Blue Dragon: Awakened Shadow is another attempt to legitimize Blue Dragonas a franchise worth taking seriously. I’m not sure why Mistwalker is so hell bent on the idea of making more games for this series. When has a children’s story even been good when the original idea was taken and expanded upon several times? Who honestly thought The Neverending Story III was anywhere near as good as the original (which was probably good because it was based on a Children’s fantasy novel to begin with)?

The game opens with two purple-skinned people with long pointy ears awakening from a deep sleep. They portend hints of something big about to happen, thanks to some mysterious scheme they’ve been planning. I don’t really remember much of this scene because it was a lot of abstract foreshadowing, but one thing stood out to me: the purple girl says some snide comment to the dude, to which he replies something along the lines of “That cavalier tone of yours hasn’t changed since ancient times.” Well, duh! She’s been asleep for who knows how long; what kind of significant personality changes could she have possibly undergone? Read more… »

Reggie Fils-Aime (aka the Regginator) has just announced that the eagerly anticipated successor to the Nintendo DS will be released in all territories by the end of the financial year.

The so-called ‘prototype’ model received an overwhelmingly positive response at E3 last week, with critics lauding its technical prowess and convincing 3D effects. However, many gamers demanded to know to real reason as to why Nintendo refused to confirm an official release date at the conference.

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My first thought when I picked up Ghost Trick for the DS today was ‘Come on. Not another game where you die and then jump your soul from item to item in the spirit world and then return to the real world and use your soul to manipulate those items to prevent people from being murdered.’

My second thought was ‘Wow, you have been playing way too many games this week.’ In a similar vein to Phoenix Wright, Capcom’s unique DS offering sucked me in with a novel take on puzzle gameplay and a great stylistic presentation.

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It would be a huge understatement to say that I was a fan of Clover Studios’ Japanese watercolor styled opus, Okami. The inventive art style, the adorable characters, the Zelda-esque gameplay with a twist, and the interesting insight into Shinto mythology all endeared the title to me. It’s easily one of my top 3 favorite PS2 games.

It’s been too long coming, but I finally got my hands on the much anticipated sequel, Okamiden. I was nervous; would an IP so near and dear to my heart successfully make the transition from console to handheld without losing the charm and fun that made it so wonderful?

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Nintendo have just announced that the official follow up to Pokemon Pearl/Diamond will be released in North America and Europe in Spring 2011. The game is set to apparently re-invent the franchise in every way possible, featuring a vast open world to explore in 3D graphics.

The game was showcased earlier in the year on a Japanese television show, surprising both the players and gaming community, albeit from a technological aspect the game still looks relatively similar to previous incarnations. Will they still include the cheap Game Boy sound effects for the next generation of Pokemon? Will the main character sport more than four directions of movement? Only time will tell.

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If you have yet to enjoy the fruits of what Level 5′s Dragon Quest series has to offer, now would be the time to do so. Nintendo have just announced that Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies will be released for Nintendo DS stateside on July 11th, and July 23th in Europe. Gamers rejoice! This one is going to be huge.

While the series has yet to make much of an impact outside of Japan, it seems that Nintendo are intent on making this game a blockbuster hit. Dragon Quest IX has already sold a record-breaking 4.26 million units in Japan alone, and was given the highest possible score by regional magazine Famitsu.

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Not much is known about The Force Unleashed 2 at this point, except that it will allow players to continue the dark adventures of Darth Vader’s secret apprentice, Starkiller.  We at least now know when the game will be releasing, thanks to the Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 Facebook page breaking the news today.

Xbox 360, PS3, PSP, Nintendo DS, and Wii owners can begin dual lightsaber wielding and force pushing themselves to glory on October 26th, 2010.  What and who they will be fighting is still unknown, but one can only imagine this series will continue to rip the fabric of the official Star Wars lore apart.  I expect that more information will be released as we get closer to E3, but until then, hit the jump to watch the first trailer for the game. Read more… »

If you’ve got a casual-game playing significant other, then come this fall, you better put a dozen or so padlocks on your console cabinet. Today, EA announced that their habit-forming, critically acclaimed “best-selling PC game of 2009,” The Sims 3, is strolling its way onto the Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, and Nintendo DS.

It’s really not surprising, as previous iterations made it to the last generation of consoles, but if you don’t want your systems taken over by your Sims crazed girlfriend, I’d suggest investing in a set of blinders. Trust me, they work.

In the mean time, hit the jump to find out all the exclusives that are coming to each platform. Read more… »

If you were lucky enough to snatch up a copy of Pokemon SoulSilver or HeartGold, then you’re all set to get your free “Yellow Forest” DLC, which gives your Pokewalker an extra destination to walk through, and enables you to catch all sorts of regular and rare Pikachu specimen for fun and sport.

All you have to do is select “mystery gift” from your game’s main menu (before play), then select “get via Nintendo WFC”. Boom! Free DLC downloaded to your DS’s cart (compliments of Nintendo Voodoo Magic). All you have to do to enable it is go to any Pokemart, talk to the guy in green, and save your game. Extra unnecessarily long instructions are available on the official website if you’re so inclined. The Yellow Forest will be available to download through May 5th, so get those excuses ready for when your boss asks “is that a tiny Pokeball, and why are you running in circles around the office?”

Among the realms of anime, Bleach is generally considered a big deal, and whilst I am not going to claim I am an expert in the mythos, I at least know my Bankai from my Rukongai. I also dress up in a robe, wear sandals, and run through the streets telling people I’m fighting invisible spirit beings. But what can I say? A man needs a hobby.

I’m not sure I can say the transition from anime to games has generally been met with staggering success in the past, so have Sega struck gold with their tactical RPG on the DS? Read more… »

Scribblenauts was easily one of the most innovative titles of last year, so it’s really no surprise that 5th Cell is working on a sequel. According to GoNintendo, an article in Nintendo Power details the latest iteration of the game, stating it will contain more than 10,000 new words and 120 new levels, with the bulk of the words being focused on adjectives.

Perhaps the best news to come from the article is the fact that 5th Cell specifically addresses the games  controls, which were more than frustrating for some, especially when trying to pick up or manipulate small objects.

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The weirdest thing about Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth is that very little of the game relates to being an attorney; instead, it’s all about the investigations. In previous installments, we were already assigned to a case before investigating crime scenes, so we were looking for clues to use in court. Ace Attorney Investigations turns it into mere detective work.

In AAI, players assume the role of Miles Edgeworth – prosecuting attorney and rival of the series’ usual protagonist, Phoenix Wright – to do all the things that Phoenix did in the other games, except not as fun. Aside from Phoenix being a more interesting character, the coolest thing about Miles Edgeworth in the previous games was his sort of enigmatic aura. Unfortunately, no man is ever as interesting as his mystery.

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