The next Pokémon titles come with a tab of acid, right?

I know the next Pokémon games are Pokémon Black and Pokémon White and I know that both of them are going to hit the streets in Japan on Sept. 18, but other than that I don't know much about Game Freak's next project(s).

Which probably goes a long way toward explaining the look that washed across my face as I watched the following trailer earlier today:



Which scenes in particular prompted my "WTF face," as I like to call it? Well, there are the twitchy, three-on-three battle scenes that appear at the 3:22 mark. (I knew they existed, but I had never seen them in action before today.) Then there are the headscratchingly crazy trainers--including a fat chef and a football player--that appear at 5:18. Last but not least, there's the dress-up-and-dance "music show" that appears at 2:12. (Note to the game's developers: Please let me take the lizard-like Pokémon--Tsutarja?--into battle avec purse!)

I know I'm going to buy this game, play it for about 10 hours and then give up on it, but that isn't stopping me from being completely and totally stoked about it at the moment.

See also: 'You know, I'm kind of interested in Pokémon Black/White'

'Catch the Squirrel'

Can you guess which popular game inspired the following piece of digital art, produced by Mikaël "Orioto" Aguirre?

Here's a hint: The boy and girl are holding wicker balls that could be used to, er, catch or collect things--like, say, cute little animals.

To see more of Aguirre's "photomanipulations"--and to see a larger version of this particular photomanipulation--check out his deviantart gallery.

See also: 'I hear a harp above my head'

Trism 1.51 (aka Trism HD): Coming soon to an iPad/iPhone 4 near you

How many hairs been pulled from the heads of gamers since Steve Demeter's iPhone/iPod Touch puzzler, Trism, hit the App Store three years ago? I have no idea, but if I had to guess I'd say it's in the millions if not trillions.

That number is sure to increase once Trism 1.51 (aka Trism HD) is released. After all, the update will allow iPad and iPhone 4 users to get in on the Trism action.

No word on when Trism 1.51--or the announced-some-time-ago Trism 2--will hit the App Store, though Demeter assures both are on their way in his latest blog post.

What do you think the chances are that I'll get an iPad, iPod Touch or an iPhone before that happens? Yeah, I don't think they're very good either.

See also: 'The man behind the Americanization of Mother 3's Magypsies' and 'The Advocate: Apple's Gay Poster Boy'

Nintendo announces an announcement related to the 3DS

The brass at Nintendo jumped on a rather annoying bandwagon earlier today when they announced--via Bloomberg--that they will be announcing the release date and price of the 3DS system on Sept. 29.

Note: This is not the final design of the 3DS.

I'd love it if said announcement consisted of "it'll hit store shelves around the world just in time for Christmas and it'll cost $199," but I'm not going to hold my breath.

Much more likely, in my oh-so-humble opinion: It'll be released in Japan only before the end of the year and it'll cost somewhere between $200 and $249.

Considering the current length of my DS wish list, I wouldn't much care if Nintendo waited until Christmas 2011 to release its next sure-to-be-super-popular portable.

Yep, another t-shirt

I know, I know--I'm always pining for one gaming-related t-shirt or another, aren't I?

Well, you can take all of those other tees and toss them in the toilet (and flush it twice), because the one below is the real deal--or it would be if it were an actual t-shirt.



You see, it's just a t-shirt design at the moment--and unless it gets enough votes (over at threadless.com) that's all it'll ever be. (Unless the artist takes it to another t-shirt seller, of course.)

Although I'm pretty sure it'll successfully make the transition from design to shirt, I'm less sure it'll be available in white--which is all it would take for me to hand over my hard-earned cash.