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Handheld War over as ‘The Denpa Men’ hits the US

September 30, 2012, Author: Matt Parker, 4 Comments

It was looking like a close-run thing for a while there. The 3DS launched earlier than the Vita. Then the Vita had a solid launch line-up. Then the iPhone pretty much ruined it for everyone by having games selling for 99p.

Now it’s no longer a contest. Today sees the launch of ‘The Denpa Men: They Came By Wave’. The 3DS’ secret weapon.

Not heard of ‘The Denpa Men’? Don’t worry, most (normal) people haven’t, but I’m here to educate.

‘The Denpa Men’ is an Augmented Reality Role-Playing Game. An AR-RPG, if you will. The first of its kind, the game sees you moving about in the real-world and pointing your camera about at whatever’s near you. When you’re lucky enough to come across a Denpa Man. These creatures are then caught and used in battles. No! It’s nothing like Pokémon. Hush your face.

You travel through the world, exploring caves and dungeons, picking up loot and levelling up your Denpa Men. It’s important to get a good range of Denpa Men in your party, as they all have different strengths, weaknesses and abilities. For the last time! It’s nothing like Pokémon!

The game hit the US on September 27th, though there’s no word on an EU release. This means we need to get on the developer’s case. For those that can, you need to decipher (also known as ‘translate’) the developer’s website, which is found here.

It would be an outrage if true genius like this (wait for the pun…) doesn’t reach this fair continent. Genius Sonority, the developers (…there it is!),  are known for their ‘Pokemon Colosseum’ and ‘Pokemon Battle Revolution’ games.

Okay, so I guess it is like Pokémon. A bit.

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Comments (4)

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  1. Phil said:

    It's not April 1st today is it?

    Posted on: October 01 2:38 PM || Report || Reply

  2. RinseWashRepeat said:

    The only fools are people that;
    A) Own a 3DS
    B) Live in America
    C) Don't own 'The Denpa Men'

    Posted on: October 01 3:33 PM || Report || Reply

  3. Trent said:

    I'm always curious as to why Nintendo feels the need to smother almost every single fresh, innovative idea they have in twee cuteness. Pikmin heralded a revolutionary sort of herding and leading mechanic but was essentially about leading dumb little paint blobs about. And now they release the worlds first AR game that sounds awesome, but put me off because said 'Denpa Men' look like the bobble-headed creatures from some new American toddlers TV show.

    And it's pretty much Pokemon by the sounds of it. I mean it would make more sense if it was Pokemon and you have to use your camera to find Pokemon in the world, with the Grass types in woodland areas and the water types near the sea and so on.

    Posted on: October 01 8:12 PM || Report || Reply

  4. RinseWashRepeat said:
    Trent wrote: I mean it would make more sense if it was Pokemon and you have to use your camera to find Pokemon in the world, with the Grass types in woodland areas and the water types near the sea and so on.

    Yes! That would be great! If they could use some GPS magic (which I don't think the 3DS has) to see where you are. Grimers and Muks in London, Caterpies in the park, etc.

    Plus it'd give me a great excuse to hang around quarries. "I'm trying to catch a Golem, jeez! What do you mean 'it's dangerous here'? Leave me be!"

    Saying that, fire and lightning type pokemon might be tricky to catch. When I say trick, I mean life threateningly tricky.

    Posted on: October 01 8:24 PM || Report || Reply

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