Who's up for another episode of The Nichiest Podcast Ever?

You didn't think Anne, shidoshi and I gave up on this venture, did you? Sure, it's been just over two months since the last one (our fifth) graced the world with its presence (ahem), but the only reason we didn't record one in March was that all three of us found ourselves a tad too busy. (OK, so it really was because shidoshi was busy. Anne and I didn't mind the delay, though!)

Anyway, we recorded another episode last night, and I'm hoping the five of you who listen to it (I kid--kind of) will enjoy this one every bit as much as you've enjoyed our previous efforts.

As for what we talked about this time around: well, we began by chatting about a trio of nichier-than-niche soon-to-be-released PSP games (Sweet Fuse: At Your Side, Class of Heroes 2 and Black Rock Shooter) as well as a trio of so-far-Japan-only 3DS games (Bravely Default, Fantasy Life and Sayonara Umihara Kawase) that, rumor has it, will see the light of day in the western world sometime soon. Oh, and we also (finally) chimed in on the PS4 and the next Xbox.

Finally, we all spent a few minutes cheerleading in support of some recently released niche-y games (I chose HarmoKnight, Anne selected Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate and shidoshi went with Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Soul Hackers) and played yet another round of everyone's favorite guessing game, "Nichiest of Them All."

If you'd like to listen to the first five episodes of The Nichiest Podcast Ever before taking in the latest one (which should go live within the next few days), you can do so here: radio.morningproject.com.

*2*0*0*0*

Is it weird that I'm celebrating the fact that I've published 2,000 posts on this blog since I started it all the way back in early 2007?

I hope not, because that's what I'm doing with this post.

Mind you, this isn't actually my 2,000th post. That post was published a few days ago. Technically, this post is this blog's 2006th.

Still, better late than never, right?

In all seriousness, I'm pretty shocked that I've made it to this point.

I'm fairly certain I know what's kept me going for the last six years, though: all of you great folks who visit and comment and otherwise help make this a blog one that I continue to enjoy updating on a nearly daily basis.

Thank you all for your support, kindness and friendship.

See also: *1*0*0*0*

Magweasel's back!

Don't sweat it if you have no idea what "Magweasel" is. After all, it's been many moons since I last mentioned this superb gaming blog, which has been rather spottily maintained by former GamePro editor Kevin Gifford since early 2009.

I say "spottily" because after pumping out a good number of brilliantly in-depth posts about games--those released for the famed PC Engine, especially--and Japan between the site's inception and August 2010, Gifford and his witty commentary basically fell off the face of the earth (with the exception of a brief reprise that lasted from March to June 2011).



Anyway, as you've likely gathered from this post's header, he's back. Not only that, but in the last five or so days he's published four posts--including this one about the Famicom port of Hudson Soft's Lode Runner and this one about Yoshi's Safari (aka Yoshi's Road Hunting).

I have no idea how long Gifford's planning to stick around this time, but I sincerely hope he does so long enough to make a sizable contribution to his incomparable "I ♥ The PC Engine" series, which is what attracted me to his blog in the first place.

The perfect Animal Crossing: New Leaf accompaniment

I don't know about you, but I'm going to spend a sizable chunk of this coming June glued to my pink-and-white 3DS XL--which will, of course, have an Animal Crossing: New Leaf cart stuck squarely into its backside.

Paul Veer's contribution, above, is my favorite so far.

A comparably smaller, but not at all insignificant, chunk of my time that month likely will be spent with my nose stuck in Meghan Lands' and Justin Woo's Animal Crosszine, a 70-page "love letter to the Animal Crossing video game series" that will contain art, comics and stories that have been contributed by 38 different writers and artists (including Daniel Bressette, Ashley Davis and Jake Lawrence).

The latter is supposed to ship around the time of the former's North American release (June 9), by the way, and can be pre-ordered--for just $12 per copy--right now at animalcrosszine. bigcartel.com. (If you'd like to know a bit more about this black-and-white fanzine before handing over your hard-earned dough, check out its official tumblr at animalcrosszine.tumblr.com.

In other New Leaf-related news, Nintendo of Europe recently published on its website an English version of an Iwata Asks Q&A about this 3DS title that originally appeared on its Japanese parent company's site back in October. Read it in all its giggly glory here.

Let's Play: 'Which Box Art is Better?' (Umihara Kawase edition)

Now that Sayonara Umihara Kawase's box art has been unveiled (I came across it yesterday on NeoGAF), I thought it would be a good idea to dedicate a "Which Box Art is Better?" post to this vaunted series of platformers.

Before we get to the cover art that's been created for the newest Umihara Kawase title, which will be released this summer for the 3DS, let's check out the covers that came before it.

For starters, here's the illustration that was used on the original Super Famicom release (which hit the streets in Japan all the way back in 1994):



Three years later, Umihara Kawase Shun was released for the PlayStation, with the following piece of art gracing that version's packaging:

Strangely, Umihara Kawase Shun features between-stage commercials for a company called Mitchell. They were replaced (with pieces of illustrator Toshinobu Kondo's artwork) in a "Second Edition" of the game that saw the light of day in 2000. Here is that iteration's box art:

Fast forward eight years and you encounter Umihara Kawase Portable, a supposedly bug-riddled port of Umihara Kawase Shun:

That was followed a year later by Umihara Kawase Shun Kanzenban, a DS cart that contained both the Super Famicom and PlayStation titles as well as a handful of additional stages. Thankfully, it's reported to be bug-free.

Finally, we come to the recently announced Sayonara Umihara Kawase, a full-on sequel that's being developed by the same folks who made the series' initial offerings. Its cover art can be seen below.

Which piece of Umihara Kawase box art is my favorite? The one produced for the original pressing of Umihara Kawase Shun, no question. That said, I'm also pretty fond of the covers made for the Super Famicom and PSP releases.

I'm not much of a fan of Sayonara Umihara Kawase's cover art, sadly. It's by no means terrible, mind you, but it's also kind of boring--in my opinion, at least. Of course, all of the creations seen above are variations on a rather ho-hum theme, aren't they?

Now that I've had my say, what do all of you think? Do you prefer one example of Umihara Kawase box art over another?

See also: previous 'Which Box Art is Better?' posts