Bing Bang Buy

Although I only have one product for sale, my Cafepress shop is finally up and running! Check it out, and buy a bumper sticker while you're at it. You'll be glad you did!

VF5 on X360

Sony takes a bit of a hit with this announcement today:

SAN FRANCISCO & LONDON (December 21, 2006) – SEGA® of America, Inc. and SEGA Europe Ltd. today announced that the highly anticipated arcade fighting game, Virtua Fighter™ 5, will make its way onto the Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system.

People were wondering if VF5 would be a Sony exclusive. Now we know. Will this help move more Xboxes in Japan?

Rogue Galaxy

Man, I thought this game was coming out sooner. Rogue Galaxy is a little over a month away, and IGN has posted a 15-minute game intro movie (in three parts) that showcases the game's cool setting and high production value. Not to mention some delicious combat.


The same company behind Dragon Quest VIII, Level 5, is responsible for Rogue Galaxy. The character designs and voice acting seem to be on par with that awesome game, so I'm hoping for something similar here. Why buy a PS3 when your PS2 is still so viable? And we're not just talking new games; used PS2 games are now going for super cheap to make way for the current gen crop. And God of War II isn't even out yet! This PS2 baby still has some serious life in her.

Tii-Shirt

Put your Mii on a Tii, thanks to Mr. Cloud. That is seriously nitt.

Blue Dragon

Joystiq reports that Microsoft's Blue Dragon title debuted at #4 on the Japanese software sales charts. This is a nice little win for Microsoft, especially considering the apathy I witnessed in Tokyo regarding the game. But over the last few weeks, we've been seing the interest in Blue Dragon growing as Japanese launch drew closer. Now it's obvious that there's some significant desire for the game. Questions: a) is the game any good? and b) will it sell X360s? I guess we will see. But look for Dragon Quest IX (the other series with Akira Toriyama character designs that has "dragon" in the title but isn't "Dragon Ball" or "Dragon Ball Z") to kill the hell out of everything in Tokyo when it comes out for the DS. I want it!

Bigger Sausage

From my inbox this morning:

Yo dude

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If you don't have one - GET ONE!

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Sigh.

New Mass Effect Video

BioWare has posted a new video that reveals some cool details about the upcoming Mass Effect. For instance, the combat system looks pretty robust and action-packed. And, boy, are those eyeballs reflective! Yes, this is the game that will sell me on the X360.

Mission in Snowdriftland

Nintendo is on a roll...with a snowball. Check out Mission in Snowdriftland, a winter-themed web game that seems to come out of nowhere. I love the purple protoplasm dude with glasses!

Hilariious

An entire site devoted to things broken by flying Wii remotes! TV's, windows, glasses...you name it. Fantastic.

Thanks to Gary for link!

Wii Play

And you thought Wii tennis was fun?

This is from Wii Play, a game already out in Japan. (According to IGN, it shipped with an extra remote, for multiplayer.) Ping pong, billiards, air hockey, tanks, a whole bunch of stuff. When can Wii get our hands on this, Nintendo?!?

Wee Wii Reviews

The Wii continues to bring the good grin fun times. Not only am I trading Miis with my friend Mark, but I'm enjoying the hell out of some Zelda. Here are remarks on some of the other launch titles that I've played/got my hands on:

Rayman Raving Rabbids: Believe the reviews. This is NOT a Rayman game. It is a collection of mini-games -- which range from so-so to fun -- starring bizarre rabbit creatures. The rabbits themselves are hilarious: half-homicidal/half-retarded fuzzballs with great animations and SFX. Haven't played much of the game, but it's frustrating that you must unlock the mini-games in single-player before you can play them in multi-player. (Not good for parties!) The mini-games themselves use the Wii controls to varying degrees of success. Coolest by far are the on-rails "plunger shooting" levels, which combine the best aspects of the game (funny characters with pick-up-and-play game design) for smiles galore. Raving Rabbids is fast food, albeit high quality fast food. Nice to look at, fun to play, a good showcase for the Wii...ultimately forgettable.

Excite Truck: TOTALLY fun. The driving is a cartoony, physics-bending experience, which makes the decision to depict the trucks realistically all the more bizarre. But whatever. Go wild with insane jumps, tricks and turns. The controls take a bit of getting used to, but work great. Be warned: this game is HARD. Like, even the early levels are tough. Much better in multiplayer, where the odds are smoothed out. Here is an awesome design decision: the truck that comes in first doesn't always win the race. Players collect stars as they go through the track, by performing tricks, good jumps, etc. Granted, you get a lot of stars for coming in first, but if you can accumulate more by racing well, you can still win. Makes for a real challenge that balances skill with speed.

Trauma Center Second Opinion: I did not play this game on the DS, but I can see how it would work perfectly with that platform. It also works great on the Wii. This is a hospital/surgery sim with a soap opera storyline. The oh-so Japanese narrative hysterics are bad to the point of entertaining. As for gameplay, you will be surprised how quickly you can get into it. The game is really just an exercise in muscle memory and sequence memorization; the surgery theme is only a motif. (The gameplay mechanic could easily work with cooking, or construction, or manufacturing radioactive isotopes, whatever.) The fun comes in when you have to remember complicated sequences while working against the clock (stressful!), all while using the Wii remote to slice, move, suture, etc. Our group was entertained for hours. But I wouldn't buy this game. Note: the graphics are poor.

DBZ Tenkaichi 2: Wow. This game is good. It feels like you are playing a DBZ episode. The graphics are solid and the character selection (over 100 characters) is insane. If you're a DBZ fan, you will LOVE this. The Wii controls are a bit wonky, and I assume this is a result of multi-platform development. (You can also play the game with the retro controller.) I've played previous DBZ fighting games, most of which were mediocre to decent, but this one really captures the kinetic vibe of the show. I may just pick this one up.

Well, back to Zelda. And Red Steel. (I still stand by my assertion that this game is not as bad as everyone claims it is. Grab a bargain copy when you can. I hear a sequel is on the way.) Oh, and let's not forget Wii Sports -- make sure you try the training mode in bowling! You can try to knock down 100 pins at once!

PS3 vs. Wii

Last week, the Wall Street Journal weighed in on the Sony vs. Nintendo debate, and came up with a shocking realization: "For mainstream users, who lack the skill or patience or interest for complex videogames, the Wii is the way to go. For hard-core gamers, the PS3 will be the one you want, but only if you are willing to part with a lot of money."