Game of the Week: Dream Trigger 3D [3DS]

Dream Trigger 3D is a brand-new Arcade Shooter game specifically for the Nintendo 3DS. In the game, players must use 'Sonar' (a set of coloured squares on the bottom touchscreen) along with rhythmic music, in order to locate and shoot flying enemies in over fifty stunning 3D enviroments.

The overall plot of Dream Trigger 3D is pretty loose. You must locate and shoot various enemies whilst using a cycling trigger system with a close-up reticule for improved targetting if needed. The idea is to return each environment to a peaceful enemy-free state before moving on to the next level.

Enemies are shown on the bottom screen as a set of pixalated purple squares (see screenshot above). Nevertheless, it is still hard to spot them amongst the mass of other colours and shapes within the environment, so keeping a close eye on the patterns of the bottom screen is a must.

Once enemies have been located and their overall attack pattern formulated, players can then plant Sonar Bombs along the enemies' trajectory.

This helps to expose your enemies, which in turn can increase your ammo - a definite necessity in this game, as the enemy bullets tend to rain down on you pretty relentlessly.

The bright 3D graphics help to make the environments both a stunning and slightly hypnotic experience. However, this trippy style may not be to everyone's taste.

Nevertheless, the game has been especially designed for use with the 3DS console, and is therefore a unique and endearing game which can definitely hold its own amongst the various game 'remakes' which have graced the 3DS console so far.

In conclusion, this is a simple little game once the controls have been mastered. The 3D graphics are stunning and are put to great use within each of the environments on offer. However, the bright colours and music rhythms may not appeal to some hardcore shooter fans.

If you have a 3DS and are looking for a unique, graphically stunning, single-player game with high replay value, then this is most definitely the game for you. Overall rating: 8/10.

Nintendo Launches European Video Service For The 3DS

It's finally here! Nintendo has launched its much anticipated Nintendo Video Service throughout Europe tonight.

The video service, (which is available to download  for free from the Nintendo 3DS eShop), will provide short  2D and 3D video clips and films to 3DS users. The video service in the UK has already provided two separate free video samples - 3D Magic and Oasis Cup, which will both be available until the 20th of July 2011.

3D Magic is a very short video clip showing an unknown Magician doing simple card tricks for the camera. The use of 3D is quite subtle in this clip, but still looks amazing on the 3DS screen. The magic tricks aren't that bad either...

Oasis Cup is a seven-minute short film about a little lizard called Oscar Oasis. This quirky and humorous little film is definitely worth a look. It shows how Oscar and his friends cope whilst they are lost in the desert.

The 3D is amazing and certainly sets the pace for any future short films which might appear on the new Nintendo 3DS Video Service.

The Video Service also includes Internet links to the videos that it uses where available. This means that if you wish to find out more about Oscar Oasis, you can click the 'Oscar on Internet' link and be taken to relevant web pages about Oscar Oasis and TeamTo - the very talented Production Team behind the animated series.

Spotpass notifications for the Video Service can also be set to 'ON'. This means that new videos can be downloaded even when the console is in Sleep Mode.

It may not be the full 3D film service that many users had been hoping for, but the new Nintendo Video service provides an extra interactive element for the 3DS, and, if the two video samples are anything to go by, the service is shaping up to be something very interesting indeed.

HAVE YOUR SAY...

What do you think of the Nintendo Video Service so far?

Does it live up to your expectations?

Do you like the two sample videos?

What suggestions do you have for future 3DS videos?

Please leave us a comment in our 'Comment's Box' and let us know what you think. We'd love to hear your thoughts.

Sony To Drop PSP Digital Comic Service...

The Sony PSP Digital Comic Service is to be dropped just seventeen months after its initial launch. According to a message on the Official Playstation Blog, which warned users that the latest comic update would also be the last.

Playstation Store director, Grace Chen, claimed that the Digital Comic Service would no longer feature any new comics after the 6th of July 2011, but was quick to add that users could: "continue to download any of the over 4000 existing comics from the comic store as usual..." [sourced from:http://us.playstationcomics.com/main/blog/weekly-update-060711.html]

Just to confirm, although it has been announced that Sony intends to 'drop' the service, (which would seems to suggest that the service is to cease,) the truth is that the PSP digital comics that are already in the store will remain unchanged and can still be downloaded as normal, but there will be NO MORE NEW STOCK of comics after the above date.

 However, the playstation blog also mentioned that the Digital Comic Service would continue on other Sony products, although no specific details were given at this point.

 Mini Gamers is saddened by the news, but we are also left wondering whether there might be plans to move the Digital Comic Service to the newest Sony handheld, the PS Vita, which is set to debut in December 2011.

Keep checking in with the Mini Gamers blog for more news on this subject as it happens.

Game On: Educational Video Games As A Tool For Learning...

Since the dawn of the home video game era in the late '70s and early '80s , there has been much bad press concerning young children's exposure to violent games, and the possibility that video games might turn children into  'zombies', who are incapable of thinking and behaving outside of their chosen virtual environments.

However, a  recent speech given by the British Secretary for Education, Mr. Michael Gove, could be about to change the reputation of videogames forever.

Michael Gove

Speaking to The Royal Society last week about the future of education, Mr. Gove praised educational videogames as a tool for learning.

In particular, Mr. Gove highlighted the work of british-born mathematician, Marcus du Sautoy, who has developed videogames in order to teach many advanced aspects of mathematics to young schoolchildren.

Mr. Gove said: "When children need to solve equations in order to get more ammo to shoot the aliens, it is amazing how quickly they can learn. I am sure that this field of educational games has huge potential for maths and science teaching."   

[sourced from: http://www.education.gov.uk/inthenews/speeches/a00191729/michael-gove-speaks-to-the-royal-society-on-maths-and-science]

Of course, it has to be said that educational videogames are nothing new. The Nintendo DS has many educational titles aimed at young gamers and adults alike.

Nevertheless, Mr. Gove's speech is an indication that the general perception of videogames may at last be changing, and that the value of videogames as an educational tool is now being recognised outside of the gaming community.

HAVE YOUR SAY...

What do you think of Michael Gove's comments?

Do you agree that videogames should be used as a tool in the classroom?

Let us know what you think of this issue by leaving a comment in the comment's box below. We'd love to hear your thoughts.



PSP News: Last Chance To Claim Your Free Games...

There is now only one day left for Playstation Network users to claim their two free games from the PSN store.

The two free games offer is actually part of a wider 'Welcome Back' package which was offered by the online network store after a malicious system hack forced all Sony online services to close for several weeks.

 Handheld Gamers have been offered a choice of two games from the following PSP titles:


LittleBigPlanet

Guide your own customised sackboy/sackgirl character around several environments, unlock extra content such as stickers and even create your own levels to display online.

ModNation Racers

Customise your own 'Mod' character, design your racing kart and tracks and then race around until your heart's content. Use various collected weapons against your opponents, including UFOs, electricity, and gunge amongst others.

Alternatively, play through the game's STORY MODE as 'Tag', a young Mod who wants to be the best racer on the ModNation Racing circuit. 

Pursuit Force

Leap from vehicle to vehicle in a series of challenging high-speed chases.

Killzone Liberation

Now you can battle against the fearsome Helghast in the palm of your hand. 

So, if you haven't yet played any of these games, now is your chance to own some of the most popular titles to ever grace the PSP for FREE!!!

But you will have to hurry as the offer expires on the 3rd July 2011.

If you wish to know more about Sony's Welcome Back offers, please click HERE


Resident Evil Mercenaries: 'One-Save' Feature Does Not Mean 'Play Once', Explains Capcom...

It has been a difficult week for the guys at Capcom. Since news about the perma-save/one save only feature included in their Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D game for the Nintendo 3DS became public knowledge, they have been busy trying to persuade the gaming community that the fact the game's save data cannot be reset does not affect the overall replay value of the game. Are they right?

 

Initial information gathered on Tuesday suggested that the perma-save function would also prevent the game from being reset back to the very beginning, meaning that the game could essentially only be played once.

However, Capcom have now begun to set the record straight on exactly how the one-save-only feature would work. According to them, the perma-save feature was added in order to give the game an intrinsically Arcade gaming feel.

According to Capcom sources, Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D is a time-based score attack game, akin to the old 80's-style Arcade games. Players must defeat zombie hoardes in order to rack up an overall high score before the timer runs out.

As such, the game does not feature a traditional campaign mode as offered by most modern shooter games.

However, when asked to comment about whether the fact that the game's data could not be reset or deleted also meant that the game could only be played once, Capcom were quick to offer this statement:

 

"This is not true. Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D is a non-linear experience where there is no set end to the game. It is a score attack game and progression is defined as improving upon previous high scores. Players can replay each mission as many times as they like to continually challenge themselves to improve."

[sourced from: http://www.capcom-unity.com/resident_evil/go/thread/view/7391/27944601/About_the_Save_Data_(Official)]

Capcom also responded to claims that the perma-save feature would affect trade-ins and used copies of the game by saying:

"Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D consists of 30 time-based missions, through which the player unlocks skill upgrades as they progress through the game. Anyone purchasing a copy of the game secondhand would have access to all the missions and skills that the original owner unlocked, in addition to the content that was available to the original user." [ibid.]

Nevertheless, this does not mean that trade-in prices of the game have not been affected since the news about the perma-save went public.

HMV has refused to accept trade-ins of Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D when the game becomes available in the UK on Friday, over fears that customers will be disappointed with buying a game that already has all the content unlocked.

Meanwhile, in Japan, Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D has been dramatically reduced in price in many stores in order to get customers to purchase the game dispite its apparent low resale value.

However, the Electronics Boutique (EB Games) store in Australia has gone one step further and has actually recalled all copies of the game from its stores in protest against the perma-save feature. Speaking to Joystiq.com recently, a representative of the EB Games Facebook Group said:

"We made the tough decision to remove [the game] from sale because we have everybody's best interests in mind, and don't feel its fair that you guys would be paying $60 for what is essentially a one use game."
[Sourced from: http://www.joystiq.com/2011/06/29/game-retailers-go-back-and-forth-on-resident-evil-mercenaries-3/]

So, Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D CAN be played more than once, allbeit with any users' highscore data and previously unlocked bonuses and weapons undeletable, which is fantastic news for those gamers who wanted to purchase the game but were afraid that the game could not be replayed or would offer very little incentive to replay the game.

Nevertheless, the inclusion of the perma-save feature still has some members of the gaming community fuming.

One of the major causes of upset amongst Resident Evil 3DS fans at the moment is that Capcom has essentially removed the right to start the game over from scratch if players wish to, which could be said to deny gamers the feeling of personal ownership over the game.

It also means that any gamer who buys this game second hand will not be able to unlock any content for themselves and will also start the game with the previous owner's highscore in place (until they can beat it), which some gamers argue is very unfair and takes away some of the core enjoyment from the game.

The 'beat your high score' type of game is most definitely reminiscent of the 1980s Arcade games, which is what Capcom claims they are trying to achieve with this game.

Could Capcom's decision to include the perma-save function be seen as a gradualistic move away from the modern campaign mode games, which tend to offer gamers a wider choice within the game and  greater customisation options than Arcade-style games. If so, then what does this mean for the future of videogames as a whole?

Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D is set to debut in the UK from tomorrow.

HAVE YOUR SAY:

Is the use of a Perma-Save acceptable in videogames?

Would you buy this game?

Do you agree that not being able to unlock content in used copies of the game will make Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D less appealing to gamers in the future?

Please leave us a comment and let us know your thoughts on this subject.

UK Videogame Retailers Respond To Resident Evil Perma-Save Information

Yesterday, Mini Gamers brought you the devastating news that Capcom's new Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D [3DS] game has a "ONE SAVE ONLY"feature, which means essentially that game data cannot ever be reset to its original state once the game has been completed.

The perma-save feature means that any used copies of the game are essentially unplayable as there is no way to reset the game back to its original unplayed state at all.

This means that anyone who purchases the game second-hand is essentially buying a permanently used game, as there is no way to restore the game to its original default settings and start the game over from scratch.

Today UK videogame retailers have begun announcing their plans on whether to accept used copies of the game or not.

According to gaming website VG247, retail giant HMV has now refused to take any used copies of the game in the UK. A representative said that the discision to not accept used copies of the game is to:"avoid any potential customer disappointment for those purchasing a pre-owned version". [sourced from: http://www.vg247.com/2011/06/29/hmv-to-refuse-resident-evil-mercenaries-trade-ins-in-uk/]

It is not all bad news for those UK gamers who still wish to purchase the game though. Both GAME and Gamestation has confirmed to Eurogamer that they do intend to accept and trade-in all used versions of Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D and sell the game as 'pre-owned' just as with other games.

In the USA, retail giant GameStop has controversially reversed its decision to not accept trade-ins. The store originally planned to refuse trade-ins of the game but have now said that they would resume trade-ins from today.

According to IGN, a representative of the store explained: "GameStop did ask the U.S. store base to stop accepting trades on Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D as we evaluated the save system for the game...Upon further review of the process with our publisher partner, Capcom, GameStop will resume taking trades on the game effective Wednesday, June 29th."

Meanwhile, in Australia, there has been no such turnaround from the Electronics Boutique (EB) stores, who have called for all stocks of the game to be recalled from their outlets.

The gaming community has so far reacted with shock and anger over Capcom's decision to include a permanent save feature into the game. It is unclear how this decision will effect the overall sales figures of the game, but we can guess that the figures are not going to be that great.

The game is set to debut in the UK on Friday.

HAVE YOUR SAY...

What do you think? Is a game that you can only play once in its full state really worth owning even if trade-ins of the game are not affected? Please leave us a comment and let us know your thoughts.

Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D: Bizzare 'One Save Only' Feature Makes Game Pointless

With only a few days to go until the UK release of Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D, worrying news has begun to surface on the Internet that the game's 'Save' feature contains a one-save only function - this means that the game's save data cannot be reset at all.

Resident Evil Mercenaries 3D: The game you can only play once in full...

This may not seem like much of a problem until you consider that players may not be able to trade in their copy of the game as the old save data is completely undeletable, and that the game itself can only be played through once and cannot be reset back to its original state, meaning that all unlocked items, highscores, missions and weapons remain completed and cannot be rediscovered or unlocked once the game is completed.

This means that anyone wishing to start the game over from scratch is out of luck. It also means that anyone who purchased a used copy of this game will get diminished gameplay because they will not be able to start the game from its original unplayed state.

The news comes after details of the game's instruction manual became available on several gaming websites such as Tiny Cartridge, amongst others. The screenshot below clearly shows a warning at the bottom of the page, which reads: "Note: Saved data on this software cannot be reset."

The game is undergoing an international release starting this week with Japan and Australia. However, the countries are taking different steps in the wake of the one-save-only news becoming public.

For example, in Japan, gamers are being offered the game at a very low price because of the game's low resale value, whilst (according to Australian Website, Vooks,) EB Games, a popular Australian game retailer, is banning the game from their shelves as they claim that the one-save/perma-save feature will make the game less appealing to gamers in the future.

The game was released yesterday in Australia, but is now embroiled in controversy before it has even hit the shelves, which is likely to affect Capcom's sale figures.

It is very unclear why Capcom would deliberately release a game which can only ever be played through in its entirety once, although some websites are already speculating that this move was intended to slow down second-hand sales of the game.

However, In a recent statement issued to gaming website Giantbomb, Capcom insisted that it did not take the used-game market into account when choosing the one-save feature for the game.

According to Capcom: "Secondhand game sales were not a factor in this development decision, so we hope that all our consumers will be able to enjoy the entirety of the survival-action experiences that the game does offer." [Sourced from: http://www.giantbomb.com/news/capcom-used-games-not-a-factor-in-resident-evil-the-mercenaries-3d-lacking-data-reset/3430/]

It has to be argued however that Capcom might have proverbially shot themselves in the foot with this decision. The used-game market now accounts for a large proportion of all videogame sales, how is a game which can only be played in its original state one time going to survive against a mass of games which are available for second-hand trade?

The news is likely to anger the gaming community and have a negative impact on any future sales of the game.

Let's just hope that other videogame producers don't all decide to follow Capcom's example or else the thriving videogames market that we have today is unlikely to be around for much longer...

So, what do you think, is a game that you can only fully play once and may not be able to trade-in or swap with friends really worth owning? 

Let us know your thoughts by leaving a comment in our 'Comments Box' today.

STORY UPDATE: Capcom explains the perma-save/one save only feature: http://worldofminigamers.blogspot.com/2011/06/resident-evil-mercenaries-one-save.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MiniGamers+%28Mini+Gamers%29