Don't worry, I won't be buying the Animal Crossing 3DS XL. Or at least I don't think I'll be buying it ...

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm pretty sure I won't be buying the Animal Crossing 3DS XL that will be released in North America (and throughout Europe, too, I believe) alongside Animal Crossing: New Leaf on June 9 (June 14 in Europe).

I still love the system's classy design, of course, but I like my pink-and-white XL nearly as much--and, really, who needs to own two different XLs?

The Animal Crossing 3DS XL's European and North American release was announced during a pair of Nintendo Directs that aired earlier this morning, by the way. You can watch them here and here, respectively, if you'd like. A Japanese Nintendo Direct (deemed the "Luigi Special 2") went live at the same time and can be viewed here.

I took the time to watch both the Japanese and North American Nintendo Directs, so I figured I might as well share my thoughts on some of what was covered during those broadcasts.

Japan's getting a Luigi-branded 3DS LL--Haven't Japanese gamers received enough limited edition LLs? I guess not, as another one--featuring a number of green Luigi silhouettes--will be released there alongside Mario & Luigi RPG 4 (aka Mario & Luigi: Dream Team) on July 18.

Another Mario Party? Yawn--What can I say? I'm not all that interested in this long-running series. In fact, I don't think I've played a Mario Party game since the second one. That said, I know a lot of people still get a kick out of them, so I'm glad another is being prepped for release.

AHHHHHHHH!!!--That was the gist of my reaction to the news that we'll soon be getting a new entry in the Yoshi's Island series, by the way. Although I wasn't sure what to think of the new art style at first, it's since grown on me and now the game is at or near the top of my "most wanted" list for whichever year it winds up being released.

I think I've changed my mind about Sayonara Umihara Kawase's graphics--I've been pretty down on this game in the recent past, despite my love for previous Umihara Kawase titles, but the gameplay snippet shown during the Japanese Nintendo Direct prompted me to do a 180, as they say. Now, I still don't consider it gorgeous, by any means, but I do think it looks better in motion than it does in statis screenshots. Assuming its gameplay holds up to prior iterations, I have a feeling this will be a 3DS game well worth owning. 

You had me at A Link to the Past 2--So, those devious designers and developers at Nintendo are busy working on a follow-up to one of my all-time favorite games, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. I couldn't be happier. Well, OK, maybe I could be happier if the game was sprite-based rather than polygon-based, but that's probably asking a bit much in this day and age. Also, this sequel earns bonus points for employing an art style that somehow reminds me of (a prettier) Super Mario RPG.

Bravely Default: Flying Fairy it is (I think)--You know how I just said I couldn't be happier? I was lying, as this piece of news was responsible for bringing the biggest smile to my face while watching today's Nintendo Directs. Sadly, it won't hit store shelves here until 2014, but I have a feeling it'll be worth the wait. By the way, does this mean the folks at Nintendo and Square Enix--who will be publishing the game in tandem, it seems--have decided to stick with the Japanese name? I sure hope so.

Now that I've had my say, what did all of you think of this morning's reveals? Did they satisfy you, or did they leave you wanting more?

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.