Dokapon franchise’s entry to the North American market came via last year’s Dokapon Kingdom for the Wii and PS2. It was received well by RPG gamers. This must be the reason why Atlus decided to release Dokapon Journey for the DS.

Dokapon Journey arrived in North American shores one year after it came out in Japan. It has more strategies and RPG gameplay than Kingdom. The more battles you get into, the more experience you’ll get. The player must also liberate cities and collect items that can help him along the way.

The battle system of Dokapon Journey is turn based. Players get to choose among four actions – M Guard, Counter, Defend, or Give Up. There are lots of tactics and strategy one can do within the game. You can save other players by defeating the monster or KO them out of the battle to steal the victory for yourself.

But what it lacks is in the graphics department. The game looks like it was made for the GBA. Animation is limited. It looks too simple and low budget. It reminds me of the first Advance Wars. Dokapon Journey is something for those who loved Dokapon Kingdom on the Wii. At least they can bring the game wherever they want to. But if you’re new to the game, then I suggest you try out the Kingdom on the Wii or PS2 first.

Good music, wealthy publisher, new toys, slow gain and early birds in this week’s Nintendo News roundup.

Guitar Hero On Tour: Modern Hits Interview
The IGN staff interviewed the president of Vicarious Visions and asked him about the latest Guitar Hero on Tour version. Modern Rock has songs from the last five to seven years, which includes Fall Out Boy, Lenny Kravitz and Weezer.

Ubisoft sales hit $1.5B, Splinter Cell Conviction due by April ‘10
Even with the global recession Ubisoft manage to hit the $1.5B marker with its sales. Its CEO boasted that his company’s margins are among the best in the gaming industry.

Nintendo DSi unboxing gallery
Now this is something new. A brand new DSi is taken out of its box and photographed. What’s the point in all this? Nothing. Check out their other unboxed gadgets.

Local Wii sales pass 500000
South Korea that is. Finally the Wii has sold half a million units since it was launched over a year ago. Compare that to the DS Lite, which already sold 2.5M units since it was launched last January. I guess Koreans can’t stop their PC gaming habits just yet.

“X-Men Origins: Wolverine” adaptation cuts up consoles
This game is supposed to be released today but there are a couple of gamers that have gotten their copies already from some retail stores. It looks like some stores sold before the official release date.

Tomodachi Collection (Friend Collection) might be a Sims clone but it does have some features that it can call its own. In this Nintendo Mii game for the DS, players start off by creating a Mii that will live on an island with other Miis. There you must interact, make friends and enemies, and form relationships.

You can also add characters to represent your friends and family members with different stats to match their personalities. You must feed your Miis, play with them, and give them advice. The game features a TV channel that shows the news twice a day.

EA Tomodachi Collection does sound like a Sims wannabe from Nintendo. These rumors have been floating since October of last year but there is no concrete news yet about its gameplay but it will be released on June 18 in Japan. More on this once I get my hand on the game.

Nintendo sure knows how to treat moms all over the world. Just in time for Mother’s Day, Nintendo will be releasing a lime green DS Lite bundle. The special edition bundle comes with a uniquely designed case and the Personal Trainer: Cooking game. If you’re thinking of buying this one, you still have a week before its May 3 release. Your mom will really appreciate this rare gift. just remember to add some DS Lite R4 games in the mix.

Jeri Ellsworth proved that modding is not just a boy thing. She knew how girls love their bag and she made one that female gamers will surely want to have. The NES Purse has a built-in LCD screen with two NES controllers attached to it with Velcro. This is a portable gaming console that you can put your things in as well. Isn’t that cool?

Here are photos of the NES Purse.

Source: Flickr

Third party, new game versions, spies, rave reviews, and family friendly music experience in this week’s Nintendo news roundup.

Nintendo’s big challenge: letting others win
Nintendo wants third party publishers to make good games for the Wii and DS. The company enjoyed success with the consoles and games but they want others to join in the fun. That’s brave of Nintendo to encourage others to strive to be number one.

Free Running Leaps Onto Wii, DS and PC
Reef Entertainment will be making Free Running games for the Wii and DS. The Wii version will be using the Wii remote to make the experience unique.

MySims Agents spy on Wii, DS
Players will be spies in the latest MySims game called MySims Agents. The Wii and DS versions will have similar themes but the gameplays will be different from one another.

Nintendo Wii Review: Animal Crossing: City Folk
The reviewer stated that Animal Crossing appeals to both new and core gamers. It offers plenty to see and do. The bad side he of the game is that it doesn’t use the Wii’s control very well.

Rock Band Goes LEGO
Young players can now be rockers with LEGO Rock Band. The game will be available in various consoles, including the DS and the Wii. It will combine the fun of the LEGO games with Rock Band’s best selling gameplay.

DJ wannabes can now show their skills off with the DS with Deep Silver’s DJ Star. The game is said to be released in Europe and Australia later this year. There’s no word yet if it will be released in North America.

The player starts as a novice DJ honing his skills to the beat of 40 songs. Because this is a music game, the track list will be a big factor for its success. There’s no official word yet on the songs included in the game. I’ll keep you posted as soon I get news on this one.

As for the gameplay, you’ll be using the Touch Screen to scratch in real time. If you’re tired of scratching, DJ Star features mini-games as well. Plus it has a creation studio where players can make and save their masterpieces. Players can share their music through the DS wireless network.

Apple’s iPhone is fast becoming a portable gaming console and the traditional gaming console manufacturers are already feeling it encroaching into their territory. Nintendo might still have the edge with their DS but the iPhone is becoming the portable device of choice.

Reggie Fils-Aime, head of Nintendo North America has stated that his company is intrigued with the iPhone as a gaming device but readily dismissed its App Store. He continued by saying a store with 10,000 apps doesn’t not necessarily mean that consumers are getting quality and innovative entertainment.

Even Nintendo President Satoru Iwata is not moved by this development. He stated that mobile phone games have been around for years but Nintendo still managed to be the leader in portable gaming. He has the figures to back this up. There are around 563,000 DS units sold in March alone.

Nintendo does have the stronger handheld gaming device for now but we might see better games for the iPhone in the future. Nintendo better watch out.

Last month’s sales report is out and it showed that video games didn’t do well in March. It dropped 17 percent. This is according to the reports made by the NPD Group. But compared to last year’s numbers, this year’s numbers are even with 2008. This is still good news for the video game industry as the world is suffering from global recession.

The video game software sales are down but the gaming consoles have a 1% increase. The Nintendo Wii is still the best seller with the Xbox 360 in second place. One year ago, Super Smash Bros Brawl was selling like hotcakes. This has greatly affected the March 2008 sales.

Hopefully this month’s sales will see a big bump, especially with the release of the DSi. Though initially reports show that the DSi is not doing that well. It can’t seem to attract iPhone’s market yet. Then there’s the case of mature games that doesn’t seem to do well as well. You can read about it from my previous article.

It was bold for Take-Two to bring their Gran Theft Auto franchise to the DS. It is their thinking that the casual gamers would readily accept Chinatown Wars while the hardcore gamers will migrate to the DS because of it. Obviously that’s not what happened.

An expert pointed out that no even all the hype Chinatown Wars has gotten, it still underperformed with 89,000 units sold since it was launched last month. It’s not the publisher’s fault at all. I have the game I really loved it. It’s just that the demographics are really against them. Majority of DS users are either too young for the mature rating or they’re against games like GTA.

Madworld, another mature game made for a Nintendo console, also performed poorly during its first month. It sold 66,000 units in the U.S. But this is already a given for mature games for Nintendo consoles. They might not be lighting up the game charts but there is still a market for M games on the Wii and DS. Hopefully the publishers and game developers are not discouraged by this.