Alex, what is: 'Another game the folks at Nintendo of America will ignore'?

The answer to the Jeopardy-esque question above, of course, is: The sequel to Hotel Dusk, Last Window: The Secret of Cape West.



Actually, I shouldn't say "of course," as Nintendo of America has passed on releasing a number of internally-developed DS and Wii games this generation, including Daigasso! Band Brothers (aka Jam with the Band), Freshly-Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland and that title's sequel, Ripening Tingle's Balloon Trip of Love, on the DS and Another Code: R, Captain Rainbow, Disaster: Day of Crisis, Fatal Frame IV and Zangeki no Reginleiv on the Wii.

Anyway, although Last Window will hit the streets in Europe on Sept. 17, it has yet to receive a North American release date. As much as I'd like to bemoan that fact, I'm also happy that the game has been translated into English and will be released somewhere in the world. After all, ebay.com is just a click away...

(Via infendo.com)

Finally, another reason to pull out my PSP

I hate to admit it, but my PSP hasn't received much love since I picked it up earlier this year. In fact, I've bought just one game in the past five months: Patchwork Heroes.

That PSN-only title is about to have some company thanks to the impending release of Cladun: This is an RPG.



Don't worry if the name Cladun doesn't ring any bells; in Japan, the game was called Classic Dungeon.

Why am I going to buy this game, which will hit the PS Store on Sept. 7? Well, one gamer who played through the Japanese version described it as a mash-up of Disgaea, Shiren the Wanderer and Ys, three of my all-time-favorite titles.

(Via gamepro.com and rpgfan.com)

The gayest (Dragon Quest IX) party ever

The only way my Dragon Quest IX party (below) could be any gayer is if it included Babs, Cher, Judy or Lady Gaga.

My diva-licious Dragon Quest IX party (clockwise from the upper-left corner):
Madonna, Utada, Beyonce and Janet.

Actually, I would have included the first three if I had thought of it--as any of them would be a worthwhile replacement for Utada, who I adore but who really isn't a gay icon.

I thought of including Lady Gaga but decided against it because without the ability to give her a big schnoz she'd look just like Madonna--and that ain't right.

I'll be back ...

... to normal next week.

I wasn't able to post as often as I would have liked this week due to having a lot on my plate professionally. (A blogger has to pay the bills, you know.) Next week should be much better, though, so expect things to get back to normal then.

Normally I'd post once or twice over the weekend, but I just got my copy of Dragon Quest IX (booyah!) and, honestly, I'd rather spend some quality time with it than with all of you. (Please don't take that personally.)

Actually, I've got portable RPGs on the brain

Once my obsessions with Dragon Quest IX and Etrian Odyssey have ended--and they will, sooner rather than later--I think I'll turn my obsessive energies toward Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light.

I'm going to pre-order the game well before its Oct. 5 release date, however, since Amazon.com is offering a $10 credit to all who do so between now and then.

If you're still on the fence about this Final Fantasy spin-off, check out this trailer (from the recent E3 event) or the title's official site.

See also: 'Let's play: Which box art is better? (The 4 Heroes of Light edition)'