgia inducing and sports 50 truly classic Atari 2600 and arcade games, including Asteroids, Missile Command and Centipede. Impressively multiplayer head-to-head games have also been made possible.

Have a look at a couple screenshots below, and wait for the review that might just appear on this very blog.

   

Atari's Greatest Hits: Volume 1 (DS)

I just can't help but be intrigued by retro compilations. Silly, I know, but that's me I'm afraid, and I really feel you should know about the forthcoming Atari’s Greatest Hits: Volume 1 for the Nintendo DS. It will, after all, be very soon released in the US (let's hope for an equally swift European release) and will include 50 or more classic Atari 2600 and arcade games. What's more, the thing will impressively feature single card multi-player for 20 of the included titles, among which Space Duel and Pong are bound to make me smile.

Additionally (also, allegedly), Atari’s Greatest Hits: Volume 1 will sport a sleek and colorful interface, that will let us access the games themselves, their original manuals, an Atari memorabilia showcase, and even an Atari Trivia game.

The complete Atari’s Greatest Hits: Volume 1 game line-up is as follows:

Arcades:

Asteroids, Battlezone, Centipede, Gravitar, Lunar Lander, Missile Command, Pong, Space Duel, Tempest.

Atari 2600:

3D Tic-Tac-Toe, Adventure, Air-Sea Battle, Asteroids, Atari Video Cube, Basketball, Battlezone, Bowling, Centipede, Championship Soccer, Dodge ’Em, Flag Capture, Football, Fun with Numbers, Gravitar, Hangman, Haunted House, Home Run, Human Cannonball, Math Gran Prix, Miniature Golf, Missile Command, Outlaw, Realsports Baseball, Realsports Boxing, Realsports Football, Realsports Tennis, Realsports Volleyball, Sky Diver, Slot Maching, Slot Racers, Sprintmasters, Starship, Stella Track, Submarine Commander, Surround, Swordquest Earthworld, Swordquest Fireworld, Swordquest Waterworld,Tempest and Video Checkers.

Impressive, eh? Let's just hope the emulation is proper. Oh, and here's the thing's trailer:

Intellivision Lives on the DS

I really can't have enough retro ports on modern consoles, and apparently the good people responsible for the forthcoming Intellivision Lives DS are more than eager to indulge me. Their retro compilation featuring over 60 emulated classic, forgotten and even obscure Intellivision games will be available for the DS this September. Joy, oh joy!

What's more, the team responsible for this project -as you might have already guessed- is the Intellivision Lives team; the same Intellivision experts we've known and loved for ages. Oh, and that touch-screen of the DS will definitely come in handy with emulating the odd Intellivision controller. Here's the trailer:

Cosmos Chaos DS

I've always been interested in video games (and children's literature too) as learning tools and have been meaning to look into the subject for quite some time now. Anyway. Cosmos Chaos for the Nintendo DS should be interesting, as it apparently will be a mix of adventure, RPG and, well, creativity incentives. Have a look.

Snatcher Pilot DS

It might be old news, but -just in case you missed it- here's a link to let you download the pretty excellent Snatcher Pilot DS. It's a port of the PC-Engine demo of the amazing cyberpunk adventure Snatcher to the DS that uses the Sega (Mega) CD assets of the game. And in case you were wondering, yes, Snatcher is the creation of Hideo Kojima and, yes, you will have to use a flash cart of some sort.

Etrian Odyssey III: The Art Book preorder

Having played the original Etrian Odyssey (courtesy of guttertalk) on the DS, I must admit it was one of the best games I've played on any handheld ever. After all, the game was an old-fashioned, hardcore RPG, that actually let you draw your very own maps on the touch-screen. Anyway. Thing is Etrian Odyssey III: The Drowned City is available for preorder and impressively comes with an amazing preorder gift; an art book (previewed here). Find out more at the game's official site.

Chaos DS remake

Before Laser Squad and X-Com there was Chaos. Just Chaos. And I've recently discovered that you can actually play a remake of Julian Gollop's ZX Spectrum classic on your DS. Fore free of course, provided you follow this lovely link.

The quite amazing Nintendo 3DS

It's been less than 24 hours since Nintendo unveiled its promised 3D handheld and, judging from what we've seen, this could easily be the company's best handheld yet. The 3DS, you see, is backward compatible with the DS and DSi, sports PS2 level graphics, an allegedly jaw dropping 3D display, carts than can hold up to 2GB of data, dual screens, wi-fi, a 3D camera, an second inner camera, an analog stick, a few extra buttons, the now-traditional touch-controls and some interesting sounding motion sensors. Feature-packed, I'm sure you'll agree, and it looks good and highly portable too. 

What's more, the number and -probably- quality of promised first and third party games is more than impressive, ranging from the already shown Kid Icarus: Uprising to Street Fighter IV. Other titles announced include: Metal Gear 3DS, Ocarina of Time, Mario Kart, Paper Mario, Pilotwings, Star Fox, Fifa Soccer, Ninja Gaiden, DJ Hero, Resident Evil, Sonic, Contra, Assassin's Creed, The Sims 3, Animal Crossing, Professor Layton, Pro Evolution Soccer, Bomberman and many more, as apparently everyone seems to be supporting the thing.

The DSiWare video you all wanted

Coming after 1 whole year of Nintendo's gaming service has been enjoyed (and paid for in that nasty point currency), the above video should be of interest both to new DSi gamers who can see what some of the best DSi offerings are, and to everyone else who'd like to find out what's next for their handheld. The answer is quite a lot of promising stuff apparently. Just ignore Frogger Returns (already looks appalling), and have a look at Earthworm Jim, Metal Torrent and the incredibly silly looking Photo Dojo.

So Blonde on the Go

Adventures gamers owning a Nintendo DS should consider themselves lucky, as the excellent So Blonde: Back to the Island is indeed coming to our console courtesy of Mamba Games. What's more, PC gamers wise enough to have enjoyed the excellent Windows version, will be more than happy to know that this is actually a new game (well, almost)!

Dementium 2 (DS) - The E3 Trailer

Not very enlightening, but definitely creepy. And something to keep you going while waiting for that new 3DS console, eh?

Sherlock Holmes gets a DS adventure

Apparently, this new Frogwares production, is a new adventure game specially designed for the DS, that will make all you point-and-clickers happy with its length and quality. The full title is the rather intriguing Sherlock Holmes and the Mystery of Osborne House and you can find more about it over at its official site.

Sonic Classic Collection DS

It seems this Sonic collection for the Nintendo DS, aptly titled the Sonic Classic Collection and squarely aimed at as hopeless SEGA nostalgics, is shaping up to be quite interesting. Possibly a bit overpriced, but definitely interesting. 

Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing

It's all about an upcoming racer by Sega, and what you see above are some of the freshest screenshots released. For the Nintendo DS of course, but you've already figured that, hadn't you? Looks promising, though I'm pretty sure Mario Kart DS can feel pretty safe.

Manic Miner in the Lost Levels (NDS)

Manic Miner in the lost Levels is -beyond any shred of a doubt- the best free (freeware too) game you can download for your beloved Nintendo DS. It actually should be reason enough to buy a DS complete with a homebrew loving memory card. Find out more about the game and how to install it here. Oh, while you are there, do grab yourselves a free copy of the thing.