I guess this means I'll have to get myself a copy of Danganronpa (PSP) soon

Although I remember being intrigued by the Spike-developed and -published PSP title, Danganronpa: Kibō no Gakuen to Zetsubō no Kōkōsei, around the time of its original Japanese release back in late 2010, it fell off my radar pretty quickly when it became clear it'd never see the light of day outside of the Land of the Rising Sun.

That all changed a few days ago when I discovered that not only has someone (or a team of someones) decided to produce an English-language fan translation of this portable "murder mystery visual novel," but a patch containing said translation already is available for download at danganronpa.wordpress.com.

My own personal reason for wanting to play Danganronpa has less to do with the unique quality of its content, by the way, and more to do with its absolutely superb art style. Cases in point:

I mean, really--who wouldn't want to play a game that's filled with illustrations like the ones above?

If that's not enough for you, though--and there's certainly nothing wrong with that--here's the fan-translation team's rather enticing description of the title:

"Danganronpa ... is a unique kind of adventure game. Described by its creators as 'psychopop' and 'high-speed action mystery,' [it] takes your typical whodunnit mystery and straps it to a rocket, fusing puzzle-solving with real-time action elements inspired by shooting and rhythm games–and it does so to incredible effect."

My only qualm with all of the above at the moment is that I'm pretty sure I'll have to softmod my PSP in order to patch the game (after I pick up a physical copy of it, of course), and for some reason I'm a bit nervous about doing so. Should I find a way to overcome those fears, though, you can bet your butt I'll play through this thrilling-sounding sucker as soon as possible (i.e., after my Animal Crossing: New Leaf obsession wanes a bit).

Can't get enough of Animal Crossing: New Leaf? These pillows should be right up your alley ...

I've only just gotten around to thinking about the interior of my Animal Crossing: New Leaf homes, so I'm not as educated as I should be about things like customizing furniture and other household items (although I have dabbled in it a tiny bit).

As such, I've yet to make--or even encounter in someone else's town, really--the kind of customized crafts that inspired Australian game-design student Bilvy to make the fabulous throw pillows seen below (and here):



Blathers, Chief, Lolly and Punchy aren't the only Animal Crossing characters Bilvy's immortalized in her pillows, by the way. Bob, K.K. Slider, Octavian, Stitches, Tangy and Wolfgang are included among the first batch--being sold at society6.com/bilvyy/pillows for $20 each--as well.

Although I initially was a bit disappointed not to find Snake, Bluebear or Barold (my current favorite Animal Crossing villager) pillows, it appears Bilvy is willing to take requests, so maybe I should take her up on that offer sometime soon?

Bilvy also maintains an New Leaf-focused tumblr, willgrayhound. tumblr.com, and an art blog that's intriguingly titled "there is no gender in jumperland," by the way, so if you like what she did with the cushion designs seen above, you might want to give them a look, too.

I'm seriously considering picking up one of these Monster Hunter 4 'face covers' for my 3DS XL

The question is: which one should I buy? (Assuming I wind up buying either of them, of course.)

I'm currently leaning toward the one on the right, by the way--which, according to the folks at play-asia.com, is the "Postman Version."



Should any of you want to purchase one or both of these adorable 3DS LL/XL "face covers," the "Postman Version" can be pre-ordered here, while the "Otomoairu Version" (the green one) can be pre-ordered here.

Oh, and both will set you back just $19.90 (apiece) when they're released on Sept. 14.

An idea I could really get behind: Kevin Bolk's Manimal Crossing comic

Sadly, the above-mentioned idea is "just" a one-off, Animal Crossing-inspired comic that was created by cartoonist Kevin Bolk at the moment.

Who knows, though--maybe Bolk will create a whole series of Manimal Crossing strips (pun intended) if this first one really takes off.



To see more of Bolk's work, by the way, visit kevinbolk.com and/or kevinbolk.deviantart.com.

(Via mascotcomic.com)

Super Dead Mario

I love pretty much every aspect of the following piece of art, produced by the always creative Oskunk, but my favorite part, it has to be said, is the mushroom with the X-ed out eyes in the lower-left corner.



To see some more of Oskunk's wicked (I mean that both literally and figuratively) creations, check out his Flickr photostream and/or his blog, Custom Art.

Box art déjà vu

A few weeks ago, the folks at Nippon Ichi opened the proverbial floodgates related to its upcoming (it'll be released in Japan on Sept. 26) PS3-based ARPG, Arcadias no Ikusa Hime.

Shortly after it released a bunch of stunning screenshots of this Odin Sphere-esque game, in fact, it also unveiled its beautiful box art:

Call me crazy, but the first thing that came to mind after I stumbled across the box art above was the imagery that will front Japanese copies of another coming-soon-to-a-store-near-you PS3 title, Square Enix's Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn.

Granted, this kind of "arrange all of the game's characters in a circle" design is hardly new--see the cover art produced for Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together, among others--but I was still a bit shocked when I realized just how similar the two examples above are to one another.

See also: 'Let's Play: Which Box Art is Better? (Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn edition)'