I just picked up and am enjoying "Helix" for the Nintendo Wii. Much like Lost Winds, the only way you can get "Helix" is to download it to your Wii via the Wii Ware Shop for $10. Although not perfect, I think it's a really strong addition to the Wii Game Library from a small new developer that follows Nintendo's lead in redefining what we consider to be a videogame.

Helix is what you get when you try to do Dance Dance Revolution using 2 Wii Controllers (this game needs 2 controllers for the full experience). The result is a freaky mix of Tae Bo boxing and Glow Stick Rave Dancing.

In the game, a robot does a bunch of punching and arm swinging moves. With both Wiimotes in hand, you must repeat his moves on the following 4-count to score points and keep the song from ending. Too many missed/wrong moves and the song ends prematurely. If you do well, you will play the song to completion and possibly unlock one of the other 25 songs.

It's emphasized that the game play is simple, but I found it a bit confusing and frustrating in it's more intense moments. During much of the Medium and Hard levels, you have to act out moves while watching the dancing robot perform the next sequence of moves. When there's a string of 4-5 moves in a row, it's easy to forget what move is associated with which marker. All markers are the very same line with a dot in the middle. So if you forget to memorize what the moves orders are, you can expect to lose points for the entire set.

Surprisingly with some practice your eyes and arms get used to it. But it's a bit weird... kind of like tapping your head with one hand while rubbing your belly with the other.

You can tell these guys rightfully found inspiration in Harmonix' earlier rhythm games Amplitude and Frequency. The space age abstract vibe hides the simplicity of the graphics (something I'm sure they had to do to keep the game under 40MB in size despite having 25 musical tracks). From the little experience I've had with the game, I struggled a bit with having my horizontal circle motion recognized... but was able to improve accuracy by pointing the wiimote at the screen while doing the motion. I'm not good enough to try the game at Hard, but for Easy and Medium the preciseness of move recognition is good enough to have fun.

All in all, I think "Helix" is a worthy $10 purchase (especially if you have 2 wiimotes to play with).

I feel like a pansy. I shouldn't be interested in this game... but it's sappy corn syrup sweetness has the inner girl in me feenin' to find out if this'll be released in the U.S. Otherwise, I may consider importing it from Japan (for shame!).

"Kumatanchi" is a Nintendo DS game by Vanillaware that has you doing meaningless activities as a cute anime girl like changing your hair color, eating, exercising... it's basically a 2D version of Animal Crossing with decent graphics and a shiny Anime look.

Somehow, that's got me drooling with excitement. Is something wrong with me? How in the world am I going to play this game in public on my Icy Blue Ds-Lite? ;-)

E3 is going on these days... and thus far the videogame news that's been released has been pretty ho hum for me.

Aesthetically and stylistically there is very little to feel enticed by. The only two things that I feel are worthy of sharing with you are the latest trailers for Street Fighter IV and Madworld.

Visually and design-wise, I consider SFIV to be a failure. Everyone looks like the were born from the uterus of Chyna (with their cro-magnon facial features and bulky physiques). And the new characters bring little to the wonderful Street Fighter cast. But I'm digging the way the gameplay looks and the up close and personal camera choices. I also like the speed and size of the Lucha Libre character.  It'll be nice to check out, but I don't expect a classic.

Madworld looks insane. Stylistically, it's the most exciting game that's been revealed. Juicy violence with a vulgar sense of humor... all packaged with a Sin City graphical vibe. There's still not enough to decide if it's going to be a good game. But the style is already guaranteed to more than make up for it!

STREET FIGHTER IV TRAILER

MADWORLD TRAILER

If this doesn't make you a Wii Fit convert, NOTHING will. It's like one of the better episodes of "So You Think You Can Dance"... only nobody's pretending it's Art. God bless YouTube.

Click through to see the video in question. Genius marketing or fan boy posturing? Either way, it's brilliant!

While everybody else is lining up to spend 80 bucks on Wii Fit so that they can be told how fat they are by a video game, I'm happily chillin' at home with the wonderful Lost Winds on my Nintendo Wii. Don't bother looking for the game at your local Gamestop. This game is downloadable via Wii Ware only. For $10 purchase on your credit card via wireless internet to your Wii you get a nice short and sweet game filled with whimsy that should keep you busy for about 2-3 hours.

The games a decent mix of Metroid, Okami, and Ico. It's world is a fairly open 2D action game (like Metroid) which uses Wii controller operated wind mechanics (sort like Okami) to control a boy with a funny hat around a serene environment with the occasional puzzle or enemy. As you get more powers and solve puzzles more areas open for you to explore.

I've played about an and hour and a half so far. So far, so good. It all feels familiar... but it's fun and has a nice sense of art direction.