Fans of pick-up-and-play games on the go should be pleased with this new homebrew game for the DS. Homebrew developer Christophe Andreani created Pyin-Pyang, a unique twist to the classic Pong game in which the same controller (in the DS's case, the same handheld) to play the two-player Pong.

The control scheme is fairly simplistic but unique: Player 1 uses the D-pad buttons, while Player 2 uses the A, B, X, Y keys of the same DS. There's no Wifi mode for multiplayer, and oddly there is also no option to play against the computer. Rules can be found in the Help section in the homebrew

Andreani's homebrew comes in the three popular DS formats, .nds, .gba, and .sc.nds, all of which are included in the download link below. Enjoy!

Download: Pyin-Pyang v1.0

Bless my stylus! Christ (short for Christophe Andreani) is back! And he's sending us love with an update for AMAP4DS - an update which builds on its previous Open Source release.

The AMAP4DS Open Source has been bumped up to v3.2. One of the biggest updates here is that it can now run on R4 and has resolved touchscreen issues. Now you can upload and display your very own maps without hitch (given that you read the tutorial, that is)!

Christ also sends word (via PAlib) that all of his maps from now on will be released on top of the v3.2, while all previous v3.1 maps would be converted (Christ, bless him) sometime soon.

Enjoy the download, and while you're at it, send him your regards on his website as linked below. And if you want to go the extra mile, you even might want to contribute your very own maps as well.

Download: AMAP4DS v3.2 Open Source

If you're like this writer here who has an awful (or bordering to none) sense of direction, you might wanna seek the help of Christ. Not only will he show you the way, he'll even guide you to the right direction -- with just a few touches and strokes.

Lest I be accused of blasphemy, let's clear a few things up: Christophe Andreani (or Christ) is THE Christ we're talking about here. And this Christ shows that one need not be crucified to lead the people to the right path, all ya gotta do is show them the way through...maps.

His map-viewing homebrew app called AMAP4DS literally shows us the way...through subways, cities, and metros all over the globe. We already brought you guys AMAP4DS v3.1, which even included the source code for the app.

So just in case Christ wasn't able to cover some locations you need to get to (he's not "everywhere" after all, eh?), you can add your own maps and use your DS to view them. Good news though, Christ has just added five more maps for your viewing pleasure, so just in case you find yourself in Switzerland, Sweden, or Japan, these new maps might prove to be very useful to you:

• Geneve transport
• Stockholm Subway
• Yokohama Subway
• Zurich S Bahn
• Zurich Tram
  

And just in case you've forgotten how to use it, here's the control system to refresh your memory:

• Scroll the map => Stylus or Pad
• Zoom "+" => "Plus" icons, or Space between the two "Plus" icons, or Zoom indicators top, or "A", or "X", or "L"+Pad.Up button
• Zoom "-" => "Minus" icons, or Space between the two "Minus" icons, or Zoom indicators bottom, or "Y", or "B", or "L"+Pad.Down button
• Setting distance between the two screens (screen space) => "Black box" icon, or "SELECT" button (not available in the lowest zoom level)
• Show credits => "?" icon, or "START" button
  

Download: [5 New Maps for AMAP4DS v3.1]

Open your arms wide and welcome Christ's love, er, Christophe Andreani's that is! (Yes, his nickname really is "Christ.") Double kudos to him because he's just released the Open Source for his AMAP4DS. The long and short of it is this: you can finally manually load your very own maps into his map-viewer homebrew application.

All you need to do is to download the .zip file below and extract its contents. Before you start developing your map, take a look at the readme. The process of uploading your own map gets kinda tricky, especially if you're not familiar with some computer science concepts and a bit of graphic design (of course, you want your map to look good, right?). The readme is well-written, and Christ takes us every step of the way in the tutorial.

We were just thinking, once you're done, why not share your own maps with the rest of the homebrew community? Eventually, maybe we can all build one big package that contains maps for a different countries or something. The more people share their maps, the faster the database grows! Savvy?

Download: [AMAP4DS Open Source]

Feeling lost? Don't worry, Christ will help you find the way. We're not trying to be religious here or anything, but really, he will guide you to the right path...to subways, cities, and metros, that is.

What are we talking about exactly? Well, if you've been keeping yourself updated on our DS blog, you might've come across Christ's (a.k.a. Christophe Andreani) map viewer application, AMAP4DS. And now, he has released four new maps that can be zoomed in for up to five levels to add to your navigation needs:

• New York Subway
• Paris Metro
• Paris - RER
• Salzburg (Austria) S-Bahn

As we've mentioned in an earlier article, most of you guys have been commenting and asking for maps for certain areas that Christ still hasn't covered. And since Christ is not as all-mighty and powerful as THE Christ, he might not be able to answer each and every request and make the maps you want. So...he's decided to release the source code (very soon) so you can add your own graphics, compile and generate your own .nds files, and add your own maps.

Controls:

• New zoom command: Keep "L" button pressed + Pad.Down => Zoom "-"
• New zoom command: Keep "L" button pressed + Pad.Up => Zoom "+"
• Scroll the map using right hand Stylus
• optional: Zoom the map using "L" + left hand Pad up/Down, this way, AMAP4DS can now be used in the same way by left-handed or right-handed people.

Download: [AMAP4DS new maps]

According to Blind Melon (and much recently Jack Johnson also), in that one song of theirs, "Three... Oh, three... it's a magic number..." And truly, Christophe Andreani knows this well. Because AMAP4DS version three has three new maps. He's also increased the zoom level and it's now up to five. There's a larger map resolution now and it goes up to 1536x1536 pixels.

Three new maps:

• AMAP4DS-Paris-Bus (France)
• AMAP4DS-Osaka-Subway (Japan)
• AMAP4DS-Munich-U-Bahn (Germany).

For those of you not familiar with this application, you can take a look at the readme for more info, or click here to check out the controls.

Now we've been getting lots of comments asking him to add a feature to upload maps of your own into his application. For those of you who are curious, there's some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that he doesn't seem to have plans (as of yet) to incorporate the manual map-uploading feature. However... The good news is that he's going to be releasing the source code really soon. And you know what that means: you guys can go on a tweaking spree to add your own maps!

Download: [AMAP4DS v3.0]

It's another bright sunny day in the city, and do you know where you're going? More importantly, do you know how to get there? Leave it to Christ (that's short for Christophe Andreani) to show you the way! He's expanded his AMAP4DS v2.1 homebrew with seven new maps. And to make it easier for you, we've compiled all of the maps into one neatly zipped folder. Now there's no excuse for any of your sheep to go astray.

The new maps in the pack are:

• Barcelona Metro
• Guangzhou Metro
• Madrid Metro
• Marseilles Metro
• Montreal Metro
• Kuala Lumpur LRT
• New York Subway

He's expanding his map database faster than your you can say "Are we there yet?" At the rate that he's going, he just might even post a map for the Gobi desert or the Amazon! Ha! We kid. We love you, Jesus Christ! Keep up the good work!

Download: [AMAP4DS v2.1 Map Expansion Pack]

Christophe Andreani dishes out another update for AMAP4DS v2.0. This time around, it comes with major updates that include larger maps, one more zoom level using "thumbnail", centered zooms, variable speed scrolling, and economy mode allowing to close the DS without switching it off. Christ has included a map of the Paris metro, among others, in the past version. But today, AMAP4DS v2.0 includes four new maps for Tokyo Metro (2), Toronto Subway, and Beijing Subway, which you can download here.

AMAP4DS v2.0 also includes new changes on other aspects:

• The debug-mode has been removed for better reliablility
• The unused PA_OutputText() functions have been removed
• The "A" button does a Zoom "+", the "Y" button does a Zoom "-"

For the meantime, due to DS technical limitations, it is not possible to load your own maps into AMAP4DS. We've heard that some of you guys are actually wondering if some maps can be incorporated by Christ in his future updates. Sho'nuff, Christ accepts your suggestions, just e-mail him at christophe@andreani.net.

Download: [AMAP4DS v2.1]

For anyone who wants to backpack through Paris, or who actually lives there right now, it would be a great time to bring your DS along. An enterprising new programmer by the name of Christophe Andreani has created a working map of Paris, France for your Nintendo handheld. Better yet, it even works with the stylus.

His work, Metro-Paris v1.0, is simply what it is. It's a map that's been scrunched down and placed into the DS, and also has functions for zooming in and scrolling the map. His directions are as follow:

"You can zoom (up to three zoom levels) and scroll the map.
Zoom: L/R, Up/Down keys or click on screen top/bottom (between icons).
Scroll: X, Y, A and B keys or stylus."

He calls it a simple application, but sometimes, simple applications like these can also be very useful when the need arises. Viva le Francais, and long live Christophe! If you'd like to comment on his work or offer some suggestions, you can also find his email on his website. Heck, maybe you can ask him to set up maps for other cities too. Just ask nicely, okay?

Download: [Metro-Paris v1.0]

That was fast! Just a few days ago Dragonminded released DSOrganize v2.0. Today, the fast-working DS homebrew master has released DSOrganize v2.01 Beta. Here's a quick refresher (not that you need it unless your memory's shot). DSOrganize turns your DS into a calendar, address book, day planner and sci calculator with hand writing recognition, file browser and multi-language support. It's what every busy DS gamers need for organizing everything that happens in-between games (we call it real life). Was that too quick? You can always read more about the evolution of DSOrganize here.

By the way, v2.01 is not a minor update judging from the changelog and fixes:

• Calendar mode with editable reminders.
• Day Planner mode with editable time slots.
• Address Book with vCard support. Currently this can read and write back .vcf files that can be used in Apple's Adress Book, Outlook in Windows, and probably plenty of other apps in Linux. It does not, however, preserve data that it doesn't support, as currently there is a bug I can't trace in this routine.
• INI file settings, with a configuration screen in the app.
• Handwriting recognition. Just start a glyph on an empty part of the screen.

Download: [DSOrganize v2.01]

More of the changelog and fixes for DSOrganize v2.01 after the jump!