While it would require a herculean effort on my part to narrow down the list of Nintendo DS games that I really, really loved playing to a single ranking champion, I have some serious love for the Professor Layton series. Note that this is in spite of the fact that I am not a fan of anime-style graphics in games, that the puzzles range in difficulty from "3rd Grade Math Class" to "Astrophysicist With A Degree From Harvard" to "HOLY HELL WHAT THE EFF", and that it is, at the end of the day, basically an educational game (nothing against educational games, of course, but have you noticed how bloody dull they tend to be?)
Damning praise as this might be, Professor Layton and the Curious Village marks the one time in my life that I have actually downloaded a DS emulator in an effort to get my dad to play it (he didn't).
I've yet to pick up the second game in the series, Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box, because I know that once I tackle it it's going to consume my every waking hour over the subsequent two weeks. And now I find out that there's not just one but FOUR sequels, two of which have been released in Japan already and all three of which will eventually make their way over to North American shores. That's just... devilish.
I mean, I have a hard enough time justifying the many hours I spend gaming already, and precious few of those titles offer the built-in excuse that I am, in fact, actually improving my mental facilities. One day in the far-flung future, when I am a penniless hobo whom mothers will point to as a prime example of how videogames will ruin your life, I will at least have the rejoinder of, "Well, at least I staved off Alzheimer's for a few extra months! Thanks, Professor Layton!" But you know what? By that point, they'll probably have cured Alzheimer's anyway.
Some Seriously Classy Professor Layton Widescreen Wallpaper, by ~Fushi-Chou
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