SUPER... SMAAASH BROTHEEEEERRRS!!

After so many years, it seems that one of Nintendo's best-selling franchises has made its triumphant return back into the foray. I finished a 4-hour play session yesterday after purchase and still haven't even scratched the surface of this game yet. I was a bit underwhelmed by Smash Bros. Melee as I was a late adopter to the GameCube and Melee had been over-hyped like crazy by the time I finally got the chance to play it all the way through. However, I absolutely adored Smash Bros. on N64. Brawl brings back many feelings of nostalgia from the original Smash Bros, but that isn't at all the reason why I enjoy this game so much. Talk about polish; you can tell Nintendo put months of play-testing into this one. There's an actual story to adventure mode this time around, the music is absolutely amazing, the new pre-set stages don't feel like simple rehashes of older ones and even though you don't have to use it, the Wiimote works surprisingly well. Top it all off with an incredible roster of characters from Nintendo, Konami and Sega, a mode to create your own levels, plus the ability to finally play online with people all over the world using what you've created and you've got the first truly great party game for the Wii and any Wii owner's first must-have title of the year. The literally over 1000 pieces of fan service aside, Smash Bros. Brawl is truly smashing!

"Dreamcast was defeated, but the soul still burns..."

Apparently Sega has decided to update its Dreamcast website for the upcoming 10th Anniversary since the release of its ill-fated, but highly respected last console. Sega has also recently filed a patent for new hardware, which involves everything needed for a successful home console today. When compared to the old patent for Dreamcast, they were completely different and with no hardware specifications listed as of yet. This could potentially rule out new peripherals or a mere re-release of the old hardware. Could this be a sign of Sega's recently rumored attempt to finally enter the console business again? Well, we haven't exactly seen many Sega games lately outside of their publishing office ala The Club and Condemned 2: Bloodshot. In the meantime, you can visit Sega's newly updated Dreamcast website and tell them whether or not you still own a Dreamcast and even sign up for a brand new account. Sega definitely has something up their sleeve. It would seem that pieces of a certain puzzle are beginning to come together. Remember, "Patience is a virtua." Take my word for it though; I wouldn't get my hopes up until some solid information from Sega themselves is stated or made available. In the meantime, you can watch the history of Dreamcast courtesy of the older, less crappy G4's "Icons". You know, back when they actually had decent programming most of the time. Well... maybe just sometimes. OK. Once a month.


And don't forget to show the Dreamcast some love and support and its new website:

http://www.dreamcast.com/

I must be in a dream...

Admit it, Sega hasn't exactly been in the best of shape lately. It seems as if though they hardly ever release any new titles and when they do, they're mostly so small that they don't even show up on the radar. I never had the pleasure of owning a Sega Saturn as its popularity was wiped out by the sheer number of games coming to Sony's PlayStation. I suppose you could say it was also a foreshadowing of things to come ala PS2 and Dreamcast, Sega's last and undoubtedly greatest system since the Genesis, albeit short-lived. However, I also have to be thankful towards Sony at this time, because they have recently given me the opportunity to fully enjoy one of the Saturn's and Sega's greatest games: NiGHTS into Dreams, originally released for the Sega Saturn back in 1996. The game's recent remake was released for the PS2 on February 21st. I'll be completely honest, I wasn't expecting all that much, just some game I'd probably pick up and play for about an hour and tell my fellow gamers and colleagues about how beautiful it was for being so dated. Boy, was I completely wrong. NiGHTS into Dreams literally had me tearing up at how incredibly fun and polished it was. This game immediately became in instant classic after only about 2 minutes of playtime. Its so hard for me to put it down that I have it running on my PS2 next to me as I type this. Surprisingly, it looks great on my plasma running at 480p and in 16:9 widescreen, which the remake was upgraded to handle. It even includes the original Sega Saturn versions of NiGHTS and Christmas NiGHTS for the old fans. Unfortunately if you want to get your NiGHTS fix in America, you're gonna either have to run out and get its inferior sequel NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams or import the PS2 remake from Japan, as their are currently no plans to release it in the States. That is a stupid move on Sega and Sony's part. But, I have faith that they'll change their minds considering that Sony plans to keep the PS2 around for a couple more years and with a few new titles to continue support. Let's just hope that this instant classic is on the list for the non-importers to finally enjoy. If you have a Japanese PS2 or the software capable of running Japanese PS2 games on your system, then I highly, I mean highly suggest that you import the NiGHTS into Dreams remake. Don't go on Mininova and download it; show this game some support by legitimately and legally purchasing it. Maybe if Sega sees how popular the remake is to importers in America, then they'll plan a US release. I haven't included a video of this game because honestly, no video does this game true justice, its something that you have to play and experience for yourselves.

Lego Portal = Actually Awesome Nerdom

Coming right off the tail-end of my quick post involving the supremely geeky adventures of Lego Link is a little Lego project that just screams "awesome" for fans of Valve's Portal. Bravo to the lady, gentleman or Wookie over at the Brickshelf Gallery who constructed this little masterpiece. However, I do wish they would have at least put pink hearts on all sides of our best of friends, the Weighted Companion Cube.

"The cake is a lie."

An actually decent video involving Legos and Zelda? No way...

Apparently some gentleman in France took time out of what I am assuming to be his extremely busy life, full of busty bodacious women and made us a fairly decent version of Legend of Zelda using only Lego blocks. As Randall Graves would sarcastically say, "Wow, you're gonna be rollin' in the pussy, man!"

Lego zelda
Uploaded by Inglis93

"Damn girls shakin' their little behinds for the men-folk..."

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"Get away from her, you bitch!"

Not too long ago, Texas-based game developer Gearbox Software acquired the rights to the classic "Alien" franchise. Of course they had the opportunity to go with some pretty twisted survival horror, following along the lines of Ridley Scott's original "Alien" film, which would have been a cool concept. But instead they chose to go with what is undoubtedly the most popular installment of the franchise: James Cameron's super bad-ass sequel, "Aliens". Say what you will about James Cameron, but this man knows how a sequel should be made. I think both Aliens and T2 can vouch for that. I remain confident in Gearbox Software's ability to do Cameron's vision justice, especially after pioneering the popular "Brothers in Arms" series and having a good relationship with the Half-Life series' Valve Corporation. The reason I don't say they'll do the "franchise" justice is because I saw Alien: Resurrection and we all know how well that turned out. Talk about a nail in the coffin... Thankfully, Gearbox has showed up ready with crowbar in hand, courtesy of their good friend, Dr. Gordon Freeman. While much hasn't been revealed on the game as of yet, we do know that it is set to appear on both the PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 later this year. In the meantime, enjoy the screenshot slideshow below courtesy of GameTrailers.com member 2reee.