So, I was all set to say that the Vita had moved up a few spots on my gaming wish list thanks to the announcement of a Little King's Story sequel ...

... and then I read (last night, via andriasang.com) that the game--whose Japanese name translates to something like, The King, The Demon King and the Seven Princesses: New Little King's Story--will feature "new visual stylings for its characters."

OK, I immediately thought to myself, maybe that just means the game will be even prettier than its Wii-based predecessor. Like, maybe it'll be in HD or something.

                       Don't expect to see such cute characters in New Little King's Story.

Then I read another post (this morning) on andrisang.com that said: "While the Wii version had cute 'super deformed' style characters, the Vita characters have more realistic proportions."

As if that weren't bad enough, it's currently unknown as to whether or not Yasuhiro Wada or Yoshiro Kimura, executive producer and producer/ director of the original Little King's Story, respectively, are at all involved in the development of the sequel.

Don't worry, Sony fanboys and fangirls, even if New Little King's Story ends up being the gaming equivalent of a steaming pile of dog poo, I'll probably still get a Vita at some point in the future--especially since the folks who made last year's critically acclaimed DS title, 999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors, are working on a similar game for the Sony's PSP successor (as well as the 3DS).

                              The cast of Extreme Escape Adventure: Good People Die.

The game, called Gyokugen Dasshutsu Adv: Zennin Shiboudes (aka Extreme Escape Adventure: Good People Die), will be a "game of betrayal," according to developer Chunsoft, and will feature nine people who must escape from a warehouse in which they're trapped.

For more information about Extreme Escape Adventure: Good People Die, check out this post over at andriasang.com.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii: One of my favorite Wii games of 2009

I know what you're thinking: What a shocker! I mean, what blogger/critic/journalist/poet/writer hasn't placed Mario's latest two-dimensional romp through the Mushroom Kingdom at the top of his/her "best Wii game of 2009" list?

As much as I hate bandwagons (they're so bumpy!), I have to take a seat on this one. Sure, New Super Mario Bros. Wii isn't a perfect game, but it is a perfectly fun game. In fact, it's the funnest game I've played in a very long time.

That alone is enough for me to declare New Super Mario Bros. Wii my favorite Wii game of 2009. Yes, other aspects of the title--its charming and colorful graphics, its nostalgia-laden levels, its maniacal multiplayer mode--are worthy of adoration and praise, too, but all of them pale in comparison to its imitable "fun factor."

Since I have so little to say about New Super Mario Bros. Wii, why don't I share my thoughts on the games that nearly topped my "best of 2009" list?

Little King's Story--Yoshirou Kimura, the mastermind behind the bat-shit crazy Chulip, also made this simulation-slash-RPG, so you know it's a little weird and a lot wonderful. (Or maybe a lot weird and a lotter wonderful? You know what I mean.) It's also cute, charming and compelling--and well worth its (current) $43.19 price of admission.

Muramasa: The Demon Blade--button-mashing action RPGs really aren't my bag, baby, but I'll make an exception for Muramasa. Why? Well, for starters, the graphics are amazing. Actually, they're more than that--they're what I imagine heaven would look like if heaven was a two-dimensional video game created by the folks at Vanillaware. Second (and third, I guess), the game sounds and plays like a dream. A wet dream. A wet dream you experience over and over and over again, until you're completely wiped out. At least, that's what it's like for me.

Wii Sports Resort--This sequel/spin-off/whateveryouwannacallit to Wii Sports certainly is a steal. It includes 12 (yes, 12) different "sports," for crying out loud! The funny thing is, you'll probably only care about half of them--if that. It won't matter, though, because you'll really care about the half you care about. (You're following me, right?) For me, the "sports" (sorry, I can't help but use quotes here) that make this title worth the moolah: air sports, archery, frisbee, swordplay and table tennis.