My Hands: Leona Lewis Plays and Talks Final Fantasy XIII

British songstress Leona Lewis plays and talks Final Fantasy XIII in this video that promotes Square Enix’s recently announced FFXIII contest. The singer of “My Hands” — the international FFXIII single — is best known for winning The X Factor, as well as her singles “Better in Time”, “Footprints in the Sand”, and “Happy”.

I don’t mean to be linguistically racist, but I totally cracked up when my friend from Sony pointed out that Square Enix selected an artist with a name that many Japanese people can’t pronounce. He joked that she’s referred to, “Reona Rewis,” at Square Enix HQ. I felt enormously guilty for laughing at that joke.

Adventures in Sex City Teaches Kids About STDs, Penis-Hands

I swear I’m not making this up — the Middlesex London Health Unit has released a game called Adventures in Sex City that teaches players about STDs. The villain has penis arms (and no, his name is not Edward Penishands). Here’s the scoop from GamePolitics:

Adventures in Sex City will have players assume the role of one of four characters — Captain Condom, Power Pap, Willy the Kid or Wonder Vag — as they take on penis-armed (literally) villain the Sperminator, who is hell-bent on spreading his brand of STD-infected love to everyone in town.

Wow. Uh…happy Valentine’s Day?

Source via GamePolitics

Win Tickets to Two Final Fantasy XIII Events

Square Enix has announced a members-only contest for two Final Fantasy XIII events taking place on March 8, 2010 in San Francisco. Here are the official particulars:

At the Final Fantasy XIII Experience — a fan-focused, daytime event which will take place across two sessions of two hours each — attendees will enjoy the game first hand, browse a gallery of stunning artwork, view trailers and meet the development staff. Some lucky fans will also win fantastic raffle prizes at the event.

A select group of guests will also be invited to the Final Fantasy XIII Launch Party to take place later in the evening. Industry luminaries such as Gas Powered Games’ Chris Taylor (Supreme Commander), Microsoft Game Studios’ Corrinne Yu (Halo), and Final Fantasy XIII director Motomu Toriyama will celebrate the Final Fantasy series and its latest iteration.

I am going to try to break into the launch party. If you win, I’ll see you there or ask you to sneak me in. Also, if you haven’t partied with Chris Taylor…well, you definitely want to…just make sure he stays away from farm animals. Head on over to Square Enix’s members site to enter!

Did You Play the Heavy Rain Demo? What Did You Think?!?

Sony dropped a short Heavy Rain demo on PlayStation Network yesterday. You’ve had sufficient time to download it and play it. Now I want to know what you think! This is one of the most divisive games I’ve come across in a while. Some people are totally into Quantic Dream’s style of storytelling. Some are dismissing it as a non-game or barely a game. Now that you’ve had a taste of it, kindly share your thoughts.

On a related note, the game was listed as #1 on Amazon when I went to grab the link. That surprised me.

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

To be completely honest, I’m actually going to try and not play games this weekend. I want to finish up Bill Simmons’ The Book of Basketball: The NBA According to The Sports Guy on my freshly gifted Amazon Kindle! That said, I’ll probably sneak in some game time. I won’t play anything heavy though — maybe a little Civilization on my iPhone.

How about you ladies and gets? What’s on your weekend play list for Valentine’s weekend?

Coffee Talk #85: Your Favorite Videogame Valentine’s Couples

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, what Tiger is buying Elin for Valentine’s Day, your favorite American Idol hopeful, or Kevin Smith’s performance at MacWorld, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

With a lovey dovey holiday coming on Sunday, I thought it would be a great time to talk about your favorite romantic couples in gaming. Whether you like traditional romances, bisexual elf assassins, or the timeless tale of a paddle and ball, I want to know who your favorite videogame couple is and why.

As for me, I’m going with Zack Fair and Aerith Gainsborough from Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII. Their love was innocent and tragic. It also led to one of the most emotionally powerful game endings I’ve experienced in years. Here’s part of the ending (spoilers ahead, duh!):

*sniff* Excuse me…a gnat flew into my eye. I have to run off and take care of this gnat-eye problem. For now, tell me who your favorite videogame couple is. Name the couple, the game, and why you chose them (please)!

FFXIII Xbox 360 Bundle, Nomura Faceplate on the Way

Square Enix has announced that a special Final Fantasy XIII Xbox 360 bundle will be available for $399. It will include, “a 250GB Hard Drive engraved with the Final Fantasy XIII name, two Wireless Controllers, exclusive downloadable avatar items and a standard edition copy of Final Fantasy XIII.” The console itself is completely ordinary and not nearly as sexy as the limited edition FFXIII PlayStation 3 available in Japan.

I’m more excited about the limited edition Xbox 360 faceplates designed by Tetsuya Nomura. Square Enix stated that these faceplates will be available in limited numbers. I want one!

I’m guessing most of you have Xbox 360s in working condition. Are you tempted to replace yours with this bundle?

NPD Hardware Sales Figures for January 2010

The first NPD hardware numbers of the new year and new decade are out! Let’s take a look at the console hardware sales figures for January 2010:

  • Wii: 465,800
  • Nintendo DS: 422,200
  • Xbox 360: 332,800
  • PlayStation 3: 276,900
  • PlayStation Portable: 100,100
  • PlayStation 2: 41,600

Naturally, sales had to be down from December and the ultra-busy holiday period. The Wii and DS continued to lead the business, while the Xbox 360 beat out the PlayStation 3. It will be interesting to see if the PS3 picks up in February and March. There are a few PS3 exclusives that will surely sell well, what will they move hardware?

Now channel your inner Jesse Divnich and analyze the numbers yourselves!

NPD Console Sales Figures Top 10 Games of January 2010

NPD Group released its console software sales figures for January 2010 and it pretty much looks like the previous couple of months, though a few new entries managed to crack the top 10. Check it out!

  1. New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii): 656,700
  2. Mass Effect 2 (Xbox 360): 572,100
  3. Wii Fit Plus (Wii): 555,700
  4. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Xbox 360): 326,700
  5. Mario Kart Wii (Wii): 310,900
  6. Wii Sports Resort (Wii): 297,600
  7. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (PS3): 259,000
  8. Army of Two: The 40th Day (Xbox 360): 246,500
  9. Just Dance (Wii): 191,900
  10. Darksiders (Xbox 360): 171,200

New Super Mario Bros. Wii and Modern Warfare 2 continued to dominate the charts. Although Mario took the top spot, MW2 for 360 is actually beating it out in North America. Globally it’s a different story and if Mario has legs like other Wii titles, I expect it to take the lead over here. Speaking of legs, Mario Kart Wii has demonstrated crazy lasting power, appearing on the charts well after its release. The awesome peeps at BioWare put up strong numbers with Mass Effect 2 — seriously guys, you’re my second favorite thing about Canada. You rule!

One question for you: Just Dance?!? Really?!?