Good news for Nintendo DS owners, as two good DS games have finally gone on sale over at retail store Circuit City. Now going for an affordable US$ 13.99, it won't hurt so much now to give away Cooking Mama and Big Brain Academy as presents for someone whose birthday is coming up, or for your little brother who has been asking for them for months now. So, for less than twenty dollars including shipping, go ahead and make a friend happy, and get them another game for their DS.

Cooking Mama is an adorably cute cooking simulation game that was published by Majesco Entertainment and released in the U.S. in September last year. Meanwhile, Big Brain Academy is a game that falls under the edutainment category. It was developed by Nintendo and released in June last year. The game tests the player's capacity when it comes to logic, memorization, analysis, computation, and visual identification.

   

Publisher 505 Games today have given European gamers a lifeline by announcing the release date for Cooking Mama on their shores. Cooking Mama is a new innovative cooking simulation game for the DS that fans have already been wildly anticipating over since its successful launch in Japan and America, including sell-outs in many North American game stores. Cooking Mama will be placing a chef's hat and a pinny over European gamers in December 2006 for a Christmas release.

In Cooking Mama, players get to play as a superstar chef in training, but of course you'll have someone to teach you the ropes. Under the watchful eye of Mama’s careful tuition, players get to utilise the full functionality of Nintendo’s handheld system in order to prepare and create over 70 (yes, 7-0) delicious dishes. You won't get bored making burgers and fries all the time either, as the gigantic menu includes just about everything from making simple snacks such as fried eggs, to full cordon bleu-style culinary masterpieces.

Those in the US may be thinking that their Cooking Mama fun is all over now that it has been released in the US, but if you've yet to purchase the title then maybe these screenshots straight from Taito and 505 games today will tempt you - and yes, they're in English! Let's just hope that European gamer's tastebuds can hold out till December.

Find the gallery of Cooking Mama screenshots after the jump!

G'day, mates! Ol' St. Nicky will be coming around in a few short months, and if you're reading us from Oz, then we here at QJ will be glad to help you with your Chrissie wish lists! It's no big, as we say back here; we do this courtesy of your fellows over at PAL Gaming Network Australia who've compiled this list. After all, the Pacific should never be a barrier to people who share the passion for gaming.

All dates are subject to change if their respective game publishers decide to change them, though (it's happened before, right?). Stay tuned to QJ for any new updates to this list as we find them.

September 2006:
21: Starfox Command, Joytech Accessories
28: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Blue Rescue Team
30: Disney's Little Mermaid Ariel's Undersea Adventure, Disney's American Dragon: Jake Long, Age of Empires 2: The Age Of Kings

October 2006:
  5: FIFA 2007
19: Break'em All
22: Crazy Frog Racer
23: Top Gear Downforce
25: Tony Hawk Downhill Jam
26: Clubhouse Games, Mario Hoops 3 on 3, Ys Strategy, Surge Hive, New Zealand Story, The Sims 2: Pets
31: Lunar Knights, Eragon, Justice League Heroes, Tomb Raider: Legend, Arthur and the Minimoys, Bionicle: Heroes, Tom and Jerry Tales

November and onwards at the full article (click on the Full Article link below)!

Ben Kuchera over at Opposable Thumbs has it right: for $20 and a chance to make virtual food, Cooking Mama is a great deal. But he can't find it. His quest to get a copy:

• He went to a game store that had only two copies. They were sold out.
• The next one could hardly cover their pre-orders.
• The third one had a copy. But it was being tried out by an employee. So it wasn't available yet.
• At EB (Gamestop), the game is back-ordered and none of the stores in Ben's area were expecting any more copies.
• Best Buy is sold out.
• Circuit City hasn't heard of the game.

He brought up an interesting point: he hasn't seen a review. This game is "one of the quietest cult hits."

What's our take on this? It looks like game vendors underestimated the demand for this game. And why should they have expected people to look for it? It has no violence (except for boiling things, I suppose). There are no bombs, rockets, or huge explosions (the pot gently simmers most of the time). And Mama is fully clothed. Yet the gameplay and premise of the game has made it something to look for, and the use of the two screens is clever. In other words, if you liked WarioWare, you'll like this game. If you can find it.

Buy (if you can find it!): [Cooking Mama]

Game releases for this week is said to be one of the biggest ever for the United States, with a whopping 46 new titles for various consoles. NDS players will have a lot to choose from this week, whether it be from popular franchises such as Mario Hoops 3-on-3 and Mega Man ZX, to the more original and new Cooking Mama and Harvest Moon.

Available for all platforms this week is LEGO Star Wars II, one of the most anticipated games since its prequel. LEGO Star Wars II will feature similar gameplay to that of its prequel, and of course, will allow gamers to mix and match the heads and bodies of  their beloved Star Wars characters. Below is the complete list of DS games to be released this week:

- Cooking Mama
- Harvest Moon DS
- LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy
- Mario Hoops 3-On-3
- MechAssault: Phantom War
- Mega Man ZX

Pick a recipe and start cooking. Can you imagine a DS game with such simple game instructions? Cooking Mama on the DS is one of those inexpensive, fun, and plotless mini-games that remind us of Trauma Center, except that the latter has incorporated doctor drama. Cooking Mama has 76 different meals to make, along with a stunning variety of cuisines.

In this Majesco game, Mama rates your cooking using bronze, silver, and gold medals (or a straight up “fail”). Mama then gives a final score from zero to 100 and an overall medal. The only plot in the game is when you cook a new recipe that upon completion unlocks a new meal more complex than the first one. For example, hard boiled eggs unlock sunny side up eggs, then an omelette, and finally “crab and egg Chinese style.” You can also get interrupted in the middle of a recipe to make a variant version of the meal.

Cooking Mama will be released on September 12 and retails at $20. With the bright graphics that create a cartoony cooking world and realistic food, Cooking Mama may just lure you into the tasty culinary challenge despite the lack of real storyline. Yum!

Who thought that a cooking game would ever actually sound so fun? Well, with Cooking Mama, not only do you get to practice and prove your culinary skills, but it may actually be possible to even learn a thing or two.

Cooking Mama is a game for the Nintendo DS. Using your stylus, you can prepare meals under the watchful eye of Mama. Stir, fry, dip, chop, mince, grate, peel, and slice your way to mouthwatering goodness, all with your handy-dandy stylus. Being a fan of Japanese bento (boxed lunches), this is one game that I would like to try myself. Judging from the latest batch of screenshots, it seems that this game actually allows the player to try actual cooking methods that are commonly used by Japanese housewife.

And the best part about this game? You won't have to worry about getting burned, ruining your ingredients or getting splattered with oil. The bad part? You can't eat what you make in case it does turn out to be good, and you might end up having to run to the nearest Japanese restaurant out of the sheer craving that this game could induce.

More Cooking Mama screens after the jump!

If you can't stand the heat, get out the kitchen they say. Yeah, get out of the kitchen and turn on Cooking Mama on your Nintendo DS. This cooking game uses the DS touchscreen and lets you whip up meals as a female chef. It starts with slicing and dicing vegetables and meat and cooking it on the stove. The stylus doubles as master kitchen tool to chop, slice, pan fry, knead, grate, mash, peel and more. With the touchscreen, you can shake the skillet for an omelet and dip tempura in the oil. And thanks to the DS wireless link, you can share your award-winning recipes with up to 4 other people.

Cooking Mama is the most you can have without putting on an apron, crying over an onion or scalding yourself (you can cool food down by blowing into the Nintendo DS microphone). The game features include:

• Create 76 different, real world dishes from fried eggs to cabbage meat rolls! By mastering the first 15 recipes you can unlock 61 increasingly complex bonus recipes to expand your skills in the kitchen.
• The stylus is your master kitchen tool! Use it in more than 200 mini-games to chop, slice, pan fry, knead, grate, mash, tenderize, mix, peel, carve, roll and more. Once your dish is ready, you can even use the stylus to prepare the final layout of your meal.
• Cool food down by blowing into the Nintendo DS microphone
• Combine recipes to create more advanced dishes
• Share recipes with up to 4 other people or transfer a saved game to a friend via the DS wireless link
• Earn bronze, silver and gold medals based on the quality of your cooking
• Practice mode lets you fine tune your cooking skills without being judged

Download: [Cooking Mama (DS) Game Trailer]

Majesco given out a press release outlining what games they will be showcasing next week at E3. One of the additions is a game we thought we'd never see outside of Japan, Cooking Mama. Keep reading for the games.

Guilty Gear Judgement (PSP)
Guilty Gear Judgement will be a two-in-one game. The UMD will contain both Guilty Gear X2 #Reload and a new side-scrolling adventure game. The Guilty Gear series is well known as one of the deepest fighting series' on the market.

MechAssault: Phantom War (DS)
Based on the best-selling game for the Xbox, MechAssault: Phantom War will let you use over 20 vehicles with fully upgradeable weapons. The game is a third person shooter in a sci-fi setting.

Monster Bomber (DS)
In Monster Bomber DS you will use the touchscreen to fling coloured balls upwards to bomb monsters. If the monsters reach you, you lose.

Cooking Mama (DS)
Cooking Mama is a quirky Japanese title in which you... cook. There are over 76 recipes to make in the game by using your stylus to chop, slice, dice, etc. You can even exchange recipes with other people by linking up with them. Could this be the next Trauma Center?