Industry and multi-console news:

• The Grand Theft Auto IV trailer is out, and as you'd imagine, within nanoseconds millions of nerds were registering their displeasure all throughout the Internet. If you can tear yourself away from that angry e-mail for a moment, CVG has a feature on ten things you may not have noticed in the trailer.
• Elsewhere in Take Two's world, the the CEO and board of directors have been replaced, as expected.
• 2K Games promised that they would offer a Bioshock Collector's Edition if an online petition got 5000 signatures. 16,000 signatures later, they're now conducting a survey to determine what things should be included in the package.
• Sega of America president Simon Jeffrey says that Sega is undergoing a "fairly considerable refresh of Sonic as an intellectual property," with Sonic and the Secret Rings being "first product that's come to market that reflects that." He also says that they're "not going to be bringing another game out on the other platforms for quite some time," and I'm not sure if that means they're holding off on Sonic titles entirely or keeping them on the Wii for now.

PC news:

• Turbine is giving away a million LotR Online open beta accounts, which are playable until April 24.
• Eidos has added seven more titles to Steam, including Deus Ex, Tomb Raider: Legend, and Thief: Deadly Shadows. I happen to be playing through the first Thief right now. Let me tell you, when I play a game called Thief, what I really like to see is burping dinosaurs.

Nintendo news:

• Jeux France has scans of a NiGHTS 2 article, with screens, from a Portuguese magazine. There's a translation of the interview section at the SA forums.
• Nintendo is looking for another manufacturer to speed up Wii production.
• Well, we're all doomed now. Someone's built a Lego robot capable of bowling a perfect game in Wii Sports.
• Koei is bringing the G1 Jockey series to the Wii.
• Nintendo has confirmed Picross DS for release in Europe.
• Video: The Super Mario 2 theme, played entirely with percussion. Specifically a xylophone, bass marimba, supporting marimba and drums.

Sony news:

• A demo for MLB 2K7 and trailers for Warhawk and Super-Rub-A-Dub have been added to the Playstation Store.
• The PS3 has been banned from UK prisons due to fears about its Wi-Fi abilities.
• Games Are Fun has a preview of Nippon Ichi's line-up for 2007.
• Speaking of Nippon Ichi, IGN has a hands-on with Disgaea Portable, which will hit America this August.
• Sony is developing a system to allow Arsenal fans to see replays and stats on their PSP while at the game. Because the first place you want to take your handheld system with the big, fragile screen is a stadium of 30,000 rowdy sports fans.
• Nyko's Guitar Hero PS2 controller adapter for the PS3 has been put on indefinite hold, due to "limitations in the PS3 hardware."

Microsoft news:

• Two new Halo 2 maps are coming on April 17. "New" meaning remakes of Hang 'Em High and Derelict.
• Some Project Gotham Racing 4 details have surfaced from an upcoming OXM preview. Good news: Enhanced weather simulation. Potentially annoying news: a TV-style setup with "a commentator offering wisdom."

Posted by Bill at 5:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Industry and multi-console news:

• If you're reading this before 6:00 PM EST, remember that the GTA4 trailer hits today at that time. If you're reading this after, desperately scramble for a server hosting the trailer that isn't being hammered into the dirt.
• In the meantime, you can read a Wired article about the rise and current fall of Rockstar and Take Two.
• Jack Thompson has revised his counterclaim against Take Two, removing all the allegations of racketeering. Thus, also removed was any mention of Spong or Kotaku or Penny Arcade or any of the other supposed "co-conspirators."
• The former head of Max Payne developer Remedy has opened a new studio.
• Vivendi and Sony are being sued by a woman whose infant suffered an epileptic seizure while playing Spyro. If only there was some sort of seizure warning that's been included in every video game ever made for the last 20 years.
• Paul WS Anderson says he's not off the Castlevania project, contrary to earlier reports, but there is a current scheduling conflict between it and Death Race that they are trying to resolve.
• Insert Credit has an editorial about the sudden surge in use of the term "SKU" among the gamer press and fan community. I don't agree with it though. SKU has caught on because it's a handy term, especially when describing one of several types of bundles as we've seen with recent console releases. Not everyone uses it just to sound like an "industry insider."
• IGN names the 25 most awesome video game box covers.
• Fora.tv has a 90 minute discussion between Will Wright and Brian Eno from last year about generative design.
• GameFly has finally opened an east coast distrobution center.

PC news:

• EA has already announced a second Command & Conquer patch. Hooray for PC gaming!

Nintendo news:

• Nintendo has been declared the "anchor exhibitor" at this year's E for All Expo in October.
• Sega of America's president and COO has said that Shigeru Miyamoto will offer "very heavy supervision" of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games.
• A magazine scan shows the first images of Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2 and holy crap those kids are approaching Nomura levels of accessorizing.
• Chiptune musician Herbert Weixelbaum has a lengthy page comparing the sound output of various Game Boy models.
• What you're missing out by not living in Japan: DS games that teach you how to walk beautifully. Actually, as silly as it sounds, I wish some American women would take lessons in walking beautifully so they'd stop clomping around like gorillas. Pro tip: If you walk across the room and vases threaten to rattle off their shelves, you're not distributing your weight properly.
• Norwegian Cruise Lines will be installing Wiis on all their cruise ships over the next month.
• Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles will run in 480p and 16:9.
• Final Fight and Street Fighter II Turbo have appeared on the ESRB database for the Wii, indicating their future inclusion in the Virtual Console.

Sony news:

• A Sony FCC filing related to Bluetooth antenna changes also makes mention of an 80 gig PS3.
• Eidos says they're holding off on their major PS3 titles until next year, saying the installed base won't be high enough this year.
• Konami has confirmed that the Metal Gear voice cast is returning for MGS4, with the actors for Snake, Raiden, Otacon, Campbell and Meryl reprising their roles.
• You can also hear an interview with David Hayter, who voices Snake, at the most recent Kojima Productions podcast.
• You finally have someone to blame: The PS3's designer says that Ken Kutaragi insisted on the Spider-Man font for the Playstation 3 logo.

Microsoft news:

• Hey, remember Microsoft's other "big announcement?" Turns out it was a browser for Windows Mobile! lol, prankd guys!
• A patch for Worms is coming that will fix some bugs and exploits.
• Microsoft and Epic have announced the first Gears of War Live tournament.
• The first Bullet Witch downloadable content is available. Let's not all rush at once, now.
• The Blue Dragon TV series may be Akira Toriyama's final anime.

Posted by Bill at 5:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Industry and multi-console news:

• Mexico is beginning an anticrime initiative in which they will offer consoles for guns.
• Yuji Naka says his new studio, Prope, will not do ports or sequels.
• EA has renewed its Lord of the Rings license through 2008. But they almost screwed up on the "one does not parallel park into Mordor" test.
• Rumors say that Paul Anderson has left the Castlevania movie project.
• Crave has unveiled Pinball Hall of Fame: The William Collection for the PS2, PSP and Wii.
• Directors of Denver's Regional Transport District have voted to allow M-rated game ads on public transit. They don't actually want it, they just knew that they would "face an uphill battle in court" if they carried through with the ban.
• Mad Money host Jim Cramer recently gave his opinion on a few video game stocks.
• The Girl Gamer Award nominees have been announced (awarding games, not girls). The list is indistinguishable from a list that "boy gamers" would make, rendering the whole thing rather pointless.
• Burnout 5 will make use of the HD Eye Toy and Live Vision Camera for something "important."
• Further casting has been announced for the Hitman movie. I don't know who any of them are, but maybe you do.
• Jeremy Parish says they were unable to record a System Shock Retronauts podcast with Ken Levine because 2K Games would not allow them to talk about EA titles. "Never mind that the games are ten, fifteen years old, out of print, have a direct bearing on Bioshock and reflect the work and evolution of the man they're dragging around for their press tour."
• Japan has plans to ban wireless gaming on flights due to the possibility of interference with plane instruments. PSPs and DSes aren't banned outright, but they have to have their wireless transmit modes turned off.
• A new Dark Sector video demonstrates how a wide variety of fruit is used to create gooey foley effects.

PC news:

• 2K Games has announced Beyond the Sword, the second expansion pack for Civilization IV.
• The first Command & Conquer 3 patch is already available.

Nintendo news:

• Mario and Sonic will star in an upcoming Olympics-themed Wii and DS game.
• Tomonobu Itagaki has announced Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword for the DS. Thank God Nintendo didn't call their new handheld the Nintendo ZX or who knows how developers would manage to subtitle their games.
• Online importer Play-Asia has Gyakuten Saiban 4 listed as Japanese language only. Previous installments had been bilingual.
• Pocket Gamer has a little feature explaining how the DS' 3D graphics work.
• Jeux France has a bunch of new Ouendan 2 screenshots.

Sony news:

• A demo for Ninja Gaiden Sigma will arive on the Playstation Network in Japan on April 27. There's no word if or when the demo will come to other territories.
• A new PSP firmware upgrade finally allows for full-frame video.
• For their part, Sony responded to Microsoft's Elite announcement by saying that it "legitimises Sony’s PS3 strategy," and "moves us closer to adopting universal standards in the area of high definition gaming."
• If just hearing about the hardware difference in the Euro PS3 wasn't enough, now you can actually compare the American and PAL PS3 circuit boards.

Microsoft news:

• Microsoft has officially announced the Xbox 360 Elite. No one could have seen this coming!
• The 360 Elite will not replace the other models -- Major Nelson calls the 20 gig model "the sweet spot."
• In addition, the Elite news doesn't apply to Japan at the moment. The 120 gig HD will be offered, but Japanese gamers wanting the Elite should "wait for a future announcement." IGN adds that the package may be tailored to Japanese tastes.
• Unfortunately, Microsoft has a lot of rules about data transfer to the 120 gig hard drive -- data can only be transfered to the 120 gig unit and not from, the transfered data is deleted from the 20 gig unit afterwards, and so on.
• The fun doesn't stop with a black 360, kids. Microsoft's Channel 10 said there were going to be two big announcements, and one of them was last night -- obviously the Elite. The other is midnight tonight, but what might it be? Something about the Halo 3 beta? GTA4? Public apology for the Zune?
• New video content is coming to the Live Marketplace, ranging from Snakes on a Plane to Dog the Bounty Hunter to some as of yet unnamed anime.

Posted by Bill at 5:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

Hooray for Error Macro entry #1000. Imagine if that meant something.

Industry and multi-console news:

• As a part of the debate on Capcom's forums about the horrible atrocity of Devil May Cry 4 going to more than one system, fans asked whether Dead Rising or Lost Planet would appear on the PS3. Capcom responded that the games were "not slated to appear on Wii or PS3 as far as current plans go." The rep went on to say "the reasons for this are quite convoluted and I'm bound by NDAs on these matters so I can't divulge why this is the situation."
• Approximately eighty years after the rumor first surfaced, Traveller's Tales has confirmed the Lego Batman game.
• Take Two won't present alternative courses of action at their upcoming shareholders meeting, meaning that the option of selling the company isn't going to come up just yet.
• Play.com briefly had a listing for a game called Prince of Persia: Ghost of the Past, suggesting the possible subtitle of the next game in the series.
• 300 producer Thomas Tull is raising $150 million to start a new developer-publisher called Brash Entertainment. The company will specialize in licensed games, because God knows we have far too much originality in games these days.
• Kotaku compares the DS and PSP versions of Puzzle Quest to see which is better. They do, however, neglect to mention the bug that the PSP version apparently has.
• The Darkness has a release date of June 25 for America and June 29 for Europe.

PC news:

• 20 million copies of Vista were sold in the month after its launch.
• Saturday's edition of the Times in the UK will contain a trial disc for World of Warcraft along with an eight page guide to the game.
• The recent STALKER 1.0001 patch breaks previous save games. Lucky it wasn't a 1.1 patch or your PC would burst into flames.

Nintendo news:

• The floodgates crack open a little wider -- Swedish magazine Game Reactor has NiGHTS 2 as its cover story. I have no idea if the picture on the cover is official art or not, but it's lovely. The magazine doesn't mention a console, but since the other source for this is the Official Nintendo Magazine, I'll put it here for now.
• During a Gamestop investors conference call, COO Dan DeMatteo stated he personally believed Nintendo "intentionally dried up supply because they made their numbers for the year. The new year starts April 1, and I think we're going to see supply flowing.”
• For the record, Nintendo continues to insist "we're making as many as we can oh its just so popular blah blah." That's a direct quote.
• Barron's has named Satoru Iwata as one of the world's leading CEOs.
• Now you, too, can own a 59 inch tall Mario statue for just $3000.
• The official Wii site has a lengthy discussion with the Internet Channel's designers about what went into its development, and what can be expected from the full version.
• Heroes of Mana has been confirmed for a late summer release in America.
• MTV's Stephen Totilo attempts to work around ornery friend codes by converting them into sentences.

Sony news:

• UK retailer Aria.co.uk has dropped the price of the PS3 to GBP 399.95, but only for a limited time as a promotion.
• The next PSP Wipeout game has been titled Wipeout Pulse.
• Sony got one of its PS3 ads withdrawn in South Africa after the claims made in the ad were found to be misleading.
• Dragon's Lair is coming to Blu-ray, playable on either the PS3 or a standalone Blu-ray player.
• A new trailer has been released for Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core. It's 10% gameplay, 90% dudes standing around and talking in Japanese.

Microsoft news:

• While avoiding making specific promises, producer Phil Whilson has said that Crackdown downloadable content could include flying vehicles. They had initially ruled them out because they weren't sure if the engine could take it, but "as you can see in the finished game, the existing engine can handle immense draw distances and rapid streaming... so airborne antics is definitely not off the table going forward."
• Ars Technica argues why a $100 Xbox can be better than the AppleTV.
• Where better to hold your Bible study than in a Halo 2 lobby. You see, Satan is like the Flood...
• Photos have surfaced that supposedly show black Elite 360s on a rack at the factory.

Posted by Bill at 5:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Industry and multi-console news:

• The leader of a street gang called the Nut Cases that spent all day getting high, playing GTA, and then re-enacting crimes from the game has been sentenced to 75 years to life for murder.
• Capcom has officially responded to the petition against making DMC4 multiplatform, offering a more gentle and professional statement than my personal suggestion of "bitch, please."
• Be forewarned that Gamestop sells opened games as new.
• EA has started a music label in partnership with Netwerk One Music. Naturally, they call it Artwerk.
• Racketboy will soon run out of systems now that he has done the best undiscovered Saturn games.
• Eurogamer has a new Bioshock teaser trailer.
• Print ad revenue is down for Ziff Davis' Game Group (which publishes EGM and Games for Windows), but online revenue grew 76%.
• A diner owner in Tennessee has been charged with hiding illegal poker machines in arcade cabinets. Rather cleverly, they were even rigged to switch between poker and the arcade game via remote control.
• There's a new book out, looking once again at the connections between video games and aggression in children. And once again, it raises the important question of whether these kids are aggressive because of games or play violent games because they're aggressive.
• If you ever wanted to watch Ryu and Chun Li cosplayers in a salsa dancing competition, boy, you're a weird dude.

PC news:

• Real world real estate firm Coldwell Banker will begin selling virtual land in Second Life this week. This is so meta.
• Dave Perry's wacky community-designed MMO is moving ahead, and he's announced it's a racing game rather than the WoW-clone one might expect.
• Activision has detailed all that you get when you buy the Quake Wars collector's edition package.
• A Chinese MMO company is offering to allow people banned for cheating back into the game, but only if they donate blood.

Nintendo news:

• This week's Virtual Console title -- there's only one -- is Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV: Wall of Fire.
• Sega has announced three more titles to hit the Virtual Console in the near future: Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle, Wonder Boy in Monster World, and Virtua Fighter 2. All three, including VF2, are Genesis games.
• Aksys Games will be remaking PS1 strategy RPG Hoshigami: Ruining Blue Earth for the DS as Hoshigami Remix.
• EA has left EDTV resolutions out of the PAL edition of Tiger Woods 2007.
• Game Trailers and Game Videos both have footage of My Sims' character creation process.
• The creator of an in-progress 2D Ocarina of Time remake has died in a car accident. The game's official site and forums were immediately closed down afterwards, which is kind of odd. Some wonder if the whole thing isn't a hoax to provide an easy out to abandon the project.

Sony news:

• UK retailer HMV has harumphed and called Sony's free TV stunt at Virgin "unnecessary." "It may have encouraged some of the more cynical media to think of it as a last-minute attempt to bolster queues and PR coverage." I'm sure this has nothing to do with Virgin being chosen over HMV to be Sony's official retail partner.
• The PS3 sold 165,000 units in the United Kingdom over the launch weekend, making it the fastest selling console ever in the UK, beating the Wii's previous record of 105,000.
• Meanwhile, 20,000 PS3s have been sold in Australia since launch, which I guess is a lot because there's only like 200 people and a koala living over there.
• Brazenly refusing to learn from recent history, Ebay PS3 resellers in the UK are having about as much luck as the people in America did.
• Sony says some territories will have to wait for Playstation Store access, and some won't get it at all due to issues like lack of broadband penetration.
• PSP game Pocket Pool will not feature the Girls Gone Wild license. It still involves unlocking pictures of half-naked models, so they haven't really lost much.
• More than 30,000 PS3s have signed up for Folding@Home so far.
• A mysterious God of War website has been discovered that's counting down to... something.
• EB Games has added a listing for Time Crisis 4 for the PS3, though no such game has yet been announced.
• The upcoming Tekken 6 arcade game will be powered by PS3 technology.
• IGN has a big feature on the future of the PSP, including interviews with numerous developers about what they think of the system and where it's going.
• LSD is a game you've likely never heard of, released for the Japanese Playstation. Despite the drug name, it was claimed to be a recreation of dreams written down in a staff member's dream journal. As you can imagine, it's highly experimental and really strange.
• Amazon has Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner marked down to $25.26.

Microsoft news:

• This is purported to be an ad for the 120 gig hard drive, but call it a rumor for now.
• Further fueling the 360 Elite fire is an XNA developer who responded to a question about whether the Elite's HDMI output would require a change in code by saying "No changes required." Not "that thing doesn't exist" or even "no comment."
• Major Nelson has amended his original statement about the recent hijacked Live accounts, admitting that some ne'er-do-wells did use social engineering to coax account info out of support staff. He says they've already begun re-training staff to hopefully avoid this situation in the future.
• A Chinese newspaper is reporting that 360 manufacturer Wiston will reduce and eventually discontinue production of the system due to declining profitability of making the console and "dissatisfaction held by the Taiwanese company over Microsoft’s strategic links to rival ODM (original design manufacturer) giant Celestica, which also manufactures the console."
• Bungie has a lengthy feature on the making of the Halo 3 Legendary Edition packaging, in case you're really getting desperate for Halo stuff to read about.
• Microsoft Australia is auctioning off 360s painted with the likenesses of Australian celebrities for charity. I don't know who Shane Warne is, but if he actually looks like his painting, that man has a weird face.
• Amazon has Phantasy Star Universe marked down to $17.99.

Posted by Bill at 5:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

• Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars (PC) - The Amazon product description includes the phrase "scream in sheer joy," which seems a touch overzealous. $49.99 for the standard edition or $57.99 for the Kane Edition.
• Medal of Honor: Vanguard (Wii, PC) - Command an elite squad charged with defending your prized 1972 VW camper van against Nazi aggressors. $39.82 for the PS2 or $49.82 for the Wii.
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Shivering Isles (PC, 360) - The first and possibly only full expansion for Oblivion. $27.99 for the PC, 2400 Microsoft Points on Live.
• Made Man (PS2) - More a third-person shooter than the GTA rip off you might expect, but that doesn't make it better. $19.99 at Amazon.
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent (PS3) - The PS3 version finally wanders in, months after the others. $59.99 at Amazon.
• The Red Star (PS2) - A comic book shooter saved from near-cancellation after Acclaim finally imploded. $19.99 at Amazon.
• Metal Slug Anthology (PS2) - Contains Metal Slugs 1 through 5 as well as Metal Slug X. $39.69 at Amazon.
• Konami Classics Series: Arcade Hits (DS) - Includes Time Pilot, Contra, Gradius and more. $29.99 at Amazon.
• Pogo Island (DS) - A collection of five puzzle games from Pogo, including Poppit!, Word Whomp, Squelchies, Tri-Peaks Solitaire, and Phlinx. $29.95

See how many versions of Disney's Meet The Robinsons I've left off by checking the full release list. Note that everyone lists The Settlers on the DS as coming out this week, but EB Games (which has exclusive rights to sell the game) says it ships May 22.

Posted by Bill at 3:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Industry and multi-console news:

• A new University of Bolton study finds that levels of gaming addiction may be 10% lower than previous reports indicated.
• According to a Juarez newspaper, a Mexican governor has ordered the seizure of all copies of GRAW 2.
• Game Trailers has a new video comparing Oblivion on the 360 and PS3.
• There are currently 3348 signatures on a petition to Capcom to protest making DMC4 multiplatform, because people are retarded.
• Rockstar is airing a 30 minute spot on late night TV that's nothing but their GTA IV countdown clock. Even better, someone decided this was worthy of putting on YouTube.
• Jack Thompson has cited Spong, Kotaku, Joystiq, Penny Arcade, the ESRB, Electronic Gaming Monthy, and others as Take-Two's co-conspirators in committing racketeering schemes. He added: "And the toaster's been laughing at me!"

PC news:

• GRAW 2 closed beta sign-ups start next month.

Nintendo news:

• Eidos will be releasing Touch the Dead for the DS in May.
• Video: Super Mario Bros. level 1-1, recreated in Line Rider.
• Gaming Target has a Pokemon retrospective.
• Even though a ROM has since been spliced together to make it playable on emulators, this video is really the only way to experience what BS Zelda no Densetsu was like when it was actually played over the Broadcast Satellaview in 1995. The game was played live in multiple episodes, with voiced hints and some sort of host talking over the whole thing. You can read more about the game here.

Sony news:

• Phil Harrison says that Europe is the "most important" continent, which I suppose is why they get the PS3 several months late.
• A boat with a banner reading Xbox 360 Loves You temporarily interrupted PS3 launch festivities in France.
• Microsoft also sent cases of beer to members of the press to illustrate what one could buy with the price difference between the 360 and PS3.
• Aside from the appearance of the boat, Next Generation has a rather dour report on the French launch event.
• And Australian newspaper The Age has called the PS3's Australian launch "feeble," with "officials, media and security outnumbering customers for most of the evening."
• Everyone lined up at the Virgin Megastore for the London PS3 launch got a free Bravia HDTV from Sony, as well as a free cab ride home.
• The PSP version of Final Fantasy II will be released in Japan on June 7.
• Level 5's PSP RPG Jeanne d'Arc is coming to America.
• The PS3 is already dominating the Folding@Home charts, though undoubtedly this is partly because everyone is trying it out for the first time all at once.
• Game Videos has a video demonstrating the changes and improvements in Ninja Gaiden Sigma versus the Xbox original.
• Calling All Cars has been pushed back to April.
• Konami says that PS2 title Pro Evolution Soccer 6 works in single player and versus mode on the PS3, but that online play is incompatible. They blame this on "alterations made to the console's hardware specifications."

Microsoft news:

• Computerworld claims that Xbox Live support staff are to blame for the recent hacked Live accounts.
• Jetpac Refueled will be next week's Live Arcade title.
• IGN has a list of the Japanese cars in Forza 2.
• Live will be down for maintenance March 27 from midnight to 2 PM Pacific. This is not a dashboard update.
• CliffyB is executive producing the Gears of War movie.

Posted by Bill at 5:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Industry and multi-console news:

• Jack Thompson has filed a countersuit against Take Two, to the surprise of no one.
• The Venezuelan Solidarity Network are looking for signatures from religious leaders for letter they will send to U2's Bono, asking him to help stop production of Mercenaries 2. Bono is a board member of a venture capital firm that is a majority stakeholder in BioWare/Pandemic Studios.
• A columnist at Sportsline explains why there has never been a better sports game than Tecmo Super Bowl.
• There's a really interesting article at Kotaku about the choice of Shadow of the Colossus being used in the upcoming film Reign Over Me. Contrary to what it may have seemed at first, it's not just product placement.
• GTA IV teaser posters have been spotted in the wild. Remember that we'll be getting a trailer on the 29th.
• The Guardian recently asked a military expert what he thinks of today's war games. "I think that what is missing is the chaos of battle."
• Forget the 360/PS3 comparisons: Sega Nerds compares Wii and PSP screenshots of the upcoming Alien Syndrome. It's really a stretch to say the PSP version is just as good.
• A new law in France provides special tax breaks to French game makers. Naturally, the game must be "culturally relevant" to qualify.
• A report from research and measurement firm Interpret notes that video games reach more people than retail figures suggest, because that doesn't take into account rentals, people who play a game at a friend's house or borrowed games. This may seem obvious, but currently advertisers are looking at retail figures only to determine the specifics of in-game ad deals.
• IGN names the ten toughest games to beat. Let me continue to instigate after suggesting yesterday that Metroid Fusion sucks (it does) by adding that people who complain about Ninja Gaiden Black being hard are pussies. I am so edgy.

PC news:

• Trusted Reviews has a lengthy feature about gaming notebooks.
• Some World of Warcraft players are complaining that Blizzard is too quick to ban those they see as possibly power levelling.
• EA has launched the website for Ultima Online: Kingdom Reborn, including screenshots of the original game compared to the Reborn graphical update.

Nintendo news:

• EA has revealed a Wii-exclusive rhythm game called Boogie.
• The final version of the Wii browser has been pushed back to April.
• CVG asked Yuji Naka "recently" (they don't say whether this was before the NiGHTS rumors started springing up or after) if he was planning on revisiting any of his old franchises, to which he responded "At present, I have no such intentions."
• It's been a while since I've mentioned someone using the Wii for something entirely other than what it was made for, so here's a blog post and video demonstrating the Wii loop machine.
• Mad Catz' "Wand Remote Controller" and "Funchuck" (ugh) third party controllers for the Wii are shipping on June 29 for the latter and September 28 for the former.

Sony news:

• Phil Harrison says that there will be no censorship in private Home residences, thus opening the doors for a fantastic world of smut of Second Life proportions.
• The president of Sony Computer Entertainment France has said that the exclusivity of Final Fantasy XIII is "in discussion."
• Now you can see video of Folding@Home in action on the PS3, even though it actually isn't that interesting.

Microsoft news:

• Major Nelson says that, contrary to recent reports of hacked Xbox Live accounts, there is "no evidence of any compromise of the security of the Xbox Live Network or Bungie.net." The hacked accounts are committing suicide on the walls of Live.
• The new "360 Elite" may ship with a cable to transfer your data from your old 360.
• TMNT is being called the new king of easy Achievement points.

Posted by Bill at 5:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Industry and multi-console news:

• GamePro consults a psychiatrist to explain griefers and why they do what they do.
• America's VideoGame Expo for 2007 has been formally announced. It will take place in Philadelphia from November 2nd to the 4th.
• Square Enix is holding a party on May 12 and 13 to celebrate the Final Fantasy series' 20th anniversary. New announcements are likely.
• Video game composer Jeremy Soule (Oblivion, Icewind Dale, Prey) has hinted he might be doing the Duke Nukem Forever soundtrack. I'm a big fan of his work, but none of it ever really sounded Duke Nukem-y to me.
• There are a series of interviews up with Capcom's translation team, talking about the process and challenges of bringing Japanese games to the west, and in particular the Ace Attorney series.
• Silicon Knights president Denis Dyack argues that video games should not be shown until they're finished, and that the current model of demos and alpha previews is broken.

PC news:

• PC World names the ten worst PCs of all time.
• The BBC reports that the market for MMOs in the west is now worth more than one billion dollars.
• Guild Wars is abandoning the campaign format in favor of focusing on expansion packs.
• id is looking for Quake Wars beta testers, but you have to be in an active clan.

Nintendo news:

• Ubisoft will be bringing Final Fantasy III and Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales to Australia, with the former coming May 4 and the latter shipping at the end of May.
• Digital avatar service WeeWorld wants to drop its own suit against Nintendo after deciding they'd rather persue the case in the UK first. The kink is that they want it dismissed without prejudice, so they can bring it up again later; Nintendo wants the case finished here and now.
• Here are pictures of a rather impressive DS cake that kind of looks like it's made of rubber.
• Racketboy names the cheapest GBA games worth your time. He makes a critical error, however, in suggesting Metroid Fusion was ever worth anyone's time.
• I Still Play Games has a gallery of people posing with their Miis so you can decide how close they got.
• I don't know how long this Mario Kart DS race track has been around, but it's an idea we should've seen years ago. And now it's only $30.

Sony news:

• Italian retailers have broken the street date on the PS3.
• According to Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, the PS3 1.6 firmware upgrade will allow background downloading while playing games.
• Aqua Teen Hunger Force Zombie Ninja Pro-Am will be hitting the PS2 this fall. The first few levels will be really funny, then it will all just start trying way too hard to be absurd.
• XSeed Games will be publishing Wild ARMs 5 in America, alongside PSP titles Dungeon Maker: Hunting Ground and Brave Story: New Traveler.
• The PS3 edition of MLB 07: The Show has been delayed until May.
• A Resistance multiplayer update is now online.
• Amazon has Guitar Hero II (game only) marked down to $29.99.

Microsoft news:

• Symphony of the Night is now live on, uh.. Live.
• Microsoft has begun an investigation into possible fraud on Xbox Live after reports of hijacked accounts.
• Bill Gates recently lost a game of soccer on the 360 against soccer player Rafael Marquez during a promotional event in Mexico.

Posted by Bill at 5:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

Industry and multi-console news:

• IGN has a preview of Pirates of the Carribbean. It's for the 360 version, but naturally the game is coming to every system ever made.
• The Video Game Decency Act is back to take another shot at getting through Congress. This is the one that says it should be illegal to hide content in an attempt to get a lower ESRB rating. I really don't think that's what Hot Coffee was about, but who cares about facts.
• Devil May Cry 4 is no longer a PS3 exclusive, coming also to the 360 and PC.
• The CEO of Koei has unexpectedly resigned.
• Dave Perry believes that the combination of automated testing and community testing will make traditional game testers obsolete.
• Telltale Games confirms that they're looking to bring their content to all three consoles, through retail and online distrobution, though they're concentrating on the Wii and 360 for now.
• The first screenshots are up for Saboteur, Pandemic's WWII game revealed yesterday.
• inXile Entertainment and Codemasters are working on a bank robbing game called Hei$t set in San Francisco circa 1969.

PC news:

• Gabe has explained that the 3D in the Penny Arcade game trailer may have been too early too show, and "it’s missing some effects like cell shading and a few others."
• Though DisOrDat segments have been available for a while, now full, new episodes of You Don't Know Jack are playable online for free.
• A Dragon Ball MMO will be hitting Japan in 2008.
• Eli Thomlinson has an interesting idea: Selling discs containing a game and bootable Linux, so that you can put the game in, boot the PC, and go straight into the game menu. Essentially, treating your PC like a game console.

Nintendo news:

• The Wii and DS versions of Line Rider will be able to upload and share tracks on the official website.
• The new Pokemon from Diamond and Pearl have been revealed.
• Scans from Famitsu reveal new images and screenshots from Ouendan 2.
• Capcom says Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles for the Wii is still on track for 2007.

Sony news:

• Sony has released the Euro PS3 backwards compatibility list a little early. Sony says that there are a total of 1,782 PS2 games -- Joystiq has some handy charts breaking down how many games out of the whole library work, and how many are compatible but not perfect. There are a number of high profile titles listed as having "noticable issues", including GTA San Andreas and games in the Final Fantasy series.
• Sony has gone on to say that it would be "unrealistic to expect significant increases in the number of playable PS2 titles in future firmware upgrades." I'm sure they'll make fixes for some of the bigger names if people complain loud enough.
• Oxford Street's Virgin Megastore will have an area inside the store for PS3 campers starting tomorrow, to keep the little scamps off the street.
• Oblivion, F.E.A.R., and three Ubisoft titles including Splinter Cell Double Agent will miss the PS3 launch.

Microsoft news:

• New Line has obtained the rights to a Gears of War movie.
• Major Nelson has broken down a few stats about Xbox Live's Marketplace, including the tidbit that Live is the second largest distributor of television and film content online, behind iTunes.
• Famitsu has confirmed one of the Blockbuster rumors from yesterday: Ace Combat 6 is coming to the 360. Which lends credecne to the other two.
• Game Informer is running the story that the black 120gig 360 is true. They've denied that it's an April Fool's joke.
• Engadget has further black 360 details, calling it the Xbox 360 Elite.
• Amazon has Just Cause marked down to $23.99.

Posted by Bill at 5:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Industry and multi-console news:

• Jack Thompson has written a response to the Take Two lawsuit against him. He gets all Christian in it, which he kind of does at random.
• Meanwhile, Take Two is considering the option of selling the company. CNN says that the list of possible buyers is long, but "UbiSoft and Activision have reportedly explored a possible bid in the past. Elevation Partners, the venture capital group whose members include U2 front man Bono, is a possibility as well. And Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. has also been mentioned regularly as a possible suitor."
• Game Informer has named one of Pandemic's mystery projects as a WWII title called Saboteur.
• Alongside the Blockbuster Katamari news (see the Microsoft section), Orange Lounge Radio reports that Namco has announced Beautiful Katamari Damacy to retailers.
• AC Ravens has an interview with From Software's Toshifumi Nabeshima about Armored Core 4, made up of questions asked by the series' fan community.
• A new study finds that racing games can lead to riskier real-world driving. This study seems to be seperate from the BSM report that showed similar findings earlier this month.
• Utter jackasses broke into property owned by Richard "Lord British" Garriott recently, drank or stole $5000 worth of alcohol, and then left behind a camera with pictures of them in it.
• In a move I wouldn't mind seeing more often, Infinite Interactive is offering a PC demo of their DS and PSP game Puzzle Quest, which comes out this week.
• QJ names eight optional bosses we love to hate. Along with video of the fights, in case you're like me and never bothered to even try Yiazmat.
• February's NPD numbers reveal that NFL 2K1 on the Dreamcast sold two copies. World Series Baseball 2K1 sold a measly one.

PC news:

• Sony is celebrating eight years of Everquest with the Everquest Anniversary Edition, containing the game and all its expansions for $19.99.
• Gish 2 is in development.
• Richard Cobbett describes in grim detail Hopkins FBI, which he lovingly calls the worst adventure game ever made. I have to play this.
• I find the Internet fad of furry witchhunts obnoxious. Some act like if anything has ever involved a talking animal, from Star Fox to Rescue Rangers, it must secretly be somebody's fetish material. It's silly. That said: The people behind Earth Eternal explicitly state that they're not making a furry game, but come on.
• A couple of videos demonstrate Lord of the Rings Online's musical instruments which are "played" via the keyboard, to the point that one could be walking around Middle Earth and hear someone performing Dust In The Wind. This opens up both awesome and terrifying possibilities.

Nintendo news:

• This week's Virtual Console titles: Excitebike, Beyond Oasis, and Splatterhouse.
• Official Nintendo Magazine is insisting that their "world exclusive" concerning the return of NiGHTS to the Wii is not an April Fool's joke. They only dropped a hint for it in April's issue; next month is when they'll go into detail. If the game does exist, I wouldn't be surprised if it gets announced or information is leaked online before the May issue debuts. Such is the nature of print journalism these days.
• Reggie Fils-Aime says that "a remarkably small number of customers" actually damaged their TVs with the Wii remote. "I think it's fair to say that unfortunately there are always consumers who want to make an issue out of something that doesn't necessarily happen to them."
• The Adventure Company is bringing their PC title Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None to the Wii.
• Shigeru Miyamoto is asking how old you were when you heard the name Nintendo and what Nintendo means to you now on Yahoo! Answers. He's got a little "Official" tag, so I guess Yahoo is certain this isn't a fake.
• A blog over at IGN goes over a few of the Wii's known hardware issues.

Sony news:

• Sony has detailed everything that will be included with the 1.6 firmware upgrade.
• Namco Bandai is bringing Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology on the PSP to the US.
• The untitled Naughty Dog game from E3 2006 has been confirmed by Game Informer as Uncharted: Drake's Fortune.
• Sony CEO Howard Stringer says that If the PS3 fails, "it is because we positioned PS3 as the Mercedes of the video game field."
• Phil Harrison has agreed to answer questions from the Slashdot community.
• Mist of Chaos has the dubious honor of being the lowest rated PS3 game in Famitsu thusfar.
• Play Asia offers a smoke and nicotine filter for your PS3, so it doesn't die of second-hand smoke before it has the chance to die of some other hardware failure.
• A printout from Best Buy's computer system suggests that they're no longer stocking 20 gig PS3s.
• A trailer for Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction has been released, along with an interesting side-by-side comparison of the PS2 Captain Qwark model versus the PS3 version.

Microsoft news:

• Gamespot has an interview with Hironobu Sakaguchi, talking about Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey. Among other things, he reveals that a Blue Dragon demo is being prepared for June or July.
• Listings for three new 360 games -- Beautiful Katamari Damacy, Ace Combat 6 and Warhammer: Mark of Chaos -- have appeared in Blockbuster's database. Obviously this is far from official, but it's a possibility.
• Burger King is now selling their King games online at their official website.
• Guitar Hero II will be hitting the 360 on April 3.
• Following up on the pictures from last week, we now have video clips of Eternal Sonata in English.

Posted by Bill at 5:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

• S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl (PC) - The long awaited game that seemed really amazing in 2001 finally gets its overpunctuated ass out the door. $49.98 at Amazon.
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (PS3) - One of the best games of last year finally moseys it way onto the PS3. $54.99 at Amazon.
• TMNT (PC, X360, PS2, PSP, WII, DS, GC, GBA) - You mean it's not coming to the Vectrex? Forget this! $49.99 on the 360 and Wii, $39.99 on the PS2, PSP and Gamecube, and $29.99 on the GBA, DS and PC.
• Virtua Tennis 3 (360, PS3, PSP) - Features improved AI, higher detail characters, and other stuff. $49.99 on the 360 and PS3, $29.99 on the PSP.
• Armored Core 4 (PS3, 360) - The game seems to be getting mixed reviews thusfar, but somehow I doubt that will matter to mech fans. $59.95 for the 360 or PS3.
• The Godfather: Blackhand Edition (Wii) - If only they had allowed you to run around killing people as your Mii. $49.82 at Amazon.
• The Godfather: The Don's Edition (PS3) - Now you can play the version of the Godfather specially crafted for TV's Donnie Osmond. $59.99 at Amazon.
• Cooking Mama: Cook Off (Wii) - From what I can tell, this is more of an update to the DS version than a sequel, with added modes and new food. $49.99 at Amazon.
• Kororinpa: Marble Mania (Wii) - You may want to call up a bunch of Gamestops and EBs and ask the clerks if they have this in just to hear them try to pronounce it. $39.99 at Amazon.
• Earth Defense Force 2017 (360) - There's only one defense against 100 foot tall alien invaders: One dude standing in the middle of the street with a gun. $39.82 at Amazon.

I'll be square with you: There are a few titles I've left off that you might actually be interested in, like Shining Force Exa, UEFA Champions League 2006-2007 or Wing Island. Find out for yourself at the full release list.

Posted by Bill at 3:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Industry and multi-console news:

• Deleware is taking another shot at video game legislation.
• A new study finds that action games that involve shooting guns can improve your eyesight. Also.. make you a better lover?
• Nintendo and Sony are both signed on to have booths at this year's E for All Expo.
• Take Two is suing Jack Thompson for legal fees and other costs involved in fighting him all the damned time.
• News is thinning out this week, so instead you can watch video of Screw Attack's top ten beat-em-ups.
• Ars Technica presents the three rules of effective cut scenes, as taught by God of War 2.

PC news:

• Dean Koontz will be giving a virtual reading of his new book in Second Life tonight. Yes, via audio feed -- thankfully, even the people at Second Life aren't quite retarded enough to have an author giving a reading by typing into a chat window.
• Eidos will be releasing some of their games over Steam, including several Hitman titles and Just Cause.
• Hexus has a video interview with the CEO of Commodore Gaming about their new line of gaming PCs.
• I'm tired of hearing people say "Why can't I have a $1500 keyboard that sounds like a brand of condom." So for you, here's the Optimus Maximus.
• The first trailer for the Penny Arcade game is out. They should've just made the whole thing cel-shaded because God those 3D models look bad.

Nintendo news:

• Nintendo's official site mentions that Mario Galaxy supports 1 - 2 players, but no one knows whether that really means a two player mode for the main game or just some minigame thing.
• System 3 is preparing Ferrari Challenge for the Wii.
• There's a lot up on Ebay for every SNES game ever made.
• This Zelda themed Wii case mod is pretty. And could be yours, as they're currently auctioning it off.
• Nintendo has shown a single screenshot of the original Mii design software for the DS that later became the Mii Channel.
• There's a new trailer for Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings out.

Sony news:

• The HMV on Oxford Street has pushed its PS3 launch back to 7:30 in the morning after concerns from police about throngs of people wandering out of the store at midnight with hundreds of dollars of sought-after electronics in their hands. Additionally, the first 150 people will get a free copy of Virtua Tennis.
• Okay, now Sony mouthpiece blog Three Speech is saying Warhawk is download only. I think the left hand is jerking off while the right hand has wandered away to get hit by a truck.
• Motorstorm 2 is in development. This should not surprise you.
• Destructoid notes that Heavenly Sword's character design has changed a bit from last year's footage.
• New details are in on what's new in Ninja Gaiden Sigma.
• EA talks about how they've tried to work Sixaxis motion controls into the Godfather.

Microsoft news:

• Symphony of the Night will be hitting Live Arcade on March 21.
• Bungie has laid out exactly what you get with the three Halo 3 editions.
• A Virtua Tennis 3 demo has been added to the Live Marketplace.
• It's what you've all been waiting for: A downloadable version of the Achievement Unlocked sound. Play it immediately after sex without your partner's prior knowledge and use their reaction to gauge the health of your relationship.
• Reports are adding up to point to a September launch for Halo 3.

Posted by Bill at 5:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Industry and multi-console news:

• A writer at Variety calls out movie critics who use "video game" as an insult. This has been especially popular with recent 300 reviews.
• The founder of Wikipedia has started gaming.wikia, an "open source games magazine." This will turn out well.
• Australian politicians are upset that Aussie gamers are downloading Mark Ecko's Getting Up (not through pirating, but rather a digital distrobution service) because they're circumventing a ban placed on the game last year.
• A Dutch artist has created a lovely retro gaming wall mosaic, although the inclusion of the Quest 64 guy is questionable.
• Love scrawny pre-teens singing about video games in the most Godawful way imaginable? Then you need this!

PC news:

• Game Informer says Half Life 2: Episode Two will support DirectX 10, even if you don't have Vista. Which doesn't quite make sense to me, since I thought you needed Vista for DirectX 10.
• The Adventure Company plans on bringing season one of Sam & Max to retail stores.
• Longest Journey and Dreamfall developer Funcom has decided to stop producing traditional offline games because of piracy.

Nintendo news:

• According to a GameSpy interview, Wii friends lists are game-specific.
• Bloomberg reports that the DS is outshipping the PSP 3 to 1 in Japan.
• Crave is working on a Crayola crayon game for the DS.
• Nintendo has confirmed voice over IP support for Pokemon Diamond and Pearl.
• I don't think either of these is exactly new, but there are a couple videos floating around of two cancelled Gamecube games, Donkey Kong Racing and a Kirby title.
• Nintendo Europe says they're still struggling to meet demand. It was cute the first few weeks, now it's just annoying.

Sony news:

• An upcoming firmware update for the PS3 will allow your system to join in on the Folding@Home project.
• A Def Jam Icon demo and Resistance videos have been added to the Playstation store.
• Marylebone police say they have "genuine concerns" over the safety of people lining up for midnight PS3 launches. "We do not support these midnight launches, that is the bottom line. There are inherent problems we can't deal with easily."
• Multiplayer battles are being added to Final Fantasy Tactics PSP.
• Retailers have supposedly been putting pressure on Sony to drop the price of the PSP or else they'll stop stocking it.

Microsoft news:

• The ESRB database has hinted at the addition of Aegis Wing and Yie Ar Kung Fu to Live Arcade.

Posted by Bill at 5:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

BREAKING NEWS!!!!

Industry and multi-console news:

• Midway is being sued over Psi-Ops by a screenwriter who says the game's plot rips-off his 1998 screenplay, also called Psi-Ops.
• The PC and 360 versions of Shadowrun will both be launching in June.
• Slashdot has a number of links providing a summary of Will Wright's SXSW keynote, as well as shaky-cam footage of the requisite new Spore demonstration.
• Another reason why GWN sucks and you really shouldn't rely on them for anything. By association, you should also look at anything from Digg as highly questionable. But hopefully you already knew that.
• Marvel's official website has a retrospective on Captain America's many video game appearances.
• Microsoft is holding a Shadowrun testing event, and they're looking for expert gamers (really, they have actual requirements) to participate.
• Impress the ladies with your animated Pong t-shirt.

PC news:

• Reports indicate that Computer Games Magazine and Massive magazine have been shut down.
• Microsoft has laid out all the details for Games for Windows Live, which launches May 8.
• And what do you know, Halo 2 PC launches May 8 too.
• Acclaim has registered the one millionth user for its free-to-play MMO games.
• Kotaku has a gallery of photos of the new Commodore PC line. They certainly are... monolithic black boxes with pictures on.
• Portal's level designer says the game is about four hours long. I guess that's why it's packed with the other stuff.
• A Stargate MMO is being developed called Stargate Worlds.

Nintendo news:

• Koei has revealed its new RPG for the Wii called Opoona.
• Racketboy keeps rolling on with the best undiscovered NES games.
• Atlus USA is bringing Luminous Arc stateside.
• Famitsu has the first images of a new exclusive Capcom Wii title called Treasure Island Z.
• PocketGamer compares MetaCritic data for western DS games versus Japanese, and finds that western developers aren't doing as well with the system.
• Video: Nintendo localization writer and editor Erik Peterson talks more about Super Paper Mario, with lots of game footage.
• After recently releasing the Captain N box set, Shout Factory is now working on bringing the Super Mario 3 complete series to DVD. Box art at the link.

Sony news:

• IGN reports that Phil Harrison has said 1200 PS1 and PS2 titles will be playable on European PS3s at launch. I'm going to guess that IGN misheard or mistranscribed and what Harrison said was 1200 PS2 games, because earlier Sony had said that most PS1 titles and 1000 PS2 titles would be compatibile. That's a lot more than 1200 total.
• On that note, a German website is claiming that they have an early European PS3 and it doesn't play several popular PS2 titles, such as God of War and Guitar Hero 2. However, it's very important to point out -- like, really important -- that this PS3 was running on the 1.5 firmware, not the 1.6 update that's coming out the day of the Euro launch that will add more backwards compatibility. So it's probably a non-issue, unless you don't have an Internet connection.
• A SCEA rep has told IGN that Warhawk is a disc-based product, not a download. I wish everybody would get this crap straight.
• Rockstar has announced Beaterator, a rhythm game for the PSP being created in conjunction with hip-hop producer Timbaland.
• IBM has started production on 65nm Cell chips, which is another step towards price reduction for the PS3.

Microsoft news:

• Bizarre has revealed that they originally wanted Geometry Wars to be offered free on Live Arcade as "a gift to hardcore gamers."
• Kotaku has a new gallery of pretty images for Eternal Sonata aka Trusty Bell. They're the first I've seen in English, though maybe I haven't been paying attention.

Posted by Bill at 5:41 PM | Permalink