Overdone.

The long-running legal case regarding controversial Cooking Mama: Cookstar has finally drawn to its conclusion, with The International Court of Arbitration ruling that publisher Planet Entertainment did indeed infringe upon Office Create's IP with the 2020 release.

Available for PS4 and Nintendo Switch, Cooking Mama: Cookstar fell into controversy immediately, with rumors swirling that it utilized the Nintendo Switch hardware to mine cryptocurrency. Though Planet Entertainment stated that this wasn't the case, Cooking Mama IP owner Office Create filed suit against the publisher, stating that the company's right to use the Cooking Mama brand had expired �the initial build of the comical cook ??sim having been submitted and rejected back in 2018.

"Un??fortunately, the quality of the game builds failed to meet the standards that our customers e?xpect and deserve," said Office Create at the time. "Office Create rejected a wide range of deficiencies affecting the overall feel, quality, and content of the game.

"Yet, despite being contractually obligated to correct the identified deficiencies and resubmit the corrected game for Office Create's approval, Planet proceeded to release Cooking Mama: Cookstar without addressing all of the ??rejections and without?? Office Create's approval."

Following this week's legal ruling, Cooking Mama: Cookstar has been removed from the PSN Store and the Nintendo eShop, and all remaining physical copies must be removed from store shelves. To date, the most recent official Cooking Mama release was Apple Arcade title Cooking Mama: Cuisine! which launched in July of this year.

Court rules that?? Cooking Mama: Cookstar infringed upon Office ??Create's IP [GamesIndustry.biz]

The post Cookstar: Cooking Mama legal case finally reaches a verdic?t appeared first on Destructoid.

Telling stories through the dishes we love

Food. It's one of the most quintessential parts of being alive, so it only makes sense that we would find a wa?y to include it in a medium like video games that often tries to replicate real life.

Ever since the early days of gaming, food has been a way to get health or energy back. The first thing that comes to mind when I think about video game food has to be the meat you find in the walls of a spooky castle in Castlevania, or the hilariously anachronistic gyro and fries you can pick up in Hades. It's something that can seem really silly on the face of it, and the way we use food for health in video g??ames has been memed and parodied to death. Admittedly, it is very funny to imagine your character in a game stopping in the middle of a scuffle to shove fourteen wheels of cheese into their ??face before diving back into the fight.

But w??hen you think about it, is there any other analogy that works better? I don't think so. Food is our fuel, it's what gives us energy to do the things we need to do �a simple, given fact of life that is still somehow easy for me to forget on an almost daily basis.

Cooking is the name of the game

[caption id="attachment_256206" align="alignnone" width="1280"] _{Cooking Mama: Cookstar.}[/caption]

While food remains an important mechanic to most games out there, we also have games that place their entire focus on food. Take the classic and beloved Cooking Mama series for example �there's literally nothing else to do in those games except make food. You'd think it would get too repetitive or boring after a while, b??ut Mama always finds new ways to keep it just as interesting and challenging as trying to make food in real life.

As someone who has had varied success on their journey to learn new recipes and make nutritious-enough food so as not to drop dead one day as an adult fending for myself, it's interesting to have games that turn what is usually a struggle for me into an enjoyable gameplay loop. Although, any Cooking Mama connoisseur can attest that the game can be equally as challenging, so may??be it's a little too true to life there.

Tell me a story...with food

[caption id="attachment_321519" align="alignnone" width="1280"] _{The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.}[/caption]

My absolute favorite, though, is when games use food as a storytelling mechanic. This is less common than just using food as a health supplement, but we still see it fairly often in games. One of my favorites includes Stardew Valley, where food becomes the center of multiple holidays in the game, and is also a core way to "get to know" your favorite villagers and endear them to you.

Another game that comes to mind is Breath of the Wild. Some of the adventures I go on in that game have nothing to do w?ith saving Hyrule, but instead finding the ingredients I need to make the perfect, most delicious-sounding meal. There are even ques??ts that involve bringing someone food they like, or gathering ingredients for a favorite recipe.

These stories may seem small up against the epic, heroic backdrop of s??aving the world, but I think they reflect on our humanity in a really sweet way. I'm sure there are tons of other games out there that have equally engaging storylines surrounding food, I just need to search them out. Food is in many ways at the heart of how we interact with each other and the world, so having characters interact and bond over food reminds me of how special those interactions can be in real life.

Venba: a story of food and family

[caption id="attachment_321582" align="alignnone" width="1920"] _Venba.[/caption]

That's what gets me so excited for games like Venba, an upcoming narrative cooking game that is being featured at this year's Tribeca Games Festival. It centers on an Indian mother who immigrates to Canada with her family in the 1980s, and "will cook various dishes and restore lost recipes, hold branching conversations and explore in this story about family, love, loss and more," according to the game's website.

The cooking gameplay makes it look like a spiritual successor to Cooking Mama in certain ways, but the addition of the narrative in parallel with that cooking mechanic is what has me the most excited about Venba.

I'll be the first to admit that I don't know a whole lot about Indian culture, but what I do know is that food is a very important factor. I'm not only looking forward to playing Venba, but also learning more about food from another culture, and how that food ties into the family dynamics of first-generation immigrants. Of all the games coming to Tribeca this year, I think it's safe to say that Venba will be one to look out for.

If the goal of telling stories is to help us all connect and understand what it means to be h??uman, food is a natural extension of that. It will always be fun to consume foods in-game to replenish health or receive a buff, but I love the idea of highlighting our relationship to food within game stories, rather than always using it as a means to an end. We have some great games out there that incorporate food into their narratives, but I'm looking f??orward to seeing more food-centric stories in games.

Story Beat is a weekly column discussing anything and everything to do with storytelling in video games.

The post Video game food: more than just some extra health appeared first on Destructoid.

A somewhat unconventional Turkey Day spread

I don't think I'm alone in saying that as far as its origins go, Thanksgiving is by far the worst holiday of the latter part of the year. In light of this, I do my best to forget how the celebration got its sta??rt, and instead focus more on how much I love the food that I could eat year-round if I wanted, but only choose to eat on this holida??y because it feels more special. Video games are known to have some of the most delectable-looking food that I'll sadly never get to eat, but I can at least compile a list of all the virtual Thanksgiving dishes I wish I could down this year on my food holiday.

7. Fried Chicken - I Love You, Colonel Sanders!

[caption id="attachment_297593" align="alignnone" width="1200"] [Image Source: Gamebyte][/caption]I learned recently that KFC is a big holiday tradition in Japan, so I'm gonna go ahead and say that's fair game for the sake of this patchwork list. Now as far as how good this chicken looks in the game, I do??n't think they could have made it look more tantalizing? if they tried. It's also presented to us in the format of a dating sim, which somehow makes it look even more dreamy and amazing. Honestly, screw a turkey this year, this game that was created solely for the purpose of selling me chicken has done an excellent job of making me want said chicken. And those mashed potatoes? Say no more.

6. Pumpkin Pie - The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

[caption id="attachment_297595" align="alignnone" width="1024"] [Image Source: Amino Apps][/caption]The desserts aren't something to make super often in this game, because they don't have a ton of utility and their ingredients are often valuable and hard to come by. Did I make them anyway simply because they look amazing and I have a sweet tooth? Absolutely, yes. It feels like a special little treat to give Link a cake after he narrowly escaped death after running through a field?? of Guardians. It feels only fair. All of the desserts in Breath of the Wild look amazi?ng, but I'm gonna have to go with the pumpkin pie on this one for obvious reas?ons. Plus, it'll give me an armor buff for when those Thanksgiving tensions start rising, am I right?

5. Stupendous Stew - Super Mario Odyssey

[caption id="attachment_297598" align="alignnone" width="1280"] [Image Source: IGN][/caption]When I was playing the Cookatiel boss fight in the Luncheon Kingdom, I swear I could barely focus �all I could think about was how good that stew looked. I love a good cream-based soup, and those big chunks of potatoes, carrots, corn, and zucchini looked amazing to me. The only thing it's missing is a little bit of protein to give it that rich flavor, but I assume that's what the Cookatiel is for. This is one of those recipes that gets replicated online a lot, and for good reason. I might just have to try and make my own Stupend?ous Stew fo??r my own Thanksgiving celebration.

4. Butterscotch Cinnamon Pie - Undertale

[caption id="attachment_297586" align="aligncenter" width="488"] [Image Source: An Undertale Lover][/caption]Okay, I know the circumstances surrounding this pie are�questionable, but you cannot tell me that ?it isn't your dream to wake up from a nap and have the most incredible, warm, ooey-gooey butterscotch cinnamon pie just sitting out for you. It sounds cozy, and it's exactly what I would want if I found myself in some mysterious underworld that was full of monsters. To be honest, neither butterscotch or cinnamon are usually something I'll go out of my way to eat, but in this case, I just have to make an exception.

3. Stuffing - Stardew Valley

[caption id="attachment_297589" align="aligncenter" width="493"] [Image Source: Stardew Valley Wiki][/caption]Stuffing is a classic Thanksgiving staple, and one of my personal favorites, so I couldn't very well leave it out. It's simple, sure, and the low-res pixel art? doesn't do it many favors, but when you take into account that it's going to be made with fresh ingredients right off of your farm, you know it's gonna be delicious. The recipe is simple �bread, cranberries, and hazelnut �and while that doesn't quite stand out as the most involved stuffing recipe I've ever received, the thought of it somehow still makes my mouth water. Plus, you get a +2 defense bonus. What is it with all these Thanksgiving foods giving me defense buffs?

2. Sweet Potatoes - Cooking Mama 2: Dinner With Friends

[caption id="attachment_297602" align="aligncenter" width="250"] [Image Source: Cooking Mama Wiki][/caption]Let's be h??onest, I could have included pretty much any dish from any of the Cooking Mama games, but I chose Dinner With Friends bec?ause it was the one I played growing up. Now these sweet potatoes are certainly one of the more simple dishes you can make, but that's part of what makes them look so tasty. You're really taking your time to make sure they're slow-roasted to perfection, and that you get that nice sweet glaze on top. This is a much different way to prepare sweet potatoes than I was used to growing up, but I honestly think I would prefer it. Mama knows best, which means these bad boys have got to be incredible.

1. Ambrosia - Hades

Alright, I'l??l admit that this one is a bit of a wildcard, but I mean, come on. Never has a video game food or drink drawn me in with its siren ??song like the Ambrosia from Hades. In re?al life, ambrosia is a horrifying monstrosity of a dessert that mixes fruit, marshmallows, ?and sour cream. Who does that? No, no, n?o, I want whatever sweet, golden liquid is in those fancy glass bottles. I once had this amazing drink made of fresh-squeezed orange and grapefruit juices, and it was probably the closest thing I'll ever get in this earthly realm, goddamn it was so good. The fact that there is no real-world equivalent to this truly breaks my heart.

So, what video game fo?ods would yo??u want to add to your Thanksgiving plate? What real-life foods do you look forward to during the holiday season?

The post 7 video game foods I want to gob?ble down this Thanksgiving appeared first on Destructoid.

When I was a kid, a lot of my favorite video games involved work. I loved filling takoyaki batter with octopus or folding a pale yellow omelette in Cooking Mama. I brushed my virtual Cavalier King Charles Spaniel with care in Nintendogs, I rushed to serve hamburgers to waiting customers in Diner Dash. I liked these games because they were gentle in their execution, free from the blood, guts, and pressure that the Call of Duty fans in my elementary school esteemed. Fuck green helmets in a fantasy Cold War, I wanted to make Krissy, the titular baby in Barbie: Let’s Babysit Krissy, giggle.

Also, I thought the Salisbury steak graphics in Cooking Mama were good for 2006.

[caption id="attachment_272327" align="aligncenter" width="640"] [Image credit: Cooking Mama Wiki][/caption]What I didn’t know is that the kind of work these games asked players to engage in was a type of domestic labor historically performed by women and often described as “women’s work.�“Women’s work�is a broad term, usually used to describe jobs performed at home and out in the world that fall under the � C’s� cleaning, catering, cashiering, clerical work, and caring. Women who work these jobs are often underpaid (according to a March 2020 report by the Economic Policy Institute, in 2019, women on average earned 22.6% less than men ?with similar backgrounds) and disrespected by a patriarchal society that still associates domestic-type duties with skilless, simple labor.

According to history professor Alexandra Finley in an article for The Washington Post, this association goes back centuries, especially as women’s work often “was performed by female family members, servants, and, in many cases, enslaved women.�/p>

“During th??e 19th century, Americans conceptualized domestic labor as feminine,�she wrote. “This made household labor both vital and invisible to society.�Victorian ideals like the �a href="//academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/novel_19c/thackeray/angel.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Angel in the house,�a submissive wife that kept a tidy ??home without complaint or sweat, baked serendipity and grace into work that can be more accurately described as physically demanding and emotionally drai??ning.

But this isn’t about the perfect Victorian woman, this is about video games. I am surprised by how games like Babysit Krissy and Miley’s Malibu Manicure (a Hannah Montana nail salon game), just like play kitchens and baby dolls, were primarily marketed to young girls. There seems to be no point to this when, unlike a sputtering Easy Bake Oven, video games seek to transform. When you play a video game, you become the character you’re given, or a faceless set of hands, or something outside of humanity entirely. You’re unbound by gender and what your peers could think of you if you were, ?for example, a little boy too nervous to ask his parents for a ??doll.

[caption id="attachment_272328" align="aligncenter" width="791"] [Image credit: Babe.net][/caption]You don’t have to worry about what people think when you’re alone with your Nintendo DS.? You can identify with Barbie while you dress her up, or an unseen chef trying to make their Cooking Mama proud. Despite marketing efforts, the soothing repetitive??ness of these games could be enjoyed by anyone, and their lasting cultural relevance proves that they were.

And by making women’s work the focus of a game that you, presumably, want to succeed at, these games establish traditionally feminine work as something that can be difficult and tricky in addition to rewarding and fulfilling, just like any other job or more “masculine�Call of Duty campaign. Anyone can do “women’s work,�and everyone wants to fee??l valued once they complete it.

But women? in the U.S. are still inadequately paid and treated for the vital work that they do. These games from the 2000s haven't prevented this current reality. But, still, I’m grateful for the importance and focus they place on women’s work, especially if they remind us to remember the women outside of them. They’ve always been th?ere, working, caring, ready for someone to pay close attention.

The post Unlike the rest of us, Cooking Mama values women’s work appeared first on Destructoid.

Office Create is the developer, Planet is the publisher

[Update: In light of the statement from Office Create, Planet Entertainment has offered their own account of the situation on Twitter. The gist is that Planet contends that Office Create "approved a detailed game design in 20??19," which included the Switch edition and "many additional Office Creat?e suggestions."

Planet cites "creative differences...near completion" of the game that were "outside of the scope of [their] agreement." Planet says it is still "fully within [its rights]" to publish Cookstar. The publisher does not mention whether or not the "creative differences" were the proposed fixes for the game that many people have complained about since its scattered launch, which Office Create allegedly wanted for Cookstar before it was shipped.]

Something very weird and legally hazy has been going on with Cooking Mama: Cookstar: which isn't something I ever thought I'd write.

The Mama drama has been going on for several weeks, but after a few bogus rumors have been investigated and debunked and the dust has settled, we now have a better idea of what is happening here. Office Create Co??rp, the developer of the game, contends that publisher Planet Entertainment LLC has?? allegedly released an inferior version of the game early for sale in the US, Europe and Australia; and apparently breached the terms of the contract with the studio.

According to Office Create, they licensed out the IP to Planet in 2018, specifically for a Switch build of the game. Office Create says that "unfortunately, the quality of the game builds failed to meet the standards that our customers expect and deserve." As a result, Office Create rejected several facets of Cookstar with the intention that they be fixed (which is allegedly a requirement of said contract); but in their words, "Planet proceeded to release Cooking Mama: Cookstar without addressing all of the rejections and without Office Create’s approval." This is possibly why we saw Cookstar intermittently sold in both physical and digital form, then pulled in various places.

That's a hefty claim, but it gets more bold. Office Create also says that they have learned of a PS4 port (which you have probably seen in advertisements or listings for the game), but? the ??studio contends that no PS4 port was authorized.

After all of this happened (again, according to Office Create), the studio decided to terminate the license on March 30, 2020. But despite their apparent wishes, Planet is still advertising and selling Cookstar. Office Create is looking into legal action to protect their IP, and thanks "loyal Cooking Mama fans" for their "continued support."

It's a messy situation and we don't have all of the facts. But if Office Create is within their legal rights to shut the game down and it's still being advertised (and was sold directly on the publisher's website), there's clearly a problem. Plus, Office Create's story that Cookstar had many shortcomings and was not optimized lines up with early impressions?? from folks who managed to snag copies in those brief wi??ndows.

We've reached out to Planet Entertainment for more info, but it seems as if this saga is not done yet, and if Office Create pursues legal action, Cookstar could join the ranks of vaporware.

Important Notice [Office Create]

The post (Update) The Cooking Mama drama continues, as its developer allege??s that the game was unlawfully released early appeared first on Destructoid.

Hot and fresh out the kitchen in March

It's no longer enough that f??ood tastes good. It need?s to look good too. That's an expectation at this point, as many people whip out their phones for a quick pic of their dish before digging in.

The next Cooking Mama game leans into this trend. A leaked trailer for Cooking Mama: Cookstar on Switch puts emphasis on both whipping up unique food and admiring it. For instance, a rainbow grilled ??cheese is put under the camera lens, as players can rotate the angle of the picture and add filters and stickers. Catch me on the 'gram.

Although it's not confirmed yet, Cooking Mama: Cookstar will evidently release in March -- at least, according to this trailer. Nintendo has been mum about a lot of Switch games recently, and there's a reasonable belief that we have to be getting a new Direct sometime soon. If that's the case, you know Cooking Mama is g?etting an official release date. It's about ready to come out the oven.

The post Cooking ??Mama: Cookstar looks tailor-made for Instagramming foodies appeared first on Destructoid.

I can make Banoffee Pie, that's about it

Details continue to come out of the oven regarding the next game in the beloved Cooking Mama series, with a new German Amazon listing featuring new information and a series of screens for Cooking Mama: Cookstar, which appears to be the same title as the upcoming U.S. release Cooking Mama: Coming Home to Mama.

Perhaps the biggest news is the reveal that it appears, at the very least, that this latest entry in the culinary series will be coming to PS4 as well as Nintendo Switch. While Cooking Mama games have appea??red on mobile platforms in the past, the franchise is generally thought of as a dish on Nintendo's regular menu.

According to the Amazon listing, Cookstar/Coming Home will feature 90 new recipes (including the recently revealed vegetarian mode) as well as multiplayer an??d party options, a mixture of standard and motion controls and Challenge Mode "for experienced chefs". Accompanying the new info is a small selection of new screens, which yo??u can check out in the gallery below.

Cooking Mama: Cookstar/Coming Home to Mama is rumoured to ?launch on PS4 and Nintendo Switch later thi?s year.

Cooking Mama: Cookstar first information [Gematsu / Amazon]

The post Detail??s and screens surface for Cooking Mama: Cookstar on PS4 and Nintend?o Switch appeared first on Destructoid.

Can you make an Impossible Burger though??

More details are surfacing regarding the next title in the delightful Cooking Mama series. Following on from the previously-noted ratings board entry for Cooking Mama: Cookstar, a press release from publisher Planet Digital Partners includes deets on Cooking Mama: Coming Home to Mama, possibly the U.S. localisat?ion of the same game.

In the since-deleted presser, Cookstar/Coming Home to Mama is described as?? a reboot of the series, and will once again feature a selection of fun minigames as players attempt to impress the fire-eyed chef with their culinary skills. Of note, however, is that the new game will feature a vegetarian mode, allowing players to forego meat products in their dishes.

"Players who do not wish to prepare meals with meat ingredients will be able to cook creative, alternate meatless recipes", noted the statement. "Players will be able to cook in both ‘Tr??aditional Mode’ and ‘Vegetarian Mode’ and blend motion gestures from the Nintendo Switch with traditional controls for an immersive meal prep and cooking experience through each minigame played."

Although there is no confirmation that Greggs' vegan sausage rolls will be on the menu, this is still a great, inclusive idea and kudos to the developers for adding the option to the series. Cooking Mama: Coming Home to Mama/ Cooking Mama: Cookstar is currently in the oven for future releas?e on Nintendo Switch.

Cooking Mama on the blockchain [GoNintendo]

The post Cook??ing Mama for Nintendo?? Switch will include vegetarian options appeared first on Destructoid.

Hey-ay I wanna be a Cookstar

You might wanna dust off your apron and big wooden spoon, as it appears that Mama is set to return to the kitchen. According to entries that have shown up on the Australian and German video game ratings board, Cooking Mama: Cookstar is headed to Nintendo Switch in future.

The Cooking Mama series blew up on the Nintendo Wii and DS platforms, featuring the titular chef helping players to make an array of sumptuous dishes via a series of fun mini games, most of which made use of the console's various touchscreen or motion controls. The last release in this ongoing series was side-entry Cooking Mama: Sweet Shop, which hit the 3DS in 2017.

As this is merely a ratings board entry, there are no details pertaining to the game barring title and platforms. Although this is, of course, ?not an official announcement, rarely do these ratings not result in a release, so you best get your arsenal of utensils ready, you know how angry Mama gets when you mess ??up, with those scary fire eyes...

Cookin?g Mama: Cookstar appears to be bound for ??the Switch [Nintendo Everything]

The post Cook?ing Mama: Cookstar for Nintendo Switch appears on r??atings board appeared first on Destructoid.

Gaming moms to put on a pedestal

(SPOILER WARNING: The last two entries in this list get a bit spoilery for Yakuza 6 and God of War, proceed at your own risk.)

Last week I served up a list of some of the worst mothers in video game history. Bad moms are pretty easy to pluck out of this medium of entertainment since they're so infre??quently depicted in a positive light. That being said, it wouldn't be right to let this Mother's Day go by without also compiling a list of some of the best moms video games have to offer.

Full disclosure: a few of the moms that came to mind for this particular list are from pretty recent titles. That being said, there are some spoilers for both God of War and Yakuza 6 towards the bottom of this list so ?proceed at your own risk. ;

Ms. Pac-Man

There are two things I love about Ms. Pac-Man. For one, her game is far superior to the original, boasting more difficult and better-designed levels. But she's also a kick-ass mom. I'll be the first to admit she moves a little fast after all the stork is delivering Baby-Pac by the games third intermission. That's only one stage after falling for old Pac-Man. 

To be entirely fair I have no idea how time works in the Pac-Man canon. What I do know that while there aren't too many examples of Ms. Pac-Man directly parenting in her game, she is one of the most recognizable leading ladies&nbs??p;in games. That, coupled with her love for Baby-Pac, earns her a spot on my list??. 

Cooking Mama

Few things are more important than supporting your kids, and there's no mother more supportive than Cooking Mama. I'm an adul??t man and I know I can chop an onion, but it still feels pretty great when Mama pats you on the back for it. You can't help but feel all warm and fuzzy ??inside when you hear the phrase "Better than Mama!" 

Ana Amari (Overwatch)

Most Overwatch lore is given to us via comics. Through this, we know Ana was a big part of Pharah's life until she one day left. Eventually she would r?eturn, and I? think the game makes it pretty clear they have a good relationship.

There are a few sprays of Ana holding her infant daughter, and she manages to remain a pretty active parent all while operating as an agent of Overwatch. 

Candy Borowski ( Night in the Woods)

Night in the Woods is one of my favorite games of last year; an experience entirely driven by its strong characters. Candy is protagonist Mae's mom, and her greatest attribute is merely? being a pretty typical mother figure. She's supportive of her daughter though she clearly worries about the college dropout's choices. She does her best to offer advice to Mae without overstepping her boundaries. 

As a teenager or a 20 something, the last person you're typically willing to listen to is your mother, but Night in the Woods does a great job of showing off that sort of relation?ship without making it look too forced. Candy is also an anthropomorphic cat, which is always fun. 

Marrowak (Pokémon Red/Blue) 

The trip to Lavender Town is one of the stranger parts of the original Pokémon games in no small part because of your encounter with the ghost of Marrowak. The restless spirit will do whatever it takes to protect her child even from the afterlife. She passes on peacefully after you battle her, but poor little Cubone will never rec?over.

Haruka Sawamura (Yakuza Series)

Haruka Sawamura is the child of Yakuza protagonist ??Kiryu Kazuma's first love Yumi. After her mother's passing Kiryu raises h??er as if she were his own and Kiryu's caring dad personality clearly rubbed off on her.

The main plot of Yakuza 6 kicks off with Kiryu discovering Haruka is in a coma following a hit and run. While this event in itself is pretty trauma??????????????????????????tic, it leav??es Kiryu with a mission to figure out who the father of Haruka's child is. While Kiryu was off in prison, it turns out Haruka gave birth to a son, Haruto. 

We don't get to see Haruka spend much time with her child during the game, but she took the full force of a speeding car while swaddling and protecting ??her child. That sort of protective instinct makes her a pretty amazing mother. 

Freya (God of War) 

I know. This game just came out, but I warned you in the lede things would get a bit spoilery. I won't blame? you for bailing if you choose to skip down to the comments while you've got the cha??nce.

Now, if you're still reading it must mean you've played God of War or simply don't care about having a plot point ruined. Either way, let's talk about Freya. Odin's estranged wife is one of the more tragic characters in God of war. An ally t?o Kratos and Atreus and mother to Baldur who relentlessly pursues the pair. 

Baldur isn't particularly fond of his mom. She did make it so he can't be hurt, something he views as a curse that she did out of a desire to protect her son. He threatens her life, but still, she does everything in her power to stop Kratos?? from hurting her son. She's ?a tragic figure and a mother more than willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for her child. 

If you made it all the way to the bottom of this go call your mom. This only comes once a year and letting her know she's on your mind is literally the least you could do. Also, feel free to let me know about all the great game moms I missed sinc??e this list hardly scratches the surface. 

The post The best moms in video games appeared first on Destructoid.

Excellence in a clamshell

The Nintendo 3D?S is gradually being put out to pasture, now that it's bulkier, flashier half-brother is taking over. We're bidding adieu to a console that had a pretty impressive back catalogue, and dominated the handheld market for a good number of years. 

But w?hat if you're not ready to say goodbye? What if you want to get more use out of the little pocketbook marvel? Or what if you want to get an older console for the first time? Well, the 3DS is backwards compatible with the original DS's games, and if you never tried those out, then you're missing something special.

[For where to buy the ??gam??es/hardware, I've linked to Amazon and eBay sellers, but that's not an endorsement for buying off of these sites – you might find better deals elsewhere.]

Hardware

If you're interested not only in playing your original DS games on your 3DS, but in actually getting some hardware, there are three different versions of the DS that you could purchase: the original DS, the DS Lite and the DSi.

I would recommend the DS Lite, as it is more elegant and compact than the unwieldy original. The DSi comes with an internal camera and very small selection of exclusive games, but is crucially missing the Game Boy Advance slot in the bottom of the console. It's your choice – between messing around with a by-now pretty low-grade camera, or opening yourself up to Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, or Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, just for starters. I would take my pretty whit???e DS Lite any day of the week.

The staples

I got a huge amount of use out of my DS Lite, and I still do today, because some of the more popular titles are replayable, distracting fun. One of my favourite aspects of the original DS is that the games were so whimsical; I value a game that can completely pull m??e out of any stress going on in my personal life.

As with a lot of consoles, the titles that are popular have?? earned that pos?ition due to their quality. There are six of these titles that I would recommend above any others.

1. Trauma Center: Under the Knife (Atlus, 2005)

This game came out around the time I started watching House, M.D. I'd always been fascinated by medical shows, whether it was catching snippets of ER as my parents watched it (I'm still haunted by the surgeon getting his arm chopped off by helicopter blades), or being warned not to run with scissors after watching a particularly grisly episode of Casualty with my grandma. Theme Hospital? is also one of my favourite games of all time, so why not take the action a step further and actually remove lumps of tissue from patients' chest cavities? Heck yes!

In Trauma Center, you conduct surgical examinations of patients and treat a range of illnesses and injuries that span the mundane to the outright bizarre. Frankly, only Atlus could make draining abscesses with a syringe this compelling. Needless to say, it's not a game for people who flinch at the sight of cartoon pus, but it's hardly a gorefest, either. A sequel was released in North America and Jap??an (not an issue for us PALsters, since the DS, aside from DSi games, is region-free), but the original is absolutely worth giving a go first.

2. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo EAD, 2006)

Getting back to the roots, how can you collect for a Ninty console and not buy a legitimate Mario platformer? Not including this one on the list would have raised a few eyebrows, and for good reason. New Super Mario Bros. is probably one of the more definitive entries to the Mario platforming series. It has very few quirks and twists, though it's undeniable that games that ran away with a theme, such as Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario Galaxy, are some of the best games ever released for their respective consoles. It's just a simple box-headbutting platform game, which was invaluable for those of us who had long since consigned our Game Boys to the car boot sale. I think this and Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins are the two entries I would give to someone if I wanted them to have an immersive experience with Mario games in a single afternoon.

3. Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney (Capcom, 2007)

OK, I get it. Why pick a game from the Ace Attorney series and not go with the real G, Mr Phoenix Wright? Did I not enjoy those games? Did? Maya cast some sort of befuddlement hex on me?

No, I am deliberately selecting Apollo Justice above any of the originals, as great as they all are. I remember tearing through the Phoenix Wright games as an activity I did every year, when I went on holiday to Majorca with my family. All of the Ace Attorney games I've played (Justice for All, Trials and Tribulations, and Apollo Justice) have been equal parts taxing and fascinating. But Apollo Justice has the most interesting story, in my opinion.

Seeing a young upstart filling Phoenix's defence attorney big boots spoke to me more than being the loveable oaf, Phoenix, himself. Also, the storyline with Klavier Gavin pipped any of the prior ones to the post. I suppose if you want to understand the story properly, you should start right from the beginning and get the first Ace Attorney game. But if you're not the sort of person who minds jumping into a series halfway through, you will certainly enjoy Apollo Justice as your first entry. You don't have to dig around on eBay for a used DS cartridge, either – it's coming to 3DS via the eShop in November.

4. Professor Layton and the Curious Village (Level-5, 2007)

I'll admit that this is a series I always borrowed off my sister, rather than buyi?ng for myself – and one that even my fairly smart 15-year-old brain had trouble with.

Any riddle aficionado will enjoy playing as the Professor as he investigates...well, a curious village, accompanied by his impossibly young assistant, Luke (Layton can expect truancy fines and court summons through his letterbox any time now). You hop from villager to villager, solving the puzzles that they are agonising over, some of which still leave me scratching my noggin. Rather than starting with the most recent iOS release, this is one series where I would advise going back to where it all began, simply because the conundrums have always been flawless. And you'll want to try every single one of them, once you've experienced the Curious Village.

5. Animal Crossing: Wild World (Nintendo EAD, 2005)

This title isn't actually the origins of the series. In this case, there had already been an Animal Crossing title released worldwide for the GameCube, simply called Animal Crossing. Confused yet? Still, I feel like the marriage between Animal Crossing and h?andheld consoles is an indefatigable one, so you owe it to yourself to pick up the first pocket version of the game.

You probably know the drill with Animal Crossing: get into fights with bees, rid the landscape of all sustenance, put up with your neighbours' incessant nagging and become an indentured servant. No, but seriously, you plod around your little town, interacting with a number of delightful animals living in nearby s?hacks, building collections and making your abode beautiful.

If you already have the 3DS release, New Leaf, I would still advise getting Wild World, to see all of its little individual quirks. As with all original DS games, you will have to accept that the online functions are no longer functional. But, regardless, you can have hours of aimless fun in your own little town with Wild World, all while? failing to socialise with your real-lif??e neighbours! As it should be.

6. Picross DS (Jupiter Corporation, 2007)

This is a very special entry to the list for me, because it's a game I still play on a regular basis. I became interested in on-paper logic puzzles at a very young age, ever since my ??grandma used to let me try out old puzzle books she hadn't finished. These books always contained a couple of nonograms, and as I got older, I started buying books with just nonograms in. My own rule was always that if I screwed up, that specific puzzle was a wash, because an eraser usually couldn't get rid of the markings 100% a??nd the grid would become impossibly muddy if I tried to start afresh.

Imagine my joy when I released, in 2017 (oh dear, Charlotte), that nonograms had actually clawed their way onto a handheld! Suddenly, I could undo my shoddy work and try the same grid over and over again. It was an amazing discovery for me, and I snapped up a Picross DS cartridge for a handful of coins.

Picross DS is made all the more enticing by the fact that there are theme categories, various difficulty options and mini-games, and the more you play, the more puzzles you unlock. I have spent hours in bed watching Netflix an??d tucking into a nonogram or ten, and I can guarantee that if you love picture-based puzzles, you will love picross, too.

Honourable mentions

I admit that everything I've included so far isn't very obscure. But if you're in the market for some cult classics, the DS also has plenty to offer in this regard. Elite Beat Agents is an unmissable rhythm game, if you haven't got your fill of the genre after the fairly recent Parappa the Rapper Remastered release. The World Ends With You ??combines RPG elements and hip-hop, while remaining effortlessly cool.

If you want to do something more gruesome with your DS (not an invitation for photos), Resident Evil: Deadly Silence is a commendable port of the game that christened survival horror, with a few of its own neat additions. If you want rock-hard dungeon-crawling, it might be worth keeping an eye out for Etrian Odyssey and its sequel on eBay. For some broodier detective work, check out Hotel Dusk: Room 215 and Flower, Sun and Rain. The graphics for the DS port of the latter are eye-bl?eedingly awful, but most Suda51 games are work a peek, at least for cur??iosity's sake.

Of course, there are a few more obvious entries I would encourage you to consider, even though they didn't make it onto my "staples" list. The Cooking Mama series is a guilty pleasure, as I find being rewarded for repetitive movements quite soothing; admittedly, since I learnt how to cook for myself in real life, it's lost some of its charm. And whether the Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training??: How Old Is Your Brain? games actually make you smarter or not, they do provide a nice level o??f entertaining challenge – plus, you can't go wrong wi?th sudoku.

Which of the original DS games would you recommend to a first-timer? Did you own a DS back in its heyday? If so, what did you think of it? Let me know in the comments down below!

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Yes, they still make these

I still remember the day I bought Cooking Mama for the Nintendo DS. It was a hot September afternoon in the Bay Area. My best friend at the time and I visited the Best Buy i??n Sausalito and each purchased a copy. Giggling like the schoolgirls we were, we rushed back to her place, popped it into our handhelds, and spent the next few hours trying to adjust to the quirks of the touch screen controls. It was shallow, God was it shallow, but it was also one of the more interesting and gosh darn fun mini-game collections I’d played.

Something happened after that. I stuck with Mama for a few more games on the Wii and DS, but that lightning-in-a-bottle magic was gone. Even though I believe Cooking Mama 2: Dinner with Friends is inarguably a better game than the first, it just didn’t hit me the same. Something in me must have changed; perhaps I’d outgrown the sweet simplicity of the series. I didn’t pick up another Mama game after that assuming my ability to enjoy them has subsided. Nearly a decade later, I want to see if that is the case with Cooking Mama: Sweet Shop.

Cooking Mama: Sweet Shop (Nintendo 3DS)
Developer: Office Create
Publisher: Rising Star Games
Released: May 18, 2017 (US), May 25, 2017 (EU)
MSRP: $29.99

When I made note of my experience with Cooking Mama: Sweet Shop to my fellow Destructoid writers, the first response received was, “There’s a new Cooking Mama game?” I imagine that was many of yours first response as well when you saw the headline or Twitter post and I am here to tell you that yes, there is a brand new Cooking Mama game for the Nintendo 3DS. With Majesco no longer in the video game industry, Rising Star Games has steppe??d up to the challenge of selling a series people have plumb forgotten about. It has been years since my last encounter with Mama, but in t??he first moments of the game, I realize I am in well-charted territory.

Not much is different outside of cosmetic changes. Mama has a less exaggerated tone, no longer sounding like a 1960s whitewashed Hollywood version of a Japanese woman. Her appearance is quite bright and the colors on my New 3DS XL screen lack the vibrancy I remember from her earlier games. 3D models accentuate Sweet Shop’s low-budget atmosphere? more so than the static artwork of the p?ast. The various, though not varied, customers who visit my eponymous sweet shop only add to that thrift-store feel.

Perfect scores in the recipes are not hard to come by. Sifting flour, mixing ingredients, cutting, slicing, dicing, and baking are all activities I am acquainted with from previous games. Actual cooking hasn’t changed much and as such, neither has Mama. Sure, she could dabble in molecular gastronomy, but part of the series’ charm has always been its simplicity. Each dish is still broken up into quick mini-games that have me completing differ??ent steps of the recipe with each individual task scored upon completion. 10 years on, it’s as simple as ever.

That simplicity could be why the series has fal??len from its once-profitable podium. As I cook my way through every recipe in the game I realize I can see little difference in the mini-games that create the?se dishes and those I completed a decade ago. The touch screen is more responsive to my various actions and some activities, such as breaking eggs, have been slightly modified, making them less troublesome than before; but as I whip, dip, and flip I cannot find what sets this apart from the $20 game I bought that sweltering day in September or the free-to-play app that is on my phone right now. This is a series ignorant of the medium’s natural instinct to evolve and still I play, its low fidelity charm beckoning me onward.

Charm is only able to carry so much of Sweet Shop and the shop is where it fails to move me. After I complete a recipe, I am able to sell my goods in my little bakery. It’s a simplified version of what is found in the app I mentioned above. I need not worry about supply as my stock never runs out. Interchangeable customers enter my store, wander around aimlessly until they find a dish they like, and purchase it with cash I spend on new outfits for Mama and décor for my kitchen and place of business. It’s a necessary and equally superfluous addition, arguably the sole reason for the game’s entire existence. Beyond giving me cash, the shop also is the means of opening up other bakeries around the world that give me access to new recipes and are home to?? individual timed mini-games. These games are no more or less fun than the standard activities I complete to create my recipes, but they are unique enough that I find myself replaying them trying to get my high score up. This alone is enough to push me back into my boring little shop, tapping on customers to collect their cash as I wait for?? the next location to become available.

Cooking Mama: Sweet Shop’s sum is greater than its individual pieces. Arguably, that’s how the series has always been. Any of the elements I list above is more than enough reason for you not to buy it and me not to recommend it, yet I sit here ready to do so. Cooking Mama: Sweet Shop isn’t a bad game if you like Cooking Mama games. It’s par the course for the franchise. On the 3DS, it’s a dinosaur, a glimmer into the bygone era when developers were drowning in a sea of casual cash that filled Nintend?o’s Blue Ocean.

There is a certain type of person who is going to enjoy this, and Cooking Mama: Sweet Shop has the good fortune to arrive a??t a time when I write for Destructoid, a man whose basic enjoyment of video gaming is such a low bar to hurdle that it can essentially get a pass other writers probably wouldn't give it. I like the game, warts and all. Objectively, you should be able to tell for yourself it shows nary a whisper of growth or innovation since the ??series’ debut. Subjectively, I’m somehow that giggling schoolgirl once more, fawning over a cake I just mini-gamed into existence.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

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I could listen to that sizzle and chop all day

Nintendo of Europe was the first to share a new video clip showing off some of the benefits of cooking in the upcoming Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. The clip shows Link cooking up three dishes using mushrooms, vegetables, and various meats. If Zelda games have taught me anything, it's that if something ?is worth doing, it's worth doing three times.

Each of the food items appears to restore a different amount of life, and also gives Link a bonus when consumed. The first dish, Hearty Steamed Mushrooms, grants him some bonus temporary hit points, which should come in handy before a difficult battle. The second, Spicy Sau?téed Peppers, provides him with the inner fire necessary to shrug off intense cold.

After watching this part of the video, I was trying to think if any prior Zelda games had ever made elemental resistance into a gameplay element. Then I remembered that in Ocarina of Time, Link was obligated to acquire the Red Tunic before venturing int?o the volcano. In my opinion, cooking up some peppers sounds like a lot more f?un than changing your clothes.

The final dish Link prepares doesn't go very well. Adding lizard meat might be a little excessive. The game lets you know that eating the resulting "Dubious Food" "won't hurt you... probably." Sounds a bit like the black smoothies in Dead Rising.

What's for dinner tonight, Link? [Nintendo of Europe Twitter]

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#MenGameToo

A recent Cooking Mama tournament in Portland, Oregon was mired in controversy after a series of posts on reddit exposed the? rampant sexism that happened towards male competitors at the event.

Kyle Phillips, who fle??w from Intercourse, PA to compete in the event, said th??e harassment started as soon as he walked in the room.

“I could feel the female eyes gazing at me the entire day,” Phillips wrote in one of his Reddit posts. “The staring I could take, but then came the whistling and the kiss sounds and eventually one woman just reached out and grabbed my ass. I was in such shock, but that wasn’t the worst of it. The worst came when my Cooking Mama gaming credentials were questioned. Why was it so hard for these women to believe that I played Cooking Mama? I’ve been a fan of the series since it debuted but apparently that’s too hard for them to believ?e. Apparently my word wasn’t good enough. I try to explain to them that I’m a fan, but they’re all like ‘Yeah right, he probably only plays strategy RPGs and flight simulators.’&rd??quo;

While several u??sers on reddit called Phillips a hero for coming forward, many other users professed they did??n’t know that the big deal was.

“He should just be happy we’re paying attention to him,” posted event attendee Brittany Lewis, adding that she? would totally tap that.

“I don’t understand what’s wrong with these guys,” added another user going under the name  Je??nny4ChrisEvans69. “They come in here with their fitted polo shirts and tight khakis that totally show off their junk, then get their briefs all in a bunch when we try to compliment them. I mean, if they don’t want u??s looking then they probably shouldn’t be dressing like such a slut.”

“They need to know I am more than just a pretty face and a nice set of nuts,” Phillips said in an interview after the story broke. “I know that cooking games and fashion games and games based on Grey’s Anatomy are female dominated areas; but there are men, lots of men, straight men like me, who would like to partake in these kinds of competitions without being called sweet cheeks or asked if we’d like our girlfriend to help us with the difficult part of the game. These women need to get with the times and realize it?’s not the 195??0s anymore.”

Event organizer??s issued a press release after Phillips went public saying they were truly sorry about the harassment he suffered and they’d like to make it up to him, horizontally, if he knows what they mean.

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Cooking Mama 5: Bon App?tit

You know, I used to be a cooking mama myself. Those were the days. 

Bon Appétit is actually the second Cooking Mama game to come to 3DS, but I somehow missed the last one, so I'm not used to seeing those wide-set eyes in 3D. And apparently Mama ain't just cooking these days. Like most mothers with deadbeat husbands, you're also le??ft to do 30 other activities around the house and outside of the kitchen: "?feed the pets, deliver orders, serve ice cream, organize crafts," and so on. 

Bon Appétit will launch in North America on September 16. Maybe it will fill the hole in our hearts.

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Reverse split saves Cooking Mama publisher's bacon

Majesco is no longer in danger of being delisted from the NASDAQ stock exchange, thanks to some clever accounting. The Cooking Mama and Zumba Fitness publisher pulled off a reverse stock sp?lit?? last month, reducing its outstanding shares by a factor of seven.

NASDAQ requires companies to maintain a minimum bid price of $1 per share, a threshold Majesco fell below in January 2013. After a couple lengthy grace periods, Majesco finally managed to get its head above water, closing trading this week at $2.42.

Th??ough individual shares may be selling at a higher price, reverse splits do not create value for investors. A book of Majesco shares is still worth the same amount; there's just less individual units to go around. This type of move really only delays the ine?vitable, affording a struggling business time to try digging itself out of a hole.

Majesco is presently betting the farm on a new online casino business and its indie publishing label Midnight City, distributors of Costume Quest 2, BloodRayne Betrayal, and High Strangeness.

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Featuring Lovecraftian hand-body Mama

We first heard about Cooking Mama 5 last year, and expected to see it out then. Today, Majesco announced that Cooking Mama 5: Bon Appétit will release this September for the 3DS. This will be the second Cooking Mama game to appear on the 3DS (after Kitchen Magic), where the first three in the serie??s were made for the original Nintendo DS.

To commemorate the release window announcement, Majesco sent along some screenshots of Mama, and for the most part, they are what one would expect. Mama smiles in the kitchen while the player taps on food items to make them. One of the screens is a little disturbing, showing? that below Mama's torso are not a pair of leg?s, but instead an enormous human hand. Perhaps the extra hand explains how she can take care of cooking, gardening, and babysitting all at once.

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You can buy this thing!

Majesco has announced that Gardening Mama 2: Forest Friends has shi??pped to North American retailers where you may offe??r currency in exchange for a copy. 

Maybe it's just because I haven't played a Mama game since the Wii installment of Cooking Mama and have simply forgotten why I lost interest in the franchise, but I'm giving serious consideration to playing this. There's a seeming wealth of mini-game variants and other cont?ent, while Mama is coming off more adorable than ever. I love a character who makes failure entertaining in its own right, and her wrath certainly qualifies as that.

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Obligatory, 'better than Mama!'

If you're a "Mama" fan, this is your lucky day -- Majesco is bringing over Gardening Mama 2: Forest Friends.&nbs??p;It's headed to the 3DS in April, and will feature 50 new types of flowers, fruits, and vegetables. Of course, animal friends will be involved, including bears, rabbits, cats, and squirrels.

Look how excited Mama is above! ??Stare deep into those eyes and know the meaning of true happiness.

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It will be officially revealed on July 28th

Considering the name of Cooking Mama developers Cooking Mama Limited, it was obvious another game would hit a Nintendo console at some point in the future. According to Siliconera, that game is Cooking Mama 5 for the Nintendo 3DS, which is ??preparing for a winter release in Japan.

Considering the high rate of localization, it's probably best to just assume an overseas release is also in the cards (same with the upcoming Gardening Mama). Will Mama 5 be better than the f??irst four Mamas? We'll know la??ter this year.

Cooking Mama 5 [Siliconera]

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Having moved more than 13 million units worldwide Majesco is looking to tighten its stranglehold on the world of cooking-themed mini-game compilations with a trio of Cooking Mama bundles. Mama's Combo Pack Volume 1 and 2 split the four Nintendo DS titles over two carts while both Wii games have been crammed onto a single disc for Mama's 2-Pack, as has been previously detailed. 

Each of the three pairings will be available for $29.99 on August 14th, but considering how long these games have been on the market and the prices they're going for these days this really isn't that much of a bargain at all.

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I'm not trying to say that Cooking Mama is easy...Wait, yes I am. When I think about it it's clear that Cooking Mama is as easy as they come. Everyone I know has had their hands on her! I get it, though. She just has this way about her. One minute you're chatting, ??and the next you're at her house cooking her dinner. I didn't realize that she had been with that many peop??le. I don't regret it, though. Cooking Mama was good to me.

505 Games says that the franchise has moved 3.5 million units across Europe, and 12 million worldwide. In the UK Cooking Mama is the top third-party game franchise on the?? DS. That's a lot of cucumbers to go down on!

Mama still has some work in her yet. Cooking Mama 4 on Nintendo 3DS will launch soon.

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Drop everything. Stop. Shut off Rage, let your controllers charge from playing Gears of War 3, and give Dark Souls a rest. This is the game yo??u've been waiting for. It's Cooking Mama 4: Kitchen Magic f??or the 3DS!

Mama's debut on the 3DS brings new ??kitchen activities and recipes. I believe I saw Mama making snowcones and cleaning up after her cat. I think Mama needs t?o get out of the house for a bit, before she loses it. 

Oh, and 3D.

Cooking Mama 4: Kitchen Magic for Nintendo 3DS will hit store she??lves No??vember 22.

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Because every game has to come with a pre-order bonus these days, Gamestop is offering a free plush doll of Mama when you pre-order Cooking Mama 4: Kitchen Magic for the 3DS. Yes, for putting down $5, you can get your very own Mama to abuse like she abuses you when you inev????itably screw up a recipe.

Even ??for a pre-order bonus, this doll appears to be cheaply made. I can't imagine they spent more than 10 cents pu?tting these into production. It looks like a strong breeze could cause it to fall apart. Still, I suppose it's free, so you can't complain too much.

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Majesco has a pretty interesting line-up for E3 this year, including three Mama titles, one Kinect wrestling g?ame, and the return of a busty v?ampire-killing dhampir. 

The full list of games can be found after the jump, two of which are Facebook titles (one of which is a Cooking Mama title). I can't recall seeing Faceb??ook games at E3 before, which may be indicative of a notable industry trend. 

Maybe Facebook games should get their own E3. We can just get publishers to come to my house, we can se??rve tiny hamburgers to guests, and demo games on my laptop or something. My wife would be thrilled to have guests. 

• BloodRayne Betrayal (Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network)
• Zumba Fitness 2 (Wii)
• Camping Mama: Outdoor Adventures (Nintendo DS)
• Cooking Mama 4: Kitchen Magic (Nintendo 3DS)
• Hulk Hogan's Main Event (Kinect for Xbox 360)
• Take Shape (Kinect for Xbox 360)
• Mind n' Motion (Kinect for Xbox 360)
• The Hidden (Nintendo 3DS)
• Face Racers: Photo Finish (Nintendo 3DS)
• Nano Assault (Nintendo 3DS)
• Pet Zombies (Nintendo 3DS)
• Cooking Mama Friends' Café (Facebook)
• Parking Wars 2 (Facebook)

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Oh, Mama! Our favorite home cook makes her debut on the 3DS with Cooking Mama 4: Kitchen Magic, just announced today. In this game there's 200 touchscreen minigames, as you'd expect by now, but in this version the 3DS' gyroscope comes into play. You'll make motions to crack eggs or flip pa?ns using it. There's about 60 recipes for you? to see in glorious 3D. I bet you Mama's a looker in 3D.

In related news, Majesco is also announcing another Mama game: Camping Mama: Outdoor Adventures. Mama really gets around -- this time she's hitting the wilderness. This DS game will feature activities like rock climbing, tree climbing, rowing and many other t??hings that aren't related to cooking. 

Ma??j??esco says that both titles will be released this fall.

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Babysitting Mama was a surreal experience. Standing in front ?of me was a Majesco PR rep named Manny, a bearded fellow who would be the last person I'd expect to be rocking a stuffed baby doll in front of me. Yet here he was, rhythmically moving the doll back and forth to quiet it. I wanted to ask if there was a baby shaking mini game, but I felt it would be in poor form.

This is basically Babysitting Mama, a game in which a Wiimote is stuffed into the back of a baby plush, and from there all your babysitting actions take place. Rock it back and forth, lift it up and down, shake the nunchuck to pacify it enough for a cute picture -- Babysitting Mama is exactly that. Weird!

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Crafting Mama. It is a game exactly as you would think. It's the latest DS title based around working with the Engrish-speaking Mama as she harshly trains players how to make digital versions of stuff. So Crafting Mama? It's crafting.

For example, I was shown two crafts to do: you can make Mama's apron by rolling out cloth and cutting it, making it, and sewing, and you can also make mugs by rolling clay out. Other items for budding Holly-Hobbies include dolls, origami, and over 40 items in total. Yeah, it's kinda goofy, as most of these things are the perfect time wasters for people anyway, and a di?gital representation is all sorts of meta-wackiness. Of course, tha??t's never stopped Mama before, so why would it stop her now?

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Mama's getting out of the kitchen and into the childcare business with Babysitting Mama, scheduled to hit the Wii this fall.

Majesco announced the title today (but trademarked it awhile ago), and its hook is more surprising than you'd imagine. The? thing ships with a plush baby doll that features a pocket for the Wii Remote. After tucking the controller into the doll, players will engage in 40 baby-caring activities -- feeding, bouncing, rocking, bathing, and more -- with up to six unique children.

As the father of a four-month old daughter, I ask that Maje??sco keep this game as far away from me as possible. I've already got eno??ugh on my plate. But for those little girls (and boys, I suppose) who can't get enough of Mama, I suppose you can say "that s**t just got real." (That's what they say, right?)

[Image]

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Almost a year after the trademark was filed, Majesco has officially announced Crafting Mama for the Nint?endo DS. Everybody's favorite housewife returns, fresh from her stint as a cook and a gardener and ready to take on the world of arts n' crafts. Jesus Christ. 

Crafting Mama will force players to create all sorts of useless objects to satisfy the increasingly bizarre deman??ds of Mama. Candles, kaleidoscopes, quilts, birdhouses and dolls are all part of the fun, and anybody with too much time on their hands is sure to be entertained. 

Majesco plans to release Crafting Mama in fall 2010. None of you can wait.

EDISON, N.J., March 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The extent of Mama's talents are limitless! She can hold her own in th??e kitchen and garden next to the world's best, but now Mama is poised to dominate arts & crafts too as Majesco Entertainment Company (Nasdaq: COOL), an innovative provider of video games for the mass market, announces Crafting Mama exclusively for Nintendo DS?. Developed by Cooking Mama Limited, this all-new crafting game lets players create their own unique crafts across a wide range of different projects.  

"Crafting is a natural extension of our most successful franchise," said Jesse Sutton, Chief Executive Officer, Majesco Entertainment. "Much like last spring's Gardening Mama, Crafting Mama combines the award-winning Mama formula of addictive stylus-based activities with a popular pastime that has been underserved in videogames. We're looking forward to sharing Mama's n??ewest hobby with her vast and diverse group of fans this holiday season."

In Crafting Mama, players will create 40 different projects across a wide range of different crafts: make patchwork quilts, earrings, candles, xylophones, kaleidoscopes, birdhouses, flower decorations and even mini-Mama dolls! Using the stylus?? as a universal crafting tool, crafters will sew,? mold, glue, cut and paint under Mama's masterful direction. Best of all, players can use each of their creations within the game itself: dress Mama up in a new apron you've sewn or even fly a freshly folded paper airplane.  In addition, new materials, colors and patterns are available to customize each project, and multiplayer support lets players create with a friend. Crafting Mama is guaranteed to turn Mama fans into crafty creators in no time!  

Crafting Mama for Nintendo DS? is expected to release this fall.  For additional information about Majesco's ??exciting line of products, please visit www.majescoentertainment.com.

Read more: //www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/majesco-entertainment-announces-39crafting-mama39-f??or-nintendo-dstm,1201148.shtml#ixzz??0hsv2bnTl

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