Chibi-Robo (GC) announced for US release, Q1 2006... Odama (GC) scheduled for US release, Q1 2006... Super Princess Peach (DS) scheduled for US release, Q1 2006...

I was wondering about Chibi-Robo, given that it didn't really show up at E3 and Giftpia (the previous game from that developer) never came out in English.. great to see it's coming. :) And Odama... seems like that one's been taking a while. Let's hope it makes that date...

But ... wow... look at the middle of the press release here... buried in it is none other than the fact that we're finally getting a US release of Tales of Phantasia! Awesome! And completely unexpected, coming years after the Japanese release... :) :)

Oh yeah, and, for some bizarre reason, it looks like the US is getting the Famicom GB Micro? Huh?

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6137182.html

Quote:Odama, Metroid lead Nintendo's Q1 2006 lineup
Chibi-Robo makes US 'Cube debut; Princess Peach, Electroplankton come to DS. Famicom-themed Micro also headed to US shores.

REDMOND, Washington--With just under two months of 2005 left, Nintendo today decided to give gamers their first taste of 2006. At the company's North American press event today, the Japanese game giant took the wraps off their line-up for the first quarter of next year.

Leading the charge is a quartet of DS titles, with Electroplankton arriving first on January 9. Billed as a "new form of expression" by Nintendo executive vice president of sales and marketing Reggie Fils-Amie at E3 2005, Electroplankton is more an artistic music program than a straight-forward game, allowing users to generate a vast variety of harmonics and melodies in 10 different modes of gameplay. In North America, the game will only be purchasable online.

Next out of the gate is True Swing Golf, due on January 23. The game will feature diminutive golf pros putting away time on Lilliputian greens. Nintendo is making much of how the game has the "most realistic golf swings ever possible" via the DS's touch screen, which will re-create the tactile sensation of swinging a very small golf club.

The third DS title of 2006 belongs to one of Nintendo's long-time leading ladies. Super Princess Peach, featuring the damsel in distress from several Mario games, reverses the character's role in a striking display of girl power. The side-scrolling action game sees the skirted one rescuing the portly plumber for a change. To see how Princess Peach will accomplish this, check out GameSpot's hands-on with an imported version of the game.

The last DS title of Q1 2006 is one of the most anticipated games yet for the handheld, Metroid Prime: Hunters. Once slated to go on sale next week alongside the launch of Nintendo's Wi-Fi network, the game, now schdeuled for release March 20, will see intergalactic superheroine Samus conquer yet another Nintendo platform. GameSpot's previous coverage has more details about the sci-fi first-person shooter.

Owners of Nintendo's other handheld, the Game Boy Advance--recently revamped as the Game Boy Micro--will be able to add two new titles to their library in Q1 2006. On February 6, Drill Dozer will burrow into the already crowded market of side-scrolling GBA adventures, while March 6 will see a revamped version of Tales of Phantasia, originally released for the NES.

Gamers who held off on buying a DS or GBA, but are excited about the upcoming game lineup, might not want to rush to stores just yet--a few colorful Nintendo handhelds will be released in the US soon. In addition to the previously announced red-colored DS being bundled with the Mario Kart DS special edition bundle (scheduled to hit stores sometime "near the release of Mario Kart DS"), the Famicom-themed Game Boy Micro will also come to North America.

The handheld, already released in Japan, is skinned to look like the Famicom, the Japanese version of the NES. It will retail for $99.99 and include a $10 voucher for select Game Boy Advance games when it is released on November 28.

Nintendo's current-generation console, the GameCube, will see two new titles in the first quarter. First on the market will be the short-statured star of Chibi-Robo, an-action adventure about a three-inch robot. The game is being developed by the relatively unknown studio Skip Ltd., which made the 2004 role-playing game Giftpia (not available in the US). Chibi-Robo is already available in Japan.

Much more anticipated is Nintendo's other Q1 GameCube title--Yoot Saito's Odama. Bearing the name of its eccentric-but-celebrated creator, the game is a first, combing real-time strategy with fast-paced pinball action and--believe it or not--vocal recognition. It was certainly one of the more unique games on display at E3 2005, where GameSpot's own Jeff Gertsmann got some hands-on time with the game.
By Tor Thorsen, Tim Surette -- GameSpot
Posted Nov 3, 2005 6:03 pm PT

Cloud is an indie game created by some very intelligent people at USC. Instead of describing the game to you, which is difficult, I will instead provide you with some pictures:











Basically it's a series of demos where you move clouds around and perform various tasks. Of course that description does absolutely no justice to the game itself. It's free and the download is only 33MB. So get it.

That Cloud Game

Why can't more games be like this?

It's not very efficient though...

http://ds.ign.com/objects/774/774689.html

A game starring Tingle... starring... Tingle...

http://www.trektoday.com/news/011105_01.shtml

If you don't know who he is, you're not a real Star Trek fan...


In other news, Sulu is gay.

http://www.trektoday.com/news/281005_01.shtml

http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/004106.php

http://www.boulder.swri.edu/plutonews/

Anyone got it? What are your impressions? I have it, and so far I'm barely able to put it down (note the drop-off of my number of posts since last week :D).

They've improved some aspects, and a couple seem a little bit of a step down since SC2. First off, I'm enjoying the custom character creator a lot more than I thought I would. It's really quite a versatile tool, and you really can create just about anything you can envision (within reason, and somewhat within Soul Calibur's time setting). The arcade mode, relabeled as "Tales of Swords" is a nice diversion, but it's a bit long. It's the same basic fight your way to Soul Edge concept, but this time you've got choices on where in the world to send your character (and thus, who they fight) and a bit of reading to fill you in on the progress of his or her journey. The reading helps alleviate the load times which can be a bit of a pain.

Chronicles of the Sword I kind of ignored at first while still playing the crap out of the main game, but now I'm really into it. It's a fun real-time strategy/fighting genre bender that really works well. You Blizzard fan should dig it. I find it seems, in some ways, much like Warcraft.

Then there's Soul Arena, a fun little bunch of diversions with some interesting mission-based fights. One of them even pits you against the giant statue of Hephestus from Sophitia's stage. Not an easy fight.

All in all, it's a solid sequel. Some of you who are so familiar with SC2 (moi) may have trouble adjusting to your old favorites new (though very similar) movesets. It's definitely worth buying if you have the money, it just has so much to offer.

I noticed that Blizzard no longer has the GC listed as one of the consoles they'll be releasing Ghost for. Anyone know if theres anything official ?

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/10/2...2768.shtml

In a surprising move, this article (which is very obviously being written BY a gamer, admittedly) from CBS actually seems to handle the issue responsibly.

SEEMS to, now let me play devil's advocate here and note one thing. An anecdote is not sufficient evidence. However, at the same time it does bring up a point. If games cause people to become violent, then why aren't all gamers violent? They may say "well, maybe not all gamers are, but in the small few who do turn violent, it's the games that did it".

I might as well argue that when I flip a coin, every time it comes up tails, an invisible dragon did it. The dragon only makes it tails half the time though. It's an unfalsifiable position to take! In a short sentance, it is not scientific. To make it scientific, they need to design a test wherein the majority of those who play games would turn violent more than what random chance would allow. Considering what we can see with violence statistics, which are less that controlled I must admit, I have my doubts such a test would actually conclude that people who play violent games turn violent. Remember, it would have to be double blinded in some fasion... I suspect the best way would be if the party that is playing games and the party that was not were not even aware that there was another group being tested.

At most, from the statistics I've seen, it would have to be video games PLUS some other element. If they do a test showing that the presence of both DOES yield violent behavior more often than chance alone would account for, then it is clear what that means. The parents of the world would then need to check to see if their kids have this extra element and then would have to be prudent and withhold games from their children.