It's hard to imagine a game called Fantastic Boyfriends being anything less than brilliant

I haven't played too many mobile games since I bought my first real smartphone a few months ago, but I'm planning to buy this one.

Of course, how could I not when it's called Fantastic Boyfriends: Legends of Midearth?

Also, it features all kinds of hot, burly men (of the manga variety, admittedly, but I'll take what I can get) and its translation is being worked on by a very good friend of mine, Chic Pixel's Anne Lee.



As for what Fantastic Boyfriends is beyond being a mobile game stuffed with hunks, well, the gist is that it combines elements of the RPG and dating-sim genres.

Sadly, the latter aspect appears to be more PG-rated than X-rated, but that's how it goes when you want your game to make it onto the Apple and Android app stores.

If that's acceptable to you, and you'd like to know more about Fantastic Boyfriends and maybe even throw a bit of monetary support behind it, head over to its Indiegogo page.



The game's developers, Lifewonders, are looking to garner $20,000 by the time the above-mentioned fundraising campaign ends in 30 days.

A note for those of you who may be riding the fence (as to whether or not to hand over a few bucks Fantastic Boyfriends' makers): this particular Indiegogo effort is of the "fixed funding" sort, which means that if it fails to reach its goal, all money will be returned to contributors.

What do you say? Are any of you planning to back this sucker? Or maybe you've already done so?

This new teaser video for Rhythm Tengoku: The Best Plus (3DS) is nice and all, Nintendo, but where the hell is 'The Bon Odori'?!?

Seriously, this latest trailer for the game, which is due out on June 11 in Japan, looks utterly fabulous to these eyes--except for the fact that my all-time favorite Rhythm Tengoku mini-game, "The Bon Odori," is nowhere to be seen in it.



The good news (for weirdos like me, at least) is that, along with 30 new ones, The Best Plus will feature 70 "old" mini-games (ones that appeared in previous Rhythm Tengoku titles), so at least there's a chance that my personal fave will be in there, right?

Boy, do these game tunes bring back memories...

How's this for a silly, game-related tidbit that's likely to shock at least a few of you: back when I was a junior or senior in high school, I was completely obsessed with the Saturn version of Sega's Daytona USA.

I suggest that may surprise some of you because I'm hardly known for my love of racing games. In fact, the only examples of the genre I've ever given much attention here are F-Zero and Super Mario Kart, if memory serves. (Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.)

At any rate, I became more than a bit smitten with Daytona USA after picking it up on a whim during my days as a Saturn owner.

That game's slick, exhilarating gameplay obviously had a little something to do with my aforementioned infatuation, but there were other instigators, too--with its energetic, effervescent soundtrack being a particularly noteworthy case in point.



I bring up all of this because I've had one of Daytona USA's songs ("Sky High," listen to it by clicking on the video above) stuck in my head for the last few days.

Also, reminiscing about the Daytona USA period of my life--and the hold a number of its ditties had on me at that time--prompted me to think about some of the other "game tunes" from my youth that left similar marks on my memory.

For example, there's the "Map Theme" from Yoshi's Island:



I remember humming that one on the regular while I obsessively worked my way through the pastel-filled platformer that has since become one of my all-time favorite games.