So a relationship advice column in Men's Health advises that a good way to pick up chicks is to "buy that new Nintendo system with the stupid name, Wii."

Any female gamer could take this advice as an insult, associating them with the "dumb cutesy games" that are only meant to sell and not really to impress. There are girls out there who love boy-games like Halo and MMORPGs (how else do people find their wives on Everquest? Yech.)

Well first, I'd like to say that I hate all magazine advice, because they are all written by men who suffer from alpha-male syndrome. Hell, the "Girl Next Door" is probably a dude too. That being said... of course the Wii will attract girls. That was one of its main purposes to begin with. We girl gamers have to admit that many of our kind like the dumb cutesy games (this is a website dedicated to those games). It's undermining but true, and this, in my opinion, is why:

- While my favorite games might be cute and simple, a lot of them have more depth to them than at first glance, and a ton of replay value. (We get our money's worth!)

- Even if they aren't particularly mindblowing games, that means that we play video games for enjoyment, and not for, you know, additions to real life. (We have lives!)

- From a graphic designer's viewpoint, the majority of these games win simply because of aesthetic quality and don't make you feel sick when you play. (We appreciate beauty!)

We play intelligently. And every gamer has to start somewhere. One of my first games was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for the NES, and I was hooked because I thought playing Raphael was coooool. After that wears off, you move onto the next game, and soon you're a full-fledged cartridge-carrying gamer who eventually plays games that not only were meant to sell, but impress! So good luck to all the guys who use their Wii to get some booty; hopefully it'll make more females play video games, and then I won't feel so damn lonely.

South Park churns out another episode inspired by video games (and yet another damn two-parter! Argh!) in this week's episode called, "Go God Go." This is Cartman, waiting for the Wii's launch on Nov. 19th.

Part 1 of the episode on YouTube, I'm sure you can find Parts 2 and 3 from there.

I can't wait for the PS3 and Wii launches (Nov. 17th and 19th)! I won't be buying either unfortunately, but I might drive to the nearest Best Buy before doors open and watch the parade. :)

I don't need to purchase a Wii for a whole week, becaaaause... the guy over at Yoshi's Madness is going to play his Wii for a week straight (with minimal sleeping) LIVE! It's a good way to see how all the games are working, and about all the complaints about sub-par graphics compared to the PS3 and XBox360, I'm watching him play Rayman right now and it looks great! ^_^ It also comes with a chat to the right of the video; just ignore all the dumb comments and spam and enjoy the Wiiiiiiiiiiiii o.O

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving break! Yea, I totally stole the post title from some promo they were having on a TV channel. But it's fitting because I've spent almost the entire weekend playing the Wii!! My friends and I camped out for one on Black Friday, and David and Nick both bought a system. Unfortunately they didn't buy any games for them (so dumb...) but Wii Sports was more than enough to hold us over for the weekend. I have more stories and pictures to upload but I'll get to them later. I REALLY want a Wii now. Especially because there will be an insane amount of cute games for it. Like The Sims, which just launched its website. It's... SO...... KAWAII ^_^;;;

It's looks similar to Animal Crossing, which is fine by me! More of its sugary goodness:

Now it's just a matter of when I will be obtaining this system. For now, I am very happy with Yoshi's Island DS. Though - and I totally wouldn't have said this a year ago - now I really want a PSP. I played Loco Roco at a Best Buy yesterday and I'm starting to think that maybe the PSP isn't so bad. There aren't enough games for it that I would want to buy (but then again, I haven't kept track on what has been coming out for it), but there's also Me and My Katamari and Metal Gear Acid. I guess I can wait until it's a little older and cheaper.

And just in time for Christmas, here are some video game t-shirts for the nerd on your list (me). They're okaaay, I'm not really impressed with any of the designs. As far as Katamari t-shirts go, these shirts are so much nicer looking. Perhaps someone would like to buy me one of these for Christmas, maybe the cousins hanging on the balloon one? Or any of these VG Cats t-shirts. Thank you! ^_^

And speaking of design, here's a sweet mod for a XBox360. I'm warming up to the XBox, if only because I'm in the consumer spirit. Bleh.

Because I have a measly 4-page paper to finish tonight, I will do what I have done for the past 10 years of schooling and PROCRASTINATE. I present to you, my Thanksgiving Wiikend.

   'Twas the night before Thanksgiving, and at my friend John's pad, his Wii was being set up, there was much fun to be had.
   I thought I had to wait many more months for this day, but no! John had bought one, and I could finally play!
   He only had one game to play on the Wii, but who cares, I spent 15 minutes making my Mii.
   His Wii Sports disc didn't work, 'twas a shame, but I fished on Zelda! It's a pretty cool game. (Duh.)

   'Twas the night before Black Friday, my friends wanted to buy Wiis, so we went to Meijer and Wal-mart, and what do we see?

   A big scary black box, with a handwritten note, saying "Game Boy Micro and Games!" No Wii system, no Wii-mote.
   Ben said, "They are liars! The Micro is no more!" But there was naught we could do, so we left the store.
   To Gamestop we went, few people were in line; they had eight Wiis for sure! And I had Taco Bell to dine ^_^
   But the weather got cold, and we were ill prepared, but our nice neighbor named Kevin had a blanket to share.
   He had done this before, for the XBox and PS2, and seeing his car trunk, he sure knew what to do.

   An entertainment center! With XBox and TV. He popped in Tommy Boy, I love that movie!
   Well David and Nick took over at three, with White Castle in hand; Ben and I left to sleep.
   At seven they finally obtained their toys, and called Ben and I over to share in their joys.
   For the rest of the weekend, we played that darn Wii, and hopefully for Christmas there will be one for me!

This is a 5 minute clip showing the game. Wario Ware was pretty much the main game I wanted to play on the Wii, and now after seeing this I canNOT wait for this to come out! It looks fantastic and soooooo much fun! I love all the game references - Zelda, Game and Watch, Mario Sunshine, Balloon Fighter, even Nintendogs! Exclamation points!!

Kotaku recently posted an article about Nintendo's Japanese safety instruction manual for the Wii ^_^ The images are hilarious! I especially like the coughing Wii and the lucky-clover-in-the-vent illustrations.

Because people need to be told not to do these things, right? Heh. Well now there is a sequel, entitled, "Wii Safety: The Missing Pages," courtesy of The Iconfactory. My personal favorite:

Yea, those Wiis are tough to swallow! Sigh, this is the stuff I am entertaining myself with until I actually own one...

As luck would have it, I managed to pick up a Wii this Christmas. Actually, it was the day after Christmas, and after jokingly asking the EBGames sales guy if they had any Wiis left in stock, he said that they had one left that someone had reserved but for some reason couldn't come pick up. So obviously it was fate for me to have the system. Thank you, God. Anyway, I got it all set up and stuff, purchased Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz with my Best Buy giftcards, and made Miis in the spitting images of myself and my parents. I showed my parents how to use the Wiimote and play Wii Sports... and that was basically the end of me playing. My dad is now almost a pro in every sport, and my mother wore out her left arm from playing tennis for two hours. She has also suggested that I not bring the Wii back to college and just leave it at home for them to play. I thought this was MY Christmas gift! I want to play! :grumble:

Well really, I'm happy that they're so interested, because maybe they'll finally realize that my addiction to video games isn't so bad. I am a firm advocate of using Dance Dance Revolution as a weight-loss method, and Wii Sports Boxing really does wear your arms out (mostly because I am trying to figure out how it works...). I also mostly play games that are kid friendly and have artistic merit, none of the blood and guts stuff. I think it's a safe, healthy addiction ^_^ Also, props to Nintendo - if you can get my 50-year-old parents to fight over video games with me, you've done your job in snagging whoever is left that doesn't play video games. Especially after having Wii Sports take the title of Time Magazine's Best Video Game of 2006. But once Wario Ware: Smooth Moves comes out, the Wii is MINE!

Wii Sports: This game earned the title of Time Magazine's Top Video Game of 2006, and rightfully so. It is the perfect demo to introduce everything that the Wii is and could be. The anthology including tennis, baseball, golf, bowling, and boxing. There is no need to figure out how the game is played, and often times no buttons on the Wii Remote need to be pressed either. By eliminating confusing instructions and button controls, two major complaints from non-video gamers, suddenly everyone wants a piece of this new innovative technology. Also, using Miis as the players adds another level of interaction. My dad alone has probably clocked in about a day's worth of gameplay, and I'm pretty sure the last system he ever touched was the NES. The only problems that I've had with the game are with boxing, which is a little quirky, and the limited movement in tennis and baseball. But of course, Wii Sports exists to demostrate how awesome the games WILL be. This is a fantastic (and free!) game, and until Wii Play comes out (another anthology similar to Wii Sports that introduces nine new games like billiards, fishing, and shooting clay pigeons), this will keep everyone entertained for hours.

          

Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz: I've been a huge fan of the Monkey Ball series and had been waiting for the Wii version to come out for a while. Billed as having 50 party games (!!!) along with newer and harder levels, this was the first game I picked up for the Wii. Unfortunately, I now have a laundry list of gripes with this game. First of all, only a handful of the party games are worth playing; the rest either have some serious problems or are just a sorry filler of a mini-game. I especially like Hammer Throw and Alien Attack, but come on, Puzzle? You... put a jigsaw puzzle together. They claim that the many party games will "keep the party going for hours," but really, you're just spending a lot of time trying to find the few that you like.

          

As for the main game, I am very, VERY disappointed that there is no multi-player. When my friends and I played Monkey Ball, it wasn't about the party games, it was about seeing who could actually pass each level (though we love Monkey Target). Also in Banana Blitz, the story is pretty much forgotten after the first world, and the levels seem to be a lot easier this time around. Perhaps because it is a launch game, maybe the idea was to cater to those who had never played any of the previous Monkey Balls. But what about the rest of us who were looking for new challenges? What happened to the beginner and expert modes? There are also boss stages at the end of each world, but they're relatively simple. And then after each boss stage, CREDITS. Really, really unnecessary. The graphics are still beautiful, the music is still fun and peppy (though I was really hoping for some of the cool groove music like in world 4 of SMB2)... Banana Blitz just doesn't live up to my standards for Monkey Ball games. Next time around, they should focus more on the main game rather than trying to wow us with a large number of mini-games.

Rating: 6 out of 10

Rayman Raving Rabbids: However, here is one game that got the mini-games right. I've never played any previous Rayman games, but apparently they were platformers. This one is just full of mini-games... and screaming rabbits. The story goes that Rayman was having a picnic with some fellow Globoxes (frogs?) and is suddenly interrupted by these screaming, stupid rabbits. Apparently these dumb rabbits are planning to take over the world. Rayman and his friends are kidnapped, and Rayman must perform tasks to win toilet plungers to escape out of his jail cell. Makes no sense? Well it's not really important, because the game is entertaining and hilarious nonetheless. Ubisoft is definitely trying to find all the ways you could possibly use the Wiimote, and picked the ridiculous idea of torturing rabbits to hook players. It works. My friend David is the one that owns this game, so I haven't gotten to play it that much, but I do know that he once had a group of more than 10 people fighting over the Wiimote to play the next game. That's "keeping the party going," Sega. The animation style looks great too, though I am a little confused why they decided to include a song by the Black Eyed Peas. Oh well. Great party game! I might have to trade Banana Blitz for this one ^_^

          

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

A guy has made 100 Miis with some impressive look-alikes.

http://www.gamingbits.com/content/view/1448/2/

Very inspiring, indeed.

Nyko announced that they're going to come out with a charging station for the Wii remotes. "The Nyko 87000 charge station comes with 2 NiMH rechargeable battery packs, six foot power cable and the battery packs are "rubberized" for grip."

Why I am upset about this: My dad has been playing a ridiculous amount of Wii, but he always complains that the controller is too slick, that there is nothing for him to grab onto. So what we did was put rubber bands around the controller. Well after a while, I thought to myself, all Nintendo has to do is put rubber on the battery cover, and they probably would never have had any of those strap problems. Then I thought, no, I should put rubber on the battery covers and makes lots of money! AND THEN THIS. I will never make any money, ever. But other than my loss of a potential genius invention, this charge station is great. It will also solve the problem of losing the remotes, which happens a lot I hear. Hopefully it's not too costly, I'm guessing around $30?

Hey you. You knooooow you want a Wii. But if the $250 price tag a little too much for you, now you're in luck! Circuit City is selling the Wii for $209! Well not actually, but they have a coupon for $40 off any purchase over $199, and that of course includes the Wii. Or the PS3 if you really wanted to, but $209 still looks better than $459 (for the 20gb version, but are they even selling those anywhere? I've only seen the 60gb for sale, and boy have I seen a lot of those) Either way, Circuit City is rumored to be keeping a fresh stock of Wiis until this Sunday, but now that this deal has been publicized so much, good luck finding one. Or you could... buy something else that costs more than $199 and get $40 bucks off. Argh, now if only I had waited to buy the Wii now... Happy shopping!

(From Destructoid)

edit: LAME nevermind. Circuit City discontinued the promotion. Well anyway, there is ANOTHER promotion going on: Gamestop is offering a few Nintendo-themed trade-ins, one of them including $50 off a Wii if you trade-in your Gamecube. Which seems like a fair trade if you ask me, seeing that the Wii can play Gamecube games. Even better if you don't have to give up your controllers! Good luck getting Wiis!

Elebits - It's been hailed as the Katamari Damacy for the Wii, and I can see where they're getting at. The world is your playground, and all objects are game for throwing and zapping. In the story, you play a little boy (girl?) named Kai who is feeling unloved by his parents, two researchers who study Elebits. Elebits are small creatures that provide electricity for Kai's world. However, there is a huge power outage and his parents run off to investigate the phenomenon , and Kai blames the Elebits and grabs his father's capture gun and runs around zapping Elebits for electricity. Well that's the best I could explain this game, similar to describing Katamari as "rolling stuff up." But as nonsensical as it is, Elebits is a lot of fun, with cute graphics and a sweet soundtrack to boot. Actually, the music in Elebits is the kind of music I was really hoping would be in the Wii's Super Monkey Ball, smooth groovin'. The multi-player mode gets a little too chaotic for me to want to play it for too long, and the voice acting is HORRENDOUS. But just like you can't stop rolling up bigger and bigger objects in Katamari, you can't stop zapping Elebits to pick up heavier and heavier things ^_^ But the repeat action of jamming the A button really gets to you after a while... Katamari still owns me.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Trauma Center: Second Opinion - "I'm starting the operation!" This game is the sequel to the hit DS title Trauma Center: Under the Knife. Dr. Derek Stiles is a new surgeon that has just completed residency at Hope Hospital. You use the Wii controller to do everything from making incisions, draining liquids, performing ultrasounds and suturing wounds. I don't personally own this game, and didn't play the DS version, but from what I gathered after playing it for a little while, there is a group of bio-terrorists infecting people with GUILT parasites, deadly toxins that kill their hosts quickly. So along with normal surgeries like broken bones and failing organs, you also have to figure out how to fight these parasites while still getting along with your hospital crew. You learn the "Healing Touch" which is a controversial medical procedure, but it slows down time and allows you to save patients you normally wouldn't have been able to. I'm usually not a huge fan of big gaping wounds and bleeding anythings, but I really could not stop playing this game. It's like a TV drama show like ER (I'm guessing, because I've never watched ER or any TV drama show really), where you can't stop watching and the plot gets thicker and crazier as you progress. I need to play this game more! Oh, and the music is also very awesome. And nerve-wrecking. There's even a part where you have to dismantle a bomb, yikes!

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Wario Ware: Smooth Moves - Yet another ridiculous addition to this franchise, this one does a great job of fully utilizing the Wii Remote and is simple enough for almost anyone to play on the first try. Wario Ware is a game of mini-games, where you have to complete a task in about 5 seconds or less, with instructions like "Pick nose!" or "Find him!" Half the fun is just figuring out what you're actually supposed to be doing. In this particular version, you're taught several different ways of holding the remote like "Umbrella," "Handlebar," and "Mortar and Pestle" with a hilarious Ben Stein-sounding guy. Like all Wario Wares, this is quick and easy fun, but the novelty wears off after a few plays, and a lot of people have told me that they beat this game in an hour. Of course, it wasn't meant to be a game, more just something to entertain people with at parties (helloooo drinking game). I can't really say it has a lot of replay value, but I will admit that when I show off the Wii, it's the game I grab immediately after Wii Sports. Maybe just because it's ridiculously japanese-y ^_^ Well it is a good game to pick up if I have half an hour to kill.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Konami is teaming up with the makers of Elebits for another adventure game for the Wii. Tentatively called "Dewy's Adventure," you manipulate the terrain to help a small droplet of water named Dewy save its home world from the evil Don Hedron. Confused? Well considering the description for Elebits goes along the lines of "using a capture gun to blast little creatures named Elebits that are essentially electrical charges to light up a city that is experiencing a blackout," this is to be expected. And the game will probably be a ton of fun, because shooting those little Elebits was awesome. If anything, the game will just be... sooooo cute :squeals:

Just LOOK at that screenshot. It satisfies all the requirements of a cute game:

1) Bright neon primary colors, very little usage of dark colors;
2) A smiley face on the character sans nose;
3) A tiny perspective of the larger, real world, a.k.a. giant pop-up book
4) Curves, circles, bubbles... NO SHARP LINES. God, even the wood boards are suggestively round.

Well there you have it. Another cute Wii game that appeals to the 2-year-old girl in me. It comes out in September of this year, hopefully it has a better name than "Dewy's Adventure" by that time.

(from Kotaku)

Nintendo has announced that Super Paper Mario for the Wii will be released on April 9:

Clever, Nintendo. Either way, I can't wait to get my hands on this game! I have so many fond memories of playing Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, sitting on a comfy futon... lights off... slightly buzzed... with my roommate... if she was there... but usually she wasn't... and I wasn't going to classes... but the game was kickass! I think the switching between 2-D and 3-D aspect will be interesting, much like this cool game named Crush that's coming out for the PSP. But that's a whole different post.

The only time I've ever had to consider what to wear when playing a video game is before a nice sweaty round of DDR. T-shirt, shorts and socks are my clothing of choice. With Wii Sports, however, not only are these real sports, but there are dress codes to go with them! So with the help of City Magazine, you can now look ridiculously fashionable while acing your serve or bowling that strike.

It's been a while since we last heard about the Sim-like game for the Wii, but EA has officially announced the title MySims for the Wii and the DS.

Yea, this is going to fly off the shelves. It's too cute for even the manliest man to resist. Now the question is, do I buy this for the Wii or the DS? Or BOTH?

Along with Elebits and Dewy's Adventure :gush:, Konami is once again trying to kill me with adorable animals and oversized objects with Kororinpa: Marble Madness, coming out for the Wii at the end of March. Nick over at Destructoid recounts his hands-on experience with the game at New York Comic Con.

"First, it's disgustingly cute. The build on display at NY Comic Con had me rolling around a little a penguin that was so adorable that it gave me cramps; think Animal Crossing meets Strawberry Shortcake meets The Daily Puppy. The full game will allow you to roll everything from a cat to a gas tank around the 40 plus different levels. And what's cuter than a gas tank?"

Penguins! Giant cake! Menacing scissors! The gameplay looks similar to Monkey Ball, and is probably more interesting than how Banana Blitz turned out. Kororinpa: Marble Madness comes out on March 28.

There's going to be a new game for the Wii called Space Station Tycoon, which is apparently somewhat of a sequel to a game on the XBox's Live Arcade called Outpost Kaloki X. I don't know a single thing about either, but I've heard good things about the Live Arcade game, and the art looks interesting, and there are pigs with bushy mustaches, and there's a monkey I think (SPACE monkeys?) and there are space stations involved. Sounds like a winner. Here's some fancy art they released to get the taste buds... going? working? I actually don't know the ending to that cliché (you'll find I don't know many clichés at all), and I googled it and I got too many different answers. I'm settling for tingling. Tastes buds are tingling. SPACE!

Hawaiian suits are so fly. Space Station Tycoon should be coming out sometime this summer.

(from Kotaku)

Yep, I'm excited. Though there doesn't seem to be much more coming out for the Wii this year...

I've fixed it! I can finally get on the internet through my Mac! So there might be a ridiculous amount of posts, and they'll more than likely be somewhat old news. Here goes:

There are only a handful of Wii games that have kept my attention for longer than an hour. I bought Wario Ware and Super Monkey Ball, and am considering selling both of those. So far the only game I've really raved about is Elebits, probably because it's more of an adventure game than a party game. I haven't played Zelda though, I'd probably enjoy that one too. But what the Wii needs is more adventure games, maybe some RPGs? Something that isn't gimmicky, that focuses more on the plot rather than the 60 ways you can hold the Wiimote.

Koei has announced that they're making a game called Opoona, an adventure game for the Wii. You play Opoona, and while traveling with your family, your brother and sister go missing and everyone else winds up at the hospital. I believe the purpose of the game is to discover what happened.

What's neat about this game is that it doesn't use the Wiimote at all! You simply use the nunchuck to move, select, fight, everything. I'm very interested in seeing how they will manage to pull it off, and hopefully it's not so awkward that I'm always focused on it.

Guess we'll see if games like these bring some life back to the Wii, for me at least.

Can you believe this, I am actually getting bored of these Super Paper Mario trailers. They're kind of annoying to watch because it doesn't make the came come out any faster, and I don't want to see all the new aspects of the game yet. I still like the element of surprise, like WHOA I can flip the world into 3D and WHOA I can flip it back to 2D! But see, there won't be any of that because I've already seen it in action. Curses. Now all I'm going to do when I start the game is wait until I get that ability.

Other than that, yep, I will more than likely pick up this game. I really hope that rainbowful butterfly doesn't stick around like my personal Navi, having my sidekick characters talk me through the game was good enough. Weeeee'll seeeeee!

The cheery upbeat music, the bright colors, the ROUNDNESS!! Seriously, this game looks so smooth and fun, and did I just see multi-player? And there was a certain level that suddenly made me think of Pikmin and Ratchet and Clank, and for that, I am completely sold.

I'm pretty sure Star Wars is the one game that everyone wants on the Wii. Who doesn't want some hot lightsaber swinging action? Apparently Codename Revolution is claiming to have seen a developer's list that includes a Lego Star Wars compilation coming to the Wii. It should come out sometime around Christmas, along with a DVD collection of the original trilogy? Perhaps? Hmm? Pleeeease?

(from Kotaku)

6 days.

Hahaha, the big guy with the tiny "aha!" I can't wait until I have enough money to pick up Kororinpa: Marble Madness. It looks like it'll be a lot of sugary fun ^_^ I wonder if they sell these plushies anywhere?

(from Destructoid)

Hooray for useless free stuff! All you have to do to secure your free Wiimote keychain is:

- Sign up for My Nintendo
- Register Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree
- Take a quick survey
- Confirm your address so we can send your Wii Remote keychain*

Of course, that lovely free keychain comes with the $49.99 price tag for the game that I don't have (yet). Oh well, I would love it if someone could get one for me though! I think... that living in Taiwan has convinced me that I need small dangly things like this. I spend my nights here at the night market playing the crane games, and I'm pretty sure that of all the things I've purchased on my visit, toys and stuffed animals come in second to clothing. A very close second. You know that the 7-11s here routinely have collectible Hello Kitty swag? Stickers, dolls, banners, you name it. I have 5 out of the 8 dolls they're promoting now! WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO ME?

*Wiimote keychain of COURSE does not work with your Wii.

This, my friends, is the Wii Party Station from Nyko, and is everything you'd expect from a party station for the Wii. There's a place to put the mandatory party chips (complete with dip holder), four cubbies for your mandatory party canned drinks (that also keep your drinks chilled!!), a fan to cool off sweaty gamers, LCD scoreboards, and places to store your Wiimotes and nunchuks. Really, Nyko, you've outdone yourself this time. First the wireless sensor bar, then the Wiimote charging station, and now this? Hardcore Wii partiers (partyers?) around the world can't thank you enough. The final version should be released in a couple of months.

Apparently Wii Fit was all the rage at this year's E3, and well... I can totally see why. Just watching this trailer makes me feel fat for lying on my stomach and being on the computer. I have a feeling I'll love all the balancing and sports games, but after watching that cheesy dancing couple... well let's just say that I'm a DDR maniac, and those dance moves are too slow! (But I would like to mention that I love the interior design in all the living rooms.)

I love how Nintendo is branching out with all the active-play games, but I'm just afraid that they're going to be stuck with that image - suddenly it's the console for middle-aged adults trying to lose weight while still attempting to look hip by using video games. A few consoles down the road from now, is the Wii only going to be remembered as the exercise machine?

Welp, there it is. The opening to Beautiful Katamari. It's a party! Dancing red pandas! Watering elephants! Colorful 'shrooms!

:yawn: Actually I wasn't very impressed with this. I'm starting to feel a little hesitant about the game... wait, what? What is wrong with me?? I really hope they do a good job with this game, especially with the multiplayer and the soundtrack. It's gonna be hard to top Disco Prince and Everlasting Love, though.

I must make another confession. Along with having never played any Zelda game, I've also... never watched any Indiana Jones movie. This is almost as bad as me not having seen the original Star Wars trilogy, but after embarrassing myself during Star Wars Trivial Pursuit (the answer was "the Death Star", which I had no clue about), I quickly got that taken care of. But Indiana Jones... it's a classic and all, but is it a necessity? Ah well, I'll stick it on my Netflix queue either way. Or I can just play this new Lego video game! Yay! I can't wait to see what other movies they'll include in this franchise. Ashley said she loved Lego Star Wars, I'll have to check that out before there gets to be too many!

Also in Lego related news, a giant Lego man washed up on the beach of a Dutch resort recently. Where did he come from???

So, I don't know if YOU know, but there's going to be an Alvin and the Chipmunks movie coming out this holiday season. Why, I have no idea, but I'm sure it's for the same reason they're remaking Underdog. :shakes head: Anyway, in conjuction with the movie, Brash Entertainment is making a rhythm game where the Chipmunks rap their way from small venues to sold-out stadiums, and eventually, to Rockathonapalooza (very original, guys).

The game will have about 40 songs from acts like Run DMC, Blink 182, REM, but in those annoying high-pitched chipmunk voices. You have to be really masochistic if you decide to get this game, or a terrible person if you get this as a gift. The game comes out this holiday season on all the consoles.

The awesome fun but sometimes depressing board game The Game of Life is coming to the Wii! It seems that players will be using their Mii characters as the board pieces, and will include some mini-games. That's about all that's known so far, since it's still being developed, but it should be released in Japan later this year. Hopefully it makes its way to the States!

(from Destructoid)

There are whispers that the next Kingdom Hearts game will be a Wii exclusive. Even though KH1 and KH2 were PS2 exclusive, KH: Chain of Memories was on the GBA, so this seems reasonable. From The Tanooki: Several sites are reporting that Square Enix will be officially revealing plans to bring the Kingdom Hearts series to the Wii at the annual Tokyo Game Show in September. While Nintendo specifically will not be at the show, several third party Nintendo DS and Wii games are expected to be exhibited, and a potential KH game would make the TGS lineup even sweeter for Nintendo fans.

Guess we'll find out sometime this month! I hope, I hope, that it'll be a much better game than KH2.

Ah yes, time to save more people from bioterroristic disease! The next Trauma Center game is returning to the Wii, but this time around, there's two-player cooperative play. Which will be very fun and challenging, unless your partner is a bad surgeon. Believe you me, there's nothing more devastating than losing your patient in those Trauma Center games. The game should come out this November.

It's been a while. Let's talk video games, shall we?

There's a ton of stuff I want to update about, but I've been bogged down by school and work and trying to catch up on sleep. But my bookmarks folder is getting pretty insane, and I'm tired of not updating. So I'm thinking I'm just going to knock everything out in one whopper of a post, seeing as most of this stuff is pretty old news, and my night class got canceled so I have three extra hours to bum around ^_^ Sorry, this is going to be pretty unorganized and to the point!

ONLINE TIMEWASTERS
To start things off, here are the two main reasons why I'm doing terribly this semester - Scrabulous (online Scrabble) and Warbook (a strategy, level-up type game), two of the most popular applications on Facebook. Be forewarned - these games are incredibly addicting.

DiggKiller is a simple shooter game where you kill recent top stories on Digg.com. I like how when the stories explode, you can collect all the comments, heh. Pretty clever.

Even though it's not really a game, the treehugger in me has to plug Consumer Consequences, a flash application that calculates how many Earths it would take to sustain life if everyone lived like you did. It takes 4 Earths for me, but there's little I change while I live in an apartment complex :(

Lastly, some of the best time wasters on the net - Grow Games. I've mentioned these before, but they're still fun and challenging, and very cute, of course. ^_^

SO YOU WANT KAWAII...
Wan! Entertainment Music Channel

Angel Love Online

MUSICAL GAMES
To the makers of the fully functional Lego and Kiss Guitar Hero controllers - you're insane! But good work.

Anna has introduced me to Anime Song Generator, and while I'm not sure this is a game, it's closely related enough. It's a computer program that lets you create sickeningly poppy anime songs, and the results are pretty impressive. It's like GarageBand for otakus, yikes.

I haven't said anything about Rock Band yet. Wired has covered it pretty extensively, so I say just go check out their articles. But basically, it's like Guitar Hero but with the whole band, the setlist is killer, and since this game is produced by MTV, the game includes the actual songs rather than covers like in Guitar Hero and all the other Konami games (like the RATM cover in GH3 :shudder:). The only kicker? it's $200. Sigh.

SMAAAAASH BROS.
Let's see. This game will have Wi-Fi capabilities. Lucas from Mother 3 will be in the game. Watch Snake kick everyone's ass. Think that about covers everything new that interested me. Check Smash Bros. DOJO!! for daily updates.

BECAUSE YOU LIKE TO READ
The Next 25 Years of Video Games - Man I can't wait for Spore!

57 Things We Know Because We Game - Killing people makes you stronger!

101 Things You Didn't Know About Games - No list should be longer than 50. But this still includes a lot of interesting trivia to, you know, impress the stranger in the elevator with.

UP AND COMING WII GAMES
Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law is coming to the Wii, PS2 and PSP this holiday season in a Phoenix Wright-like crime solving game.

Be prepared to use the force as you swing your light saber Wiimote in the upcoming Star Wars game.

Read everything you ever wondered about the new Wii title, MySims, which is high on my to-buy list.

This beautiful 2D platformer, Eternity's Child, is making the move from XBox's Live Arcade to the Wii and DS. I don't know much about this game, but it looks gorgeous, and the plot sounds intriguing.

I don't know what the heck Miburi and Teburi is about, but it's coming out for the Wii, so I guess it fits in this section. Basic description: "It's not just a crossword game, but a crossword game based on charades and cosplay." Perhaps this photo will suffice?

RELIVING THE LEGENDS
Chrono Trigger, one of my favorite games of all freakin' time, has been lovingly retranslated into clearer English! It's available in HTML, Excel files, text files, and as a playable patch. I'm excited, I'll happily replay this game.

I thought I had more for this section, but I guess Chrono Trigger is it. Whoops.

ARTSY FARTSY
The Most Stunning Gaming Fan Artwork of Zelda - Well, the title says it all. Much better than, oh say, the Zelda cosplay event that went down this Sunday to promote Phantom Hourglass. Heh.

A fabulous papercraft of Master Chief!

Wowzers. That's all I have to say.

And one of the most beautiful games of all time - Okami - now has a book completely dedicated to the art from the game. Really, it's more a study of Japanese art rather than video game art. I'd really, really like this for Christmas, thanks. ^_^

And finally, I leave you with this:

Hopefully I'll be updating again soon!