XLR8R

Tecmo Bowl Returns!
Any way you slice it, Tecmo Bowl, released for the NES in 1989, was and still is one of the best football games ever to grace a home console. And this week, old-school digital gridiron heads were rewarded for 19 years of patience, as Tecmo announced that Tecmo Bowl will be returning this fall to the Nintendo DS in the form of Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff.

Spore Creature Creator
The long-awaited evolution simulator, Spore, from Sims creator Will Wright, will begin rearing its head when the Spore Creature Creator is released on June 17.

Creature Creator will allow would-be gods their first chance to begin constructing, trading, and showing off their own race of beings, which can then be imported into the final version of Spore, due out later in the fall.

Okami Art Site Now Up
To celebrate the impending April 15 release of Okami on the Wii, a game based on Japanese mythology and known widely for its stunning “sumi-e” design style, Capcom recently unveiled a brand new site devoted to the game’s art.

Okami was originally released on the PlayStation 2 back in 2006 and received many accolades, including a few “Game of the Year” nods. Unfortunately, and bewilderingly, the game failed to really gain commercial momentum.

God of War: Chains of Olympus
Sony Computer Entertainment
PSP
$39.99

In the few short months that 2008 has been alive, the PSP has seen an impressive jump in quality titles, from the fine RPG adventure of Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core to the arcade-action of Wipeout: Pulse. But perhaps the best example of the PSP’s ever-increasing potential is the recent release of God of War: Chains of Olympus.

Guitar Hero DS Comes Alive!
This week, the long-rumored Guitar Hero for the Nintendo DS was officially announced and shall henceforth be known as Guitar Hero: On Tour.

Available this summer (no firm date), On Tour comes with an attachable fret/grip peripheral that serves as your ersatz axe and a stylus in the shape of a guitar pick that will allow you to strum along on the DS touchpad.

Patapon
Sony Computer Entertainment
PSP
$19.99

Once in a while, a game comes along that seems so ridiculous it has to be awesome. Patapon is one such a game.

iPhone Gets Games
At their annual software development meeting earlier this week, Apple not only announced plans to make the iPhone a viable gaming platform, something that had been rumored since the thing came out, but to also make developing those games relatively cheap and easy (if you know what the hell you are doing, that is).

Metal Gear 4 Gets Release Date. Helps Save PS3
2007 was a pretty crappy year for the PS3. It sold relatively poorly when compared to the Wii and Xbox 360. It was more expensive, confusing, and most importantly, didn’t have any games that really warranted a purchase of the Blu-ray based console.

A Bathing Ape DS
I kind of hate the idea of Bape (A Bathing Ape), and most hipster labels in general. Just because a Japanese dude slapped a picture of a monkey on a t-shirt does not make the item worth $100. But then again, I wear the same jeans every day and am usually drunk, so what do I know?

But apparently Nintendo, loves Bape, because the company is allowing Nigo’s crew to design a DS featuring their monkey character, Baby Milo, along with a Bape’d version of Mario. Milio?

Aerosmith Gets Own Guitar Hero

A rumor that began several months ago has been proven true, as Activision unveiled plans to release an entirely Aerosmith-based Guitar Hero sometime in June of this year.