Let's face it: Tingle is weird. Whereas The Prince of all Cosmos is cute in a green body suit (lest we get absorbed into a ball of condensed gravity), an unemployed, goatee-sporting 35 year-old man in a green body suit, red bikini briefs and boots certainly isn't going to be a groundbreaking innovation in gaming.

Yet Tingle has a video game, and we do not, so he must be doing something right (or, at least, horribly wrong). Chris Kohler was *ehem* fortunate enough to get a copy of the Japanese Mogitate Tingle Bara Iro Rupee Land, or Tingle RPG for short, and according to him it's not all that bad, even if it does happen to be weird as heck.

Basically, this game is all about money. You're an unemployed bum, in said body suit, who's given a chance to go to Rupee Land (a land of beautiful women, food aplenty, and weird people) if you can offer up enough money to Old Man Rupee, you can go there too. You have no HP Bar, and instead your survivability is determined by how much cash you have which, in turn is acquired by trading things or killing stuff.

This is where the game gets weird, though, because the gameplay doesn't follow standard RPG conventions.

Unlike most games where you have a specified price in buying or selling an item, this one is more or less like bidding. "You have to use a little calculator, on the touch screen, to make people an offer," says Kohler. "If you lowball people, they'll take your money - then not give you anything. But if you go too high, you waste your cash."

Battles also happen to be less of strategy and more of mad tapping. The faster you tap the point of battle, the less rupees you lose from the fight since you don't get beat up as much. This game has a one-track mind in its approach to the story, but the fact that it might take more strategy to make money without fighting than by hacking through everything is very business-sim like.

Except Donald Trump doesn't wear a green body suit, red tights, and boots.

There's supposed to be a lot of Zelda references in this game, so while it isn't Zelda, it's certainly going to have some kind of visual flair akin to it. Keep checking here for more info on the Tingle RPG as it comes.

New screens of this very unique looking RPG from Nintendo have just arrived. You might recognize Tingle RPG's main character from the Zelda series, where he was often featured. This game however, takes a more light approach and will have players earn rupees as Tingle. If Tingle throws rupees in a spring, he will eventually be taken to the dream paradise of "Rupee Land".

The gameplay is all about keeping a balanced income, and minimizing your expenses. What sounds very dull on paper could end up as an enjoyable trip with Tingle RPG's colorful and creative art direction.

Unfortunately, Nintendo hasn't announced an US release date for the game (yet).

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

Famitsu has more screenshots of some of the most anticipated games for the DS. We've got scans for you to look at here. No real information is found, but clicking the scans will give you a good look at how the upcoming games will be. 

Mario Hoops 3-on-3 is in development by Square Enix and should see a release later this year. A North American release should follow closely after the Japanese release. It is one of the most graphically promising games on the DS.

Starfox Command sees a new model for Fox for some reason. It'll be trying to recapture the audience that games like Star Fox Adventures and Star Fox: Assault turned off. It will also be released later this year.

SNK vs Capcom Card Fighter DS is the highly anticipated title from SNK. It is the last title that will be made using the SNK and Capcom contract from years back. If we ever want to see another one of these, we'll need to hope they work another agreement out.

A Fresh Tingle's Rose-Colored Rupee Land is just the greatest title in the history of entertainment - what more do you want?

Japanese DS magazine, Nintendo Dream, have published details and pictures for 12 forthcoming DS games. The scans below show off the game's details, however they are in Japanese. They are definitely worth a look just for the screenshots, game graphics and art.

Bomberman Land DS:

Brave Story DS:

There's 10 more games covered in the Full Article, check it out!