Here's a little trivia for you: if you've ever wondered what gamers from other parts of the world are playing the most, GfK International, the all-encompassing umbrella of market research divisions like Gfk Australia, has sent in recently updated lists of top ten games in Spain and Germany.

First up is Nintendo DS-lovin' Spain, whose top four games all cater to Nintendo's handheld. That's Pokemon: Diamond, THQ's Ratatouille, Dr. Kawashima's More Brain Training, and Pokemon: Pearl in order from first to fourth. The top ten games list is half-occupied by Nintendo DS titles, while three of the five games are published by Nintendo.

In the German side, 2K Games' BioShock rules the charts, with the PC version (no surprise there) taking top spot. The Xbox 360 version sits just outside of the top five at number six. In similar fashion to Spain, Germany also revels in Nintendo DS games, with both Pokemon titles noted (Diamond still leads Pearl), plus two Nintendo Wii titles to...

This week, Australia is going to have a lot of fun across the PC, Microsoft Xbox 360, and the Sony PSP. There's a handful of notable releases and they're led by Blazing Angels 2: Secret Missions (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC) and Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology for the Sony PSP.

Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology from Namco Bandai is a new spin-off of the Tales RPG series on PlayStation platforms. It tells the tale of a kingdom under siege from descenders who want to take over the domain. You can create customizable characters and use the Flex Range Linear Motion battle system taken from the video game's predecessors to beat the bad guys and save everyone in your land.

Blazing Angels 2: Secret Missions from Ubisoft is a retro-style aircraft combat game that allows you to visit the bloodiest war in history with covert missions in store for you and the elite squadron that you command. Own the skies over Europe and thwart Hitler's plans to create weapons of m...

 
With the Virtual Console proving to be a big hit for retro fans all over the world, it's not very hard to see why next-gen remakes of classic arcade games are also heading for the Nintendo Wii. We updated you earlier on a certain Shinto shrine maiden's makeover by UFO Interactive, now we have another game for you that's also being touched up the same company. It's Shin Chuka Taisen, or Monkey King: The Legend Begins.

This deceptively-difficult horizontal shooter with cute 2D graphics, in contrast to Kiki Kai World's Japanese mythology setting, has that Journey to the West deal going on with it. It's still a shoot-em-up, but with motion-tilt controls to deepen the intense bullet-dodging, boss-blasting experience just a bit further.

Now, a little bit of bad news. Shin Chuka Taisen has been delayed for a bit, as it previously had August as its release date. There's a few guesses as to when it will actually come out, ranging from next week to sometime before 20...

Nintendo continues its dominance on the Japanese software sales charts. In the latest data from Media Create, there was a total of 16 titles for Nintendo DS and Wii video game platforms in the top 20.

Nintendo's highest charting entry is the DS title Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates from Square Enix at number two. The top-ranking Wii game was Nintendo's own Mario Party 8.

Sony, on the other hand, had only four: two for the PlayStation 2 and one each for the PlayStation Portable and Playstation 3 video game systems. It should be noted, however, that the number one game on the charts, Sengoku Musou: Moushouden, is a PS2 title.

The only PS3 title that made it into the charts was Hot Shots Golf 5 at number 17. The highest-charting PSP title was Dragoneer's Aria at number 6.

No titles for Microsoft's Xbox 360 platform made it into the charts. You can check out the top ten entries in the Japanese software sales charts by clicking on the Vi...

Filed under: Fan stuff
Continuing the "things that look like Wiimotes but aren't" theme: Remember reading? Not on a screen, but in, like, these stacks of paper that are all stuck together on one side? I think they're called ... strategy guides?* Yeah, this Perler bead bookmark is for those.

We like how the natural properties of the Perler-bead-made Wiimote (the long, rectangular shape and the flatness, basically) lend themselves to use as a bookmark. The crafter probably made this without any intended purpose and realized only later how perfect it would be to mark pages. If only the yarn were on the other end and grey, the illusion would be complete.

*Full disclosure: as a librarian, this blogger is required to know what a book is.

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There's a lot of surprises in Square Enix's current lineup for this year's Tokyo Game Show. First off, The Last Remnant will be at the event, albeit in a video-only form. There will be no playable version of the game at TGS, even though earlier footage of it showed the game to be pretty far along in terms of production.

Also, Square Enix will be bringing its old fighting series Tobal back. The new Tobal title will be a mobile game, however, much like the new Parasite Eve title announced at the Square Enix Party. The company actually has a lot of mobile offerings lined up for TGS, with all of them available in playable form.

Here's a list of Square Enix's current TGS lineup:

Playable

Dragon Quest IV (DS)Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon (Wii)Final Fantasy IV (DS)Final Fantasy Tactics A2 (DS)Crisis Core FFVII (PSP)Final Fantasy CC: Ring of Fates (DS)DS Style (DS)Dragon Quest Mobile (mobile)Ganmoba Comics (mobile)Dirge of Cerberus Lost Episode (mobile)B...

We have previously referred to Nintendo Wii's Fire Emblem title as Fire Emblem: Goddess of Dawn, but we just recently found out that Intelligent System's turn-based strategy game is actually called Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn here in US shores. And that's not the only fresh info we have in store your you, there's still quite a handful.

Players can now foster relationships between characters, which will increase their strength when they fight side-by-side in the battlefield. This will greatly be beneficial, but do take care: if someone dies in the battlefield s/he won't come back, just like in real life.

There will be two main forces in the storyline of Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn. The new main characters led by Micaiah and Sothe make up the Dawn Brigade, while returning characters Ike, Mist, Shinon, and Rolf among others comprise the Greil Mercenaries. The story will  take a turn once the Dawn Brigade joins with the Greil Mercenaries.

Be forewarned: it's no...

Filed under: VC Monday Madness

With no video wrap-up, today's VC Monday Madness will be slightly lacking in the madness department, but only in that one aspect. The video should be here tomorrow when our resident guy-who-gets-to-do-that returns.

But in the other, more important consideration-- the games that came out this week-- today's Virtual Console Update is craaaaaaaaaazy. Four games hit the download service today, each and every one a total winner.

Well, except for Donkey Kong Jr. Math, we guess. But it's pretty entertaining as a novelty. Still not entertaining enough to pass over Bonk 3 for, but it's your money.
Adventure Island (NES, 1 player, 500 Wii Points) Donkey Kong Jr. Math (NES, 1-2 players, 500 Wii points) Landstalker: The Treasures of King Nole (Sega Genesis, 1 player, 800 Wii points) Bonk 3: Bonk's Big Adventure (Turbografx-16, 1-2 ...

What if you want to get your hands on a game the whole world is raving about and you find yourself unable to get it at the local Wal-Mart? What would you feel? Frustrated? Annoyed? Short-changed? Well, all of these emotions come pretty close to what people from the South Pacific area are feeling right now.

"Knock it off, Nintendo!" These are the strong words relayed by Aaron Rex Davies and many gamers from New Zealand, Australia, and other countries in the South Pacific region. What's their beef with Ninty? Apparently, they have been extremely frustrated with the delayed release dates to many of Nintendo's in-demand Wii titles reaching their local shores.

In a formal letter addressed to Nintendo, Davies wrote a comprehensive nine-page report detailing various studies on the matter. In the report, it shows the massive difference between the release dates of similar Wii titles within the US and Australia (with the worst taking as long as seven months). Also, issues such...

We're barely three weeks away from what could be the world's biggest game expo after the E3 downsizing of 2007. Yup, it's an event most of us would love to be in: The Tokyo Game Show 2007!

It's no secret that TGS has always been the Far East's answer to E3 in terms of big announcements and sneak peeks of exciting projects. If there's a shindig that the big game publishers are saving their aces for, this one has to be it.

Here's a short list of just some of the stuff we expect to see. Feel free to add your own wishes at the comments, though, because we're sure you have some big ideas of your own:

1. An apparition of Final Fantasy XIII - Square Enix was mum on this big PlayStation 3 project in E3 and even in during GC 2007 in Germany. Could they be saving the best for the year's last huge show? They better be because we're all aching to see more than just screenshots. A new trailer and some details would be terrific.

2. More of Wii Fit - There's no do...