Wii Warm Up

Animal Crossing: City Folk was seen as a bit of a disappointment by some longtime Animal Crossing players, due to the fact that it is extremely similar to previous iterations, with a perceived lack of much new content. But the real worth of any Animal Crossing game is revealed by its longevity, and we thought we would query you guys about that as we begin 2009.

Are you still actively participating in your town's life? If so, how long have you had the game? Do you foresee City Folk becoming a long-lived pastime for you, or will you put it down as soon as something else catches your eye?

Rumors

Lots of people have been speculating that the next entry in the Lego games franchise, to follow up Batman and Indiana Jones, would be something to tie in with the release of the next Harry Potter film. However, gaming site videogaming247 claims a source let slip to them that, instead, the next Lego game by developer Travellers Tales would be Lego Rock Band. Let the chorus of "what???" begin.

While this one is a tough rumor to swallow, for reasons of rights, viability, and silliness -- and we're always mistrustful of these anonymous sources, no matter who they're talking to -- Lego Rock Band would be both hilarious and completely awesome, so we're going to cross a few fingers.

News, WiiWare

With our shelves and Wii fridges creaking under the weight of new games from the holidays, Nintendo has generously given PAL gamers a week to catch their breath -- at least, we think that's the idea. Both WiiWare titles this week probably only appeal to a handful of people. The fifth and final episode of Strong Bad Episode 5 is great, obviously, but only if you're in the teensy minority who grabbed the first four instalments.

Meanwhile, Fun! Fun! Minigolf is allegedly so fun that maker Shin'en felt the need to tell us of its fun-ness twice over. But is a zany-looking chibi minigolf game really the title to stop us from getting our fingers gooey? Hint: no.

• Strong Bad Episode 5: 8-Bit is Enough -- WiiWare -- 1000 Wii Points
• Fun! Fun! Minigolf -- WiiWare -- 900 Wii Points

Imports, Video

We just figured out what makes zombies so appealing to game developers. The Uncanny Valley effect created by motion-capturing real people (like Japanese punk band Gagaga SP) and transferring their movements to imperfect 3D models is a good thing when the result is supposed to be off-putting and creepy.

This video (it's the one on the far left of Capcom's movie player widget, labeled "new", if you're browsing the site) features cameos from a bunch of Dead Rising characters, as a zombified Gagaga SP performs the new Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop theme, called, uh, "Dead Rising." The very existence of this video has suddenly made the game more awesome! It's cool that Capcom has put so much effort into something this goofy and fun.

If you happen to have a Japanese cell phone, you can download the song. If not, and the song has well and truly bored into your head as it has ours, you're just going to have to watch the video again, or you can stream a sample of just the audio here.

[Update: added embedded video.]

Video

Remember the kid that was so happy to get himself an N64 for Christmas? Of course you do, who doesn't? Well, it would appear the torch has been passed on to a small Canadian child, who is a bottomless well of excitement upon receiving a certain gift this Christmas. We won't ruin the surprise (you probably already guessed, anyway), so just head past the break and watch the video. Oh, and if you need a refresher on the N64 kid, hit up the video above.