DS Daily: The year of third parties
by JC Fletcher 
{ Aug 2nd 2008 at 10:30AM }
Nintendo had a very significant release early this year with Professor Layton, and they've got one of the best games of the year ahead -- also some Pokémon stuff, and even a Kirby game. But for most of the year, it's been third parties' time to shine. And the third parties have taken advantage of it -- most notably, perhaps, in the form of Guitar Hero: On Tour, which so suitably served as a surrogate for a Nintendo release that it had its own hardware bundle.Stephen Totilo mentioned in a post yesterday that he's found himself playing a lot of high-quality third-party DS games this year, from Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword to Space Invaders Extreme, and games like Zubo and Grand Theft Auto mean that non-Nintendo publishers are going to continue dominating. He even got past the tutorial in Lock's Quest and found that "It plays well, it's fun. I'm hooked."
Have you been leaning heavily on third-party games this year? Or are you waiting for Bangai-O, N+, Dragon Quest IV, or one of the many other great new games to come out?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Lord Bowser @ Aug 2nd 2008 10:45AM
Oh man, I love you guys and everything, but things seem to be slowing down on the DSfanboy end, while Wiifanboy gets all the posting love. Such a strange contradiction seeing as the DS is infinitely more enjoyable than the Wii, has more compelling content, and is not held down by gimmicky waggle. I preferred the old days when posts were on par Wiifanboy. But I'm not complaining: I would never complain.
Anyway, Nintendo seem to have placed all their focus on the Wii this year, leaving us DS fans a little barren. But, in my opinion, this has been the best year of the DS so far and it's all thanks to the incredible third party support. Every possible genre (aside from the FPS, but that's redundant, anyway) has shone on this platform.
This year I've got Space Invaders, International Track and Field, TWEWY, Ninja Gaiden, Trauma Centre, Nanostray 2, and Apollo Justice, and we're only at August. It really is exciting. Every month there is a new game that begs to be played, and it's all third party. I can't wait for Bangai.
Kimiko @ Aug 2nd 2008 11:04AM
Uhm, forgive me for being ignorant, but why is the distinction between first and third party game developers so important? (btw, are there also second party developers then?)
For me it doesn't matter at all whether a game is developed or published by Nintendo or some other company. I have a few games that are published by Nintendo, but only two yet that were made by them. Lots of Atlus games of course.
I think of Nintendo as just one of the bigger developers (Squeenix being another one for example), who also happens to have a hardware side which makes the DS. I suppose it more than makes up for the fact that they won't make games for systems other than DS and Wii.
Lord Bowser @ Aug 2nd 2008 11:22AM
It's important for the fanboy wars on Joystiq and Kotaku, and the like. Being able to say 'my console of choice has a certain number of AAA third party exclusives' can be very gratifying for some people.
Plus, if you owned a Gamecube, for example, you'll see how small that library is when compared to a PS2. Nintendo tend to go through extended periods of suck (to put it crudely) and as the Gamecube showed, external developers are needed to pick up the slack. They can also offer a unique voice which can contrast, rather wonderfully, from what is usually filtering through from the first party.
Matthew @ Aug 2nd 2008 11:49AM
This year has been great. I got Apollo Justice, Prof Layton, TWEWY, Space Invaders Extreme and I finally picked up Contact. I'm also excited for Bangai-O Spirits coming soon, Korg DS-10, and some other titles in September that I seem to be drawing a blank on...
aj @ Aug 2nd 2008 1:23PM
I think most of my games are third party. And I'm saying this as someone who will buy or play anything that says "Pokemon" or "Zelda" or "Mario". Mostly I have Atlus and Square Enix games, though, so I'm probably not Nintendo's main demographic.
chibi_wings @ Aug 2nd 2008 1:36PM
yes, a very nice year overall =)
hmmm, from third party games I bought: Apollo Justice, Rondo of Swords, FFTA2, TWEWY, & FFCC:Ring of Fates. A lot of squareenix ^^;;
bluezy @ Aug 2nd 2008 1:45PM
This is a very good year of third parties. N+ is a day-one purchase for me, as well as Tecmo Bowl, Castlevania, Moon, Trackmania, and a bunch of others that are all third-party titles.
Mr Khan @ Aug 2nd 2008 3:34PM
Certainly. The only DS games this year for me are third party, although Kirby looks tempting, it comes out at the same time as Wario Land: Shake it, and money is tight when College sits but a month on the horizon
FFTA2, Izuna 2, and Sonic Chronicles are my DS titles for this year, and one has proven very satisfying, while the others haven't been tried yet, but look promising
Suichimo @ Aug 2nd 2008 4:56PM
I can definitely say that this year has seen a majority of third party purchases by myself. I've gotten and will be getting:
TWEWY
Jump Ultimate Stars
FFTA2
FFIV DS
DQIV
Disgaea DS
Kirby Super Star Ultra
Chrono Trigger DS
Sonic Chronicles
Rondo of Swords*
If someone could give me some info on Bangai O I might consider that. But yeah, there is one first party title in all of the game that I have gotten/am getting this year, unless FE1DS manages to make it stateside before the end of the year which I extremely doubt.
*-I'm looking for this game as I've heard that its pretty good.
Jacksons @ Aug 2nd 2008 6:17PM
I haven't been buying many games for my DS lately, but I'm looking forward to the new Castlevania! The only first party Nintendo stuff I really enjoy are new entries in the Mario platformer and Kart franchises, so third party is definitely more important to me this year, and every year for that matter.
Zealot @ Aug 2nd 2008 6:19PM
I'm one of the people whose most anticipated DS games have yet to come this year. I've only purchased three games new this year thus far--Apollo Justice, TWEWY, and Trauma Center 2--however, from September on I'm really going to be inundated with awesome stuff. Within the span of three months or so, I have Disgaea, Black Sigil, Castlevania, A Witch's Tale, and Moon to be looking forward to, and odds are by the end of the year I'll have purchased a discounted used game or two from this year's releases--I'm hesitant about such fare as Time Hollow, Rhapsody, Izuna 2, Bangai-O, Retro Game Challenge, and From the Abyss, but plan to own them all once the price is right. (I'd support games at release if I could, but Persona 4 and Ar Tonelico II are coming in December, and if we're lucky the Wii might see Fatal Frame IV by then.) Needless to say, my mind is blown by the level of third-party support the DS has seen this year. I just hope that next year can keep up--I have a wish list of localizations that hasn't yet been filled, so I have hope that we'll see a repeat of all of the great surprises that this year's offered.
Bill McCai @ Aug 2nd 2008 8:56PM
It would be nice for nintendo to show the DS the love they used to. I mean, it's the reason they're so cashed up...
I'm currently playing Final Fantasy IV, and before that FFTA2. Which is funny, because they're the first two final fantasy games i've ever played. But very enjoyable and very polished.
And the games i'm most anticipating are third party, also. Viva pinata and elebits. But there's really not much nintendo stuff on the horizon. Disappointing.
Dopple Boppler @ Aug 3rd 2008 2:51AM
As silly as it sounds, I haven't bought a "new" DS game since Pokemon Diamond. For some reason much just hasn't interested me. However, I did just pick up Dragon Quest Heroes Rocket Slime a few days ago for five bucks, and man, why didn't anyone tell me about this game sooner? Without a doubt my favorite DS game, period.
I am, however, looking forward to getting a fair amount of DS games in the remaining months of the year. Kirby Superstar Ultra is by far the one I'm looking forward to most, being that Superstar is one of my favorite games of all time, but when it comes to third parties I'm really looking forward to Sonic Chronicles and Chrono Trigger. I also wanna check out Final Fantasy IV, but 40 bucks is a tad too much for someone who generally is not a huge RPG nut.