Not sure if want, part trois: Disgaea Infinite

I've long been a fan of Nippon Ichi's Disgaea series--thanks in no small part to the games' humorous dialogue and hugely over-the-top special attacks and effects. 

I'm guessing the former will be present in the recently announced Disgaea Infinite, but I'm not so sure about the latter. After all, this PSP game, which will hit store shelves in the States this May, isn't a strategy RPG but a "visual novel."

What does that mean? Well, according the folks at NIS America, in Disgaea Infinite it means that "players will use 'time traveling' and 'possession' to solve mysteries."

The game begins with the player traveling back in time. "You then possess other characters to gather info/clues," explains an NIS America press release. "By possessing the characters, you can read their minds and see through their eyes. Some characters might be thinking something completely different as they talk to others. By possessing different characters, you will gradually find out who the true culprit is."

I'm still not sure if that sounds marvelous or meh--and this teaser trailer, used to promote the Japanese version of the game that was released late last year, doesn't help matters.

What do all of you think--does this sound brilliant or boring? 

Maybe I shouldn't have gotten so excited about Zangeki no Reginleiv

The supplemental earnings report released by Nintendo of Japan yesterday contained a number of interesting surprises--chief among them being the announcement of two new Wii titles (The Last Story and Xenoblade).

Sadly, some of the surprises were more irritating than interesting. The most irritating: Zangeki no Reginleiv isn't included on the 2010 release lists for Europe or the U.S.

Hopefully the powers that be at Nintendo of America and/or Europe will pull a fast one on all of us Reginleiv fans and stealthily announce a release date for the title soon.

See also: 'So, what do you think: Will Nintendo finally release Hoshi no Kirby this year?' and 'The baddies in Zengeki no Reginleiv are *this big*'

Balloon Fighter: 'The Fred Flintstone to the Joust knight’s Ralph Kramden'

If you haven't been paying attention to the game character "profiles" that have been posted to gamespite.net in the past month or so, get your posterior over there right now and start reading through them.

My favorite so far focuses on Balloon Fight's pixelated protagonist.

For starters, writer Bob Mackey lists the following as one of Balloon Fighter's strengths: "Can honestly say he just flew in from L.A. and boy are his arms tired." (I know, I have a horrible sense of humor.)

And then there's the author's explanation as to why the brass at Nintendo haven't given Balloon Fighter a second shot at gaming stardom.

"In the few additions to the Balloon Fight franchise, Balloon Fighter didn’t even make the cut; first he was replaced by a little girl in the overlooked Game Boy sequel, then by pan-sexual man-thing Tingle in a Japanese Club Nintendo exclusive remake," Mackey writes. "What you hear is the sound of karma catching up with a character who entered this world as a shameless ripoff to begin with."

So, what do you think: Will Nintendo finally release Hoshi no Kirby this year?

Considering the game has shown up on Nintendo's release lists since 2004 (yeah, you read that right), I'm going to say "no."

Which is a shame, since the game looked pretty darn sweet in this teaser trailer:



I'd love Nintendo to prove me wrong and finally move the title from "release date TBA" to reality, but I'm not going to get my hopes up.

See also: 'Nintendo Release Calendar Hints at New Games' (at andriasang.com)

This WTF moment is brought to you by the folks at Square-Enix

In an effort to promote its most recent Dragon Quest remake (part six, for the DS), the folks at Square-Enix produced this bizarro live-action advertisement:



I'm a bit torn about it, to tell you the truth. It's either the most impressive thing I've experienced in a long time, or the most insane.

The hairstyles--especially the Flock of Seagulls-esque 'do on the main dude--and costumes certainly suggest it's the latter, as does the fact that the entire thing is in Spanish. (Does that have something to do with the game's story? I honestly have no idea.)

Regardless, it's work a look--as is this "making of" video.

(Via gonintendo.com and tinycartridge.com)