Lumines II to use licensed video bait

***wraggster*** · July 18th, 2006, 18:41

News via Joystiq

The latest issue of Game Informer (trust us, or buy/borrow/steal a copy) reports that Lumines II is almost identical to its acclaimed predecessor. The draw will be new unlockable skins, which, this time around, include licensed music videos from artists including Black Eyed Peas, Fatboy Slim, Hoobastank, and Missy Elliot. It's a risky deviation from the standard set in the original, as much of the sequel's soundtrack contains songs that were played out many seasons ago. Gwen Stefani's "Hollaback Girl" ... ? No thank you.

With all the technical intricacies of the PSP, one wonders why Lumines II isn't being sold, at least in addition to a full-fledged UMD release, as a downloadable utility (for Lumines), which in turn would give us access to an online store where we could purchase additional skins that include music videos -- or better, bundles that include multiple skins that need to be unlocked through gameplay. But this sounds eerily similar to another future puzzler we've heard of ... Lumines Live, anyone?

Buena Vista Game is pimping the Lumines franchise for all it's worth. Go 'head -- that's the business. It's just a shame that there's not more of a collective effort to exploit the potential of the PSP. Instead, we've got a near-identical sequel being hustled to us on UMD for $40.