SEGA's Project Rub to be DS launch title

By Tom Bramwell Published 6 October, 2004

It'll be called Feel the Magic: XY-XX in the US, and we've uncovered some details about it. It sounds like a Wario Ware inspired dating simulation.

Sonic Team's Nintendo DS title Project Rub, now known as "I Would Die for You" in Japan, looks set to appear in the US alongside the DS hardware this November 21st under the banner of "Feel the Magic: XY-XX".

And while that alone sounds peculiar, the bizarre title has nothing on the game itself, which involves capturing the attentions of a beautiful girl by... forcing fish out of a friend's stomach, blowing out candles and tapping furiously to try and escape a stampede.

Feel the Magic is enjoying quite a positive reaction in the US, where SEGA of America has been demonstrating it to journos, and it's already been likened to Wario Ware and features a suitably unorthodox artistic style with silhouetted 3D characters and bright colouring the order of the day.

As we said, the idea is to get onside with a young lady, and there'll be some sort of convoluted plot behind it all played out in comic book style panels between around thirty mini-game challenges - and it's safe to say this girl is turned on by rather peculiar things.

Of the mini-games we've heard about, the strangest is clearly the stomach manipulation, which involves trying to coax fish out of the stomach of a friend - displayed on the lower screen - by tapping them furiously to try and force them out of his mouth - displayed on the top screen. It certainly beats some of our chat-up lines.

Another has you washing your dream date down using the touch screen, while another still has you stripping her of deadly scorpions, but perhaps the most interesting use of the DS' various features so far is a game which involves blowing out candles. The DS microphone will measure the power and duration of your exhalation, and if you blow too hard you'll get disorientated - on and off the screen.

Bizarre as it sounds though, we also can't wait to get our hands on it. Or our styluses, even, since the game will not utilise the D-pad or face buttons in any way, at least according to the reports we've read.

We'll let you know what we think of Feel the Magic: XY-XX as soon as we get our hands on it, which, with the system due out in the States on November 21st, shouldn't be all that long now.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (12) Latest comment 7 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • malloc #1 7 years ago

    Cool, although I can't help thinking you'll look like a bit of an idiot playing this on the bus, by blowing at your gameboy.

    "this girl is turned on by rather peculiar things."

    Hmmm.

  • Dizzy #2 7 years ago

    Rubbing games must DIE!

    Is this what the DS will turn into?? A rubbing platform??

    And with th PSP rumoured 90 minutes battery life I think I will just get a new GBA SP.

  • gizmo #3 7 years ago

    Hmm, this should boost the geek status of gaming tenfold.

  • volb #4 7 years ago

    Here is an innovative project exploiting the hardware's unique features to their fullest with a distinctive flair!
    ...
    ...
    Stupid, stupid, stupid rubbing minigames. I have never played any and I am already sick of them.


    Dizzy : I think I will just get a new GBA SP.
    That's actually why Ninty said the DS would not be a successor to the SP. No one believed it at the time, but it's making more sense now, isn't it?
    Edited by 2 at 06/10/04 @ 11:34

  • Blerk #5 7 years ago

    Feel the Magic: XY-XX

    They're on drugs! They've got to be!

    /calls police

  • Rahul #6 7 years ago

    What's everyone freaking out about? Just because it was titled Project Rub initially doesn't mean all it contains is perverted rubbing minigames. And as for blowing on your handheld, I'd imagine that it was pretty weird seeing people play games on the bus back when Game Boy was initially released, so how is the next generation of handhelds any different? People will get used to it. It's like when people have those microphone/earpiece things for cellphones and it looks like they're talking into thin air because they aren't holding anything. You'll get used to it.

  • ruttyboy #7 7 years ago

    "It's like when people have those microphone/earpiece things for cellphones and it looks like they're talking into thin air because they aren't holding anything. You'll get used to it. "

    I'm still not used to that!

    /close curtains on world

  • gamingdave #8 7 years ago

    if rubbing was so cool why havent the pdas been selling as portable gamesystems?

    Because they arent marketed as gaming devices, they are expensive, and there isnt exactly a mass of big guns developing for the platform.

    Is this what the DS will turn into?? A rubbing platform??

    Why does everyone keep bleeting on about "rubbing" games? From the look of it very few are, and I think you could argue that all FPS games are rubbing games, you just use a mouse instead of a stylus, and click instead of tap. Drag and drop, selection, and plotting paths are all things computer games have been doing for years since the introduction of the mouse.

  • CyRUS- #9 7 years ago

    I hope I never have to sit opposite some geek on the underground playing this game whilst having bad breath..

  • Razz #10 7 years ago

    /waits wanking game with microphone use

  • Razz #11 7 years ago

    LOL

    Extreme itchy DS

  • Epitaph #12 7 years ago

    Feel the Magic: XY-XX

    The X's refer to the male and female chromosomes.

    /lurk