View Full Version : Anything worth importing on the DS?
JWKobayashi
04-19-2005, 09:45 PM
I got a DS about two months ago, and have a few of the American games. The software selection is pretty slim at this point, and I'd like to look outside the borders of the US to expand my collection.
Is Japan facing the same game drought as the US, if not, is there anything worth importing? Anyone have any sites with good DS import info?
I was thinking about Puyo Pop Fever DS, but that's coming over here (next Tuesday actually)....
You can definitely bet there is and is to come some nice imports kkep your eyes peeled so to speak I know I will.
Lemmy Kilmister
04-19-2005, 10:53 PM
Well what sort of games are you into? I know there's a new Gambare Goemon game coming out in the next couple of months that well probably be good. Maybe you sould give that a try?
http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/2004/screen0/924914_20041007_screen005.jpg
UndeadKing
04-19-2005, 11:32 PM
Many of the English friendly imports will be seeing a US release at some point and time. Thanks to the higher prices, you are best holding off on them until their US release comes around. In addition to those there are some Japan only games that are filled with Japanese text and are rather unplayable to someone with no grasp of the language. An example of those would be that game that allows you to be a surgeon, it's name escapes me.
I suppose there are a few English friendly Japan exclusives but I've only imported two DS games since I got the system: Band Brothers and Electroplankton. I really enjoy both of them, but they clearly aren't for everyone.
Band Brothers is a rhythm action game similar to Beatmania or Keyboardmania. A Us release is planned at some point, but chances are the music will be altered for an American audience. In addition to the main game you can unlock a song edit, which allows you to compose your own tunes. There is a modest amount of Japanese, but translations are available. If you're a fan of Rhythm Action games this is a no brainer. One of the DS' best in my opinion.
Electroplankton is another beast entirely. More a piece of interactive art than a game, it is something many will not enjoy. No Us release is planned. Make sure you do research before you even think of picking this up. There is a good write up explaining the basics over at 1up.com I believe. I personally love this, but I can understand why others do not.
Also of note is the future release of Jump Super Stars. As far as I know, no Us release has been announced. It's a fighter in the vein of Smash Bros featuring a multitude of Manga characters. Could be good. There are a few other upcoming releases but I'm drawing a blank at the moment.
JWKobayashi
04-20-2005, 12:58 AM
Many of the English friendly imports will be seeing a US release at some point and time. Thanks to the higher prices, you are best holding off on them until their US release comes around. In addition to those there are some Japan only games that are filled with Japanese text and are rather unplayable to someone with no grasp of the language. An example of those would be that game that allows you to be a surgeon, it's name escapes me.
I suppose there are a few English friendly Japan exclusives but I've only imported two DS games since I got the system: Band Brothers and Electroplankton. I really enjoy both of them, but they clearly aren't for everyone.
Band Brothers is a rhythm action game similar to Beatmania or Keyboardmania. A Us release is planned at some point, but chances are the music will be altered for an American audience. In addition to the main game you can unlock a song edit, which allows you to compose your own tunes. There is a modest amount of Japanese, but translations are available. If you're a fan of Rhythm Action games this is a no brainer. One of the DS' best in my opinion.
Electroplankton is another beast entirely. More a piece of interactive art than a game, it is something many will not enjoy. No Us release is planned. Make sure you do research before you even think of picking this up. There is a good write up explaining the basics over at 1up.com I believe. I personally love this, but I can understand why others do not.
Also of note is the future release of Jump Super Stars. As far as I know, no Us release has been announced. It's a fighter in the vein of Smash Bros featuring a multitude of Manga characters. Could be good. There are a few other upcoming releases but I'm drawing a blank at the moment.
Wow, all sound excellent. I've heard about Electroplankton, and it sounds interesting, but I'm still not convinced that it's worth the import.
I hadn't heard of Band Brothers though. What types of music does it include? What type of controls does it have - use the touchpad, buttons, etc? I'm a huge fan of rhythm games, especially IIDX. Any reviews out there that you know of?
I agree that most English friendly stuff will eventually get a US release... it's kinda a no-brainer for publishers. I'm interested in Nintendogs, but I'm sure that'll be released stateside.
JWKobayashi
04-20-2005, 01:01 AM
Well what sort of games are you into? I know there's a new Gambare Goemon game coming out in the next couple of months that well probably be good. Maybe you sould give that a try?
I'm a fan of just about every genre.
I've only played the US releases of the Goemon games, but I loved Mystical Ninja, and the two US N64 games. Maybe I'll check this one out.
Mayhem
04-20-2005, 05:31 AM
Electroplankton is a brilliant little aural chillout tool. And very Western friendly as it's almost all in English and the manual is explained pictorially as well as in text.
Electroplankton is a brilliant little aural chillout tool. And very Western friendly as it's almost all in English and the manual is explained pictorially as well as in text.
That's the next DS game I'm importing now.
JWKobayashi
04-20-2005, 10:50 AM
Electroplankton is a brilliant little aural chillout tool. And very Western friendly as it's almost all in English and the manual is explained pictorially as well as in text.
That's the next DS game I'm importing now.
I think that I'm going to wait for E3 and see if it does get an announcement for the US, but if not import it then.
Mayhem
04-20-2005, 03:52 PM
As I said, there's very little in the way of Japanese anything to confuse you on how to use it :)
GaijinPunch
04-20-2005, 08:50 PM
I should haev Elektroplankton and Touch! Kirby here in a few days. Both are brilliant I hear... just kinda mad I didn't order them a bit earlier. Another Code might have a bit of a langauge barrier problem, but looks pretty good.
UndeadKing
04-21-2005, 12:12 AM
JWKobayashi,
It's nice to see another IIDX fan! Band Bros mainly uses buttons for control. The touch screen is limited to menu navigation for the most part. At certain points in some songs the screen will say touch and you have to touch the screen, think scratching in IIDX. In the later difficulties every button on the DS is used. The game plays very similar to IIDX with a few differences.
Rather than descending notes, a bar from left to right. As it passes by notes(represented by button icons) you have to hit the corresponding buttons in time to the music. Taking a cue from Keyboardmania you will actually have to hold some notes in. Pretty much, if you've played a bemani game before you'll be able to jump right in here.
After selecting a song to play, you then select which instrument you'd like to play. If you have other DS owning friends you can even have a go at the single cart multi player. Each player picks an instrument and you join in to "play" the song. Quite cool. There are roughly 30 songs and they have an average of six different instruments to play. In other words, this game will keep you busy. On top of that, you can even create your own songs and then play them!
The music is all midi, so don't expect vocals or anything. Still, it gets the job done and sounds quite nice for a portable. Tracks range from Jpop and classical to tv themes and video game music. Of note are the F Zero, Zelda and Famicom medlies. Playing the Ocarina along with the Zelda medley is a blast.
As far as language requirements go, there is a fair amount of Japanese in the game. The menus are a mixture of English and Japanese. With some trial and error, they should be no problem. The only potential tricky spot are the instrument names. They are all in Japanese. Lucky for you, there are translations available. If you know katakana you won't even need the translations as all instrument names are written in it. The gameplay is straight forward enough, and it's worth any effort you need to navigate the menus. Considering the US release, whenever it comes out, will likely have different music I'd say it's worth the import.
The Us name of the game is Jam with the Band. You may want to check out the Gamefaqs message board on it for more info. They probably have song list and can explain the game in better detail. Simply put, if you are a fan of rhythm action games, this one is a no brainer. Well worth the $50.
As for Nintendogs, as far as I know a US release is planned. Hopefully Nintendo will cram all three versions into one.
GarrettCRW
04-21-2005, 01:05 AM
Also of note is the future release of Jump Super Stars. As far as I know, no Us release has been announced. It's a fighter in the vein of Smash Bros featuring a multitude of Manga characters. Could be good. There are a few other upcoming releases but I'm drawing a blank at the moment.
Would Jump in this case mean Shonen Jump, the manga magazine that featured (among, many, many others) the works of Akira Toriyama? If so, then there is some hope, since there's currently a US version of Jump. Of course, if it's as bad as I've heard the Famicom Jump games were, it might not be worth the effort....
smork
04-21-2005, 05:55 AM
Don't forget Meteos! AFAIK it hasn't yet been announced for the US, but it has gotten good press. Haven't picked it up yet myself....
Drexel923
04-21-2005, 09:07 AM
Don't forget Meteos! AFAIK it hasn't yet been announced for the US, but it has gotten good press. Haven't picked it up yet myself....
Yes, it has been announced. Nintendo is publishing it and it will be out this June...
http://ds.ign.com/articles/599/599462p1.html
smork
04-21-2005, 09:28 AM
smork said:
Don't forget Meteos! AFAIK it hasn't yet been announced for the US, but it has gotten good press. Haven't picked it up yet myself....
Yes, it has been announced. Nintendo is publishing it and it will be out this June...
http://ds.ign.com/articles/599/599462p1.html
Great! I didn't see that announcement. Saves some time/money/effort...