Very well.

I'm currently occupying myself with Heroes of Mana, Rune Factory, Izuna and Luminous Arc. Too much at the same time :tpg:

I'm REALLY looking forward to Ninja Gaiden DS and that Survival Horror FPS that's coming.

Just preordered that new DS bundle that's coming out with Brain Age 2. Figure it's not too terrible of a deal for a black and red DS, some sort of carrying case thing, and Brain Age 2 for $150. At least I'll get a game with the system and not feel completely cheated like I have with every console I've bought since my Super Nintendo.

Any suggestions on games I have to buy? I'm looking mostly for fun puzzlers or ones I can sit and play for 15-30 minutes at a time since for longer stretches of time I still have a crapload of PS2 games.

Advance Wars Dual Strike is an absolute must. I'm sure you'd enjoy Meteos and Puzzle Quest too.

The rest I'd suggest are more regular game like and, while fun in short bursts, should be played over longer periods.

Though you could get GBA Wario Ware since it's cart condenced brilliance.

Picross DS is a given choice then, RacinReaver.

As far as puzzlers go, I recommend Picross DS and Planet Puzzle League. Meteos is definitely a must-get, you can just go into a time-attack mode and play for 5 minutes if that's all the time you have.

Also recommend Puyo Pop Fever if you're into the Puyo series of games (Kirby's Avalanche/Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine, etc.)

Is Advanced Wars Dual Strike just like every other Advance Wars game and just a Rock-Paper-Scissors strategy game? I've never really been a fan of those sorts since I find them more frustrating than anything else (I also tend to over-strategize to the point where it's not fun as well).

My friend had told me that Puzzle Quest is a pretty solid game, has anyone else played that? Also, anyone else here bought the Tetris Attack clone for the DS? I saw it there, but it's still $35 so I'm not going to buy it since I'm so unbelievably cheap.

The Tetris Attack clone is Planet Puzzle League, and I would wait for it to go down. It's good, but not $35-good. Maybe see if you can nab a used copy from somewhere?

Oh, I was also wondering if there's any sort of flash driver loader thing out there for the DS. My gaming habits have been rather unpredictable recently, and I hate to buy a game planning on playing it only to get a few hours into it and then become so busy I don't touch it again for a few months and by that point I don't really care enough to go back to it. I feel pirating would be a nice alternative for games that I'll figure this would happen to.

Check my thread.

http://www.gamingforce.org/forums/vi...d-3-hours.html

Puzzle Quest is well worth your money if you liked Bejeweled/Zoo Keeper. Basically it's just like those except dealing damage when you connect skulls and gaining mana to cast spells by connecting the colored circles. The storyline is extremely basic, but the gameplay is very addictive.

As for Advance Wars DS, you probably wouldn't like it if you didn't like the other two. DS adds in some new units and the ability to alternate between 2 COs at once. When both of their power meters are completely full you can do a Dual Strike and take two turns at the same time (and use both their Super Powers). Also some battles feature a battlefield on both screens, but most of those the top screen is CPU controlled and you just send units up to it from the bottom. There's a simplistic Combat mode too, where you drive a unit around and fire with the stylus. It's not much, but I enjoy it.

RacinReaver: I don't know about Tetris Attack, but Tetris DS sure is awesome :)
It contains lots of different game modes and a huge amount of great Nintendo references.

Additional Spam:
About flash on the DS, get an M3 DS Simply or R4 (same card, basically). They are DS Slot solutions and require no Passcard or GBA-cartridge. You can't play GBA roms on it though, but it's fantastic for DS games. I use it myself.

Well if you can't stand the other games (what's wrong with you), you wouldn't enjoy Dual Strike. It is still glorified chess with cute graphics. That is not a "just", but whatever.

I guess I went with how the game is perfect for a portable, being easy to approach, turn-based and offering depth and play-modes worth of four games.

It's frickin' hard :(

Tell me about it. I did terribly with AW1's campaign, barely finished it.

After years of break from Advance Wars, I picked up Dual Strike (and fell in love so badly) and I've gone through the campaign slowly, retrying each stage till I S-rank it and only then move on.

At first I only went for perfect S-ranks, till later I figured I'd have to settle for any score as long as it gives an S-rank or I would go crazy. Now I can't get past Pincer Attack :(

I managed to S-rank Money Survival and Move Survival, but I can't even finish Time Survival, no matter how fast I tried to be with moving.

Advance Wars DS is a good game, but it's extremely time consuming. I wouldn't want to play it while outside, for example. It's too slow for my liking even though I really do like the grid based combat.

I still have to say it though, that main theme of AW DS fucking rocks. The one that plays during the first missions. Shit.

Can someone help me decide on whether to buy Rune Factory, Luminous Arc or Heroes of Mana? So many games, so little time ...

Out of those three, definately Rune Factory.
I got all three of them and played them at the same time. Rune Factory is the only one of them that I've become FREAKING OBSESSED with.

It's seriously great. Imagine the best of Harvest Moon (like, the SNES game), and add swords and dungeons. Also add a BEAUTIFULLY drawn city and forests/dungeons.

I love the freedom. You can work on your farm, taking care of your crops and such, or you could venture inside a cave to add up on your sword skills and kill enemies. You could take a stroll to the sea and catch some fish, or buy presents for the cute girls~
You don't get bored with this game.

I've heard you'll be able to catch monsters and keep them on your farm, and use them to help you out in battles and farm work. I haven't gotten that far yet, though.

Get Rune Factory.

hey I just got the game Elite Beat Agent today for my birthday and I have to say that this game is so fun! I'm not that good yet but I can see why it got so much good review ^^

btw is the JP version has different music? because the song in the US seem pretty americain to me, so I'm guessing the JP version has more japanese music?

Yeah, the Japanese version (Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan and Ouendan 2) have Japanese songs. Its a really good buy...especially if you like EBA, which so many people seem to hate. =/

edit: oh, and happy b-day to you Inhert! =D

You just freakin' sold me a game. Natsume/Neverland should commission you.

ok I just threw the game out of the window >.>

well seriously, god this game is frustrating me!! I think I'm on the last level and god it's almost impossible it's been an 1h that I'm trying to finish it and on EASY! I hate they they put different difficulty but they don't respect it... (or I probably just suck...)

If you have no experience with the games, then it can be kind of difficult. Aside from familiarity with the song, you also need a good sense of rhythm and decent hand-eye coordination.

Still, it's nothing that practice won't help. By the time you progress to the harder difficulties, you may find that you actually have trouble going back to easier levels because you've gotten so used to the faster pace.

Oh, don't feel bad at all about EBA. It just takes a lot of practice to hit everything. Took me longer than I had expected to beat it on the 2nd Level of Difficulty. <_<

Imagine it on Hard Rock mode. :><:

But keep practicing, you're going to be especially frustrated with Canned Heat as you go up the difficulty ladder. <_<

I finally got a DS Lite today. I've been waiting for a interesting color/bundle and the gold Zelda bundle was just too awesome to pass up. I really like the color.

I want to take good care of my new toy, but is it really necessary to use screen protectors? I'm concerned about two things about them. My first concern is does the protector have any adhesive on it? or does it work like those removable stickers for glass windows? If I ever need to remove it I don't want a sticky mess or for it to damage the screen when removing it. Is the protector perfectly crystal clear? I don't want it to change the picture quality. I'm thinking of getting this:

Buy the Clean & Protect Kit for Nintendo DS Lite and other Nintendo DS Lite accessories at circuitcity.com

I had heard some of the Crimson Lite units have been reported to have their touch screens tinted pale yellow. I was worried that all newer Lites might have that issue but fortunately mine is fine.

I still have the option of buying a 1 year warranty for $14 what do you guys think, worth it or not?