In this episode we have a special guest with us, our very own Daniel Lloyd skyping in from his home state of Virginia! Dan L., Dan Z., Kevin and Ryan talk about what we've all been playing, what games those of us with PC's bought during the yearly Steam Sale (and which ones we think we'll actually EVER play). We talk about Microsoft's recently announced "Game Room" and how someone finally figured out a way to monetize MAME. The conversation then shambles into familiar territory where Dan tells us again why he hates digital "spaces" and Ryan tries to tell him why he's wrong. Also, the crew gets confused about Wii games and dance moves of the same name.

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Out of my SNES library, I only really switch between three games:  F-Zero, Donkey Kong Country, and Super Mario World (Killer Instinct and A Link To The Past were included, but they were stolen last year and I still can't find affordable replacements.)  But of those three, I think it's no coincidence they're also some of my favorite game soundtracks ever.  Those 16-bit F-Zero themes just up the intensity of traveling insanely fast through Mode 7 graphics and cursing all that is Holy when you crash into those damn bumpers!

Luckily, Shiryu has covered the entire game's soundtrack in 8-bits.  Everything from Big Blue to White Land is included, and it rocks!  I think F-Zero was one of the first things I had ever seen on the SNES, and it still continues to blow me away (I always play as Captain Falcon.  Always.)  I'd give anything to find my SNES F-Zero instruction manual that had a whole comic fleshing out the back story of each driver and the futuristic tournament.  It was badass.  I never was a fan of the N64 or Gamecube titles, but that original one will always be a favorite.  Do yourself a favor and take a listen to this.

(via Nobuooo)

Note: As much as I try to avoid reiterating what you've already read on the more popular blogs, I couldn't help myself from posting this news...

Great news, shmup fans.  It seems like there's a strong possibility of Cave licensing their gothic Lolita shmup, DeathSmiles, in North America.  As Destructoid reports, Siliconera had published an article claiming the game is on its way, but it was quickly taken down.  Hopefully a western Death Smiles release might actually fuel more demand for shoot 'em ups, since DeathSmiles is definitely one of Cave's easier games (due to the use of a life bar rather than a "one hit and you're dead" system).  The publisher of the game is still unknown, but I'd put my money on UFO, who have put out North American versions of Raiden III, Raiden IV, and The Ultimate Shooting Collection.

Now I don't have to buy a Japanese 360.  Sweet.

Update: You can now remove the question mark from this article's title as Aksys Games has confirmed a North American port of DeathSmiles. There's no word on a release date, but hopefully it will be out sooner rather than later since the game is not very text-heavy.

[Siliconera (post has been taken down) via Destructoid, Aksys Games]

The Dreamcast is dead.  Long live the Dreamcast.

Yep, another Dreamcast game has been released, bringing the total of DC games released in 2009 up to five.  DUX, Last Hope: Pink Bullets, Rush Rush Rally, Wind and Water: Puzzle Battles, and Irides: Mater of Blocks were all published post-humously, but Irides may just be the best of the bunch.

Hit the link for the full article

Cave are, without a doubt, one of the best developers around.  However, anyone outside Japan hasn't been able to easily play their games - the ports of their arcade games have all been exclusive to the Japanese market.  However, they did us Western gamers a favor by making their masterpiece, Mushihime-sama Futari, region-free.  While this was great news, it was only a test to see if it could increase Cave's profits.  And Cave have yet to report on the outcome, despite the fact that their next port, Espgaluda II, will be out in February.

Now they've got their Western fans pacing back and forth wondering if the game will be region-free.  Normally, even if you don't pre-order a game, you can always just go to the store and pick it up later.  But Cave are infamous for their limited production runs.  If you don't pre-order, you could be waiting weeks until you can finally play the game.  To pre-order or not to pre-order; that is the question.

Come on, Cave.  Save us the headaches and just let us know if the game is going to be region-free or not.

You know how in Tetris, you can rotate the piece to make it fit in a space?  Well, imagine that instead of the piece rotating, EVERYTHING ELSE rotated around that piece.  Sounds trippy, no?  It is.

Break out the Dramamine and head over to FirstPersonTetris.com to see if you have what it takes.

Oh right!  There are three current-gen consoles!  I almost forgot for a second as the Wii has taken the back seat to both my 360 and PS3 lately.  But rest assured Nintendo fans, the Wii has become a bit newsworthy lately.  How so?

Well for starters, they're reinventing some classics.  Hopefully that turns out for the best.  And they're upping their perception as a home entertainment device, and not just a games console.  Will it finally have DVD playback?  Hit the jump and see.

I'm a gamer, always have been. Problem is for a large number of years that's really just consisted of the video variety. That's a huge mistake on my part, to not enjoy the video game's analog brethren... the board game. There’s actually a vibrant and intense board game world out there that’s been pushed to the sidelines by game players such as ourselves for too long. In this column I'll be diving into this world, looking at games that hopefully you'd like to try out for yourself. 

Our look into the world of board games just keeps on trucking! Last time we talked about the light bluffing game Cloud 9, and while this weeks game is made by the same company, they really couldn't be any more different (except in the fun department. ZING!) Party games are pretty much defined by two elements, very easy to understand rules and can handle a ton of people at once. Word on the Street is just that kind of game. The rules take about 2 minutes to explain, and can handle two teams as large as you want playing against each other.

I'm a pretty non-competitive person. I mean I enjoy competition, it's just at the end of the day I don't mind if I win or lose (it's probably why I was never good at sports). Sure I love to win, but I don't need to win to have a good time. Which is a good thing, because while I really enjoyed Word on the Street I can honestly admit to totally sucking at it.

Not to be confused with YipYipYip...