The Crisis Core week has landed! And what better way to to prep you up for Square Enix's latest game on the PSP? Remember Monty Oum's CGI fanvid from a few months ago where hot babes Tifa, Rikku, and Yuna of Final Fantasy and Kasumi, Ayane, and Hitomi of Dead or Alive were pitted against each other in a Brawl - err, brawl, rather? Well, today we've got the sequel to that! And it's packing quite a punch with three new characters that jump into the fray. Who, you ask? Ah, well, sorry... No spoilers! Read more for the video.

 Team Ninja's leading man, the guy with a few smiles and a thousand words, behind the Tecmo-published Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive series deserves his own QuickJump Quicklist, so here's something dedicated to Tomonobu Itagaki and all his greatness. We've collected some lines from Itagaki that are either very amusing, or so badass fanboys would rather follow him around and wipe his sunglasses clean for a living.

Find all that at the full article!

Tomonobu Itagaki, head of Tecmo's Team Ninja and known for video games with babes and blood as seen in his Dead or Alive and Ninja Gaiden series, said in an interview that he doesn't feel censored by rating bodies like the ESRB and PEGI. He believes these organizations are actually good to the gaming industry.

"Entertainment shouldn't include things that make people feel uncomfortable or extremely upset," Itagaki said after pointing out that game developers are there to create entertainment. One of the reasons why he's all for rating game content was "it's very difficult to classify what people find offensive or what people find to be too violent only in words."

Itagaki also didn't want to be classified with people who "create something that is very far removed from societal norms and the moral sensibilities of the general public." He continued, "I think it's good that there are organizations out there in different countries that are trying to quantify - to say - 'this is considered to be more violent than that.'"

Team Ninja's boss also noted that the Japanese rating system is "a little bit backwards." According to him, a specific guideline is yet to be set for developers to know how far they can take violence in their games. Japan, however, is quite different from how other parts of the world see decapitations. Apparently, in the land of the rising sun, a quick kill is not that bad compared to a slow and painful death via belly slit.

There are other interesting things Itagaki mentioned in the interview, like how he enjoys love stories and that Kasumi could've been the star in Team Ninja's Nintendo DS offering. While we wait for Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword's scheduled winter 2007 release, we're also hoping Kasumi gets some touch action in the future.

 

For every ground-breaking title out there, there exists an unsung hero. They – like soldiers and bad sitcoms of old – are the miserable underdogs who never receive the due credit they deserve for their work. We're not talking about the developers -  we're talking about specialists - the (fictional) guys who work behind the scenes to ensure that the elements in whatever genre you play will always remain in tip-top condition, whether its your resident androgynous antagonist 's script, or your unfriendly neighborhood mook's marksmanship scores.

These guys will be the topic of today's quick list - along with an explanation with that special thing they do just to make the game better for one special individual - you. On to the list!
 
1. Sephiroth's acting coach
Let's be honest - Sephiroth isn't that original. More than one anime, manga, and J-RPG can boast its own brew of silver-haired, bad-ass sword-wielding bishie hotness, with Sephie being just a part of this popular trend. What sets him apart, however, is execution (acting, not Aeris…).
 
Sephiroth's dark foreboding lines and steely glare will haunt many a gamer's dreams, and for this, we can thank the man's ever-capable acting coach. We're talking the drama-guru who made Sephiroth walk the walk, talk the talk - the dude who probably taught him captivatingly cheesy one-liners like "Shall I give you despair?"
 
I'm afraid you haven't, Mr. Sephiroth's Acting Coach. You did give plenty of fanboys/girls something to think about for their next few - err - dreams, though...
 
Special accreditation goes to Cloud's hairdresser.

The rest of the list is available in the Full Article