Yoshis Island 2 (temporary name)
Format: Nintendo DS
Launch Date: Q4 2006
ESRB: RP (Rating Pending)
Game Type: Platformer
Accessories: TBA
Players: TBA
Developer: Nintendo
KEY INFORMATION
Return to the colorful wilds of Yoshis Island in a new platforming adventure for Nintendo DS.
Saddle up for adventure. This time, Baby Mario, Baby Donkey Kong® and Baby Peach are along for the ride and each one gives Yoshi access to unique powers while they cling to his back.
Thanks to the power of Nintendo DS, all of the lush vistas and perilous paths of Yoshis Island span two screens.
Game storyline: A mysterious floating island has suddenly appeared over peaceful Yoshis Island. Soon after its arrival, a gaggle of kids vanishes from the island school. Thankfully, Baby Mario, Baby Peach and Baby Donkey Kong manage to avoid being kidnapped. Now, Yoshi and the three young superstars must set out on a wild and colorful quest to rescue the kids and investigate the ominous island hovering overhead.
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Elite Beat Agents
Format: Nintendo DS
Launch Date: Q4 2006
ESRB: RP (Rating Pending)
Game Type: Rhythm Action
Players: 1-4 via DS Download Play
Developer: iNiS
KEY INFORMATION
In a jam? Well, all these guys DO is jam! Prepare to rock as these beat masters use their groovy moves to save the day.
As the music plays, players tap the screen, trace rhythmic patterns and keep the beat as the story unfolds on the top screen.
Every scene is accompanied by rump-shaking tunes, but players have to keep the Elite Beat Agents grooving. The worse players do, the worse the story might end up.
Rhythm games have come and gone, but no one has ever seen anything like the Elite Beat Agents. Whether theyre helping a lost dog find its way home or helping a babysitter charm a hunky football player, no crisis is too weird.
Game storyline: The public knows of government agencies like the FBI and CIA, but little is known of this super-secret agency. Code-named Elite Beat Agents, these men in black are heroes heroes and the coolest group of guys this world has ever known. Of course, according to official records, they do not exist.
Their leader, an ex-CIA agent named Commander Kahn, scans the world for cries of help. When he finds one, he dispatches the agents, who assist their targets by performing a song and dance. The hypnotic nature of their rocking revives the targets with Groovy energy that boosts their willpower and helps them overcome their obstacles.
Characters: Commander Kahn; Derek, Morris and J (the Elite Beat Agents); and a ton of other unusual characters. NOTE: Names are not final.
How to progress through the game: Every stage is presented in a storyline fashion. All stages share similar basic elements and game flow: The player gets introduced to the targets problem in a comical intro. Commander Kahn dispatches the agents to the scene. The agents arrive in a special Beat Transport that is tailor-made for the situation. The song starts as the agents and player meet the target. Game play begins. By tapping and tracing patterns that appear on screen with the stylus, players play along with the songs rhythm. The animated story changes depending on how well the player performs. After each section, the player gets judged. Depending on the Elite-o-meters judgment, the story will go well or poorly. If the player makes it though the whole song, he or she will be judged on the whole thing and get one of three endings.
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The Legend of Zelda®: Phantom Hourglass
Format: Nintendo DS
Launch Date: Q4 2006
ESRB: RP (Rating Pending)
Game Type: Action Adventure
Players: 1 for main game, 2 using DS Local Wireless
Developer: Nintendo EAD
KEY INFORMATION
The epic story of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker continues as Link finds himself lost and alone in unknown seas in a new adventure. Featuring intuitive touch-screen controls and innovative puzzles, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass offers new challenges for fans of the series and an easy-to-grasp introduction for gamers new to The Legend of Zelda. But time grows short, and only the Phantom Hourglass can buy Link the minutes hell need to survive.
The stylus makes controlling Link easier than ever. Tap on the screen to make Link move, or sweep the stylus around him to swing the sword. Players can even draw a path for his boomerang and send it flying into hard-to-reach targets.
Players can stash the map on the top screen for quick reference or drop it to the touch screen to make notes, study enemies, or chart a path for their boat to follow while they man the cannons.
Compete with a friend over a local wireless connection: Guide Link through special dungeons to capture the Triforce, or command the forces that oppose him.
Game storyline: Many months have passed since the events of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, and Link, Tetra and Tetras band of pirates have set sail in search of new lands. They come across a patch of ocean covered in a dense fog, in which they discover an abandoned ship. Tetra falls into danger when she explores the ship alone, and Link falls into the ocean when he attempts to rescue her. When he washes up unconscious on the shores of a mysterious island, he is awakened by the sound of a fairys voice. With the aid of this fairy, he sets off to find Tetra and his way back to the seas he once knew.
Characters: Link, Tetra and a host of new characters native to the mysterious lands where Link finds himself trapped.
How to progress through the game: The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass is controlled almost entirely by the stylus. Using the touch screen, players direct Links movements and attacks: A sweeping motion triggers Links spin attack and tapping characters makes Link speak with them. The stylus controls offer a more intuitive means of playing the game and open up new possibilities for puzzle solving.
The game action takes place primarily on the touch screen, with a map on the top screen. However, the player can inspect the map on the touch screen and make notes using the stylus. The notes on these maps are saved for review on the top screen during game play. Players use the map to chart courses for their ships, too. Using the stylus to draw a path through the islands, players set their ships courses. Then, as the ships automatically follow the paths drawn, players can control their ships cannons to target oncoming enemies.
In dungeons, players can use the touch screen to draw paths for boomerangs, sending them flying around corners or into otherwise unreachable areas.
Special powers/weapons/moves/features: The stylus-driven game play is the most compelling new feature of The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. Players use the stylus to control Link, chart courses for their ships, mark notes on maps and solve puzzles in both the overworld and dungeons.
A two-player wireless battle mode pits one player, as Link, against another player who controls the enemies pursuing him. Link must collect enough Force Gems before the enemies close in.