Rising Star Games is kicking off the weekend with the fantasy adventure game Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon.  The good-looking RPG is exclusive to the Nintendo Wii, but isn’t necessarily for the kiddies.  In Fragile Dreams gamers take on the role of an abandoned young boy named Seto, the sole survivor in a world filled with ruined buildings and deserted train stations.  This apocalyptic landscape is plagued by monsters and disembodied ghosts. His quest is to find survivors from the seemingly unknown event that has devastated the world he lives in.

The game takes full advantage of the Wii Remote/Nunchuk controller configuration.  Players entering the Fragile Dreams world will use the Nunchuk to guide Seto on his journey.  The Wii Remote serves as a flashlight to probe dark corners, and as a proximity sensor to track invisible ghosts.

Developer tri-Crescendo has created a beautiful post apocalyptic vision of Japan.  Early reviews are praising both the graphics as a whole, and the lighting effects, in particular.  Gamers can immerse themselves in the desolation of the world and experience the acute sense of loss the lead character is experiencing.  Fragile Dreams is highly anticipated and has already received a 31/40 Famitsu score in its native Japan, becoming one of the top selling games during its week of release.

Max & the Magic Marker, a creative new platform game from independent Danish developer Press Play, is now available for WiiWare in the Wii Shop Channel. Set in a cartoon world inspired by children’s drawings, Max & the Magic Marker is a classic 2D platformer with a unique twist: the ability for the player to draw directly inside the game world and then interact with what they’ve drawn. After a stellar critical reception on PC and Mac, Max is now available to Wii™ owners in the Americas.

In Max & the Magic Marker players use the magic marker to solve puzzles, overcome obstacles, and defeat enemies by drawing freehand in the gameworld. Everything you draw becomes a real object complete with realistic physics. Can’t reach a ledge? Draw yourself a set of stairs. Need to stay dry when it rains? Draw yourself some shelter. Along the way you must collect ink in order to continue drawing.

Fans of the game on the computer may want to take a second look with the addition of pointer functionality and two-handed control on the Wii. Players will use the nunchuck to control the game’s hero, Max, and will use the Wii Remote to control the giant orange magic marker.

For decades, Samus Aran has been known as one of the first female protagonists in video games, and one of the most enigmatic. Having traded her haunted past for the solitary life of a bounty hunter, Samus™ finally tells her own tale in this revealing, personal story of her failings, her flaws and ultimately her motivation.

Metroid: Other M is an unprecedented collaboration that blends the slick, action-packed production of the world-renowned Team Ninja development team with the game design talents of the creators of the original Metroid. Metroid: Other M is a dramatic new direction for a legendary franchise and a bold new blend between cinematics, storytelling and the best in interactive entertainment.

FEATURES:

* Metroid: Other M takes the best elements of 1st-person and 3rd-person gaming to create a seamless blend between gameplay, story-telling and dynamic cinematography, that feels like a movie the player can control. Players hold the Wii Remote™ controller sideways while navigating and battling in 3rd-person. However, at any moment, players can switch immediately to Wii Remote pointer controls to examine and explore the environments in 1st-person perspective.

*The story begins immediately following the events of Super Metroid, when a baby Metroid gave its life to protect Samus. With voice acting and a rich story, players learn the engaging backstory of Samus as she weaves through an action-packed adventure aboard the Bottle Ship, a decommissioned space facility. As she hurtles into this new adventure, Samus will encounter her first mentor and Commanding Officer of the Galactic Federation, Adam Malkovich.

* The development of Metroid: Other M is an exciting collaboration between Nintendo’s Yoshio Sakamoto and Team Ninja. Sakamoto was the director of Super Metroid in 1994. Team Ninja is the renowned action developer of Ninja Gaiden. Metroid: Other M pairs Sakamoto’s expert level design and exploratory focus of the classic Metroid series with Team Ninja’s signature stylish, no-holds-barred action.

There must be something in the air this year.  Young wizards everywhere are eagerly awaiting the May release of Lego Harry Potter.  And now it appears that there will be new “wands” to use when the game arrives.

Nyko Technologies® has announced that their best-selling Wand™ controller is now available in five additional exciting colors, each available as an exclusive for select retail outlets. The new colors include green, orange, yellow, grey and red, and will join the award-winning original white Wand, as well as the currently popular blue, pink, purple and black.

Now there is a Wand in every flavor, allowing Wii™ owners to customize their gaming experience. Each color is available at a select retailer:

* Gamestop: Green and Orange

* Walmart.com: Yellow

* Fry’s: Red

* Meijer Supercenters: Grey

“These new color Wands will provide even more ways for consumers to personalize their gaming setup,” said Chris Arbogast, marketing director for Nyko Technologies. “We had originally released these colors only in Japan, and due to popular demand we’re proud to now offer these options in the US.”

Featuring the same quality and durability of the original white Wand, the color Wands sport matching buttons as well as matching silicone jackets. All color Wands feature Nyko’s Trans-Port™ technology, enabling compatible peripherals to communicate digitally with the Wand.   The new Wand colors are available now for an MSRP of $29.99.

I tremble before the Old Ones, generally speaking. I think all those tentacles and eyes are pretty intimidating. The only thing that might be more powerful than the ranks of Ghatanothoa, Yog-Sothoth, Nyogtha, and Nyarlathotep is something I like to call “Mother Nature”. This monster has the power to scare the living hell out of any rational being. Respect her or you will pay. There is nothing in the arsenal of humankind that can hope to compare with her might. She controls all the elements with equal might. When in a good mood she gives us gentle days of kite flying and cook outs. When she’s in a mood we get destruction and mayhem that puts human beings back in their place.

I reside outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Geographically this is considered the North Eastern USA, I don’t know if I agree with that. This area is known for having Mother Nature playing with the humans with odd hot and cold spells. We are spared her more extreme methods like earthquakes, tornadoes, avalanches, forest fires, and zombie uprisings. However every now and then she likes to remind the little humans about who is in charge. February 5, 2010 was one of these occasions. The dark mistress dropped over two feet of snow on us.

The result of her elemental assault is still being felt. It started with the mass of snow everywhere that prevented people from the ability to travel very well. Deep snow tends to get everything stuck. Many people (including my family) lost power for almost a week. Now we get to deal with the last of the attacks from that storm, monster icicles (think 5 footers).

The loss of power is where this Old One gave me some lemons to play with. My wife and I were taken in by my gracious parents. They had heat, light and power. Oh and did I mention a Wii? This thought occurred to me on one of my many trips back and forth from their home to my own. This is when I decided that if Mother Nature wanted to play, I could get my revenge in the form of an old favorite: Eternal Darkness for the Gamecube. Never forget that Wii is backward compatible! So to feed my need for gaming and desire to mess with ancient powers, I went back a few years.

Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem was developed by Silicon Knights and published by Nintendo. This game can be categorized as an action / survival / psychological horror game, and it’s successful in all of these arenas. The Lovecraftian storyline plays out throughout human history. The player controls several inter-related characters in a variety of locations across the globe. Most of the action is centered around the quaint Roivas mansion and the secrets it holds.

The action comes in the form of combat with weapons and combat that keeps evolving through the game. This evolution is not just because of the story taking place in different time periods, but because of the wonderful magic system. So as you can weild more powerful weapons (from gladius to grenade launcher), you also gain the mystic might to enchant those weapons. A major highlight to me is having an enchanted machine gun. Talk about the ultimate anti-zombie weapon.

The combat system is clever too, in that you target different parts of the enemies to bring them down. Once an enemy is down, they may linger. This is a good thing, because this helps get your sanity back…Oh did I fail to mention that Eternal Darkness has a sanity meter? As your character gets assaulted by a variety of nasty otherworldly creatures, your character looses sanity. As a play dynamic, a variety of odd things can occur (tv turns itself down, babies crying in the background, bugs inside the tv, etc) when your sanity gets low.

The graphics hold up thanks to the Wii’s graphical prowess: no need for upscaling means a decent visual experience. The mood also helps with this, because I am less likely to nitpick on older graphics when I am on the edge of my seat with a little sweat on my brow.

So why write this? Mother Nature struck and I looked on the bright side and got to fight ancient evil again. If you have a Wii and want to play one of the better games of the Aughties, I say go find yourself a copy of Eternal Darkness and watch your sanity.