Okay, we'd advise you take this news with a pinch huge damn barrel of salt, but UK-based retailer Play.com now has Pikmin 3 listed for release on March 27th, 2009. Our first thoughts upon spying this detail were as follows:
March 27th, 2009 is a rather random date to simply pluck out of thin air, don'cha think?
It's also a Friday, the day when games usually launch in Euroland.
Play is a UK-based site, so this may well be a European date (if it's even true).
The specificity of the date only makes it more convincing to us.
March 27th, 2009 really is quite a long way off. Boo hoo.
Heck, it's the weekend, so let the wanton speculation ensue!
We were sorely disappointed when we couldn't get our hands onLittle King's Story, but Marvelous and XSEED managed to make up for it a little bit with this enchanting trailer. We just can't help but be lured in by the game's style -- check out the knight using a cow as a mount, for example.
It's too bad that we couldn't find out if the gameplay matched the rest of this title's charm, but them's the breaks. Either way, we're looking forward to trying out Little King's Story in the future.
All Animal Crossing games are wonderful, but that's not all they have in common: as it happens, each game in the series to date has featured an unwieldy, cumbersome user interface. Every tool and item can only be selected by opening a totally separate menu, you can't skip through any of the game's (oft-repeated) dialogue, and writing letters/entering text is a royal pain in the backside, thanks to the excruciatingly annoying on-screen keyboard.
This morning, JC's hands-on impressions of Animal Crossing: City Folk revealed that Nintendo had fixed the first problem, by allowing users to cycle through their inventory with the d-pad. And now the third issue has been resolved, for City Folk will let players hook a USB keyboard up to their Wiis -- superb news! Just give us the ability to skip instantly through Nook's natterings and Blathers' blather, and we'll be pleased as punch.
Shigeru Miyamoto just dropped the most mega of tons over at Nintendo's 2008 E3 Developer Roundtable, and in the most understated way possible. Speaking to a crowd of around 100 press members, Shiggy casually announced: "We're making Pikmin." And that was it: a mere three words, but some of the most precious we've heard yet during this year's E3. You can see the team's response above, but how about you? Delighted, or what?
After seeing this new Rune Factory Frontier video (not to mention the new screens in our gallery below), we can't help but crow onagain about how wonderful this game looks.
We haven't learned many new facts about the game at E3 -- at least, not yet. We did find out, though, that the little fairy-like creatures hanging around in certain screens are actually spirits. As more spirits gather, you might run into larger and rarer creatures.
While we know Frontier won't be a sandbox style game, the video makes it look like there will be a lot of exploring to do. This could become a pain in a Rune Factory game (having to plant certain crops in a certain dungeon because of its season, and then constantly having to run around and take care of those crops), we love the idea of having a big area to feel out. We really can't wait for this one -- 2009 won't come fast enough.
Check out the screens in the gallery if you'd like, but make sure to click on the "High Res" button to get a feel for their full beauty.
More beautiful Rune Factory Frontier screens have surfaced, and we're still pining over this lovely-looking game. Between the farming, monster slaying and collecting, flying whales, and glowing creatures, we're pretty much in awe of this RPG-meets-farming-sim hybrid.
Granted, not everyone who played the first title in the series for the Nintendo DS appreciated the gameplay, but we thoroughly enjoyed it. Just by sticking to those basic tenets and adding visuals like these, we doubt we'll be disappointed. If Marvelous adds some extra goodies as well, that would just be icing on this agricultural cake.
You only have to check past the break to see the rest of the pretties.
Back in November, Famitsu posted a scan of Jawa: The Mammoth and the Mysterious Stone, which left detail junkies like us wanting more. Aside from the game sounding a bit like Tail of the Sun, the screens seemed unimpressive and bare.
As it turns out, though, Jawa includes an attractive feature -- assuming, of course, that your Mii is attractive, since you'll be able to dress him or her in caveman gear. You can also use your Mii to explore and wander about the game's 3D world.
While the complete disinterest that Sting seems to have for Jawa doesn't bode well for the game (which releases in Japan on July 3rd), it sounds like it could be a fun Harvest Moon-like title. Instead of growing crops, though, you hunt prehistoric animals, chill out with dinosaurs, build pots, and other such activities. Can such a cute idea really go so wrong? Probably, but we hope this one surprises us.
There's been a disturbing lack ofpress about Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility. In fact, we've probably seen and heard more about Rune Factory: Frontier than we have about Tree, which came out in Japan last year.
What we do know is that preordering the title through Amazon will get you an adorable cow plushie. Of course, it's difficult to tell when you'll actually receive the game and plush doll; Natsume lists "Summer 2008," Gamestop lists late July, Gamefly lists early August, and Amazon lists late August, to name a few of the scattered release dates.
Still, for Harvest Moon fans who were planning to buy the game anyway, a cute cow plush is a nice bonus that might make preordering through Amazon the best way to go. It's certainly not the greatest gift ever, but we think it will definitely appeal to the Harvest Moon crowd ... mostly because we're in that crowd, and we want one for ourselves.
Harvest Moon fans (like us) are probably drooling at the thought of Rune Factory: Frontier, which is releasing in Japan sometime this year (and not in other territories until forever, we'd guess). Yet by now, you should be used to the "look but don't touch" mantra, with all the screens we show you week after week.
As far as Rune Factory: Frontier goes, being restricted to looking is especially painful because the screens are nothing short of lovely. We only wish that Marvelous was quicker with the whole localization thing.
In other news, the game's official website is open for business. Since the site isn't offering anything tangible at the moment, though, you can just click past the break to see the rest of the pretties.
What do you think of, dear reader, when we say these words: Ferrari. Videogame? If you're anything like us, your mind will have just flashed back to either OutRun or the seminal Dreamcast port of Ferrari F355 Challenge, your pulse will have started quickening, and we can almost certainly meet up IRL.
Since Yu Suzuki's two awesome racers, little else has filled that Ferrari-shaped gap in our gaming hearts. So thank goodness for Activision and System 3, who are combining to bring us Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli this summer in North America. Described as "more sim than arcade," the title will let you cruise through 15 international racing circuits in your stallion of a car.
Considering this is also being released on the PS3 and Xbox 360, we're taking promises of downloadable content and online play for 16 players with a mountain of salt where the Wii version is concerned, but you never know, eh? Hit the break for some screens which are not from the Wii iteration.
G4's X-Play managed to get some time in with Order Up!, which turned out to be the rumored project of SuperVillain Studios. As you can see in the video above, it has a very charming artistic style and looks to offer the same kind of fun found in other casual titles such as Cooking Mama.
Anyone liking what they see here? Think this is a title that should be avoided?
Gamefly hinted a few months back that Lost in Blue was jumping ship to the Wii -- a rumor that has now been confirmed for Japan.
Konami announced the game by adding it to the Survival Kids list on the company's Japanese website (Survival Kids is the title of the series in Japan). Spencer Yip from Siliconera informs us that the game will have a multiplayer option and offer some sort of online component, but other than that, little is known.
We're sure this game could be a good fit for the Wii, as long as Konami doesn't go overboard with the waggle. There's a lot of survival activities that the Wiimote could work well for, though, so we're willing to wait and see how this one pans out.
We were wondering when we'd find out what SuperVillain Studios was up to on the Wii, but we never thought it'd be a restaurant game akin to Diner Dash. Hearing that might immediately turn you off, but we think Order Up! actually looks pretty interesting. Not only do you perform motion-controlled, Cooking Mama-style recipes (only with fast foodstuffs), but you also have to manage the restaurant in this simulation game. There's 4,000 lines of dialog included in the game, too, which (based on the screens) we hope is humorous.
Our only complaint is that this might be better suited for WiiWare, but if it's available at a budget price (i.e. not $50), we might look into getting this. If your interest is piqued as well, keep your eyes peeled for the game's June 22nd release date.
We can't help but be charmed by King Story. While we've never hidden the fact that we love the game's artwork and style, seeing it all in screen form makes us even giddier. Our favorite of the batch is the world map (pictured above), which features medieval-style art that's just perfect for a game of this nature.
Aside from learning that hats are serious business in this title, we've also come across a few (roughly) translated details. Since a king is nothing without his subjects, one of your tasks will be to expand your land to attract more people. There are monsters around to threaten the folks living in your country, though (see that big dragon there?), so you're going to have to vanquish those, too. There are also seven other kingdoms (you can see the eight different lands pictured in the map above), each of which has their own king. As for the towns in your country, each person has their own name, job, and business to attend to, leaving a lot of NPCs for you to interact with.
But if you're looking forward to this game, don't get too excited yet. While King Story should be releasing in Japan this summer, it will probably be a long while before this title gets localized. In the meantime, though, you can check out the screens we've posted after the break.
We've always heard that "cleanliness is next to Godliness," but Housekeeper Squadron Clean Keeper seems to contradict that saying. Yet, the game's "ick factor" comes from more than just cleaning evil dirt with girls in maid outfits. Some details have emerged on the title, and we've come to realize that the gameplay involves cleaning dirt off of these child-looking girls.
When they're attacked by evil starburst dirt, the player must clean the girls using the Wii's motion controls. Depending on what cleaning tool you're using, you'll be imitating a different gesture, such as wiping or jabbing. The trailer for the game also shows a whip tool, which proves to us that the whole "cleaning" story is just an excuse to do naughty things to little girls.
Aside from the risqué content, the game will be your everyday Japanese dating sim adventure. But, we're sure that's not what folks will be buying the game for. It's also interesting to note that this game only has a CERO C (equivalent to an ESRB "T") rating in Japan.
To see some NSFW video footage of the game (the video doesn't show any inappropriate body parts, but do you want to explain it to your coworkers?), which also happen to have "not safe for ears" audio (it's appropriate, just horrible), move on past the break.
Gamefly hinted a few months back that Lost in Blue was jumping ship to the Wii -- a rumor that has now been confirmed for Japan.
We've always heard that "cleanliness is next to Godliness," but Housekeeper Squadron Clean Keeper seems to contradict that saying. Yet, the game's "ick factor" comes from more than just cleaning evil dirt with girls in maid outfits. Some details have emerged on the title, and we've come to realize that the gameplay involves cleaning dirt off of these child-looking girls.
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