What will happen on July 21, you ask? Why, Minna no Rhythm Tengoku (aka Everybody's Rhythm Heaven, aka Rhythm Heaven Wii) will hit store shelves across Japan on that date, that's what.
In order to increase awareness about the soon-to-be-released title, the folks at Nintendo of Japan cobbled together the following commercial, which shows off a number of Minna no Rhythm Tengoku's wacky mini-games.
I'm especially looking forward to playing the ones that involve dancing crawfish (or are they shrimp?), mustachioed pigs spinning in chairs and shirtless wrestlers with odd-looking six-packs. Oh, and of course I'm looking forward to playing that Kid Icarus-esque mini-game shown at the 1:25 mark, too.
Two more Minna no Rhythm Tengoku commercials--the first of which is centered around the wrestler mini-game mentioned above while the second focuses on a mini-game that involves rolling seals--can be watched on the game's official Japanese site.
(Via gonintendo.com and tinycartridge.com)
Thursday, July 07, 2011
Wednesday, July 06, 2011
The pixelated woman of Robin Williams' dreams
I'm sure you've already heard that actor Robin Williams named his daughter after the titular heroine of The Legend of Zelda series. (If not, well, I guess you know it now!)
The illustration below--produced by Berlin-based artist, Barto (aka bartotainment)--appears to have been inspired by that fact.
For more examples of Barto's work, check out his Flickr photostream.
See also: 'Robin Williams' beard, daughter star in adorable Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D ad' as well as 'Real life Dr. Mario' and 'Somewhere over the Mega Man'
The illustration below--produced by Berlin-based artist, Barto (aka bartotainment)--appears to have been inspired by that fact.
For more examples of Barto's work, check out his Flickr photostream.
See also: 'Robin Williams' beard, daughter star in adorable Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D ad' as well as 'Real life Dr. Mario' and 'Somewhere over the Mega Man'
I know I'm supposed to be disappointed by this news, but I'm not
I'm sure gamers the world over groaned when they read that Square Enix's first real release for the 3DS--Bust-a-Move Universe doesn't count--will be a Final Fantasy-themed rhythm game.
Although I can understand the reaction, I didn't groan alongside them--especially after I saw the following scan, pulled from the current issue of Japan's Jump magazine.
As for how the game, called Theatrhythm Final Fantasy, will play, here's what Anoop at andriasang.com has to say: "The game has field scenes set in dungeons and towns, and battle scenes that resemble the side-view battles of older Final Fantasy games. However, everything is played like a rhythm game, where you tap the screen in accordance with prompts."
Sounds good to me! The question is: Will the brass at Square Enix have the balls to release the game in the US?
(Via andriasang.com and tinycartridge.com)
Although I can understand the reaction, I didn't groan alongside them--especially after I saw the following scan, pulled from the current issue of Japan's Jump magazine.
As for how the game, called Theatrhythm Final Fantasy, will play, here's what Anoop at andriasang.com has to say: "The game has field scenes set in dungeons and towns, and battle scenes that resemble the side-view battles of older Final Fantasy games. However, everything is played like a rhythm game, where you tap the screen in accordance with prompts."
Sounds good to me! The question is: Will the brass at Square Enix have the balls to release the game in the US?
(Via andriasang.com and tinycartridge.com)
I just pre-ordered Xenoblade (or, who needs Nintendo of America when you've got The Hut?)
Of the three Japanese RPGs game-starved Wii owners have been begging Nintendo of America to bring stateside, the one I'd most like to add to my collection is Xenoblade. Thankfully, that Monolith Soft-developed game will be released in Europe in just a few months--on Sept. 2, to be more specific.
When the game hits the streets of London--or Paris or ... wherever else it'll be sold in Europe--it won't be called Xenoblade, though; no, the powers that be at Nintendo of Europe had to spruce it up a bit, make it sound more "epic." As a result of their shenanigans, it'll be called Xenoblade Chronicles when it arrives on European shores.
Although I think it's a completely silly, not to mention completely unneeded, change, it didn't keep me from pre-ordering a copy of it this morning after hearing that thehut.com is selling the standard version of the game (not the special edition pictured to the right) for the bargain-basement price of £29.85 (about $48).
Before any of you follow in my footsteps, I should warn you that I've never before ordered a game (or anything else) from The Hut and as such I can't vouch for their reliability as sellers or shippers. (Side note: I've heard that shipments, especially overseas ones, can take some time--up to a month--to arrive, but I'm willing to deal with that because I really want this game.)
I should also add that, had it been an option, I would have pre-ordered Xenoblade Chronicles from sendit.com instead, as I've ordered Euro-only games from them in the past and have never experienced any issues. Unfortunately, they aren't allowing people to pre-order it at the moment.
Anyway, I'll let you know what comes of all of this. I'll also let you know when and if the other two Japanese RPGs North American Wii owners have been clamoring for--The Last Story and Pandora's Tower--are given European release dates.
See also: 'Nintendo of America gives the finger to Xenoblade, Pandora's Tower and The Last Story fans'
When the game hits the streets of London--or Paris or ... wherever else it'll be sold in Europe--it won't be called Xenoblade, though; no, the powers that be at Nintendo of Europe had to spruce it up a bit, make it sound more "epic." As a result of their shenanigans, it'll be called Xenoblade Chronicles when it arrives on European shores.
Before any of you follow in my footsteps, I should warn you that I've never before ordered a game (or anything else) from The Hut and as such I can't vouch for their reliability as sellers or shippers. (Side note: I've heard that shipments, especially overseas ones, can take some time--up to a month--to arrive, but I'm willing to deal with that because I really want this game.)
I should also add that, had it been an option, I would have pre-ordered Xenoblade Chronicles from sendit.com instead, as I've ordered Euro-only games from them in the past and have never experienced any issues. Unfortunately, they aren't allowing people to pre-order it at the moment.
Anyway, I'll let you know what comes of all of this. I'll also let you know when and if the other two Japanese RPGs North American Wii owners have been clamoring for--The Last Story and Pandora's Tower--are given European release dates.
See also: 'Nintendo of America gives the finger to Xenoblade, Pandora's Tower and The Last Story fans'
Tuesday, July 05, 2011
I spent my holiday weekend playing Cladun: This is an RPG, how'd you spend yours?
So, the hubs and I traveled to Vancouver on Saturday--we came home yesterday afternoon--to celebrate our upcoming anniversary. (We were married in Toronto seven years ago--as of July 9.)
Don't worry, I didn't, as the headline above implies, actually spend the entire getaway playing NIS' quirky PSP game; in reality, I only played it while we were in the car. (OK, so I played it for a bit while we were in our hotel room--but only while David was showering or sleeping!)
Still, that was more than enough time for me to come to the conclusion that this is a great little dungeon crawler. Although I wasn't initially too keen on its mix-and-match graphics (the character sprites have a chunky, 8-bit look to them while the backgrounds are more lush, like something you'd see in a 16-bit game), they've since grown on me. The gameplay, which seemed bewilderingly and harrowingly complex at the beginning, has similarly wormed its way into my heart.
Speaking of Cladun's gameplay: It really is, as someone slyly suggested shortly after the title was released in Japan, a combination of Disgaea, Shiren the Wanderer and Ys. (It controls like Ys, features tons of dungeons--one of which has randomly generated floors--like Shiren and, uh, includes humorous story sequences like Disgaea.)
Anyway, that's how I spent my holiday weekend. How did all of you spend yours? Did you play any video games? If so, which ones? If not, how did you spend your time?
Don't worry, I didn't, as the headline above implies, actually spend the entire getaway playing NIS' quirky PSP game; in reality, I only played it while we were in the car. (OK, so I played it for a bit while we were in our hotel room--but only while David was showering or sleeping!)
Still, that was more than enough time for me to come to the conclusion that this is a great little dungeon crawler. Although I wasn't initially too keen on its mix-and-match graphics (the character sprites have a chunky, 8-bit look to them while the backgrounds are more lush, like something you'd see in a 16-bit game), they've since grown on me. The gameplay, which seemed bewilderingly and harrowingly complex at the beginning, has similarly wormed its way into my heart.
Speaking of Cladun's gameplay: It really is, as someone slyly suggested shortly after the title was released in Japan, a combination of Disgaea, Shiren the Wanderer and Ys. (It controls like Ys, features tons of dungeons--one of which has randomly generated floors--like Shiren and, uh, includes humorous story sequences like Disgaea.)
Anyway, that's how I spent my holiday weekend. How did all of you spend yours? Did you play any video games? If so, which ones? If not, how did you spend your time?
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