Nintendo, not wishing to bring an end to its money-printing abilities, are following tradition and releasing a second version of the 3DS - the 3DS XL!
In a 12 minute clip that's better than most horror movies around, the augmented-reality scares of Fatal Frame: Spirit Camera (as yet unreleased in Europe) come together in a short, if cliched, Japanese horror style mini-movie that not only shows off the game, but scares the bejeezus out of me.
Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors, or 999, seemed like a game that would be right up my alley. It first caught my attention because of the overwhelmingly positive word of mouth, and when I found out that it was supposed to have a great storyline and puzzle elements, it earned a spot in my queue as a must-play. When Blobbo gave me a copy for my birthday, and I had no DS game to play at the time, it seemed like a perfect fit to rocket to the top of my queue. Unfortunately, many hours of "gameplay" later, 999 fell short of the mark, and proved to be a bust.
Originally a Japanese game, 999 was translated for English audiences by Aksys Games, publishers of the much-beloved BlazBlue series. I know enough Japanese to order exactly one to three waters at a restaurant, or to ask if a dog is cute, so I didn't play the untranslated version of the game, and can't speak intelligently on the original writing. As such, anytime I refer to "writing" in this review, I'm referring to the writing of the translation. Regardless of whether it was the fault of the original Japanese writers or the English translators, the writing that I was privy to was clunky, awkward, and frequently just plain poor. My suspicion is that the translation may have been rushed, and thus was too direct and verbatim, rather than a translation of the writing with a strong style appropriate to the language.
Nintendo announced today that it's adding four more titles to its Nintendo Selects line—their version of Greatest Hits.
New to the line are Super Paper Mario, Punch Out!!, Mario Strikers Charged, and Super Mario Galaxy. These join the initial lineup of Twilight Princess, Animal Crossing: City Folk, Mario Super Sluggers, and, curiously, Wii Sports (why would anyone be buying this? Doesn't everyone already have it?)
It seems like Capcom set out to make the cutest video game in the history of video games. And I think they have a winning formula. Adorable wolf pup protagonist? Check. Charming kids? Check. Annoying but cute Celestial Envoy insect? Check. Even the mumble-mumble squeaky-squeaky sounds all the characters make when they’re talking is cute. Okamiden is everything Okami was, just shrunk down and with the cute set to maximum.
