EB/Gamestop(Polarium DS)

[Kilik Kurosawa]

(Small Rant)


So far I've purchased every DS game on release day aside from the EA titles. Today I went to pick up Polarium for the DS and all three of my EBgames and the one gamestop had none in stock, and EB didn't plan on getting any. They told me that their new policy with DS games is that if you don't pre-order it it won't be shipped due to lack of interest. :hmm:

Whatever, I understand that most release dates are due to change, and most published dates are really the scheduled day, but seriously? the guy at eb has never even heard of Polarium and tried to convince me that I was mistaken for Pac-Pix which comes out next week x_x , at least the guys at GS were cool about it and seemed sorry.

btw i found a copy at FYE and they actually had two, and i had to restrain myself from shoving it in the eb managers' face. Off to play!
(end rant)

[Mayhem]

Or you could have just ordered it from the UK as it was a DS launch title here last month ;)

[Drexel923]

I went to pick up my reserve at Gamestop today, only to find out that their shipment was delayed a day. Will be getting it tomorrow.

I thought something was weird when EB didn't even have the game on their website...they have other DS games though. Won't really matter much now that Gamestop=EB...you should get all the DS games you need soon.

[joshnickerson]

I'm very interested in this game, and I'll be sure to get it whenever I finally get around to picking up a DS. LOL Let us know how it is.

[davidbrit2]

Or you could have just ordered it from the UK as it was a DS launch title here last month ;)

Why bother, when I've had the Japanese version since about December? ;-)

If anybody has played both the US and Japanese versions, I'd like to know if there are any differences, or if they're pretty much identical. There wouldn't be any point in buying another copy of the game just for English text. Heh.

[Perkar]

i snagged this today at fye.

some of the puzzles are ridiculously easy, and some are ridiculously hard... i guess i'm still getting the hang of it. it will be given some major time this weekend when i have to waste time in the airport...

[xaer0knight]

I find it very sad that such an interesting game like Polarium isnt getting the reception that it should deserve... Its just different. Reminds me of the game on GB, Daedalian Opus??

[felix]

Theres always ebay.. If you cant get it off of ebay, you cant get it.

heck, I bought some Creole Seasoning salt yesterday (no joke, you cant get it here in the west.)

[-hellvin-]

Hmm...I saw this on the drop shipment while I was at work. Got about 20 copies. Looked really cool, kinda similar to Lumines. I may be picking it up. Still gotta get zoo keeper since it randomly dropped from 35 to 20.

[SamuraiSmurfette]

I really suck at this game.
Kinda "Othello meets Tetris"

[davidbrit2]

Looked really cool, kinda similar to Lumines.

Totally different, but still very cool. :-) It's more like a pen-and-paper puzzle than Lumines.

Oh, and I completely forgot to mention this earlier, but Nintendo Japan has some puzzles available that you can put in via edit mode.

http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ds/asnj/collection/index.html

Just enter the passwords that they've got listed. I can't confirm that the same codes work with the US or European versions, but there's only one way to find out.

[Teo]

(Small Rant)


So far I've purchased every DS game on release day aside from the EA titles. Today I went to pick up Polarium for the DS and all three of my EBgames and the one gamestop had none in stock, and EB didn't plan on getting any. They told me that their new policy with DS games is that if you don't pre-order it it won't be shipped due to lack of interest. :hmm:

Whatever, I understand that most release dates are due to change, and most published dates are really the scheduled day, but seriously? the guy at eb has never even heard of Polarium and tried to convince me that I was mistaken for Pac-Pix which comes out next week x_x , at least the guys at GS were cool about it and seemed sorry.

btw i found a copy at FYE and they actually had two, and i had to restrain myself from shoving it in the eb managers' face. Off to play!
(end rant)

There are still places to find it, Those stores always seem to be a used gamestore as that is. They only have the new games of the most mainstream and newest content and it appears the "brand new" selection is only good for certain new releases. I never really thought of it as a place to buy new games as they don't have stuff most of the time for the same reasons stated. Yeah it is dumb of them not to order any besides the preorderd batch but their stuff that is ordered aside from that doesn't stick around very long itself anyway.

[Slipdeath]

Well what about World Championship Poker? Wasn't that game released? I have yet to see it at a store, and it's not even mentioned on the gamestop website.

[Kilik Kurosawa]

Well what about World Championship Poker? Wasn't that game released? I have yet to see it at a store, and it's not even mentioned on the gamestop website.

picked that up at fye as well... havent played it yet too caught up in polarium

wait zookeeper is $20 bucks now? damn maybe i should start waiting a few weeks

[Drexel923]

Played a little bit today and I like it. Like others have said, some of the puzzles are easy, yet there are a few so far that seem impossible (I'm up to the 30-40 row). Definitely will take some extra thinking. And the challenge mode will suck me in, I just know it. At first it seems easy, but then blocks are dropping super fast. I'll be at this one for a while. If you like puzzle games, then definitely pick this one up.

[TheRedEye]

Hmm...I saw this on the drop shipment while I was at work. Got about 20 copies. Looked really cool, kinda similar to Lumines. I may be picking it up. Still gotta get zoo keeper since it randomly dropped from 35 to 20.

I think you forgot the part where you tell us where you work, because I want to buy Zookeeper for $20.

[davidbrit2]

I think you forgot the part where you tell us where you work, because I want to buy Zookeeper for $20.

Probably EB. I got it there for $20 about a week ago.

[Mythik]

I can't wait till the DS drops down in price :D

[Drexel923]

Looked really cool, kinda similar to Lumines.

Totally different, but still very cool. :-) It's more like a pen-and-paper puzzle than Lumines.

Oh, and I completely forgot to mention this earlier, but Nintendo Japan has some puzzles available that you can put in via edit mode.

http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ds/asnj/collection/index.html

Just enter the passwords that they've got listed. I can't confirm that the same codes work with the US or European versions, but there's only one way to find out.

Thanks a ton for that link. I just got done putting them all in and they worked (US version)...I'm going to assume that they will work in the EUR version too.

It's kinda cool what they did...most of the puzzles are just regular random stuff, but they have a few recognisable ones (man, dog, bird)...then they have a whole Christmas set (I'm assuming they released in December...can't read Japanese though) with raindeer, tree, stocking, house with snow...really cool stuff.

Back to the game itself...I've beaten levels 1-50 minus level 49...I can't figure it out. I hope I get it soon so I can move on to levels 51-60 :)

Each level you beat gives you 1% finished...so there are 100 levels in the main game (at least), plus a never ending challenge mode (play for score), plus you can make your own puzzles, plus you can get puzzles through codes, and finally there is multiplayer...awesome :D

Definitely worth the money.

[Nature Boy]

http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ds/asnj/collection/index.html

I can confirm that my US Polarium accepted the first of these codes I punched in. Haven't tried the level yet but it's cool to know I can add more.

Anyone want to try the level I created when fooling around?

8047353161
4222159600
2318379562

(Let me know if it works and you're able to bring it in :) ).

I've kinda breezed through the first 50 levels. Having your most recently attempted path is a *huge* help it seems to me. Suggesting a start/ending path did nothing for me - the one time I turned it on to try it, I ended up ignoring it and finding my own path anyway.

I'm enjoying the game but it's so-so overall I think. They should've included a "minimum length" goal to shoot for in the puzzle section.

The funniest part about buying it is that this put me over five games in my "Nintendo.com" portfolio, so I got offered the Metroid Prime 2 demo disc. Which on it's own isn't funny, but when it includes the words "hurry - quantities are limited" and "released Aug 2004" and I'm in April of 2005. Well, I'm glad I didn't hurry :)

[davidbrit2]

Thinking about the mathematics and graph theory behind Polarium, I don't believe it's possible to create a puzzle that cannot be solved. At least I haven't found any way to do it. And if I'm not mistaken, it's theoretically possible to start a solution from any space on the board (though the starting space will limit the possible ending spaces). Unfortunately I'm not enough of a graph theory whiz to concoct a formal proof of this. :-) If you're feeling really bored and nerdy, read up on Hamiltonian Paths, and notice how much the concept applies to this game.

[Julio III]

ninteddo europe ( www.nintendovip.com ) posted some easter themed puzzles on their website a few weeks back. I haven't got the game but really interesting in picking it up. As someone said, it was a launch game here in the UK and is also one of their lower price games (£20) so hopefully I'll be able to pick it up for about £15 somewhere but i want to wait until i complete KuruKuru Kururin before i get another puzzle game but by that time Meteos will probably be out as well...

[goatdan]

This actually seems to be a really cool game. Anyone want to expand on their feelings about it more? I'd like to know if I need to convince my friend to get it so I can try it out ;)

[Drexel923]

This actually seems to be a really cool game. Anyone want to expand on their feelings about it more? I'd like to know if I need to convince my friend to get it so I can try it out ;)


Each level you beat gives you 1% finished...so there are 100 levels in the main game (at least), plus a never ending challenge mode (play for score), plus you can make your own puzzles, plus you can get puzzles through codes, and finally there is multiplayer

More info...in the regular puzzle mode you are presented with a puzzle (imagine that) and have unlimited time. Basically you have to make horizontal lines of a certain color (black or white)...by drawing over the blocks you flip them to the other color. But the catch is that you have to solve the whole puzzle only using one line.

In challenge mode smaller sections of the game board are dropped one by one from the top screen. The same way of solving applies here, except that you can make as many lines as you want to...but you have to be quick as the sections pile on top of each other and if they back up to the top of the screen you lose.

There is also a multiplayer mode which I haven't played yet...it's probably along the same lines of the challenge mode.

Also, as mentioned, there seems to be 100 puzzles in puzzle mode, but with the option of making your own puzzle (and sharing them via password) and getting puzzles from others (password again), this game could be endless.

Hope that helps explain the game...it's kinda hard to explain if you haven't seen it...you should probably check out some movies from IGN or something also.

[davidbrit2]

There should be a Flash demo of the game somewhere on Nintendo's DS site, too. That's the easiest way to see it in action. Just go digging around until you find it.

http://www.nintendods.com

[Kilik Kurosawa]

actually i have not been able to put this game down mostly ive been playing the puzzles, some take 30 secs others 30 mintues it really is brilliance in the simple, and like others said there is lots of replay with the 100 puzzles plus the ones you can create...def worth getting, second best DS release so far imo