We don't know which god the "god" in Scribblenauts represents -- in our eyes, he's vaguely Zeus-esque. But we do know, thanks to this demo given to IGN by 5TH Cell's Jeremiah Slaczka, what would happen if this god got into a fight with Cthulhu. While on a skateboard. And holding a shotgun.We also learn what happens when a villain sees a full moon: he transforms into a werewolf. Obviously. It's worth noting that none of these things helped get the Starite out of a tree, which was the actual objective of the level. That's going to be the biggest challenge in Scribblenauts: actually playing instead of just screwing around.

Continue reading Skateboarding god versus Cthulhu in Scribblenauts

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One month before the Japanese launch date (can it really be that soon?) Square Enix has released new screenshots of Dragon Quest IX, with brief introductions to some of the cast. The game has quite a sizable ensemble of characters! Most of them are humans living in a village, but at least some portion of the game is also set in an "angel world" where angels feed a World Tree to get it to yield fruit.Some of the colorful cast of (human) characters introduced in today's update include Olga (Origa?), a young girl who frequently wades into the sea to pray; Lu Fin and Eliza, an archaeologist and wife, and Ratena, a mysterious, hooded girl who has some kind of sway over the hero. Dragon Quest IX's semi-sandbox structure means we could be engaging in various optional side quests for all of these people. We're willing to guess those archaeologists would pay for relics found in dungeons, for example.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Japanese schools have integrated the Nintendo DS into their curricula before, but now there is a program specifically designed for that use. Demonstrating its commitment to make the DS a multifunctional lifestyle device, Nintendo announced a new educational program being made in collaboration with Sharp System Products. The DS Kyoushitsu ("DS Classroom") program allows a teacher to use a PC to interface over local wireless with up to 50 DS systems in a classroom. The system can be used for problem sets, with the answers checked automatically and sent to the teacher's PC, surveys, tests, and other multiple-choice activities. In addition, non-multiple-choice questions can be answered by writing or drawing on the DS's touch screen, with screen images sent to the teacher. The program can be used with any DS, so presumably it's up to schools whether or not they need to provide hardware. We're pretty sure Japanese school kids have easy access to DS systems already.[Via Andriasang]Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Club Nintendo in the UK is offering members something beyond the usual trade-for-points bonuses. The first hundred registered Club Nintendo members to purchase a copy of Icarian: Kindred Spirits on WiiWare will receive a copy of the game's soundtrack. The lucky hundred will receive (hopefully a link to) the soundtrack file via email shortly after downloading the game.We appreciate seeing Nintendo promote its downloadable games for once, but here's a word of advice to the company who "reads the blogs," according to its E3 keynote. One of the best ways to advertise your WiiWare and Virtual Console games is to actually tell people in advance when they'll be available.[Via Nintendo Life]Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments