New Kirby’s Epic Yarn trailer straight from PAX

Here’s some more Kirby’s Epic Yarn because the trailer is funny and the game looks rad.

I feel like I should add more to this post because I typically like to give an opinion but … ah, whatever, here it goes.

My love for videogames is pretty strong. I love ‘em in all varieties, be it some epic adventure, a shmup, a sports games, even dark and grizzly shooters (even if there are too many).

However, I have a huge soft spot for games that remind me of why I got into gaming in the first place. When a title really brings the charm and light-heartedness of some of the NES games I grew up loving, something just clicks with me.

Kirby’s Epic Yarn brings that authentic, true-to-its-roots videogame feel that I remember so fondly, and it does so with a completely innovative new look.

Watch Kirby, get happy

I’m not saying it’s going to be OMG GOTY or anything (but really, who’s to say), but Kirby’s Epic Yarn looks really good. It’s so damn adorable and charming it can make the deepest, darkest goth kid smile rainbows.

Nintendo released a trailer complete with a remix of the classic Kirby song and it’s delightful. It’s in Japanese, but I promise you aren’t missing out on key story elements because it’s goddamn Kirby.

There’s some new gameplay footage in there, too, so give it a watch.

As a side note, I find it a little odd that I’ll be getting two games with the word “epic” in the title, both on the same console and within the span of a few months. That’s really all I have to say on that subject, so yeah.

Kirby’s Epic Yarn comes out October 17, which is sooner than I realized. I guess I better start saving up my pennies.

Other, time to go!

Since I’ve been following it closely, it’s only fitting to remind everyone that Metroid: Other M launches today. Nintendo sent me a surprise yesterday with Other M arriving in my mailbox.

It wasn’t long ago that I reached out to a few publishers in hopes to get review copies for better, earlier coverage. It was mostly a failed attempt and sort of made me realize how miniscule this site is in the grand scheme of things.

Hell, Capcom wanted to know if I get more than 3 million viewers in a month. Bluntly: no.

Whether or not I’ll continue to get early copies, even if only by a day, certainly isn’t up to me. I’ll give Nintendo major props though, and I don’t mean for sending Other M to me. Before ever having a chance to be on a press list, I had to agree to give honest views and opinions, and that receiving a copy of a game wouldn’t sway my integrity.

Naturally it wouldn’t, but it’s refreshing to see a devotion to honesty.

So yeah, much to my delight Other M arrived at my doorstep yesterday. I’ve been anxious to see how it turned out and that day has finally come.

I sank around four hours into it yesterday, and naturally I’ve generated some opinions but I’ll save the final verdict for a review.

As a quick teaser: I’m having a lot of fun, but it’s not topping Super Metroid – not that many people expected it to.

Other M has its fair share of both Metroidy and non-Metroidy moments, but so far it’s been a damn good game regardless.

And Yet It Moves launches, gets fancy trailer

While I’m one of only a few who take notice of some quality WiiWare releases, it’s been pretty rough in recent months. There hasn’t been much of anything lately, and making matters worse is Nintendo’s decision to damn near kill off Virtual Console support.

Finally something noteworthy released, however.

And Yet It Moves is a WiiWare game I’ve had my eye on for a while and it launched yesterday. It looks like a puzzle-platformer (there’s a lot of those these days) with an interesting aesthetic centered around paper-like environments.

While the slick trailer focuses on tilt controls, the game actually makes use of four different control schemes including the classic controller.

I’ll be scoping out opinions to see what folks are saying about it.

As a side note, there actually was a Virtual Console release this week. It’s another Sunsoft title, this time an old NES game called Ufouria: The Saga. It never made it to the US, so it should be interesting pick up.

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Nintendo debuts live-action Metroid: Other M commercial

Metroid: Other M commercials have finally hit Japan, Europe and North America. Europe got hosed in the process with an ad that feels like something Nintendo would’ve made three years ago. The Japanese ones are nice. One focuses on story, the other on gameplay (complete with awesome classic Metroid references).

It looks like Nintendo spent most of its marketing budget on North America with a really slick live action commercial. Not surprisingly, it starts out focusing on story before getting into the gameplay.

It reimagines scenes from the original Metroid trilogy beautifully – I geeked out pretty hard when the scene shifts to Samus interacting with the baby Metroid on SR388 (Metroid II).

Rather than give you a play-by-play, I’ll kindly suggest you go watch the damn commercial for yourself.

Learn your Metroid in seven minutes

Update: Folks at Nintendo sent me a link to download the video, so I tossed it up on YouTube and replaced the first one I had up.

Recently there was some off-screen footage of Metroid: Other M that had Samus narrating her way through Metroid, Metroid II, Super Metroid and on into Other M. I found it to be a pretty interesting way to catch up with the series if you’ve been slacking, but the quality of the footage is rather lacking.

Nintendo decided to finally do something with the American Other M site by posting a high quality version of the clip on their site (apparently it’s on the Nintendo Channel, too, hence the YouTube video up top).

For the best quality head to the official Metroid site, skip the first movie it tries to make you watch and click the movie icon on the bottom right of the screen. From there, watch the “Metroid and Me” video.

There are some overly dramatic pauses here and there and it ends with a cheesy line of dialogue, but I’m sticking with my guns: Samus is actually voiced reasonably well.

If you’re looking forward to Other M and want to catch up on the series without digging through lengthy Wiki articles, I highly recommend watching the video. I really hope Nintendo slaps this on the disc and puts it under a movie gallery tab – it’s cool traveling through the series in one short burst.

Epic Mickey opening cinematic unveiled at Gamescom

Gamescom is about to kick off and like any good gaming event, all the trailers come out before the show actually starts. Took a look at this Disney Epic Mickey opening cinematic; it’s nice.

I’ve been looking forward to Epic Mickey since the first batch of artwork came up. Sure, the art turned out a little darker than the actual game, but it looks like a top notch product and one of the very few legitimate third party efforts on Wii.

It’s being positioned as a key title for Wii this holiday so I wouldn’t be surprised to see Nintendo lending a helping hand to Disney and Junction Point to ensure Epic Mickey is a success.

The opening cinematic is a fun watch though I wish I would’ve saved viewing it until I actually own the game. Welcome to the Internet age, I suppose.

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Other M Iwata Asks fully translated

The Metroid: Other M Iwata Asks has finally been translated. There are four pages loaded with text so grab a snack before you sit down and enjoy.

Iwata sits down with D-Rockets’ Ryuzi Kitaura, Nintendo’s Yoshio Sakamoto and Tecmo’s Yosuke Hayashi for an interesting discussion on the development of Other M.

It’s mostly a bunch of stuff we’ve heard before, but I always enjoy reading these Iwata Asks and getting some insight on the development of Nintendo games.

Plus, it also means Other M is right around the corner. Maybe you should go about launching that advertising campaign we’ve been hearing about, Nintendo.

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More footage of Other M

More solid Metroid: Other M footage has emerged. There’s more than four minutes of footage here, and I’m starting to wonder when I should stop looking. Friendly tip, skip the first minute — there’s no sound and it’s old footage.

The lovely Internet gives us access to just about as much media as we care to take in. That’s mostly a good thing, but a little moderation helps in saving some surprises for when you actually play the damn game.

I watched this all the way through though. I’m weak.

I dig the environments. There are a couple typical video game environments like the icy area, but there’s the lush, vividly colored alien environments Metroid is known for, too. The terrain looks diverse, which relieves one of my earliest worries.

The demo reel shows off a few sections with closed off doors; presumably doors that open once Samus kills off any Space Pirates in the area. Hopefully there aren’t too many sections like this, though to be fair, even 2D Metroid has had similar scenarios.

Can’t. Wait.

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See Samus Wave in new Other M clip

Japan got a new Metroid: Other M story trailer. However, the clip is more than just story as Nintendo tossed in a hefty amount of new gameplay clips.

We’re given a first glimpse at the Wave Beam in action and we get to see Samus use the Shinespark. Fun fact: at the two-minute mark it looks like Samus is blasting with an Ice and Wave Beam combo; check out the icy aftermath.

Judging from the clip, it looks like the little band of heroes Samus is running with slowly start to die off. Considering Adam Malkovich is dead in Metroid Fusion, one could assume he’ll meet an untimely fate in Other M which falls directly between Super Metroid and Fusion.

Having heard the differences between the two, I’m actually siding with the English dub. I know some will disagree, but the Japanese acting sounds a little cliché anime to me.

Among the criticisms Other M is getting (many of which are shallow), one concern I never (aside from frequent visitor Mike K.) see mentioned is the map. Rather than have a typical side view of the map, the world is laid out from a top-down perspective.

Hopefully this doesn’t suggest the maze-like structure of Metroid games will be absent.

Other M launches at just about a month from now, but I’m talking with Nintendo about getting a review copy of the game a little early. I’m anxious to see how it stacks up amongst its peers, and if it’ll satisfy my Metroid lovin’ needs.

Oh, and read this Other M interview that popped up as a I writing this.