Marvelous is still assuring everybody that Little King's Story is coming out, announcing yet another release date. Unless another delay is in the forecast, the latest news should make European Wii owners happy: European publisher Rising Star Games is planning to release the game on April 24, before it comes out anywhere else.

The last announced North American release date for the town-building RPG was February 17, but XSEED said even before then that the game was likely to be delayed -- which it obviously has. GameStop currently has a May 15 release date -- not to mention an adorable pre-order bonus!

Here's another look at Another Code R, courtesy of the official Japanese site. This is the lengthiest clip we've watched yet, and is a useful summary of everything we've seen to date: the point-and-click mechanics, the puzzles, the cut-scenes (that also utilize the rest of the game's cel-shaded style), and heroine Ashley doing her hilarious miming thing.

We could contentedly watch this game all day (and probably will when we finally acquire a copy, and are forced to stare at the screen for hours, frustrated by our lack of puzzle-solving smarts), but you know what would be even nicer? A localized version. Get on it already, Nintendo!

Our lack of Japanese skills meant we lost the thread pretty quickly in this Another Code R story trailer, but heck, sometimes it's enough to just look and listen.

This was found on the official site, which currently also has the videos we posted recently, and some character profiles, all in (sadly impenetrable) Japanese. If it wasn't for the small issue of gender, we'd almost be tempted into indulging in some Another Code R cosplay. Yeah, we actually just typed that -- live with it.


Source: Story trailer
Source: Official Japanese site [Via Go Nintendo]

NeoGAFfer "Hero of legend" periodically sends emails containing other forum members' questions to XSEED's Ken Berry, and actually gets substantive responses! Most of the questions are in the area of "would XSEED localize (game)?" -- and those are illuminating -- but occasionally a question about the company's existing lineup slips through, as was the case in the last round.

In a response to a query about the Little King's Story release date, Berry mentioned that the company has been "shooting for a February release date, but good chance that it will be delayed past that right now." The question related to Canadian stores, but we would expect the release date to be the same across North America. So, yeah. That February 17 release date on Nintendo's Q1 releases list? Don't count on it.

With the release of Another Code R just one month away, Nintendo has started posting brief clips of the game in action. It seems every bit as relaxed and laid-back as the DS titles, though we suspect the soft-focus visuals and mellow soundtrack are a cunning facade for some brutally hard puzzles. The 3D character models look great, and we are officially amused by protagonist Ashley miming all of her actions.

Another three videos follow the break, and we've a dozen new screens in our gallery. Also after the jump, because we've not yet had an opportunity to post it: the amaaazing Japanese boxart.

If Another Code R, Cing's Wii sequel to the DS adventure game Another Code (Trace Memory) is going to make the trip overseas, and we firmly hope believe it will despite no announcement to that effect, we'll at least have to wait another two weeks for it beyond the hypothetical unknown release date. Nintendo has announced a delay from the original January 22 release date to February 5.

The two-week delay is intended to allow extra development time, which suggests that publisher Nintendo wasn't happy with the quality of the game -- although a delay of just two weeks means that it's probably more a matter of a couple of bugs than the actual game design.

We've seen very little of Another Code R, Cing's Wii sequel to Trace Memory/Another Code, but it's coming out in Japan next month, published by Nintendo! Famitsu has new screenshots of the adventure game, and they look really good to us. The in-game 3D models look exactly like the character art!

1up's Kevin Gifford has translated the article and provided details of the setting, which comprise huge super spoilers if you haven't played through the first game. Just a warning. The new game has series protagonist Ashley exploring a lake campground, which, of course, stirs up trace important childhood memories.

We wholeheartedly endorse the movement to put new adventure games on Wii. Hopefully it doesn't pull them away from the DS, but the Strong Bad series has already made the Wii a destination for pointer-controlled pointing-and-clicking.

Where would Europe be without Rising Star Games? Answer: in a very, very dark place. The European publishing arm of Marvelous has already announced localizations of Muramasa: The Demon Blade and No More Heroes: Desperate Struggle, and has now confirmed plans to bring Cing's hat-obsessed strategy title, Little's King Story, to the region next March.

You can watch a trailer for the game here, if you like, and make yourself queasy with the cloying cuteness of it all. Not only that, but nine new screens (sadly not wearing adorable hats) sneaked into our gallery!

Hotel Dusk and Trace Memory developer CING is teaming up with Tecmo to deliver another atmospheric adventure on the Nintendo DS, this time in the form of a supernatural murder mystery. Again: Eye of Providence follows FBI special agent Jonathan Weaver as he investigates his family's death and its connection with a series of murders that occurred 18 years earlier. Again's title is derived from Jonathan's ability to see into the past and experience crimes -- you know, again.

Producer Koichi Yamaguchi walked us through a very early build of the game, demonstrating how this helpful hindsight would help us piece together the events that occurred in a given crime scene. In what is essentially a game of spot-the-difference, you'll view the environment in a first-person perspective on both DS screens (in book orientation). The touch screen allows you to interact with the scene, while the screen to your left displays the same area, but as it was in the past. As Yamaguchi noted, it makes sense to confine history to the non-interactive screen. You can't change the past, you can only learn from it.

We've stared at Little King's Story for a while, so we're quite familiar with the look of the tiny monarch and his populace of multifariously-hatted thralls. But, partially as a result of being stood up at E3, we have only the faintest notion of what playing it entails.

Like its contemporary tiny-king-building-a-town game, My Life as a King, Little King's town uses different buildings to determine what can be done. In Little King, the buildings serve to train the occupants in different skills, including fighting and farming. Unlike the WiiWare title, every townsperson is called into combat at your command, and their skills determine their abilities on the battlefield.

Your population doesn't seem to be able to diminish; according to the preview, when someone dies, a new resident washes up on the beach, though this new person will have "no loyalties and no relationships." And when someone does die, you have to attend his funeral. It's a strangely personal touch for the strategy genre.

You must also participate in hand-raising votes about the growth of the kingdom. If you fail to vote along with the majority of your constituents, your popularity will decrease and people will be less likely to do what you ask.

Remember all those coloring contests when you were a kid? As you grew older, it became fun to scoff at the children's feeble attempts to color within the lines, and chortle at their crayon selection when a pencil was clearly the superior implement. Well, since we're all so great at drawing and coloring, it's probably a good idea to enter the Little King's Story "UMA" Contest.

A UMA is an Unidentified Mysterious Animal. Create one, and your entry is complete! Little King's Story features a whole range of wacky inhabitants, and one UMA entry will be chosen to become an in-game creature! The top 100 entries will also be featured at a museum within the kingdom.

Release some creative tension, because there is no limitation on what you can make -- be it an animal, person, entity, or even a higher plane of existence. Just keep it in this dimension, okay? Hit up the contest details, along with some sample creations, right here. Happy drawing, and good luck!


[Via press release]

Nintendo Power already reported that Little King's Story (Project O) had picked up a North American publisher last month, but Marvelous Entertainment USA and XSEED Games are just now getting around to releasing an official statement on the bright and colorful strategy title.

The two companies have partnered to bring Little King's Story -- not to be confused with Square Enix's somewhat similar strategy title, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King -- to the States this winter. Hopefully, the charming looking game won't be lost amid all the other holiday releases.

Quick primer on the game: You play as Corobo, a shy boy who stumbles upon a crown in a nearby forest. Corobo discovers that with the crown, he can charm anyone in his village and give them orders. Howzer, a bull-knight, soon stops by and tells the kid that he's now the king of the village and that it's his responsibility to lead the hamlet into building a grand kingdom. Bring your scepter into the gallery below for some kingdom-building screenshots!

We have yet to see a copy of the latest Nintendo Power for ourselves, so we're technically calling this a rumor, but according to the NeoGAF writeup, XSEED has announced plans to publish Ousama Monogatari/King Story in the U.S. under the title Little King's Story. As if it weren't confusing enough to have two games about little kings building towns, now the title has become more similar to My Life As a King's Japanese title, The Little King and the Promised Land. XSEED recently announced their plans to publish a number of Marvelous games, so it's no surprise that one of their highest-profile Wii games is on the list.

According to Revogamers.net, Rising Star Games is planning to publish the title in Europe as well. Again, this makes sense, as Rising Star is a subsidiary of Marvelous.

With Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King out and tempting obsessives with DLC, it's easy to forget about the other Wii simulation game about a tiny king building a town: Ousama Monogatari (King Story). The latest screens show off King Story's unique textured style well, but they also reveal three of the jobs that the magical king Corobo can force people to take on.

Soldiers (possibly translatable as "grunts") stay close to the king and protect him with close-quarters combat. Carpenters, labeled "normal," act both as builders and architects, designing and building new structures and roads for the town. And farmers, described as "serious," dig holes and plant crops.

Sure, these may seem obvious, but we don't think we can expect normal real-world logic to apply in a game about a kid whose magic crown makes everyone do what he says.

We spent yesterday going through the big releases that've been announced for next year so far -- Smash Bros. Brawl and/or Wii Fit likely topping your personal "must get" list -- but what about the second-tier games that don't usually receive much press or attention?

Though we haven't forgotten about the low-key releases, we've collected a selection of games and media to ensure that these titles stay on your mind too! Read on for our top ten list of awesome 2008 games that you totally forgot about!