Nintendo Wii Fanboy

We spent yesterday going through the big releases that've been announced for next year so far -- Smash Bros. Brawl and/or Wii Fit likely topping your personal "must get" list -- but what about the second-tier games that don't usually receive much press or attention?

Though we haven't forgotten about the low-key releases, we've collected a selection of games and media to ensure that these titles stay on your mind too! Read on for our top ten list of awesome 2008 games that you totally forgot about!

Not all of you shared our excitement when we posted Project O's trailer two weeks ago, many questioning our declaration of the game as a "must buy." We considered sassing back with our usual acerbic wit, riposting, "Yeah, well your mother is a 'must buy.'" Oh, how it would have burned. We eventually decided against attacking our readers, opting instead to chip away at your defenses with as many updates on the RPG/sim as we can muster.

Jeux-France posted new artwork of Project O's buildings and characters that strengthen analogies between the game and a Pikmin-styled RTS. Some of the structures are predictable, like the smithy and archery hut, while others, such as the mustachioed and heavy-eyebrowed fish restaurant shown above, are a bit more eccentric.

We've got more images past the post break which you can preview while you try desperately in vain to shake the musical stylings of Starship out of your head. Consider that last link our weekend gift to you. You know, to make up for that whole your-mother-being-a-must-buy burn.

We've had some pretty messed up dreams in our time -- like that one where we drove through the mall in a robot octopus to pick up girls, beckoning eight of them at a time with our come-hither, mechanical arms -- so it's no small feat exceeding our sleeping imaginations. This trailer for King Story (Project O) does just that, however, seducing us in just its first fifteen seconds with an arrangement of Maurice Ravel's "Boléro."

The three-minute English trailer goes over a lot of what was already revealed in yesterday's site update, but the accompanying cartoon has more charm to it than a box of leprechaun cereal. In-game clips show off your cheering villagers, town building and maintenance, and even some combat with a spicy dragon! If this RPG/sim wasn't a "must buy" for you before, it should be now.

Publisher Marvelous Interactive has finally replaced its King Story (or Project O, if you prefer its "working title") teaser page with a more substantial site, and, joy of all joys, there's an English version!

Along with listing King Story as a cross between a role-playing game and a "simulated life game," the new hub has information on a few of the characters and creatures that populate the village. The UMAs, Unidentified Mysterious Animals, are particularly interesting -- miniature humanoids with a featureless turnips for heads, mushrooms bearing the faces of old men, and spicy dragons!

We also love the story: "In a small village, there was this little timid young boy named Corobo. He was often lonely and too shy to make friends. Until one day when he received a mysterious Crown. This Crown had a mysterious power. The power 'to charm people and make them follow any orders ... '"

Any orders, you say? We can already imagine ourselves smiling cruelly, watching our minions toil under a terrible sun to erect a monument immortalizing our rule. An advisor pleads, "Your highness, this cannot go on! They'll revolt if you continue to push them like this."

We answer, "Obviously, you've no idea what power this Crown holds over them. Lest they wish their women and children sold to the Spore slavers, they'll break their backs completing the obelisk." The advisor opens his mouth to object, but finds that he's suddenly paralyzed, frozen in place by an unseen force. He screams silently, a sentient statue, unable to live or die for an eternity.

Project O, the mysterious Wii project from a supergroup of Japanese developers, is finally on its way to being a real, tangible game. Ousama Monogatari (King Story) casts the player as a boy named Corobo Bread who, thanks to a magical crown, becomes the king of a growing, obedient village.

Villagers follow you around and follow your orders; as you gather more villagers, you have the ability to issue more orders, and you can add more buildings and amenities to your village. Your villagers must also fight monsters at your command. Among the drones are characters with whom you can interact personally, allowing for RPG-style storyline-- though we'd be surprised if every villager had a distinct personality, as previously . It sounds a lot like a cross between Pikmin and Actraiser to us-- which is to say, a cross between wow and yaaaaaaay.

In addition to this information, we found some magazine scans of the game on NeoGAF, which are provided after the break.