via Eurogamer


This week's additions to the American Virtual Console which you probably can't access anyway are Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Golden Axe II and Lode Runner.

Sonic 2 (Megadrive, 800 Wii points) sees the little blue fellow darting from left to right in massive, multi-path 2D platform levels in pursuit of Dr. Eggman/Robotnik/whatever - and putting pay to whatever it is he's doing with the Chaos Emeralds. It introduces Tails, but don't hold that against it.

Also from the Megadrive cupboard comes Golden Axe II, which also-also sees players marching left to right in the fearless boots of a barbarian, a dwarf or an Amazon warrior "sorting out" various enemies we can't for the life of us remember and joining up for a bit of head-to-head two-player when the going gets Game-Over.

Finally, Lode Runner (NES, 500 Wii points) is about collecting nuggets across increasingly challenging 2D puzzles, and the NES version features an Edit Mode for making your own levels. It's actually the second game in the series to appear on Virtual Console, following Battle Lode Runner (TurboGrafx-16, 600 Wii points), which was released in late April.

However, none of the three above have been released on the European service. Will one of them become this Friday's 100th addition to the European Virtual Console? We don't know. If we had to speculate, we'd phone in sick. ...

via Gizmodo




There's similar designs, and then there's Amigo's Wireless Router. The R622AG looks exactly like Microsoft's Xbox 360 no matter how you look at it. However, if you're really a fan of the design, then the fact that Aimgo's shoved in 802.11 a/b/g, four Ethernet ports and two USB ports for external hard drives/webcams/printers won't bother you one bit.

Plus, there's even music streaming to USB speakers, and Samba/FTP for file access of your attached USB drives. If they can manage to put this out for under $50 and add 802.11n support, we're sold. ...

via Games Industry


Capcom's Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition missed out on the top spot in the Japanese charts for the week ended June 3, as DS title Practice by Observing: DS Observation Training took the number one position.

Both titles are new releases, but Nintendo's DS game sold almost 95,000 units on its first week of release, compared to Capcom's latest horror game which managed almost 44,000 sales.

The only other new entry in the top ten was Guilty Gear XX Accent Core for the PlayStation 2, which managed to shift around 32,000 copies.

Nintendo has a total of 20 DS titles in the top 30 and five Wii titles. Sony has three PlayStation 2 and two PSP games in the charts. There are no PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 games in the top 30.

The ten best-selling games in Japan for the week ended June 3 follow:

1. Practice by Observing: DS Observation Training
2. Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition
3. Moero! Nekketsu Rhythm Damashii: Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan 2
4. Guilty Gear XX Accent Core
5. Wii Sports
6. More Brain Age
7. New Super Mario Bros.
8. Wii Play
9. More English Training
10. Momatarou Dentetsu DS: Tokyo & Japan ...

via Kotaku


It looks like that "big" Microsoft news from the Pac-Man championship tournament finally hit today.

Namco game designer Toru Iwatani created a new edition of Pac Man for the Xbox 360, due to hit Live tomorrow for 800 points. Pac-Man Championship Edition will feature the first new mazes for the game in 26 years.

Championship Edition will feature six modes:


The Championship Mode. This is the main game mode designed by NAMCO BANDAI Games and Iwatani specifically for the championship round of the Xbox 360 Pac-Man World Championship. This mode - as well as all others within the "Pac-Man Championship Edition" - features redesigned mazes with wide maze walls and a widescreen configuration to better enable high-speed game play. Timed limit of five minutes.

Challenge Mode 1 (Patience and Reward Course). This mode is an evolution of the Championship Mode. Patience mazes strategically offer fewer Power Pellets and Reward mazes provide a large number of Power Pellets - providing unique challenges and rewards for the player. Timed limit of 10 minutes.

Challenge Mode 2 (The Darkness Course). In this mode, only the area directly around Pac-Man and the Ghosts is visible and the maze walls are completely hidden. Timed limit of 10 minutes.

Extra Mode 1 (The Freeway Course). An extremely high-speed mode for advanced players, this mode features warp-speed Pac-Man and Ghosts and plenty of tunnels. Timed limit of five minutes.

Extra Mode 2 (The Manhattan Course). A mode inspired by the streets of Manhattan -- the home for the first-ever Xbox 360 Pac-Man World Championship. Timed limit of five minutes.

Extra Mode 3 (The Overall Course). A mix of all other modes resulting in extreme mazes for the most devout Pac-Man fans. Timed limit of 10 minutes.

Yes, that's really it. Pac Man, but with new mazes. I told you it wasn't that big a deal. ...

via Eurogamer


New developer area/code has unveiled a DS title that uses your real world location as part of the game.

"Plundr" tracks where you are in the world using a Wi-Fi Positioning System, and places little islands on an interactive street map for you to travel to. The aim of the game is to increase your pirating prowess by visiting these hotspots to buy and sell a variety of goods, ransack merchant ships, and battle other players.

It was shown at the recent Where 2.0 conference in San Jose that rounds up all the location-project talent from around the world. New York-based area/code already has a list of credits to its name in this field, including ConQuest, PacManhattan, and Big Urban Game.

You can try out Plundr for yourself now on PC, although it's designed for laptop users on the move.

Unfortunately it isn't clear whether we'll see the game in Europe, with screenshots on the site suggesting Japanese and New York map sets. We'll let you know more when we do. ...

via Kotaku



If a recent interview by RPGamer with NIS America is accurate, it will be. The interview, which consisted of reader and interviewer questions posed to Nao Zook, a MIS America rep, went over many points, manygeared toward what popular Japanese franchises might get localized. When asked what franchises NIS themselves would like to see brought stateside, Zook responded with the personal picks of some of NISs localization team with titles like Super Robot Wars, Suikoden 1+2 and Popolocrois. One clever reader, however, got straight to the point.It's rare we hear such a straight answer like that coming from a rep. So, if you're a Disgaea fan and a DS owner, it looks like you'll have something to look forward to.


Details of the interview are here. ...

via Nintendo DS Fanboy


We've just updated our gallery of screenshots and art from SNK's Doki Doki Majo Shinpan. As is the norm for this game, there's a lot of weird stuff to enjoy.

We'd like to point out the character seen here, who is a retro game freak and therefore totally not a witch so leave her alone. Oh, wait ... is that Athena? Hmm. Either she is a witch and she uses awful games as weapons, or she's proudly displaying a copy of Athena and something is terribly wrong with her. In either case, should you encounter this character in the game, just put your DS on the ground and run away from it until you pass out.

There's also a boy witch, apparently. Good to know SNK is providing equal opportunity for everyone, regardless of sex or sexual orientation, to be uncomfortable.


Screenshots can be viewed here. ...

via PS3 Fanboy


Make a Japanese PSN account. Now. If you haven't, you're going to continue missing out on all the free demos the Japanese gamer crowd get. It's not tough -- sign up for one in your own language, make notes about what information goes on each page, then make a Japanese one. Why are we insisting you do this? So you can test drive FolksSoul along with us this Friday when a demo hits the Japanese PlsyStation Store.

Also known as Folklore in the US, the game had kept a very low key until Gamer's Day, when a new trailer and multiple screens made an entrance and blew a lot of people away. Sure, it's absolutely a Japanese game -- lacking muscular men with big shiny guns, but it does look incredibly fun to play. So that's why we're telling you about the demo. It's rumored to be over an entire gigabyte, so make sure you've got something else to do. Try it out, then decide if it's for you or not! ...

via Xbox 360 Fanboy


Just as rumored, Mad Tracks will be racing its way onto the Xbox Live Arcade promptly tomorrow morning. Mad Tracks is that overly joyful arcade style racing game that includes twelve cartoony cars, fifteen challenges, powerups galore, and four player co-op over Live. It's one game that we're looking forward to getting our hands on as we're excited to see how well it plays with three other friends over Xbox Live. Oh, and if we haven't mentioned, all this Mad Tracks fun will only set you back 800 Microsoft points.

So, there you have it. You've officially been informed about your XBLA fix for the week. Now you can get back to pondering how to cure the common cold. ...