With the release of Capcom's Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G last week, it's no surprise that it became this week's chart topper on the Media Create Japan software sales list. The highly anticipated Monster Hunter title for the PlayStation Portable bumps off last week's number one title, Pokemon Ranger: Batonnage. You can read all about the other games that made it to this week's list by clicking on the "read more" link below.

It looks like the reign of Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. Brawl has finally come to an end according to the software sales numbers from Media Create in Japan. You can check out the top 10 software titles in Japan as well as the new chart topper this week in the full article.

Media Create has released the Japan software sales chart for the week of January 14 to 20. It seems that Nintendo's Wii Fit is holding strong at first place followed closely by Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games for the Nintendo DS and Mario Party DS.

If you want to know more, the head on over to the full article.

Various game companies are out to spread the holiday cheer by delivering several personalized digital Christmas cards dedicated to all gamers. You can take a look at the Christmas cards presented by PopCap Games, Marvelous Entertainment, Naughty Dog, Bioware and Square Enix in the full article.

We all love the Harvest Moon franchise. It lets us live the easy life: plow the farm, run errands, and woo the girl (or boy) of our dreams. And when Marvelous Entertainment president Yasuhiro Wada said that the next Harvest Moon game will have online game features, we'll find ourselves loving the game series even more.

In an interview with Game Informer, Wada said that an online Harvest Moon is in the works, but he did not specify for which platform. He did mention that it will not be a MMORPG for the PC platform, however.

Wada revealed that two to eight players will be able to interact in another player's town, and even toyed with the possibility of letting every player have the same NPCs available in your town. Does that mean that there's a possibility of love triangles between two players and a virtual wife? Interesting, that.

Wada didn't mention which console will get this Harvest Moon title, so we'll have to keep our eyes peeled for now. More updates to come!

 

What seems to be another contender to the survival-horror scene is Rainy Woods, a spine-chilling title set in a creepy town with the same name. Sounds familiar? You could be wrong, because this isn't your casual Japanese horror fare; it's coming from Marvelous Entertainment, known as publishers of brutally addictive yet painfully cute Harvest Moon.

According to IGN's coverage of Famitsu's revelation, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 owners are in for a ride. When the body of Anna Graham suddenly appears outside Rainy Woods, commotion starts and the FBI gets involved. To the rescue comes David Young Henning, FBI agent sent to investigate and find out if the legendary Raincoat Killer is behind the incident.

Unlike other survival horror titles that squeeze players into tight hallways and force them to walk a scare-filled path in linear fashion, Rainy Woods takes the sandbox approach. This isn't Grand Theft Auto, but you can freely move and even take your car for a ride around an open-ended town clearly inspired by modern west American houses.

  

More details and screens after the jump!

Heads up Tom Clancy video game fans! Game publishing/developing giant Ubisoft today announced that the title for the latest Tom Clancy game currently under development in its Shanghai Studio. The title? Tom Clancy's EndWar. It's expected to be released some time within the fiscal year 2007-2008.

Ubisoft Chief Creative Officer Serge Hascoet mentioned that their team is really happy making the "first 100% next-generation Tom Clancy brand." The official added that people involved in the making of this title used to work on Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas, and Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell.

While little is known about EndWar's storyline or gameplay, what's confirmed is that the game will be set on the battlefields of World War III. Hascoet then added helpfully:

Tom Clancy's EndWar will be a marvelous addition to the already critically acclaimed library of games. A strategy game like no other, EndWar will allow gamers to lead their own armies against hundreds of others online in real global locations on the massive battlefields of World War III.

Magazine Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM) will be featuring Tom Clancy's EndWar in its June 2007 issue which will be available across North America on May 8. If you can't wait that long, the Read link below will take you to the title's teaser site. The password to enter is: s9p1z6.