We have a live Q&A session with Richard Ross of Operation Rainfall to get their side of the story and how this organization of dedicated Nintendo fans is seeking the international localization of three Wii games. Then in our main topic we talk about World of Warcraft vs. Star Wars: The Old Republic. With Star Wars The Old Republic beginning beta testing, there’s a lot of buzz surrounding the release of this game. Will WoW retain its’ throne or will Star Wars usurp the the reigning MMORPG king?

Also we talk about bums, how to keep you bum fresh, and how to properly care for your bum……BUM!

When I ask people what games they are hyped for this year, I hear a lot of the usual suspects. There’s Gears of War 3, Elder Scrolls Skyrim, Batman Arkham City, Uncharted 3, and Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword just to name a few. While I’m pumped and primed for a few games on this list, none of them can hold a candle to the atomic bomb of gaming goodness that is Radiant Silvergun. Radiant what you say? Well let me explain…

For those not familiar with this stellar title, it was a shump (shoot em up) developed by the infamous Treasure in 1998 for the arcade and later ported to the Sega Saturn the same year. It’s one of the most sought after Sega Saturn import games today fetching well over $100. Though this is one of the rare cases of a game being not only rare but face humpingly good to boot.

Now after 13 years, Radiant Silvergun is being made available outside of Japan. But wait there’s more! This new version features online co-op, upgraded graphics, a new “Ikaruga” mode, and a few other surprises. Though thankfully you won’t have to sell a kidney to play this game. For just $15 (or 1200 Microsoft space bucks) all the sweet Radiant Silverguniness can be yours.

Even if you’re not a fan of shmups, this is one you won’t want to miss out on. As someone who has owned and played an actual copy of the game, it was well worth the money I spent so $15 is a no brainer. Radiant Silvergun hits Xbox Live Arcade on September 14th. I’m just hoping they keep the epic anime intro from the original. Classic stuff.

Here’s some pretty shiny sexy footage of the game in action.

BTW: Anyone else excited about this remake besides me? Have a special fuzzy memory of Radiant Silvergun?

The rumor mill is buzzing with rumors of the PS4 in Issue #4 of Boomzies. Then it’s onto the crisis in Japanese gaming. Have Japanese developers lost thier touch or have they simply been surpassed by thier Western counterparts?

From the creators of Substance TV comes Extra Joy!. A weekly show covering everything from video games, toys, comic books, movies, TV, music, art, design, culture, news, and much more. Every week Brian and Erik will pick three things they are playing, watching, listening to, reading, or thinking about and give you the quick rundown. Enjoy the first edition!

As promised, episode 11 is out! As previously mentioned, we cover Shinobi III for the Sega Genesis. We also take a look at Klonoa 2 for the Playstation 2. You know how I mentioned we had a big game up for review, well I wasn’t lying. Substance TV has the exclusive first video review of the brand new shmup from our boys at Cave, Mushihimesama Futari Ver. 1.5.

We’ve made a few additions and improvements to the show to make it more enjoyable and viewer friendly. Give us your feedback on the show. We always strive to make it better and better each episode, and your comments and criticisms help in that.

BTW: Right click the icon below to download the Windows Media version instead of streaming it. Doing so will allow you to watch the episode in the highest quality running at 60 frames per second.

DOWNLOAD:

Cave is one of my favorite video game companies period. If you haven’t the faintest idea who this Cave company is, check out this Wikipedia article.

Their most recent arcade port Mushihime-sama Futari version 1.5, recently released on the Xbox 360, marks their first region free release on home consoles giving the average joe a chance to play it without modding or importing a Japanese system. Depending on the level of uptake outside of Japan, sales of the game will affect their future decision to localize other shooters such as Espgaluda 2.

On the heels of this release comes news of future releases. Cave general manager Makato Asada has plans to bring future games to a wider audience (meaning us here in the old U S of A and beyond).

According to Asada’s last blog post, Cave is working on five new titles. Though he doesn’t specify much, he does give a few hints:

1. A completely new arcade game (“completely” implies it’s not a sequel to any previous game)
2. An original Xbox 360 game
3. Xbox 360 arcade port(s)
4. Development on “new hardware”

At the Cave festival on 12/27, he’ll reveal more. Here’s hoping for ports of previously Japan exclusive games such as Do-Don-Pachi Dai-Fukkatsu and DeathSmiles. And don’t even get me started on games like Progear. Oh please let it be true.

So quick rundown, Cave is this super sweet and sexy company who creates the most amazing shoot em ups (shmups). In fact we reviewed a shmup of theirs, ESP Galuda, in our third episode of Substance TV. The Xbox 360 has been the lucky recipient of Cave’s newest shmups. As great as this all is, shmup fanatics in the States get the shaft and are either stuck with the hefty price tag of buying an import 360 or just sitting there in sorrow and misery.

But, for some reason, the shmup gods have smiled upon us and are releasing the newest Cave shmup, Mushihimesama Futari Ver 1.5, region free. Meaning now we can import a copy and play it on our U.S. 360s with no problem. Cave will use the sales from this game as a barometer to gauge whether or not they will release future games region free, and maybe, just maybe releasing games stateside. So I ask, no, I beg and plead with you, pre-order this game and give it the support it deserves. Cave makes some of the best games out there, and myself and countless others would love to see more of these sweet juicy gems come our way.

Play Asia pre-order link

[source: Kotaku]

Oh, and of course ninja theft from Pineconeattack.