Well, folks. It’s been a hell of a long time since I last posted here and I really must apologise.
Sorry!
Where have I been? Well, I moved house back in the middle of July and didn’t manage to get the internet installed until this week. THANK YOU very much, Talk, Talk!
So what did this blog miss while I was away? A hell of a lot as it turns out. Here’s everything I can remember:
Welcome Home-Chibi Robo was released in Japan. I have my copy and I can confirm that it is a truly excellent game. It’s a lot like the GameCube version but with great touch controls and some lovely new gadgets. Sadly, I spoke to Nintendo a few weeks ago and they confirmed that there are no plans to release the game in the UK. Happily, however, it’s totally import friendly.
The new Tingle game – Color Changing Tingle’s Love Balloon Trip – was also released in Japan and has also been denied a UK release. My copy hasn’t arrived yet but, from what I’ve read, it seems to be quite a departure from the last game and is more akin to a point-and-click, consisting mostly of locked room puzzles.
Akira Ueda, longtime Lovedelic collaborator and creator of Contact, has announced a new DS game called Sakura Note. The official website has a few screens and some video footage that show off a rather unique art style, mixing 16-bit sprites with digitized photographic backgrounds. Hideo Minaba, who worked on Little King’s Story, is also developing Sakura Note.
Speaking of Little King’s Story. The rather brilliant Wii game has finally been released in the States and is about to be released in Japan, where it is being promoted in a typically wacky way.
Fans of the Art Style games should look forward to issue 89 of gamesTM, on sale at the end of October as, if everything goes to plan, it will feature an interview with several member of Skip about their popular DSiWare series.
And that’s about all I can remember. I’m sure there’s more I’ve missed but it’s been a busy couple of months. If I recall any other news then I’ll post it in the next few days.
In the meantime, I’d like to do something unusual and recommend a few non-Lovedelic games that I’ve been playing this summer. In the last two weeks I’ve been mostly playing Bionic Commando, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Professor Layton And The Diabolical Box, Blood Bowl, Wii Sports Resort, Machinarium, Tales Of Monkey Island and Space Invaders Infinity Gene.
If you have the chance to play any of these games then I suggest you do so. They’re all excellent in their own way.
Oh and look forward to Heavy Rain next year. I finally got a chance to play a little of it and I really do think it will change the way stories are told in games. Believe the hype, as they say.
LKS was released in Japan 3 days ago actually. I hope it does ok.
And the Tingle game is quite fun but it’s pretty much unplayable if you don’t speak the language. I’d like to believe it will get localised in 2010, it would be a terrible waste if it never left Japan.
Chances are slim. Nintendo UK says there are no plans to release it here. And as the first game went unreleased in the States I can’t see this one making it over either.
The the only real sticking point with the Tingle game for the non-English speaker is the quiz questions (chapters 5 & 10 (and 13 if you want to complete the game 100%)). Thanks to a particularly helpful soul over at Gamefaqs, the answers are available.
I recently completed the game and kind of want to play through again. Takes a while to get going, but once it does it a charming and original adventure game, truer to it’s Lovedelic roots than the first one, IMO.
I’m still holding out for a US release of Chibi-Robo *crosses fingers*
Oh, and Sakura Note looks pretty interesting.
Sakura Note’s boxart.
http://game.watch.impress.co.jp/img/gmw/docs/312/225/sakura04.jpg
Sakura Note boxart, hi-res
http://www.upload.mn/files/pstrcev28eyuw3wdfi4w.png