Forget for a moment the play mechanics, RPG elements and side scrolling; why can’t more games, on all consoles, simply look like Muramasa: Demon Blade these days?

Forget rain on your wedding day, free rides when you’d already paid and good advice you just didn’t take. The most beautiful video game I’ve played this generation runs on the archaic, underpowered Wii.

Sorry, Alanis, but that’s the definition of irony—don’t you think?

The games press is notorious for spreading hyperbole, an offense to which even I’d admit occasional guilt. But there’s nothing hyperbolic about it—Muramasa: The Demon Blade is an astonishingly gorgeous game, a stunning collection of moving artwork with more elegance, polish and sophisticated style than anything I’ve played in years.

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This week’s big release is The Beatles: Rock Band, but you have to admit that Muramasa looks pretty awesome, too. Guitar Hero is switching their downloadable content exclusively to GH5 and it looks like they’re trying to counteract Beatlesmania with some Rolling Stones. Rock Band 2 continues to get a ton of DLC with some Talking Heads and some Penny Arcade Expo tracks. And OMG … Contra Rebirth!!

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