Settlers for DS

[jarrody2k]

Hey all,

Was just missing my WinUAE setup on my near dead laptop.  In boredom I decided to read the Wikipedia article on The Settlers to find this:

A new port of The Settlers 2 for the Nintendo DS is set to be released in March 27, 2007.

... I almost had a hard-on.  Do you know what this means?!  Do you understand how awesome Settlers would be... to be able to carry it around in your pocket (okay... an oversized pocket).  Thank-you Nintendo for putting a stylus on the DS, now point and click strategy games have entered the world of the portable console!

http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk/r/DS/The+Settlers/news.asp?c=1321
http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk/r/DS/The+Settlers/news.asp?c=1505

My only fear is how departed from the original it will be after the Ubisoft producers get their grubby hands on it.

Jarrod.

-EDIT-

Here's the official site (in German only):
http://www.siedler.de/siedler_ds/

[jarrody2k]

I would much prefer the original.  Mainly because I have never played number 2  The original kept me occupied for hours... and still can.  If it ain't broke... don't modernise it you Ubisoft marketing whores!!!

Settlers 5 annoyed enough people... wasted my time downloading the demo... and all they have to show for number 6 is more graphics.  I am crossing my fingers that they have learnt their lesson with gameplay.

[jumps on soap box]
Settlers is unfortunately one of those sparks of genius that cannot be recreated by a commitee of "Game Designers" that are under a belief that you can make a good game from following design 'rules' or 'guidelines'.  You can blame the current lack of innovation in the games industry on the prevalence of this mindset in larger production and publishing houses.  Why can't they take some damn risks and do something *different*?
[jumps off]

Anyway, the old-school version won't be another Age Of Empires clone, thank god.... I hope.... can it?

[jarrody2k]

James wrote:
But... last thing.. don't expect Amiga games to be re-released on the DS. This is just a coincidence that this game was originally made on Amiga. Ubisoft just acquired the rights at some point by buying off yet another dead developer. The Settlers were in fact, much more popular on PC than it was on the Amiga.

Hahah, yes, it is purely on a franchise by franchise basis.  Settlers has a big following.  But despite this they still don't know how to make use of that.

I am glad to here that things are looking pretty much like the old-skool version.  It would be a reason (and the only reason so far) for me to by a DS or any console.

Jarrod.

[jarrody2k]

If I could be bothered whipping out the A1200, I still have the original box.  Nice game indeed, very slick.  But I wouldn't say the gameplay had that much longevity.

Jarrod.