It was only a matter of time.

If you're part of the Sony Defense Force, you can't really blame Squeenix. Face it, the company knows what sells in which territory.

So yeah, Final Fantasy XIII is still a PS3 exclusive... in Japan that is. In the US and in Europe it's available for the Xbox 360 as well on launch.

I wouldn't be surprised if some Squeenix exec has several characters on his copy of Song Summoner spawned from Shake Your Money Maker.

As always, guitar rifts make it sound better.

Clover, how I miss thee.

If the loss of a truly artistic videogame development team was enough reason for you to mourn the dissolution of Clover, then good for you. I have a much more selfish and greedy reason why I hope CAPCOM didn't decide to split them apart.

Take the sensibilities of something like Okami, and apply it to the engine that you see in the game below:

Makes you wish, don't it?

Epic Fail: I picked Elves because I thought they'd be cheap.

When the news broke that Eventide's Nettle Sentinel was a 2/2 Elf Warrior for one green mana at common, somewhere deep down inside I rejoiced.

When I heard that it untapped itself when you played a green spell, I looked at my Heritage Druid based Elf deck and I rejoiced.

When I heard that there's a new green chase rare that's "in-tribe," I printed a picture of Michael J. Flores, tacked it to a cardboard box, looked for a knife, and proceeded to stab said picture with my knife. I was fueled by the murderous intent of some dark, forgotten, Summerian god.

Damn you Wizards! My wallet hates you.

Moriarty does it again.

Unlike Harry Knowles, Moriarty generally tries to stay away from hyperbole or any other reference to orgasms or release of reproductive bodily fluids.

He's a great reviewer -- I know that -- his latest one however, still managed to catch me off guard.

I am now more than eager to watch Hellboy 2, and The Dark Knight. Sad that Mr. Ledger is dead and all that. Oh well, such is life.

On a tangent, yes, before watching some movies, I let others think for me. I like going to something with preconceptions and prejudices. That way, if I'm proven wrong, it's always a pleasant surprise. (Why is tricking one's self such a round-a-bout process sometimes?)

Having said that, will the two comic book movies manage to surprise me? I hope. I wish.

It was alive at some point. Alas, no longer.

I'm sad that the possible Marvel MMO was ultimately killed by a Faceless Microsoft Executive (tm). I'm even more depressed by news that development reached the point where in the X-Mansion was done and fully explorable.

CMix: It's no secret that you're an avid gamer. Is there any comic character or title that you'd still like to see in a videogame that hasn't popped up yet?

BB: Well, you're talking to one of the executive producers of the ill-fated Marvel MMO that went away. I have my laptop here, and on it I have the "X-Mansion" level fully completed that only I and five other people have access to play. It's gorgeous and fantastic and no one will ever see it. So I feel bad, because I think that MMO was a phenomenal idea that was extremely well executed and it went away because some guy at Microsoft who we'll never know pulled the plug on it before it even got underway.

But adding to that, I think that they should take each of these Marvel events and turn them into a videogame franchise. "Civil War," which will be part of the next Ultimate Alliance, "House of M," "Secret Wars"...

CMix: "Secret Invasion?"

BB: "Secret Invasion." Absolutely.

And yes, Bendis is a marketing, merchandising genius. Worried about running out of MMO expansion ideas? Then tie the MMO to your comic universe's yearly "big event."

Smart bastard.

iPod gaming: perfect for geeks with real-life obligations

Damn you real life! You have parted me from my distractions. Not that it's a bad thing, but this rant space is suffering as a consequence.

Anyhow, time for a quick update. For those who are too busy with real-life and can't manage to sneak their DS lites and their PSP's past office security, I suggest you switch to iPod gaming. What games on the iPod you ask?

Behold: Song Summoner: the Unsung Heroes

My favorite part about the game? The game manages to take advantage of something that comes natural with it's platform. Sure, DS games make use of touch screen tech, PSP games take advantage of the processing and the disk space, this one takes advantage of the fact that it's on a music device:

Your Tune Troopers allies can also be "powered up" by listing to the tracks used to create them.

Think of it as Monster Rancher Portable, only a lot cooler.