Jeanne D’Arc fans among the most frequent visitors

As you may know, Portabalooza is the first (and possibly only) site where you can find TechniMyoko’s Skill Binding Database for the Jeanne D’Arc video game. It seems to be the most popular page on this site, most probably because it’s a featured exclusive in the front page. Just to show you how popular it is, all the hits so far for Sunday, January 20, were exclusively from search engine finds on the topic.

Only one search result (Dragon Quest V) wasn’t Jeanne D’Arc related. Another interesting thing: The much more vague “skill binding” phrase has the page listed second in Google’s search results. Looks like a little exclusive content goes a long way, especially for new sites like this one. I thank all readers of Portabalooza to continue visiting the site and making it more popular each day. And I will do my best to provide more interesting content. Again, thanks for supporting this site!

Jeanne D’Arc, Phantom Hourglass, and others among the IAA nominees

The IAA, Interactive Achievement Awards, is probably the most prestigious award event dedicated to video games (sorry, GDC Awards and Spike TV). This year, the IAA revealed the new list of nominees for all categories, including handheld games. Among them are two PSP games, two DS games and one multiplaform game. They are Jeanne D’Arc, Ratchet, Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, Drawn To Life, and Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords. Good choices, indeed, and fans have much to rave about for each.

Let’s look over the merits from each of the nominees:

• Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (Nintendo) - Unique use of stylus for navigation and planning, and a nice continuation of Wind Waker’s world
• Drawn to Life (THQ, 5th Cell) - Literally create your own character from scratch, and sketch your way out of challenges and obstacles
• Jeanne d’Arc (SCEA, Level 5) - Great presentation, especially for a strategy RPG, and more accessible than most other games in the genre
• Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters (SCEA, High Impact Games) - Tailor-made for the PSP, this Ratchet game brings some of the best platforming action for the system
• Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords (D3 Publisher, Infinite Interactive, 1st Playable Productions) - Combines two elements with highly addictive potential (roleplaying and puzzles), making a game that’s much better than the sum of its parts

With all that said, may the best games win!

Altair’s Chronicles screenshots are here, and they look good (for a DS game)

Ubisoft’s last big hit of 2007, Assassin’s Creed, received a lot of hype. And ever since they announced Altair’s Chronicles for the DS, out of all platforms, speculation levels have rose to a new high. The cover art has been leaked for some time, but there was no concrete evidence of screenshots or gameplay examples as of yet, until now. And man, does it sure look nice. Although IGN only has a handful of screenshots available, they are filled with detail. The acrobatics famous in the console games appear intact for the DS, in full 3D.

As you can see, the levels in them are already packed with nice textures and lighting effects (some appear cleverly “faked” to get around the limitations of DS hardware). Jumping across castle towers and over marketplaces should also be as immersive as the scenery itself. Most of the action appears to take place in a top-down view- perfect for calculating and timing jumps, so hopefully it will allow you to control Altair with flawless execution. A map at the bottom screen outlines the current situation on a 2D map, which should be very useful in planning your next route.

Personally, this is a game that I feel would work better on the PSP, and this is from somebody that has owned both a DS and a PSP. However, it’s also good to give DS players some more worthwhile 3D action games. A prequel to the PS3 and Xbox 360 games, Altair’s Chronicles takes you back to the earlier years of the titular character. Ubisoft promises to include around a dozen different weapons to perform your deeds, including a grappling hook which should be quite handy in places like this.

On Second Thought: Games that should’ve been done better

All too often, there are a few games that we tend to remember for some reason, whether for good or bad. And when looking back at them, the games we know the best tend to have their flaws stick out more because we manage to remember every little detail. I will be looking at three games that I either really enjoyed or really wanted to enjoy, and what improvements could’ve been done to them.

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New look, same new site

Whoa, what happened here? The site is all colorful and a bit pompous-looking. Don’t worry, it’s a new look and direction for the site, and more importantly, it signals a change in the type of content I will bring here. Expect to see reviews and more opinionated, original crap while I tuck the old content under the carpet (which would be the post archives). And it will also look less, uh, bloggy. The new layout isn’t fully operational yet, so don’t be surprised to see links that don’t really go anywhere. But it will get better, I promise!

Keeping up with the portables

It’s only been two weeks and a half since I started this site, but it’s already getting some support from loyal readers. However, I am not satisfied with just keeping the format as it is, so I am planning on a new format soon, which will go in effect within a week. It will be focused more on game reviews and media, rather than the same ol’ news stories. So in some ways, I will be trimming the fat in lieu of better content. And finally, it will be re-designed with a brand new striking layout. Get ready for Portabalooza version 2!

New Exit screens for the DS

Taito is releasing Exit for the DS, and if you didn’t have a PSP to enjoy this brilliant game, you owe it to yourself to pick this one up. Dengeki Online has released a bunch of screens from Exit, and plenty of them. This puzzler- meets-platformer has you take on the role of Mr. ESC, saving occupants in distress from many types of disasters.

There are many tricky elements and items that you must learn how to use effectively, and to lead the occupants to safety. So far it looks like there are no screens yet that show how the touch screen might be used, but a game like this should really demand it. Its quirky puzzle-style antics and comic book graphics should work well for the dual screen portable.

Media Create sales - week of 12/9

A new DS Tales game is near the top of the charts for this week’s sales in Japan. Knowing the growing popularity of the franchise overseas, there’s a chance it could come to the west anytime. Hot Shots Golf Portable 2 is another newcomer that’s sold well, following suit of its predecessor, and Dragon Quest IV continues to sell strong in its third week of release. In non-portable news, Wii Fit continues top the sales charts, and Lost Odyssey, highly acclaimed by Famitsu, makes a surprising entrance considering it’s an Xbox 360 game.

01. [Wii] Wii Fit (Nintendo) - 150,000 / 411,000
02. [NDS] Mario Party DS (Nintendo) - 107,000 / 646,000
03. [NDS] Tales of Innocence (Bandai-Namco) - 104,000 / NEW
04. [PSP] Hot Shots Golf Portable 2 (Sony) - 87,000 / NEW
05. [NDS] Prof. Layton and Pandora’s Box (Level 5) - 76,000 / 370,000
06. [NDS] Dragon Quest IV (Square-Enix) - 63,000 / 795,000
07. [360] Lost Odyssey (Microsoft) - 55,000 / NEW
08. [NDS] Powerful Pro-kun Pocket 10 (Konami) - 54,000 / NEW
09. [Wii] Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo) - 45,000 / 476,000
10. [Wii] Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games (Nintendo) - 45,000 / 148,000

View the full list of 30 games in the rest of this article.

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Minna No Golf Portable 2 screenshots, and video for your PSP

Ruliweb.com, a Korean gaming site, has put out a bunch of screenshots for the upcoming Minna No Golf Portable 2 game. They have also provided two demo videos that are in .mp4 format, ready to play on your PSP. Better known as Hot Shots Golf in the US, there doesn’t seem to be much of a difference in the gameplay, and the interface looks pretty much the same as it does in the original. But if it’s not broken already, why fix it, right?

While the gameplay and original features appear intact, the biggest changes are in the new courses, characters and perhaps some extra modes as well. There will be a whopping total of 12 new courses and 20 new characters (compare this to the 6 courses and 10 characters of the first Hot Shots Golf Portable), which just sweetens the deal a whole lot more. It’s already available for purchase in Japan. View this complete page for some of the screenshots and descriptions.
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Nintendo: This just in– the DS is awesome

The Nintendo DS sure has come a long way from being just a risky “third pillar” venture. A recent press release by Nintendo shows us again how popular the DS continues to be. In this year alone, and in the US alone, the DS has sold over 6 million units off the shelves of retailers, which could possibly mean the most sold system of any kind for this year. If that’s not enough bragging rights, Nintendo also says that it amounts to one DS sold every 5 seconds. And for the first time ever, the Nintendo DS also outsold the GBA sales record during the Thanksgiving week. It’s pretty obvious Nintendo will keep giving a lot of support for the DS for a long time ahead.