Muscle March: The game that will get me to buy a Japanese Wii

Captain Rainbow. Fatal Frame IV. Fragile. Tatsunoko vs. Capcom. I've been tempted to buy a Japanese Wii system to play each of these titles - none of which have been or likely will be localized for the North American market - but so far I've fought the urge and held on to my hard-earned cash.

A soon-to-be-released WiiWare game may force me, finally, to cave in, though. The name of that game: Muscle March, by Namco-Bandai. I could craft a few paragraphs explaining why this game has me all atwitter, but I think the following teaser/trailer will suffice:



Other than that, all you need to know is that the game will be released (in Japan only, of course) on May 26th and will cost 800 Nintendo points. That sounds more than fair to me, though I guess in my case the cost will be whatever a Japanese Wii goes for these days ($329 at Play-Asia.com - yikes!) *plus* 800 Nintendo points. Oh, well, you can't put a price on happiness, right? :)

The Advocate: Microsoft Tries to Mend Rift With "Gaymers"

Yesterday, The Advocate published (on its website) an article I wrote about Microsoft's policy of suspending the Xbox Live accounts of gamers who include "gay" or "lesbian" in their gamertags or profiles.

Read the article here: http://www.advocate.com/exclusive_detail_ektid75481.asp

Money quote: Stephen Toulouse, program manager for policy and enforcement on Xbox Live, told me, “We have heard clearly that customers want the ability to self-identify [and] it's our job to provide this in a way that cannot be misused.”

Unfortunately, Toulouse wouldn't say how or when Microsoft will provide that ability to LGBT gamers, but acknowledging a problem is the first step to solving it, right?

All I want for Christmas is a Famicom cart converted into a handheld

Some crazy (crazy smart!) guy has turned a Mario Bros. Famicom cartridge into an operable handheld gaming system that plays Famicom/NES ROMs.



Here's hoping he finds a way to mass produce them :)

Kirby + Katamari Damacy = kick-ass Wii game

I'll expound upon this comment in a latter post, but I believe Keita Takahashi's Katamari Damacy to be one of the most artistic, enjoyable and interesting games of the past decade.

As such, it shouldn't be a surprise to read that I'm intrigued by the following video:



Takahashi has had nothing to do with The Munchables (due out in May), but it sure seems like someone at Namco Bandai is invoking his spirit (as well as the spirit of Pac-Man creator Tōru Iwatani).

For more on this curious creation, check out the game's official website.

Princess Mario

Sometimes style trumps substance, you know? A perfect example:



I found this image while perusing Flickr this morning. It's from a Super Mario World player's guide sold in Japan.

I'm actually surprised such a costume/outfit hasn't yet appeared in a Super Mario game, given Nintendo's penchant for strangely LGBT-leaning characters. (More on that soon...)