Nightmare Busters isn’t exactly a new game, though it’s being billed as such hither and thither.

The novelty? It’s an SNES game, and there haven’t been any “new” Super Nintendo games in 15 years (though I suspect that figure may not take into account the indie development scene.)

The thing is Nightmare Busters was already very much a game planned for release on the SNES but for one reason or another publisher Nichibutzu dropped the title and it was never released.

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The Wizard’s Edition of Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch pulled a magic trick of its own—and vanished before customers could get a copy they’d already ordered.

Even great games can’t avoid controversy.

This time, Namco Bandai, publisher of the recent PS3 exclusive Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, is at the center of a pre-order fiasco involving an eBay merchant and a shortage of special Wizard Edition copies of the game.

Apparently, the eBay seller, PlayCanada, purchased hundreds of copies of the Wizard’s Edition which then somehow led to an overall shortage of the special edition—meaning that other customers never received their copy.

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In THQ’s big auction one prominent developer and IP were left orphaned: Vigil Games, the team behind the Darksiders franchise.

Platinum Games boss Atsushi Inaba expressed interest in the Darksiders IP after the auction.

Now Sony Santa Monica, the studio behind God of War: Ascension and a number of other titles, has begun encouraging ex-Vigil employees to apply at Sony’s California-based studio.

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Waking Mars asks you to create life, rather than take it.

Few games eschew combat for seed-planting. Waking Mars is the exception to the rule.

This 2D puzzle-platformer is a wonderful spelunking space-adventure through the caverns of Mars in the year 2097.

Rather than fight googly-eyed martians, however, you help spread life to the Red Planet, planting a variety of seeds which in turn grow a variety of plant-life, and awaken other forms of life, as you traverse the depths.

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Konami and Platinum Games are building the Metal Gear Rising Revengeance hype with new trailers and a playable demo.

February 19th is the big day for Metal Gear Rising Revengeance—and thank goodness for that, because if this game was coming out in March I think I’d have to go into hibernation.

Besides that, it’s a game that I can’t wait to get my paws on. After playing the demo, I’m more excited than ever for Kojima’s latest Raiden action title.

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Black Desert is a truly unique and ambitious looking MMORPG from Korean developer Pearl Abyss. The trailer—below—is one of the best video game trailers I’ve seen in a long time.

Long-time readers may be surprised to see the phrase “amazing looking MMORPG” in one of my headlines. I’m a pretty harsh critic of the genre.

But the trailer for Korean developer Pearl Abyss’s upcoming sandbox action-MMO, Black Desert, is one of the best game trailers I’ve seen in a long time, full of all sorts of gameplay goodies.

I had no idea what I was watching at first, having never heard of the game. So I’m watching this massive, sprawling, dynamic world, and then suddenly I’m thrust into the fighting, the hunting, and the magic. Huge toad beasts push their way through green pools. Moss-covered giants lumber through sunlit woods. There’s a frantic hunt of some monstrous beast.

Bustling cities, stunning environments, castles under siege. It’s sort of breathtaking.

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J.J. Abrams, the creator of Lost and director of the new Star Trek films, is reportedly set to direct the next Star Wars movie.

According to The Wrap, J.J. Abrams, the director of Star Trek and creator of the television show Lost, will be the man behind the camera on the next Star Wars film, Episode VII.

Disney purchased LucasFilm for $4 billion and committed to making the final trilogy with Star Wars creator George Lucas stepping aside to take an advising role on the project.

While Abrams has let me down in the past—Lost was a great show that fell apart badly by the end—his work on Super 8 and Star Trek was terrific. Certainly Abrams is a better pick for director than Lucas himself, whose prequel trilogy left many fans of the series, including your humble narrator, greatly disappointed.

Abrams wasn’t my top pick, however.

While I knew it probably wasn’t really a possibility, I thought Joss Whedon, director of The Avengers and creator of the cult-hit Firefly television series, would be a perfect fit for the new Star Wars trilogy.

Either way, it’s good to see the franchise distanced from Lucas and in the hands of Disney, whose recent films, including John Carter (despite its lackluster box office performance) have been surprisingly creative and fun.

Abrams is currently working on Star Trek: Into Darkness. He will have the high honor of directing films from two of history’s most beloved science-fiction franchises.

Star Wars Episode VII is scheduled for a 2015 release. So far there is no official announcement from Disney or Abrams, so take this news with the requisite grain or two of salt.

For my part, I’m hoping that the new trilogy will rekindle my love of the Star Wars universe. The prequel trilogy left a bad taste in my mouth. Growing up with the promise of more Star Wars films, nothing could have let me down harder than the trilogy Lucas eventually produced.

I just hope Abrams, and Little Miss Sunshine screenwriter Michael Arndt, can bring back the main thing that made the original films so great: characters that we love to spend time with regardless of the universe.

Jar Jar Binks aside, what was truly missing from the prequel trilogy was the personal story that made the misadventures of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, and the rest of the marvelous cast so memorable and unique.

Here’s hoping that Abrams and Disney have the magic touch.

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Well, the opening cinematic for Heart of the Swarm, the upcoming expansion to the massively popular Starcraft II, is certainly mysterious.

That’s what Blizzard has in mind, of course: “Whether you ultimately choose to play as Protoss, Terran, or Zerg, you simply must ask yourself one question,” the StarCraft developer writes over at Battle.net. “Who is Sarah Kerrigan?”

The blurb:

“Sarah Kerrigan is on the loose. Even without the terrible powers of the Queen of Blades or the might of the Swarm at her command, the former Ghost remains a foe not to be taken lightly. But if the artifact really did set her free, then why is Kerrigan seeking out Zerg broods scattered throughout the Koprulu sector? Is she still pursuing her quest for vengeance, or has her transformation given Kerrigan a new purpose?”

For my part, I’m reminded that nobody really does cinematics quite like Blizzard. I can’t wait until games actually look (and play) like this—which, of course, is nothing at all like StarCraft II looks or plays.

The game is fun in its own right, and hopefully the Heart of the Swarm expansion will be no different, but we have many years before games look as good as this cinematic opener. I believe I said something quite similar about the Mists of Pandaria cinematic trailer, actually…and about the cinematics that opened Star Wars: The Old Republic.

I’m so predictable.

Follow me on Twitter or Facebook. Read my Forbes blog here.

Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch is a magical adventure that no PS3 owner should miss.

Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch is simply magical. It’s been a long time since I was so enchanted and entranced by a game—and I’ve only just rescued the Great Sage’s daughter.

The cell-shaded animation makes you feel almost as though you were in a cartoon, and the game’s sterling story and excellent voice-acting (though much of the dialogue is simply text) makes the experience fantastically immersive. Wandering through lush forests or across sweeping deserts, one can’t help but feel a sense of awe.

This is the first game I can remember in which I find myself as enraptured by the story as I am by the gameplay. I’m often impatient to be on to the next fight or the next puzzle; in Wrath of the White Witch I’m impatient to be done with the fighting and on to the next poor soul whose heart needs mending.

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Skylanders Senior Game Designer Ray West talks toys and video games.

The big news in kids’ video games this month was Disney’s announcement of Disney Infinity, a toy-video game hybrid inspired by the success of Toys for Bob and Activision’s Skylanders franchise.

Like Skylanders, Disney Infinity uses real toys to transport action figures into a video game. The concept has some of its own unique innovations, such as Toy Box mode which allows players to create their own Disney-based worlds. But in many ways, the game is second-to-bat in the toy-game hybrid genre.

It was bound to happen sooner or later. After all, Skylanders has been enormously successful, spawning two major console releases, two handheld games on the Nintendo 3DS, and a bevy of mobile iterations including one that utilizes its very own Bluetooth Portal of Power.

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