Bury the Shovelware: Elf Bowling 1 & 2

It's Christmas Eve, and Santa has come a little early. But apparently we've all been very terrible, for there exists a gift far worse than coal. In fact, coal seems downright awesome compared to this. After all, it's flammable. I am being utterly sincere when I say that I would much rather play Cake Mania 2 than this pile of reindeer droppings. Pedigree Elf Bowling 1 & 2 shares the same developer and publisher: Ignition Entertainment. A quick scan of their products page shows a great diversity in games. Notably but understandably missing is this game. It's difficult to comprehend the fact that the same resources which gave us the excellent and underrated Mercury Meltdown Revolution are also responsible for Elf Bowling 1 & 2. The company also published Metal Slug 7 in North America. The Critics Said ... Metacritic is a great tool to use when I determine the critics' reception of a game for this series. I've referenced the bottom of the list before. According to the "Index of Nintendo DS Game Reviews by Score" page, the worst-received game for the DS is Deal or No Deal with a metascore of 17. Yet Elf Bowling for the DS manages to do that 5 points better -- err, worse -- with a metascore of 12. Why it doesn't appear on the list is because it only contains four reviews and five are needed to appear on the grand tally. The four critics that did review Elf Bowling (the poor, poor souls) are all fairly consistent in stating that this game is the suck.

 

Watch the Blood of Bahamut trailer from Jump Festa

Jump Festa is currently going down in Japan, which means those of us who don't live there have to watch trailers for these games on the internet. The above trailer for Blood of Bahamut is full of concept art for the game, but sprinkled throughout you'll find various snippets of gameplay. So feast your eyes on the footage above this block of text. Gallery: Blood of Bahamut

 

DS Daily: Must. Have. It.

As gamers and general obsessing types of folk, we find our love of games doesn't actually stop at just the game. We buy figurines, peripherals bearing the likeness of characters we enjoy, and posters, among other things. What we're asking you today is which of these franchises to do you go beyond just the game with? What characters or games do you own figurines, posters, and soundtracks for?

 

A note about the next two days' coverage

Much like the boy you see above, we'll be taking it easy over these next two days, catching up on games we missed and enjoying time away from blogging. As such, you'll see a more relaxed posting schedule, closer to our weekend routine. Keep checking in with us throughout the day for updates, but make sure to spend some time with your family, too. After all, that's what the holidays are all about. Best wishes to you all and, as always, thanks for reading!

 

Doors to official Retro Game Challenge site creak open

Retro Game Challenge's official site recently opened to the public, with a design that is particularly righteous, to use appropriately '80s parlance. By using the on-screen TV remote to navigate the site, you'll be able to view the above trailer, read a synopsis of the utterly daft story, and browse screens of (some of) the games you'll have to beat to overcome the creepy Game Master Arino: games like Cosmic Gate, Guadia Quest: Feast of the Mad King, Rally King, and the very awesome-looking Star Prince. Feel free to peruse the 30 new English language shots in our gallery. Oh yes, and there are wallpapers. Very, very rad wallpapers. Wallpapers that are so unlimited in their supreme radness that they have totally replaced our self-made Josh Groban tribute background -- at least until tomorrow. Gallery: Game Center CX: Arino's Challenge [Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

 

All DS accessories cheap(er) at Amazon

Amazon has stripped 10% from the price of all its gaming accessories in an offer that lasts until January 10th. Okay, so 10% isn't a very significant discount -- especially where already cheap accessories are concerned -- but these are harsh times. And besides, we think $13.49 for one of Hori's splendid Charge Stands is great value. $7.19 for those Star Wars Lightsaber styli isn't too shabby, either -- you could pick up the illuminating versions for $15.29 for covert beneath-the-sheets DS sessions while you were there! Check out more doodads here. Does anything take your fancy?

 

Size matters: Chinatown Wars bigger than GTA on PSP

If you dream of INCREASED SIZE and LONGER SATISFACTION, there's only one place to turn for your portable Grand Theft Auto thrills: and it's not the PSP. Rockstar Leeds president Gordon Hall has told Nintendo Power that Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars will be "far bigger" than any of the GTA games on the Sony handheld, despite that platform's extra grunt. Which is ideal, really, because Grand Theft Auto titles are all about playing in giant, sprawling cityscapes. Hall also believes the narcotics trafficking game could "stand alone on its own," and promises "more odd jobs, deeper missions, and more moments of over-the-top action" than anything seen in other handheld entries in the franchise. Contrary to any fears that the DS would see a reduced GTA, Rockstar appears to be stretching hardware boundaries ... again. Gallery: Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars

 

Show and Tell: The holiday spirit

While we're often awash in gamer crafts -- particularly in this space! -- we just don't see that many holiday-themed gamer projects. Every year there's the occasional tree or set of ornaments, but it just seems there should be more. We dug around and managed to find a few interesting projects, however, and the results range from edibles to a pixelated tree. Just jump into the gallery below to check out holiday projects! Gallery: Show and Tell: The Holiday Spirit

 

Might as well Jump for new Dragon Quest IX, FFCC Echoes of Time trailers

We're slowly being converted into full-on Dragon Questism by the Dragon Quest IX hype, and this trailer from this weekend's Jump Festa event is certainly effective in that respect. It just looks like pure fun in a genre that is often dour and pretentious! We are officially in love with Koichi Sugiyama's Dragon Quest theme now. Square Enix and Level-5 may have been planning changes to the gameplay at one point, but any traces of action-RPG are gone now, and this is absolutely canonical Dragon Quest. After the break, a trailer for another Square Enix RPG that may not inspire as much adoration in so many: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time. Your enjoyment of this trailer may hinge upon whether you think Echoes of Time's cross-platform release is innovative or merely cheap. Gallery: Dragon Quest IX