Whats your DS killer apps?

[MrMatthews]

Perhaps you need to understand what "household name" actually means, Zoltor.

It means that everyone (read: "gamers and non-gamers alike") has heard of the name.

You know... like "Nintendo?"

Second, you kinda have to be a somewhat serious gamer to have heard of Atlus. Considering that most gamers are either little kids clamoring for video game adaptations of How to Train Your Own Dragon or online-deathmatch-playing meatheads, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that less than half of the active gamers today fall into this category.

So, no. Atlus is not a household name. It's a developer with avid fans, but it's a pretty small group when you look at the big picture (something you are clearly incapable of doing).

[Zoltor]

My two cents: Atlus is great, yet it is true that it is niche even for RPGs. RPGs have become much more poular since the 80ies, and Atlus regularely delivers great titles; but they always produce very small print runs in comparison to other companies. They bring the games to the west and don't even try to penetrate the mainstream market; they seem to embrace the small runs for dedicated fans.

And that's okay, since it seems to work and they obviously make a small, yet steady profit, unlike other RPG makers who produce much more copies that end up in bargain bins.

However, that has nothing to do with Xseed. Xseed definately aims a bit more at mainstream success, and they definatelydeliver high quality. Atlus would not have localized Retro Game Challenge better or sold more units; but Atlus would possibly be satisfied with the relatively low sales of the game that are not enough for Xseed to justify the sequel.

That definitely was true until like 05?, they're no longer a small/LE print run company. However you're right, other companies have insanely big print runs(Square, and Nintendo are prime examples of this), but you need to realize they oversatuate the market, so usually the # of games they end up actually selling, doesn't even come close to the amount of X game they made.

ATLUS would so have sold more Retrogame challenge no doubt, hell I didn't even know the game existed until almost a year after it was released(or did many others for that matter). Advertising goes a long way, when it comes to selling games, unfortuneately XSEED hasn't realized that yet(and what makes the situation worse, is they're a pretty new company).

To MrMatthews: I'm pretty sure even the meathead FPS drones have atleast heard of ATLUS lol, but then again who knows when it comes to those freaks(FPS is their entire world, I will never understand how someone can play a FPS for 8 hours straight, most humans would get bored after doing the same things over again a million times, on the same three maps).

[sketch]

Couldn't find one (answering thread question), so I sold it

I think the GBA SP was a much better handheld. My favorite games on the DS (Advance Wars, Castlevania) seemed to be more of the same of their GBA counterparts. That's not a bad thing, but there was nothing new and inspiring that made me want to keep the DS. I got much more gameplay out of the SP...

[Zoltor]

Couldn't find one (answering thread question), so I sold it

I think the GBA SP was a much better handheld. My favorite games on the DS (Advance Wars, Castlevania) seemed to be more of the same of their GBA counterparts. That's not a bad thing, but there was nothing new and inspiring that made me want to keep the DS. I got much more gameplay out of the SP...

Care to list all the genres you like, perhaps we can recommend some games?

[kokujin]

Order of Ecclesia is the best castlevania I've played in years.The art style is very good, very realistic almost like Circle of the Moon.

[MrMatthews]

Professor Layton & the Curious Village is another one for the list. Not exactly the greatest game ever, but it sums up what the DS is all about.

[InternalPrimate]

What, no love for Tetris DS? The GREATEST Tetris of them all?

[sketch]

Care to list all the genres you like, perhaps we can recommend some games?

Don't get me wrong; the DS is a nice machine with a ton of good games. But the phrase killer app makes me think of that "must have" game that I played to death and justified a system for me. The DS didn't really have that for me.

I'm downsizing my systems since I don't have the time to play them all, and I didn't play the DS (and it didn't have a killer app or apps for me), so off it went

I like shmups, action-type platformers (run'n'gun or hack'n'slash is my preference, but traditional platformers like Sonic or Mario are fun as well), strategy games (although I'm pretty picky) and racing games.

Someone mentioned Atlus earlier in the thread; I wanted to get Tokyo Beatdown, as that looked right up my alley. Maybe that would have made me keep it The reality is that I rarely have my portable game machines on me when I need them (i.e. I find myself stuck waiting in a doctor's office, in line, or waiting for a friend, etc.), except for my trusty iPhone. So I now have a ton of iPhone games and no more handheld systems.

[Zoltor]

Don't get me wrong; the DS is a nice machine with a ton of good games. But the phrase killer app makes me think of that "must have" game that I played to death and justified a system for me. The DS didn't really have that for me.

I'm downsizing my systems since I don't have the time to play them all, and I didn't play the DS (and it didn't have a killer app or apps for me), so off it went

I like shmups, action-type platformers (run'n'gun or hack'n'slash is my preference, but traditional platformers like Sonic or Mario are fun as well), strategy games (although I'm pretty picky) and racing games.

Someone mentioned Atlus earlier in the thread; I wanted to get Tokyo Beatdown, as that looked right up my alley. Maybe that would have made me keep it The reality is that I rarely have my portable game machines on me when I need them (i.e. I find myself stuck waiting in a doctor's office, in line, or waiting for a friend, etc.), except for my trusty iPhone. So I now have a ton of iPhone games and no more handheld systems.

Ok well if you sold it, it doesn't really matter now, but There's disgaea 1, and Fire Emblem for strategy games(for some reason, shooters aren't really coming to the US, the Japanese are hogging the DS shooters), there are tons of platformers(3 Castlevania games, new SMB), there's Retrogame challenge( It has oldschool racers, shooters, platformers, and a small RPG).

I think you would've loved Retrogame challenge, it has awesome shooters in it, and the racers are addictive as hell(it also has a game that's a mix between Ninja Gaiden, and metroid which is damn good).

[chrisbid]

to me, a killer app is the game that gets a person to buy the system

for me, that game was feel the magic.

that game was dreamcast-era sega at their quirky best



since then, the best ds games tend to be the games that cannot be done as well on other platforms.

clubhouse games
intellivision lives (the touch screen does a fantastic job replicating the intelly keypad)
picross 3d
puzzle quest
space invaders extreme (with the paddle controller)

there are several rereleases and compilations i enjoy as well

[Obviously]

To me the "killer apps" are the Castlevania series. They're the reason I bought the DS. There are tons of games that I absolutely love on the DS however. The Phoenix Wright series is up there for me as well.

2D action games are my favorite type of video games and the DS has loads of great ones.

[Phosis]

My killer app for the DS, at least in the fact that I can't imagine not owning the game, is Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey.

THE best dungeon crawl I have ever played in terms of it's addictive quality and raw enjoyment. The music is definitely my favorite that has ever been in an RPG, and that includes the fantastic SMT: Nocturne soundtrack, which this game frankly blows away.

Past that, I am a big Dragon Quest fan, and since 4 out of the 8 DQ games I own are on this console, makes it fairly obvious why I love the DS.

Plus that studio Ghibli game, Ni No Kuni. I can't yet understand everything that is going on, but the packaging alone was enough to convince me. Absolutely beautiful, and I hope they bring it over here so my kid can play it one day.

[GohanX]

ELITE BEAT AGENTS

Also, Space Invaders Extreme (with Paddle!) and the Phoenix Wright games.

[Phosis]

ELITE BEAT AGENTS

Also, Space Invaders Extreme (with Paddle!) and the Phoenix Wright games.

Actually, yeah. Good call.

What some people don't know is that there are more elite beat agent games out there, under a different title, exclusive to Japan. The music is all Japanese, but the US version did a good job of capturing the styles of music they used in the original imports. The game is fairly light on language for the most part too, so they make very safe imports for those who liked the North American release.

[Zoltor]

My killer app for the DS, at least in the fact that I can't imagine not owning the game, is Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey.

THE best dungeon crawl I have ever played in terms of it's addictive quality and raw enjoyment. The music is definitely my favorite that has ever been in an RPG, and that includes the fantastic SMT: Nocturne soundtrack, which this game frankly blows away.

Past that, I am a big Dragon Quest fan, and since 4 out of the 8 DQ games I own are on this console, makes it fairly obvious why I love the DS.

Plus that studio Ghibli game, Ni No Kuni. I can't yet understand everything that is going on, but the packaging alone was enough to convince me. Absolutely beautiful, and I hope they bring it over here so my kid can play it one day.

If you like SMT: Strange Journey, you may want to look up Etrian Odyssey 3, It's way better(well as far as a Dungeon Crawler goes anyway, if the main reason you love SMT: SJ, is the Demon capturing/fusion aspect or the fact It's a highbrid between Dungeon Crawler/monster traning games, then ok yea SMT: SJ).

Either way, each game is a great, thus thought I would suggest it/put it out there(If you loved SMT: SJ, I can't imagine you not loving EO 3 as well).