With Monster Hunter 3 (tri) now officially dated for Japan, it's time for Capcom to step up the hype even more than it already has. Will Monster Hunter be able to turn the Wii's slowdown around? Only if enough people see this new trailer. The trailer looks really good, is what we're saying. It's not too much of a departure from previous Monster Hunters, but a new, nice-looking series entry, with new controls, new monsters, and new locations, is more than enough for obsessed fans. Check GAME Watch for some pictures of the limited-edition bundle (the one with the DVD, not the one with the Classic Controller Pro), to facilitate your coveting of the rather fancy box it comes in.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Activision came up with a great new idea for a Wii/DS game. It's a bunch of short minigames, right, but each minigame is a component of the process of creating something. Like, say, steps in a recipe. In this particular game, you will perform scientific experiments "from a wide variety of sciences."Science Papa features "over 30 different experiments," during which players will manipulate lab equipment like Bunsen burners, mix chemicals, and perform other stylus/Wiimote-based activities in order to "prove their scientific worth against a crazy cast of rival scientists in intense competitions."Here's where it gets really brilliant: while you're doing these experiments, or following these "recipes," if you will, you'll be guided by a cute, cartoon-style helper. A sort of parental figure. We're surprised that nobody else has come up with this winning formula yet!

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It surely comes as a shock to us all that the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince games will be available beginning June 30 for almost every gaming device in our sad muggle world! The game is releasing as an amuse-bouche (apéritif, for the drinkers) to the movie's staggered global release in July.The games will do what they can with the technology available to their respective systems. This includes wizard duels, taking potion classes, playing Quidditch, getting stud-muffin Ron some nookie and making Harry survive until the next movie tie-in game.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Metaforic's Andrew Mclennan, a former game developer frustrated by piracy, spoke to Gamasutra about a new technology his company has created to reduce copying of DS games. Nintendo's tactic so far has been to try to stop the sale of the R4 flashcart in Japan and other countries, but the company is now working with Metaforic to attack the problem from a different angle.Metaforic's MetaFortress technology, to be used in games by Nintendo and six other publishers starting this year, uses code stored in the actual game that detects the patching used by flashcarts, and then disables the ROM. "We take any DS game and inject a security scheme into the game itself," Mclennan told Gamasutra. "It turns each game into its own security system. Every time we apply it to a different game, it's a different security system."Though he admits that the software could be hackable eventually, it would require a separate effort for each individual game ROM. "We add so much security to it that it will take a very long time to hack." Mclennan claims that even flashcart firmware patches will be unable to neutralize MetaFortress, though he didn't specify why. Though Mclennan thinks flashcarts should be illegal, he "sympathizes" with the homebrew community. It wasn't his goal, but disabling flashcart-based piracy at the software level obviates the need for anti-flashcart legislation, which could be good news for homebrew fans.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments