The day of trailers continues with Biohazard Umbrella Chronicles

I'm not sure how I feel about the recent news from Capcom that the Wii-only Biohazard/Resident Evil Umbrella Chronicles is going to be an on-rails shooter a la Sega's House of the Dead series.

I'm not a hardcore fan of the series, so the new controls don't bother me (in fact, I've always had a hard time with the game because I find it awkward). I think what bugs me is that most people will see it as a side story of the Biohazard/Resident Evil series and not deem it worthy to be purchased.

Anyway, if you're interested, here's a short clip of the game that shows a lot of cut scenes and a bit of actual shooting action. Looks pretty good to these eyes.

Regardless of how you feel about this release in particular, there are plenty of Wii games to be excited about these days--with Super Paper Mario being at the top of my list.

Watch a bit of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates

Square's obviously working its fans into frenzy in the run-up to next week's Square Party 2007. Earlier in the week we got a load of screenshots for the company's upcoming DS games Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings, Final Fantasy Tactics A2 and It's a Wonderful World, and now we get a new trailer for Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates.

Not a whole lot going on it, but at least it's in motion, right? Besides, I'm sure we'll be seeing more and more trailers of this game sooner rather than later, especially since FFXII: Revenant Wings is about to ship.

Is there anything wrong with the PSP?

That's the question of the day over at Gamasutra.com. Writer Howard Wen posed the wide-open question to a handful of industry insiders and pundits and came back with some interest responses.

The piece is fairly positive overall, which may shock some considering the overwhelming amount of moaning going on about Sony in the gaming press and on the discussion boards.

If you look at the numbers, though, it shouldn't be all that surprising that the machine isn't considered a failure by many in the industry. Simply put: The PSP is getting its butt kicked by the DS, but consumers continue to pick them up and put money in Sony's coffers, which is all that really matters in the end.

Say hello to Nintendo's latest chick game

No, I'm not talking about Super Princess Peach 2--though I wouldn't be upset if that game were to be announced (as long as it's a bit deeper than the first go-round).

The game I'm talking about is Chick Chick Boom, a new online Flash game "powered by Nintendo." I blew about 25 minutes on this nice little time-waster this morning when I should have been writing or interviewing or doing whatever else us writer folks are supposed to do during the day.

What's the point of the game? Well, you're responsible for protecting five little chicks who flit along aimlessly on the left side of your computer screen. You see, a cute little baddie who goes by the name Poster Bunny wants to kill your chicks for some unknown reason--using bombs, lightning, poison mushrooms and more. You counter his attacks by using the mouse to direct your chicks to one side of the screen or another, hoist a lightning rod above them, give them medicine, etc.

The game isn't just about protecting your chicks, no sirree. To win, you have to kill Poster Bunny's little minions (also chicks) using some attacks of your own.

All moves--defensive or offensive--are performed using the mouse. Drawing an arrow to the left pushes your chicks out of the way of a bomb, for instance, while drawing an s-curve of sorts puts up a lightning rod to protect them from electrocution. While on the attack, drawing a bombs sends one careening at your foes, while a zigzag pattern calls a storm of lightning bolts.

I've heard some online complaining that the game's hard to control with a mouse. Personally, I thought it was easy as pie, and quite enjoyable. If you fall into the anti-mouse camp, though, there is another option: Play the game on your TV using the Wii! Yup, Nintendo thankfully made the game fully compatible with the Wiimote, giving us all a reason to boot up the otherwise pointless (in my opinion) Wii Web Browser.

Take a look inside Nintendo

For some wonderful reason, Nintendo's Japanese and U.S. websites have been running interviews with various Wii development teams over the past few months. The Japanese interviews have been translated (though not always well) and are quite fascinating, as are the interviews that appear on the U.S. site.

For links and a lengthy discussion of each interview, go to the NeoGAF forums. (These forums are a great site for overall news, too!)

One bit of information that really made my mouth water: One of the guys who has worked on the Wii Shop Channel commented that he would like to see an arcade channel, where people can download and play arcade versions of games like Donkey Kong.

I've been hoping Nintendo would implement such a feature since the Shop Channel was first announced, as the NES versions of many of the company's arcade games just don't compare to the arcade originals. Hopefully someone will make this happen sooner rather than later!