Four recently-ish revealed pieces of Japanese box art that I think are pretty fabulous

Although I recently devoted three different posts to my favorite pieces of Japanese Dreamcast and PlayStation box art, I've been pretty lax as of late in terms of publishing my thoughts on more current examples of the medium.

So, here's a rather hastily thrown together attempt at making amends.

March Onwards! Captain Kinopio (Wii U)--This is a winner every which way you look at it, if you ask me, although I think the highlight of it is its use of color. The teal case combined with the golden background and cherry-tinged logo font makes the whole she-bang appear almost ... delicious.

Sega 3D Fukkoku Archives (3DS)--As fabulous as this Ken Sugimori-designed effort is, I've got to say I'd find it a whole lot more fabulous if its bottom edge didn't feature that black-and-blue "box of logos."

Sumikko Gurashi (3DS)--I hate cover art like this. You know why? Because it makes me want to buy a copy of the game, despite the fact that I'm pretty sure I wouldn't get much enjoy out of it even if I understood Japanese. (It's supposed to be some sort of "communication" game, whatever that means.)

Stranger of Sword City: Black Palace (Vita)--OK, so the way this Wizardry clone's characters are grouped in the middle of this cover illustration is far from unique (in fact, it's downright cliché), but the overall product is so striking that I'm will to give that misstep a pass.

What do all of you think of the above? Also, what are some of your current favorite pieces of cover art?

This new SaGa, I mean Legend of Legacy, game continues to look great

Or at least what's shown of it in the video below continues to look great to me.

Of course, I've always been a sucker for games with "unique" aesthetics, and this FuRyu-published RPG, which is set to hit the streets (and the eShop) of Japan early next year, certainly fits that bill.

By the way, in case this is your first encounter with Legend of Legacy, it's being made by many of the same folks who worked on Square Enix's all-but-forgotten SaGa series in years past.



Those games were known for being rather quirky (if not downright crazy), so I'm hoping that will be true of Legend of Legacy in the end as well.

Actually, I'll let you know whether or not that's the case after I sink my teeth into the game, as I recently pre-ordered a copy of it via amiami.com.

(Via japanese3ds.com)

You had me at 'EarthBound box set,' Fangamer

A couple of days ago, the folks at Fangamer launched a Kickstarter campaign for "a box set of media celebrating EarthBound and the fans who have kept it alive."

Backers who pledge $64 or more will receive the following from the Tucson, Arizona-based site should the campaign reach its $100,000 goal between now and when it concludes on Nov. 21:

* an EarthBound handbook of at least 250 pages in length,

* a documentary about EarthBound fandom in the west,

* an album of music pulled from the entire Mother series and performed by some group calling itself The Bad Dudes (listen to a sampler of it here), and

* an 80-page 'zine filled with fan-made art and stories. (The piece on the right, inspired by the series' "Eight Melodies," is one of the many submissions that have been made so far. See more at pkzine.tumblr.com.)

For more information on this particular Kickstarter campaign, check out its official project page at your earliest convenience.

My 3DS XL will soon sport one (or more) of these adorable Animal Crossing menu themes

Word on the street is that the handful of Animal Crossing: New Leaf 3DS menu themes that have been available in Japan for some time now will be brought to the European and North American eShops this week.

That's music to my ears, as I've been clamoring for the Sable Able one (below) since I first became aware of it.



Later, I'll pick up the "Isabelle in Town Hall" (below) and "Timmy and Tommy Nook" ones, too.



To see (and hear) the rest of this batch of 3DS menu themes in action, check out this video (for the "Bulletin Board" one) and this video ("Mabel Able").

Are any of you planning to add one or more of the above themes to your 3DS systems in the coming days? If so, which ones? And if not, have you bought--or are you considering buying--any of the other menu themes that have been made available so far?

On the one hand, this "Fat Chocobo" plush is completely adorable

On the other, uh, $86.90?

Sure, this "Fat Chocobo" plush is rather large as these things go--it's 11 by 12 by 17 inches, basically--and its design was inspired by a 3DS game I'm very much looking forward to sinking my teeth into soon (that would be Theatrhythm Final Fantasy: Curtain Call), but even then I can't say I think it's worth nearly $90.



Should any of you feel differently on this subject, you may want to go ahead and order one of these (admittedly adorable) toys via shopncsx.com.

Another option: buy one through amiami.com, which is selling the very same product for approximately $37 less. (AmiAmi's price is 5,480 yen, or just over $50.)