Do You Need A Hero? Metal Slug 7 Trailer

It's really hard not to be a complete sucker for Metal Slug. Luckily, the seventh game in the series is headed to the Nintendo DS November 18th. Please feel free to never stop making sequels to this game, thanks!

Tornado Screens Neither Suck Nor Blow

Ignition Entertainment sent us these screens of their new Nintendo DS game Tornado.

I'll spare you the full plot, but it involves Toki and his Cosmic Cleaners collecting stolen items using their tornado machines.

What this boils down to is some quite Katamari Damacy-like gameplay, with a very DS twist as you use the stylus to whip up a tornado that sucks up whatever you have been asked to recover.

Must play hell on your touchscreen - better invest in a new protective film.

Blue Dragon Plus Adds American, European Release Date

The follow up to Mistwalker's Xbox 360 role-playing game Blue Dragon was released in Japan earlier this month for the Nintendo DS to so-so sales. Today, publisher Ignition Entertainment announced that it has picked up the title, hoping for greater success with its release of Blue Dragon Plus in North America and Europe in March of 2009. Wait, the press release actually says the DS title will "breathe fire" across the two continents, a disheartening announcement that spells certain doom.

In the short amount of time until we have left we're all burned to a crisp by Blue Dragon Plus' western release, you can enjoy the attached press release, which highlights the creative superteam of Sakaguchi, Toriyama and Uematsu, as well as "exciting RPG elements" like "item collection" and "character progression." What, no mention of menu navigation?

In a situation like the re-release of an enhanced version of the original dismal failure Vampire Rain for the PlayStation 3 it might have been wise for Ignition Entertainment to pull back a bit on creating the marketing website for the game. As it stands, I've had more fun hunting the undead on the new website for Vampire Rain: Altered Species than I did throughout the whole of the original game.

The website features new trailers, screenshots, character bios, wallpapers, and a nifty night scope mechanic that has you hunting down seven vampires to gain access to the hints and tips section of the site. Perhaps they should just release this for the PS3?

Vampire Rain: Altered Species [Official Website]

It wasn't the game mechanics or story that first piqued my interest in Teenage Zombies: Invasion of the Alien Brain Thingys, it was that really neat art style, the art style epitomized by the game's box cover. I loved the way it looked, something about its blend of comic style and malevolent silhouettes intrigued me. I figured that if nothing else, the game would be fun to look at, if not play. Heck, it's a Zombie side-scroller for the DS and there are brains. What could go wrong?

Hit the jump to find out.

Japan Fears New, Risky IPs

A lot of Japanese publishers are commenting about coming into and developing in the Western market, but I don't think that a lot of Japanese companies are taking as many risks as they used to... You've got Devil May Cry 4, Metal Gear Solid 4. No one's really taking the risks with original IP. They think the answer is to come to the US or come to Europe and found development studios which would appeal to the West. I don't think that's the answer. People are just not taking that creative risk anymore.