Well sure, the baddies from Red Steel 2's "Enemies" trailer aren't quite dancing, per se, but there is quite a bit of fancy footwork going on -- not to mention tons of other stuff getting cut, as you might imagine. From the adorably named "Katakara" to the not so subtly named "Ninja," it seems that Red Steel 2 is full of flamboyantly exaggerated personalities, all of which are ready to put a sword or bullet through you at a moment's notice. Oh, and if you were wondering how your foes will stop your combination of bullets and sword charging full speed at them, you'll want to pay extra close attention at the end there (spoilers: they handle it like jedi).

Ahhh, grammar school -- there was nothing quite like trying to hide that GBA under the desk in fear of Mrs. Rosencrantz confiscating our portal into Pokémon Fire Red. Back then, handheld games were little more than an obvious distraction in the eyes of our ruler-equipped teachers, but Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto plans on changing all of that. Speaking with the Associated Press in an interview recently, the legendary game developer explained his latest devotion: bringing the Nintendo DS and Wii into schools. He said that the DS would be making its way into "junior high and elementary schools in Japan starting in the new school year" (beginning this April).

Miyamoto didn't get too specific on how his company's consoles would help Japanese students with their education, only detailing it as part of Nintendo's initiative to expand the audience for gaming consoles. We have to imagine that the kids won't be using them to decide whether or not Resident Evil 4 on Wii is the best version (besides, we all already know that it is). Thankfully for our unborn children, Miyamoto didn't mention any amorphous plans to bring gaming consoles into North American schools just yet. Presumably they'll have to play it fast and loose like we did -- keeps 'em sharp!

On the same conference call earlier this week in which it talked about its new rewards program, GameStop Executive VP of Merchandising, Tony Bartel, said that stores currently experiencing Wii and PlayStation 3 shortages probably won't find relief very soon. While the retailer is always bugging Sony and Nintendo for more units, Bartel said that GameStop "could sell a lot more hardware than what we have on both the PS3 and Wii platform," and that situation probably won't change until early summer of this year.

He did say that the Wii is due for a re-supply first, but he believes that both Nintendo and Sony are "still scrambling to catch up from the surge" of the last holiday season. But a shortage like this isn't unprecedented -- as we get closer to summer, we'll probably see new inventory appearing on shelves, ready to go home to a caring gamer.

The thing about Wii MotionPlus is that there haven't been a whole lot of games supporting it. Outside of last summer's Wii Sports Resort (and upcoming Red Steel 2 and Flingsmash) there's really only some sports games utilizing the tech. According to a recent interview with Reggie over at MTV Multiplayer, it's because Nintendo isn't really pushing for any kind of control scheme from third parties.

"What's unique with Nintendo is we don't force our developers to stick to a particular type of control scheme, and you've seen that -- everything from the new Metroid title to be single remote driven to FlingSmash utilizing the Wii MotionPlus," he said. "So it's all about what's right for the game." While we're inclined to agree with the latter part, we still wonder why nothing is using MotionPlus -- especially since it's something that greatly improves the core functionality of the Wiimote. And considering almost everyone has MotionPlus by now (or soon will, if they're Walmart shoppers looking for a great bundle), why not develop with MotionPlus in mind?

As for more MotionPlus games from Nintendo, Reggie teases "more titles that are coming" and that it "continues to be a core part of what we do." So, the take away is this: even though Nintendo just released a new piece of hardware, it's not too worried about supporting it with content -- kinda like every other peripheral the company has ever released. Yeah, we're talking about you, Wii Speak!

Continued →

The Official Nintendo Magazine UK is hanging out at tonight's BAFTA Video Game awards, and has punched into its Twitter account that not only did it get to talk to one Shigeru Miyamoto, but that he's confirmed Pikmin 3 is in development and "well under way." Over a year ago, the game was rumored to be released a week-and-a-half from now, but we'll presume it's not quite that far along in development.

Still, good to hear that the game is still going on, considering that we've only seen the barest sprouts of information about it so far. Maybe Miyamoto should give his team a 30-day time limit within which to finish the game, and see how they feel about that.

All right, we didn't think there would be anything that could distract us from the release of Castlevania: Rondo of Blood -- but here we are, on the day of its European release, with pretty much all our focus elsewhere. And no, the object of our gaze isn't Muscle March, as amusing as that is.

It's ... Flashlight for DSiWare. It's ... a flashlight. You pay 200 DSi Points for something that displays a solid color on your screens. We kind of knew it would arrive someday, since there are a million of these on the iPhone, but still. A flashlight.

• Castlevania: Rondo of Blood (Turbografx CD-ROM, 1 player, 900 Wii Points)
• Milon's Secret Castle (NES, 1 player, 600 Wii Points)
• Muscle March (WiiWare, 1-4 players, 500 Wii Points)
• Car Jack Streets (DSiWare, 1 player, 800 DSi Points)
• Flashlight (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
• Flips: The Enchanted Wood (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)
• Libera Wing (DSiWare, 1 player, 800 DSi Points)
• Photo Dojo (DSiWare, 1-2 players, 200 DSi Points)

Despite American punk rock band X being next week's featured Rock Band DLC pack artist, we decided to go with a picture of Carrie Underwood. Why? Isn't it obvious?! Her single, "All-American Girl," available next week, speaks to the struggles of the middle-class American female. Of gender roles, a father's love and providing babies for your husband. It's like the "American Pie" of a new generation. So that's why Underwood gets featured with that "how do I spend my next million, y'all?" look.

Check out the full release list after the break.

Continued →

For those of you who have yet to decide to boycott Sonic the Hedgehog 4, Sega has released some new media of the downloadable rodent-racing platformer. Including ... the second known character to appear in the game. Okay, before more of you start boycotting, it's just Eggman (or Dr. Robotnik, or whatever). And he's shown in one of his spheroid flying vehicles, implying that he's in the game in boss capacity only.

The site also features a few screens, music and a description of Splash Hill Zone, which can be summed up as "Green Hill Zone in HD." And that's a good thing, right?

Infinite Interactive and D3 Publisher would like to remind you that they have claimed your free time this spring. Puzzle Quest 2 is on the way, bringing back the diabolical alchemy of match-three puzzles and fantasy role-playing that turned us all into gem-hoarding monsters the first time.

As the trailer above shows, Puzzle Quest 2 features an entirely new storyline, so we'll get to meet new characters just as memorable as whoever it was we were playing as between rounds of the puzzle game last time.

click to wipe in to the galleryFrom now on, thanks to Activision's latest announcement, we're going to have to specify which Wipeout series of games we're talking about. There's Wipeout, the now Sony-exclusive futuristic racing game series, and Wipeout: The Game, the new Wii and DS game based on the game show about people falling off of elaborate obstacle courses.

This Wipeout is a four-player game in which opponents can taunt and throw stuff at each other as they attempt the show's trademark (and not at all inspired by Ninja Warrior) obstacle courses. Of course, the show's hosts will provide in-game commentary. Commentary like you'll hear in the video after the break, in which yelling men ride foam rockets while the hosts relentlessly mock their intellligence and weight. Wipeout: The Game will be out this summer, "just in time for the premiere of the TV show's highly anticipated 3rd season."

Continued →

If you're hoping to live out your fantasy of being TV's Dr. Gregory House without the crippling addiction to painkillers and misanthropy, Atlus is here to give you a taste with the last of their Trauma Team previews, this time centering on diagnostician Gabriel Cunningham.

Of course, as you already know, the department of diagnostics isn't a real thing. But if you can pretend that an adult plumber with overalls, a bushy mustache and white gloves is not only a permissible human being but also a hero, we figure nothing's out of bounds.

EA Sports' latest attempt to breathe new life into the Tiger Woods PGA Tour franchise's eleventh installment is an online multiplayer mode, previewed in the "Ryder Cup" trailer posted above. Players will be able to align themselves into teams, and go head-to-head (to-head-to-head, and so on) in an attempt to dominate the lush, rolling greens.

The only question that remains is what team you'll choose to enlist in. Will it be team Tiger Woods, who's repeatedly proven his prowess for hitting golf balls into faraway holes? Or will it be team Rory McIlroy, who is exactly one vowel away from being totally awesome?

Did you pick up Infinite Space yet? The DS spaceventure was released from its docking station by Platinum Games yesterday, and so far the reviews are actually better than we expected. We've got two more launch trailers to share with you: one above which seems to be the intro to the game (complete with Star Wars-style crawl and the weird narration we've come to expect from this game); and another after the break which will walk you through the game's battle tutorial.

If you've tried the game out, let us know what you think below. The battle system seems different and the story isn't supposed to be too bad, either. You wouldn't think that an infinite void of open space would have that much going on, but maybe it's worth a shot.

Continued →

I can't remember a single game release I ever anticipated more in my life than Pokémon Gold and Silver. By the time the game hit U.S. store shelves in 2000, I'd been rendered a shivering addict to versions Blue and Red for nearly two years. The promise of new pocket-sized monsters and new areas to explore thrilled me to the central of my very being -- and thankfully, the franchise's massive second generation did not disappoint.

I'm a decade older now, and while I've retained most of my love for the franchise since my middle school career, I worried that the recently released remakes, HeartGold and SoulSilver, wouldn't have the same intoxicating properties as their source materials. Now that I've spent about eight hours in the game, I feel confident in reporting that these remakes possess the same gripping magic as the originals -- partially due to the infusion of new elements introduced in later generations of the series, and, surprisingly, due to the bundled Pokéwalker peripheral.

Continued →

This week, Majesco reported its earnings for its fiscal first quarter (which ended January 31). As you may have surmised from the recent news of its potential Nasdaq delisting, things aren't precisely where Majesco would want them to be, financially. Its net profit for the quarter was $3.8 million, showing a year-over-year decline compared to Q1 2009's $4.2 million profit.

However, the slightly smaller Q1 still seems big enough to make Majesco happy. "Majesco had a very solid first quarter driven by strong holiday sales of our Cooking Mama franchise," CEO Jesse Sutton said, "which once again delivered impressive results, and Alvin & The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel." Yes, that's right, some of you bought something with the word "Squeakquel" on it.

"Our results were in-line with our internal expectations and we remain on track to deliver improved profitability for 2010," he added. "We have made significant progress in fine tuning our strategy to meet the challenges of the current operating environment." The latest announcement from Majesco, of course, is another extension of the Cooking Mama franchise, Crafting Mama.