I haven't been able to write one of these Notebook Dumps in a couple of weeks and am now giving you one a day early. Tomorrow is a rest day for me, a day of theoretically not doing any work, though I may start writing my Halo 3: ODST review (I played through it yesterday). It'll be embargoed until closer to the game's release. I'll also spend some of the weekend prepping some final pieces that stem from last weekend's Penny Arcade Expo. There were some fun interviews I simply couldn't get to yet. I'll get to that stuff. But there are other things that just don't rate posts. For example:

12-13 Inches: I wrote multiple stories about Bungie and Halo this week and stopped short of making a full post about an interesting fact mentioned by the studio's creative director, Joe Staten, at a PAX panel. Someone asked him about keeping all of the Halo lore straight, so he started talking about Bungie's Halo "bible." He said that if it was all printed out and stacked up, it would be 12-13 inches tall. Post-worthy? Nah. But now you know.

Cave Story Abridged: I'd heard a lot of good things about Cave Story, a Metroid-ish web game that is finally coming to WiiWare later this year. And then I saw an e-mail, forwarded to me by Crecente, by a reader who wanted to be sure we checked it out at PAX. So I finally tried the game at PAX. I played from a mid-game save point and a late-game save point and I was left wondering: How do I post about this fun little game I've played for only three minutes? I could tell you that it's a side-scrolling adventure game with weapons that you can level up. It has pistols and energy cannons and a gun you can shoot toward the ground in order to jump higher. It has fireplaces you can walk through and quests to solve. I could tell you those things, but all of that is known about Cave Story. If it's not news that the game will have an option that lets you switch from its original graphics to its polished Wii ones, then I have nothing for you. Sorry.

Gold Guy Vs Capcom Guy: It's been suggested that I'm not the guy to cover fighting games in any depth for this or any other outlet. There I was at PAX button mashing to Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom on the Wii. I played as the big gold guy who doubles as a lighter in real life. Rather than write the world's least-informed preview, I passed. Sorry and you're welcome.

Free Drinks: I posted a batch of images from my visit last week to Microsoft's Washington State Xbox 360 offices. I showed statues and banners but decided to save the images of Xbox champagne for a more frivolous moment, like the moment you're taking to read this. At the top of this post you'll see Aaron Greenberg, one of Microsoft's top guys of brand messaging, hoisting aloft bottles of Xbox 360 champagne. Greenberg took me on a tour of the offices for the Xbox 360 PR and marketing team, and nearly everyone he introduced me to had one of these bottles, unopened, near their desk. They commemorate Microsoft's E3 press conference, which Greenberg put together. He had a whole box of these bottles still corked in office, possibly to give away, possibly for a more depressing moment. He offered me one. I passed, but said we should take a photo. Here's a closer look at the label.

That's enough dumping from me. I'll be back next week with some interviews, some previews and some sense that Tokyo Game Show is right around the corner. I fly out in nine days. Enjoy Friday without me, folks!

The four shirts are pretty hit and miss, but man, that Balrog shirt is a hit. Apparently these are still waiting on final approval from Cave Story creator Pixel, but it'd be a coldhearted man to turn down a shirt giving us a look inside one of the greatest square robots of all time.

[Tiny Cartridge]

Nintendo says that WiiWare removes the economic barriers from console game development, and the past year in WiiWare releases certainly holds true to their claim. Of the 81 WiiWare titles currently available in North America, more than half were created by small independent studios without the aid of a publisher. More than 40 developers have contributed to WiiWare so far, with games like World of Goo, BIT.TRIP BEAT, , and LIT showing off what can be accomplished on a console when publishing restrictions are relaxed.

"The first anniversary of our WiiWare service is a milestone that marks how far the service has come and how much great content is currently available," said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. "We encourage everyone to get their Wii consoles connected to the Internet so they have access to the full range of WiiWare games."

So what's in store for Wii owners in the coming year?

The list of upcoming titles is arguably far more impressive than anything that's already been released. Nicalis' Cave Story alone is enough to get the heart of any indie game fan pumping, with Super Meat Boy from Team Meat also adding a bit more flavor to the mix. Over the Top Games will be releasing Icarian Kindred Spirits, which is about a winged girl named Nyx who descends from heaven to find her lost friend Icarus in a game that might be the closest we get to a Kid Icarus sequel. Aksys follows up BIT.TRIP BEAT with BIT.TRIP CORE, and Square Enix is sure to outsell everyone with the release of Final Fantasy IV: The After Years.

So how has WiiWare treated you this year? Despite having covered the Nintendo Download nearly every week since WiiWare launched, I've only purchased two titles myself - Lost Winds and Pokemon Ranch. I've been meaning to pick up BIT.TRIP BEAT but simply haven't found the time. So that's three out of 81 that have piqued my interest. How about you folks?

Yes, posted on the game's official blog yesterday was the following:

We’re still working away at Cave Story trying to make sure it’s faithful to Amaya-san’s original while adding a few things for the console release. One of these new additions, I’m happy to announce is Download Content. I think we received enough e-mails demanding it that we’re doing our best to include some new surprises in the WiiWare release. You’re going to have to wait for more info on that.

New levels? New characters? New weapons? Goodness me, it's enough to make a man faint from all the excitement.

And Hello Again! [Nicalis]

[Nicalis]

Cave Story Art Comparison: King [Nicalis]

DSi Not Bound for US Until Well Into Next Year
EA May Have Gotten Early Look at DSi, New WiiWare Announcement Today
Tetris Party, Boingz Coming to WiiWare, World of Goo Dated
MadWorld Still Not Playable (In the US at Least)
The Conduit - Still Going Strong
Boingz: The Game Where You Play as a Condom
Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop Makes Me Sad
Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon - Not a Looker, But She's Got Heart
Cave Story - Everything That's Old Is New Again
Call of Duty: World At War - None Dare Call It Call of Duty 5
Tetris Party - Old Dogs Can Learn New Tricks

While all that was making my head explode going on, I also got the chance for some quality time with Mirror's Edge and Gears of War 2. Oh, and I also got my hands on NXE - it was pretty sweet.

I'm going to go feed on something else now - preferably pizza. Fahey got me stuck on pizza.

At first, I mistook it for something my teenage babysitter used to play to entertain me when I was a kid (his favorite was Bonk’s Adventure, mine was Metroid). But after listening to the demo handler discuss the details – especially the part about how hands-on the Japanese creator is with this WiiWare version – I got my story straight and started looking for reasons why gamers would want to regress to this kind of gameplay.

The thing I noticed right away was the story. It was surprisingly deep, well-written, and it moved damn quick. At the end of the first area, I came to a village of rabbit people arguing about what to do with an evil doctor and a chick that kept herself locked away in a room. There was also a short, creepy scene with a guy at a computer terminal running out of food and pleading for his sister to come save him. Heavy stuff.

I met the first boss in the rabbit village – a dude who can best be described as a suitcase. His co-minion (a chick), made off with one of the rabbit girls and he was left behind to deal with me. He asked if I wanted to fight, and I said no. And he left.

I did a double take. I just talked my way out of a boss fight. That’s not something I remember doing in Castlevania or Contra, or any other old game that Cave Story seems to be emulating.

Everything else feels familiar, though. The enemies, the sprites and the backgrounds all have a retro, pixilated feel to it (although the game has gotten a full graphical overhaul for the Wii). You start out without being able to shoot anything, and then you find a gun and level it up so you can shoot bigger and better kinds of blasts. When you go under water, you have an air gauge of 100 that refills when you come up for air. You also find keys and access cards and heart containers to expand your life. The save points are little floppy disks (remember those?), and the entire thing will support the Classic Controller – so you can pretend you’re playing a SNES while pretending you’re playing a twenty year old game.

Overall, I really liked Cave Story. You can tell that a lot of thought, time and energy went into making it and even if you’ve never playing any game in your life that would lend it some kind of nostalgia, it just feels fun to play. Can you really ask for more from a WiiWare title?

Cave Story should be out in time for the holidays, unless something horrible happens and the push it to early January.

Cave Story: This title is an action-adventure game with new, exclusive content and features created only for the WiiWare version.

Yes, Cave Story is finally, officially coming to the Wii. Full monster press release on the jump.

[Thanks StupidDufus]

NINTENDO'S HOLIDAY 2008: WII SPEAK CHANNEL, CLUB NINTENDO, MORE SURPRISES

Nintendo Announces 'Significant Increase' in Q4 Wii Supplies over 2007

REDMOND, Wash., Oct. 2, 2008 – Nintendo today disclosed a number of surprises, including new games, the ability to use the Wii™ console to chat with friends near and far, and the expansion of the popular Club Nintendo rewards program to North America.

Continuing its commitment to supply new game experiences for every level of player, Nintendo revealed a wide range of games for the 2008 holiday season and beyond. A number of games are slated for 2009, including a new Punch-Out!! ™ and Sin & Punishment 2 for Wii, and Fire Emblem™: Shadow Dragon and Mario & Luigi™ RPG 3 for Nintendo DS™. Consumers also can expect a new "Personal Trainer” series of titles designed to help users enrich their lives and learn new skills in fun and interesting ways.

Nintendo also announced that North American supplies of the Wii video game console between October and December will see a significant increase from 2007's levels, and that Nintendo DS will also be available in greater abundance than ever before.

"We have new games and new experiences for every kind of player this holiday season, and that will certainly fuel increased interest in Wii and Nintendo DS,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. "While there's no way to gauge total demand for our hardware systems, we're trying to satisfy as many of those players as possible.”

The new Wii Speak™ Channel arrives on Nov. 16 and uses the Wii Speak™, a microphone that sits on top of your television. This accessory is sold separately at an MSRP of $29.99. People who buy the microphone are given a code that allows them to download the Wii Speak Channel from the Wii Shop Channel at no charge. The Wii Speak lets people in up to four locations who have traded Friend Codes chat with one another at no extra cost. When you use Wii Speak in real time, your Mii™ appears on your TV screen and mimics your chat. You also can leave audio messages for your friends and family members or use Wii Speak to narrate captions for your photos.

Gamers have longed for the expansion of Club Nintendo to North America for years, and now Nintendo is making it a reality for everyone. Club Nintendo rewards Nintendo loyalists who complete surveys and register Nintendo products with loyalty coins that can be redeemed for exclusive items available only to Club Nintendo members. Club Nintendo is set to debut in North America this holiday season.

Key software available for Wii this holiday season includes:

* Wii Music™: It's a new Wii experience that launches on Oct. 20 and gives you the ability to play a wide variety of musical instruments by using the Wii Remote™ and Nunchuk™ controllers to mimic the motions used to play real instruments. Everyone in the family will enjoy jamming together, while music fans will enjoy creating their own fresh, stylized takes on a variety of songs. Songs range from classical favorites like Beethoven's "Ode to Joy,” to pop hits like "Material Girl” or "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” to Nintendo standards like the Super Mario Bros.® theme.

* Animal Crossing™: City Folk: This game lets you live your life in a virtual community that's all your own. You can interact with the fun characters in your town, customize everything from your house to your clothing and even chat with other friends in the game using the Wii Speak. Animal Crossing: City Folk launches on Nov. 16.

o WiiWare delivers great new games directly to Wii consoles that are connected to the Internet. Nintendo's downloadable game service will see games like:

o Tetris Party: This game will feature 18 game modes, including 10 never-before-seen single-player and multiplayer variations of Tetris. Some modes will use the unique capabilities of the Wii Remote and the Wii Balance Board™.

o Strong Bad Episode 3: This third episode in the series features humorous story-driven game play, music-themed collectibles and achievements and an old-school side scrolling shoot 'em up mini-game, as well as a special celebrity guest appearance by rock gods Limozeen!

o World of Goo: This title is an award-winning, physics-based puzzle/construction game. Grab living, squirming, talking globs of goo to build structures, bridges, cannonballs, zeppelins and giant tongues.

o Cave Story: This title is an action-adventure game with new, exclusive content and features created only for the WiiWare version.

o Boingz: Developed by the award-winning studio NinjaBee and published by RealNetworks®, Inc., Boingz introduces players to bendy, stretchy little critters who've found themselves scattered about an alien world. Using the Wii Remote, players can grab, stretch and fling the rubber-band bodies of the Boingz to bounce them around the environments and help them find their way home.

Key games planned for Wii in 2009 include:

* Punch-Out!!: Nintendo is reviving one of its most storied and popular franchises with the first new Punch-Out!! boxing game in 15 years. Players will once again follow the exploits of the up-and-coming challenger, Little Mac, and take on a series of opponents, including favorites from the past like Glass Joe and King Hippo.

* Sin & Punishment 2: The announcement of a sequel to one of the most popular Japanese import titles ever is a dream come true for avid Nintendo fans. This new sequel blends intuitive Wii Remote pointing controls with the shooting and sword-swinging game play that made the original an instant classic and fan favorite.

Some Nintendo products available this fall for Nintendo DS include:

* Personal Trainer™: Cooking: This title launches on Nov. 24 as the first in Nintendo's new Personal Trainer series. Personal Trainer: Cooking includes more than 200 recipes from around the world and transforms the Nintendo DS into an electronic, interactive cookbook, complete with a glossary of terms and even instructional videos. In 2009, the Personal Trainer series will expand with Personal Trainer™: Math, a collection of basic addition, subtraction, multiplication and division drills based on the Kageyama method. Meanwhile, Personal Trainer™: Walking will introduce a wireless pedometer, letting consumers not only track every step they take, but also turn walking into interactive entertainment.

* Pokémon™ Ranger: Shadows of Almia: On Nov. 10, this new installment in the Pokémon Ranger series allows you to use the power of Pokémon to protect nature and help people in need as you strive to become a Top Ranger. Use the DS stylus to encircle and capture Pokémon with the "Capture Styler” as you explore the vast new Almia region.

Key games planned for Nintendo DS in 2009 include:

* Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon: A reinvention of the original NES™ titles with revamped graphics and intuitive touch control, Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon will finally introduce longtime fans to the stories that gave birth to the series nearly 20 years ago in Japan, while introducing the Fire Emblem franchise to a broader audience of strategy and chess fans. Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon also reveals the back story of Marth, the original lead character in the Fire Emblem series introduced and made popular in North America by the Super Smash Bros.® series of fighting games.

* Mario & Luigi RPG 3: The acclaimed Mario & Luigi series returns with another hilarious action role-playing game. Join the Mario Bros. as their travels take them far and wide.

* Rhythm Heaven™: If you can snap your fingers in time to music, you're ready to play this simple but infectious rhythm game. Just tap your stylus on the touch screen to the beat of the music.

Nintendo has a strong lineup of legacy games and accessories that have continued selling well, even a year after they launched. These include Super Mario Galaxy™, the Wii Zapper™ accessory, Wii Fit™, Super Smash Bros.™ Brawl and Mario Kart™Wii. These five products are expected to remain in high demand as shoppers look for ways to make their holiday dollars go further.

Remember that Wii features parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about these and other Nintendo products, visit www.Nintendo.com.

About Nintendo: The worldwide pioneer in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii™ and Nintendo DS™ systems. Since 1983, when it launched the Nintendo Entertainment System™, Nintendo has sold nearly 2.7 billion video games and more than 470 million hardware units globally, including the current-generation Wii and Nintendo DS, as well as the Game Boy™, Game Boy Advance, Super NES™, Nintendo 64™ and Nintendo GameCube™. It has also created industry icons that have become well-known, household names such as Mario™, Donkey Kong™, Metroid™, Zelda™ and Pokémon™. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo's operations in the Western Hemisphere. For more information about Nintendo, visit the company's Web site at www.nintendo.com.

Cave Story Piano Collection - 洞窟物語ピアノコレクション [Sebastian Wolff, via indiegames]

I know that E3 is right around the corner, but I think if I keep putting off this first ever Game Club it may never come to fruition. So lets get this thing going.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, you probably want to read this first. I still haven't come up with all of the details, but I have decided that what we will most likely do is include a limited number of people in the discussions in our Campfire room (a sort of big, secure chat room) and that we will then post the outcome of the chat in Kotaku for the rest of the readers to continue the discussion in. More details on how we will decide who gets in the door once we get going.

I suspect once we work the kinks out we will be choosing the game to feature in the Game Club, but for this first one ever I decided to would be nice to run a short poll to see which game you want featured. Hit the jump to vote and make sure you check out the three PC titles on the list, whether we pick them or not, they're all worth a play. Brian Crecente

Gawker Media polls require Javascript; if you're viewing this in an RSS reader, click through to view in your Javascript-enabled web browser.

Last time we posted about the sublime freeware platformer Cave Story and its upcoming migration to the PSP, many of you called me out, claiming that this project by Variant Interactive was widely known to be an unauthorized port. Pixel had apparently decried it. I was so swayed by the collective voice that I urged none of you to buy it.

Christopher Boyer, CEO of Variant Interactive, was wounded to the quick and sent me an email, explaining the situation:

f I might, I'd like to clear up what amounts to speculation from Wikipedia and a couple of folks on Livejournal. The ugliness started with a kid who I suppose is a regular in some Cave Story fan community on Livejournal.com, who sent Pixel an email, or posted on his BBS (one of the two, I'm not sure at this point) about the PSP version. Pixel, who does not speak English, didn't quite catch the gist of what he was saying and told him he didn't know what the kid was talking about. This kid took it to mean that Pixel had never heard of us or what we were doing. Hence the drama bomb.

The truth of the situation is that I've personally been in contact with Pixel, both one-on-one with my mediocre Japanese skills, and through a wonderful translator for the big stuff (and pretty much everything, at this point) since early 2005.

We are clearing each and every step with Pixel before we move forward on just about anything, and are about to wrap up an early build for him to preview and put his OK stamp on.

This is excellent news, and Christopher insisted that they were actually going to be sending Pixel a good chunk of change for the port.

Even more clarification, after the jump...

I was slightly less optimistic, though, about Christopher's bomb-shell announcement that Cave Story for the PSP was going to feature a complete graphical overhaul:

Primarily, the game is intended to be exactly what it is, with a facelift, as the main goal is to get Cave Story to a wider audience and share that experience. (The facelift, sadly, is a necessity for this - not everyone is into the retro look and feel, and a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down, so to speak.) We are absolutely planning other ways to expand the gameplay and make it a worthwhile purchase for old fans and soon-to-be-fans alike.

I asked him to clarify his intentions of giving a facelift to only some of the most beautiful and lovingly wrought pixel art to grace gaming in the last 15 years. Christopher soothed some of those fears:

It's like this. You and I both love Cave Story as it is. Piles of people love Cave Story as it is. We love its charming 8-Bit look and retro style and feel. And I'm sure you'd agree that the more people who can play Pixel's masterpiece, the better right?

But, not everyone will pick up on the game's oldskool flavor, precisely because it looks and sounds dated. What we are simply doing, with the main game mode, is bringing it to modern day standards, so more people will be interested in playing the game who aren't or haven't been into the indie game scene. That is what I mean when I say we are giving the game a facelift. We do intend to make it possible for people to play the game exactly as it was originally created as well, for those who want the original game exactly as it was, too. I don't want to rob anyone of that experience.

As much as I think these people who won't pick up on the game's "oldskool flavor" are dogs who should be shot in the gutters, this actually seems like the ideal solution. Those who'd like to play the game in a graphically updated version, full of buxom babes, he-man cyborgs and blood-splattering Uzis can do so. But those who simply want a portable and faithful version of, well, the most charming platformer ever made will have that option too. And expanding gameplay? Sounds like a good reason to pick up what's already a free game. Florian Eckhardt

With Vice City Stories and Silent Hill: Origins coming to the PSP in the next couple of months, Sony's brick has almost gone from "Portable Most Likely To Be Stuffed Into A Sock And Used To Bludgeon Ken Kutaragi Clean To Death" to being marginally worth having. But the announcement that Pixel's freeware 8-bit classic, Cave Story is coming to the PSP is a huge boon for the system.

I've written about my manic enthusiasm for the game before: "Cave Story is one of the greatest games ever made. Period, then exclamation point, then my hobnail boot imploding the obnoxious face of the fool who disagrees. So charming, frantic, ethereal... the creator, Pixel, is one of those quiet, imminently modest geniuses who can never fail to just melt your heart, and Cave Story is his masterpiece."

. On the other hand, there's no real point buying a PSP for Cave Story, considering it's free and playable now. Also, it's a damn short game, taking only about 4 hours to playthrough. Still, I might pick up a copy just to put a few yen in Pixel's pocket. Artists deserve to be rewarded for their labors of love. Cave Story PSP is due to be released sometime in 2007 by Variant Interactive. Florian Eckhardt

Cave Story PSP [Variant Interactive, thanks Thanius!]

Edit: According to Wikipedia, this is an unauthorized port, and Pixel won't get a dime. So just download the game and play it in a version that isn't ripping off the author. Don't buy this game when it comes out.

I was recently watching an interview with the guys who created Ico and Shadow of the Colossus where they mentioned that for Colossus they were trying to evoke the same emotion as they had managed to evoke in Ico, which was difficult since they they didn't seem to know what emotion that was. That emotion is the dreamlike quality of an almost unbearable beauty, and outside of Ico and Shadow of the Colossus, Cave Story is one of the only games I've ever played where I feel the same.

That beauty is largely evoked by Cave Story's wonderful music. Unfortunately, I think the remix with its synths and wailing guitars largely fails to make the listener feel the same heartrending sadness and innocent wonder as the midi tracks it is trying to ape. The best 'remix' of Pixel's songs I've ever heard was them being played faithfully on a piano. Still, I'll take any excuse I can to further promote this wonderful game. Florian Eckhardt

Cave Story Remix Project [Official Site]

Cave Story is one of the greatest games ever made. Period, then exclamation point, then my hobnail boot imploding the obnoxious face of the fool who disagrees. So charming, frantic, ethereal... the creator, Pixel, is one of those quiet, imminently modest geniuses that just melts your heart.

And then explodes it with adrenaline! Which is why we're posting this crazy speedrun of Cave Story's Hell level, which I've always found frankly unbeatable.

Haven't played Cave Story? What the hell are you waiting for? It's free! - Florian Eckhardt