(Let’s unwrap. Future unwrapping game.)

So I bought the EU version of Let’s Tap today, which might just be the most fun I’ve ever had opening a videogame before. And yes, I know I should probably get out more. Anyway, it starts with an almost-but-not-quite-A4-sized box like this.

Slide the lovely, colourful slipcase off and you get this…

…one of the tap boxes required to control the game (in case you don’t know, you control Let’s Tap by resting the Wii remote upside down on one of these and tap the box, with the vibrations registered as control inputs). Open that up and you get…

…another tap box! And finally, inside that box…

…you get a cardboard insert keeping the game itself all warm and snug. Aww. It’s like a solo game of pass-the-parcel.

Anyway, fantastic stuff, and almost worth buying Let’s Tap for alone, especially at the rather bargainous RRP of £24.99 (though a quick shuftie online should net you the game for over a fiver less). As you may recall, I rather enjoyed the Japanese version of Let’s Tap, and am looking forward to reacquainting myself with this altogether unique Wii game.

There’s an additional surprise, too. If you have save data for Prope’s WiiWare title Let’s Catch (which launched on the service yesterday for 1000 points) you can unlock bonuses for three of Let’s Tap’s five main game modes.

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Struggling with that pixel-perfect leap? Help is at hand...

It’s been mooted for a while, but Nintendo has finally confirmed it will be introducing a new help system to assist gamers when they’re stuck on a particularly difficult bit.

Rather than video-based hints or walkthroughs or a DVD-style chapter-skip, however, players will simply be able to pause the action and select an option which sees the game play itself - completing any tough sections and allowing the player to regain control at any time thereafter.

This generation, Nintendo’s mantra has been all about reducing the barriers of entry for non-gamers and less experienced players, and so this is a sensible and logical next step. And as the tentatively-named “demo play” is merely optional, it’s only the weak-willed whose play experience is going to suffer.

The feature will be introduced in New Super Mario Bros. Wii, and will likely be used in all future first-party titles. Should Galaxy 2 have any challenges rivalling Luigi’s Purple Coins in the difficulty stakes, temptation might just be too great for me to resist pressing pause for a computer-controlled leg-up.

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Bloody clever bit of marketing from the guys and gals at Sega - a House of the Dead Overkill poster creator, promoting the lightgun blaster which is released this Friday (or today, if you’re in the US).

Featuring a wealth of titles, graphics, character and background art, you can craft your own grindhouse-style movie poster, adding your own credits if you fancy, and muddying the print for added authenticity. There’s even a bunch of tacky filters you can apply to any part of the poster, along with a host of ‘warnings’ for adult content and such like.

You can see one of my efforts above, and I’ve produced a couple more here and here. Do have a go and feel free to link to your own posters in the comments thread below.

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In what represents something of a departure for the brick-busting, block-building (or should that be the other way round?) franchise, the next LEGO game won’t be based on a film nor a comic book character.

Instead, LEGO Battles is a handheld-focused experience, offering gameplay that’s all about ‘build and battle’ (it says here).  “Through six distinct story lines, players build their own LEGO bases and battle teams as they engage in over 70 different levels, mixing and matching units to create the ultimate customized LEGO squad, ” claims the press release.

Apparently this will mean battles between pirates and aliens, with wizards, dragons and ninjas thrown in for good measure. With LEGO’s innate customisational possibilities, presumably you’ll be able to create a ninja dragon or an alien wizard - which sounds all kinds of awesome. I’ll be honest; they had me at ‘pirates’.

There’s a wireless multiplayer mode, too - though it suggests you’ll need more than one copy of the game to take advantage of that. Still: pirates versus ninjas in a fight to the death in LEGO form. Childish wish-fulfilment doesn’t really get any better than that.

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April 14th is yet another date for DS owners to scribble in their diary, as Atlus has just announced the forthcoming US release of friendship-destroying RPG-boardgame Dokapon Journey.

Wii owners may already be familiar with Dokapon, as Atlus also published last year’s Dokapon Kingdom, which was released to positive reviews last October. While the board game template might seem like a better fit for the home console, the portable version allows you to play against 3 AI opponents as well as three human friends wirelessly. Sadly, there’s no online option, but then it’s understandable when the fun part of board games comes in the shrieks of outrage when one player seems to get all the luck, or in this case the smug looks you can conjure when your avatar beats up an opponent.

Mini-games and touchscreen scratchcards (using the stylus to reveal chance card items) are the main additions for the DS version. No word on a European release just yet - if only Atlus had a European arm.

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What do you get when you combine two of my very favourite things - attractive women and Hotel Dusk: Room 215? The answer is this song, performed by the good-looking, talented and good-looking Rebecca Mayes (above), who may be my new favourite person ever.

Or she would be were her song not a thinly-veiled attack on the wonder that is CiNG’s noir-tinged visual novel, Mayes seemingly only prepared to put up with the regular game overs and the lengthy dialogue sequences so that she might fantasise about Dusk’s hunky hero, Kyle Hyde. Meh, I’m more of a Louis deNonno man.

“Whatever you do keep your mouth shut for five minutes can’t you Kyle? If you give me another game over and I have to listen to your jabber one more time I might just have to shoot you,” sings Mayes, before egregiously giving away a blatant plot spoiler. Well, sort of - I mean, it happens at the start of the game, so I’ll let her off.

Mayes has also crafted musical critiques of Wii Sports and Okami, of which she’s even more critical. I’m with her on the latter - the paintbrush controls were far too finicky. Her next target is Hello Kitty on the DS.

Good stuff. Yahtzee, beware - your reign as the internet’s Most Wittily Scathing Gaming Critic could well be coming to an end.

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In March of this year, Atlus will be publishing Tokyo Beat Down - an old-school beat-em-up for the DS which is either going to be terrible or an absolute camp classic. What’s clear from the screenshots and videos so far is that it’s had a superb localisation from a team absolutely aware of its inherent daftness, along with a press release so good, that I’m just going to reprint it in full here:

In Tokyo Beat Down, you shoot first, punch second, kick third, break for lunch, and then ask questions… if there’s time. Every sort of crook, hoodlum, thief, criminal, traitor, drug dealer, murderer, assassin, terrorist, arsonist-well, you get the idea-is scheming to take over the streets of Tokyo, and only one police unit has what it takes to stand in their way. The most vicious, merciless, unyielding team of enforcers: the Beast Cops.

This sordid tale of Tokyo’s criminal set unfolds through the eyes of three different cops with unique play styles. Story branches lead to multiple endings that determine whether you’ll get your shot to beat down the ultimate crime boss. That’s right, boys and girls, multiple characters and endings.

What do you do when thugs and hoodlums put peace and freedom in jeopardy? When the streets are overrun with the worst sort of scum? When the city’s most feared villains seek to rise to power? YOU BEAT THEM DOWN!

The emboldened part made me laugh for about a minute. With characters called Stuff-In-Common-With-You Guy and dialogue like “you’re so naive…fists can solve any problem”, Tokyo Beat Down might just be the most hilariously quotable thing since Anchorman. It’s out in March for just $29.99, and I immediately want it.

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You could not make it up. Our sister site Crafty Crafty has a piece about the wonder that is Kniitiing - a new product which teaches you how to make tea towels and octopus toaster covers (!) using just your remote and nunchuk.

Designed as a kind of Knitting Training for beginners, you’ll learn all about the motions for knitting and purling without ending up with a one-armed jumper should you make a mistake. Creator Rachel Beth Egenhoefer likens it to Guitar Hero - knitting is all about rhythm, so the idea is to keep a regular flow of knitting and purling motions to craft the various items from virtual wool.

Kniitiing is in its beta stage at the moment, but expect to hear more about this intriguing little oddity soon. And prepare for some giant plastic needle peripherals to arrive when it launches, too.

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