If there's one thing you have to love about Famitsu, is that they have great picture entries. Even if you can't understand a thing, you can survive on the visual goodness of pretty pictures. Neo2046 worked overtime on his scanner and put up some scans of upcoming Wii and DS titles from the popular Japanese gaming magazine.

So, what's on today's feast of Famitsu scans? In addition to scans of Sangokushi Taisen DS, Keroro Gunsou 2, and Dragon Quest Monsters - Joker, they've got a nice preview of some of the intriguing gameplay antics of Japanese (and Korean) Wii games. In other words, that means scans of Trauma Center: Second Opinon, Elebits, and the golfing MMO known as Pangya.

There are some things you should look out for though. For instance, why does the patient in Trauma Center have a half-formed pentagram? Did the player do that (SICK!)? Also, why in the world would you play golf in a bikini or snorkeling outfit? Oh, and why is one level of Elebits happening on a toilet? The mind boggles...

If you can handle more scanlicious goodness, click on "Full Article!"

Square Enix indulges us once more to new details about the Battle System of Monster Joker. A new system called Fence Plug (still unofficial English title) will be implemented in the game. How will Fence Plug help us gather up some monsters? Well, it will aide your battle through the already introduced combination system. The fence plug allows you which monsters you would like to place in your battle. There are basically four types of combinations that you can do. First is an attack combination wherein your group of monsters can make an attack. Next would be a defense combination which can aid you when you're against terribly strong people. The last two are HP and MP combinations which aide you in increasing either your HP or your MP.

The battle system also allows the player to manage his monsters. He can look at his stats and check if he needs some healing or some more experience. The fence plug system allows you to make fast switches and decisions when you need it the most. It's a versatile tool in those big pinch moments.

The last of their announcements was the scout and attack system that can be used in game. The Monster Master will use a scout ring to summon one of his monsters to switch to attack mode. When it is already the turn of the scout monster, he will begin his attack against the other monsters. His damage is dependent on his scout probability. If he has a high probability, then there's a greater likelihood for him to succeed in his attack.

Slimes are a staple of RPG games. Whether it be those blobs you have to kill in WoW's Un'goro Crater or Dragon Quest's beloved blue creature, there's almost no doubt that they will not go away.

Much like the monster taming minigame of the PS2's Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King, the upcoming Dragon Quest Monsters - Joker for the DS will work on the same basic idea. You'll find monsters, tame them, and use them to beat up other monsters to tame those guys. Or you could just take those enemies down to make your monsters stronger. Either way, something's going to die.

If you're Joker, however, you want to make sure that it's the enemy who dies, and not your monsters. Treat them well and buy them stuff, and combine them to make stronger monsters while commanding their every move. The funny thing is, you can even get your monsters to fight their own kind.

This gameplay video from TGS 2006 shows off even more Joker action, letting you see your slime fighting one of his brothers. One thing you'll notice at the very beginning is that the bottom screen for the DS will serve as your minimap and user interface, so that while the action happens on the top screen, you can easily switch into micromanagement mode just by looking down. In any case, enjoy the video, and watch out for them blobs!

Man, those French people get around. They've managed to take a lot of nice videos for different games at TGS 2006, and while each one tends to be short, they certainly are nice teasers for the real thing.

One of these trailers is for Square Enix's Dragon Quest Monsters - Joker, one of their spin-off games of the series for the DS. While you may not like the comparison, Dragon Ball + Pokemon do happen to come to mind, but with the flair that made Dragon Quest: Journey of the Cursed King such a popular game for the PS2. Of course, collecting and powering up monsters is actually fun once you can decimate your enemies with them, so the potential for sadistic experience gained through wholesale slaughter is always a crowd-pleaser.

This short clip from TGS doesn't show a whole lot of the gameplay itself, but from the giant screens, it certainly looks less like a DS game and more like a PS2 game (as absurd as that sounds).

Of course, that may just all be an optical illusion forced upon us by Akira Toriyama. In any case, watch the video, have fun with the pretty pictures, and start that petition for an American and European release for the game. Enjoy!

Download: [Dragon Quest Monsters - Joker TGS Video]

Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker is coming out soon in Japan and it should prove to be a hit. What you see above is the box art for the game. In Japan, Dragon Quest is the biggest franchise in the world of video games. The Monsters subcategory of the series is very much like Pokemon, which is another huge name in gaming. Obviously, this makes for a good combination!

DQM: Joker is set to come out on December 28th. As you can see, it uses the Nintendo WiFi Connection. Hopefully it'll allow users to battle monsters like in Pokemon Diamond and Pokemon Pearl. Square Enix hasn't talked much on how this feature will be used but we'll hopefully find out soon!

Unlike a lucky guy who was able to get a hands-on of the game, the only time we, mere mortals, could play Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker is when it comes out, which is December 28 for Japanese gamers. As for European and North American gamers, there isn't a word on when it will be hitting store shelves, sigh.

The game is the latest in the Dragon Quest Monsters franchise which has its share of similarities with the arguably more well-known Pokemon franchise. Basically, you won't get your hands dirty with warding off your enemies, you've got your monsters to do that. Your job will be making them fully prepared for various showdowns that your team will encounter. The preview we featured earlier will give you a full grasp of the game. For now, here are the screens.

 

Dragon Quest Monsters-Joker for the Nintendo DS is one of the more anticipated games this year. It was pretty obvious that Square-Enix is pumping more excitement on this one. So the commercial was great; but is the actual game just as engrossing? Some lucky guy at Gamespot was able to have a hands-on of the game at TGS, and we're here to give you guys some of the highlights of the article.

The writer noticed that there were two demo areas for the game: a booth for the single player, while the other was for the wireless two player mode. He explained that the single player mode was more like Pokemon, where you take on the role of a boy who wanted to be the best monster trainer in the world.

In order to do that, you'll have to find some monsters to train. This will mean going through different locales like cliffs, towns, dark caves, and such to find them. Once found, these monsters need to be defeated before you capture them. They can be trained and used for battles against in-game enemies or friends via wireless games.

Regarding the head to head game booth, the writer and a friend had a harder time figuring out the Japanese texts than using the controls. Eventually, they were able to guess which button creates the action they want, and was able to create a trio of monsters. They easily beat the other by just continually pushing the A button.

If Square-Enix was able to get Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime to the US, we hope that they'd be able to send this game on its way as well. The game will be out in Japan, December 28.

What a show stopper this TV spot for Square Enix's Dragon Quest Monsters:Joker is. It's like being a kid again. Watching a magic show, mouth agape in awe and amazement, but all the while trying to figure out how the trick was done.

The seamless transition of holographic images of gigantic monsters from one skyscraper facade to another, to the billboard that was playing the gameplay video, to the guy that was sitting on a bench actually playing the game, was a great way to represent the nature of an RPG game as well as the DS/DS Lite's portability.

Artist Akira Toriyama's (Chrono Trigger and Dragon Ball Z) images are as always a pleasure to look at. Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker is due out in Japan on December 28th 2006.

Download: [Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker TV Spot]