Not only are we impressed by the idea and execution of the above gaming pastry, we're absolutely bananas over the Donkey Cake Country pun! Also check out the Bulbasaur cake in the gallery. Props to Anton the chef; check out the highlights for today:
We imagine that you, like us, have a cupboard in your dwelling that contains a dozen or so different models and hues of Nintendo's latest handheld. Every morning, you peruse your collection, trying to decide which DS suits your mood for that day -- perhaps the triforce-branded DS Lite, or the classic gray brick? As your ponder, you realize your collection is incomplete without the Poké-flavored handheld that reared its head in Japan nearly two years ago. You then consider selling your kidneys on the black market to afford a plane ticket to Tokyo, until your pushy physician informs you that you might need those.
Good news -- your precious organs can remain part of your body, as North American Gamestops recently began promoting the special edition DS Lite, branded with the critters on Pokémon Diamond and Pearl's box art -- Dialga and Palkia. The paltry sum of $129.99 will net you the system, a matching case, a 22-minute Pokémon Dungeon DVD, a poster featuring fellow pocket-sized monster Grovyle, and a T-shirt. No release date was announced for the bundle, but if Nintendo wishes for the new model to be truly relevant, we suggest launching it sometime last year.
In anticipation of next week's E3 Media and Business Summit, we've prepared bingo cards for each of the big press conferences, filled with some likely (and some not-so-likely) predictions for what each of the big three console makers intends to announce at arguably the biggest trade shows of the year.
Today's card is for Nintendo (special thanks to Wii and DS Fanboy). Our fingers are crossed twice over (trust us, it's painful) for the no-brainer Pikmin sequel. Click on each of the slides above for more information about our predictions. The folks at NWF and DSF got a little carried away, so check out their full predictions (Wii, DS).
Nintendo's E3 2008 press conference begins Tuesday, July 15, at 9:00am PT (that's 12:00 pm Joystiq Time / ET). As always, we'll be liveblogging the event, so you can play along in real-time with us. (Also: check out all our press conference bingo cards, including some for Microsoft and Sony!) Download a copy (PNG file) and play along!
Pokémaniacs will soon have the opportunity to find out who among them is best at the cultivation and production of pocket monsters for battle, and dare we say, delicious cuisine. This summer both Pokémon USA and Japan's The Pokémon Company will host the Pokémon Video Game Showdown 2008, which promises to pit the regions' best poké-trainers against each other in a multi-round tournament to discover once and for all who has the best poké-chops.
On August 16, 32 Pokémon aficionados from the US will make the trek to Orlando, FL to throw down against 32 of Japan's best poké-players, using the series' latest flavors, Diamond and Pearl. The contest will be divided into two different age brackets, with those trainers born on or before 1995 making up the "senior" set. And there's more than just poké-pride at stake, as the top finisher in each group will walk away with a Nintendo Wii package and a shot at a grand prize that includes a 6-day vacation for four to either NY, Honolulu, or Tokyo. However, we should tell you that interested players must first survive a qualifier round, and that registration has already closed. Even so, organizers note that additional players may be randomly selected from those in attendance at the events, so if you fancy yourself a poké-maestro, check out the dates below before you book fare on Air Pokémon.
Sure, Will Wright's Spore Creature Creator can let your imagination run wild ... but sometimes your imagination doesn't exactly go that far. Our friends at Nintendo Wii Fanboy have amassed a collection of Pokemon creatures from the Sporepedia. Each picture in the gallery can be added directly to your game by saving the picture into the Spore folder. Our Sporémons, let us show you them.
What's the best way to celebrate the first day of summer? If you said "Trek down to my local Gamestop and claim an exclusive Pokemon," you're either screwing with us or of a very certain persuasion. If you're among the first group, go eat a biggun, we're just trying to do a job here. If you're among the second, then we've got great news for you!
Visitors to Gamestop stores between June 20 and 22 who bring in their DSs and copies of Pokemon Diamond or Pearl will be able to attain Deoxys, an exclusive "legendary character with transformative powers and an impressive set of battle-ready moves." The critter will also be able from the 27-29 of June, though if there's an event that can take you from the sort of person who wouldn't go to Gamestop to get an exclusive Pokemon to the sort of person that would in the span of a week, we don't know about it.
So I log on to WiiWare this afternoon, and what do I see is the latest addition to the service? My Pokémon Ranch. A jolt of fear shot through me. "How did they find it?!" I shouted aloud. "Was it the FCC? The SEC? I know they've all been looking for My Pokémon Ranch, but I never thought it would come to this!" I had just called my secretary Beverly to warn her and to order her to start putting Caterpies into the shredder before the Feds got to them when I realized my error.
Apparently, My Pokémon Ranch (Nintendo, 1 player, 1,000 Wii Points) is a game that lets you introduce your Miis and your Pokémon (they can be imported from Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl) and allow them to hang out together. It is not, literally, my Pokémon ranch, though I think it's an error that anyone could make. But don't worry, the shredding was promptly halted.
Pokéfanatics across the globe have been anxiously tied to their poké-related news sites over the past few weeks, attempting to prognosticate what gemstone/precious metal/color would serve as the title for the next installment in the beloved monster-enslaving series -- shortly after CoroCoro magazine dropped word of the upcoming Pokémon Platinum, the Sandshrew-swift Nintendo swooped in to confirm the title, and to reveal a fall release window for the game in Japan.
Following the pattern of pokéreleases thus far, it will serve as a companion to the two current-generation titles, Diamond and Pearl -- much like Yellow, Crystal, and Emerald did for their respective generations. That means we'll likely be treated to new sprites for many the monsters, and a few tweaks to the story, but not many new entries into the ol' Pokédex. Perhaps that expansion will come in the franchise's next generation, Pokémon Ununbium and Cadmium.
Joystiq readers love Scott Ramsoomair. Like, love love. Anything the VG Cats artist touches pretty much shoots to the top of the webcomic wrapup by default. So his spinoff strip, Super Effective, unsurprisingly took very top honors this week.
Second and third place go to 2P Start and Digital Unrest, respectively. Thanks to everyone who voted, and be sure to let us know of any game-related webcomics you stumble upon this week!
And verily did Eyelinerus decree that in the fourth week of April the goth kids would hold sway over all that they surveyed. And all the films at the cineplex would be replaced with The Virgin Suicides, and the radio would be replaced by silence, for the mere playing of recorded music through electronic amplification makes it too commercial. The week would be peaceful, save for the Great Goth Kid Purging, a bloodless, but still teriffically weepy affair.
And the games? Well, the most impressive console release would be Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3: FES, a souped-up version of the RPG released in August of last year. And on portable consoles? Why, The World Ends With You, sure to be an emo kid classic. Oh, and Pokemon Mystery Dungeon would also be released too, for reasons Eyelinerus would prefer not to talk about.
See all the slightly less emo titles that slipped through the cracks after the break.
Though it's been a year since the monster enslaving simulator was released, we're sure that the retailer will find themselves slammed by DS-wielding trainers-in-training over the course of that weekend. We doubt that the avarice of many a poketrainer has been slaked by the current digital menagerie -- as they march onward into adorable battle, do they shout, "Gotta Catch All But One or Two of Them?" No, their kind is inclined to catch them all, and then, in some terrifying cases, their shiny counterparts.
Some people quit smoking with a patch, some with therapy, and some still with hypnosis or acupuncture. DS Fanboy reader Dan had an alternate method: he replaced his nicotine addiction with an addiction to Pokemon. So far he's only 40 days into the trial, but he's reporting success. (What is not reported, however, is how many pokemon he's caught. This is a vital detail, folks!)
So what happens when Dan needs to break his Pokemon addiction?
That initial glitch in the webcomic wrapup polling didn't affect the final vote. VG Cats' Poké-strip (as in comic strip and not ... eww) was given the rather dubious award for week's best game-related webcomic with quadruple (make it quadruple!) the vote of second place.
Runners up include Dueling Analogsand Digital Unrest, respectively. Thanks to everyone who voted, and be sure to let us know of any game-related webcomics you stumble upon this week!
After vowing to triple spending on game development in 2007, Disney has announced Spectrobes: Beyond The Portals, a follow up to last year's Pokemon-inspired RPG that's expected to ship for the Nintendo DS this fall. In the same breath, Disney also confirmed that the original title has shipped more than a million units globally and was the best-selling third-party DS game in North America last year, no doubt making the return trip to the well a no-brainer for the animation powerhouse.
Like the original, Beyond the Portals is being handled by Japanese developer Jupiter, and will include a number of additions including a new "three-dimensional perspective" and an online battle system. As surprised as might be otherwise, some of the new game announcement's thunder was stolen by Disney CFO Tom Staggs, who last summer casually mentioned that Spectrobes "warrants a sequel in the games business." Still, be careful what you wish for, as Disney marketing guru Craig Relyea calls the game "part of our plan to expand the series in the coming years."
It's a question we've all pondered at least once in our lifetimes: in the Pokémon universe, is everyone a vegetarian, or do people actually eat Pokémon? Are certain Pokémon bred for mass consumption? And, perhaps more importantly, which Pokémon are the most delicious?
We're elated that GameDaily has actually put some time into this twisted, wonderful thought process, and come up with a list of the ten Pocket Monsters that they'd most like to cook up. Some of these tasty critters are easier to come by than others; we personally see Magikarp as the salmon of the Pokémon world, while preparing a Peking-style Psyduck may be a bit more difficult. Actually, we're getting a bit hungry just thinking about this. Maybe we'll head out to the grocery store and pick up some fried Torchics for lunch.
_thumbnail.jpg "i am 8-bit: 2008")
