The remaining character profile on the Super Smash Bros Brawl site has been revealed, and surprise, surprise - it’s Snake!

Sporting nothing but his traditional sneaking suit and headband, Snake will have to leave his real-world guns in Zanzibar Land for something more… appropriate.

After much consideration, we decided to have Snake refrain from using real-world guns—instead, he’ll use lots of explosives.

Since beam guns were used by characters like Samus and Fox McCloud in previous versions, I wouldn’t completely rule out the usage of guns in Snake’s situation. Worst case scenario: Snake breaks everyone’s neck after intoxicating them with second-hand smoke. That could work…

Super Smash Bros Brawl Site

Metal Gear Solid 4 trailer from E3 ‘06 (15 min .asx)

In order to promote their new upcoming titles from the bit Generations series, Nintendo Co., Ltd. will send out free copies to 700 selected Club Nintendo members who fill out a simple form on their website.

These lucky members will receive sample copies of any 2 of the 7 bit Generations titles and will be asked to leave their comments and opinions on special bulletin boards.

Sorry folks. Only in Japan.

bitGenerations @ Club Nintendo

bit Generations Trailer from E3 2005

Note: bit Generations is named Digiluxe Series in North America.

Plok was one of the last games I bought for my SNES. The little limbless hero with the hangman’s hood was a fun muse to guide around a crazy world that almost looked like it was made of clay. My brother and I enjoyed it, although I don’t think we every got that far in it. In fact, despite it’s cute look, the game was actually very hard.

Unfortunately for the developers of Plok (who have been able to thrive in the years since) the game arrived at a time when everyone and their grandma was putting out a platformer with a cute-but-cool lead character. Because of this many people never got to play this charmingly bizarre adventure.

Now the creators and owners of Plok have opened an archive for the little limbless guy. Head on over there to read up on the story of the game and see some of the concept artwork. Also, I found a (emulator assisted) speed run of the game on YouTube. Unless you get a rom of this game you will probably have a hard time finding it, so this video might be the only way to see all the game has to offer.

Plok Archive

Plok Speedrun

source: Press The Buttons

Because our friends over at Klei Entertainment love 4cr so much, they decided to give our readers a special 20% off discount on “Eets: Hunger. It’s Emotional”!

Featuring more than 100 levels, a level editor, and The Merch (from penny-arcade fame). But the best thing about Eets is the community website, where you’ll be able to share your newly-created levels with others, get feedback on it, reviews and votes. You’ll also be able to download levels that other users created. How’s that for long lasting gameplay?

This game is for anyone who remembers the days of Lemmings and The Incredible Machine. And also for anyone who’s looking for a great puzzle-solving game. With Klei offering this great discount to 4cr readers (and no, we don’t get a cut) now is the perfect time to get this great game. We love it. You will too.

Eets Discount Coupon

Eets Overview
Eets Official Site

The folks at N-Sider attended the Play! Symphony show in Detroit and have come back with some great impressions and two nice interviews. A lot of famous video game musicians were there, including Koji Kondo of Nintendo fame.

On the walk back to the hotel, I was pretty much still in awe at what a kick-ass show I had witnessed, but I couldn’t stop thinking about what the guy had said about this being not so “stuffy,” and, to be more specific, the crowd’s reaction to the Mario medley. It really does ring true, what Uematsu wrote in the program’s notes: music is the seeds, and video games are the soil. The Play! concert isn’t just about hearing music from video games, it’s about hearing music that everyone has heard before under a different set of circumstances. The Japanese family in front of me probably played Super Mario Bros. just like I did, albeit on a Famicom instead of an NES.

Head on over to N-Sider to read about the show and check out their interviews with Yasunori Mitsuda, Composer of Chrono series and Xenogears/Xenosaga and Nobuo Uematsu, Composer of Final Fantasy. Now if only I could find a YouTube of the whole thing.

N-Sider Attends Play!

Play! Symphony Site

If you guys know me at all by now, you’ll know that, given fifteen minutes alone with the Schafer in a dark, isolated room, we would probably step from the door combined as Mitch Schafer. Imagine my suprise last Friday, when Schafer himself reappeared on his action news blog to spin tales of Double Fine’s newest game on the field.

I think human language would crumble trying to describe my joy.

But, instead of mentioning the game itself, he presented his latest endeavor: a cute kitten! Oh Tim. Why won’t you adopt me? What’s the kitten got that I don’t?

Monday is a holiday, so I desperately wanted to put something new on the news page before all that time away. But I’ve got nothing. Ow. Nothing but my nose pain. Maybe if I had just one more fact. One more news item. Otherwise, I’m just going to have to start talking about our new game, or our new kitten. Oh god. Must resist news leak and kitten pictures! Ow. Must ignore nose… pain… excruciating… must not… post secrets… must not… blog… ow… nose bone pustule… swelling… tearing…

GAHHHHHHH!
Oh great. Now I’ve done BOTH.
Oh well.
Isn’t she cute?

Note on his computer, current speculation shows that the text says “Hundreds of secrets about Double Fine’s new game!” pasted over and over again. Curse you, Tim. Playing me like a deck of cards like that.

At the very least, this is good news that they’re at least not defunct after Psychonaut’s dirt-poor sales.

Tim Schafer Hints at Existance of New Double Fine Game

When people (especially gamers) think of Japan, often the first things they think of are the skyscrapers and neon lights, the shops with gleaming rows of electronics in Akihabara. Or maybe of the treasures to be found in Osaka Den Den Town. The cutting edge technology and cutting edge fashion. I don’t live in that Japan.

The second thing people will often think of is the castles, temples and ancient shrines. Well, I don’t really live in that Japan either but it is probably a closer stereotype. I live in a modern apartment, but outside my window I can see a farmer working on a rice paddy right next to the parking lot. On my way to work, I will pass two game stores, about twenty farms, four 7-Elevens and a castle. Small towns are often mixed up like this with the old and the modern living side by side. Even in huge cities like Tokyo you might find a sacred shrine smushed between two huge modern buildings. But I digress..

What I am trying to say is that while I often travel to the larger cities, I live in a small town. And the type of game related things I see in my town are often different from what is hitting the big cities. It’s more laid back and relaxed. And when a game receives a push of advertising so large that can be felt in my town, I know it is going to be a title to watch. This is why I am starting this new segment. I will try to do an update every month, or every time something big happens. My town has a population of 70,000, which is considered very small by Japanese standards (even though it is a fairly largish city for Oita Prefecture). My town has seven games stores and a handful of department stores that have a selection of games. I will try, through these segments, to show you what gamers in Japan who don’t live in the big cities get to see. There are plenty of blogs that cover the Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka gaming scenes and they do it very well. I will try to show a slightly different perspective. I hope you enjoy it.

More…

Nintendo has announced its release schedule for the foreseeable future. Titles like Big Brain Academy and Magnetica will hit this month while we will have to wait awhile for games like Star Fox DS and Super Paper Mario (nooooo!). Full release schedule after the cut.

In other news, Nintendo had a DS conference in Japan and announced some sales figures and new games. New Super Mario Bros has managed to sell 900,000 copies in it’s first four days. Four days! Wow. Nintendo also announced some new games like Project Hacker and Common Sense Training for Adults on the DS. Head on over to NeoGaf for the full post.

Nintendo’s Conference Info

There is also the chance that your local game store may break the DS lite street date. Ten days early? That’s what I’m talking about!

More…

Star Fox DS recently got renamed to Star Fox Command and will be hitting North American stores this August 28th.

Prepare for a whole lot of barrel rolls later this summer, as the game will support a massive 1-8 players via local wireless or DS Download Play, and 1-4 players over Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection.

Nintendo’s Star Fox Command product page

The much awaited Nintendo DS lite will start appearing on Australian store shelves this Thursday, June 1st, and deep within its box will be included a demo version of Dr. Kawashima’s Brain Training: How Old is your Brain?.

This comes as a complete surprise considering how there was no talk of including a game demo with the DS lite. North American and European gamers could be treated with the same little gift when the new portable reaches our shores next month.

source: NeoGAF

Magical Vacation is a role-playing game for the Nintendo DS, sequel to the GBA version of the same name that was released in Japan back in 2001. The game is developed by Brownie Brown, a Nintendo-funded development studio that consists of many ex-Square 2D artists, who participated on the development of the recently published MOTHER 3.

The game’s official site opened today, offering some details about the story, the characters and the worlds. Lots of beautiful artwork is showcased, along with 7 new videos, each featuring a spell of the different magic types - Fire, Wood, Wind, Earth, Water, Light and Dark.

Magical Vacation is a single-player game, but will support 1~6 players in “multiplayer dungeons”. There’s no details whether it’ll be single cart DS Download Play or multicart play. The game will be out in Japan on June 22nd, and should be available in North America by the end of this year.

Hit the links bellow for the official site, videos, E3 trailer and fact sheet.

Magical Vacation Official Site (Jpn)

Magical Vacation Videos - E3 2006 Trailer

Magical Vacation Fact Sheet

And now, for the final bit of 4cr E3 coverage; Wii video’s galore! We had a fantastic time at E3 and it was great to be able to capture that on film. For me, seeing the 4cr staff playing the Wii games and hearing all the background noise really adds to the experience and puts me right back on the show floor.

A huge thanks to all of the staff who made E3 so much fun. Also, we all owe a big thanks to Boon and Edgar for getting most of this video. Finally, thanks to every 4cr reader who gave us a reason to record all of this and made us eager to share. We have some of the best readers (and listeners) on the net and it makes it all worth it. I wish I could have brought you all to E3, but maybe with the help of these videos we can bring a little bit of E3 to you.

More…

While the 4cr crew spent most of our time at Nintendo fantabulous booth, we did venture out to explore what other gifts the LA Convention Center held. What follows are impressions of the more memorable games from places other than the House of Mario.

More…

A little later than expected due to Memorial Day festivities, but the podcast is here. The Nick and Nick show is back with the news and then I confess my love for everything Scott Pilgrim in this weeks Lightbox.

And in the roundtable the guys try to figure out what the final Wii feature(s) will be. Sandwich maker anyone? Finally, a classic Abbot and Costello joke for all you baseball fans out there. Enjoy!

Also, send us some voicemails! The voicemailbox was very lonely this week!

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More…

Game Boy Advance

June 01 - Juka and the Monophonic Menace (GameStats)
June 01 - Scurge: Hive (GameStats)

Nintendo DS

June 01 - Scurge: Hive (GameStats)

GameCube

None This Week

Well this week will be called Orbital Media week, since only their games are coming out.
Both titles are highly anticipated by the readers of their forums and probably our readers too, I hope. I know that I’ll be adding Scurge: Hive to my DS library. Now where is pirate battle, guys?

Interview with Graham Scott from Orbital Media

* Update*

DPAD - Team Orbital
I know everyone is wondering when Scurge: Hive will be released? We’ve been working hard to get it to you as fast as we can. To answer some simple questions. Yes, the game has been fully completed for both GBA and DS. We have been working with many partners on the release of the games and it’s just taking awhile. We will be having a press annoucemnet in a few weeks, (yes that means Scurge is not coming out in June or July ) If you can be patient you will not be dissapointed, the game is awesome!