Oh the holiday game season is getting near, can you feel it? Trailers come out, ads start playing, secret projects get revealed. Its good, like this new No More Heroes 2 trailer conducted by none other than Suda 51 himself.  New gameplay details get revealed, mostly small details. The most charming of them all? The new job system, whereas in the first game you had to do boring chores in boring 3D now you get to do the same jobs but in glorious 8-bit 2D. You know 8-bit has the ability to turn the most mind numbing of jobs into life-changing experiences (refer to Paperboy for the NES for confirmation).

NMH2 is still a good 6 months away so keep those hands steady, don’t overcharge your beam katana just yet.

The pre-E3 bonanza continues with a brand new trailer for No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle.  This new trailer has it all! The return of Sylvia Christel, looking more glamorous than ever. The arrival of a new nemesis by the name of Nathan Copeland, a hip-hop assassin brandishing a boom box weapon that morphs into robotic arms. A teenage fangirl wielding a dual beam katana chasing after Travis. Oh god just hearing the No More Heroes theme music sends shivers down my spine. Are you excited? I’m excited! Lets see what else we learn this week.

Well, well, what do you know? Not everything is bad about changing release dates (I’m pointing at you, Brawl!) and here’s why: Suda 51’s No More Heroes will be released almost 1 month earlier, that is on January 22, 2008, and not as we thought, February 29. Reasons? Hmm. . .I don’t know. .  .but if I were to give a honest opinion on the reason for this change. . .it would be not to merge with the release date of Smash Bros. Brawl, d’uh!

Hopefully this game will do better on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, but it’s always the same: Someone does something awesome, not following standards, ands gets the cold shoulder; give them generic J-RPG with pseudo-homosexual protagonists and you’re into a river of cash. . .so sad, people. It’s up to US, literate video gamers, to support the good games and give them the respect and appreciation they deserve.

[IGN via Kotaku]

I love the look of No more heroes and will be buying it day of release without fail. Too bad nobody in Akihabara felt the same way. Driving forces behind No more heroes Yasuhiro Wada and Goichi Suda were outside of a store with free No more heroes branded toilet roll and a piece of cosplaying arse to commemorate the release of their sandbox, Tarantino on acid style, Wii lightsaber slashfest – but nobody showed except for the gaming media. Yasuhiro and Goichi are showing off smiles in the picture, but behind those smiles lie pain, upset and that every Wii owner in the area gets run over my a light saber wielding crazy person on a motorcycle.

No more heroes will more than likely be enough of a hit in North America and Europe that game creator Goichi Suda can afford for it to not sell all that brilliantly in Japan. It’s no surprise, because the game is highly westernized and is having to contend with that white dinner tray you stand on that is also known as Wii Fit. But still…it must hurt to know nobody showed up to buy your game and that your own country doesn’t want the fruits of your hard work. Poor fella. He should definitely do an instore in America or the UK. He’d most certainly get a decent turnout.

[Kotaku, via Akiba blog]

You remember Killer 7, right? That trippy on-rails shooter with more style and flair than you can shake a stick at. You also remember that new game coming out in Japan called No More Heroes, right? Announced by director Suda 51 and developer Grasshopper Manufacture, this Wii game may be action game focusing on Travis Touchdown, otaku extraordinaire, who must take down the top-ten assassins so that he can be number one.

Thanks to the effort of Ubisoft picking up the rights to publish the game, Americans can enjoy the funk on February 2008. To quote Jay Cohen, vice president of publishing at Ubisoft:

“Ubisoft is excited to be bringing Suda 51’s latest adventure to gamers in North America. Suda 51 is one of the most creative minds in gaming and No More Heroes is shaping up to be a visually stunning and immersive game with an extremely engaging storyline players will no doubt be drawn to.”

Visually stunning? Tip of the iceberg, buddy. [IGN]

Technorati : LSD-induced action flick, grasshopper, no more heroes, suda 51, ubisoft

Now THIS is what I like to see. A gaming hero we can relate to. Aside from the owning a real life lightsaber he bought off of eBay, looking like Johnny Knoxville from Jackass, running amok on the streets killing people and having his own private ho secretary – Travis Touchdown is just like me and you. Hit the link below to see more shots of Travis’ pad. Complete with a cabinet of perfectly formed garage kits, manga figurines, pussy and a poster of chibi-fied witches!

[Famitsu]