14 DAY TRIAL // According to Japanese magazine G Pimo, Sega's popular arcade/trading-card/board game Sangokushi Taisen will be ported this year to Nintendo's DS console. Although the title won't use physical cards it will try to capture the feeling of moving cards around on the screen with the touch pen, with the dual screen being held on the side. Sangokushi Taisen is a fantasy strategy hybrid where players attempt to destroy the enemy castle before their opponent can destroy theirs. As the name implies, this game is based on the Sangokushi historical period, made popular in the videogame realm by endless Koei titles. The original title made use of the flat card reader technology, in order to help players skillfully control troop movements, real time, using cards across a flat playing surface.
Five different types of cards will be featured in the game, each representing a different type of unit. Units have different defensive and offensive capabilities, each with its respective cost. Cards can be combined only as long as the total cost remains below a total of eight. New to the DS version will be an original story mode that lets the user play a campaign as one of the three factions: the Gi, Go, or Shoku. Wi-Fi capabilities are expected to be used in support of online match-ups between players anywhere in Japan. G Pimo wrote the DS game will be based on Sangokushi Taisen 2, the sequel planned for May, and includes a bonus card useable with the arcades.
Sega's arcade game Sangokushi Taisen has been in Japanese arcades since March 2005. As with other card-based games, many will enjoy just collecting the cards featured in the game, as they're all decorated with artwork from famous artists. The numbers are crushing, as the game has attracted about 500,000 registered users and sold more than 100 million trading cards. Nintendo understood time has come to capitalize on Brain Age and Brain Academy's success. The DS has finally made its way into the hands of older gamers who never touched a device like this before, so card games are the best and most familiar way to continue the trend.