TGS: Kingdom Hearts Portable Trio

Square Enix at Tokyo Game Show, showed a video of three new portable Kingdom hearts games. There will be three completely different games, one for the DS, PSP and Mobile each set in a different time period.

• Kingdom Hearts: 358 / 2 Days for DS
  
• Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep for PSP
  
• Kingdom Hearts: Coded for mobile

What I know so far about the DS version (Aka: the important one) is that it takes place around the events of kingdom Hearts 2.... yep that's it. At the moment I can not confirm it but I have seen a few reports claming that it is multiplayer, and you play as Roxas, Axel, Saix & Xigbar. But again that is unconfirmed.

I couldn't care less about the mobile version, but I am very much so looking forward to the PSP and DS Versions. I will try to report on any new details on the DS version if or when they become available. But for now you can get a little more info here IGN Kingdom Hearts info.

Wii gets its Force Unleashed

Yesterday it was announced that Star Wars: The Force Unleashed will be coming to the Wii:

"LucasArts today (9-18-07) revealed that Star Wars™: The Force Unleashed™ will come to the Wii™ home videogame system from Nintendo next spring, offering owners the unique chance to live out their Jedi fantasies by wielding the Wii Remote™ as a lightsaber while using the Nunchuk™ controller to torment foes with their Force™ powers."

I know people will hate me for saying so, but I think that this has a lot of potential to become just another craptastic Wii port. I have several reasons for saying this:

1. It's being made by Krome Studios who brought us such great games as Barbie Beach Vacation & Ty the Tasmanian Tiger, rather than Lucas Arts like the other two versions.

2. This game is pushing the 360 and PS3's graphics capability's to new limits. Much of the gameplay is based off of the advanced physics engine it uses, and I just don't see how that could translate well to the Wii hardware.

3. This is still suppose to be essentially the same game as the other versions. But the 1:1 lightsaber controls that all Star Wars fans want would significantly change the gameplay, and would probably not fit within the structure of the game. What this probably means is controls more tacked on like in Twilight Princess.

Don't get me wrong I am a huge Star Wars/Wii fan so I really hope this game turns out to be great. But from what I know about it so far I am more looking forward to the Xbox 360 version than on Wii. Let’s just hope I am completely crazy and that this game is going to be the best of the three versions, plus the Wii lightsaber game we have all been dreaming about since the moment we laid eyes on the Wii-Remote. But unless the Force is strong in you we will just have to wait until it is released in spring 2008. If you have any input on why we should anticipate/avoid this game on Wii speak up in the comments section.

May the Force be with you... (sorry could not resist)

Super Smash Bros. Brawl Online

A while back I said I was only going to post Super Smash Bros. Brawl news if it's something big, and I would definitely classify this as big news. The Smash Bros Dojo today announced SSBB has 4 player online! The way it works is first you choose between playing with friend codes or random players. With friend codes you have limited chat capability's, and can see each others names, as well as an icon you choose such as a mii. When playing with random people it is completely anonymous with no names or chat of any kind.

One thing that does have me worried is that even in the first announcement it sounds like they are already trying to make excuses for lag problems. With statements like:

"The more distant you are, the worse your connection becomes, and the slower it feels. I apologize, but I hope you understand."

It sounds like lag could be a major issue, I just hope I am wrong. You can see the official announcement here Smash Bros. Dojo!

NSider Back Stabbing

When I signed on to the Nintendo.com NSider forums this morning I was greeted with a very unsettling message:

"Nintendo is working on a major overhaul to Nintendo.com to support the continued success of Nintendo DS and Wii. As we prepare for this huge site update, Nintendo must unfortunately close the Nintendo NSider Forums message boards indefinitely beginning Sept. 17, 2007." (for the hole article go here NSider Forum)

This is definitely an odd move by Nintendo. I suspect that this is going to make a lot of people very mad (me included). That "close the Nintendo NSider Forums message boards indefinitely" comment has me a little worried that we may never see the NSider forums again. If you have any input on what Nintendo is thinking, feel free to leave a comment.

Ice Climbers

The Ice Climbers  Popo & Nana, from the 1985 game Ice Climbers for the NES, were announced as returning playable characters in Super Smash. Bros Brawl. This not much of a surprise but is still nice to know. Check out the official article here: Smash Bros Dojo!

Animation Greatness Part 1

I will start by saying I am an animation addict. From Sponge Bob to Samurai-X, I can't get enough cartoon goodness. While I do enjoy many live action TV series, they sometimes just seem too faked, either due to poor acting or bad special effects. But with cartoons there are no such restraints. The special effects are only limited by the artist imagination. And bad acting while it can be annoying, unlike live action, it is not the death of the show. So I am going to start a series of posts listing some of the best animations that you have probably never watched.

Gargoyles
First off is my absolute favorite American cartoon Gargoyles. This series was created by Greg Weisman and aired 1994-97. The reasons I love this series are almost too numerous to mention but the big two are it's deep characters and unique plot.

The story is about a clan of Gargoyles who are frozen in stone for 1000 years and reawakened in modern times, where the existence of Gargoyles has been forgotten. While it may sound simple enough it can actually get quite complex, which is a rarity in American animation, especially a Disney one. Another great aspect worth mentioning is the voice acting. Put simply it is unmatched greatness. With actors like Jonathan Frakes (Aka:William T. Riker) and Marina Sirtis (Aka:Deanna Troi) plus a host of other great voices, you really can't go wrong with this cartoon.

Dual! Parallel Trouble Adventure
Dual! is a lesser known Japanese Anime that is highly under appreciated. Don't let the ridiculous name scare you off from this one, it is a fantastic series. The premise is a boy in high school begins seeing visions of giant robots fighting, visions no one else can see. For years people make fun of him thinking he is crazy. But one day he is kidnapped by a very odd scientist who transports him to a parallel world were the robots are real.

It is hard to put into words what makes this series so good but a big part of it is the very lovable characters. A big part of the series is that several very different girls are forced in to the main characters life. All of which, for one reason or another, have a crush on him and are constantly fighting for his attention. While it may sound like a romance it is much more comedic than romantic.

This series was created by Masaki Kajishima the creator of Tenchi Muyo and it shows. The two series have a very similar style and actually share a few characters in common.

Sadly this series does have two shortcomings. First of all it is only 14 episodes long & secondly the voice acting is not very good. But despite these little annoyances it is still well worth watching.

To be Continued...

Hopeful Return

It has been almost two weeks now since I have last posted to the site (the reason is explained in the last post). With the way my PC's have been acting lately my return may at any time be revoked. I have managed to get 2 out of 3 of my PC's back online so just maybe I can get back to at least a post a day. That is if a flying cow does not land on my PC first, which could happen with the way my luck has been lately.

PC Revolt

For more than a week I have not posted. The reason is at the moment my PC's have planed a revolt against me. In one weeks time all 3 of my PC's have had what seems to be completely unrelated problems, yet all with the same result which is no Internet connection. Unfortunately this problem has still not been resolved. But one of them is at least working at the moment but whether or not that will continue is still unknown. I will try to post whenever I can, but for now this blog is a bit slow on the Nintendo news front.