It was, we suppose, inevitable. Nintendo's Cooking Guide released in Japan two years ago (as Cooking Navi), where it shifted a decent number of units. It recently emerged in Europe, and did pretty well there, too (it'll be coming to the U.S. this November). And what happens each time Nintendo releases a successful non-game? Answer: as sure as night follows day, (usually inferior) third-party alternatives appear.

That's what has happened here, with Atari following Nintendo into the cooking-with-your-DS arena. What's Cooking? with Jamie Oliver will feature 100 recipes (Cooking Guide has 245), space for 100 of your own, a shopping list mode, and competitive cooking games. It's very similar to Nintendo's game then (though apparently you can share recipes via WiFi), except you get to look at Jamie Oliver and his smug, squishy, Mockney face a whole lot more.

If, like this blogger, you regard Oliver as an affront to all that is decent about humankind, it might not be your thing. But it might be okay as a game.


[Via press release]

Carnival Games on the DS apparently features a "sideshow" feature not found in the Wii version! That is, if the title screen is any indication. Look at that guy! He's about ten million times creepier than the jack-o-lantern-like barker found on the cover of the Wii game. That guy's not a barker -- he's a warning. "Step right away! Don't come in!"

Carnival Games' carnival also features a "game" in which you're swarmed by giant bees. They may present it as a game, but we usually don't find the presence of bees in our amusement parks at all amusing. Maybe after that, you'll have to play a game about cleaning the spilled ice cream off of the ground so the park doesn't attract so many bees.

Man, the boxart for this Japanese baby-care game (or whatever you call that kind of thing) is totally cute. We didn't think there was a way to get jaded non-little-girl gamers like us interested in seeing screens of a baby game, but publisher Brain Toys has done just that for Konnichiwa Akachan (Hello Baby). If the whole game were to look like this, it would be a confirmed Cute Overload.

We have got to see screenshots right -- oh, no, it's Baby Pals. Oh, man, they got us to look at Baby Pals again. That's like the baby-game equivalent of the Rickroll. There hasn't been this much of a mismatch between boxart and a game's real appearance since Dragon Power.

Here's a depressing start to our day. Noting the awesome paddle controller's absence from the North American Space Invaders Extreme/Arkanoid DS press release, as well as its eventual absence from the European press release, Spencer Yip put the question to Square Enix directly. Their response was heart-rending.

"We are not bringing over the paddle controller for the NA version." What are we supposed to do now, play Arkanoid without a paddle controller? Arkanoid without its controller is -- well, it's Break 'em All, which already exists. We were thrilled when we found out SE was going to release these games, but our enthusiasm is tempered by the fact that they're only halfway releasing them. Oh, well, off we go to import a paddle.

This kid is undeniably excited about receiving a DS and games for Christmas -- you can tell by the frantic gyrations and leaping about -- which is why we can't understand why they are all flung to the floor after a moment of celebration. We can only guess that's what happens when you give a child a "senior edition" DS Lite. Oh well. The mysterious dichotomy of excitement and flinging makes for a fun moment in our weekly video spotlight.

[Update: Aww, the video has been removed. What a way to spoil our fun!]

Looking for some cute Christmas music to play in the car during a family trip, Kotaku's Brian Crecente happened upon this horror: Pokémon Christmas Bash, a Pokémon-themed album of Christmas music from 2001. If you're curious, check out the samples on iTunes. If you like what you hear (for some reason), or want to give a last-minute gift of lulz, the album is available both on CD and in MP3 format from Amazon for the low, low price of $6.98.

Featuring sure-fire holiday classics like "I'm Giving Santa a Pikachu This Christmas" and, uh, "Pokémon Christmas Medley," Pokémon Christmas Bash is destined to become part of every family's holiday collection, joining favorites like Ren & Stimpy's Crock O' Christmas.

[Via Kotaku]