Last night I downloaded the demo for the upcoming JRPG, Eternal Sonata. What at first was mild interest quickly turned into intense anticipation. This game is so polished. Now in case you aren’t familiar with the title, it has a pretty odd plot. Basically, the 19th century Polish composer, Frédéric Chopin is on his deathbed with Tuberculosis. You are playing in his dream. Now when I say it like that it sounds pretty dull, but you play in a beautifully vibrant fantasy world where music plays a key part. It’s interesting that we see such unrealistic fantastical elements and the dark reality of the death of a historical figure wrapped up into one story, but it seems that’s exactly what ES is attempting. To be honest, the plot isn’t what has me anticipating this game, it’s the beautiful world, intense gameplay, and wonderful music that all tie together. The battle system is very fun to play. It is kind of a mixture of action RPG and timed battle systems, with character specific abilities that change depending on environment. And aside from some cheesy localization dialogue, everything looks polished and AAA. Eternal Sonata hits store shelves (and my Xbox 360) on September 17th. Check out the trailer embedded below.

With a most sincere puppy-dog-eyed apology, Microsoft announced yesterday that they are extending their manufacturer’s warranty of 1 year to 3 years. After constantly denying the mounting anecdotal evidence of system failures, it appears MS is finally admitting there is a problem and are providing a solution. While I personally, nor anyone I know has had an Xbox 360 die from the infamous, Red Ring of Death, it is apparent that it has become quite a problem.

I have to admit, I like what Microsoft is doing. Now I know they are a little late in doing so, they at least appear to be on the up-and-up in extending the warranty. So what are the details? Well, according to Major Nelson’s recent podcast on the subject, the normal 1-year warranty still applies, but for “general hardware failures” with the RROD, there is now a 3-year warranty. Also, if you have had your console repaired in the past for the RROD, Microsoft will cut you a reimbursement check. It is estimated that this will cost Microsoft around $1.05 billion to $1.15 billion for the policy change. Those are some deep pockets.

Press Release and FAQ

Even though Lionhead Studios’ Fable 2 is still quite a long way off, they have been nice enough to start a new series of video diaries chronicling their development process. Starting today, they will be available on the Lionhead website, and the Xbox Live Marketplace. I watched the first episode, and I must say I love how ambitious Peter Molyneux is with his games. The first episode, which is about love and emotion in Fable 2, almost seems a little over-the-top. The idea, which I agree is a good one, mostly centers around the new “dog” addition gameplay element. You do not tell your dog what to do, but essentially you get a sense that the dog loves you, and will do as instructed. Conversely, you can hate and abuse your dog, and he will in turn hate you. While Molyneux’s ideas often sound better on paper than in actual practice, I must say I applaud his efforts. He is often known for over-promising and under-delivering, but I think his work is important to the industry. Even if the games he makes aren’t stellar blockbusters, he at least is addressing and attempting to tackle issues with game design and our perception of interaction. The concept is that NPCs should not simply do what you tell them, but they should have a free will, and their own decisions should be made by them. This is essentially what makes humans interesting to talk to, and why we have relationships.

Granted it seems a bit silly discussing these issues in the same context of a virtual dog, and the video somewhat plays out silly. But I’m glad the folks over at Lionhead are brave enough to talk about them, and to even make free little video progress reports. Another interesting concept to be explored by Fable 2 is Death. Often death in a video game simply means going back in time 15 minutes with a “do-over”. This destroys the concepts of urgency and consequences. Molyneux has said in interviews that Fable 2 will address this somehow. How exactly, remains to be seen. Hopefully the next installment from Lionhead will cover this topic. Keep up the good work Lionhead.

With an exciting press release by Nintendo today, which finally set a date for Metroid Prime 3, it got me thinking about upcoming game releases. So far this year is looking pretty good. Usually, gamers think summer is just about playing older games and pining for new ones. But this year we get some solid releases in the dog days of summer, including one I’m really anxious to play, the aforementioned Metroid Prime 3, which will hit August 20th. I kept thinking of other great games coming soon, so I thought I’d make a list…

Xbox 360

• Blue Dragon (8/28)
• Halo 3 (9/25)
• Rock Band
• Guitar Hero III
• Assassin’s Creed

Wii

• Mario Party 8 (5/30)
• Pokemon Battle Revolution (6/25)
• Metroid Prime 3 (8/20)
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl
• Mario Galaxy

DS

• SimCity (July)
• Heroes of Mana (8/14)
• Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles
• Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

PSP

• Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core

VC

• Metroid
• Super Mario RPG
• Super Metroid
• Zombies Ate My Neighbours
• Zelda 2

XBLA

• Carcassonne
• Prince of Persia Classic
• Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo
• Ikaruga

So there you have it. That’s my personal must-have list. Did I miss anything? Any must-haves you guys are looking forward to?

Quite an interesting set of releases this week. Let’s take a look at our contestants…

Wii Virtual Console

• Pacman (NES) - $5
• Ninja Gaiden (NES) - $5
• Ninja Spirit (TG-16) - $6

Xbox Live Arcade

• Soltrio Solitaire - $10
• Aegis Wing - FREE!

Now, let’s take an in depth look at both services. Nintendo, Pac-man is fun, but you are late. XBLA already had a better version of Pac-man with leaderboards and achievements for the same price months ago. As for your sneaky inclusion of two ninja games, that’s great. I haven’t played Ninja Spirit, but Ninja Gaiden is a classic and a solid inclusion.

Now Microsoft, Solitaire? Ten bucks!? I understand there are 18 different solitaire games in the package, but still…it’s solitaire. One player games don’t exactly shine on the world’s best gaming network. Now if that was your only release, you would have definitely lost this week, but a free game, that’s unprecedented. Sure it was made by interns, and I know the gameplay probably doesn’t run very deep, but you can’t beat free! Sorry Nintendo, Microsoft has raised the stakes, this round goes to XBLA.

Score: XBLA 3, VC 2

XBLA has won twice in a row, can they make it three? Here’s this week’s downloadable lineup…

Wii Virtual Console

• Mighty Bomb Jack (NES) - $5
• Final Fight (SNES) - $8
• Ordyne (TG-16) - $6

Xbox Live Arcade

• Double Dragon (Arcade) - $5

This week is kind of a tough one. XBLA brings us a nice online enabled version of Double Dragon. It’s an arcade classic with cleaned up visuals for HD. I got admit, it looks good and its fun to play, but I used to own this arcade game, and played it to death. It’s fun, but it just doesn’t seem to leave you wanting more. While the XBLA title brings a good bang-for-the-buck, Wii does bring a decent number of games to choose from. You have another excellent brawler, along with an obscure platformer, and what looks to be an interestingly solid shooter.

So, the verdict this week is…. VC! Just when you thought XBLA was going to bury VC, they come from behind and tie it up. Very nice Nintendo, now get to work on Super Metroid!

Wow, I started this new weekly column, and now I am consistently late in posting it. Quickly, here are this week’s contestants.

Wii Virtual Console

• Castlevania (NES) - $5
• The Legend of the Mystical Ninja (SNES) - $8
• Shockman (TG-16) - $6

Xbox Live Arcade

• Catan - $10
• Centipede / Millipede - $5

So let’s see, Nintendo’s got Castlevania and a couple more obscure retro titles. I’ve heard Mystical Ninja is good, and I know Castlevania is great. But, I have been waiting quite a while for Catan. It’s the Xbox Live enabled game based on the board game Settlers of Catan. The original board game looked like awesome fun, but I have no friends that want to play board games with me. At least with Catan on XBLA you can play on XBL. Also, XBLA brings the first bundle of retro arcade games for the low price of $5. That’s like $2.50 a game, or like $0.05/Pede. Sorry N, XBLA wins again. Thanks for Castlevania though, I mean you did put up a fight.

Winner: Xbox Live Arcade

Score: VC 1, XBLA 2

Don’t worry, I haven’t already abandoned my shiny new website. I was just on vacation. I went to New York, and actually got a lot of awesome pictures which I will post later. Now, I figure better late than never for the weekly edition of VC vs. XBLA. Let’s see what we got this week.

Wii Virtual Console

• Gradius III (SNES) - $8
• Wonder Boy in Monster World (Genesis) - $8
• Battle Lode Runner (TG-16) - $6

Xbox Live Arcade

• Eets Chowdown - $10
• Pinball FX - $10

At first, I didn’t know what to think of the VC titles. I had heard of Gradius, but Wonder Boy and Battle Lode Runner? To be honest, this kind of thing happens somewhat frequently, since I didn’t have a TG-16 or a Genesis growing up, so I missed out on a lot of these games. After doing some Googling, I determined that both Wonder Boy and Battle Lode Runner were great games, just a little obscure. This is the double edged sword of the Virtual Console. Sure, I can go back and play these games that I never played, but how do I know I would like them? This is when Xbox Live Arcade’s demo system really shines. Similarly, I had never heard of Eets Chowdown either, but in contrast, I was able to try it out without spending a single virtual penny. Ultimately I decided both XBLA titles were definitely fun. Pinball FX doesn’t sound like much, but it is a pretty nice looking, and fun to play pinball game.

Overall, no must-buys this week, but kudos to XBLA for letting me figure that out myself. Also, yet another two-fer this week for the XBLA. Congrats Microsoft, this round goes to you.

Normally I just post XBLA and VC releases on the day they are released. But today I noticed that both services announce that week’s titles on Monday anyway. I think Microsoft does this in the hope you will see an XBLA release and stop yourself from making that hasty $-to-Wii-Point conversion. This week is also interesting because for the first time ever, Microsoft has two releases on Wednesday. So without further adieu, here are the releases.
Wii Virtual Console (4/16)

• PunchOut! (NES) - 500 Points/$5
• Virtua Fighter 2 (Genesis) - 800 Points/$8
• Bonk’s Return (TG-16) - 600 Points /$6

Xbox 360 Live Arcade (4/18)

• Gyruss - 400 Points/$5
• 3-D Ultra MiniGolf Adventures - 800 Points/$10

Kudos to Microsoft for making the effort with a multiple release. But I must say, this is simply a tactic to cover for shoddy releases. Gyruss hasn’t aged well, and MiniGolf is probably the most cliche casual gaming can get. Nintendo, on the other hand has some solid offerings. You could opt for PunchOut!, one of my favorite NES games of all time, you could get the Genesis arcade-port of Sega’s popular fighting franchise, or you could go on another adventure with Bonk! Sorry MS, this round goes to Nintendo.

Winner: Wii Virtual Console

Score: VC 1, XBLA 0

After having passed last weeks XBLA’s offering, I am happy to see a solid title hit today. Boom Boom Rocket is EA’s pyromanic rhythm game. I just downloaded it, and gave it a try. Probably simply because I have a soft spot for rhythm games, I really liked this one. It;s kind of like DDR for your fingers. Fireworks appears as arrows on your screen and rise to the bar at the top, where you must detonate them at the right time with the matching button (A, B, X, Y). The arrows come at varying angles and speeds, so it can get kind of hard. The better timed you “detonation” is, the prettier the fireworks display. It’s fun, simple, and works very well. My only complaint is the forgettable techno classical music mash-up songs on there. Couldn’t you have come up with something better? Well, it does support downloadable content, so here’s to hope. Boom Boom Rocket will set you back 800 points.