Stealing a grand section of the E3 show floor with a larger-than-life-sized set of adorable farm animals was Natsume’s latest Harvest Moon title Harvest Moon: Grand Bazaar for the Nintendo DS. Yes, yes I know. A good percent of you reading this are having the passing thought, “Another Harvest Moon game? There better be something wildly new with this one, like cows in space or online multiplayer.” Luckily I can at least promise part of that passing wonder you just had. Grand Bazaar finally features an online multiplayer with a little more meat to it.

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If Rainy Woods was something you have been following (for years now…) waiting and waiting for just the littlest ketchup squirt of information, I advise your waiting to end. Rainy Woods, a horror game originally planned for both the PS3 and Xbox 360 by Marvelous (with their partner Ignition, once again such as with their recent Muramasa), has been halted due to its similarities to the TV series Twin Peaks. It was more or less scrapped, though the developer Access Games has gone back to the chopping block, brought some bits from Rainy Woods, and brings us Deadly Premonition. It’s now penned as an exclusive title for the Xbox 360. Screenshots, character information, a trailer, and  more details below!

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I don’t think I need to tell anyone twice that has seen at least one screenshot of this game that the game is truly an artistic masterpiece of this generation. Le crème de le crème of artistic gaming splendor. This is clearly Muramasa’s weapon of choice, but what other spears did developer Vanillaware decide to toss your way? Well, what IS Muramasa besides fodder for the games as art debate? It’s a 2D Action RPG exclusive to the Wii, but daring enough to scrap any type of possibly fatal motion controls, so there are no gimmicks included in this package. (Thank goodness.) There are two playable characters in Muramasa, which romanticizes Japanese folk culture through and through. The characters, the backgrounds, the clothing styles.

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Thursday evening, I was invited to attend a demo sampling of XSEED Games’ upcoming lineup in New York City. One of the titles on site that had generated a lot of genuine interest, was a seemingly innocent PSP title called Half-Minute Hero. This original and quirky title is just begging for the ADD-riddled gamer to find his or her way towards the addiction that they will soon face upon playing. HMH is a full RPG experience — in 30 seconds! It sounds silly to talk about it and say, Hey guys, you should go drop a 40 spot (Or however much it ends up retailing for) on this new hit PSP title, it’ll last you a whole 30 seconds! But it’s more than that, it actually boasts a surprising 15+ hours of gameplay.

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In Japan, games are fearless and full of taboo and danger that the Western world has long barricaded itself from. Suicide, incest, infanticide, gives you the creeps right? Probably not, because in this generation we’re ready for themes like this, and if you’re me, you’re more than ready, you crave it. Tons of these games exist in Japan, but a lot of video game publishers tend to keep it that way in fear that it won’t gain any attention (Read: Sales) in other venues like the U.S. Luckily, there are publishers like Ignition Entertainment that are willing to jump over hurdles to bring us these sinister evils and “oh my’s” of gaming with their recent release of the quirky Lux-Pain.

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