So, Keita Takahashi's Tenya Wanya Teens is never coming out, is it?

Don't you just hate it when an interesting looking game completely avoids your radar? I sure do.

Which is why I was really annoyed with myself this past weekend when I came across Keita Takahashi's weirdo (I mean that in a good way) Tenya Wanya Teens for the first time.

For the similarly uninformed: Tenya Wanya Teens is a two-player experience that puts gamers into the shoes of one of a handful of very Keita Takahashi-esque boy characters and then tasks them with brushing their teeth, taking showers, peeing--you know, the sorts of actions that appear in pretty much every video game under the sun (or not)--all on command and all while avoiding humiliating themselves in front of their girlfriends by undertaking the wrong actions.

Oh, and each of the aforementioned actions are input using a mammoth 16-button controller--or at least they were during all of the game's demo sessions held to date.



Given the above, along with the fact that the game hasn't been seen in public for some time now, I'm not feeling very confident at the moment that Tenya Wanya Teens will ever see the light of day.

One possible solution that's been mentioned elsewhere but is unlikely to be put to use would be to bring the game to the Wii U (via the eShop, I suppose) and in the process map the inputs to virtual buttons that appear on the system's GamePad.

That said, I'd also love to own one of those crazy 16-button controllers, so I wouldn't complain if the game's backers, The Wild Rumpus and Venus Patrol, go some other route instead (or as well).

RIP Arkedo Studio

It's always a sad day when a game-development studio closes its doors, but it's an especially sad one when the studio in question was known for putting out quality games.

Given that, it's likely that bucket-loads of tears are being wept in response to the news that no more games will be produced by Arkedo Studio, the company responsible for Big Bang Mini (DS), the Arkedo Series of XBLIG titles and Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit (XBLA, PSN and PC).

According to a blog post written by co-founder Aurelien Regard, the company "is still here. But no one’s employed anymore.

"Arkedo hasn’t closed down and is not bankrupt," he adds, but "no more games are [being] produced, either."

Fans of Arkedo Studio's past efforts may take a bit of solace in the fact that two "small" and as-yet-unknown games will still be released by the company, although Regard didn't say when that will happen or which systems will be the recipient of them.

See also: 'Five XBLIG games you should have played, but probably didn't' and 'Shucks, this could have been a cool game ...'

Not-So-Mega Man

Those of you who regularly troll (I mean that in a good way here, I swear) this blog's comments sections may have come across the username "gsilverfish" once in a while.

Well, it appears that gsilverfish is more than just your average blog commenter--he's also a really talented developer of games (including the XBLIG title, Astroman) who goes by the real-life name of Michael Stearns.

Speaking of Michael and his games, he's currently working on getting a rather awesome looking game called Tiny Barbarian DX off the ground via Kickstarter.

Rather than blather on about Tiny Barbarian DX and what it will offer gamers should they succeed in backing the project (which ends in 16 days), I thought I'd just point you to its Kickstarter page and also share this gameplay trailer:



Looks cool, right? I especially like the looks of the game's combo/juggling system, which for various reasons makes me think of a few of Treasure's classics (like Gunstar Heroes and Guardian Heroes). Oh, and of course I just like its looks, too.

Anyway, should you also like the looks (in all manners of speaking) of Tiny Barbarian DX, may I suggest heading over to the game's Kickstarter page sometime between now and 11:30 am EST on Dec. 19?

If you need to hear a bit more about Michael and his in-the-works game before deciding to financially back it, you may also want to check out this recent--and rather interesting, if I do say so myself--interview over at the Erratic Gamer blog.

Shinobi x Ninja Gaiden x Strider, you say?

I know retro-tinged indie games are a dime a dozen these days, but I can't help but be attracted to some of them.

Take the focus of this post, for instance--which calls to mind such 8-bit standbys as Shinobi, Mega Man, Ninja Gaiden and Strider. You'd have to have a heart of stone--or have started playing games after the 16-bit era--to not find JoyMasher's Oniken at least somewhat appealing, in my opinion.



Does this mean I've already picked up--for $4.99, via Desura--and spent some quality time with this colorful side-scroller? Not yet, but that's not due to a lack of interest on my part. Rather, it's because my backlog is already too full of un-played games (check out some of my recent "Acquisition #123" posts for a few examples) for me to start another one.

That said, don't be too surprised if you see me update the "Now Playing" section of this blog to include Oniken in the coming weeks.