Citing the “unprecedented recession”, the ¥5,040 (US$56) game will not be released on November, but instead the title will come out on December 23 as part of D3’s budget line SIMPLE 2500 Portable!! series.

Exorsister [Official Site via はちま起稿]

The week I got my own look at the game—mostly for curiosity’s sake, since I read the books as a child and adore the glorified fanfiction that is Wicked—and while I agree with most of what Totilo had to say about the game (let Toto fight!), I object to his take on the trackball movement system.

In Beyond the Yellow Brick Road, players control Dorothy’s movement on the world map that is the yellow brick road by stroking the stylus along a virtual trackball that takes up the bottom of the screen. The faster you “roll” the ball, the faster Dorothy moves and the longer it takes her to come to a stop once you stop manipulating the trackball.

Totilo argues that the controls feel a little outdated and that the D-pad might be a better mode of motion. I say the trackball adds a layer of strategy to the game and spares your poor thumbs the jagged edges of the D-pad.

The strategy comes from trying to steer Dorothy around enemies or toward goals like treasure chests or the end-level points. Granted, you probably wouldn’t want to avoid enemies unless you were running really low on health items—but all the same, I watched many a game where journalists play chicken with the roving enemies on the screen by speeding up the trackball as fast as they could and trying to stop just short of the enemies without triggering the encounter. It was like shuffle board, but with Dorothy.

Beyond that, I appreciate having a DS game that doesn’t make you use the buttons at all. The DS’s big gimmick is the touch screen, after all, so why not use the hell out of it?

The Wizard of Oz: Beyond The Yellow Brick Road is out September 29, 2009.

P.S. If you touch the Toto icon with the stylus, Dorothy pets Toto.

The October issue of manga Comic Rush, on sale August 26, will see the first manga version of Dream C Club, called Dream Club Destiny.

Illustrator 888 (that’s the dude’s moniker!) will be happening the drawing duties. Above is a sneak peek. Of two girls, hugging each other. We think they’re friends.

月刊コミックラッシュ公式ブログ [Comic Rush]

Dream C Club from D3 Publisher is a hostess game that lets players get drunk in-drunk and watch dancing girls. Here is one of those dancing girls.

So far, the game has only been announced for Japan, and it’s recently been given a release date: August 27.

As we previously pointed out, Dream C Club features a drinking system called “IIS,” which has players control their drinking using the Xbox 360 controller’s analogue stick and try to get the hostess shitfaced so she’ll talk about personal things she normally wouldn’t. “IIS” stands for “Interactive Inshu System” with “inshu” being Japanese for “drinking alcohol.”

There’s a system for talking with the hostess as well. Called “ETS” (Emotional Talk System), it gives players three response choices using the X, A, and B buttons on the Xbox 360 controllers. Girls also sing songs for customers and dance and wear costumes and stuff.

Can you see that? She’s pointing and pointing is rude.

パンチラばかりに目が行く『ドリームクラブ』の新ＰＶが公開 [はちま起稿]

Astro Boy: The Video Game for the Nintendo Wii, DS, PSP, and PlayStation 2 is the game adaptation of Imagi Studios’ new CG-animated movie, being released internationally this October. Astro Boy journeys throughout Metro City and the mysterious Surface, taking on hordes of robots using his traditional weapons: Finger Lasers, Arm Cannon, Drill Attacks, and my personal favourite – Butt Machine Guns. Developed by High Voltage Software, the game promises intuitive combat and flight, along with a slew of classic Astro Boy unlockables.

I’ll have to wait until I see more from the game before getting excited. While my nostalgia gland says yes, my movie tie-in gland says no. Remember back when film animators used to actually draw? Those were the days.

D3 Publisher is releasing Dream C Club, a hostess drinking game we’ve covered before. D3 Publisher is releasing the game for the Xbox 360, and here’s a trailer from D3 Publisher.

Yet, there’s something wrong with D3 Publisher’s trailer — a mistake from D3 Publisher. We can’t quite put our finger on D3 Publisher’s mistake. Can you see the error D3 Publisher made? Sure, D3 Publisher’s blunder must be pretty obvious.

An animated GIF, that’s what. Japan’s D3 Publisher released over seventy screens of character Riho upcoming drink-with-hostess-Xbox-360-game Dream C Club — from the exact same scene. And we’re not quite sure why.

Yes, SEVENTY PLUS SCREENS.

No, we take that back. We are very sure why. It’s didn’t take long before the screens were pieced together by the Japanese internet and, viola, we now have a clip of the game’s karaoke bit at 30 frames-per-second.

Dream C Club is set in a hostess bar. The Xbox 360 title lets players spend weekends getting wrecked with the saucy cabaret ladies that work at the club.

In Dream C Club, players go to a hostess bar for a year, working odd jobs during the weekdays to save money to spend on your nightlife.

The game features a drinking system called “IIS,” which has players control their drinking using the Xbox 360 controller’s analogue stick and try to get the hostess boozed up so she’ll talk about personal things she normally wouldn’t. “IIS” stands for “Interactive Inshu System” with “inshu” being Japanese for “drinking alcohol.”

The system for talking with the hostess is called “ETS” (Emotional Talk System) and gives players three response choices using the X, A, and B buttons on the Xbox 360 controllers.

It’s also possible to have girls get on stage and sing karaoke for players — as in the seventy plus screenshots.

Here’s the animated GIF. Enjoy?

Xbox 360用ソフト『ドリームクラブ』の登場キャラクター”理保”の動きを連続写真でチェック！ [Famitsu Thanks, Muu!]

Last spring autumn, a movie based on D3’s cowgirl-in-a-hat-killing-zombies game Onechanbara hit theatres. It was even localised as Chanbara Beauty for Western audiences.

While pretty much panned universally, the cheesy low budget flick was good old fashioned mindless fun. Guess it was successful enough to warrant a sequel, which has just been announced.

Dubbed Chanbara Beauty: VorteX, the flick seems based on the game by the same name. By “seems”, we mean, there’s cowgirl Aya, swords, blood and the walking dead — much like in the VorteX. Though, we cannot vouch for plot accuracies.

Starlet Eri Otoguro who played Aya in the first film appears to have been replaced by some other lady. Fingers crossed she sticks around for the inevitable third Chanbara flick.

Onechanbara The Movie [Official Site via 24Framespersecond via J-Film Pow-Wow]

The Xbox Live Arcade version of Puzzle Quest: Galactrix sees the light of day next week, with the PlayStation Network version coming later this spring autumn.

D3 Publisher has officially announced an April 8th release date for the Xbox Live Arcade version of Puzzle Quest Galactrix, their space-age sequel to the original Puzzle Quest. The Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network versions could wind up being the best versions of the game, simply for the fact that they both support online multiplayer with matchmaking, instead of the PC version’s multiplayer via IP address option or the DS version’s being near another person with a DS multiplayer and frustrating load times.

Galactrix hits Xbox Live next Wednesday for an as of yet undetermined number of Microsoft points, with the PSN version dropping sometime later this spring.

As hinted at earlier, Alchemist role-playing series Atelier is making the leap to the PS3. The latest entry, Atelier Rorona, will be released in Japan on June 25.

The game will feature full voice — a first for the series — and 3D graphics. The artist is Meru Kishida.

The game’s plot follows a novice 14-year-old frilly-lace-wearing alchemist named Rorona. In the game, it’s possible to create approximately a hundred items.

The Japanese franchise commenced in 1997 with PlayStation title Atelier Marie ~The Alchemist of Salburg~. The games, best known for their alchemy mechanics, have largely appeared on the PS platform with a few games showing up on other systems like the Dreamcast, the Game Boy Advance and the Nintendo DS.

続報『ロロナのアトリエ』主人公は14歳の少女！！ [チラシの裏でゲーム鈍報]