If you're new here and you like what you see, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed, and browse around for more fun stuff. Thanks for visiting!

In a likely attempt to expand her legion of lonely otaku to the english speaking world, Shoko-tan, Japanese otaku idol and an otaku herself has started blogging in english. Well this is somewhat of an overstatement, her posts are actually being translated by someone in the shadows.

In this blog she is narrating her stay in Los Angeles as she appears as a guest at LA’s Anime Expo. Its filled with tiny tidbits of info and pictures and pretty much her saying how American cosplayers are so cute. This girl has Japan tied by its collective nutbladder and now she’s about to do it to America too.

Go on, click the link, you know you wanna go look at the pretty pictures and then argue online about how she’s your waifu.

[Shoko Nakagawa English Blog]

Don’t you just love Atlus? With Persona 4 just days away from a JP release, they’re teasing us by putting up an onsen (hot springs) peeping game.

While my lack of knowledge of the Japanese language prevented me from understanding the mechanics of the game, this Nicovideo link (you’ll need an account to watch) of said web-game got me intrigued. To those who hope to see some skin (if you know what I mean), I’m sad to say that the game seems to be relatively worksafe, aside from girls wrapped in towels and wearing bikinis.

As of now, it is still unconfirmed whether this mini-game will be included in the actual PlayStation 2 game or otherwise. While some of us might feel that it would be a brilliant idea, I wouldn’t get my hopes up too high.

[Sankaku Complex]

Okay, so maybe “overlords” isn’t the right word. The words “Tales of”, despite how I want to believe otherwise, will never hold the same gravity in terms of gaming as “Final Fantasy.” They also aren’t shoo-in US releases: We have yet to see stateside releases of much of the Tales of the World spinoff games, Tales of Destiny 2, Tales of Rebirth, the Tales of Destiny PS2 remake, Tales of the Tempest, or Tales of Innocence, but at least it’s good news to hear the series is doing well for itself overseas.

That being said, new magazine scans from Japan have revealed yet another Tales game on the horizon: Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2. For those who never played the first Radiant Mythology game (It DID come out in North America), this will be a spinoff crossover game where characters from no small number of Tales games come together to fight a greater evil. From the scan we can see Tales of Vesperia’s Yuri, Tales of Symphonia’s Presea, and Tales of the Abyss’ Guy among others.

Here’s hoping this gets the English treatment. Namco-Bandai US seems to appreciate the PSP more than the DS.

[Siliconera]

While fans were ecstatic to hear that Diablo III would finally be coming within the foreseeable future, many were disappointed by the change in aesthetic from the last game to this one. As of now, there’s a fan-created petition urging Blizzard to make the game darker, more gothic, gritty, and realistic. Right now it has a staggering 26,000 signatures!

Lead Producer Keith Lee says that the art direction is deliberately stylized in the Blizzard tradition (as seen in Starcraft II shots as well), and that they’re employing “cleaner textures so that you can really focus.” He also emphasized the need for contrast and color in the visuals, saying “color is your friend,” and cited The Lord of the Rings films as a visual inspiration.

Will the petition accomplish anything at all? It seems as though the number of signatures will keep growing all the more as a response to this defensive explanation on Blizzard’s part—the fans will simply fight harder. Perhaps some sort of compromise will be reached and we might see some slight changes to the graphics in the future? It’s entirely possible, since the game is still in alpha and many details have yet to be finalized.

[MTV Multiplayer / via Joystiq]

When I say “pretty much,” I mean that there’s no reason to guess otherwise, looking at the evidence here from the Uk’s Official Nintendo Magazine. Kotaku agrees, saying they expect Nintendo to announce the game during this year’s E3 event.

From the image provided, it looks like nothing has changed dramatically, at least on the graphics front (which is to be expected given how most franchise updates from Gamecube to Wii have turned out). Hopefully this will be an even deeper game than previous Animal Crossings.

[Kotaku]

Blizz fans rejoice: the good news doesn’t stop at Diablo 3. At Blizzard’s Worldwide Invitational event in Paris, VP Rob Pardo confirmed that "there is still one unknown project". He has also confirmed that the several job listings referencing an "unannounced next-gen MMO" did not refer to Diablo 3. So, what exactly is it?

Current speculation points to an oft-rumored Starcraft MMO, though it’s equally possible that Blizzard is, for the first time since the original Starcraft hit shelves in 1998, creating a brand-new franchise. Paul Sams, Blizz’s Chief Operating Officer, said in an interview with Gamasutra that "The idea of a new franchise is very intriguing to employees of the company. Are we ever going to release a new one? I would absolutely say we will at some point. I just don’t know when that day will be quite yet." Wether or not he is hinting at a new franchise from Blizzard isn’t known just yet, but that might just be what he’s doing.

As for a release date for Wrath of the Lich King, Starcraft 2, or Diablo 3… Well, come on. This is Blizzard we’re talking about.

[From Shacknews]

Not 2 weeks after the Pyro update hit computers everywhere, Valve has already announced that they are working on the next pack of achievements and weapons, this time focusing on the Heavy. On Tuesday, Robin Walker stated on their blog that they would be trying to “make the Heavy more viable when he has no Medic to pair with”.

Robin also said that the real key with the updates, specifically this one, is to make sure they enhance the role of the Heavy without making him overpowered, especially in the oft-used Heavy-Medic combo. Valve is currently planning on releasing updates for all nine of the classes in it’s insanely popular first-person shooter, referring to it as “a large scale modification to the core of the game.” No timeline has been set just yet for the update.

[From Shacknews and the Team Fortress blog.]

Next month Japan Post will issue 10 stamps based on Patlabor, the iconic mecha manga and anime. This comes as the latest installment in their heroes of anime and manga series. We’ve previously covered the launch of Mario, Evangelion and Resident Evil stamps. It seems only Japan has caught on to the fact that the only people who collect stamps are obsessive freaks so you might as well cater to their tastes huh?

[Japan Post]

During a preview of the game on X-Play, there was a moment where the song selection screen was shown. Just from one screenshot, we can see Rock Band 2 is still maintaining the diversity of rock sub-genres and delivering tunes old and new alike. The song titles can be seen in the pic above.

It’s possible that “All the Small things and “More Than A Feeling” are DLC, due to the lack of a “2” logo next to them. At this point it’s also unclear which artists are behind a few of these songs (is “Panic Attack” the one by Dream Theater or Finger Eleven?). But in any case the lineup already looks solid and reasonably eclectic, as we’d expect from the series.

[ScoreHero / via bemanistyle.com]

Amidst all of the excitement about Chrono Trigger DS (I’m excited, are you excited? I’m excited!), from Shonen Jump comes a tiny cut-off scan of what could very well be yet another Tales game for the Nintendo DS, Tales of Heart.

All that’s on the web now is this image, which shows two different styles of character art and presumably the two lead characters, Shing and Kohaku. The game will be sprite based in 3D environments, unlike the 3D models of Tales of the Tempest and Tales of Innocence (Both of which have yet to receive any stateside release).

Hopefully the newfound popularity of the series will pave the way for at least one DS Tales game coming stateside. Please, Namco? We’ve been good!

[Wii @ Everyday]

It’s Famitsu time again! That means we get to take a look at some upcoming games in Japan that we may or may not ever see on this side of the Pacific. It seems Namco-Bandai is trying to take some of the popularity of their iDOLM@STER arcade and Xbox 360 games and put them on what we’re sure is a more lucrative platform in Japan.

Given the oh-so-stereotypical name, Happy Dance Collection looks to be a slightly more interactive idol-music simulator game. Instead of just watching little girls dance you instead dance yourself. It also looks like your Miis can watch and fangasm at how good your avatar dances. The game is set to come out some time this year in Japan. Seeing this Stateside is likely only a pipe dream for some.

[GoNintendo]

This is now my wallpaper

FUCK YES! Excuse me while I throw my editorial style out the window for this one. I’m just really fucking excited! If you load up this page on Square-Enix’s Japanese site you’ll be greeted by a really, really REALLY familiar clock sound. The URL for this site also ending in CTDS and the DS logo in the website mean only one thing dear reader!

CHRONO TRIGGER FOR THE NINTENDO DS! Holy crap, as much as I have bashed Square doing rehashes of games for the DS I simply cannot contain my overwhelming excitement over playing Chrono Trigger again, on the DS. There are really no more details right now but that doesn’t matter. Readers, no…. friends, excuse me while I kiss the sky!

[Chrono Trigger For Nintendo DS]

MTV Games announced the highly-awaited sequel to the blockbuster Rock Band recently, which will come out on the Xbox 360 in September, and for PS3 and Wii later in the year. All downloadable content from the original game, as well as the on-disc songs, will be playable on the sequel. Of course, you can still use your old instruments as well.

Also Harmonix says that the game “takes lessons we’ve learned” from making the predecessor “and addreses them,” saying they have been listening to fans for advice, while promising “new ways for you to experience your music library that have never been seen in a music game before.” Strong words! As of now there aren’t any details on possible new hardware.

I’ve got a few caveats with this game. First of all, the development cycle seems to have been prohibitively short due to the need to stay competitive, but Harmonix is promising a lot in this game. I also wonder if they addressed the issues surrounding their hardware, which are definitely being challenged by Guitar Hero: World Tour.

[MTV News]

That’s right, Sega just got a sweet piece of the coveted Suzumiya pie that has been so lucrative in Japan over the last few years. As of now they have only purchased it for DS, and are looking to make an adventure game with a new storyline separate from the famous anime series.

The release is slated for Winter, so we should be getting more information on this title soon, which for now is just going by the default name of Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu (The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya). If by “adventure” they mean point and click, I’d be pretty stoked about this title, but Sega isn’t really known for producing in that genre, so it will be interesting to see what kind of game this becomes.

[Siliconera]

Enterbrain’s next entry in its RPG Maker series is coming out for PC, but you’ll be able to export and publish games to an XBox 360 via the XNA Creators Club.  It may be possible to publish said games as free to play XNA Community Games as well.

This could be a boon for doujin game developers who want to gain wider exposure, and also for the fans looking to play more obscure games on 360. It’s hard to say whether this will take off or not, but knowing the persistence and ingenuity of indie developers, this should lead to the production of some quality titles.

[Siliconera]

You like anime, video games, Japan, music and whatnot; you also have a good amount of time you're not wasting, here at Dark Diamond we've got you covered! Everything for the Gamer and the Otaku, welcome Home.

Got tips? Want to get in touch with us? Email us at tips@darkdiamond.net

Subscribe to our RSS Feed!

Or get Dark Diamond directly in your email!

• Video-Games
• Japan
• Nintendo
• otaku
• Anime
• geek
• Wii
• video
• WTF
• Videogames
• Music
• Retro
• PS3
• humor
• Gaming-Industry
• Manga
• PC
• DS
• Xbox-360
• Cosplay