Gamecube Cafe has exclusive Elite Beat Agents gameplay footage from E3, showcasing the level where the babysitter is trying to make the kids behave to appease the captain of the football team.  ("What the hell is she talking about?", you must be asking.)   The localization is looking pretty tight so far; the art style is similarly bright, vibrant and wacky to the Japanese original, and iNiS is certainly keeping the flavor of the original in:

EDIT: A workable link to the video, courtesy of Youtube: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lufagCtQ … t%20Agents

For the Ouendan vets, here are some comparative points of interest that I myself noticed:

-They're keeping the level selection music in, but the intro story's theme was definitely beefed up some.

-More voices, particularly during Kahn's tutorial, and his "Agents are..... GO!" before the level begins are implemented.

-The elite agents use a sleek black limo, instead of the Ouendan van.

-A lot of the sound fonts from Ouendan had been retained, like the heavenly harp sound, and the "ahh!" voice when the screen states that they "gotta put Tommy to sleep first!"

-The cheerleading drums and chirps seem to have been replaced with a 'thocking' percussion. "Oss!" is aptly translated to "Hey!"

-The note hit icons got a facelift -- now they're stars instead of the exclaimation bubbles from the original.

-Instead of the "fiery rage of encouragement" when a client gets fired up, they get hit by the agents' star influence that makes them mimic their' "do the wave" stance.

-That full diaper/toilet rush sequence is hilariously fab. ;)

I'm not too familiar with the song for this level, it was also pretty tough to hear it at Nintendo's booth, even with the headphones they provided.

The other playable level, with the dog that needs to travel back home, was great. It uses Deep Purple's Highway Star, which fits really well.

Yep, they're using Steriogram's Walkie Talkie Man.  From the sounds of it, too, it seems they're going with the original version.

Were you able to tell if they used Deep Purple's original?  I would imagine that if they used Steriogram's original WTM, then the same would apply here.

...I think I'm sold on this game now.

Thanks, Angie!!!

Awesome!  Truly, Madly, Deeply must be the "Over The Distance" level for this game.  And wow, I can't imagine what One Week will be like on Hard mode.

I'm very pleased with this list.  So glad there isn't crap like Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, etc. on here.  Phew!

-Mike

Apparently the list was fake. Well, I guess I should've known better to listen to gamefaqs. I do hope they release more REAL info soon though

Hmm, is this track listing official, I wonder?  Already it's being widely deemed as a hoax, believed to be a write-up to spark rumors after the official November 6th release date announcement. 

But never in a million years would I have imagined a Weird Al song in a music rhythm game.  That said, "Hardware Store" could be insanely brilliant to play, especially if the note structure followed the lyric, syllable by syllable. 

"Truly, Madly, Deeply" can most certainly be the new Over The Distance, and "Locomotion," "Hit That," and "Sweet Child O' Mine" all get instant approvals from me.

EDIT: And so it was.  Ah well.....  let the speculation continue!

I'm sold on this game.  Can't wait for it to come out.

Boxart are..... GO!!!

New screenshots from PAX, courtesy of British Gaming Blog.  A new scenario is revealed with two gals stranded on a deserted island.  From the looks of it, it seems ripe with intrigue. >;)

http://www.britishgaming.co.uk/?p=1191

Lemme guess..."Let's Get Lost"?

1up.com has a new feature spread on iNiS.  It's an awesome read:

http://www.1up.com/do/feature?pager.off … Id=3153670

In other related news, the Series 3 DS Download Stations boast a demo of Elite Beat Agents -- in addition to Mario vs Donkey Kong 2 and Club House Games: http://gonintendo.com/wp-content/photos … tebeat.jpg

A few more nuggets of information from the Nintendo Fusion Tour, via Auzins from blogcritics.org.  Thanks to Asho for the heads-up, here's a few of the juicier excerpts: 

---

Elite Beat Agents has received a complete stage selection map makeover versus Osu!, featuring a rotating world (rotated with the touch screen) as opposed to the city landscape featured in the import version. The map definitely has more of a "U.S. feel" to it and the rotation seemed a tad easier to navigate than in Osu!

I played the version as long as I could and while I didn't get the complete song list, I managed to gun down a good number of the recognizable U.S. tracks in the game (stage listed first, then song track):

Ahoy Mates! Sunken Delights and Adventure! - Y.M.C.A. (Village People)
A Pug's Life! 400 Miles from Home! - Highway Star (Deep Purple)
Magic Meets Madness! The Show Must Go On! - Rock This Town (Stray Cats)
Trio of Mayhem! Love and Boyfriends! - Walkie Talkie Man (Steriogram)
Red Carpet Premier! Smash Hit or Box Office Crash!! - Makes no Difference (Sum 41)
Cry Wolf! Meterology and Parenting! - September (Earth, Wind and Fire)
Hey Taxi! To the Hospital and Hurry! - Sk8er Boi (Avril Lavigne)
Art and Beauty! Love and Happiness!? - I Was Born to Love You (Queen)

So far the only other known, confirmed song in the game is Livin' La Vida Loca (Ricky Martin). If the U.S. song list is to be comparable to the import counterpart, stacking in at about 15 songs, then there is still a small chunk of songs to be uncovered.

If you can't make it to the Nintendo Fusion Tour, you can still give Elite Beat Agents a try at any retail location that features a Nintendo DS Download Station. While the demo only lets you play two sections of a stage, it should give players a taste of what to expect from one of the most-imported DS games the system has ever seen.

---

The song selection is looking really nice now, and is suddenly feeling like a great counterpart to Ouendan.   Mixing older hits with the new, but clearly keeping with the high energy, rockin' mentality of Ouendan.

Chris Kohler - who has to be like the biggest advocate for iNiS - today reveals in his game blog Game|Life, in no particular stage order, the final tracklisting for Elite Beat Agents.  Nineteen songs, which is four more over Ouendan:

1. Walkie Talkie Man - Steriogram
2. ABC - Jackson Five
3. Sk8er Boi - Avril Lavigne
4. I Was Born to Love You - Queen
5. Rock This Town - Stray Cats
6. Highway Star - Deep Purple
7. Y.M.C.A. - Village People
8. September - Earth, Wind and Fire
9. Canned Heat - Jamiroquai
10. Material Girl - Madonna
11. La La - Ashlee Simpson
12. You're the Inspiration - Chicago
13. Survivor - Destiny's Child
14. Without a Fight - Hoobastank
15. Believe - Cher
16. Let's Dance - David Bowie
17. Jumpin Jack Flash - Rolling Stones
18. Makes No Difference - Sum 41
19. The Anthem - Good Charlotte

---

Although there are nineteen songs, Yano says: "We wanted everyone to have lots of songs to play, so we put in as much as the DS Card could hold! There are 19 songs you can play. As to how many levels are in the game, you will see in November..." 

Livin' La Vida Loca was apparently axed from the final version, but for the rest of the songs, Yano states:  "The concept for song selection was this - the roaring songs you would want to hear if you went to a college frat party.  I used to play in bands like that, and when the whole crowd is jumping up and down to your tunes...this is the essence of our selections."

Can't say I'm really thrilled about this list, but I'll reserve judgment for how the songs acutally work in the game.  I'm also massively disappointed that "Louie Louie" isn't in the U.S. version.

Cher makes my ears bleed.

~~ AGENT ANGIE'S WEEKLY EBA ANNUAL REPORT, SIR! ~~

-December's issue of Nintendo Power rated EBA with a 9.5 out of 10 score.  I've never been a score whore before, but in this case, a score whore be I.  Awesome.   

-Four difficulty levels confirmed, with the..... "Elite Beat Divas" being the equivalent to Ouendan's Cheergirls.

-This was somewhat known before, but there will be multiple endings for every scenario, depending on how well you did throughout the stage.

-VS mode allows you to record your opponent's best score session, and then lets you play it on your own game to try and beat it.

-Eight main characters in total: Agent Spin (Breezin' Mode - Easy), Agent J (Cruisin' Mode - Normal), Commander Kahn (the yet unnamed Hard mode), Agents Derek and Morris, and the Elite Beat Divas (again, the mode's name isn't known yet, but it'll be the equivalent to Insane).

'Elite', I'm guessing.

Also yeah, terrible choice on Believe being in the game. That song drives me nuts.

Now see, I was thinking Commander Kahn was going to be designated to an "Elite Mode," while the Divas would be on a level that's even greater than Elite.  Like, maybe..... "Zealot Mode"? :)

As for "Believe," it's been said that the songs in EBA might be covers after all.  So for Jay (and other Cher detractors), this might be a blessing to ya.

~~ AGENT ANGIE'S WEEKLY EBA ANNUAL REPORT, SIR! ~~

The official site goes live: http://elitebeatagents.com/

And, the first U.S. commercial!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ad3z9O4ooo

IGN's verdict is in: another 9.5 out of ten.  Two for two, baby.

http://ds.ign.com/articles/743/743324p1.html

It is my god-given duty to inform about all things EBA, even the bad stuff.....

Game Informer gave the game a 6.75.  But then of course, GI doesn't know what the f--- they're talking about, so....

http://www.gameinformer.com/NR/exeres/8 … 9C581F.htm

Parish's 1up.com review has been made available, too: 9.0 out of ten.  Love his opening: "It may be a good six weeks early, but Elite Beat Agents is every bit as much of a Christmas miracle as Santa's most heartwarming mid-Manhattan effort."

I have rarely seen Angela curse before here in these forums.  When she does this, she is definitely expressing a strong opinion. o_o

Gaming Informer's f---ing incompetence can do that...I think the Pope would curse a streak if he read GI's reviews on a regular basis.

Gamespot's score has been revealed: 8.9 out of 10. 

http://www.gamespot.com/ds/puzzle/elite … eview.html

And with that, this will be my last news update.   It sure was fun indulging on this topic, tracking the game's on-going progression just about every day for the last six months.  "Passion."  Because that's what iNiS is all about.

... Oh right, and the realization just hit me:   

Tomorrow, I'm going to be playing THE SEQUEL TO OUENDAN. 

Do the right thing, people.  Buy this game.  Play it.  Love it.  Cherish it.  I know I most certainly will.

~AGENT ANGIE OUT.

Well, sort of. It's the current frontrunning gift idea for my sister at the moment, who is infinitely more skilled at any music game which isn't PaRappa or UmJammer than I. So I'll be supporting it by proxy, most likely.

The game is out? Whoa.  I have to check the local stores then.

Done.

Done.

Done.

Done.

I finished it on easy for now and it rocked.  For the most part, the covers of the songs are good.  I like the improvements they made on the game's engine as well.. the 3D map is sexy and the ability to skip song intros is handy.  The stories are pretty cool too.. my faves so far being the dog one, the weather lady, and of course the last level (which, in my opinion, tops Ouendan's.. believe it or not).  Overall I'd say 10/10 just like Ouendan.  I'm sure I'll be playing/mastering this game for the next few weeks during my breaks from FFXII.

Ahh it's a good time to be a gamer.

-Mike

I got the game.  I got rocked on normal about at the YMCA song.  I can't seem to get the 1-2 tap on the first segment and it messes up my entire combo.

I went to easy and the patterns are different (and generally easier).  The story for You're My Inspiration is touching indeed.  I think because of the story for this song, Nintendo may have originally conisdered the November release date.

And I like the art style.  The character designer has an uncanny ability to draw Westerners in a way that isn't too Japanese as typical of manga and anime.  The artist probably has some schooling in Western comic art.

I got and played the hell out of EBA today.  I blew right through normal mode and stopped about 2/3 to 3/4 of the way into hard mode.  Even though the music isn't as good as Ouendan's, the game is every bit as addicting (my poor wrist is hating me right now).  And I absoluetely love how they allow you to skip the song intros now.  Thank goodness.  Allowing the saving of replays is also a welcome feature.

I almost picked up EBA the other night when I went to get Guitar Hero II, but then I realized that I'd be paying $34.99 plus tax for a game that had "Sk8r Boi" on it, and decided to save up and import Ouendan instead.

From reading people's posts on the net, it looks like rhythm games have the largest gap in love/hate players.  If one does not like the music in these games, even if the gameplay is good, that person won't play.

The music in EBA are all covers, but I like some of the covers more than the originals. Funny that.

The EBA game engine is certainly improved over Ouendan.  I definitely like skipping intros when you're trying to replay a stage and how you can save your performance.  It makes it easier to show people how the game is played without having someone over your shoulder.

I'm trying to go through easy mode and raise my ranking.  I got some Ds that I want to try to raise to a B.  The ranking reminds me DDR 4th Mix.  Even 1 miss sends you to a B ranking.  A ranking is only reserved for a perfect game with a majority of perfect notes.

Agent S

Just a little update..

I got past Sweatin' mode tonight and finally ran into a level that gave me quite a bit of trouble.  This would be the LAST level on Sweatin'.. good luck to all of you on that one.  I'd say I tried it about 20 times before I nailed it.  I was about to throw my poor DS Lite across the room a couple times there, hah.  Played the first couple levels in HARD ROCK! (Elite Beat Divas) mode as well, and it's pretty fun so far, not really that tough either..... yet.

-Agent Mike

<----- See what I did to my avatar there?  White blood cells are TEH ROXORS.

At this point, I've beaten all the modes, except for Breezin'..... I'm not sure I can go back to it it now, after having experienced the higher-up stuff.  *_*  I'm now jumping between Cruisin', Sweatin', and the Divas for those S ranks.   

JJF turned out to be so much more awesome than I thought, but I fully admit to having to do the twenty tries in a row thang myself to finish off Sweatin' Mode.  (Divas' version took about eight tries.)  The song that gave me the most trouble, though, was Canned Heat.  Those eighth and sixteenth notes are maddening.

I've grown to love the songs, especially the ones I was somewhat skeptical would've worked in the first place, like "Let's Dance" and "I Was Born To Love You."  ABC and YMCA are my current faves to play, but it's "Survivor" that takes the cake for best scenario.  Think Arnold Schwarzenegger meets Sega's House of The Dead game series.  Respect.

VULCANOOOOO!