Video Game Ninja

Sorry for the delayed announcement! If you're wondering why this site hasn't been updated in awhile, here is the reason:

In late October/early November of 2009 we had launched a new video game website called Level Up News. Since then, all of the latest video game content has posted at Level Up News and we have recruited a very talented staff to help keep the site updated with the latest in video game news, information, reviews, and deals.

As of right now there are no plans to continue posting the latest in video game content on Video Game Ninja. I may use this site/space for other video game related content in the future, but for now, all resources are being focused towards Level Up News.

Don't worry though, you'll find all the same great content and much much more. We even launched the Level Up News Forums very recently, so check it out!

As seen on my Examiner page:

This weeks line-up for new video game releases is definitely not a bad one, with some major releases across all of the systems. There will more than likely be a few big sellers, but Batman: Arkham Asylum is sure to top the charts. So here is what we get for new video game releases for the week of August 24th, 2009:

Xbox 360

• Batman: Arkham Asylum
• Fallout 3: Broken Steel/Point Lookout (Game add-on pack)
• Raven Squad: Hidden Dagger

PS3

• Batman: Arkham Asylum
• PS3 Slim (Console)

PS2

• Mana Khemia 2: Fall of Alchemy

PSP

• Dissidia Final Fantasy
• Warriors Orochi 2

Nintendo Wii

• Metroid Prime Trilogy
• Harvest Moon: Magical Melody
• Cursed Mountain

Nintendo DS

• Professor Layton & The Diabolical Box
• Wizards of Waverly Place
• Imagine: Teacher Class Trip
• Emergency Room: Real Life Rescue

Check out more video game releases and news on my Examiner page!

As reported on my Examiner page:

I just posted a review for Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure on my Examiner page, and I must say, this has been one of the best games on the Nintendo DS for 2009.

Yes, on the cover of Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure an old guy is standing above some crazy looking blocks, with a sword in one hand, and a cup of tea in the other. Whatever you're thinking at this point, I thought it too, trust me. But if you haven't played this game yet, let me be the first to tell you that you do not want to miss a great game like this.

Check out the full review for Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure.

Information copied from my Examiner.com page:

The good folks over at Joystiq.com have reminded the DS community that Personal Trainer: Walking will be hitting the stores next Tuesday, May 26. This next entry into the "fitness" genre hopes to help gamers and non-gamers alike have a little fun with exercising. This is one of the games that hasn't had too much press release or advertisements, so if you've never heard of it that's ok, let's break it down!

Exercise with the Nintendo DS
Personal Trainer: Walking comes with two pedometers that you can wirelessly connect to your Nintendo DS system! Check out your activity rhythm, or walking habits, and see if the duration, timing and number of steps are all the best they can be. The Activity Meter provides helpful comments on whether you achieved your target and will even compare your walking performance to an animal! Personal Trainer: Walking will also set you fun Mini Targets after your results have been checked. A digital Personal Trainer at your fingertips!

Product Description
Looking for a fun and helpful way to exercise? Personal Trainer Walking tracks users' progress and makes going for a walk a little more fun. It comes with two Activity Meters! Simply place the Activity Meter in your pocket or bag (or attach it to your belt with the included Activity Meter Clip Connector) and carry it around with you as you go about your daily routine. If the number of steps you've recorded in one day exceeds your daily step target, the light on the Activity Meter will change from red to green. You then transfer the data recorded by the Activity Meter to the Infrared Game Card. Once the data has been transferred, you can see the results on your Nintendo DS system and check your life rhythm! The Activity Meter will track your daily step count minute by minute, so you can take a look at any day and check your activity with a number of graphs. Up to five years of records can be saved on the calendar, giving you a clear portrait of your life rhythm over time—you can even write and save notes.

[Continue reading at Amazon.com]

Go ahead and get all of the jokes out of the way, but I think this is pretty cool. I use to carry around a pedometer at work(until my son hid it a few months ago), but I know a few of my co-workers use one every day. It was actually surprising, and fun, to see how many steps you could get in on a single day. Since I work as an IT specialist at UMBC, I'm constantly running around to different buildings and offices, and was amazed to see that I could land anywhere between 9,000-12,000 steps. I think my highest was around 20,000 steps - that was a crazy day.

Anyway, I really hope that this game/gadget takes off, as it's a shockingly fun way to get a little exercise in while you're at work. The one thing I think I will miss from the included pedometer is the LCD display, as I could check my numbers instantly with my other one. But at the same time, it's a great idea that you can transfer your data over to the DS and check your stats along with other info and charts. And hey, you get to attach your Mii to this game as well!

There's probably a good chance that I'll pick up Personal Trainer: Walking, and this is a good way to get another pedometer since my son has added my original one to his hidden treasures somewhere in the house.

Read more DS and PSP news, articles, and reviews on my Examiner.com page

Who can forget the good'ol Game Boy Advance? Many of us have lost hundreds of hours into this little bugger. Many of us still play GBA games on our Nintendo DS Phats and Lites. And many of us, including myself, have not picked up a DSi because of the omission of the GBA slot.

And although the DS is kicking every other consoles butt, it's nice to know that the Game Boy Advance hasn't fell off the face of the earth. Kotaku.com reports:

Ask yourself: when was the last time you saw a Game Boy Advance on a shelf? Or heard about a new Game Boy Advance game? Or even heard Nintendo mention the console, even in passing?

Exactly. Never. So, fearing for the health of the poor little guy, we contacted Nintendo to see whether the console had been quietly killed off in the middle of the night, its years of loyal service rewarded with naught but an unmarked grave somewhere outside Nintendo HQ.

Nintendo's response was a surprising one. Turns out the Game Boy Advance is not dead. Shipments of the console are still being made to distributors and retailers across the world, and last fiscal year, the GBA sold 420,000 units worldwide, with the vast majority of those sales being made in the Asian and developing markets.

It's really nice to see that this tried-and-true gaming system is still being supported and circulated by Nintendo. There are a ton of gamers out there who get pure joy out of playing GBA games, and don't really want or need a DS or DSi.

Check out more information on my Examiner page.

Joystiq.com has posted the tracklist of the upcoming Guitar Hero On Tour: Modern Hits game for the Nintendo DS:

• 12 Stones - "Adrenalin"
• AFI - "Miss Murder"
• Angels & Airwaves - "Call to Arms"
• Atreyu - "Falling Down"
• Black Tide - "Shockwave"
• Coldplay - "Violet Hill"
• Endeverafter - "I Wanna Be Your Man"
• Evanescence - "Sweet Sacrifice"
• Fall Out Boy - "This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race"
• Finger Eleven - "Paralyzer"
• Foo Fighters - "All My Life"
• Franz Ferdinand - "The Fallen"
• Kaiser Chiefs - "Ruby"
• Lenny Kravitz - "Where Are We Runnin'?"
• Modest Mouse - "Dashboard"
• Phantom Planet - "Do The Panic"
• Sum 41 - "Still Waiting"
• Tenacious D - "The Metal"
• The Bravery - "Unconditional"
• The Donnas - "What Do I Have to Do"
• The Duke Spirit - "Lassoo"
• The Fratellis - "Chelsea Dagger"
• The Kooks - "Always Where I Need to Be"
• The Offspring - "Half-Truism"
• The Strokes - "Reptilia"
• Weezer - "Everybody Get Dangerous"
• Wolfmother - "Dimension"
• Yellowcard - "Lights and Sounds"

Pocket-lint.com also mentions that only 3 of the 28 songs will not be master tracks from the original recordings. That's pretty impressive when you consider all of this will be packed into a Nintendo DS game.

Guitar Hero On Tour: Modern Hits will hit store shelves on June 9th, and will include the Guitar Grip add-on. It would be nice to see a stand-alone Guitar Hero On Tour: Modern Hits game without the Guitar Grip add-on, as many gamers (including myself) already own one from purchasing the previous games.

Related Articles:

• Nintendo DS tops the sales charts for April 2009
• The fight against Nintendo DS game copying and piracy
• Review - Puzzle Quest: Galactrix
• All Nintendo DS news and articles

IGN.com reports that a demo for the upcoming Nintendo DS SRPG game, Knights in the Nightmare, is available for download through the Nintendo Channel.

This is a great way for gamers and SRPG fans who have never heard of this game to get a taste of Knights in a Nightmare and what it's all about. Based off of Gamespots preview, this game could be a bit of a handful:

The role-playing games on the Nintendo DS just keep on coming, and next on the horizon is Knights in the Nightmare, from Sting, the maker of Yggdra Union. This game is in a class of its own, and if you thought Yggdra was confusing and a bit of a mess onscreen, you should be warned that Knights in the Nightmare looks like a disaster--at least until you've spent enough time poring over the never-ending tutorials so that you have a clue about how to proceed.

Check out my Examiner page for the full details regarding the demo and pre-order goodies for Nights in the Nightmare.

As reported on my Examiner page, Nintendo has released a chart that shows 26.1 million DS units have been sold in Japan. The chart then shows that those 26.1 million DS units equals out to 20% of the Japanese population owning a Nintendo DS. Those numbers mean that 1 out of every 5 Japanese people own a Nintendo DS. That's crazy.


Many of these DS units sold though are from gamers who upgrade DS systems, lets say a user who purchases a DS Phat then purchases the DS Lite. Or from those who owned one of the previously mentioned DS systems and gets the new DSi. Or even when a new color comes out or limited edition DS has been released.

Either way, the fact remains that enough DS units were sold in Japan that 1 in 5 of the Japanese population own a DS.

Visit my Examiner page for more information and discussions regarding the 26.1 million DS systems sold in Japan.

NIS America has announced that they will be bringing A Witch's Tale to the Nintendo DS later this fall. Check out my Examiner page to view the latest trailer for A Witch's Tale.

Nintendo has officially announced that the classic GBA games, Pokemon Gold and Silver, will be remade for the Nintendo DS for a fall release for Japanese gamers.

Read the full scoop regarding the Pokemon Gold and Silver announcement!

A great deal has been posted for Guitar Hero fans and DS owners/gamers. Both the game and the Guitar Hero peripheral are only $15.

Check out the deal for Guitar Hero: On Tour Nintendo DS bundle!

I picked up this bundle over last years Black Friday deals at Gamestop. If I hadn't picked it up already I would definitely jump on this deal. Portable Guitar Hero is fantastic!

This is one of those games that everyone who owns a Nintendo DS needs to check out. You basically take Maxwell (your character) through each level, solving a series of puzzles. But the catch is on how you solve the puzzles. You have to write down your solution on the bottom touch screen, and Maxwell will then be able to use whatever you wrote in order to solve the puzzle?

If the concept still seems a little cloudy, it's ok! Check out the trailer below and you'll see what it's all about!

View Trailer

For buyers that are still questioning whether they should get a new DSi or not, MSNBC has posted their 5 reasons why you may want to hold off.

Check out my Examiner page for the info!

Nintendo DS gamers will be treated to another casual cooking game like Cooking Mama, but this one will be aimed to the younger crowd.

Check out the trailer for Happy Bakery!

Alright Kingdom Hearts fans, this one is for you! A new trailer was released today of the upcoming Nintendo DS game Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days.

Click here to view the trailer!

Capcom released news today that the latest game in the Ace Attorney Series, Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth, will be coming to the States later this year.

That's great news for Ace Attorney fans! Seriously, if you haven't played any of the games, you will definitely have to add them to you "need to play" list. And I know we all have one of those.

A new trailer was released for the upcoming Ace Attorney game, so check it out!

Take that! View Trailer

Check out the roundup of this weeks latest video game releases across all consoles, handhelds, and the PC.

It appears that X-Men Origins: Wolverine will be the biggest hit, as the movie releases this weekend as well. Not sure if I will pick it up or not, but I'll definitely be seeing the movie. Personally I'm looking forward to one of the Nintendo DS releases this week!

Check out the full list right here.

For all of you Elite Beat Agent and Guitar Hero fans out there, a new rhythm and music game was just released in the form of Rhythm Heaven. It's an addictive, casual style, music game that is easy to pick up and play for anyone, anywhere.

Check out the review right here!