Ever felt there’s only so much a 2D Picross puzzle can offer, and that you need a new challenge? How bout taking your conventional Picross puzzle and add a Z-axis twist to it. Yup, that is just what the boys and girls at Nintendo and Hal Laboratory did for Rittai Picross!

This is Not Your Father’s Picross

While Picross DS had you puzzled on a 2D field, Rittai Picross will have you colouring or breaking blocks based on the number clues given to unlock 3D block renditions of anything from pets to daily items.

The game comes with a whole bunch of tutorials before you start and in between levels. This is done to get you up to speed on techniques needed to solve the 3D Picross puzzles. While 2D Picross veterans can basically jump right into the game, there’s no skipping these mandatory tutorials.

Now in 3D

In any case, the real meat of the game is in the puzzles. Presented in 3D, you can move the camera around puzzles, to give you a clearer picture on what to mark or destroy. You can only mistakenly destroy up to 5 blocks; anything beyond that is game over (personally, I have not reached that mark). Puzzles are also timed with a stop watch running at the top screen.

The idea of solving 3D Picross puzzles can be pretty daunting, especially at higher difficulty levels. Here’s a video on solving several of those “easier” ones:

The Bottom Line

Rittai Picross is a must have for Picross fans. While there are other features that I’ve yet to explore, the main part of the game is pretty accessible despite being in Japanese and should provide some interesting challenges until the next Picross sequel comes along. The game is available at Play-Asia for USD 44.90, click here for details.

Forget Watchmen, this is the movie that I want to watch this year:

Video game related news seem to be getting a little bit more attention than usual in our press these days. First up was the couple of guys who got swindled after thinking that they could get Sony Playstation Portable consoles at a bulk discount.

More recently the president of the Consumer Association of Penang wrote a letter to the News Straits Times abhoring violence in video games and expounding the fact that kids can pick up violence from video games. What I’m disappointed about is that some people, and the president of CAP fail to understand that, video games have evolved to a point like film, no longer catering for kids, but for adults.

While I agree that violent video games can be a cause for concern, a ban is not feasible; might as well we start banning anything that even hints at violence and start living a hermit existence.

I do feel that parents a bigger role their parts in ensuring that their children are not exposed to such games and educating kids on moral values and such. Parents should also make it a point to research games that they are about to purchase. I doubt anyone would want to give their 12-year old a M-rated game that contains “Partial Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Use of Drugs and Alcohol, Blood, Intense Violence“.

It’s funny how CAP articles sometimes urge people to read the labels on grocery items and the one thing S.M Mohamed Idris and most parents have failed to do is to read the ratings label.

I thought you guys were out to create conscious, concerned, and committed consumers?

I would love to see an article publish by CAP on how to purchase video games instead of trying to be a moral policeman going about asking stuff to be banned (on supposedly moral grounds). You can start your research by reading those labels, Mr. Mohamed.

What would be the first thing to cross your mind when you hear that the hit TV show Grey’s Anatomy has been turned into a Nintendo DS game? A Trauma Center clone?

Well, you got that nearly right. Couple your answer with some role-playing elements to help the whole cast of characters achieve their individual goals, which includes trying to get it on with each other, and you would have scored a home run.

Grey’s Anatomy is a little like playing Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Acts are divided into scenes and in one scene you might be stitching someone’s finger up and the other will have you playing mini games (like collecting bubbles) to get over choices, challenges and stuff like that (e.g. to get a particularly interesting assignment, or simply to get McDreamy’s attention).

It’s just too weird playing the game. The cast and scenes are presented as stills and the artwork can really be horrendous at times. Meredith ended up like looking like the Cheshire Cat, while the rest fared slightly better. I wouldn’t want anything to do with this game, despite being a fan of the first season of the show.

But if you do want to get the game, I guess there’s no stopping you. Grey’s Anatomy is available for pre-orders at Play-Asia. Click here for details.

For all you Japanse Club Nintendo merchandise collectors, a pre-owned copy of Tingle no Balloon Fight (Club Nintendo Limited Edition) starring that weird Tingle dude is currently going on sale at Play-Asia at a discounted price of USD 29.90 (Click here for details).

As for fans of arcade hit Sangokushi Taisen, the Sangokushi Taisen Ten [Arcade Shutsujin Pack] for the Nintendo DS is selling at a discounted price of USD 39.90, brand new. Why is it a must get? It comes with 4 exclusive bonus cards for the arcade version of the game as well as the operator’s manual (arcade version)! How cool is that? Click here for details.

Looking for free video game soundtrack downloads? You came to the right place. Check out this page for links to download a variety of video game soundtracks for free, for games such as Bio Shock, Viva Pinata and many more.

Wokie Dokie. I hope some of you had some fun with my guide (click here) on running Neo Geo games on the Nintendo DS. Here are a couple of video that I shot to show that it works, featuring Metal Slug X and King of Fighters 2003. God bless the guys who made NeoDS. They do deserve a pat on the back:

Elite Forces Unit-77 kind of reminds me of Jagged Alliance, except that it plays on the DS and uses the stylus extensively. Like JA, you control a group of multi-talented soldiers, and in the case of Elite Forces, set up shop in an island and shoot up a bunch of terrorist.

I leave the video for you to check out the various gameplay elements available:

Need a reliable memory solution for your Sony PSP and more importantly, an original one when the fakes don’t cut it? You’ll need the Memory Stick Pro Duo 8GB from Sony. Play-Asia is selling it at a discounted price of USD 69.90 (RM 260), so get it now while stocks last. Click here for purchase information.

In Malaysia, it’s pretty easy to participate in bulk purchases for anything like computer graphic cards, Blu-Ray movies, to even clothing and bags. There are many reasons to do so, namely the product is unavailable in the country or it’s cheaper to buying in a group to qualify for a bulk discount or BOTH.

Often than not, the seller, or organizer of the bulk purchase has contacts to source/provide the items by which the price is lower than that of retail.

In any case, here’s a case where two friends who participated in purchasing in bulk Sony PSPs for half the retail price with plans to sell ‘em at normal price, only to have the seller abscond with their money. Read on (article originally from The Star):

Two pals cheated in ‘clearance sale’ scam

By M. SHAMINEE

KUALA LUMPUR: Two friends who thought they could profit through an online business by buying cheap PlayStations and selling them at retail price were instead cheated.

Chay Jing Fei and Loh Chee Yuen both 24, spotted a newspaper advertisement by a Mr Liew who was selling the play stations for only RM350 per unit. The market price for such machines range between RM600 and RM700.

“When I called Liew, he said it was a stock clearance sale which was why the units were cheap,” said Chay during a press conference at the MCA Public Services and Complaints Department.

Chay said the man claimed that there were other benefits, including free delivery and 8GB memory cards priced at RM50. He ordered 40 units of the machine and five 8GB memory cards, including 10 units for Loh.

“Liew also said that for every 10 units we would get one unit free,” added Chay, who on Feb 20 banked in RM14,750 into Liew’s account. Liew, who promised to deliver the items by 5pm, did not turn up.

After efforts to contact Liew failed, the two lodged a report at the Ampang police station. Chay added that Liew had called him on March 2 asking him to settle the balance of RM7,000 failing which he would take legal action.

“When I told Liew that I had already made a police report, he said I won’t be able to harm him ” Chay said. Department head Datuk Michael Chong said online shopping had resulted in many fraud cases, and urged victims to provide him with their police reports or fax them to 03-2161 9772.

So do beware and be warned about bulk purchases on the Internet. Don’t rush in blindly just because the price offered is too good to be true (that’s a red light actually)