The Gamer's Informant

http://www.smashbros.com/en_us/items/assist/index.html
Trophies are back in a big way.

Also, while you're there, check out Zelda's new look. Fancy.

SquareEnix has posted a new trailer for Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers (that's a mouthful) on the official site. The production values are through the roof! Also, look at all that airship action! I can't think of a game with that much sky-high adventuring that I haven't liked.

Anyways, go watch it. Now! Just click that brown canvas-y picture in the center.

There was such a huge buzz surrounding the mysterious countdown on the SSB: Brawl website, but since the site's relaunch, it seems that all that excitement has shriveled up and died.

I want to point out, however, that since the relaunch, the site has been updated daily with bite-sized pieces of information. Alot of this stuff we already know, but I imagine, given a little time, we'll be seeing alot more updates like todays...

ENTER THE GOOEY BOMB

Also worth mentioning is the site's first update, which listed all of the composers on board. The list itself is unusually large, but what's really peculiar, is what Sakai has to say about it:



Could this be a hint at more third party characters than we could have ever imagined? Nintendo did say that they were totally open to the idea. Or maybe Sakai's just speaking of the experience of having so many composers on a single project.

I highly encourage checking the site out on a daily basis. They even offer an RSS feed (which you can slap on your google homepage like me, dandy!).

I've been to the interweb, and I return bearing gifts!

...but I'm too lazy to type all this out, so here's a link to the index of 1up's Square-Enix Party coverage. LINK!

Last Remnant, It's a Wonderful World, Crisis Core, and Dissidia are all must reads. The other stuff's good too though, if you're not burnt out on reading. It's also worth mentioning (since the info is crammed randomly into one of the articles) that Star Ocean 1 & 2 are both being remade for the PSP.

I've been waiting for a reason to pick up a PSP, now I've got four.

I really don't know how I missed it, but screenshots from Beautiful Katamari already made it to the interwebs, and the official site was launched. My obsessive grip is slipping.

Official Website (JP)

( lolisdatsumscreens?"Collapse )

It looks exactly the same! FANCY! It will be awesome though. Probably.

Stolen Borrowed from 1up.com:

"Namco Announces Beautiful Katamari Damacy



Namco has announced Beautiful Katamari Damacy for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, according to this week's Weekly Famitsu. Players can this time choose from more than 50 other characters besides the Prince, though their abilities will be pretty much the same. The environment is much bigger compared to the previous games, even to a point where you will be rolling a massive ball of katamari across the globe. Both versions of the game will also feature network compatibility but no specifics were disclosed.

So what about a Wii version? Jun Moriwaki, the director of the game comments, "The Wii is also one of our platform choices. We would like to challenge with different interfaces such as the keyboard on a PC, or the touch pad on the DS. However, the controller for Wii is quite unique so being able to overcome the different issues will be the key."

Looks like Wii owners will need to wait a little longer for a possible release. Beautiful Katamari Damacy is currently 50% complete; no release date for either version has been announced."

I have a treat for you guys.



This is the secret clip that plays at the end of Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix (only in japan), which is a continuation of the one at the end of the American game. DO NOT WATCH IT IF YOU HAVE NOT FINISHED KH2, OR ARE NOT INTERESTED IN KNOWING ANY DETAILS ABOUT THE NEXT GAME IN THE SERIES.



I've also read a short interview where Nomura states that, though this game is in the KH universe, it is not KH3, but instead the first (of potentially several) in a new series based off the KH franchise. Also it seems that this is his current focus, meaning Final Fantasy Versus XIII has been unofficially delayed. Since it never had a set date, I guess it really doesn't matter.

Since (surprisingly) no one has mentioned it yet. The NiGHTS Sequel that's been unofficially confirmed, finally has some screens to back it up.

Which you can find here.

The game, a Wii exclusive, once again stars NiGHTS, the titles namesake (obviously), exploring the vast worlds of peoples dreams. It'll feature two player support, and there's also talk of online content.

PLAGIARISM!!

Three big names in Japanese development are now working together in the new studio, SEEDS...

Late last year Capcom announced that development studio Clover (developer of Okami) would be disbanded, and shortly after, two of the most well known figures within the studio - Atsushi Inaba (producer of Viewtiful Joe) and Hideki Kamiya (director of Devil May Cry) revealed they had recently left the studio for "fresh challenges".

It now appears they have formed new development studio Seeds, with renowned fellow ex-Clover vet Shinji Mikami, creator of the Resident Evil series, including its sublime fourth incarnation on the GameCube.

The Seeds' Japanese website reveals the group was formed as far back as August last year, with Inaba as president and now employs a team of more than 50. To quote from the site:

"We are a group of creators who have already created colorful products. Now, standing on new ground, and even as the soil has changed, our passion to pursue new play [fun] hasn't changed. We are challenging ourselves on a global scale to create entertainment products with a new, fresh feeling. We need more seeds."

"This is Ze Frank, playing with my Wii, so you don't have to."