Review of the Week

So after a somewhat eventful week, what has happened in the nerd, gaming and film universe? Let's find out:

Nintendo News - Year of Luigi

This week, Nintendo (via their regular streaming service, Nintendo Direct) announced a lot of stuff coming to the 3DS, all starring Mario's brother, Luigi who since the original Luigi's Mansion several years ago, hasn't had a dedicated game since. However Nintendo have made it clear that Luigi's year is now with many things coming to the 3DS and Wii U, all with a focus on him. The announcements are as follows:

Animal Crossing: New Leaf for 3DS will finally be released in June 2013 for North America and Europe with a potential release for Australia in Q2 2013. The game will have more stuff to do than ever before with the ability to customise the village, the way your home looks and the use of shorts, shirts and hats. Swimming will be here as well. The game has proven successful in Japan and South Korea so let's see how it will play out in other countries.

Code of Princess, a hack and slash game for 3DS by Atlus will be released as a Nintendo eShop exclusive in Europe, sometime this year.

Mario and Donkey Kong, the 5th instalment in the successful M vs DK series and the first for 3DS will be released as a eShop exclusive in 2013 at some stage for most countries. Unlike before, M and DK are now working together with the idea of the player making a path for the mini toys to have them reach the goal. There is also some creation involved as well (like before).

Castlevania: Mirror of Fate, a direct sequel to Lord of Shadows with 2 campaign modes (with a different protagonist in each one) for 3DS will be released in March 2013 for North America (5th), Europe (8th) and Japan (30th).

Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, an expansion to Tri for 3DS and Wii U, will be released in March for Europe (22nd) and North America (19th).

And now for the Luigi side of things. Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon which will have a multiplayer mode and some new enemies to encounter and will be a much challenging game than before, will be released in March for Japan (20th), North America (24th) and Europe (28th) for 3DS. Mario and Luigi: Dream Team, the 4th instalment in the series and the first for 3DS will launch in Q2 2013 for most countries with better graphics and a focus on entering Luigi's mind. A DLC for NSMBU which star's Luigi and will be a big DLC, will arrive in the eShop later this year (hopefully). Mario Golf World Tour will arrive for the 3DS later this year.

For more information on this, please visit your local Nintendo website. But from my point of view, it looks like a solid line up for the 3DS. Just hope they are worth the wait.

Doctor Who News - Old Foes, New Dimensions

As the remaining episodes of the current series fast approaches, news that the 50th anniversary special can be viewed in 3D and has the possibility of having all the Doctors return (with those who are no longer with us, being reprised by look alikes). This is news to me as this has never been done before until now. But that's not all. An old foe of the Doctor, known as the Ice Warriors will also return at some stage and the Cybermen will get a redesign which can be seen in the remaining episodes that are yet to broadcast. All in all, it's exciting news, but will this news do the franchise justice? We'll just have to wait and see.

Harry Potter News - New Covers to mark 15th anniversary

It may be Who's 50th this year, but Potter also has an anniversary to celebrate. No it's not another big collection of films, instead its new covers for the 7 books. These new covers were created by long time Potter fan Kazu Kibuishi who describes the experience of doing the covers as "more than a little surreal". Each cover will have a memorable moment from the book (such as Hagrid and Harry entering Diagon Alley for the first time in Philosopher/Sorcerer's Stone, as shown above) and will only apply to paperback copies while hardcover and mass-market paperback versions will retain the original artwork created by Marie GrandPre. So far, only America will be getting these new covers while the franchise's orign country, the United Kingdom, well we'll just have to wait and see.

That's most of this week's news so let us now look at this week's film (cinema/theatres only, not home media) and video game releases:

Films:
Beautiful Creatures (Worldwide Release)
A Good Day to Die Hard (Worldwide Release)
Murder 3 (India Release, Worldwide Release is unknown)
Safe Haven (US Release, Worldwide Release is unknown)
Escape from Planet Earth (Worldwide Release)

Video Games:
Alien Breed (PSN, PS Vita) (Worldwide Release)
Aliens: Colonial Marines (PC, PS3 and Xbox 360) (Worldwide Release)
Sonic and Al-Stars Racing: Transformed (3DS) (US Release)
Impire (PC) (Worldwide Release)