Additionally the game will be released on Steam on May 1st, preorders open tomorrow with users saving the standard 10% and making the game $9.

As if that weren’t enough, Disasterpeace has released FZ: Side F, a collection of remixes of the original FEZ soundtrack by artists like Jim Guthrie and Datassette. You can snag that up for $5 over on Disasterpeace’s bandcamp site.

FarCry 3 was the big winner, snagging 6 awards including Game of the Year and Best New Character. (Really though, did James Heller and Wei Shen have a chance here?) Game Informer has the full list of winners or you can hop on over to their official website.

Clyde Mandelin, who goes by the name ‘Tomato’, in the community, has offered to provide his translation of EarthBound sequel Mother 3 to Nintendo for free so long as it will help secure a Western release for the game.

Mr. Mandelin is no mere fan translator either, as ‘Tomato’ has a wealth of professional translation experience ranging from work on videogames such as Kingdom Hearts 2 and One Piece: Unlimited Adventure through to anime fare such as Lupin the 3rd and Dragon Ball.

After making the offer to Nintendo yesterday morning, Mandelin had this to say:

“I’ll even retranslate everything from scratch if need be. Just whatever it takes to get an official release out. I realize that localizing a game this size can cost a lot, so if it’ll help in even the slightest, I’ll gladly offer to let Nintendo use my text translation files for any use at all, completely for free. I’ll even edit the files to fit whatever new standards are necessary (content, formatting, memory size, etc.), completely for free. I’ll even retranslate everything from scratch if need be. Just whatever it takes to get an official release out.”

While Nintendo has never formally discussed releasing Mother 3 outside of Japan, Mandelin nevertheless feels he has nothing to lose regardless:

“I definitely realize this is a silly-sounding offer and all, but I figure it’s better to make the offer and seem silly than possibly miss an opportunity entirely.  In the end, if localizing Mother 3 should ever come up in a Nintendo business meeting or whatever and someone brings up budget concerns or it costing too much, my hope is that someone will at least mention this offer too, even if it isn’t accepted.”

Nintendo have yet to comment on this, but really, the best way we can hope for a Mother 3 localisation to come to pass, is to buy the ever-loving shit out of EarthBound when it makes its Virtual Console debut later this year.

With that said though, the mere thought of not having to pump any cash into the translation side of the equation, must surely help steer Nintendo towards a favourable decision for a potential Mother 3 localisation in the future.

You can see Mandelin’s offer to Nintendo, as well as the translation itself, here.

The Naughty Dog developed collection of PS2 platforming goodness will include all three games that were seen on the recent PS3 re-release, which includes Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, Jak II, and Jak 3.

One of the early pioneering 3D platforming efforts for Sony’s second generation home console, Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy was quite the triumph; deftly combining captivating platforming gameplay, great visuals and the sort of humorous characters that would set a roadmap for future peers in the genre to follow.

Sadly, Jak II and more prominently, Jak 3 both failed to reach the lofty standards set by their illustrious predecessor as they increasingly distanced themselves from the platforming bliss that made the original game such an entertaining prospect in the first place.

Anyhow, there’s trailer lurking around here if you fancy seeing how it shapes up on Sony’s powerful handheld.

Far Cry 3 was one of my favorite games of 2012 (just behind Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning and Borderlands 2) and when I caught wind of a downloadable offshoot I was excited for some more Far Cry goodness. Then I started seeing that it was being modeled after something shit directly out of the 80′s and I was beyond psyched for this game. The trailer is no different.

Shot with a godawful, blurry, ugly, worn VHS visual style, it features Creative Director Dean Evans talking with quintessential 80′s action star Michael Biehn about the game and all of it’s incredibleness. And cursing. A lot.

I’ve had some very limited time with the game and so far it’s everything I could’ve ever dreamed for. I’ll find out for sure how the whole game holds up when Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon releases for XBLA, PSN, and PC on May 1st! Now, hit the jump and watch the [bleep]ing trailer and then please, for the love of all that is holy, go check out the game’s official website. Geocities would be proud…

If you want to know more about the lawsuit check out Eurogamer’s article The Edge of Reason.

And be sure to pick up the game on Steam, Appstore, iTunes, and Android.

Well, time for my intriguedityness to get my hands on this game and give Sacred Citadel a go. The previews I’ve seen have looked great and the launch trailer, obligatory wubwubs aside, has me psyched to finally play this game. You can expect a review in a few days, but while you wait, get a look at the trailer after the jump and get more information on the game over at the Sacred World website!

Sacred Citadel is available NOW as a digital download for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC for $14.99 or it’s Microsoft Spacebucks equivalent of 1200 MSP.

No rumor, no speculation, it was announced officially during this morning’s Nintendo Direct press event that it is fact and it is happening later this year. Sadly, no confirmed date yet aside from this year, but it’s finally happening!

Oh yeah, there was a whole ton of other Nintendo news today too including info on Bravely Default, Pikmin 3, Prefessor Layton, and a new Link to the Past game?? Grab a snack and hit the jump for ALL the details. 

There is a whole lot of info, so let’s do this:

NINTENDO 3DS NEWS

• -People have been clamoring for news on a Bravely Default US release for quite some time and it’s finally happening…next year. Nintendo is teaming with Square Enix to publish the title in 2014
• -Nintendo is working on a new Legend of Zelda game set in the A Link to the Past universe set for release this holiday season. Also, Link can become a drawing and move along walls… What?
• -Yoshi’s Island is also getting a sequel that welcomes back Baby Mario. Hopefully he’s learned how to shut the f–k up in this game. No launch date yet.
• -August 11th is the official release date for Mario & Luigi: Dream Team, the new entry in the RPG series that takes place in Luigi’s dreams.
• -Shin Megami Tensei IV is releasing with a badass Limited Edition Box Set for every copy in the initial shipment when it releases on July 16th. It includes a 176 page Strategy & Design Book, a music collection CD, and a deluxe slipcase.
• -Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D hits stores and the eShop on May 24th and features eight new stages for play after the game is completed as well as a “New Mode optimized for hand-held play with new items and mechanics.”
• -Real time golf come to Mario Golf: World Tour with worldwide online matches when it releases later this summer.
• -Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy releases in 2014 with over 500 new puzzles.
• -A new 3DS XL system is on the way with Animal Crossing: New Leaf pre-installed. It will be available on June 9th for $219.99. Figures. I just bought the damn Pikachu system…
• -A new Mario Party game arrives for the 3DS with 81 new games set to launch this winter. The game features AR Card games and StreetPass matches in addition to the usual board game elements.
• -More Zelda classics will hit the Nintendo 3DS eShop on May 30th with the release of The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages and The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons. And yes, they can still be connected to connect the stories.
• -Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move is an all new entry in the Mario vs. DK series launching on May 9th featuring over 180 new stages in four different modes as well as allowing players to create and share their own levels.
• -A trio of games from LEVEL-5 will be hitting the 3DS eShop this year. Nintendo says: “THE STARSHIP DAMREY, from Kazuya Asano and Takemaru Abiko, puts players in a suspenseful adventure where they will have to search for any information available to discover the truth about their circumstances. In BUGS vs. TANKS! from Mega Man creator Keiji Inafune, players control a tiny customizable tank in battle against swarms of giant bugs. In Kaz Ayabe’s ATTACK OF THE FRIDAY MONSTERS! A TOKYO TALE, players will take the role of a young boy who lives where the giant monsters from Japan’s 1970s TV shows come to life every Friday.”

WII U NEWS

• -Once again, this shit is REAL. EarthBound is coming to the Wii U Virtual Console this year!!! YES! YES! YES!  YES! YES!
• -Oh yeah, the actual Virtual Console service will launch “shortly after” a system update planned for next week that will “add new functions and enhance existing onces.” It also makes those system load times a lot more bearable.
• -New Super Luigi U DLC will release this summer featuring 82 updated stages all designed for some solo Luigi action.
• -Pikmin 3 is FINALLY getting released on August 4th. Launch Window my ass…
• -Game & Wario beats it to store shelves releasing on June 23rd.

That wraps up this week’s Nintendo Direct news. I would’ve loved to see a bit more Wii U news (maybe a price cut to encourage people to actually buy it?) but EARTHBOUND IS COMING!!!!

To get a sneak peak at trailers for some of the announced games, hit up the Nintendo YouTube Channel!

Narrated by Jehanne Rousseau, the CEO of developer Spiders Studios, the overview trailer gives us a fairly decent glimpse at the action, story, conversation, customisation and adventure elements of the game and for a strictly downloadable effort, I think its shaping up pretty nicely.

Mars: War Logs is set to release next month for PC, Xbox Live Arcade and on the Playstation Network.

Catch the trailer after the cut.

Its perhaps not quite as face-shatteringly awesome as previous months, but its pretty good nonetheless with Hitman Absolution kicking everything off on May 1st alongside Deep Silver‘s dark puzzle adventure Catherine.

On that same day, PS3 owners will also find the action adventure Malicious available for download too.  PS Vita owners on the other hand, have hyper-intense shooter Sine Mora to look forward to on May 8th, with Velocity: Ultra following a week later on May 15th.

Additionally, PS Plus subbers can expect 60% discounts off of the Back to the Future games, Oddworld: Strangers Wrath HD and Beyond Good and Evil, with specific timings on those discounts to follow in future updates.

You’ll notice that after the cut, we’ve done our bit and compiled a list of the games that will be entering and leaving the service, courtesy of the EU Playstation Blog.

Leaving PS Plus in May:

1st May: Okami HD
1st May: F1 Race Stars
1st May: Quantum Conundrum
8th May: Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward
22nd April: Thomas Was Alone

Entering PS Plus in May:

1st May: Hitman Absolution
1st May: Catherine
1st May: Malicious
8th May: Sine Mora
15th May: Velocity Ultra HD

Source: Official EU Playstation Blog

The remake of the 1990 classic, which will be a downloadable-only effort for Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network and PC, is being handled by Sega Studios Australia who will be working alongside Disney Interactive to bring the game to market.

This marks the second 16-bit era Disney title to go under the remake knife.  Last month at PAX East, Capcom announced that it was prepping a remastered Duck Tales for a summer release also.

An announcement trailer for the game has been released (we have it for you below), but it reveals little other than a CG-tastic promo for the game.  Much more useful though are the screenshots that we have for you, showcasing what looks to be on face value at least, a very attractive looking platforming romp.

As well as a hefty amount of shininess applied to the visuals, the developer has confirmed that it will aim to keep to magic of the original in tact as well as adding “new and exciting gameplay mechanics” to the game.

Chris Olsen of Sega of America had this to say regarding the game:  ”The original Castle of Illusion was tremendously entertaining and has a well-deserved reputation as a Sega classic. Castle of Illusion Featuring Mickey Mouse brings this great game to a new generation.  Mickey is back and he looks fantastic.”

Well, it surely can’t be any worse than Epic Mickey though can it?  CAN IT?

Now all we need is a remastered Quack Shot and my life will be complete!

The prospect of dusty books, elongated web-seminars and pages upon pages of code hieroglyphics just makes me want to yawn myself inside out and curl up into a little ball and think about fun things.

Thankfully, it seems that a group of ultra-clever computer scientists have picked up on this and have devised a way to get Java through the thick skulls of me and my ilk by communicating it to us through a language that we all understand; videogames.

Known as ‘CodeSpells‘, the game was originally tested on a group of 10-to-12 year old girls who had no previous experience of programming.  After sixty minutes of gameplay had elapsed, the study revealed that the children had already mastered some of the foundation components of Java; something, my dear readers, that is far and beyond above my current understanding already.

The premise behind CodeSpells is almost frighteningly twee and simple; you play as a wizard who finds himself lost in a land of gnomes who have lost their magical affinity and its up to you to help them restore it.

This is achieved by writing spells in Java, which in turn are referenced from a book of spells.  In total, there are seven spells which can be used to a number of different effects such as allowing you to create fire, fly and levitate objects among other things.

Its not all aimless casting though, as the developers recognise that reward is an important part of any educational process and for completing tasks and quests such as rescuing a stranded gnome, or kindling a bonfire, you’ll receive a shiny gold badge for your troubles all the while you continue to learn about the key components of the Java programming language.

The computer scientists of  UC San Diego, headed up by William Griswold, are planning to release the software for free; allowing its reach to broaden and include various education outlets and clubs who would want to integrate a less mainstream approach to their Java teaching practices.

You can take a look at the official site here.

More stuff like this please internet, thanks.

It doesn’t show much of the Necromorph menace, but largely the atmosphere and sense of foreboding which was pretty much intrinsic with the IP before it went off the rails is all here, present and accounted for.

We’ve got the trailer for you after the jump and quite honestly, you’d struggle to find a better live-action approximation of Visceral‘s hellish franchise.

Great stuff.

Rather than the in-game footage which has been released previously, this newest video instead frames Mr. Sam Fishers sneaky goings-on in a more cinematic style; showing off a whole bunch of gadgets, takedowns and light-foot treading in the process.

For anybody who was dismayed at that original reveal trailer, this’ll be music to your earholes.

That should be everybody then.

Catch it after the break.