This one's especially for the Phoenix Wright fans. Those lucky enough to survive the enormous crowd surrounding Gyakuten Kenji's (Turnabout Prosecutor) playable Tokyo Game Show demo were invited into a detailed replica of Miles Edgeworth's office, complete with classy furnishings and a feint air of egomania. We imagine playing Capcom's latest point-and-prosecute in this environment must have been quite surreal for attendees.

Though Edgy himself wasn't available to complete the illusion, we did discover his excellent figurine at the Capcom store -- it's included in the gallery as well.

[Special thanks to Ariel A. for the office snaps.]

As you've surely already noticed, a handful of our more travel-hardened writers have spent the past few days in the natal region of this humble weekly feature in order to more aptly cover the industry happenings at the Tokyo Game Show 2008. While we've missed their presence dearly, particularly at our bimonthly badminton tournament against other gaming blogs (Kietzmann is quite the racqueteer, you see), we've found their overseas stationing to be quite profitable for us homebound 'Stiqers.

You see, thanks to the inexplicable magic of time zones, it's a bit after midday tomorrow in Tokyo at the time of this posting. Our overseas cohorts have discovered a number of startling, time-sensitive pieces of valuable information, then sent them hurtling westward (geographically) and backward (chronologically) to the rest of the staff. We've been using this information to gain a valuable edge in the somewhat turbulent American investment market -- much like the oft-exploited sports almanac from Back to the Future lore (sans the frequent demands for its immolation by absent-minded, silver-haired chronophysicists).

Fret not, dear readers -- we can hear your requests for these valuable investment protips through the insulation provided by our wide-brimmed moneyhats. Here, we'll break you off a piece -- following an unlikely endorsement from acclaimed Japanese film critic Tadao Sato, Beverly Hills Chihuahua will set the highest single-day box office record in cinematic history tomorrow, and will remain at the top of the charts worldwide for fourteen months. As such, you might want to consider dropping a few bucks on Disney (DIS), and, of course, Chihuawow! (CWOW!), the West Coast's most prestigious Chihuahua distribution outlet.

- DS Lite: 42,385 15,462 (26.73%)
- PSP: 26,045 374 (1.46%)
- Wii: 25,330 984 (3.74%)
- PS2: 8,618 1,230 (12.49%)
- Xbox 360: 8,271 3,020 (26.75%)
- PS3: 7,232 1,043 (12.60%)

[Source: Media Create]

See: The time-sensitive archives

Ah, the Square Enix Mega Theater. It's always something to look forward to at every TGS. We took the time to check out the theater and see what's cooking behind those big, black walls. Square Enix showed off trailers for nine games and a film in the Mega Theater, including two PS3 titles, the Advent Children Complete movie, and four PSP titles. Grab the full scoop on each title in our Square Enix Closed Theater impressions.

We can't even begin to imagine how upset we'll be if Capcom doesn't bring Gyakuten Kenji -- that's Turnabout Prosecutor for you and me -- to the West. In fact, we can't imagine how upset we'll be if Capcom doesn't bring Gyakuten Kenji to the West tomorrow. Sure, we can't understand a word in the above trailer, but the very thought of prancing around as puffy-collared Edgeworth (Gumshoe in tow!) and interrogating effeminate weirdos simply shatters our precious psycho-locks.

If you understood that reference, you know exactly how we feel. If not, go play the Phoenix Wright games, you uncultured oaf.

Despite what that affront-to-mankind-in-motion-picture-form, Spider-Man 3, may have tried to make you believe, merging with a dreaded symbote doesn't turn you into a mopey jerk with an unfashionable haircut and nightmarish dance moves. We feel that the upcoming Activision web-slinging simulator, Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, depicts a much more accurate account of the side-effects of fusion with tar-like alien lifeforms: A widening of the eyes, an elongation of the teeth, and tendrils -- oh, so very many tendrils.

The launch trailer for the aforementioned title, posted above, gives us a good sampling of the symbiotic adversaries we'll be pummeling come Web of Shadows' October 21 release date -- and with a classy touch of Moonlight Sonata to boot. We highly suggest checking it out -- perhaps you'll find some place in your heart that hasn't eternally sworn off games featuring the titular, charismatic wall-crawler.

Hotel Dusk and Trace Memory developer CING is teaming up with Tecmo to deliver another atmospheric adventure on the Nintendo DS, this time in the form of a supernatural murder mystery. Again: Eye of Providence follows FBI special agent Jonathan Weaver as he investigates his family's death and its connection with a series of murders that occurred 18 years earlier. Again's title is derived from Jonathan's ability to see into the past and experience crimes -- you know, again.

Producer Koichi Yamaguchi walked us through a very early build of the game, demonstrating how this helpful hindsight would help us piece together the events that occurred in a given crime scene. In what is essentially a game of spot-the-difference, you'll view the environment in a first-person perspective on both DS screens (in book orientation). The touch screen allows you to interact with the scene, while the screen to your left displays the same area, but as it was in the past. As Yamaguchi noted, it makes sense to confine history to the non-interactive screen. You can't change the past, you can only learn from it.

If you're itching a "murder and mystery in paradise" kind of game, you need look no further, but you will have to wait. Marvelous and XSEED have announced (via press release) that the DS remake of Suda51's Flower, Sun and Rain is coming to North America in 2009. While it's not specified when in 2009, the ever-reliable (not really) Amazon UK page lists November 14, so we're hoping early in the year. Flower, Sun and Rain revolves around the eponymous hotel where the main character must repeat the same day -- and terrorist attack -- over and over again. Basically, it's just like Groundhog's Day except with an unfortunate dearth of Stephen Tobolowsky.

Level-5's Tokyo Game Show booth featured a Closed Theater presentation (much like their competitor, Square Enix). However, unlike the other JRPG overlord, Level-5 encouraged us to actually let you watch these trailers as well by endowing us with a DVD (courtesy of booth girl). Our favorite trailer of the three new games unveiled at TGS this year is for PSP: Ushiro, a horror-themed RPG that has you playing a ghost haunting his darling (in a not-so-Patrick Swazey way).

That's not all, of course. The busy RPG team is also hard at work on a new DS game in collaboration with Studio Ghibli, and a new PSP game that lets you customize some robots. Check out those videos, and more, after the break.

Before we get into all of the tasty links, check out our two latest giveaways. On DS Fanboy, we're giving away a copy of Mystery Case Files: Millionheir. On Wii Fanboy, we're hooking up one lucky reader with a copy of Wario Land: Shake It! Head on over and check out those posts for details on how to enter. After that, hit up the links below for more good stuff.

DS features

• DS Fanboy Review: Kirby Superstar Ultra
  Review'd!
• Bury the Shovelware: Mega Man Star Force 2 - Zerker X Saurian
  Read our analysis of the game
• A brief history of Club Nintendo Awesomeness
  Check out some of the goodies fans have gotten from the service in the past
• Gaming to Go: Super Collapse 3
  Read why it's a great game for on the go
• Goodbye, GBA
  Check out our retrospective on the GBA slot
• DS Fanboy Review: Lock's Quest
  Is it good or bad?
• Show and Tell: Epic
  Our latest edition looks at one fan's massive collection

Wii features

• Revolutionary: Go Go Bionic!
  Sick of not having Bionic Commando: Rearmed on Wii? Well, here's the next best way to play it!
  
• Top 5: Nintendo's biggest surprises
  Read 5 of Nintendo's big "oooh" and "ahh"-inspiring moments
• It's-a Mario World: In the fall press conference
  A Mario-focused slant on the big Nintendo news last week
• Born for Wii: Klonoa 2: Lunatea's Veil
  Check out why we want it on Wii
• VC Monday Madness: Mario Golf and Shining Force II
  Video coverage of this week's Virtual Console games
• Virtually Overlooked: Arm Wrestling
  Why should it be on the Virtual Console?
• Pachter 'absolutely convinced' Wii HD is coming
  What do you think?

Some interesting statistics about Electronic Arts' recently launched FIFA09 in the U.K. (via Chart Track):

• It is currently beating the sales rate of FIFA08 -- itself a bestselling UK game last year -- by 37.5%.
• It debuted at the top of the PlayStation 2, PS3, PSP and Xbox 360 charts.
• Of those sales, 42% were on Xbox 360, making it the 3rd fastest selling game on Microsoft's format (behind GTA IV and Halo 3), while 40% were on PS3 where it is the 2nd fastest selling game (behind GTA IV). 11% go to PS2, 3% to PSP and the rest for PC, Wii and DS.

Just goes to show you that no matter the culture or continent, EA owns football. See the full top 10 list of All Formats software sales after the break.

The new Nintendo Points cards will force you to pick a platform when it's redeemed. Siliconera reports that the House of Mario currency will not go into one main Nintendo piggy bank for the user, but will need to be redeemed for either DSWare or WiiWare titles.

Another way of putting it is that consumers won't be able to transfer points between the Wii and DSi after activating the cards. It's a shame really, we certainly expected a more 21st-century solution (i.e. an all-purpose Nintendo account) from the company which brought us the brilliant 16-digit friend code system.

[Via WiiFanboy]

Out already in Europe and Japan, Personal Trainer: Cooking launches in North America on November 24. Like other upcoming Personal Trainer titles (Math! Walking!), Cooking is more tutor than game. After sampling its recipes, we developed a taste for the concept. The cookbook of 245 dishes gives step-by-step instructions, meeting chefs with a range of skill levels.

Age of Empires: Mythologies follows the style of the DS Age of Kings, turning the PC real-time strategy into a portable, turn-based title. We checked out the game a the Nintendo Media Summit and found a lot of depth in the transition. While you'll only choose from Greek, Norse, or Egyptian armies, there's still ample Age of Empires inside.

Fuelled by the uncomfortable stares of those sitting close by, Activision has heard your cries for more on-the-go rocking, confirming that Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades will return to the portable stage on November 16.

First announced during E3, the encore performance will include a collection of master tracks pulled from the last 40 years, including Fall Out Boy, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Queen, as well as support wireless connectivity between both it and the original On Tour for competitive and co-op play. Not much else has been revealed, though something tells us that this November bus rides to work just got a little more awkward.

Game companies must find old IP profitable, with yet another retro remake on the way in Tecmo Bowl Kickoff. This DS diversion plunges into the nostalgia glands within our hypothalamus; we fondly associate the NES original with grade-school sleep-overs. Maybe there's a direct connection between our memories and Visa card after all.

And on that level, Tecmo Bowl wins. It's hokey, clunky, and fun. We think gamers who missed the NES or SNES versions won't enjoy it nearly as much as their John Maddens. But the Tecmo Bowl simplicity can even be elegant. You're limited to just a few runs and passes. There's no play clock. Team names and players are fictitious. Cut-scene interludes show the biggest graphical effects, with on-field play just clear enough to make out what's happening.