The trailer for a new Zelda game?

The Lost Oracle is what every fan wants and, unfortunately, not something we are likely to see. The trailer was created by Joel Furtado - 'just for fun'.

The animation was clearly inspired by The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker - but still has it's own style which makes it all sorts of awesome. He even teases with a Wii-U logo at the end. If only!

To be honest I wasn't entirely sure how this would work, but having watched it I found the whole thing quite clever and entertaining.

Not convinced about the fact they call the women birds, it's not the sort of term you would use in a positive context, but since these birds seem to be assassins of some sort I think we can probably let it pass

There's a series of behind the scenes photos on the QuaterBin blog.

The only thing I would change, if it were me making the film, is the dodgy English accents. They can't seem to decide if they're posh English/ Cockney. Either way - they just sound wrong.

Apart from a few instances the effects work really well, and this looks like it was a lot of fun to make. It also doesn't have the stereotypical cheese factor that a lot of Hollywood Video Game movies have.

Interestingly the director, Brian Curtin, has this to say about the video (found on the Youtube video notes):

After 10+ years since it's release, if you ever go back and replay the original Half-Life, it doesn't look anything like you remember. The graphics are horrible compared to present day games, but years ago it blew my mind. This video plays with that contrast. I incorporated a fusion of live action and CG environments that give it a semi-realistic look, but also not realistic at the same time. Hope you enjoy it!

How can you not like something that combines the best toy in the world with one of the biggest video gaming franchises ever.

Over the years Amanita Design have become the masters of the flash, point and click adventure game. With every game their graphical style has improved, and Botanicula looks as beautiful as you could hope.

Based upon their previous efforts - such as Machinarium (I could have sworn we reviewed Machinarium, but I couldn't find it anywhere :S) - I am sure the puzzles will be as fiendish as ever. Will be interesting to see how the final game plays.

Add to that a new design, a modification of my premium WordPress theme called Byline, and the site has a fresh new look that will fit right into this modern internet age.

If anyone wants to write for the site then please just let me know and I will see how things go.

The game was first announced quite some time ago - and the video intrigued. Voxatron is a lot more action oriented that Josephs earlier games - most of which were puzzle based.

Joseph has now announced that Voxatron will be going into alpha mode soon and will be available for gamers to download should they wish to pre-order it.

Not normally big news, a new video game toolbar, but since I led the project I thought I would mention it

The Gamebar is a way for users to keep up to date with the latest Miniclip games. In addition they can get access to some exclusive 'bonus' games - games only accessible to users who have the toolbar installed. We are currently hard at work on version 2 which includes functionality to favorite games which can then be accessed anywhere.

About Miniclip

With more than 65MM unique visitors per month, Miniclip is the world's largest website dedicated to online games. The company develops, publishes and distributes more than 650 online and mobile games. Founded in 2001, Miniclip is privately owned and privately funded with its headquarters in Switzerland and offices in six countries. Miniclip.com is the only website to ever win the prestigious Webby People's Voice Award, the "Oscars of the Internet" for the Internet's Best Game site for three consecutive years. For more information, visit www.miniclip.com.

There's some really creative solutions for the different bits of the animation (carts for cars etc). And I like the big square Maggie!

That said - the knowledge that they'res a Mafia Wars 2 coming out intrigues me:

“Mafia Wars 2 takes one of our longest running and most successful franchises to a whole new universe, introducing a vast 3D world where being bad never felt so good.”

3D gameplay? Colour me interested!