Source: videogamesblogger.com

Here’s a list of this weeks U.S. game releases. The most popular games are Saints Row 2 on Xbox 360 & PS3, Dead Space on Xbox 360 & PS3, Rock Band 2 on PS3, SOCOM U.S. Navy SEALs: Confrontation on PS3, and FIFA Soccer 09 on multiple platforms. On the downloadable games front we’ve got today’s Wii Shop titles World of Goo, Art Style: Cubello, Secret of Mana, Street Fighter II’: Special Champion Edition, as well as Age of Booty on Xbox Live Arcade (updates Wednesday). No word yet on any games for PlayStation Network or GameTap Gold (both update on Thursday).

Monday:
Art Style: Cubello - $6 (Wii Shop)
Avatar: The Last Airbender - Into the Inferno (Wii, PS2)
Bratz: Girls Really Rock (Wii, PS2, DS)
Blitz: The League II (Xbox 360, PS3)
Secret of Mana - $8 (Wii Shop)
Street Fighter II’: Special Champion Edition - $8 (Wii Shop)
World of Goo - $15 (Wii Shop, PC)

Tuesday:
Battle of Giants: Dinosaurs (DS)
Boogie Superstar (Wii)
Brain Training for Dummies (PC)
Cesar Millan’s Dog Whisperer (DS, PC)
Combat Wings: Battle of Britain (PC)
Dead Space (Xbox 360, PS3)
Disney Sing It (PS3, PS2, Wii, Xbox 360)
Dokapon Kingdom (Wii, PS2)
FIFA Soccer 09 (Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, PSP, DS, PC)
Golden Axe: Beast Rider (Xbox 360, PS3)
Littlest Pet Shop (Wii)
Littlest Pet Shop: Garden (DS)
Littlest Pet Shop: Jungle (DS)
Littlest Pet Shop: Winter (DS)
Lovely Lisa (DS)
My Dress Up (DS)
My Japanese Coach (DS)
My Secret Diary (DS)
Naruto: Path of the Ninja 2 (DS)
Penny Racers Party: Turbo-Q Speedway (Wii)
Poker for Dummies (PC)
Rock Band 2 (PS3)
Rock Revolution (Xbox 360, PS3, DS)
Saints Row 2 (Xbox 360, PS3)
Sam & Max: Season One (Wii)
Smart Boy’s Toy Club (DS)
Smart Girl’s Party Game (DS)
Smart Kid’s Party Fun Pack (DS)
SOCOM U.S. Navy SEALs: Confrontation (PS3)

Wednesday:
Age of Booty - $10 (Xbox Live Arcade)
SafeCracker: The Ultimate Puzzle Adventure (Wii)
Space Trader: Merchant Marine (PC)
Tak: Guardians of Gross (Wii, PS2)
Tak: Mojo Mistake (DS)

Friday:
Guitar Hero: Aerosmith (PC)

Source: videogamesblogger.com

Capcom saw fit to release a new trailer for Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia at the 2008 Tokyo Game Show, as the game’s release date is nearly upon us. It hits U.S. shores, exclusively for Nintendo DS, on October 21st (two days before it hits Japan).

Order of Ecclesia is the newest game in the Castlevania series and is the follow-up to the last DS title, Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (which was a sequel to Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow) and takes place after Castlevania: Symphony of the Night in the Castlevania timeline.

In Order of Ecclesia players take on the role of Shanoa, female member of the Ecclesia, which is an organization that has sworn to defeat the evil forces of Dracula. By using the new Glyph attack system, gamers will be able to unleash over 100 different combinations to battle Dracula’s minions throughout 20 explorable areas.

Here is the newest trailer for the game, which shows off some nice, stylish cut-scene animation, with interesting artwork, and then cuts to actual gameplay.

Source: videogamesblogger.com

Turnabout Prosecutor AKA Gyakuten Kenji, is Capcom’s latest single player adventure game in development for the Nintendo DS. The spin-off game to the Ace Attorney series will take the series out of the courtroom and to the crime scenes to collect evidence, thus it will be more point-and-click style.

It’ll be released in Japan in spring 2009. No word yet on whether or not it will be released outside the country or if it includes an English language option like previous games in the Ace Attorney series.

The star characters in this game are Miles Edgeworth and Dick Gumshoe and takes place around the time of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations. Edgeworth’s rival will be a new prosecutor called Makoto Yuuki.

Take a look at the Turnabout Prosecutor trailer:

Thanks to KupoVI for the English subtitles.

Source: videogamesblogger.com

Square Enix’s new action-RPG Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time for both the Wii and Nintendo DS is coming out in Japan in a few months on January 29th, 2009. If you’re curious how the Pollux Engine allows up to four Wii and DS gamers to play together at the same time online (co-op), as well as supporting complete interaction between the two system, then you’ll enjoy the debut trailer.

Watch the first Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time gameplay video.

Click on the bottom-right corner arrow to view it fullscreen.

Source: videogamesblogger.com

Tales of Hearts of the second Tales game to come to the Nintendo DS, the first being Tales of Innocence, which has still yet to be released outside of Japan.

Tales of Hearts was on hand at the Tokyo Game Show 2008 where new details have become available.

Here is a list of new information on Tales of Hearts for DS:

* Talking to GameSpot, the game’s producter, Hideo Baba, says he wishes for fans to send a strong message to the game’s publisher Namco, because the game does not yet have a U.S. release date.

* During combat, one button is for standard attacks, while another performs Artes (magic spells).

* Battles take place on a strictly 2D plane this time.

* Strategy in battles will come from the height of your opponents, which will be a major factor to the combat. You’ll need to pay attention to both the horizontal and vertical planes.

* Combat has been compared with that of Tales of Destiny and Tales of Phantasia.

* The touch-screen will come into play with Support Attacks. Touch a character on the lower-screen to have them pop-in to the battle and unleash an attack. This can only be performed depending on your Support Gauge. Attacks can be standard, Artes or even items. The touch-screen will be limited to Support Attacks.

* Time Support Attacks correctly to complement your attacks for an Ultimate Attack for extreme damage.

* There will be an additional gauge known as the Emotions Gauge, which will reportedly fill as you block. Although it depletes your attack, a full gauge will allow you to string together more attacks for additional damage.

* The famous story skits will play out in both story and gameplay sequences.

* The Japanese release will be in two versions, one that features CG cut-scenes, and one that features anime cut-scene.s

Give the game a look in these videos and trailers.

Japanese Debut Trailer


Tales of Hearts Anime Version Trailer


Tales of Hearts CG Version Trailer

Source: videogamesblogger.com

Culdcept DS is the upcoming DS port of the Trading Card Game meets Monopoly video game that has been previously released on the PlayStation 2 and, more recently, on the Xbox 360 as Culdcept Saga (complete with online play).

The DS version will feature all new cards as well as revised ones from past editions of Culdcept. This version should also feature online play via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Overall there are over 370 card types in this game if you include the new ones, including some insanely powerful new cards.

Card illustration will once again be handled by Satoshi Nakai, who did the card pictures in the previous iterations, and the game is being developed by Omiya Soft (who also did the previous games) and published by Sega. Although there is no release scheduled for outside of Japan yet.

The game is based on the console additions so it should contain all the stuff that one would look for in a Culdcept game. Though it will also include adjustments on the overall game balance and a revision of card abilities. In addition, the basic rules will be easier to understand as they added features from the Dreamcast version, Culdcept Second, to make the game easier to play and learn to better suit the DS’ younger skewing audience. The game is scheduled for release this year in Japan.

Source: videogamesblogger.com

What are the best-selling games in America, Japan, and Europe (UK) this week? Thanks to Amazon online sales data here are the games that are the most popular now.

Nintendo Wii
North America: 1. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo), 2. Wii Fit (Nintendo), 3. Super Mario Galaxy (Nintendo), 4. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Nintendo), 5. Active Life Outdoor Challenge (Bandai Namco).

Japan: 1. Wii Fit (Nintendo), 2. Mario Kart Wii (Nintendo), 3. Wii Sports (Nintendo), 4. Disaster: Day of Crisis (Nintendo), 5. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (LucasArts).

Europe: 1. Wii Fit (Nintendo), 2. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle (Activision), 3. Family Trainer: Outdoor Challenge (Bandai Namco), 4. Wii Play (Nintendo), 5. FIFA 09 (Electronic Arts).

Xbox 360
North America: 1. NBA 2K9 (2K Sports), 2. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (LucasArts), 3. Rock Band 2 (MTV Games), 4. Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar), 5. Halo 3 (Microsoft).

Japan: 1. Tales of Vesperia (Namco), 2. Dead Rising - Platinum Collection (Capcom), 3. Infinite Undiscovery (Square Enix), 4. Warriors Orochi 2 (Koei), 5. Earth Defense Forces 3 (D3 Publisher).

Europe: 1. FIFA 09 (Electronic Arts), 2. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 (Electronic Arts), 3. Halo 3 (Microsoft), 4. Lego Batman (Warner Bros.), 5. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (LucasArts).

PlayStation 3
North America: 1. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (LucasArts), 2. Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar), 3. NBA 2K9 (2K Sports), 4. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (Konami), 5. Iron Man (Sega).

Japan: 1. Aquanaut’s Holiday (Sony), 2. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots - Special Edition (Konami), 3. Tears to Tiara: Kakan no Daichi - Limited Edition (Aqua Plus), 4. Afrika (Sony), 5. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Game of the Year Edition (Bethesda).

Europe: 1. FIFA 09 (Electronic Arts), 2. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 (Electronic Arts), 3. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (LucasArts), 4. Grand Theft Auto IV (Rockstar), 5. Gran Turismo 5: Prologue (Sony).

PlayStation 2
North America: 1. Lego Batman (Warner Bros.), 2. Madden NFL 09 (Electronic Arts), 3. God of War II (SCEA), 4. Shadow of the Colossus (Sony), 5. Rock Band Special Edition (MTV Games).

Japan: 1. Super Robot Taisen Z (Banpresto), 2. Dynasty Warriors 6 Special (Koei), 3. Hokuouki (Idea Factory), 4. Persona 4 (Atlus), 5. Hokuouki - Special Edition (Idea Factory).

Europe: 1. FIFA 09 (Electronic Arts), 2. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle (Activision), 3. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (LucasArts), 4. SingStar Summer Party (Sony), 5. FIFA 08 (Electronic Arts).

PC
North America: 1. Spore (Electronic Arts), 2. Nancy Drew: The Haunting of Castle Malloy (Her Interactive), 3. Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning (Electronic Arts), 4. Sid Meier’s Civilization IV: Colonization (2K Games), 5. The Hardy Boys: The Hidden Theft (Dreamcatcher).

Japan: 1. Crysis: Warhead (Electronic Arts), 2. Final Fantasy XI: The Vana’diel Collection (Square Enix), 3. Zwei II - Special Edition (Nihon Falcom), 4. Monster Hunter Frontier Online Season 3.0 Premium (E-Frontier), 5. The Sims 2: Apartment Life (Electronic Artss).

Europe: 1. Spore (Electronic Arts), 2. Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway (Ubisoft), 3. The Sims 2: Apartment Life (Electronic Arts), 4. Sid Meier’s Civilization IV: Colonization (2K Games), 5. Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning (Electronic Arts).

Nintendo DS
North America: 1. Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga (LucasArts), 2. Kirby Super Star Ultra (Nintendo), 3. Disney Friends (Disney), 4. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo), 5. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo).

Japan: 1. Rhythm Tengoku Gold (Nintendo), 2. Pokemon Platinum (Nintendo), 3. KORG DS-10 (AQ Interactive), 4. Daigasso! Band Brothers DX (Nintendo), 5. DS Beautiful Letter Training (Nintendo).

Europe: 1. Dr. Kawashima’s Brain Training (Nintendo), 2. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Sega), 3. Mario Kart DS (Nintendo), 4. Mahjongg DS (Deep Silver), 5. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo).

PlayStation Portable
North America: 1. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (LucasArts), 2. Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (Rockstar), 3. God of War: Chains of Olympus (Sony), 4. Lego Batman (Warner Bros.), 5. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (Square Enix).

Japan: 1. Macross Ace Frontier (Bandai), 2. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G (Capcom), 3. Phantasy Star Portable (Sega), 4. To Love-Ru Trouble: Exciting Beach School Version - Special Edition (Marvelous), 5. Way of the Samurai Portable (Spike).

Europe: 1. FIFA 09 (EA Sports), 2. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (LucasArts), 3. Lego Indiana Jones (LucasArts), 4. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII (Square Enix), 5. Football Manager Handheld 2008 (Sega).

Mario Kart Wii races to the first place on the Wii chart. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed holds on to the #1 spot on the PS3 & PSP charts. NBA 2K9 debuts at the top of the Xbox 360 chart. Lego Batman stays on the PS2 chart. Spore continues to explore the first place on the PC top 5. And lastly, after a discount to $19.99, Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga returns on the DS chart. — For the full lists go to Amazon’s US, JPN (PC) & UK sites.

Source: infendo.com

This weird website displays “Good morning, Crono!” and then transfers you back to the main Chrono Trigger website. What a weird nostalgic way to do some viral marketing.

[Good Morning, Crono] - Thanks for the Tip Dana

Source: videogamesblogger.com

The first gameplay footage of Suikoden Tierkreis has been revealed at TGS 2008 in this debut trailer for the game.

The Suikoden series finally returns in fine form for Nintendo’s handheld platform, and as you can see from the video below, the series has lost nothing in it’s transition to portable hardware. The video even packs lots of very good looking anime sequences!

Looks like another solid Japanese RPG for the DS. Always a good thing.

Source: infendo.com

Nintendo is notorious for being a stubborn no-show at the Tokyo Game Show. For reasons unknown to me, the company has made it a point not to display any first party games at the huge Japanese show. Sure we get impressive autumn press events like the one last week, but TGS has remained a hole in Nintendo’s PR line up that they’re all too happy to ignore.

Turns out, this may be the most brilliant PR move ever. As you know, TGS 2008 is in full swing this week. It’s already being labeled a huge game fest, with new announcements, hands-on demoes, and noteworthy sequels. All of that would seem to indicate that players like Microsoft and Sony, which had keynotes or other big press announcements, would dominate the show in Nintendo’s absence.

Wrong.

As the pic above indicates, the lines were long and widespread for Nintendo titles from third party publishers at TGS. The above pic is for Monster Hunter 3, a Wii exclusive, which Nintendo somehow managed to wrestle away from the competition in 2007. It was a coup for the ages, and the four hour lines to play the thing at TGS indicate it will pay off in treasure, without a doubt.

But that wasn’t all. GoNintendo, which is dutifully chronicling its travels on the TGS show floor this week, reported that the big name on campus at the show is… Nintendo?!

This is quite a funny situation. At TGS 2008, the handheld with the most games at the show is the Nintendo DS. (No surprise there — Jack) When it comes to consoles, the Wii has the most games on the show floor. Those facts in and of themselves aren’t funny, but the fact that Nintendo isn’t even at TGS makes me chuckle. For whatever stubborn reasons, Nintendo hardly ever has anything to do with TGS. I guess they are making a good decision. They don’t even need to showcase their games, yet they dominate the show floor.

This isn’t to say there aren’t some great games for other consoles at TGS, it’s just they aren’t front and center as they would have been as recently as one year ago. GoNintendo, in detailing the TGS Nintendo dominance without actually being there, also links to a report confirming the phenomena at GamaSutra:

The company’s lack of presence notwithstanding, there is a plethora of Wii and DS titles on show, notable at this relatively “core gamer”-focused event.

And with announcements such as No More Heroes 2 timed for TGS, Yuji Naka’s charming recently-announced Let’s Tap for Wii, and Phantasy Star on DS just a few of the show floor standouts, there is plenty of third-party goodness to see here for Nintendo’s consoles — not least of all Monster Hunter 3, which moved from PlayStation 3 to Wii after its initial announcement. Youch.

Youch is right. To be able to control the flow of an industry show that you aren’t even at has to be some kind of new record for the industry. Nintendo’s slow cooker strategy, where it warms the bathwater slowly as to not frighten off new gamers, appears to be coming to a boil.