Nintendo’s recent interest in coming to India is certainly an odd creature. Their competitors Microsoft and Sony already have themselves grounded much before anyone even uttered to think what it would be like if the big N decided to join the fray. And even then, when you consider the console market in India isn’t all that big to begin with, plus the reports of global Wii shortages this coming holiday season, and least we forget the rampant piracy scene that our country is known for – Nintendo’s decision to come to India, to reiterate, seems awfully strange. Almost strange enough to have us think, “Why even bother?”

Despite whatever concoctions may arise (whether it’s yours or mine), there’s one thing Nintendo’s official distributor Samurai-India is sure of: Nintendo is happy to be in India. Granted, we may have missed out on a few generations of monumental games hither and thither (barring the Virtual Boy, natch), but what’s important is now. Besides, hello? Virtual Console? Samurai’s head-honcho Mahesh Toshniwal also reflects upon this by bringing up the pricing choice made for the Wii and DS:

In view of [the] very high taxes in India -34% import duty/ 2% CST/ 12.5 % VAT - the price is justified. In fact, it is very difficult to maintain this price as it was calculated and fixed at a dollar-rupee exchange of RS 42.00. Today the exchange stands at 45.5.

Be sure to check out Sam’s full interview with Mahesh on the availability of first-party software and accessories.

For all those who have been lamenting about the non-availability of Nintendo Wii in India, well, here is some good news. After a couple of false starts and rumors, we can confirm that the Wii is about to be officially launched in India! Making the news even more sweeter is the fact that even the DS will be launched in tandem with the Wii!!

Samurai-India, in partnership with HCL, will be officially launching the Wii and DS on 30th September 2008. In fact, they have already unofficially started supplying the consoles to all the major electronic chains and it’s only a matter of time before we start seeing them on the store shelves. The Nintendo Wii will be priced at INR 19,990 while the Nintendo DS will be available for INR 7,990.

Samurai-India’s website is still under construction but the presence of Nintendo in the URL is more then enough to tell us that we are on the right trail. Keep watching this space as more and more information trickles in.

Editors Note: Our friends over at GamingIndians have some more interesting insight on the impending release of the two consoles. Do have a look.

Update: Samurai-India’s website is now live.

We’re still waiting for Forever, but here’s some relief to soothe the pain and eternal anguish we’ve been enduring as we wait for the King of Kick-Ass and Smutty Babes to return. After having been long forgotten, Apogee Software is all set to worm their way back into gaming by reviving a legacy catalog of over 30 titles, as well as working with new developers to create what we assume will be new IPs.

And what better way to kick start the whole thing than with Duke himself? And at E3 2008! According to Apogee’s Terry Nagy and Scott Miller, the company, working with 3D Realms and MachineWorks Northwest LLC, will be producing the Duke Nukem Trilogy for release on the PSP and the DS, comprised of three new missions - Critical Mass, Chain Reaction and Proving Grounds.

The episodes will be released sequentially, with the first one appearing sometime in Summer 2009, and according to the massive feature list on the Apogee website, will include:

• 9 Different World Locations
• 36 Action-Packed Levels
• 3D Accelerated Graphics
• 3D Characters with Detailed Textures
• Real-Time Particle and Lighting Effects
• Multi-Mode Play with up to 5 Different Styles of Game Play Action
• Multi-Player Action
• Total Ass-Kicking Weapons

Frankly, as long as we can carry Mr. Arnold Toilet Mouth around on our handheld and squish alien piggy cops, we’re happy. Of course, if you don’t own a PSP or a DS, you could rather just wait for DNF to show up. And wait. And wait…

Shortly after its official announcement, Square Enix has gone ahead and shown off the first trailer to Chrono Trigger for the Nintendo DS. What have we learned so far? Well, let’s see. Akira Toriyama’s idenitfiable art style? Check. Yasunori Mitsuda’s memorable MIDI compositions? Also check. The Super NES quality-gaming grace we’ve come to know and love? A big red-marker colored check there. Assuredly, it doesn’t look all too different from its original iteration, but who cares? Time traveling, a fantastic battle-system, more than 12 unique endings, metal joints and silver points! If you don’t already own a DS, here’s Reason Number “A Billion and One” on why you should. If you have DS, buy another anyway and give it to your house pet.

Also, food for thought. What if Squenix decides to finally bring back Singing Mountain or Zeal Dungeon from the early prototype days as part of the newly planned content? Maybe even localise and pack in Radical Dreamers, while they’re at?

We, at The Angry Pixel, like to believe that we are pretty weird, but in a good way, though many might not agree with the “good” part. So we are always on the lookout for stuff that compliments our image. A normal search on the good ol’ Google always throws up some really crazy and weird stuff all the time. But sometimes, we stumble across something that makes even us go, “WTF!”!

While looking around on Google for some weird gaming peripherals, the search results regurgitated this piece of gaming goodness that has us scratching our heads (for a change!) that such masterpieces do truly exist in the gaming world. So presenting before you, our very first Weird Game Of The Week, Namco’s Chizu Saeki’s Dream Skin Care for the Nintendo DS.

The guys behind the game probably do not have a high opinion about the age-old adage that beauty is only skin deep. So they have come out with a game that will afford the gamers a chance to get all the goodness a beauty parlor has to offer, right on their couch, with their DS. Feed in your Basal Body Temperature (huh?!), weight, your living conditions, your skin type and even your menstrual cycle and it will chart out a beauty regime for you. Give it the details about the time period as in maybe a friend’s marriage date and it will spit out the skin care tips and cooking recipes that will ensure that you are the envy of all on the D-day. The game also includes 34 hour long videos that you can go through at your own pace to get an even more in-depth look.

While we are all game for innovative titles, this one is probably something of an overkill. We wonder how many copies this game has managed to sell considering there is really not much of it on the World Wide Web, and that’s saying something. If you are not on The Net, you do not exist for all practical purposes. We, at TAP, have crossed our fingers least we get to see a, God forbid, How To Conceive A Baby soon. Thank you Nintendo, but if we want to know, we will find it out the good ol’ way.

P.S. If you have been wondering who the guy in the picture is, it’s our Associate Editor, Reggie. I told you! We ARE weird!!

Ever since Team Ninja’s Tomonobu Itagaki decided to resurrect the Ninja Gaiden franchise, Ryu Hayabusa has risen to fame as the greatest action hero in gaming. Making the transition from the calm seas of 2-D to the vicious 3-D waters was never going to be easy, but Itagaki’s sunglass powered foresight made it happen. It is still a mystery why Itagaki-san bet his chips on Ninja Gaiden instead of making some sort of X-Men game…he is the Japanese cyclops after all (never wondered what was behind those glasses?)

Two remakes later (Black and Sigma), we will finally witness a new chapter in Ryu’s saga until Ninja Gaiden 2 hits the Xbox 360 sometime next year. And who would have thought that the graphically intense, action-heavy, extremely mature Ninja Gaiden will see its next chapter unfold on the Nintendo DS? Doubts fogged my mind as a Ninja Gaiden on the DS seemed almost next to impossible (unless it was another cheap 2-D rendition, that’s what all the other devs do, don’t they…the lazy bastards). But here I am, with an early build of Ninja Gaiden DS tucked neatly in my DSLite. So lets take this Ninja Dog out for a stroll and find out if it only barks or bites as well?

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Forget chopping veggies in Cooking Mama, how about actually learning to make yourself a Manhattan drink? Maybe a Daiquiri or a Jack Rose? Bartender DS will teach you all the proper mannerisms of mixing roughly 850 high-quality liquored recipes to even the types of glasses you’ll want to pour them in. Anything to get your cocktail on after a long day’s work of checking out customers at the Reliance Fresh cashier. Not that I’m trying to single anyone out here in particular.

Currently only seeing a release in Japan, you’ll have some nagging to do before EA decides to localize this anytime soon.

Source: 4cr