Iwata has said in a recent interview with the Asahi Shimbun that one of Nintendo’s goals for 2010 is to release the next Zelda by the end of the year. It’s hard to tell from the article whether or not this a hopeful goal or a scheduled one, but I’d guess either way that Nintendo will plan on a 2010 release, but then let it slip into early 2011.

Twilight Princess was released a month earlier in Japan than in America, though the release also coincided with the Wii launch in both cases, so it’s difficult to say if this is a release trend that will be continued or not for the console Zeldas. Spirit Tracks was released in North America and Europe two weeks before Japan, so it would appear to be a safe assumption that we’ll get the game around the same time... so this 2010 proposed date is for us non-Japanese folk.

Considering we still haven’t seen a trailer, or anything more than the concept art from this game, Iwata’s declaration is surprising. The developers have gone on record saying that there will be much more to show at E3 this year (June 15-17). But that’s so far away from a statement like this... I’m really unsure what to make of it. Perhaps a trailer will be released before E3, something similar to Twilight Princess’ completely vague “Blades will Bleed” trailer. Then, at E3, they can show off their new concept, and just what that Master Sword fairy girl is up to.

Let me take a moment to touch on some of the Wii Zelda-related news that’s come and gone in the past few months, so we’re all on the same page. Starting with most recent... (that list after the jump)

So I saw Avatar today, in IMAX 3D.

There's a lot of hype around the movie, as you know, and a lot of people, such as myself have been skeptical. I realize I number among the few who waited this long to see it, but I will post this for those of you who haven't yet. To start, I admit the hype and power marketing made me feel really pessimistic about the movie. The content presented by the trailers just doesn't seem like an interesting story, and there is very little rationale provided for it being a good movie other than its "ground-breaking" visuals.

The reality of the movie is that, while motion capture has come a long way to avoid making CG models look fake, it still hasn't reached a point where every single motion can be considered completely realistic. There are moments that seem to lack tactility, although few and far between. I wish my eyes weren't looking for them with this pessimistic approach, because I think otherwise I could probably call this movie the best of the decade, along with the other thousands of people heaping praise onto it. In fact, my mother loved the movie, and we generally have similar tastes. She reckons my more active involvement in fantasy settings dulled my imagination a bit when it came to interpreting the movie's setting. I found myself much more interested in the plot, with the sometimes-headachey-3D as a secondary feature.

But hey, I did like it. More after the jump.

Seriously, why haven't you done this yet? There's talk of some smurf movie lately that has taken Avatar: TLA's shortname and smeared it across the heavens, but in my book, there is only one Avatar. And he is the last of the airbenders. You see, 100 years ago, the Fire Nation waged war upon the lands, wiping out the Air Nation, and nearly completely subjugating the rest. Tribes of the Water Nation and strongholds of the Earth Nation remain as thorns in the Fire Lord's side. Then, the mystical Avatar, thought lost for 100 years, re-emerges months before a critical moment in the Fire Nation's plans. This Avatar, master of all the elements, is a LITTLE BOY, named Aang. He's gotta get ready to kick some ass. And guess what? He does.

This amazing little cartoon series is quite possibly the only recent American-made animation worth your time. Despite its often "kiddish" themes and jokes, much of those aspects work into its charm. There's a sense of humor there that is simply so blunt and corny that it works magically. The series does suffer from a low budget, which makes for some choppy frame rates through otherwise very cool animations, but as the series progresses, they fill in those little issues more often. By the series finale, the fluidity of the animation is like eye sex.

M. Night Shamwow is adapting this show into a movie trilogy, with one movie based on each season, wherein Aang masters each element. The cast has been announced, meeting some criticism for avoiding a cast with Asians in it. After all, Avatar has a particularly Asian theme, and it would only make sense for Asians to be in the movie... but it seems Shamalama went in a different direction. I know it sounds cruel, but I find myself rather indifferent on the subject, only wanting the series' furry magical flying bison, Appa, to be magnificent.

So are you sitting on your hands right now, wondering if there's something you should be doing? Maybe you have some itunes gift cards and you don't know what to get. Or, maybe, you're just feeling like you should be more awesome. Go watch this show in its entirety. You won't regret it.

EDIT: Check out the FFXIV site for a blurb about character creation, with better pictures than these scans, new screens, new music, and some generic story content.

Famitsu is a pretty cool magazine. They’re more closely tied to the developers than any American games journalist publication/site currently is, so they have a tendency to present material in a sugar coated way, depending on the manner in which it was provided. As such, scans have emerged from the Japanese magazine showing off the finer details of the character creator in FFXIV. Of course, by "finer," I mean they've shown us an inordinate amount of beautiful women, plus some manly men... with scars! In short, those characters are going to be fiercely customizable. In long, I translated some of what the scans said.

The text given at the top of this article, paraphrased a whole bunch, says that the system allows for simple variations, like changes in skin and hair color. Then, if you want to get into the finer details, you’ll find things such as various eye colors and different underwear material textures. The blurbs on the full version of that page (the first scan here, after the jump) continue to elaborate on those points, showing how each detail is in fact, there. Looks like there’s some breast size action as well, so if you were worried about that, go smoke a celebratory sausage. Other scans with these “Hyur” women point out that lip color can be changed as well.

So it seems for their 500th title, the fine people behind Virtual Console uploads decided to give us a game fans have been expecting since day one. The original Smash Brothers game, originally for N64 is now available for download on North American Wiis. What a day! What a day. How fantastic. Yeah.

So when was the last time something significant was put on VC? I'd say... Majora's Mask? And before that, what? The fact that Nintendo has been holding onto this title in order to call it their 500th... kind of absurd. The timing is good, of course, since it gives people another reason to gift Wii points, but I still feel cheated. Guess we really have no way of knowing when a particular game will come, and we can only assume things like Donkey Kong and Goldeneye will never find their way to VC, due to Rare's affiliation.

DsiWare also got Dragon's Lair this week, which is kind of amazing. Dragon's Lair, albeit unforgiving and insane, is quite a classic, at least in that Don Bluth did the animation for it. This is quite possibly the first tinge of a reason to get a DSi.

This weekend saw the premiere of James Cameron's long-awaited film Avatar. The film opened up to a whopping $73 million domestically, and $159.2 million from overseas markets. James Cameron wrote the script to Avatar in 1994, and held off further production until 2005, when the technology to fully meet Cameron's standards was available.

The movie industry expected at least $85 million from Avatar, however $73 million is not an upset considering there are reports from many theatres in the northeast that had to close down because of the snow, which FOX pointed out affected the intake.

In second this weekend is Disney's The Princess and the Frog, with $12.2 million, dropping 49.5% of its audience. The snow storm up north could also have factored into this low number.

The Blind Side comes in at 3rd, with another $10 million, and bringing the total gross of the movie to $164.7 million. The Blind Side opened up last month, competing against the monster that is New Moon. Overall, despite the competition The Blind Side has gained a great amount of intake and continues to do well, while its competitor drops farther farther.

Just a quick note here, for anyone who might be interested in this. Square Enix has just put up an application site for FFXIV's PC Beta. Apparently, the PS3 Beta is nearby, but this is still extremely good news for those of us hoping FFXIV hits retail before 2010 is over.

This also nearly cements the fact that there won't be a 360 version of this game at launch. so get your hopes down if you've had them high.

I personally won't be even attempting this application, for fear of the fact I'll have the game ruined for me through this testing period. This is a game I'm most excited about for the prospect of playing through an epic adventure with friends. In the near future, you'll see a feature about how FFXI and WoW are completely different gameplay experiences, and you might get a better understanding for what I'm talking about when I say that an FF MMO has such potential to be an immersive experience.

But, if there's any of you who are bold enough to take a peak at the game without its clothes on, please do! Then you "can't" tell us "anything" about it due to "non-disclosure agreements." I really just want to know how that class system is going to play out.

So there's a sequel to Iron Man coming out next year, seemingly following the same tradition as the first movie: upholding the kickass and comedy of the Iron Man franchise. In fact, it was the first movie that rekindled my love for the world's most eccentric billionaire and sparked a deep-seated man crush for Robert Downey Jr. AND NOW, there's a trailer out! I'll embed the movie here once it makes its way to youtube, but for now, you'll have to enjoy it in HD at Apple's site.

So does the movie look good? Yeah. It sure does. A hell of a lot better than Avatar, too. They don't appear to be taking on the issue of Tony's alcoholism, which is good, since it could easily cloud the dramatic pull of the movie. I mean, if we're supposed to experience a villain who hates Tony Stark, then we should be able to love Tony Stark just as much.

AND NOW a list of facts about the movie. Jon Favreau is directing, and he made the first movie as well, so it's presumably in good hands. Scarlett Johansson is taking on the role of the Black Widow, another Iron Man staple character. Mickey Rourke plays the villain, Whiplash, with some impressively grilled teeth. Don Cheadle is taking over for Terrence Howard in the role of James Rhodes... kind of a random actor change, but probably motivated by a desire to star-stud the cast. The movie is set for release May 7th of 2010. Should be fun. Oh, and Paul Bettany is the voice of Tony Stark's personal computer companion, Jarvis. How awesome would it be to have Paul Bettany stuck in your head? Oh, right, that movie happened too.

So are you guys excited for this? Anything seem completely wrong about the concept to you? Think maybe they're holding back some crucial plot element (like alcoholism) that's going to totally change the appearance of the movie from this trailer?

I'm actively trying to recruit people who might be interested in becoming a regular user at this site. If you are one of those people, reading this message, I salute you. Having received a message from me means that I love you, and that you haven't already come here.

Now, to those of you who have already shown interest in coming here on a regular basis: tell your friends!! The more people who know about this place, the better. And, don't be afraid to post new forum topics! The more there is to talk about, the more people will be able to say, the longer they'll stick around. Don't idle, waiting for people to talk, when you can talk! It may not be your typical approach to community sites, but it's a necessary step in building this one up to a level of activity where we can do whatever we want, and have interesting things to do all the time.

So, as for the progression of the site... I've added the ability to post blog entries for approved users. Use this however the hell you want, it's really just there as fluff. You'll be able to link people directly to a page of your own entries, once I configure a certain module, and you'll also have the opportunity to have your posts be posted on the front page. Or, whatever. It's just there for fun. You could even write fanfic ;D

Soon, the forum's awesomeness will increase a bit when I add the "unread replies" link at the top of the page, which also depends on me configuring that module. That module will also help me make a member list and user pages with your blog entries, so that's something I'm going to work on very soon. Then, I'll start to work towards making the front page's appearance look exactly the way it should, showing categories, tags, author names, post type, post date, and all that fun jazz. Things will only get better as time goes on, so look forward to that. I'm even planning to have a webcomic here at some point in the future.

So this is me pleading with you to make the most of your time while you're here. <3

I've been writing my Japanese final about how different media is received differently in America and Japan, citing examples like One Piece, various Jump series, Harry Potter, Twilight (cough), and I find myself most interested by the comparison of Ponyo and the Little Mermaid.

As you may know, "Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea," or 「崖の上のポニョ」 is Hayao Miyazaki's latest movie, released last Fall in Japan, and this past summer in America. The story for this movie is a loose adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's classic tale, "The Little Mermaid," wherein the heroine is a little fish girl known in the movie as Ponyo. The story more or less keeps to the same overarching plot, but really changes a lot of the events leading you to the resolution. Without spoiling anything, that resolution is very light and jovial kiss, probably designed to leave the audience with a good feeling about the future of these characters.

Now, consider one of Disney's last great masterful animated films, "The Little Mermaid," which first saw theaters in 1989. This film also delineated from the source material a great deal, allowing for a happy ending to an otherwise bleak tale. The heroine, Ariel, adventures her way to her goal, with a happy ending where marriage defines the pinnacle of romance.

First off, it's interesting to note that the key difference between these movies is their ending. Each is a romantic tale, with a likable male lead, but Ponyo ends with a simple kiss, suggesting an endless stream of possible outcomes. The Little Mermaid, however, in order to deliver the full experience to its audience, insists upon showing the marriage of these two lovers. Only then can the romance be complete.