Dewprism's colorful Princess Mint, courtesy of Curtis Bathurst

I have to admit, I've never played Square's Threads of Fate (aka Dewprism in Japan).

Artist Curtis Bathurst's colorful sketch (below and here) of one of its main characters, Princess Mint, makes me want to track down a copy of this game and finally give it a go.

Have any of you played this PlayStation-based ARPG? If so, do you think it would be worth playing today--11 and 12 years after it was first released (in Japan and North America, respectively)?

(To see more examples of Bathurst's work, check out his Flickr photostream.)

At long last, I can play Dragon Knight II (once I, you know, actually buy it)

I'm not at all into women (duh, right?), but for some strange reason I've always had a bit of a thing--aesthetically speaking--for the kind of girls Japanese anime artists specialize in bringing to life. You know, the kind with huge, glassy eyes, tiny, pixie-like noses and rainbow-hued hair that runs the gamut from blue and green to orange and pink.

A number of such girls appear in Dragon Knight II, an eroge ("erotic game") RPG developed by the folks at ELF and released for the PC Engine CD-ROM2 system in 1992.

Unsurprisingly, I've wanted to play this saucy little title ever since I saw screenshots (like the one above) of it in an issue of PC Engine Fan magazine as a teenager. I've long refrained from picking up a copy, though, because I don't know a lick of Japanese--and based on the aforementioned screenshots, the Dragon Knight games definitely seem to be the sort that require at least a slight understanding of their language of origin.

Thanks to a handy-dandy guide recently created by The Brothers Duomazov's IvaNEC--check it out here--I (and you, too) can go ahead and pick up a copy of the series' second release later this year and finally play through, if not fully understand, it.

Hasta la vista, Google AdSense

As I'm sure you could tell as soon as you visited today, this is once again an ad-free blog.

I promised when I added Google AdSense to the site that if the ads didn't help me earn enough to buy an extra game or two a month I'd get rid of them.

Well, not only didn't the ads earn me enough to buy a game in the last month, they didn't earn me enough to buy a pack of gum! So, away they go.

Although I'll likely give them a second chance at some point in the future, for the time being this blog will be free of those oh-so-helpful ads that try to get you to buy heartburn meds or invest in retirement homes.  

Slow week ahead

Expect the next week to be a slow one, folks, as my parents--as well as the hub's dad and sister--are visiting for the first time in ages.

I originally intended to publish two posts a day--just as I always do--while they're here, but now I'm thinking it will be more intermittent than that. So, I may publish just a single post on Monday, nothing on Tuesday, two posts on Wednesday ... you get the drift, right?

Also, I would have published a few more posts yesterday and today, but I've been dealing with a nasty cold for the last two days and I'm so hopped up on medicine at the moment that I can barely think straight.

Will you buy a 3DS now that it costs just $169.99?

You're probably well aware by now that earlier today the powers that be at Nintendo dropped the price of the 3DS around the world.

In Japan, for instance, the system's price was slashed from ¥25,000 to ¥15,000 (from approximately $320 to $190), while in North America the price was reduced--or will be as of Aug. 12--to $170 from $250.

Some of you who bought a 3DS between its launch date and now probably are feeling a bit bummed at the moment, right? Don't worry, Nintendo has your back--at least partially. You see, starting Sept. 1, "early adopters" (those who buy or bought the system before the price drops) will gain access to 20 free NES and GBA games. Among them: The Legend of Zelda (NES), Mario Kart: Super Circuit (GBA), Metroid Fusion (GBA) and Super Mario Bros. (NES).

Don't worry, this isn't the 3DS you'll be getting when you fork over 

$169.99 at your friendly neighborhood game shop.

All that said, how do those of you who have yet to buy a 3DS feel about this? Are you planning to pick up Nintendo's latest handheld now that it'll soon be $80 cheaper, or are you still holding out for one reason or another?

Personally, as amazed as I am with its new price, I doubt I'll add a 3DS to my handheld arsenal until Nintendo releases either a killer app (Luigi's Mansion 2 could be it) or a DSlite-esque hardware revision.

(Via andriasang.com and tinycartridge.com)