It. Hath. Shipped.

Those of you who follow me on Twitter (ahem) already know this--well, assuming you were paying attention yesterday afternoon--but for those of you who don't: my gold Pokémon Center 3DS LL has shipped!

Sadly, it's not supposed to show up on my doorstep until late next week. So, I've got a good few days of impatient finger tapping ahead of me before I get my hands on this gorgeous (in my opinion) handheld.

In the meantime, I thought I'd share the following unboxing video of the very same system, in case any of you are curious to see it in the flesh:



Something that I learned from the video above: the gold Pokémon Center 3DS LL has a shiny surface, much like the red and blue Pokémon X and Y 3DS XLs that just hit Europe and North America.

I'm OK with that, although I have to admit I was expecting it to have a matte finish like most other LLs and XLs.

Anyway, expect to see a bunch of photos of my own Pokémon Center 3DS LL shortly after it arrives on my doorstep.

See also: 'Reason #407 I could be considered an 'eccentric' (aka bat-sh*t crazy) gamer: I recently bought a gold Pokémon Center 3DS LL'

I'm always up for a Kotaro Yoshida-made game

Unfortunately, I don't own a device capable of playing the game in question, called PiyoPiyo Quest.

Those of you who actually own an iOS device or three and enjoy a good puzzler, though, should hunt it down and give it a go.

After all, it was made by Kotaro Yoshida, the same man who gave the world Half-Minute Hero, it features some lovely sprite work and it looks to play a bit like that other mobile puzzler all the kids seem to be talking about these days, Puzzle & Dragons.

Here's a brief PiyoPiyo Quest primer from NeoGAF user Goli, for all who are interested:

"You fight monsters by touching the different panels you can see above.

"The sword panels make Crest [the game's protagonist] attack with his sword, the fire ones make Crest cast magic, the leaf ones make Crest recover HP and the gold ones give you money, which you can use later to temper Crest's equipment and deal more physical/magical damage or increase his defense.

"The more panels you group together the better their effects. For example, if you group four sword panels, Crest will attack four times and so on."

Go here to read more of Goli's impressions.

Should any of you pick up PiyoPiyo Quest anytime soon, would you please share your impressions of it in the comments section below?

A few thoughts on a handful of recently released Japanese box arts

What do you write about when you're hopped up on cold meds and, as such, can't think straight? (As if I was ever able to do that anyway.) If you're me, you write about something tried and true--you know, like Japanese box art.

Thankfully, there are quite a few stellar--or at least interesting--pieces of Japanese cover art to chat about at the moment. For example:

The art above will grace the packaging of Daigasso! Band Brothers P when it releases on Nov. 14. (I'm planning to pick up a copy of this game myself, by the way, although possibly not until after the holidays.)

The box art produced for the Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster TWIN PACK (boy, is that a mouthful) is pretty snazzy, too, don't you think? Would you believe it if I told you I've never played either of the games included in this collection? Well, it's true. I've always wanted to give X-2, especially, a go, though. Maybe I'll buy the localized version of this release at some point after I acquire a Vita (or a Vita TV)?

Full disclosure: I know next to nothing about Liberation Maiden SIN. I mean, other than the fact that it's being released for the PS3, and that it likely has something to do with the similarly titled game that originally was included in Level-5's Guild01 for 3DS. Regardless, I quite like the looks of its box art.

The cover art above was produced for another game I know little about--that being Steins;Gate: Senkei Kousoku no Phenogram. I do know it's going to be released on Nov. 28, though, so hopefully I'll learn more about it between now and then. (At least enough for me to come to a conclusion as to whether or not I should long for its localization.)

Finally, there's Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai 2's plucky, pastel-infused box art, above. I had this game pre-ordered via amiami.com for a hot second, by the way, but decided to cancel it after I pre-ordered the gold Pokémon Center 3DS LL that should arrive on my doorstep ... sometime between now and the end of the year. (I'm kidding, kind of.)

That's not to say I've given up on owning a copy of this adorable looking rhythm title; on the contrary, I'm still hoping to add it to my collection, although that may not happen for a few months now.

Anyway, with all that out of the way, what do you lads and lasses think of the above examples of Japanese box art? Do you love some of them? Hate some of them? Feel absolutely nothing about any of them? Let me know in the comments section below.

Is that a Super Mushroom in your shorts, Mario, or are you just happy to see John Barrowman?

I'm currently feeling under the weather due to the cold my husband gave me, so please excuse the lazy-ish posts you're sure to see for the next couple of days.

I have a feeling quite a few of you won't mind my laziness after your eyes take in the focus of this post, which is the following photo of a scantily clad Mario cosplayer being groped by actor/singer/writer John Barrowman (of Arrow, Doctor Who and Torchwood fame).

The photo was shot by blogger Matthew Rettenmund during the recent New York Comic Con, by the way.

To see additional pics of New York Comic Con's sexiest attendees, check out this post and this post on Rettenmund's blog.

Aino's (and Bryan's) Adventures in Animachi, Weeks 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17

You'd think more would've happened in the five weeks since I last published one of these posts, wouldn't you?

Actually, more did happen, but I decided to edit things down a bit for a few reasons--one of which has to do with my hard drive dying on me with little warning a week and a half ago.

Thankfully, all of that's behind me and my laptop now, so I can get back to the business of recounting the soap opera-esque lives of Aino and Bryan and their fellow Animachians.

Before we get to the drama, though, how about we traipse through a few of the previously unseen rooms in Aino's sprawling home?

For instance, here's the speakeasy-ish cafe-slash-coffee house that's located in Aino's basement.



Only those who know the secret handshake--and slip Aino a fiver at the door--are allowed entrance.

And here's a look at Aino's new--and rather garish--guest bedroom:



A pretty daring use of the Lovely and Polka-Dot furniture series, don't you think? Or did the design work here bring to mind another d-word--like "dreadful"?

Finally, here's an updated look at Aino's study:



Actually, this room has received a bit of an overhaul in the last week or so--a bit of which can be seen in the following photo (which focuses on the golden house model the mayor received for reaching 150,000 Happy Home Academy points).



Another new piece of decor that can be found in Aino's home:



Yep, that's Barold's picture. Which means all Aino needs is Snake's photo to complete her collection. (OK, so she needs to nab Rodney's and Rizzo's pics, too--but Barold's and Snake's are her Holy Grails.)