El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatronis now available to download on the Japanese PlayStation Network and Xbox Live, and naturally I fired up my foreign account to give it a whirl. Having put the demo through it’s paces, I’ve come away with two things in mind. These are the two things that seem set to typify theEl Shaddaiexperience. God damn is it pretty, but Goddamnis it a son of a bitch....

I am under no illusion —Pokémonisn’t for children. Sure, it’s all dressed up like cute and cuddly schoolyard fun, but once you break through the plush surface, you find mystical statistics and arcane knowledge that woulddestroythe mind of a child in moments. Besides, even adults find yellow mice adorable. ThePokémonCompany (which I still think is a big office full of Mudkips in business suits) realizes thatPokémonisn’t just for kids, and has announced aline of T-shirtswith the adult fan in mind....

Kirby’s Epic Yarnhas a brand new trailer out of Japan, although it’s advised that you steer clear if you’re allergic to things that are cute and awesome and MADE OF STRING! There isn’t a whole lot of new information in the footage, but there are some cool new clips of Kirby as a firetruck, yarn ghosts, and a fight with King Dedede. A duck with a mallet who is a king and is NOW MADE OF STRING!...

Suikodenfans unite! Konami has announced that the latest in its renowned RPG series is coming to the DS asSuikoden: Tierkreis. I have no idea what aTierkreisis, but I do know that I love my portable Japanese RPGs. Bonza! Tierkreiswill mark the franchise’s debut on Nintendo’s dual-screened handheld, and Konami is promising innovative additions to the core gameplay, along with online community features. Here is a snippet of the press release full of stuff I don’t understand because I can’t find a copy of anySuikodengame in Britain for love nor money:...

[Backlogis the ongoing quest to ridConrad Zimmerman’scollection of unfinished games. As voted on by the Destructoid community, Conrad plays each game from start to finish live onDestructoid’s Justin.tv channelevery weeknight at 8pm Pacific] What a wonderful change of pace this has been. Last night onBacklog, I started playingPikmin 2. And I’ve been smiling about it more or less since. Oh, there were mishaps. I nearly drowned the little buggers a couple of times through inattentiveness and lost about half to an over-sized grub, but who’s counting?...

Today on Chill Bros Live, Pico will be tacklingResonance of Fateas Carnage serenades you with his sweet angelic voice. Hang out with Destructoid Chill Bros onJustin.tv/Destructoidevery weekday at 4PM Pacific and 12PM Pacific on weekends. Check out Venom, Carnage, and Pico’s wildvideosthat happen live everyday from the Destructoid headquarters in San Francisco, CA. Do you want a chance to win aNintendo 3DS? Just follow ushereand we will be giving away aNintendo 3DS in March, along with many other prizes daily....

Capcom continues to supportLost Planet 2in late July, when the publisher says it will release an all new mode, as well as a new skin. “Rush Arena” pits up to four players in a special mode against all of the bosses that appear in the game, all the way up through the final baddie. The mode will sport its own set of leaderboards as well, where players will battle it out off the best completion time....

Have you playedMadWorldyet? You know, the superviolent, superstylized action game that fulfills the Wii’s annual “over-the-top game where the Wiimote is used as some sort of dismemberment device” quota? If you have, you’ve probably noticed, for better or for worse, the audio commentary by one Greg “Oh, and there goes Quadranero’s power coupling” Proops and one John “More like ten sh*tloads” DiMaggio. Crass, unsophisticated, and frequently appealing to the lowest common denominator, their color commentary is rife with penis references, ex-wife jokes, and other forms of humor too risque for anyone above the age of seven and too unsophisticated for anyone over the age of sixteen....

The Sun(The UK’s answer to two old women gossiping over a clothesline) has a report, by way ofGamepolitics.com, detailing the heroic acts of one Adam Mapleson. Mr. Mapleson came to the aid of a female security guard who was being robbed at a UK railway station, and, in the ensuing kafluffle was shot in the chest. He is currently in the hospital in serious, but stable, condition. The article (both the version found in The Sun, and on Gamepolitics) makes a concerted effort to illustrate the fact that Mr....

Speaking with Marc Ecko about his work with videogames a few months back, the outspoken entrepreneur fessed up to one rumor I had been hearing — he’d at one point been trying to adapt a videogame version of a famous William Shakespeare tale. “I completely re-imaginedMacbeth,” he said after some hesitation and surprise, and then stopped short. “I don’t want to give it away.” Ecko admits that like many projects, it barely survived its infancy, simply existing only as a pitch or early demo....

Super Mario Galaxy 2is almost here, but you wouldn’t know it from the way Nintendo of America is acting. We haven’t heard anything from Reggie and the gang about the game since thatpress event a few weeks back. We’ve have to turn to Japanese sources to learn new stuff about the game (like the return ofBucken Berry and Ala Gold), and even then, details have been minimal. Now that Nintendo of Japan has opened an officialSuper Mario Galaxy 2section on their website, we’ll hopefully start getting more new info more often....

If you haven’t playedMarvel vs. Capcom 2before, where the hell have you been for the last decade? Of course, it might just be that you aren’t skilled with some of the heavy hitters in the game, which might be why Capcom chose to release this matching set of videos featuring Zangief and Hulk. Or perhaps they’re desperate to deliver some new promotional content for a game which came out nine years ago....

As promised,Mirror’s EdgeDLC is on the way. The “Pure Time Trial Pack” is a selection of “stylized” time trial stages which, as you may see from the above video, look like some sort of drug experiment gone horrible wrong. If the originalMirror’s Edgegave you motion sickness, prepare to blow chunks in salty abundance this time around. There will be eight maps, and the pack is due to ship in January. Electronic Arts has promised that further details are on the way....