It's been another week, and now we have the latest from Media Create. Animal Crossing: City Folk comes in at #1, followed by handheld releases Chrono Trigger DS and Mobile Suit: Gundam vs. Gundam. Find out if your favorite game made it to the top of the software charts.

Do you still have money to burn for the holidays? Figured out how to spend it yet? Well, Famitsu went on a survey, asking the Japanese about their holiday game spending plans. Read what the Japanese are planning to buy and why they're getting them. It might actually help you decide on which stuff to get after you read the full article.

Square Enix is doing another teaser countdown promotion, this time for a game centering on Bahamut. Another remake? A whole new game dedicated to one of Final Fantasy's iconic summons?

No idea. We'll know in 4 days though. Tick tock, tick tock.

What's the Tokyo Game Show without Square Enix? It just won't be the same. Squeenix has released details of the booth at the event. Jeez I wish I was going. They're coming with demos of several games, including ones for the upcoming Kingdom Hearts games, and also Dissidia: Final Fantasy. They even have a Chrono Trigger museum. Sweet. More details after the link!

Square Enix has just released their planned game line-up for this year's E3. While Final Fantasy XIII didn't pop up anywhere in the list, Square's PR indicates that the PSP's two Star Ocean titles are due for an English port. Details are available in the full article.

Parading down the QJ.NET blog avenues is our very own Fourth of July flotilla of Weekend Warriors! If you weren't able to catch the full coverage of all editions, here's QuickJump QuickPeek 54 to give you a recap of all them juicy recaps. We got some disappearing firmware updates, Chrono Trigger time-warping to current-gen handhelds, a meteor causing... dun-dun-dunnn! a 30-megaton blast, and holy frakkin' screenshots, Batman! Are those pics for MK vs. DC or what?

 The video game industry is undoubtedly dominated by males, but we do know that gaming is not just a big frat house. Female gamers do exist, and like the opposite gender, they come in different shapes, sizes and forms. If you do your homework, you'll also notice that girl gamers have distinct traits which allow us to divide them into several types (just like guys). In this QuickList, we'll give you a rundown on what these types are. Hit that jump!

Let's face it: Square Enix' current lineup of games is made up of entries to known franchises that promise good sales.  Sure, we're still waiting for Last Remnant and Infinite Undiscovery, but aside from those big names, the rest of Squeenix' promising games are either of Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest lineage.

In this list, we'll take a look at games that deserve their sequels Sit tight, and prepare to ride the nostalgia train! Find the list at the full article.

Back when computer role-playing games in the west were considered to be for pimple-faced geeks that used to confine themselves in Dungeons & Dragons, Japan was crazy over Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, and others that joined the bandwagon of the successful genre. America and Europe drooled over seductive elves and fought evil wizards for ages, while the land of the rising sun encountered bizarre creatures and embraced kids that eventually save the world.

Proving which of the two types is superior has been a hot topic for dedicated fans, making it interesting how what's enjoyable to some is simply odd to others. Only a few wouldn't favor one over the other, while the rest point at flaws apparent on both sides. Let's take a look at the elements that make western RPGs (WRPG) so different from Japanese RPGs (JRPG), and what strong points they have that leave gamers craving for more.

WRPG and JRPG girls face-off

Characters
Almost all WRPGs place players in the shoes of the main character. It's not an easy task (if not impossible) to name titles from renown developers like Black Isle Studios, Bethesda Softworks, and Bioware that don't offer aspiring adventurers the option to create their own characters. We've always seen humans, elves, dwarves, and other races take up various classes like fighters, clerics, wizards, and thieves.

Some argue that JRPGs aren't immersive because players are forced to play soon-to-be-heroes or warriors of light, but Japanese gamers seem to enjoy playing as someone else and are even able to relate with over-the-top personalities. Mute characters made to involve players in the story aren't enough to silence nitpickers, yet they seem to be effective as proven by Chrono Trigger and Pokemon. Instead of having cookie-cutter races and classes persistent in RPGs from the other side of the world, Japan had young boys fighting aliens and troubled esper girls escaping slavery.

We've only touched on the element of character here, so if you want to read the rest of this quick peek at the differences of WRPGs and JRPGs, then head on to the full article.

When a series in Japan gets popular, whether video game or anime or manga, it's bound to get a huge variety of merchandise. Blue Dragon, developed by the same dream team that created the very popular Chrono Trigger, also got its following of different items that fans would be churning out money for.

Capsule toys (gashapon), accessories, soundtrack CDs - you name it. Mystwalker also included a trading card game to their wide inventory of stuff with Blue Dragon on it. Half of Xbox 360 owners in Japan have the game in their libraries, so it's no surprise that this would sell pretty well. Since Viz Media licensed television, home video, and non-video game merchandising rights of the title, expect these to reach the US.

There's still quite some time to wait for its August and September release in US and Europe territories respectively, so you might want to check this TCG out (if you can find a way to import, of course).