The James Newton Podcast continues apace with the fourth show, and the first one done by request – thanks to Jeffrey White for the inspiration behind this one!

Following on from last week’s show about my hopes for NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams, today I go into more detail about my favourite features of the original NiGHTS into Dreams and why it’s so innovative and enjoyable. I explain Nightopians, the incredible remixing music and a few little touches that are just plain cool.

You can listen to this fourth episode here, and don’t forget to subscribe and leave a comment. There’ll be another episode next week, and you’re free to request or recommend content!

I’m listening to Be My Somebody by Norah Jones, from Not Too Late

Let’s face it – there was only ever going to be one topic for this week’s podcast!

With the first screenshots of NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams on Wii revealed last week (scans are available here!) and the promise of a sequel to what I consider the greatest game of all time, this week’s episode features me discussing the original and the promise of the sequel. 

(Credit to Hiro for the tip-off about the name!)

Expect much, much more on the NiGHTS sequel in the coming weeks and months as I get incredibly excited and share all my thoughts, hopes and fears.

Listen to the podcast here, or here to subscribe to the website feed!

Related links:

ScoreAttack.net – home to videos and techniques from the world’s greatest NiGHTS players.
NiGHTS into Dreams – my in-depth scoring article on the original’s addictive appeal.

Yes, it’s the second episode of the James Newton Podcast (suggestions for snappier names welcomed)!, featuring five of the very best games released on the DS in the coming months. There’s some adult entertainment, juvenile fun and probably the best reason to leave the house this summer. To listen to the podcast, simply right-click and save this link, then pop it open with your chosen mp3 player.

In other news…

It appears I’ll have a little backtracking to do in the coming weeks, with Swedish magazine Game Reactor breaking the exclusive news on NiGHTS into Dreams for the Wii, and TRiPPY from NiGHTSintoDreams.com claiming to have known about it for ages. Well nobody bothered to tell me! Nah, it’s fine – I had no credibility anyway, so losing it in favour of getting a new NiGHTS game is a sacrifice I’m perfectly willing to make. Bring on NiGHTS 2!

I’m listening to Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad? by Prince, from The Hits 1

Bringing you the very best of intelligent gaming articles, the Carnival of Video Game Bloggers unites game writers from all over the world in a rampant celebration of those who play games. Last month’s first edition was a huge success, and this month’s is even bigger. Well, let’s get on with the show!

I’ve also chosen today to launch the first episode of my podcast, which today looks at the Carnival and the European PlayStation 3 launch on Friday. Click to download here!

JC Barnett posted one of my favourite articles this month, an intelligent and insightful look into how video games are developed, and whether we can learn from other media. Do as the Hollywodians also contains my favourite kind of chart: flow chart. Top marks!

On similarly smart grounds, TherapyDoc writes on a topic we probably all think about: addiction. Parts of “Paying attention while under the influence: Internet & Spider Solitaire Addictions” sound very familiar to me – when playing games I can only communicate with eyeblinks.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the RSS feed!

With World of Warcraft still claiming the time of so many around the world, Praveen from My Simple Trading System alerts us to a shocking unseen aspect of WoW: Video Game Sweat Shops.

Kristoffer Belau looks back on some hard times in his life, and specifically the 5 most difficult games ever, including a few surprises – no Ikaruga? Perhaps he’s just got awesome reactions.

Next up is that warmongering Akusai with a call to arms to all responsible game players out there: Our World is in Peril. There is a very real evil out there, and Akusai is joining the charge against it.

Our next entrant is Gazz from My Opinion on Stuff – at the time of writing the website seems to be down for me, but I’ll post the link and hopefully it’ll work a little later.

I thought I’d take a leaf out of our next two bloggers’ books and submit multiple articles myself this month. The first is Truly Underrated Games: Shining Soul II, examining one of my favourite action RPGs. The second is Sega’s DS Surprise: Best-Case Scenario, outlining my hopes for Sega’s “totally surprising” announcement for Nintendo DS this year.

Make a blogger’s day – leave a nice comment on their article!

Last month I wrote this in the style of an awards show, and by far the most popular award was the Inaugural Jordan Bieber Award for Most Articles Submitted, won by Jordan Bieber. He was a worthy winner, and this time around sought to retain his crown by submitting this crop of articles:

Nintendo Finds Archives From Mid-90′s, Announces Surprise VC Lineup

The Real Purpose of the New Everyone Votes Wii Channel Revealed!

Gamecube Still the Champ for Zelda Nuts

Nintendo Nitpicker: Wii’s 3 incompatible controllers

Wii Wiish List: The Super Mario Channel

El Legendo de Smelda: Macarena of Time

It was a great effort with six very varied Nintendo articles looking at fangames, “Wiishes” and hidden agendas. However, sadly his crown has slipped from its perch and onto the head of a new champion!

Save $5 a Month on GameFly.com – BrightSpot.tv Review

Three Reasons I Hate Crackdown

Contest: Win Uno, Robotron, and a Month Subscription to GameznFlix

GRAW 2 Demos Reviewed

Gears of War Multiplayer Map Pack Mini Review

My Full Xbox Live Friends List Dilemma

Tetris Evolved Coming

Heavy Weapon Review

With a mighty and unbeaten eight articles submitted, it gives me great pleasure to hand over the second Jordan Bieber Award for Most Articles Submitted to Jigsaw HC! I even made you a special image you can use on your site to indicate you won the most prestigious award in the world. Congratulations!

Thanks to everyone who submitted articles - we’ve got a whopping twenty-two posts here, easily beating last month’s pretty impressive total. For a fledgling carnival I think things are really taking off!

Next month’s carnival will be hosted by my brother Phil Newton over at Sodaware:: Adventures in Shareware. It’s another open-mic session so keep on sending all your articles and thoughts in from the Carnival homepage.

Just a quick note – if your comments or trackbacks aren’t appearing that’s because my spam intake has gone through the roof. I checked in on the carnival this morning to find almost 600 spam comments waiting for moderation! There could have been a few genuine comments in there, so I apologise if it doesn’t show.

I hope you enjoy this month’s carnival, and be sure to leave a comment on someone’s work – they’re sure to appreciate it!

Don’t forget to subscribe to the RSS feed to be kept in touch with regular updates!

Place a trackback or make a post about this carnival to share your readers with other bloggers, and receive traffic in return!