Speaking of Japanese games with great box art ...

... here are a few recentlyish (don't worry, I know that's not a real word) revealed pieces of cover art that I can't help but find appealing.

1. Phantasy Star Online 2 (Vita)--As far as I can tell, the illustration you see above will only appear on some sort of special edition of Sega's upcoming (it's due out sometime in 2013) online RPG. I say "as far as I can tell," of course, because I know next to nothing about Phantasy Star Online 2. Based on how I feel about this particular piece of box art, though, I think I'm going to have to educate myself about it soon. (Note: I do wish this example featured about three or four fewer logos, as the bottom edge, in particular, is more than a bit cluttered at the moment.)

2. Fate/Extra CCC (PSP)--Oh, hey, another soon-to-be-released game that's as foreign to me as, well, soy sauce Kit Kats. Like Phantasy Star Online 2's cover art (above), though, this PSP RPG's packaging makes me want to know more about both it and its predecessor, Fate/Extra. (Speaking of which, have any of you played Fate/Extra? If so, would you recommend it to someone who generally enjoys dungeon-crawling RPGs?)

3. Fantasy Life (3DS)--Don't worry, I'm not going to say for a third time that I'm clueless when it comes to one of the games I'm highlighting here. In fact, I know quite a bit about Level-5's Harvest Moon clone, as I've been paying attention to it since it was first announced as a sprite-based DS title. Anyway, it's still unknown as to whether or not this one will make its way across the pond, but I'm hoping beyond hope that it is--especially if the folks at Level-5's North American arm decide to use this piece of cover art, too.

More Flickr-ized Famicom cartridges

Yep, I recently picked up--on the cheap, thankfully--a few more of the "pulse line" Famicom carts via eBay. Specifically, I bought Devil World, Donkey Kong Jr. Math and Popeye English--each of which can be seen below. (Click to view larger versions.)

To see a few more shots of Devil World, check out the first page of my Flickr photostream. Photos of the rest of my (still small) Famicom cart collection can be seen here.

See also: 'On being an anal-retentive game collector'

'The gilrs have heart pain...'

A number of screenshots of the Nippon Ichi-Imageepoch "girl-punishing" RPG, Criminal Girls, hit the Interwebs earlier today.

I don't know if it's because I'm gay or if it's because I'm a writer, but this was the first screenshot to grab my attention:



(Note: the text near the bottom of the screen says, "The gilrs have heart pain..." )

That said, this was the second screenshot to grab my attention:



I'm pretty sure the screenshot above was pulled from one of the game's rumored spanking sequences, by the way.

See also: 'Nothin' like a good spanky'

Nothin' like a good spanky

The folks at Nippon Ichi are no strangers to producing odd games--see: the Disgaea and especially the Prinny series--but it seems they're going to outdo themselves with their upcoming "girl-punishing RPG," Criminal Girls.

Developed in partnership with Imageepoch--best known for 7th Dragon and the Luminous Arc series--this PSP title, which will be released in Japan on Nov. 18, will center on "a group of young female criminals who've ended up in hell," according to andriasang.com. Your job as their guardian: to "reform" them and lead them back into the living world.



How will you reform them? Well, by punishing--i.e., spanking, etc.--them, of course! According to siliconera.com, you'll also give the girls--each of whom embody one of the deadly sins--healing massages from time to time, so apparently you won't spend all of your time being a "bad cop."

Is it wrong that I'd snap this up on day one if it were released in the States?