Haha, this looks great. Those of you who read Scribes back in the day should remember Mr. Pants, Rare's poorly-drawn and awesome stick figure guy. About a year ago or something Rare announced that they were working on a Mr. Pants game, and we all (or at least me) got excited. Well here it is, folks, and it's a re-worked DK Coconut Crackers! Woo!
Quote:August 12, 2004 - All right, gang, a show of hands. How many of you remember last year when Rare made the sneaky announcement about It's Mr. Pants, a game that the studio had in development for the Game Boy Advance? It was almost exactly a year to the day when the revelation was made that the company's unofficial mascot, the trouser-donning 'stached fellow with a derby Mr. Pants, was to get a GBA game of his very own.
But unfortunately, that's all we got. After that one announcement, Rare clamped down into silence mode on the project, and thus began the mystery of exactly what was to be It's Mr. Pants for the Game Boy Advance. No amount of poking and prodding towards the blokes in the UK would make them crack and let slip any potential tidbits of Mr. Pants' gaming debut.
Well, it's been a year. And after 365 long, agonizing, almost torturous days of waiting, we can reveal, finally, the ridiculousness that is Rare's latest game for release in 2004: It's Mr. Pants. And boy, was it worth it.
But first, a little background. More than three years ago, back at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in 2001 (just before the release of the Game Boy Advance in the US), Rare demonstrated four GBA games at Nintendo's booth. One of which was a Donkey Kong-branded puzzle game titled DK Coconut Crackers. Though the Nintendo/Rare relationship broke down before the company could release any GBA games, DK Coconut Crackers pretty much hit the skids early -- whatever the reason, the game disappeared from release lists and was quietly removed from Nintendo's line-up.
When Rare and THQ paired up last year and made the shocking It's Mr. Pants announcement, many people made the intelligent speculation that the mysterious game was the revival of DK Coconut Crackers. After all, the list of games in the THQ/Rare line-up mirrored the same line-up that Rare had demonstrated at E3 just a couple years before. The only addition was It's Mr. Pants. It just made sense.
Anyone who speculated that It's Mr. Pants is a retooled DK: Coconut Crackers: Give yourself a cookie.
So. The game. How to explain. Well, It's Mr. Pants is a traditional puzzle game in the Tetris sense where the challenge is to piece together specific shapes of specific colors on a flat playing field grid. The idea is simple: form rectangles of larger than 3x2 (squares of 2x2 are too small) to make them disappear from play. The It's Mr. Pants pieces can be rotated in 90 degree variations, exactly like Tetris "tetrominos," important to get these tiles into the littlest slots on the field.
You can't place same colors on top of each other, but you can place other colors on top of already placed shapes to remove them from play. This mechanic comes into play more often than to simply remove garbage shapes; it's crucial to do this in order to remove multiple rectangles from play and to score those strong combinations for the huge score.
There are three variations on the main gameplay mechanic. In "Puzzle," the challenge is to remove all shapes from play with the set amount of pieces. In "Wipeout", you've got two minutes to remove all shapes from play with an infinite amount of pieces. And in "Marathon," the challenge is to constantly place and remove shapes as long as you can, trying to keep the session alive as the playfield gets eaten away from the outside in. The game's cartridge save system records puzzles completed, the best scores in each mode, and all the collectibles earned during the challenges.
So, it's a traditional puzzle game for the Game Boy Advance. Sort of.
The game's charm is its carefree style and presentation. It's full of squigglevision animation, crayon-drawn backgrounds, and floating underpants wherever the game designers can fit it. The levels are just full of crazy, tripped out imagery and music, complete with Mr. Pants singing between levels. Yes, Mr. Pants SINGS!
The craziness of It's Mr. Pants can't be appreciated until you experience it for yourself. We've captured a ton of screens and video of the final version of the game in action. THQ's prepping this game for a stateside release much sooner than you may realize, so be sure to add the game to your wishlist to be the first to know when this game's shipping to stores.
Awesome. I hope you guys are excited about this Rare GBA game at least.
Yo yo yo! It's nickdaddyg, again if you haven't noticed my recent posts.
Hmmm, the latest news. I don't live out by Kansas City, Missouri anymore like I did. We moved here to Phoenix, AZ in early July. I'm gonna be going to Ariz. State University, starting Aug. 23.
Bad part about that is, if it gets really busy I might not be posting again for a while.
So have ya missed me? Anybody been making songs of me while I was out?
Quote:Nintendo's Miyamoto says third-party software could allow DS to connect to Internet through its wireless LAN.
TOKYO--In a recent interview conducted by staff at Earthbound creator Shigesato Itoi’s Web site, Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto revealed that it is technically possible for the DS to connect to the Internet using its wireless LAN…as long as a third party develops the appropriate software.
"We added the wireless LAN (IEEE802.11) to the DS mainly for the handhelds to communicate between each other," said Miyamoto. "But if someone releases appropriate software that allows it to connect to wireless LAN access points, it could also be used to connect to the Internet."
Miyamoto was quick to point out that Nintendo itself is not interested in developing the possible Internet capabilities of the DS. The company is focusing on gameplay rather than hardware capabilities and plans to make the machine enjoyable without the need for additional devices or peripherals. “The one thing we don’t want to do is to add this and that and every connection and capability [to the DS]. We want to make the DS enjoyable, by itself, as far as we can."
The full interview can be viewed in Japanese at Shigesato Itoi's Web site.
By Staff -- GameSpot
POSTED: 07/13/04 09:51 AM PST
So basically it's the exact same situation as the GC. If third-parties want to go online with the DS, they can, but Nintendo certainly won't give them support. And most importantly, Nintendo themselves aren't going to support online gaming with the DS. Fucking brilliant, Nintendo. I really hope the PSP's online capabilities are a huge selling point for that system and make Nintendo realize just how fucking idiotic they are for completely ignoring online gaming, even when it's as relatively easy to do on the DS. There's no way I'm going to get Animal Crossing DS, Metroid Prime Hunters (if it's multi-only), and any similar titles if they don't offer online gaming. And if that's all there is at launch I won't be getting a DS until something worthwhile is released.
Their philosophy on this is just so mind-numbingly retarded that I can't believe a developer with such incredible genius when it comes to game design can be such massive fuck-ups when it comes to online gaming. “The one thing we don’t want to do is to add this and that and every connection and capability [to the DS]. We want to make the DS enjoyable, by itself, as far as we can." WHAT THE FUCK DOES THAT MEAN?? So by adding an online mode to something like Animal Crossing which would enable people who don't know several other people with DS' and copies of AC within the same vicinity of each other (which will be very rare, I'm sure) to have thousands of different gamers to play with... that would be taking away the enjoyment from the title, cheapening it. That's like saying that they want to make a new Mario game that really doesn't need to use buttons because they want it to be enjoyable on its own. And to make this even more fucked up, Nintendo is the KING of releasing useless "this and that and every connection and capability"! E-Card readers, anyone? How about GBA-GC connectivity??? But the one "this and that" that would actually make a huge difference in sales, they choose not to support. If someone understands this inane philosophy, please explain it to me. I'm completely at a loss here.
I like lists. So let's list out the games we're looking forward to getting the most this year.
1. Fable - Once was at #1, then dropped down after I read some things about it, then back to #1 again now that I've read more recent impressions. And mostly because I've waited so damn long for the game and it's only a month away. I can barely contain my excitement over this game.
2. Metroid Prime 2: Echoes - Would have been at #1 if MP didn't come out just two years ago. I really can't wait for it, but I'm looking forward to Fable more (even though it may not be a better game) because there's really nothing else like it.
3.Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas - The last two games were crazy-fun and I couldn't stop playing them, and this ones looks several times better than GTA 3 and VC combined. Three cities this time (each one the size of VC), and great big highways in between them. And best of all, San Francisco is one of the cities. My favorite city in the U.S.
4. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater - I loved the last two games and am really looking forward to this one for both the great (and finally revamped) gameplay and to see what the hell is going to happen in the story. I hope it explains some stuff from MGS2.
5. Halo 2 - I bought an X-Box for Halo and it was a huge disappointment for me. So why do I list this one so high? Because Halo 1 had huge potential but was obviously a rush job, and I'm hoping that Halo 2 will be the game that I wanted the first one to be. Plus, co-op online is going to be incredible no matter what.
6. Prince of Persia 2 - The first game was my second-favorite title of last year (after WW) so naturally I can't wait to play the sequel. The reasons why it isn't higher up on my list is because I'm worried about a few things. Firstly, I don't like the generic dark direction they've taken with this game (most likely to garner better sales this time around). I loved the ICO-like quality of the last game, and I hate it when developers decide to make sequels more dark and "extreme" at the expense of charm and uniqueness. Secondly, I'm worried that it will become more of a DMC-style action game and less of an acrobatic-puzzler like the first one. So those are my two major worries with the sequel.
7. Paper Mario 2 - The first game is one of my all-time favorite RPGs and I can't wait to play this one. I've stayed away from previews as I want to be surprised, so all I can say is that I know it's going to kick ass.
8. Pikmin 2 - I liked the first game but the damn timer ruined the exploration aspect of it. Thankfully the sequel removes that annoying feature and adds a cool-looking multiplayer mode. This is going to be great.
9. Half-life 2 - Liked the first one, and the sequel looks really nice.
10. Gran Turismo 4 - Best street racing series, now online and as an extra-cool aspect (for me), Hong Kong is among the many cities in the game.
It's that time of the year again, kids! Time for the insane rush of holiday titles, your happy little gaming heart exploding from too much fun, and your bank account being emptier than Tendo City in June. So what do you guys plan on getting? Lists are fun!
What I will definitely get at launch:
August
-Pikmin 2 (GC)
-Astro Boy (GBA)
September
-Fable (XB)
October
-Paper Mario 2 (GC)
-Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2)
November
-Metroid Prime 2: Echoes (GC)
-Prince of Persia 2 (XB)
-Gran Turismo 4 (PS2)
-Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake eater (PS2)
-Halo 2 (XB)
-Nintendo DS and whatever good games it ships with (3 max for me)
What I want to get but may not afford/have time for
August
-Star Ocean 3 (PS2)
October
-Metal Slug Advance (GBA)
-Mario Pinball (GBA)
-Worms 3D (XB)
-Outrun 2 (XB)
November
-Baten Kaitos (GC)
December
-Conker: Live and Reloaded (XB)
-Mech Assault 2 (XB)
What I want to get, but won't be sure until reviews come in
September
-Mega Mag X Command Mission (GC)
-Second Sight (XB)
-Donkey Konga (GC)
-Blood Will Tell (PS2)
-Star Wars Battlefront (XB)
October
-Kirby & The Amazing Mirror (GBA)
-Boktai 2 (GBA)
November
-Star Fox (GC)
-Donkey Kong Country 2 (GBA)
-Ratchet and Clank 3 (PS2)
-Suikoden IV (PS2)
-Megaman X8 (PS2)
-Jak 3 (PS2)
December
-StarCraft: Ghost (XB)
-Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II (XB)
Quote:Yesterday's largest story was without a doubt the Nintendo DS software list but despite that fact, the list opened up more than its fair share of questions on the titles listed. Today however, it seems a few questions have been answered, as an update to developer Shin'en Multimedia's website, brings forth the first details on Majesco's upcoming Nintendo DS title Nanostray. While plot details are vague, the page states that Nanostray will puts players in the role of a ship pilot that comes back to life inside his craft. Below is a somewhat vague plot synopsis.
"You slowly come back to life in your spacecraft. It feels like you were unconscious only for seconds. Neverless you only have a vague idea of what has happenend. Frantic images loom in your mind without telling you anything you can decode by now. Slopped impressions of pain and humiliation cover your thoughts. Instinctively you look up to your console. Your board computer is still indicating a destination..."
Nanostray will feature 10 levels, WLAN 2-player modes, and Internet scoreboards, and will ship during Q1 2005 for the Nintendo DS. A few screenshots of Nanostray can be found on this page.
Nice, huh? Certainly blows away all of the previous DS games shown, at least in terms of textures. It's from the guys that made Iridion for the GBA, so they're great at pushing the capabilities of a system as soon as they get dev kits. And none of that is pre-rendered.
![[Image: its-mr-pants-20040812035046143-000.jpg]](http://pocketmedia.ign.com/pocket/image/article/538/538304/its-mr-pants-20040812035046143-000.jpg)
![[Image: nanostray-1.jpg]](http://www.shinen.com/games/images/nanostray-1.jpg)