Nintendo’s DS line-up for the cold months

Nintendo’s newest home console is coming out in the fourth quarter of 2006, but that doesn’t mean you should abandon your Nintendo DS, quite the contrary.

There’s plenty of new games to get, some of them continuations of long-going, classic franchises, and some entirely new. Anyway, we can certainly proclaim that Fall has never seen such a dense offering of potential handheld smash-hits.

Here’s the DS release schedule for North America.

• Oct. 9: Clubhouse Games, a new title in Nintendo’s “Touch! Generations” line, featuring a collection of more than 20 card and board games, easily accessible even for non-gamers.
• Oct. 16: Nintendogs (Dalmatian), giving the Nintendogs fans another breed to toy with. Hey, did someone say “rip-off” just now?
• Oct. 23: Magical Starsign, which should provide RPG fanatics with enough food to survive the winter. Its lush and colourful fantasy setting (The game is called Magical Vacation in Japan for a reason) will make you ignore the snowfall and grey days in the real world.
• Oct. 30: Pokémon Ranger, an Action RPG to shorten the wait for anyone anticipating the release of Pokémon Diamond & Pearl.
• Oct. 30: Children of Mana, the newest entry in the Mana series that has been represented on handhelds on numerous occasions. With beautiful art and significant improvements over it’s GBA predecessor, this will certainly be the RPG of choice for many gamers.
• Nov. 6: Elite Beat Agents,  the sequel to Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan, lauded by many as the best rhythm game in ages. With the new game, the idea finally reaches Western shores, although no longer containing the J-Pop craziness that made the first one so charming. But it’s the gameplay that counts, and Elite Beat Agents is going to have tons of it.
• Nov. 13: Yoshi’s Island 2, which came out from nowhere to surprise Nintendo’s E3 audience. Most awaited by lovers of classic Jump ‘n Run action. Some have expressed concerns over the developer being Artoon, who have been responsible for the rather mediocre Yoshi’s Topsy-Turvy. However, this time Nintendo is watching the development process closely, so we shouldn’t have to worry.
• Dec. 4: Custom Robo Arena, a very Japanese-looking mech action game, allowing players to customize (duh) their Robos with tons of unique parts, allowing for millions of different combinations. Also comes with online features, if you feel like challenging your friends.
• Dec. 4: Kirby Squeak Squad, where the cute pink pillow finally returns to his old-school roots of platforming and transformation gameplay after the highly successful experiment that was Canvas Curse.

So, Nintendo has something in store for everyone this year and might just put out some of the best games the DS will ever see. Oh, and please remember to take a break from your DS sessions at one point to buy a Wii. With this line-up, it’s easy to forget it.

Nintendo’s newest home console is coming out in the fourth quarter of 2006, but that doesn’t mean you should abandon your Nintendo DS, quite the contrary.

There’s plenty of new games to get, some of them continuations of long-going, classic franchises, and some entirely new. Anyway, we can certainly proclaim that Fall has never seen such a dense offering of potential handheld smash-hits.

Here’s the DS release schedule for North America.

• Oct. 9: Clubhouse Games, a new title in Nintendo’s “Touch! Generations” line, featuring a collection of more than 20 card and board games, easily accessible even for non-gamers.
• Oct. 16: Nintendogs (Dalmatian), giving the Nintendogs fans another breed to toy with. Hey, did someone say “rip-off” just now?
• Oct. 23: Magical Starsign, which should provide RPG fanatics with enough food to survive the winter. Its lush and colourful fantasy setting (The game is called Magical Vacation in Japan for a reason) will make you ignore the snowfall and grey days in the real world.
• Oct. 30: Pokémon Ranger, an Action RPG to shorten the wait for anyone anticipating the release of Pokémon Diamond & Pearl.
• Oct. 30: Children of Mana, the newest entry in the Mana series that has been represented on handhelds on numerous occasions. With beautiful art and significant improvements over it’s GBA predecessor, this will certainly be the RPG of choice for many gamers.
• Nov. 6: Elite Beat Agents,  the sequel to Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan, lauded by many as the best rhythm game in ages. With the new game, the idea finally reaches Western shores, although no longer containing the J-Pop craziness that made the first one so charming. But it’s the gameplay that counts, and Elite Beat Agents is going to have tons of it.
• Nov. 13: Yoshi’s Island 2, which came out from nowhere to surprise Nintendo’s E3 audience. Most awaited by lovers of classic Jump ‘n Run action. Some have expressed concerns over the developer being Artoon, who have been responsible for the rather mediocre Yoshi’s Topsy-Turvy. However, this time Nintendo is watching the development process closely, so we shouldn’t have to worry.
• Dec. 4: Custom Robo Arena, a very Japanese-looking mech action game, allowing players to customize (duh) their Robos with tons of unique parts, allowing for millions of different combinations. Also comes with online features, if you feel like challenging your friends.
• Dec. 4: Kirby Squeak Squad, where the cute pink pillow finally returns to his old-school roots of platforming and transformation gameplay after the highly successful experiment that was Canvas Curse.

So, Nintendo has something in store for everyone this year and might just put out some of the best games the DS will ever see. Oh, and please remember to take a break from your DS sessions at one point to buy a Wii. With this line-up, it’s easy to forget it.