Nintendo Wii Fanboy

Though Square never brought Seiken Densetsu 3, Secret of Mana's sequel (which itself was a follow-up to Final Fantasy Adventure), to the states, a fan translation project provided gamers with a localization ROM patch in 2000, five years after its release in Japan. Even with just an unofficial translation, the cooperative ARPG is widely acclaimed by those who've played it, some even claiming it as the Mana series' apex.

As fun as Seiken Densetsu 3 is, the Super Nintendo experience just doesn't seem "authentic" unless you're playing the game with the original rounded controllers on hardware yellowed with age. This auction on eBay plays on that sentiment, offering up a "Secret of Mana 2" set which includes the patched game on an SNES cart, a mocked-up box, and an English-translated instruction booklet.

Everything about its production screams "bootleg," and counterfeit releases like these can never be trusted for their quality or reliability, but that hasn't stopped bidders from running its auction price up to $300 with 15 hours still left on the clock!

[Via GameSniped]

Hey, everyone loves rumors. You can usually grab them by the handful at sites like, say, SPOnG, but when you cry wolf as many times as they do, well, it diminishes credibility. EGM, however, have a fairly good track record with their Rumor Mill section, and the newest issue has some delectable bits.

• First off, Square-Enix is purportedly using the two upcoming incarnations of Dragon's Quest (DQ Joker for the DS and DQ Swords for the Wii) as a gauge to see if the next incarnation of the main series, Dragon's Quest IX, will be released exclusively on the Wii. Though it has a slightly diminished standing in North America, the DQ series is loved by millions upon millions worldwide, an RPG phenomenon second only to the Final Fantasy franchise. If this is true, it's one hell of a victory for Nintendo.
• We're not done with Square-Enix yet. Second rumor: SE is developing an MMORPG for the Wii based on the Mana universe. While we're not sure if the Wii even has the technical capabilites to run a true MMO (they tend to be very limited without a dedicated hard drive), we still salivate at the possibility.
• Finally, Nintendo is looking at releasing an Earthbound compilation for the DS. This would include Mother 1, a game never released outside of Japan, the ever-beloved Earthbound itself (a.k.a. Mother 2), and the recent Mother 3, a game well-received in the Land of the Rising Sun. Add touch-screen capabilities, and bam. Million seller. They make it look so easy...

And, there you have it. While we must once again stress these are rumors, I'd eat my nonexistent hat if at least one of these three failed to come true. Your feelings, trusty readers?

[Update 1: Square-Enix was not the publisher of Earthbound; corrected Rumor 3.]