Upcoming Wii RPG Shiren the Wanderer has got the new trailer and website treatment today. Oh, and we've got the new boxart in our gallery below. We've known about the game for a bit, but it's nice to see some new material coming out of Atlus on the game.

It's not coming 'till February, but it's worth the wait. Shiren got high marks from the Japanese gaming press, what with its dungeon crawling and feudal Japanese setting and its talking ferrets and so forth. The new official site has game info, art, and a few screens. The system page talks about how this is the first Shiren game that lets you freely switch between yourself and a couple of other companions, adding some new strategy to your crawl.

The new trailer is pretty epic. It looks like a big game with a big story, which is my kind of thing.

Shiren the Wanderer hits Wii on February 9th, 2010. Lookin' forward to this one. How 'bout you?

Thank God for the clergy! Those guardians of our frail humanity are always here to set things right, and they have protected us from Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles, a game that glamorizes violence and promotes the occult. Several men of the Church have attacked Capcom's latest Wii shooter, because that is exactly what the Church should be worrying about.

"If we dabble in this area we open ourselves to influences and put ourselves at risk," writes Rt Rev John Goddard. "I would regard any encouragement for children to be drawn into this behavior with extreme horror."

Capcom's Leo Tan, however, has not taken such accusations lying down: "Most games (and movies) like Resident Evil show characters fighting evil, not supporting it. Unfortunately the clergy is showing a lack of understanding of the video games industry and is too quick to splash the holy water and lump video games players into stereotypical boxes.

"Video games are entertainment and like horror movies or other scary films they are covered by a ratings system. Resident Evil for example is a 15 and not suitable for anyone under that age. Parents have to be trusted to adhere to these age restrictions and use common sense."

Pretty much.

Still, it's nice to know that Holy leaders responsible for the guidance of hundreds of people are so enlightened and have such a grasp of the modern world, isn't it? They clearly make people take IQ tests to be bishops.

Well, here is something: Developer High Voltage Software has recently filed for trademark of "Immortal Warriors." 

High Voltage is a busy developer, with at least three other announced projects in the cards -- first-person co-op shooter The Grinder for Wii; fighter Gladiator A.D. for the Wii; and Animales de la Muerta for Wii. What I'm suggesting is there's a pattern here, and it's likely that Immortal Warriors, if it appears as a game at all, will be for Nintendo's console. 

Those folks at High Voltage love them some Wii, having developed its own engine -- Quantum3 -- designed to take advantage of the console's capabilities. The engine caught the eye of gamers and publishers when High Voltage revealed The Conduit, which would later be published by Sega.

While thoughts on The Conduit are divided, it's hard to argue that it's not a damn good-looking Wii game. Have to wonder what High Voltage has up its sleeve for Immortal Warriors... 

[via superannuation]

Guitar Hero 6 development is already well underway, despite the fact that it hasn't officially been announced. How do we know this? Well, I woke up this morning, the sky is blue, and Jim Sterling upset a bunch of people last week -- these are all things that simply happen in nature. 

Who will be on the soundtrack? Well, we can confirm Tesla now. Yup, the guitarist for the 80s rock outfit recently confirmed that its song "Modern Day Cowboy" has been selected to appear in Guitar Hero 6. Dave Rude says the song was one of the three tracks it suggested to Activision when it was asked to be involved in the game. 

Rude also isn't on the "play a real instrument" band-wagon, seeing positives in the band-game experience. 

"“I teach guitar when I’m not touring and a lot of people start in on that," he says. "A lot of people complain, but I think it’s a good thing. Even if people don’t learn to play guitar, it’s exposing them to all sorts of cool guitar-based music that they wouldn’t have ever heard otherwise."

[Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles via Joystiq]

Next week, Nirvana's Nevermind album sort of gets complete for the Rock Band catalog. The three "missing tracks" -- "Come As You Are," "Lithium," and "Smells Like Teen Spirit" -- are being made available as part of "Nirvana Pack 2." The catch? Two are live tracks.

Nirvana Pack 2 ($5.49/440 MS Points, $1.99/160 MS Points/200 Wii Points Per Track)

• "Come As You Are (Live from MTV Unplugged)" +
• "Lithium (Live at Reading)"
• "Smells Like Teen Spirit" 

Night Ranger Pack 1 ($5.49/440 MS Points, $1.99/160 MS Points/200 Wii Points Per Track)

• "(You Can Still) Rock in America" +
• "Don't Tell Me You Love Me" +
• "You're Gonna Hear It From Me"+

_{(The "+" indicates the song is also available for LEGO Rock Band)}

You might notice something is up with the Night Ranger pack... where the hell is "Sister Christian"? I suppose you have to save something for Rock Band 3, which should feature an entire section of your career dedicated to playing Night Ranger's most popular track (and one of the greatest songs of all time). Right? Right.

While the trailer for Hudson's Calling had an element of camp to it, I'm willing to believe it could provide some creepy moments. After all, you do play as a generally defenseless characters, which always seems to provide more intensity in games than it does it films.

That said, I'm not much into the whole J-Horror scene. Never have been, for one reason or another. And this game looks mad J-Horror. So no, I can't say that Calling is especially high up on my radar, and it's sounding like many of you feel the same way about it.

To keep on the sunny side, here's one compliment: the box art looks pretty intriguing. Since that's the main goal of cover art, mission accompli--hold on. I can't get over how out of place the Hudson logo looks on the box. It's so damned adorable.

Last week, a survey leaked to Kotaku suggested that Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Evan Longoria would be on the cover of 2K Sports' Major League Baseball 2K10. 2K sent out a press release earlier today to make it official, but we now know that the four covers that the survey included were mere mock-ups. Six different box art designs, available for your viewing in the gallery below, accompanied the press release; you can vote for your favorite at 2ksports.com/vote. (They did the same thing for NBA 2K10.)

Longoria, like MLB 2K9 cover athlete Tim Lincecum, is one of baseball's most quickly rising stars; he made the AL All-Star team in his first two years in the league, and he recently won his first Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards. And he isn't related to Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria.

Which cover do you guys like? I prefer the one pictured above. MLB 2K10 will be out in March for the PS3, 360, Wii, PS2, PSP, and PC. Cover voting will be open for two weeks, until noon EST on December 8th.

Tis' the season for gift giving. With some many great games released this year, finding the perfect gift for that gamer in your life (or for yourself, you selfish jerk!) can be quite a task.

That's where we come in. Destructoid staff writers were asked to make a few holiday, game-related gift picks, either based on personal choice or simply in the spirit of giving. The results were wide and varied, as each staff member's tastes and gaming experiences, uh, vary widely. We're quite an eclectic bunch, that's for sure. 

Hit the jump to see what made the list, and we hope to ignite some gift-giving sparks for you this holiday.

If there is one thing that people can't seem to agree on in the world of MMOs, it's how games that are designed to be played forever should fund themselves.

There are plenty of models out there, like subscriptions, micro-transactions, advertisements, but all of them seem to have their different issues. When we spoke to Jeff Strain about his new MMO company, Undead Labs, and his upcoming zombie MMO, we brought this up.

He had some interesting things to say about why paying a monthly or annual subscription fee is the best way to go.

So, I recently got to play a beta of Super Meat Boy, and it was awesome. I haven't played a game with this much impending death in a long time. So far, it seems the Super Meat Boy world is pretty much made up of five things; you, the walls, the floor, giant buzz-saws, and cute little bunnies (who frequently jump into the buzz saws).

Oh, and blood. Lots and lots of blood.

From the looks of it, the game's first boss will do well to keep with the game's bloody, saw-filled feel. From the looks of it, the thing is basically a giant chainsaw with feet. Why hasn't this been done before? It's such an obviously good idea; a chainsaw with feet. Here is it, 2009, and this is the first time I've seen one.

Want to simulate the feeling of fighting this boss right now? Well, you can start by making chainsaw-sounds with your mouth while squirting ketchup all over your computer monitor. If that's not enough, you could listen to the actual theme music for the boss, which can be found right here. If you really wanted to go for it, I guess you could do all three. Just don't let anybody catch you while you're at it. They might think you're weird. 

[via Meat Boy's Twitter]

We had a bunch of awesome Naruto prizes courtesy of Tomy Corporation to giveaway to some Naruto fans last week. We wanted to give them to real Naruto fans so we asked you all to show us how much of a Naruto fan you really are.

Congratulations to TocanRider, Kaaru1990, danielwjenkins, worldagainstjose and chicken008. They'll each be getting a copy of Naruto Shippuden: Clash of Ninja Revolution 3 for the Wii, a t-shirt, headband and Naruto chopsticks. Congratulations also go out to Erica Berkowitz who will be getting all of the above prizes PLUS  the exclusive one-of-a-kind framed poster featuring Anbu Kakashi from Naruto Shippuden: Clash of Ninja Revolution 3.

For more free stuff, check out our Blip Festival 2009 contest where you can win tickets to the concert.

It’s Monday morning. Aside from meaning that I need a lot more coffee, fat strippers, and protein to operate than on a normal day of the week, it means a whole new host of Nintendo digital downloads are available for purchase across the publisher’s various platforms. Get excited or something.

This week we see the release of BIT.TRIP.VOID, an important videogame as noted by its profuse punctuation and all capitalization, and the venerable Super Mario Kart.

But that’s not all -- Nintendo continues to hack Electroplankton into even smaller chunks for download via DSiware, and several other developers have various releases across all three platforms. Check below the fold for a cute, short list of all the available titles and don’t forget to tell us what you’re downloading this beautiful, need-more-protein-and-coffee Monday morning.

Here's a pet peeve of mine; people with a rose-tinting deification of Ocarina of Time. For me, that game, along with Mario 64, will always symbolize a personal low-point for my feeling of connection to videogames as a whole. Of course, I understand why people love both of those games, and it's totally understandable that they'd be a lot of people's favorites, but to unequivocally say that either of those games are "the best" in their respective series is just poppycock.

It's nice to hear that Eiji Aonuma, current overseer of the Legend of Zelda series, seems to agree with me. According to a recent interview (translated from Japanese to Spanish to English, so take it with a grain of salt), Aonuma feels that "If you play Ocarina of Time nowadays, you notice that it’s not that good. Sometimes it doesn’t move as fast as it should, graphics aren’t as beautiful as they should be; there are some confusing parts… Any present Zelda is technically superior."

Hear hear, Aonumu-san. Personally, I feel that every 3D Zelda since OoT has been a big improvement over the series' original outing into the third dimension. I still prefer Zelda in 2D, but if I have to play a "newer" one, I'd rather it be Majora's Mask, Wind Waker, or Twilight Princess.

For more on Aonuma's take on Zelda past and present, and the rumors of an OoT remake, hit the link below.

[via Gonintendo]

Yes, I said dance, because the game is about dancing, acting, love, and piloting transforming steam-powered psychic robots. For Chrissakes, your squad is called the New York Combat Revue!

Anyway, NIS America sent us a load of screenshots for Sakura Wars: So Long, My Love. Being the resident fanboy, it was my duty to make you look at them. So look at them.

The screens mostly show off the ARMS (for "Active Real-time Machine System") battle mechanics, and display how amazingly moderately the graphics have held up in the five-odd years since the original release. As you can see the bar below represents the character's action points. Action point costs can depend on the team's battle stance. Offensive stances make it cheaper to charge super moves but more expensive to defend, and so on.

So far the only interface being shown is from the PS2 release, so we don't know yet what's going to be changed for the Wii version. I'm pretty sure that both versions will still have that picture of a girl bifurcating a robot with a sword while riding a horse. Sold.

Oh, and the official site has been updated with more character profiles, screens and wallpaper. They've also provided a nice, detailed explanation of the game's LIPS ("Live & Interactive Picture System") dialog mechanics.

Check the gallery for hot picture action, and get under the cut to watch the game's intro.

One of the best Super Nintendo games ever, Super Mario Kart, will be hitting the Virtual Console this Monday. The classic racing game will cost you 800 Wii points.

Later this holiday season, we can expect a couple of more classics to hit the Virtual Console store. First up will be Pilotwings for the SNES and towards the end of the year, Super Smash Bros 64 will also finally be available.

So yeah, good games! Not to say that everything as of late has been crap, but it's annoying that Nintendo takes their sweet time to release the games people are dying for. Anyone excited for any of these upcoming re-releases?

Well, are you? We want you to take a picture of yourself in front of whatever Naruto product you own. Whether it be clothing, DVDs, videogames -- even taking a picture of yourself in front of a computer screen with something from Naruto on it is fine. Whatever picture you take, it must have something Naruto related in the image and there has to be some kind of sign or image that says Destructoid.com. No photo editing is allowed unless you want to create an animated gif.

You have until Sunday, November 22 11:59PM CST to submit your photo in the comments below. Contest is open to US residents only. We'll be picking the six biggest Naruto fans who will each be receiving this prize pack courtesy of Tomy Corporation:

One copy of Naruto Shippuden: Clash of Ninja Revolution 3 (Wii), one limited edition Naruto Shippuden Clash of Ninja Revolution 3 T-shirt, one Naruto Headband and Naruto chopsticks. The grand prize winner will also be scoring himself an exclusive one-of-a-kind framed poster featuring Anbu Kakashi, the final unlockable character in Clash of Ninja Revolution 3 which is out in stores this week for the Wii.

Make sure you use BBCode when submitting your photo ([img]picturename.jpg[/img] and that the image is no wider than 620 pixels. Good luck!

When I first heard that Capcom's next Resident Evil game was going to be a sequel to the Wii-exclusive Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles, I was pretty disappointed. Umbrella Chronicles actually turned out to be great -- much better than I thought it would be -- but still, nothing about the game demanded a sequel. However, that's what we've got, like it or not, so instead of b*tching about what The Darkside Chronicles isn't (namely, a new RE4: Wii Edition-style masterpiece), let's focus on what the game is: an on-rails shooter specifically designed for the home console market.

Will The Darkside Chronicles live up to the expectations of Resident Evil fans? More importantly, does it work to deliver enough punch to satisfy the home console gamer despite the fact that the action is on rails?

Hit the jump to find out.

Black Friday and all its horror will soon be upon us, and the Internet has gotten its talons on GameStop's list of ludicrous offers. The list is absolutely huge, some great bundles such as a PS3 with God of War: Collection and LittleBigPlanet for $299, and tens of dollars to be saved on all sorts of games.

While we're here, how many of you are planning to venture out and brave the crowds of braying imbeciles next week? Is the lure of cheap stuff you've never needed enough to make you part of the dignity-sucking problem, or are you going to be like me and hide under a pile of coats until it all goes away?

While you answer, hit the jump for the list of GameStop chicanery.

I think what most pleases me about the release of the "family friendly" LEGO Rock Band, it's that it opens up the platform to all kinds of pop nonsense we might not have ordinarily seen. By "nonsense," I mean stuff I have been secretly flooding Harmonix with requests for. 

Take Kelly Clarkson for instance -- girl can sing. Next week, "Miss Independent" comes to Rock Band, along with songs from "Sure, I'll put an exclamation point in my name" P!nk and Go-Go's.

Single tracks ($1.99/160 MS Points/200 Wii Points per track)

• Go-Go's "Our Lips Are Sealed" +
• Kelly Clarkson - "Miss Independent" +
• P!nk - "Who Knew" +

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Live Anthology Pack 01 ($9.99/800 MS Points for the pack; $1.99/160 MS Points/200 Wii Points per track)

• "A Think About You (live)" +
• "American Girl (live)" 
• "Even the Losers (live)"
• "Here Comes My Girl (live") +
• "Mary Jane's Last Dance (live)"
• "Refugee (live)" +

_{(The "+" indicates the tracks is available available on both the Rock Band and the LEGO Rock Band music stores)}

Kelly Clarkson plus six live Tom Petty tracks? Time to stock up on MS Points. (Yes, you can make fun of me in the comments.)

Don't worry, Atlus may be known for its propensity for importing Japanese cruelty (alonside Shin Megami Tensei games), but they promise that THIS time, with the February 10 release of Shiren the Wanderer for Wii, you won't be completely broken.

Atlus first official blog post reveals that despite being a self-professed roguelike (the sort of dungeon-crawler game that ganks all your items when you die), Shiren the Wanderer contains a lot goodness that fans of Shin Megami Tensei and more story-driven JRPGs crave.

The game boasts a huge monster list, massive customization system, three playable characters, and a plot spanning a thousand years. But fans of frustration shouldn't worry, for Project Lead Scott Strichard had this to say:

You veteran dungeon divers who prefer that games come just short of leaping out of the TV and stabbing you have gotta be wondering what Shiren has in store for you. Well, you haven’t been forgotten. How does a 1,000 floor dungeon crawl sound? No, that’s not an extra 0. One. Thousand. Floors.

A floor for every year in the story! It must be good!

You wouldn't know it by looking at my credit card bills, but I have never been a member of GameFly. I have, however, racked up a bunch of meager transactions over the years whenever they try to pawn off their excess videogames with crazy sales.

Today is another one of those days where GameFly wants the garbage games out of its sight. Quite a few Xbox 360 and Wii titles were marked down to prices below $10, and hold on a second -- some of them aren't half bad. Heck, some are even good.

A few that caught my eye were Ninja Gaiden II, Mercenaries 2, Pure, and Far Cry 2. All of those are $9.99 shipped. And if drunken hobo fights bring you entertainment -- they're my specialty -- Condemned 2 is worth grabbing at $6.99.

Remember these are pre-played games. With that said, out of the numerous purchases I have made from GameFly, not once have I had any issues crop up. I'd also urge fellow bargain hunters to look at their other wares; you'd be surprised how low these prices tend to be.

Yes, I do realize this post reads like an infomercial. Is my check in the mail, guys?

Look, when I think of Monster Hunter, the last thing I think about is the high school education system. Apparently I must be in the minority, as Capcom seems to think that Monster Hunter and education go hand in hand, which is why, in a move to preview Monster Hunter Tri for the Wii, they transformed a local club into a high school biology lab. Weird.

Considering Japan actually has classes on Monster Hunter, this isn't so surprising. So in between an actual lecture from Producer Ryozo Tsujimoto, tasty snakes and odd drinks, we had a chance to play the English language version of Monster Hunter Tri. Sure, it wasn't exactly like doing homework, but it was an educational experience. There's some very cool things Capcom hopes to bring to North American and European players, and it looks like they are going to follow through on them. Especially interesting? How about a successful online infrastructure, that's pretty damn cool. Hit the jump to find out more.

If you're waiting for our Tony Hawk: Ride review, sit tight -- we don't even have the game in our hands yet, despite the fact that it's on store shelves. 

But you know that famous skateboarding bulldog? Well, not only does he have it, but he's mastered it. In this YouTube clip, the dog steps on the skateboarding peripheral and basically rocks it. While I don't have the game, I have played it on more than one occasion, and I must admit that this dog is far better than I am.

Did anyone out there drop the $120 on Tony Hawk: Ride this week? If so, tell us what you think. 

The VGAs may be looked at with cynicism and contempt by a great many among the gamer community, but there's no denying that it's about as mainstream an award show as we're going to get. With that in mind, the nominations are in, and we now get to see who's vying for the biggest accolades that Spike TV has to offer.

Game of the Year is between Assassin's Creed 2, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Left 4 Dead 2 and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. Best PS3 game is between inFAMOUS, Killzone 2, Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time and Uncharted 2. Best Xbox 360 game nominees are Arkham Asylum, Halo 3: ODST, Forza Motorsport 3 and Left 4 Dead 2. For the Wii we have New Super Mario Bros. Wii, MadWorld, Punch-Out! and Wii Sports Resort. The PC contenders are Dragon Age: Origins, Left 4 Dead 2, Plants vs. Zombies and The Sims 3.

It's interesting to note that the 360 nominees include multiplatform games, one of which (Arkham) was better on the PS3. 2009 really was the killer year for PS3 exclusives.

On a personal note, I'm asking everyone to vote for Demon's Souls as RPG of the year. The very fact it's a nominee is amazing, but it would be incredible to see the game win. It truly, truly deserves it, even though I know in my hear that Borderlands or Dragon Age will probably beat it.

Anyway, go check out the nominations, vote, and let us know who you're rooting for.

Apparently EA Sports Active is so important that it deserves its own store. Throughout the run-up to Christmas, Electronic Arts will be operating two stores in San Fransisco and Boston, and EA Sports Active is the only game they will sell. Not that EA's desperate to sell it or anything.

The stores will only be open until December 14, so you best hurry if you want to visit one of the stupidest shops in America. Bring the kids, bring the folks, it'll be the experience of a lifetime! Seriously though ... is this really a thing that needed to happen?

If I was a game I wouldn’t dream of debuting on the same morning two mass marketed follow-ups to unique and successful IPs did. But I’m pretty sure if I was game, I wouldn’t have huge muscles. Or a brain. And I would be much less smudge resistant. So, I probably wouldn’t know any better than to launch alongside Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed 2 and Valve’s Left 4 Dead 2 like Tony Hawk: RIDE did yesterday morning.

And if you didn’t know RIDE launched, now you do. (The trailer above trailer should help).

I was totally unaware of RIDE’s launch until this afternoon after spotting #tonyhawktuesday on Twitter. In addition to revealing a game, though, I’m pretty sure the discussion through the hash tag has helped find a way to end world hunger among other problems. Go Tony Hawk Tuesday!

New Super Mario Brothers Wii has been out for, oh, about 48 hours, but the Wii homebrew scene is already on the case: GBAtemp user Tanks has recreated Level 1-1 from the original Super Mario Bros using a NSMB level editor called Reggie!, developed by a user named Treeki.

I don't know much about homebrewing or modding, but I do know something cute and nostalgic when I see it. Level 1-1 is kind of played out by now—if a level editor exists for any game, it is a divine rule of the universe that Level 1-1 must be recreated—but it's an impressive, and rather hasty, effort nonetheless. The framerate is totally buggered (probably because it's running in a Wii emulator), but I'm not one to judge.

Like I said, this isn't really my area of expertise, but if you're interested in Reggie!, you can check out more details and screenshots here. So far, it features sprite, object, and block editing with more coming soon. I have to wonder if that includes Super Guide functionality, although I doubt it.

If, like me, you take a more hands-off approach to gaming and prefer watching videos and reading text, Nick's got you covered: you can check out his review and his Super Guide demonstration.

[Via GoNintendo]

Another week, another batch of downloadable games on the little console that could (and did, and continues to do).

If you jump onto the Wii Shop Channel, you'll see the usual addition of Virtual Console and WiiWare games, but the big news is that demos are coming to WiiWare. Of course, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 owners have been playing demos for years now, but who's counting? If you are, make a note that there are currently five WiiWare demos available for your perusal: Bit.Trip.Beat by Aksys Games; Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life is a Darklord  by Square Enix; World of Goo by 2D BOY; NyxQuest: Kindred Spirits by Over the Top; and Nintendo's Pokémon Rumble. You'll notice that at least three of the five available games are really good.

In any case, if you happen to find yourself really digging on Pokémon Rumble, multiplayer action-RPG-lite, the full game is also available for 1,500 Wii bucks.

It's too bad that most people are going to be distracted by the ability to play three of the best games on WiiWare for free this week, because Nintendo also released Factor 5's Indiana Jones' Greatest Adventures (SNES) for 800 Spacedollars. Hearkening back from a time when licensed games didn't insult my intelligence, Indy's Greatest Adventure isn't bad at all, and a lot better than The Last Crusade game for the Genesis that I had when I was a kid. Street Fighter II':Champion Edition, a Turbogafx-16 port of the seminal fighter, is also available for 700 Wii coins, but that game sucks.

Last but not least, DSiWare for this week consists of a new Art Style game, and two games that I've never heard of. Art Style: DIGIDRIVE (500 points) is a puzzle game about traffic management is complemented by Skyworks' Arcade Bowling and Teyon's Robot Rescue, both of which will set you back 200 clams. Robot Rescue actually sounds kind of fun; you can read what it's like for yourself after the jump, where I've posted descriptions of all of Nintendo's digital offerings this week.

There's finally a Darth Vader Wii Sensor Bar holder. Finally. And it's Vader himself doing the holding work. Like, when I woke up this morning, I had no idea that the day would end with such a feeling of finality. Completeness.  I feel whole and at peace knowing that this product will soon be available in stores. I now have clarity. Will the world be alright? I nod slowly as if to confirm, smugly.

A bust of Vader, frozen in time, holds your Wii Sensor bar horizontally. Like a Light Saber. They went there. Power A wants $39.99 for this fully licensed Wii Sensor...statue...thing. It's resin, and "sculpture-quality." Take that as you'd like.

This product, the one that you need, the one that made my life make sense, will be hitting retailers like Amazon.com and Toys 'r' Us soon.

Maybe you're like me and spent your weekend fighting against illness, unable to brave the cold world to pick up a copy of New Super Mario Bros. Wii. Or maybe you're just not yet convinced after our stellar review of the title. 

Either way, here's the first ten minutes, which will probably not push you away if you were on the fence and may only serve to motivate you to grab a copy. The game is great fun and I'm really enjoying my run through it thus far. Of course, it's hard to go wrong with a 2D Mario title.

Lots of you have already grabbed the game, but what about the rest of you? Does the new propeller hat compel you as it has me?

I don't generally like wartime FPSes. In fact, I'd say that the "normal guy with guns shooting other normal guys with guns" genre is my least favorite in all of videogame-dom, starting with GoldenEye on up. I understand their appeal, but on the whole, games like this lack the many things I love in a videogame (character graphic design, creative power-ups, boss fights, item-based puzzle solving, obstacle course-style level design, surrealism, comedy, horror, etc.) and in their place are the trappings of "mainstream" entertainment that I turn to videogames to avoid (Hollywood action movie logic, explosions for the sake of explosions, attempts to turn real-life tragedies into entertainment, reliance on team-based competitiveness, etc.).

So if I'm such a non-fan of the series, why am I the one to review Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Reflex? Well, because this version of the game was made specifically for people like me -- people who aren't already fans of this subset of the FPS genre. If you are a fan of the Call of Duty games, then you bought Modern Warfare on one of the HD consoles two years ago, and are likely knee-deep in Modern Warfare 2 as we speak. No, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Reflex isn't for preexisting Call of Duty fans; it's for fans-to-be (at least, from Activision's perspective).

Hit the jump to see if the game succeeded in making a Call of Duty-loving man out of me.

While the "Super Guide" -- which you can now see for yourself in the recently released New Super Mario Bros. Wii -- is something many of us will never encounter accidentally, it's going to be helpful for a lot of people. You know what crowd I'm referring to; don't make me name names.

Matching prior sentiment about Super Mario Galaxy 2 being suitable for experienced gamers, as well as the more casual types, Shigeru Miyamoto wants to reassure us that the impending challenge is, well, challenging.

Speaking to Official Nintendo Magazine, he says "it's going to be a really challenging game." Does that mean we'll possibly see more of Nintendo's "Super Guide"? According to Miyamoto, he "just cannot tell" at this point in time.

"In general, wherever and whenever appropriate, I think we will want to incorporate that kind of thing, but I cannot commit to anything specific right now."

It seems like a considerable amount of thought has gone into creating the help system, so I'd be willing to wager we'll see more of it to come. Maybe not in Super Mario Galaxy 2, but elsewhere, certainly.

In case you own The Beatles: Rock Band and for some reason don't know what Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band sounds like, Harmonix, MTV Games, and Apple Corp. would like to remind you.

That's what this little trailer is for, as the remaining tracks from the historic album will be available for Xbox 360 and Wii tomorrow, for 1080 MS Points, or 160 MS Points/200 Wii Points per song. PlayStation 3 owners can grab the tracks when PlayStation Network updates on Thursday, for $13.49, or $1.99 per song. 

The music sounds the way I remember it, and it looks pretty, too. Seems like a no-brainer purchase for fans of The Beatles and Rock Band, I'd say. 

Capcom's Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles hits shelves tomorrow, and while Jonathan Holmes will have our full review later in the week, I wanted to give you a quick glimpse of what you'll encounter in the first ten minutes. 

Being the follow-up to the on-rails shooter Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles, players should know what to expect in terms of gameplay, as it doesn't seem like too much has changed. Of course, The Darkside Chronicles features 20 or so new missions, exploring events of the series, including Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil: Code Veronica.

This first mission, as seen above, has has Leon Kennedy on his first mission with Jack Krauser ("Operation Javier"), as they investigate a small South American village. A few bio-organic weapons and zombies later... well, I don't want to spoil to much for you. 

You can also see that the game looks great on the Wii, particularly the lighting in the "Operation Javier" mission. You can also see that I'm not the best shot; maybe I should have chosen the game's "Easy" mode which provides some auto-target assistance. But what fun is that, really?

Flip on your Wii (ha!), head on over to the Wii Shop Channel, and under WiiWare, search "demo." What you'll see is five shiny new demos from the lovely folks at Nintendo. Their goal is to give gamers a taste of the games they're hoping to sell you this holiday season, like demos were a new concept or something.

Download demos of any or all of the following for ZERO Wii points:

• BIT.TRIP.BEAT
• Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a Darklord
• NyxQuest: Kindred Spirits
• World of Goo
• Pokemon Rumble (full version also available this week)
  

Don't get me wrong, Nintendo. These demos are greatly appreciated. But welcome to four years ago! And instead of having to search for them, you should have a demos section where these things are easily accessible. Way to keep up with the Jonses!

So, I took a five-hour bus ride to New York City yesterday to do some video coverage of the New Super Mario Bros. Wii launch event at the Nintendo World Store. It was supposed to be a four-hour bus ride, but somehow the good people of Fung Wah busing found a way to max out on the time. Have you ever ridden the Fung Wah before? It's cheap as hell, but on a good day, your ride will smell like old cabbages and lonely people. On a bad day, it smells like that, plus cat poop.

Long story short, I had a great time at the event, despite feeling totally exhausted before, during, and after I got there. I planned on getting all the footage edited today, but what do you know, it's all been erased.

Hit the jump for my best recollection of the highs and lows of the event, plus a rumor so awesome that I'm going to do everything that I can to force it into the realm of truth.

The Tampa Bay Rays may have missed out on the playoffs this year, but the team’s third baseman, Evan Longoria (no relation to actress Eva Longoria) may be cashing in on his two very good years in the major leagues. A confidential survey asked respondents to choose between four potential Xbox 360 covers for 2K Sports’ Major League Baseball 2K10, and each version of the box art features Longoria.

A survey taker broke the survey’s NDA by sending images of it (and the covers themselves) to Kotaku; you can see two of the four options above (hit the gallery below for all of them). Of course, you should take this with a grain of salt -- we haven’t yet heard anything official from 2K Sports regarding this leak. But note that all of the cover artwork sports (*rimshot*) the same golden “1999-2009 Tenth Anniversary” banner that appeared on NBA 2K10 and NHL 2K10.

Longoria earned the 2008 AL Rookie of the Year award after a stellar campaign in which he made the All-Star team, and this year, he repeated as an AL All-Star and even won a Gold Glove. Personally, I’m a fan of the bottom left image (above left) -- Longoria reminds me too much of Ben Affleck in the top two shots, and that’s never a good thing. Which one do you prefer?

[Via Kotaku]

The guys at High Voltage have been a bit silent since E3 and the launch of The Conduit. After announcing The Grinder and Gladiator A.D. I'm sure they're hard at work actually developing those games, but it seems they've got some news coming up.

In all likelihood the announcement will be something for The Grinder, but maybe they're working on some big new game based on a massive franchise. Remember, before High Voltage got all big and famous with their attempts to actually develop good games on the Wii they were best known for their licensed games. It could also be that both of their upcoming games are making their way to other systems. Most likely just release dates and such, though. Don't get too excited.

[Via GoNintendo]

I have never played Phalanx. The SNES/Sharp X68000 computer game was never something I had the pleasure of playing. Beyond the fact that it's a space shooter I know absolutely nothing about it. Normally in this situation (it happens) I do some research on Wikipedia or another 100 percent reliable internet source and then come out talking like I knew it all along. However, I'm not going to ruin the greatest mystery in gaming just so I can impress you.

See that image up there? That is the actual box art for Phalanx. As a child at Toys R' Us I'd stand in the gaming aisle (or the cards in plastic pockets that you had to take up to the counter to get your games aisle) and stare at this box art and wonder WTF was going on here. Was it a brilliant marketing ploy? Was the game actually about a man with a banjo? Why did this box art exist? I never found out the answer, and I never want to for I fear the answer will be far too dissapointing. So I will never play the game.

Nor, getting to the point of the post, will I play the new WiiWare version of it. The company that created the Sharp X68000 version of the game, ZOOM Inc., are bringing that version to WiiWare in Japan for 500 points. No set release date yet. It will feature a few extra changes to the game design, but will indeed be a remake, not a reboot. Hopefully, this never makes it to the U.S. so I won't be tempted to ruin what will no doubt eventually become the ninth wonder of the world.

2D shmups are back with a vengeance these days, while 3D shmup releases are at an all time low. For my money, the last truly great game in the genre was Panzer Dragoon Orta on the original Xbox. That's only if you don't count Sin and Punishment, which technically came out almost ten years ago, but wasn't available in the US until recently, thanks to the virtual console's allowance for a low-risk, cost effective means of game distribution.

Now S&P has a sequel, and from what I've played of it at E3, I have no doubt that it will be awesome. Don't believe me? Well, luckily for you, some upstanding citizen of the internet has uploaded a full run-through of the game on Youtube. You may not be prepared to watch every bit of it, as the totally run-time is almost four hours long. Oh, and I guess you could call watching the entire game played from beginning to end a spoiler, so if you're trying to stay pure before the S&P 2's release in the states next year, you may want to steer clear (at least, of the later levels).

Really though, with a game this fast paced and mind-numbingly destructive, there's not much of a chance that you'll even remember these videos in a few months from now. There's too many set-pieces, boss fights, and generalized insanity here for anyone to keep track of, let alone store in one's mind. Shooting saber-tooth tigers in the face, fist-fighting shirtless dudes Street Fighter style, tearing up giant chickens, and bathing in molten lava are just the start of it.

Hit the jump to see for yourself.

Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles is almost out and despite all the media Capcom has been releasing over the weeks, there's still some surprises to be had. Remember in Resident Evil 2 how you could play through the entire game as a giant piece of walking tofu? Well, it's back in Darkside Chronicles, but the roles are reversed. This time, you'll be shooting at tofu instead of playing as one. You can check it out in the video above.

Capcom also sent over some new screens of the alt costumes Claire, Leon and the other characters in The Darkside Chronicles can wear. Check out the alt costumes video after the break. 

Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles will be out next Tuesday for the Wii. 

No doubt about it -- a lot of Hero games came out this year. The list, in full: Guitar Hero: Metallica; Guitar Hero 5; Band Hero; DJ Hero; Band Hero for the Nintendo DS; Guitar Hero: Modern Hits for the DS; and this December (officially) Guitar Hero: Van Halen. Wow. 

Well, according to Guitar Hero brand CEO Dan Rosensweig (via Joystiq), there are already new Guitar Hero and Band Hero games in the works.... you'll just bee seeing fewer of them next year. DJ Hero, won't be left out in the cold -- there's "more" on the way, if that's your thing, too. 

Recently, I've heard weak (and totally obvious) rumors of Guitar Hero 6 already well underway, which Rosensweig has basically confirmed. This shouldn't come as a surprise. Despite declining sales of music games, I don't expect them to fall off the map any time soon, especially when it comes to the Hero titles, which Activision will support until the end of time. 

But even more interesting, a tipster recently dropped hints of something called Guitar Hero: VIP Pass (or "Backstage" pass) in development by the recently acquired 7 Studios (the former developer of Scratch: The Ultimate DJ). But it won't be a game at all, if the source is accurate -- the details were vague, but it sounds like a Halo: Waypoint-like service for Band Hero and Guitar Hero. 

Personally, I'm getting used to the influx of Hero games, particularly now that Neversoft seems to have found its footing and have made some strides towards a really solid full-band package. Just please, no more of my rock idols singing pop-punk songs, okay?

The final day of our A Boy & His Blob contest is upon us! Our winners so far are MoX, Tragy and Justice! I need shipping addresses for you all, so please use Destructoid's brand new frontpage PM system to send me your details. Hit the "Inbox" button at the top of the page.

We have one last copy of A Boy & His Blob, plus a sexy art book, to give away. Yesterday we wanted 1,500 copies in exchange for the prize. I think you know what we want this time. That's right, the one who gets the 3,000th comment will win! Wait, what? Shouldn't it be 2,000? Yes, yes, it should ... BUT IT'S NOT! Epic comment thread GET!

Remember, These games will be PAL version. Yes, while most of our contests unfortunately exclude Europeans, this contest will be shipping prizes from the UK! European readers finally get some payback! If you're in the US, you can still enter, but be warned that the game won't work on an NTSC Wii. Enter at your own risk.

You can comment as many times as you like, so feel free to increase your chances!

The first person to get to post 3,000 (who has not yet won) wins! Good luck!

When Resident Evil 5 was announced for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC, everyone asked -- how about a Wii version? At the time, it didn't seem likely. In fact, the words "not possible" were thrown around. One of the game's producers, Masachika Kawata, even joked that the Wii couldn't handle the title screen. Well, now it sounds like they're eating some crow. 

In a recent online Q&A with Capcom's product manager Matt Dahlgren, it was revealed that the Japanese producers of Resident Evil 5 were pretty impressed with Cavia's visual work with the Wii-exclusive Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles. So much, in fact, that they think it could be possible to bring Resident Evil 5 to the Wii.

"Whether it's going to come, I don't know the answer to that question," Dahlgren said, in order to avoid confusion that he was confirming anything. "But, it has been said that now at least it is possible."

There was little doubt that, in some form, the game could have been ported to the Wii. Even Capcom's Jun Takeuchi admitted as much, but suggested it wasn't likely because of technical limitations. 

"Honestly speaking," he said, "we're kind of pushing the 360 and the PS3 to their limits right now, so it would probably be pretty difficult to create a Wii version of Resident Evil 5."

Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop says "hi." Anything's possible.

[Capcom Blog via Nintendo D-Pad]

If you thought that The Beatles: Rock Band downloadable content that was announced earlier today was the only time I'd be writing about Rock Band DLC today, you're wrong. Thank god, because seriously, I could write about this stuff all day. 

I joke, of course, because how many ways can you possibly say "These songs are coming to Rock Band next week?" Not many, but I've been doing it for like two years or something. So here's what I'll say about next week's DLC -- I kind of had a crush on Susanna Hoffs from The Bangles when I was a kid. I mean, she's totally awesome, right? Even with the big hair in the 80s, totally awesome. 

The Bangles - "Walk Like an Egyptian"+ ($1.99/160 MS Points/200 Wii Points)

AFI Pack 01 ($8.49/680 MS Points for the pack, $1.99/160 MS Points/200 Wii Points per track)
"Beautiful Thieves"
"End Transmission"
"Love Like Winter"
"Medicate"
"The Leaving Song Pt. II"

_{+ Indicates the song will be playable/downloadable in LEGO Rock Band.}

Fact: I have never had a crush on Davey Havok from AFI.

[Update: Here's another one for next week for the Xbox 360. Them Crooked Vultures -- a "supergroup" consisting of Davel Grohl, Josh Homme, and John Paul Jones -- will debut its song "New Fang" in Rock Band next week. It'll cost you 160 MS Points. 

The track is off their upcoming self-titled album, which is streaming live on the band's Web site, and basically rocks out a lot.

Wii owners get the song on November 24 (200 Wii Points), PS3 on December 3 ($1.99).] 

Next week, the second full album by The Beatles will be available for download for The Beatles: Rock Band, Harmonix/MTV Games/Apple Corp. announced today. 

The Beatles' 1967 record, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band will be available for download on November 17 (for Wii and Xbox 360; it hits PlayStation Network on November 19). The album will cost $13.49 (1080 MS Points), or $1.99 (160 MS Points/200 Wii Points).

Along with the tracks already on The Beatles: Rock Band disc (the album's title track, "With A Little Help From My Friends," "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds," "Getting Better," and "Good Morning Good Morning"), the following tracks will complete the record:

“Fixing A Hole,” “She’s Leaving Home,” “Being For The Benefit of Mr. Kite!,” “Within You Without You,” “When I’m Sixty-Four,” “Lovely Rita,” “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)” and “A Day In The Life.”

It was also reiterated that Rubber Soul, the last of the announced DLC for The Beatles: Rock Band, will be released in December. Whether we'll see more is probably largely based on the success of what's already been  released.

The first bit of DLC for the title -- the single track, "All You Need Is Love" -- was downloaded more than 100,000 times from the Xbox LIVE Marketplace. Not a bad indicator that more DLC isn't entirely out of the question. What would you like to see next?  

Konami has finally put a firm date on Silent Hill: Shattered Memories for the Wii -- December 8. How appropriate, considering the game's icy setting. 

If your arms tire out easily, but you still wanted to get your Silent Hill on, you'll have to wait a bit longer. The game is also slated to hit PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable, but those versions won't see release until sometime later. Yes, that's all of the info we have. Konami actually said they will be "following shortly." One week? A month? A year? The term "shortly" is relative. 

While you wait, you can hit the jump to check out character bios for the collection of malcontent weirdos that will appear Shattered Memories, straight from Konami.

Whether you like it or not, the push towards a mostly-digital game industry is ahead of us. It may not be next year, it may not be in the next five years... but it's coming. 

Brick and mortar retailers like GameStop have known this for years, and have been planning accordingly. The latest move, according to GameStop COO Paul Raines, is to let customers purchase downloadable content right in the store.

When they get home and turn on their console (or PC), that content will be waiting for them. While the logistics of this remain unclear, this would mean a few things -- GameStop clerks could upsell you on downloadable content as you buy the game, and you could use your trade-in credit directly towards that same content. You'd just never be able to sell it back. Or return it. 

"We believe we can convert a significant portion of our in-store traffic to digital for publishers," Raines said. 

Interesting concept, this leaving the house to buy downloadable content. I'll have to think this over. I have a little time -- the program is said to begin testing in early 2010.

For completionists, collecting all of the Gold Coins in New Super Mario Bros. Wii (there are three in each world) won't simply be a matter of saying "I did it." 

The coins act as currency, which players can spend on unlocking "Hint Movies" in Princess Peach's castle in World 1. These "Hint Movies" are playthrough videos of Nintendo's top testers showing off in-game secrets (like "Infinite 1UPS") or some sick, nearly inhuman playing.

Above is one example, the same one shown to us by Shigeru Miyamoto when he visited New York City a few weeks back. It features three players supporting a lazy Luigi through World 1-3. Watch as Luigi himself does nothing, and the players bounce him off enemies and spit him back and forth from beginning to end. Luigi ends up with four additional extra lives by the levels end, as well as picking up most (if not all) of the game's power-ups and secret coins.

Just... wow.

Capcom knows that standard trailers are so last year. You sit back, some stuff happens on the screen, and then it's over. Maybe you see some gameplay, maybe you don't. Neat. 

So the publisher has teamed with GameTrailers to provide something different for Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles -- an "interactive trailer." What that means, exactly, I don't want to give too much away. But it gets messy, I'll put it that way. Stick around and watch the whole thing, for sure.It lives on GameTrailers, so head on over and check it out. 

The Wii-exclusive Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles lands in stores next Tuesday, November 17. 

_{(Note: There are no plans for an interactive "Hey Ash, Whatcha Playing" as far as I know... but maybe if you ask Anthony and Ash nicely, they can work something out. Okay, probably not.)}

It's day three of the big, fat, wobbly, sexy, delicious, erotic A Boy & His Blob giveaway. Yet another day brings yet another copy of the game, plus a delightful art book, which we shall award to a lucky reader who can prove he's handy with the F5 key.

Tragy took yesterday's prize. I'll be collecting shipping details at the end of the week, so stick around on Friday for that! Once again, the bar's being raised for the third prize. Yesterday you needed 1,000 comments. Now you need 1,500. The poster of the 1,500th comment (who hasn't won yet, of course), will get a copy of A Boy & His Blob, plus an art book.

Remember, These games will be PAL version. Yes, while most of our contests unfortunately exclude Europeans, this contest will be shipping prizes from the UK! European readers finally get some payback! If you're in the US, you can still enter, but be warned that the game won't work on an NTSC Wii. Enter at your own risk.

You can comment as many times as you like, so feel free to increase your chances!

First to 1,500 wins! Good luck!

Good gaming gods, last week's debate was epic, and I do not use that word lightly. I had to go through all 235 comments twice, just to make sure no tallying mistakes were made. The outcome broke almost every debate record imaginable, but despite setting even more records last week, Half-Life was given quite the competition this time.

It started off trailing slightly, then by a lot, then it surged and my eyes widened as it took the lead. Then, M.G.S. refused to be ignored, and temporarily reclaimed the crown. In the final 50 votes, Half-Life fought to the top once again, only to lose it yet again, then juggle the lead back and forth on the very last page. The final few votes were a nail-biting experience like no other debate has ever given me. Here is the breathtaking final result:

• Half-Life series (105 votes) -- Wow!
• Metal Gear Solid series (109 votes) -- WOW! (Winner!)

I want to thank you all by partaking in such an exceptionally intelligent game debate and offering so much insight from all directions. I sure do show appreciation in an odd way though, because I'm rewarding your great work by giving you all yet another unfathomably large game debate to tackle.

Which game do you like the most out of the entire series, and why? What aspects of its game design, gameplay, visual and audio experience made up your mind? Give it some serious thought, share your thought process with all of us, and then get some Zelda friends to join in on the fun. Hit the jump for new bonus questions and next week's debate topic!

[Update: I've included an expansive refresher summary of each game in the series, and also added this to the flash bar up top so that you can check back on the discussion for the next few days! Scroll down to take a nostalgia-filled trip down memory lane, and browse each game's story and main features list, as well as a trailer or gameplay video.]

A final retail copy of New Super Mario Wii arrived today, and as promised, the box is fancy. 

Unlike the normal, boring white boxes that most Wii games come in, New Super Mario Wii will hit shelves in a red box. It's accented by the game's fancy cover art, which while also in red, also features the Wii logo in a foiled silver. I repeat -- totally fancy. 

To give you an idea of how not fancy this could have been, I put the art sleeve into a plain old vanilla Wii box. You can see that after the jump. If they had done that, there's no way it anyone would have bought this thing. Am I right?

Day two of our big A Boy & His Blob competition begins! Yesterday you all contested for a copy of A Boy & His Blob plus a kick-ass art book, with MoX becoming the 500th poster and snagging a prize. I'll be collecting mailing addresses at the end of the week, so stay tuned for that.

Yesterday we gave a prize to the 500th commenter. As promised, we're upping the ante. You managed to clear 500 posts no problem. Now we want 1,000. The winner of the 1,000th post (no double entries, sorry MoX) will walk away with yet another copy of the game and art book.

Remember, These games will be PAL version. Yes, while most of our contests unfortunately exclude Europeans, this contest will be shipping prizes from the UK! European readers finally get some payback! If you're in the US, you can still enter, but be warned that the game won't work on an NTSC Wii. Enter at your own risk.

You can comment as many times as you like, so feel free to increase your chances!

Get posting. First to 1,000 wins!

I can't believe I'm about to write this, but... Majesco has announced that its bringing Pizza Delivery Boy to the Wii.

Apparently part of some secret industry initiative to bring every modern profession to videogames via Nintendo's console, Pizza Delivery Boy puts you in the scooter of... a pizza delivery boy. You'll use the Wii Remote and nunchuck not only to prepare the pizza, but to then deliver it safe and hot to your customers. Or their money back.

Pizza Delivery Boy will let you unlock faster vehicles, go on side missions, and engs age in street racing and cooking competitions. You know, stuff pizza delivery boys do. Set to ship Winter of 2010, Pizza Delivery Boy promises to be the most realistic pizza delivery boy experience on any console. 

Finally, pizza delivery people all over the country can get angry at a videogame like guitarists and drummers have been doing for years. Also, I kind of want pizza now.

Silver-haired king of Electronic Arts, John Riccitiello, has confessed that his company is feeling frustration over the current performance of a "weak" Wii, with Nintendo's smash-hit superconsole not raking in the moolah quite how EA had anticipated.

"To be honest with you, I think the Wii platform has been a little weaker than we had certainly anticipated," Riccitiello tells investors, "and there is no lack of frustration to be doing that at precisely the time where we have the strongest third-party share.

"Frankly, I think they need more beats in the year than they get out of a first-party slate -- to be able to have the Wii software platform perform as well as they would like. We are building the products that I think the most highly rated on the platform and at this point in time, generating the most revenue of any third-party platform."

Wii games constantly pollute our weekly UK Chart posts, with sports and fitness games being the top sellers. Since EA is all about sports and fitness games, it's surprising that EA is feeling this way. Was EA expecting a little too much, or is software really not doing so well on the platform?

With all the hype and controversy about terrorists doing evil terrorists things involving terror, addictive multi-player and shiny graphics -- Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 has showered in a crazy amount of love (and hate) each week leading up to its release.

But, quietly trembling and sobbing, sitting in the darkest corners of the first person shooting genre, you will find Modern Warfare 2's "little brother," Call of Duty Modern Warfare Reflex for Nintendo's casual gaming child, the Wii.

Gone are the next-generation, high definition polished graphics, replaced with loading screens and awkward controllers. To be fair, I've been playing an unhealthy amount of Modern Warfare 2, so having to rewind, and relearn the original MW with the Wiimote proved to be tricky -- which is evident in our Ten Minute Taste.

How does an indie developer grab our attention? Well, throw around the names of games like Flower and Pikmin, of course. Developer Onteca is saying its upcoming WiiWare title, Monsteca Corral, will have the "ambient feel of games such as Flower and Pikmin with the excitement of Wii."

While that stuff doesn't necessarily compute, it's certainly a nice sentiment. Monsteca Corral has players controlling a herd of monsters called the Sdompes, who are too stupid to guide themselves through the migration process. Players will use the Wii remote to guide these cute-but-idiotic monsters through the game's world, known as Monsteca.

Onteca's managing director, Jon Wetherall, calls Monsteca Coral an "action strategy puzzle" game. He says it's a "fun gamers' game," aimed at a younger market. Well, I like fun, and I have the attention span of a seven-year-old. Sign me up. 

Monsteca Corral is set to hit WiiWare next January.

Maybe. Probably not. Okay, not really. [Warning: Contains foul language.]

Dinosaurs.

Last Friday, we passed along information about this week's Rock Band Music Store update, which included The White Stripes, Kasabian, and The Damned. Well, surprise -- there's more. 

Today, three additional tracks appeared on the Rock Band Music Store -- Spongebob Squarepant's "A Day Like This," "Employee of the Month," and "Ridin' The Hook." Also known as "exactly what you've been waiting for since Rock Band was released in November of 2007."

This brings the total number of Spongebob songs in Rock Band up to (I believe) six, whereas the total number of playable Radiohead tracks is... two? And no Frank Zappa, Naked City, or Kelly Clarkson! What the hell, Harmonix?

[via Rock Band Aide]