After eight weeks on top, Nintendo's Mario Kart Wii was ousted from the top spot in Media Create's software chart list by Sega's Pro Yakyuu Team o Tsukurou! On the flip side, the PlayStation Portable is still enjoying a comfortable lead against its other hardware rivals. You can read the hard numbers to both the hardware and software charts in Japan by clicking on the "read more" link found below.

Need more RPGs to play on the Nintendo DS? You won't have to worry about that because hot of the heels of Dragon Quest Monsters games, Dragon Quest V is coming. This promises to be another huge hit given how insanely popular the Dragon Quest franchise is. Read the full version and see the nice scan that previews what we're set to get when Dragon Quest V hits town.

One NeoGAF Forum member got hold of a poster containing info regarding the presents Club Nintendo Platinum members will be receiving this coming holiday. Club Nintendo, for those not in the know, is the official club established by Nintendo exclusively for Japanese fans.

Membership is acquired through purchasing and registering video games published by the company. Previous rewards given away include Wiimote with TV remote functionality. See this year's rewards via the "read more" link below.

Old school gamers should keep silent for a moment to mourn the loss of our dearly beloved Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and Super Nintendo Entertainment System consoles, which have brought many happy moments in our video gaming career.

Nintendo has announced that it will be officially dropping all hardware repair support for the two of its most celebrated consoles of all time. Ken Toyoda, Nintendo Japan's spokesperson, has finally commented on reports a few weeks back that the company will be ceasing to offer hardware support for its Famicom and Super Famicom (the Japanese equivalent to the NES and SNES) consoles.

Check out the rest of the article right after the jump!

While giving way to Sylvain White as the director for the Castlevania movie adaptation, Paul W.S. Anderson remains part of the project as a producer. In a recent interview, Anderson shared that the Castlevania movie's shooting will likely begin in a couple of months.

This is because they want the script to be done before the impending writer's strike. "I'm hoping to get a script for it in two or three weeks. And I'm hoping it's great. Sylvain White is directing it, and we're hoping to kind of make it a pre-strike movie. So it kind of shoots in the next couple months," said Anderson.

It was reported a while ago that Rogue Pictures wanted a complete overhaul to the Castlevania script. According to earlier reports, the previous plot of the planned Castlevania movie revolved around a knight from Transylvania hiding from the Turkish Army in Dracula's castle.

The video game franchise Castlevania from Konami first appeared in 1986 on the platform Famicom Disk System.

There's an interesting survey conducted by small online research firm WhatJapanThinks regarding the preferred consoles by Japanese kids. The population consisted of around 1,165 elementary school students and the results are quite intriguing and interesting:

• Nintendo DS 82.2%
• Nintendo Gameboy Advance 39.8%
• Sony PlayStation 1, 2 or 3 37.4%
• Nintendo Wii 35.3%
• Nintendo Gamecube 31.4%
• Nintendo Gameboy, Gameboy Micro 19.8%
• Nintendo 64 15.2%
• Nintendo Super Famicom (SNES) 15.1%
• Nintendo Famicom (NES) 11.9%
• Sony PlayStation Portable 10.5%
• Microsoft Xbox 5.8%
• Sega Saturn 5.1%
• Sega Dreamcast 4.8%
• Other 16.4%

Take note that this survey is not reflective of the whole Japanese market and is just true on a certain market segment. Nonetheless, like we said, the results are quite interesting.

 

While we all knew that Square Enix was going to cram a lot of new content into the DS remake of Final Fantasy IV, it never occurred to us that it would have something as major as an entirely new character.

Players, meet Pochka, the latest addition to your party in the DS remake of the game. We don't know much about him (or her) yet, only that he (or she) looks absolutely adorable and out-of-place in the middle of a party of tall warriors and mages.

While it's certainly interesting that Square Enix is going ahead with its plans to include as much of the omitted material as they could into the remake, we can only wonder how this would impact the game's storyline. Why, it could even mean that the ending of Final Fantasy IV could be changed entirely - which makes it a completely different game from the one we've already completed.

A very interesting update on Final Fantasy IV DS indeed. More updates as we get them.

Three is a magic number. While Square Enix got heads rolling with the Final Fantasy III remake, plus the incoming Final Fantasy IV, the RPG-remake era of the Nintendo DS isn't over just yet. Man, it's sooo far from over. Because hailing from the sunny and sushi-loving shores of Japan are scans of the latest Shonen Jump magazine.

The scans confirm not one, not two, not even two and seven-tenth games to be remade. THREE individual remakes of Dragon Quest games are now on the queue! More specifically Dragon Quest IV (from the NES), Dragon Quest V (Super Famicom), and Dragon Quest VI (Super Famicom) are now all scheduled to come out for the DS.

Well, considering that it's a package deal, some of you guys might remember that these three games are part of what some would dub as the Zenithia trilogy - all revolving around the castle in the sky (no to be confused with Hayao Miyazaki's movie).

Check out the scans below, they've even got some screens posted up:

 

So how many DQ games are/will be on the DS now? Man, I've lost count. The release dates for the IV, V, and VI remakes aren't given, but this confirmation has - on a personal note - officially extended my life expectancy of my very own DS Lite. Woohoo!

Not too long ago, Square Enix announced (with the launch of its site) that a Final Fantasy IV remake was in the works. After showing you some mag scans, we've got more juicy info for all excited FF fans out there. IGN translated Famitsu's interview with director Takashi Tokita and producer Tomoya Asano to find out how the the remake is doing.

Tokita, the original game's event planner, revealed that only 1/4th of FFIV's full script was included in the Super Famicom version because of hardware limitations. This time around, he'll be doing some work around the scenarios he himself wrote: add and remove some parts to make sure the remake delivers the story it's supposed to deliver.

Not only the graphics will be remade, they're also working on ways to utilize the dual screens to make this classic more enjoyable. These would include:

• Help window (during battle) will be displayed larger on the second screen
• Bottom screen will be used for automapping when in dungeons
• Move your character to any part of the map by clicking on it with the Stylus
• Stylus-based minigames

Tokita also promises more replayability, giving players an incentive to relive the experience again after beating the game once. Seems like it won't be just an increase in difficulty, or carrying your levels and items to the next game. As if sidequests in FF games weren't enough, looks like Square Enix is deadset in making this remake "new, but it's FFIV".

   

Take note of the capital S in the title. (It's not a typo, this writer just felt the need to put emphasis on the plural of Star Ocean, you'll know what we mean in a bit.) Square Enix held a Pre-Conference Meeting at its HQ in Shinjuku and let's just say there was a deluge of new info about the upcoming titles.

Squeenix is definitely giving the Sony PlayStation Portable a lot of love. They're releasing three Star Ocean titles, two of which are for the PSP. Yup, you read that right. Star Ocean: First Departure is a full makeover'd version of the original Super Famicom video game (it was only released in Japan). Second up is Star Ocean: Second Evolution which is also a remake for the original PSOne Star Ocean: The Second Story. Star Ocean 4 is still under development by the original devs for the series, tri-Ace. There wasn't any info on what platforms it will be released on and an ETA.

Shinji Hashimoto announced a new Wii title under the working title Chocobo's Dungeon: Toki-Wasure no Meikyuu. It will be released in honor of the 10th anniversary of the Chocobo franchise. Reportedly, it will serve as a follow up of the DS Chocobo Tales and will feature familiar characters and locations. The difference would be that the title will focus on dungeon gameplay instead of a bunch of minigames. Producer Yuki Yokoyama concluded:

Finally, a word for those who enjoyed Chocobo Tales, we are including something special that should be very familiar to you to discover, and I hope you're looking forward to this title as much as I am.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers were discussed by Akitoshi Kawazu, executive producer of the series. He indicated that Ring of Fates will be coming to Nintendo's handheld and will be utilizing the DS' WiFi capabilities. Ring of Fates will be more focused on traditional action RPG gameplay with good special effects. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates will be released in August 23 in Japan - a bit later than what Square Enix had planned. A short in game footage for The Crystal Bearers for the Wii was shown featuring sky ships and other impressive elements.

Lastly, the Square Enix announced Final Fantasy XII: International Zodiac Job System (definitely a mouthful) which is scheduled for a August 9 release. Hiroyuki Ito, producer and director for the title indicated that a secret DVD will be included. The North American version of the game will be English dubbed and will feature a 16:9 widescreen mode. According to Ito, "the Zodiac Job System now enables players to create characters that adhere more closely to classic Final Fantasy job systems, like White Mage, Red Mage and Black Mage."

Looks like we've got a lot to expect from Square Enix this year. Expect more goodies as when the party really begins. Stay tuned.