The Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association (CESA) awarded Nintendo's Wii Fit and Capcom's Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G top accolades in this year's Japan Game Awards held during the ongoing Tokyo Game Show. More awardees after the jump.

The Japan Media Create software sales charts for the week ending on March 9 have been revealed. Namco Bandai's Gundam Musou Special for the Playstation 2 has been driven from the number one slot by Sega's Yakuza 3: Kenzan! for the Playstation 3.  To find out more, check out the full article by clicking on the "read more" link below.

The Tokyo Game Show is looming ever so near and we're prepping up for what the developers have in store for us. One such developer doesn't seem to want us guessing what they're offering come TGS: Sega. Sega's official website has been updated with their line-up for this year and we have to say the the list ain't too shabby. Not shabby at all.

Remember Ryu Ga Gotoku? It was better known as Yakuza on these and Europe's shores. Hopefully, we'll finally see a sequel (Ryu Ga Gotoku 2 doesn't really count as it was only released in Japan) and it's going to come busting to the PlayStation 3. It is currently called Ryu Ga Gotoku Kenzen and is scheduled for spring of next year.

Sega is pretty much loaded in titles for the PS3, DS, PS2, and Wii, while the Xbox 360 and PSP rosters are a bit bare. The titles to keep an eye on are Bleach: The Third Phantom, Battlefield of the Valkyrie, Sonic Rush Adventure, and Ghost Squad, among others. Anyway, here's the list with their respective ETAs courtesy of Siliconera.

PlayStation 3

• Imabi Kisou - Oct. 25
• Sega Rally - Jan 2008
• Ryu Ga Gotoku Kenzen- Spring 2008
• Battlefield of the Valkyrie - Spring 2008
• The Golden Compass - Spring 2008

Wii

• Ghost Squad - Oct 25
• NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams - Dec 13
• Mibiru & Tebri – Jan. 08
• The Golden Compass - Spring 2008
• Fushigi no Dungeon - Furai no Shiren 3: Karakuri Yashiki no Nemuri Hime - 2008

The rest of the list comes after the jump!

Is this a case of counting chickens even before the eggs hatch? Red Steel hasn't even officially arrived at the table yet and it's already got a "rumored" sequel coming out. Speculations about Red Steel 2 was fuelled when Ubisoft President Yves Guillemot made a comment a few days ago regarding how happy he was to work with Nintendo. He then spoke something about expecting another "western-Asiatic" type of game for the Wii in the future. Whether he meant another game or a sequel, well, your guesses are as good as our.

Red Steel is a game suited just for the Wii as it will make full use of both the Wiimote and the Nunchuck controllers. The game will have a western and eastern feel as the hero goes back to Japan, battle a couple of Yakuza bosses and rescue his fiancee. So far, a lot of previewers are giving it the 'two thumbs up'. If you want to see a sample, you can browse over to our recent video article.

Remember, what the President said is still in rumor territory as we have yet to see nor play the full version of the game. We guess that if it sold well, a sequel would be sure to follow, if it bombed, the future's up for grabs. Is it too early too tell? What do you guys think?

The countdown for the Christmas season has begun, but more than the anticipation for the jolly fat man in a red suit coming to town, what's causing even more hype is the release of the Nintendo Wii. Set for its debut on 19 November for the US, 2 December for Japan, 8 December in Europe, and 7 December for Australia, this definitely comes just in time for that festive holiday mood.

For sure, most of you are wishing fervently that some utterly generous friend will find that you've been nice enough this past year to warrant giving you a Wii for Christmas. But then again, as your friends will all probably be wishing for their own Wiis, the prospects of you getting one as a gift ranges from minimal to nil. But then again, there's rich relatives, perhaps?

Of course, the expectation is that you've already begun saving up for the Wii season as early as last year. But if not, granted that you do get yourself the console, you probably won't have enough left for all the amazing games you ought to buy to fully enjoy the holiday season. Sad, ain't it?

However, there's no need to pout, because if ever you only have enough cash to buy just a couple of games, we have here a list of the top 5 must-haves for your Wii from computerandvideogames.com which they figured would give more bang for your buck. Check them out and make your pick:

Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess- So Link is now right-handed. But really, we don't really care whichever hand he uses to fight. What matters is that the gang's around to spread some good ol' holiday cheer for us all, especially since we've seen the cool screenshots with all those detailed textures.


Read the rest of this article after the Jump!

Geez, where's the love, Sensei? Always with the put-downs, never with the praise! Hey, part of the reason why we answered your previous ad for Red Steel - aside from the fact that we're really liking Red Steel so far - is that, yeah, we do need the help in the Yakuza a**-kicking department.

No, these ads won't fold up to form a paper shuriken, though they do state in the clear the very direct-to-the-point Sensei's phone number this time. They also state, pretty clearly, that tutorials may be necessary (given that the Wiimote is still pretty much uncharted territory, yeah, Sensei may have a point). Ah, and a small peek into some four-way multiplayer action, to demonstrate to Sensei who's the biggest loser - aw crap, man, now his negativity's rubbing off on us! These Red Steel ads do know how to grab a man's attention.

Buy: [Red Steel]

Sega has just posted their list of games to be released in Europe from September to December this year for different consoles. Also included are some of the titles to be released early next year. The titles marked with an * are Sega’s new budget games. This is great news for our fellas in Europe, now how about a full list for US titles as well, huh Sega?*winks*

September 2006:
1st: Virtua Tennis: World Tour Platinum* (PSP)
1st: Virtua Pro Football (PS2)
15th: Yakuza (PS2)
15th: OutRun 2: Coast to Coast* (PSP, PS2)
15th: Sonic Riders* (PS2, NGC)
15th: Shadow the Hedgehog* (PS2, NGC)
15th: Spartan: Total Warrior* (NGC)

November 2006:
17th: Sonic the Hedgehog (PS3, Xbox 360)
17th: Full Auto 2: Battlelines (PS3)
Wii Launch: Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz (Wii)
??th: Football Manager 2007 (Xbox 360)
??th: Phantasy Star Universe (PS2, Xbox 360)
??th: Football Manager Portable 2007 (PSP)
??th: SEGA Mega Drive Collection (PS2, PSP)
??th: Sonic Rivals (PSP)

Unknown or in 2007:
Winter 06/07 World Snooker Championship 2007 (Xbox 360, PSP, PS3, PS2)
February 2007 Charlotte’s Web (GBA, NDS)
Spring 2007 Virtua Tennis 3 (Xbox 360, PS3)
Spring 2007 SEGA Rally (Xbox 360, PS3)
Spring 2007 Virtua Fighter 5 (PS3)
Spring 2007 Sonic and the Secret Rings (Wii)
2007: The Club working title (Xbox 360, PS3)
2007: Golden Axe (Xbox 360, PS3)

The Nintendo Wii has gotten the reputation of being all sunshine in terms of games playable in the console compared to other "hardcore" consoles in its class. And like a mysterious freedom fighter, a revamped Red Steel would swoop down on the Wii and start a revolution. No pun intended.

In an interview with Senior Project Coordinator Stephanie Langlois at the recently concluded Games Convention at Leipzig, she goes into details on the graphical changes made on the game since E3 2006. She reveals that the whole look for the game is inspired by the dark movies of the 70s, capitalizing on the light and shadow effect to give the game an atmosphere befitting of its Yakuza environment.

Langlois acknowledges that not all players, especially those that will handle the Wii remote for the first time, will immediately get used to the device. To this she implies that practice makes perfect. She assures that once a player gets the hang of it, it will reflect in their gameplay strategies.

Who's all sunshine now?

Download: [GC 2006 Interview: Graphical Changes on Red Steel]

The last interview we featured concerning Red Steel was Hyper magazine's with Red Steel associate producer Jean Baptiste Duval, where he talked about the game's immersive use of the Wiimote-Nunchuck controllers and a couple of gameplay details. Well, this new interview is IGN's with artistic director Stephane Bachelet, who gives a behind-the-scenes look at the development of Red Steel's visuals, as well as a handful of new screenshots to complement the goodie bag.

Bachelet reveals that what was shown at E3 was a "work in progress" - obviously the time since then was well spent on bootstrapping the graphics to the next level. "The E3 demo had to be delivered so quick that we could not take time to implement the whole graphic chart we developed. So, the E3 version's graphics was a work in progress, just to be show-able, but not finished... Now we work on developing our complete style specific to Red Steel that will not only be a great support to the scenario and the gameplay, but also be the visual identity and signature for this new brand. We keep working a lot on the impact of the graphics and on the way the player plays as well."

The choice to set the game in Japan defines the visual signature of Red Steel, but there is one more influence that the artistic team drew from, one which wasn't present in the E3 demo. "We took inspiration from a completely different style where flashy colors are there, but not everywhere: 70s 'films noirs' such as Straw Dogs. It was interesting for us as it is a very edgy, dark atmosphere with tons of attitudes and colors: a perfect inspiration for us."

Contrasting the vivid neon colors of urban Japan with the gritty, subdued palettes of film noir meant pushing the lighting system to make those neon lights stand out, while "de-saturating" the palette towards more colored greys. "In the end, the goal is to look old but not black and white and flashy colors add a touch of modernism. We support a lot the 'films noirs' side of the game, but we adapt it our way."

Well, you know the clich?a picture's worth more than a thousand words. In Japan, so's a haiku. The screenshots we picked below from IGN's gallery is both: a picture that better explains the work Bachelet and his team has done since the E3 demo, and a poetic screencap of neons fighting against the urban gloom as you, the player fight against your Yakuza enemies .(All pictures from IGN.com).

Commenting on the Wii's graphics capabilities, Bachelet noted that the console "set a limit, in fact. That is why we started working on a stylish realistic rendering rather than on a pure photorealism treatment, with shaders and other heavy effects. The idea is to provide eye-catching scenes that are really cool and emphasize the action of the game, rather than places that highlight impressive effect, which you do not pay any attention to in the middle of the action anyway." It does pay to stop and smell the roses - or to be accurate, take in the sights: "Note that these contrasts between shadows and colors should also help the player to progress / to be guided through the levels."

By the looks of things Red Steel is coming together quite nicely as the countdown to its release continues.

Looks like we have two great events to look forward to this November. Ubisoft UK announced that its red-hot Red Steel will be released this November and possibly at the same time as Wii's debut. In a press email Ubisoft UK says "Red Steel is set for release on the Nintendo Wii in November 2006." Red Steel is exclusive for the Wii and the game's November release could be an indication of the console's availability.

Red Steel takes full advantage of the console’s revolutionary Wiimote and puts players directly into the action-packed, first-person experience with the weapon literally in their hand. Its gripping storyline begins when the main character's fiancée is kidnapped by the Japanese Yakuza kingpin. The only way to save her is for the hero to journey from Los Angeles to Japan and confront the Tokyo underworld.

Gamers take on the role of the American in Japan and you must learn the ancient art of Japanese fighting using your katana and and modern firearms. Your must adapt yourself to this foreign environment because skills alone may not guarantee your victory.

Many thanks to James Orry for the Red Steel release date info.