Find someone dumb enough to be fooled by this and give them an electric shock for their ignorance! Fun for the whole family!

Industry and multi-console news

New media: Street Fighter IV gameplay footage, Devil May Cry 4 opening cinematic, Tiberium screenshots

• Gamasutra names 10 New Year's resolutions for aspiring game developers.
• Bit-tech lists the best PC games you've never played.
• Even Goddamn Playboy has a list of the best games of 2007. Including, naturally, a category for "jiggle factor."
• The final collection total for this year's Child's Play charity exceeded $1.1 million.
• Racketboy lists the best old-school games of 2007.
• Nearly a dozen elected officials in Chile have initiated a motion to regulate the sale of excessively violent games.
• Surfer Girl provides some screenshots of games that never came to be.
• Jack Thompson is trying to force the police chief of Omaha to make records available pertaining to the Westroads Mall shooter. Game Politics kindly points out that investigation records are specifically mentioned as not subject to public release according to Nebraska law.
• Plushies just aren't enough for some people, and at least one man has made weighted companion cubes out of aluminum.
• The Hollywood Reporter talks about how video games could see a boost from the writer's strike.
• CVG lists the best and worst box art of the year.
• The Orange Box soundtrack is now on sale online and in stores. Of course, there are also tools to rip the soundtrack yourself if you own the game.
• Drumshh are pre-cut, self-adhesive, foam-backed felt pads that you apply to your Rock Band drums to quiet them. Unfortunately, the store is sold out at the moment. But remember that you can always make them yourself.

PC and mobile news

New content: The Great Tree demo, Project Revolution demo (play Starcraft in 3D, sort of)

• The beta client for Fistful of Frags has been released. It's a spaghetti western multiplayer mod for Half-Life 2.
• The full client for Zombie Panic: Source has been released.
• Stropp's World recalls which MMOs fell into the deadpool during 2007.
• Linux-gamers has a comparison of freeware FPS games..
• A review of Crysis, in comic form. And not like crappy Keenspot MS Paint comics form.
• If you're going to specialize, do it right: Here is a site that does nothing but review Japanese PC benchmark programs. The best one is for the hentai game that just keeps adding naked girls to a train car.
• Amazon's deal of the day is Timeshift for $29.99. They also have Call of Duty 4 for $39.99.

Nintendo news

New Virtual Console titles: Bubble Bobble, Light Crusader, Top Hunter
New media: Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days screenshots, Tales of Symphonia 2 trailer

• A Wired blogger was instructed by Nintendo's official support line to smack his Wii Remote to fix it. And it worked.
• The DS has surpassed the PS2 in lifetime sales in Japan.
• Someone is selling an SNES-CD development controller on Ebay. Buy it now for only three grand!
• Apparently some people are having their nunchucks turn pink. I had that problem once, but it turned out I just needed more iron in my diet.
• The creator of Electroplankton has created a "digital musical instrument" with Yamaha called the Tenori-On.
• Populous is coming to the DS, at least in Japan.

Sony news

New media: Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep and Final Fantasy Dissidia screenshots

• The pre-order bonus for Haze is a drug-filled syringe. Actually it's a pen, but your mom won't realize that until after she's sent you away to boot camp.
• Sony reminds you that they fully support upgrading the PS3 hard drive yourself.
• You can get a free PS3 if you buy a Bravia TV with a Sony Visa card.
• It's looking increasingly likely that Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters is coming to the PS2.
• Time Crisis 4 has received an 18 meg patch and no one's quite sure what it's for.
• A fan translation of the PSX version of Tales of Phantasia has been released.
• Amazon has Assassin's Creed for $44.99, and the Logitech Cordless Precision Controller for $9.99 after rebate.

Microsoft news

• Xbox Live has had issues over the last few days, apparently because Live is having trouble handling the load from all the new 360s coming online after Christmas.
• Jade Empire 2 is in development.
• A pro gamer who was awarded the rare Recon Armor in Halo 3 has been the subject of repeated attempts to steal his account by jackasses pulling the same social engineering tricks with customer support that Microsoft claimed they were going to fix months ago.
• Some German gaming magazine is claiming that Unreal Tournament is coming to the 360, so take it as a rumor until there's a more official report.
• A New Year's Bash Tournament for Bomberman Live has been announced, and registration is open now.
• A New York man has been arrested for stalking and threatening to rape two Spokane girls over Live.
• Microsoft's Russian arm has been giving out giant Master Chief chocolate coins to its partners. Seriously, this thing is huge.

Posted by Bill at 4:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The holiday drought continues, with only the Wii receiving any new games, and they're all crap budget titles you have no interest in purchasing. So just like a regular week for the Wii then.

• Classic British Motor Racing
• Kawasaki 4x4 Quad Bikes
• Kidz Sports: Basketball
• Monster Trux: Offroad
• Myth Makers: Orbs of Doom
• Rig Racer 2

Unlike last week, even Japan is lacking, with only Rune Factory 2 for the DS coming out this week. List taken from Gamasutra.

Posted by Bill at 11:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It's time for another collection of flickering lights and synchronized sounds from the far reaches of the Internet. It's the nearest thing to being there! Today's collection is heavy on fighting games and rock 'n' roll, so if you're a Woody Guthrie-listening pacifist, get the hell off of my site. And remember:

The Error Macro Video Gallery. Is so reeeeaaaallll.

ARE YOU OKAY? BUSTAH WORUFF!

Feel inadequate about yourself as you watch a 9 year old beat Through the Fire and the Flames on expert.

Team Roomba elevates Team Fortress 2 griefing to an art form.

The 1st place score for drumming on Tom Sawyer on expert in Rock Band, captured on video.

Were you curious what the recent Alvin and the Chipmunks rhythm game looked like? Don't you know better than that?

The worst moments from the Street Fighter American cartoon, collected for your horror. Blanka, no, not the head bite!

And finally, completely unrelated to anything else, the MS-DOS 5 Upgrade rap. It frees 45K of memory at least!

Posted by Bill at 4:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

SHARK GUN

Industry and multi-console news

• Atari has gotten another delisting warning from Nasdaq.
• Sony is the latest company to quit making rear-projection TVs.
• Eurogamer lists their top 50 games of the year in an annoying multiarticle format: 50 - 41, 40 - 31, 30 - 21, 20 - 11, 10 - 1
• Gamasutra has added a Game Developer Conference 2008 event job board to their jobs section.
• And if you happen to be the one hiring instead of being hired, they also have a guide to recruiting and hiring new employees.
• Jack Thompson intends to set his sights on the defense department in the new year, as he says there is an "unholy alliance" between the DoD and the video game industry.
• Meanwhile, Army recruiters in Arizona have sponsored an America's Army tournament where they will promote the benefits of joining the Army while gamers shoot pretend guns. *cough*
• OMGLists names seven ways modern games are spoiling us.
• British Gaming Blog lists the 20 greatest moments of 2007.
• Racketboy has amassed a collection of video clips showing people playing Tetris better and faster than any human should ever play Tetris.
• The BBC has an article on the rising development costs for video games. They say the average PS3 game costs $15 million.
• Rapper Lupe Fiasco raps about video game violence. I'm stuck between not getting what he's saying and yet also being annoyed at the GamePolitics commenters who are apparently all 75 year old men. THAT "RAPPING" IS ALL CLICKS AND WHISTLES, PUT ON LAWRENCE WELK
• Konami's latest addition to the Bemani family is called jubeat.

PC and mobile news

New media: Black Mesa Source screenshots, a fanmade Half Life 1 remake

New content: X2 1.5 patch, X3 2.5 patch, X Motor Racing 1.03 patch, updated demo

• Counter-Strike Online, the special East Asian version of Counter-Strike, saw 170,000 players in its three day closed beta.
• A World of Warcraft guild plans to march from Ironforge to Stormwind on New Years Day in support of Ron Paul. Don't worry about who gets loot, the free market will sort that out.
• If that's not enough to make you feel embarrassed about any association with the game you may have, then watch as a WoW nerd makes a rap about the lack of a patch and Blizzard's community manager actually makes a rap in response. Well, they're not so much raps as mumbling quickly.
• Amazon's deal of the day is World in Conflict for $19.99.

Nintendo news

• An 84 year old woman won a Wii Sports championship, beating a 79 year old man who is an actual bowler and had, in fact, just won a bowling tournament earlier in the year.
• According to "Japanese sources", Smash Bros. Brawl has gone gold.
• Play Asia has Phantom Hourglass figures in stock for a paltry $2.99 each.

Sony news

New media: Yakuza 3 trailer

• Amazon has Rogue Galaxy for $19.99.

Microsoft news

• Microsoft has declined to comment on rumors of a motion-sensing peripheral for the 360 in development.
• Major Nelson provides the seemingly obvious answer as to why Live members under 18 can't download certain demos and trailers.
• An updated version of Metal Slug 3 is coming to Live Arcade this Wednesday.

Posted by Bill at 2:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Sooner or later, all things appear in Lego form.

Industry and multi-console news

New media: Star Ocean 4 trailer, Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit screenshots, Grand Theft Auto IV screenshots

• Next Gen lists the top 10 blunders of the year.
• Gamasutra lists the top five most significant moments in MMOs for the year.
• Forbes has named Nvidia company of the year.
• Amidst all these tiring recaps, 1up manages to be more original with an article examining Blade Runner's influence on games.
• The release of Sacred 2: Fallen Angel has been pushed back to September.
• Kotaku has the most recent Japanese software sales chart.
• Sony Pictures Digital's Yair Landau talks about movies and video games and the convergence thereof. He suggests 300 could be seen as the "first video game movie translation" (which is to say a video game styled movie), despite not being based on a game.
• NPR discusses 2007's games that got away. It's hard to believe that Portal "didn't get as much attention as [it] may have deserved," but then I don't know how well the game is known outside our little bubble of nerddom.
• Joystiq has a 5 video guide to building a MAME cabinet.
• A study in Taiwan finds that too much time spent playing video games can cause brain damage and affect one's learning and emotional control. I don't understand what this article's about AND IT MAKES ME SO GODDAMNED MAD
• GameFly has a year-end sale on all used games with free shipping on all games through January 4.
• Pedal Metal is an item that fixes broken Rock Band drum pedals or reinforces ones that still work.
• The Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda has won the right to violate US copyrights worth up to $21 million as a bizarre way of settling a dispute over online gambling.

PC and mobile news

New content: Sudden Strike 3: Arms for Victory free add-on
New media: Age of Decadence trailer

• Gamasutra has a Q&A about SimCity Societies.
• Slate recommends some great Web games you don't have to pay for.
• New content for Pirates of the Caribbean Online is coming in February. No, you're not dreaming, you really will get new pants and new hairstyles!

Nintendo news

• Amazon says that the Wii was one of their best sellers in 2007, selling 17 units per second whenever they managed to have the thing in stock.
• Chris Kohler has a hands-on preview of Taito's DS paddle controller. It's a little knob like you'd see in old Arkanoid machines that plugs into the GBA cart slot.
• A sequel to SimCity DS has been announced, and looks to take place in multiple time periods.
• Nintendo of Australia sent a free Wii to a girl with arthrogryposis after a friend wrote to them about how much she liked the system. Boy, if all those frenzied shoppers at the big box stores knew that all you needed was a formal request and a degenerative muscle disease...
• Amazon's deal of the day is Rayman Raving Rabbids 2 for $14.99.

Sony news

New media: Lost Planet screenshots

• The Magic Box has new screenshots for NiGHTS into Dreams on the PS2, along with news that the game will feature a Saturn Mode that makes the game look and sound exactly as it did on the Saturn. There are some comparison shots at the link.
• A 13 year old boy unwrapped a PS3 box this Christmas, only to find a phone book inside. Apparently an EB employee switched it out for his own nefarious ends.
• Q-Games talks a little about their new Gaia music visualizer.
• Amazon has the PS3 Logitech Cordless Mediaboard Pro marked down to $61.99. They've also got Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions on sale for $29.99. So tempting.

Microsoft news

New content: Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom demo

• A recently released list of the top selling Xbox 360 games in Japan over the console's lifetime finds Blue Dragon way out in front. Keep in mind that "way out in front" is still only around 200,000 units.
• Naturally, a Senko no Ronde figure of a girl with freakish eyes and her ass poking out is being prepared in Japan.
• Sega is closing Xbox Live services for Phantasy Star Online in Japan. I know the instinctual response is to laugh at the prospect of anyone in Japan still playing an Xbox 1 MMO, but hell, maybe it's really cool because everybody knows each other and they get this whole world to themselves.
• Amazon is doing a buy one HD-DVD movie get another free deal on selected discs.

Posted by Bill at 2:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Now that Christmas is over, there's really nothing left to do but watch people dance in Ouendan cosplay.

Industry and multi-console news

New media: Tales of Vesperia trailer

• It's a day late now, but all the same, here's GameSetWatch's third set of Christmas cards from game studios.
• VideoGamer lists the top ten disappointments of 2007.
• Game|Life continues the negativity with their own list of disappointments.
• RPGFan has an interview with Yasuhiro Wada, known as the father of the Harvest Moon series.
• Destructoid has scans of Play's article on Tomb Raider: Underworld, and I try my best to not find the people who write for this site and kick their teeth in. "Copy pasta?" Were people really clamoring for a gaming blog written by 4chan?
• The "star" of Lost Planet (Byun-hung Lee, the guy whose likeness they used for the main character) has been signed for the GI Joe movie to play Storm Shadow.
• Battlestar Galactica's Tahmoh Penikett talks a bunch about video games.
• 1up now has a preview of Street Fighter IV online if you can't be bothered to pick up an EGM.

PC and mobile news

New content: Crysis map pack

• Valve is offering holiday discounts on all Steam games through January 1.
• Granado Espada is the latest MMOG to go free-to-play.
• WarCry Network looks at how different MMOs celebrate the holidays.
• Professional powerleveling company USFine talks about the history of World of Warcraft powerleveling and why the prices have gone down.

Nintendo news

New media: Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Little King & the Promised Land trailer

• Front Mission 2089 is coming to the DS.
• This Surfer Girl person who came out of nowhere in the last few weeks has been dumping a lot of "insider" information about the status of various games in development, including the news that Earthbound is coming to the Wii or DS in America. I've been avoiding posting any of her rumors until I see some reason to believe her, but I know Earthbound fans will hold on to any hope. So here you go.

Sony news

• Game Informer lists the top ten games to look forward to next year on Sony systems.
• The most recent PS3 firmware upgrade also included a new visualizer.
• Sony passed on letting Official Xbox Magazine review a Sony Bravia TV, for exactly the reason you'd think. "I have to support our friends over at our sister company."
• Amazon's deal of the day is Puzzle Quest (PSP) for $12.99. They also have Conan marked down to $39.99.

Microsoft news

New content: Rock Band tracks from the likes of 30 Seconds to Mars and the All American Rejects

• The Xbox 360 is also getting a Devil May Cry 4 bundle in Japan.
• Amazon has WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2008 for $36.99 and Need for Speed: Prostreet for $37.00. The penny makes all the difference.

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

Wrex-kun! Wrex-kun! Nyoro~n

This is, somewhat unbelievably, from Bioware's official Christmas card this year. Other game developer and publisher cards can be seen here and here.

Industry and multi-console news

• Next Generation looks at the year in pictures.
• A new Retronauts podcast is up, this time focusing on fighting games.
• Gamastura has an interview with Silent Hill composer/producer Akira Yamaoka.
• 1up talks to Ken Levine about Bioshock, and lets him give the acceptance speech he didn't get a chance to give at the VGAs. He also admits that the third act of the game is the weakest, saying "I underestimated how much people would care about the story." Why would you make a game with a focus on story and then assume people wouldn't care?
• Next Gen has a preview of Ghostbusters.
• Security expert Gary McGraw talks about the security (or lack thereof) in MMOs.
• A new Tales of.. game, entitled Tales of Vesperia, was announced at the recent Jump Festa.
• Speaking of which, 1up has a full wrap-up of Jump Festa with many photos.
• Actress Kristen Kreuk will be playing Chun-Li in the upcoming Street Fighter: Legend of Chun-Li movie.
• The Aperture Science website has been updated with video feed from the "holiday vault" and festive music. The sign above the fireplace is the best part.
• Looky Touchy note Rock Band's shortage of female-sung tracks and suggests 25 rock songs with female vocals that could be added. Some choices are a stretch -- how would you play Sour Times in Rock Band?
• The New York Times calls Mass Effect game of the year, while calling Halo 3 and Mario Galaxy "unambitious."
• The first half of the results of Weekly Famitsu's reader poll wrapping up 2007 is online.
• Rare beta screenshots of the unreleased Saturn port of Virtua Fighter 3 have been uncovered.
• Criterion responds to questions and criticisms about the Burnout Paradise demo. You see, no retrying is a good thing because you don't have to load! So instead you get to drive your own ass back to the starting line!

PC and mobile news

• The prologue of Final Fantasy IV: The After will be available free to Japanese mobile phone users.
• A Chinese teen who lit his classmate on fire says he had lost himself in World of Warcraft and had "transformed into a Fire Mage." A Fire Mage wouldn't have needed the gasoline.
• A Tribes-like gameplay video from GarageGames was leaked over the weekend. GarageGames' Tim Aste explains what the video is, an unnannounced and currently unnamed "freedom of movement team based action FPS on InstantAction.com."
• Version 0.1.0 of the psx4iphone emulator is now available.

Nintendo news

New Virtual Console titles: Blades of Steel, Donkey Kong Country 3, Rolling Thunder 2

• The British Medical Journal finds that the Wii doesn't provide significant enough activity to recommend as part of a child's daily exercise.
• Johnny Chung Lee has yet another project, this time using the Wii remote for head tracking with VR displays. It is actually pretty awesome.
• An 11 year old boy offered up a Wii to help the needy. The odd thing is that he didn't donate the Wii, the Wii was raffled off to people who donated.
• A full English translation patch for Wonder Project J2 is now available. WPJ2 was a "raiser sim" (think Princess Maker) for the N64.
• The Wii raincheck system doesn't seem to be as popular as expected.
• Keiji Inafune says that Megaman is not in Smash Bros. Brawl. Not that he would mind, he just hasn't been asked.
• Wario will also be available in Smash Bros. Brawl in his classic overalls outfit.
• Amazon's deal of the day is Avatar: The Burning Earth for $14.99.

Sony news

New media: Patapon trailer, Polyphony Digital Gran Turismo video Christmas card

• Sony has trademarked "Resistance 2."
• A porn studio that was producing movies in HD-DVD only has been swayed to produce Blu-ray discs as well by mail from PS3 owners. Who e-mails porn companies about their disc policies, really.
• Joystiq has a short interview with NIS America, mainly about the upcoming Mana Khemia.
• Best Buy has Assassin's Creed for $37.99.
• Amazon has Odin Sphere for $31.99 and Mortal Kombat Unchained for $18.99.

Microsoft news

New content: Operation Darkness demo (Only available to Japanese accounts, but it has English subtitles)
New media: Rez HD gameplay footage

• Microsoft has introduced gifting of Microsoft Points.
• The Scottish government will be spending £10,000 on anti-drunk driving advertising in Xbox 360 games. Or as they would put it, "anti-drink driving adverts."
• Best Buy has Call of Duty 4 for $37.99.

Posted by Bill at 4:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

The Japanese release list can be seen at Gamasutra.

Posted by Bill at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A Kuribo's Shoe stocking. Again, why didn't I think of that.

Industry and multi-console news

• Gamasutra compiles all their best of 2007 features into one tidy package.
• Edge magazine also lists their best of 2007.
• Gamespot talks to Will Wright, Lorne Lanning and Dylan Cuthbert about game ideas they pitched but then dropped. In addition, they talk to several other famous designers about the difficulty they had pitching games that would later become exceedingly popular.
• Gamasutra has a Q&A with Castlevania series producer Koji Igarashi.
• Getting Rock Band to Canada is not going so well.
• A judge has ruled against the Romantics in their case against Activision, in which they claimed the cover of their song in Guitar Hero Rocks the 80s was too close to the original and could create confusion.
• Red Mile Entertainment has licensed Unreal Engine 3 for a Sin City game.
• The 2008 recipient of the Pioneer Award at the Game Developers Conference will be Odyssey creator Ralph Baer.
• The Half Life Saga story guide has been updated with information from Episode 2.
• Hilary Clinton tells Common Sense Media that she would support video game legislation.
• A Wisconsin senator wants to tax video games to fund a juvenile rehabilitation program.
• Racketboy lists the best multiplayer Dreamcast games.
• GameTrailers has a Devil May Cry 4 PS3 and Xbox 360 comparison video, but there's a good chance that if you notice any difference between the two at all, it's all in your head.
• TellTale games has released a short film called Sam & Max Nearly Save Christmas, rendered using their in-game engine.
• Just to end this segment on a light note, a 37 year old Tennessee man has been arrested for stabbing his uncle in the head and stomach over a video game.

PC and mobile news

New content: Team Fortress 2 patch, SunAge 1.06 patch, Darkness Within 1.01 patch, Ship Simulator 2008 1.3 patch, Nvidia GeForce drivers for Vista

• NiGHTS Into Dreams is coming to GameTap sometime in 2008.
• Hackers have posted exploits that they say can brick almost any HP or Compaq laptop.
• Players report that running Windows Media Player 11 can cut World of Warcraft load times by up to 50%.
• Nokia has announced a delay to the N-Gage First Access platform.
• Rockstar's entire game catalog is now available through IGN's Direct2Drive service.
• A Christmas version of the Crash map for Call of Duty 4 is now available for download.
• EA has released a pair of casual games in the Sims franchise on their downloadable games service Pogo. The Sims connection seems to not be much more than cheap tack-on branding.
• NCSoft is holding a series of auctions to benefit Child's Play, selling anything from signed posters to the chance to be an NPC in Tabula Rasa.

Nintendo news

New media: Smash Bros. Brawl trailer, Bomberland DS trailer, Bomberman Land Wii trailer

• Atlus is bringing DS turn-based strategy title Drone Tactics to America.
• In a little more than a year, the Wii has surpassed Gamecube total sales.
• No More Heroes has a comic book styled instruction manual.

Sony news

• Nihon Falcom is bringing PC strategy series Vantage Master to the PSP.
• PSP sales doubled in Japan last week following the release of a red version. Yes, that's all it takes.
• Unreal Tournament 3 on the PS3 has gotten its first user-created mod.
• Amazon's deal of the day is Fire Pro Wrestling Returns for $4.99.

Microsoft news

New content: Dark Messiah: Elements demo
New media: Yet another Ninja Gaiden 2 trailer

• Wednesday's Live Arcade title will be Spongebob SquarePants Underpants Slam!
• Lost Odyssey will be getting free downloadable content in Japan early next year.
• Sensible World of Soccer has been fixed and put back on Live Arcade.
• The cast of Senko no Ronde 2 has been revealed.
• A new Mass Effect novel has been announced, taking place between the first and second games. I'm not sure how they'll account for the choices the player makes towards the end of the game, unless they say "screw it" and just declare one particular path as canon.
• Amazon has Xbox Live Arcade Unplugged on sale for $7.99.

Posted by Bill at 4:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Ow. I have to imagine that would hurt, but given the various chunks of metal this guy has stabbed through his ear, I don't think that's a primary concern. From a GameDaily gallery of gamer tattoos.

Industry and multi-console news

New media: N+ trailer

• Next Gen can't stop counting things as they list the top 25 people of 2007.
• Get your fresh hot sales charts: Japan, Australia, and, uh.. Sweden.
• Also, a specific look at the sales numbers for Rock Band.
• A director has been named for the upcoming Tekken movie.
• Two teenagers have been arrested for killing a 7 year old girl with Mortal Kombat moves.
• The Rock Band community site has been updated with new features.
• Eurogamer has new details on Rainbow Six Vegas 2.
• Zero Punctuation's video review for this week is Mass Effect. It's really kind of pointless since by now you should know he hates RPGs anyway.
• New York officials are removing the link to hoax site MAVAV from their presentation on video game violence.
• GameSetWatch lists some of the best games set during Christmas, but manages to leave out Shenmue.
• Yesterday it was reported that the American Beverage Association wanted to blame video games for fat kids. The ABA vice president says it was all a big misunderstanding. "We were pointing out how ridiculous and FLAWED it is to begin singling out any one cause for obesity and taxing it. There isn't one cause."
• Houston's Fox 26 talks to a neurotherapist during their video game addiction story who claims "brains can not tell the difference between being in real combat and being in a game."
• A candle holder in the shape of an Atari 2600 joystick. Why didn't I think of that.

PC and mobile news

New content: SimCity Societies patch, The Witcher 1.2 patch, Space Empires V 1.66 patch, Combat Mission: Shock Force 1.05 patch

• New titles out now on GameTap include Street Fighter III: Third Strike and Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Covert Ops Essential.
• George Broussard answers a few questions about Duke Nukem Forever. Nothing terribly important.
• Square Enix has released more details on Final Fantasy IV -- The After: Return of the Moon.
• Speaking of mobile phone-only sequels to popular franchises that you can't play because they're Japanese but that's just as well because they're usually crap anyway, Silent Hill: The Escape was released today.
• All PopCap games are 50% off today.
• Members of SOE have confirmed allegations of developer misconduct in Everquest II, but they don't seem to really see it as misconduct.

Nintendo news

New media: Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games DS trailer

• Supposedly you can play Dragon Quest IV on the DS in English using the Japanese game and an Action Replay.
• Music4Games has interviews with the composers of NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams and Super Mario Galaxy.
• Ninja Gaiden DS has been scheduled for a March 2008 release.
• Nintendo has made the Wii Opera SDK open to the public.
• Oops. IGN's Nintendo editor happens to be married to a Nintendo PR executive. I could say it's a conflict of interest, but that's kind of implying IGN had a journalistic standard to uphold in the first place. At any rate, Casamassina responds.
• Amazon has Yoshi's Island DS for $19.99, Puzzle Quest Wii for $14.99, and the Wii licensed component cables for $19.99.

Sony news

New content: Holiday-themed Folklore pack, Guitar Hero III tracks (including one free)
New media: Dissidia Final Fantasy screenshots

• Japan will be getting two limited edition PS3/Devil May Cry 4 bundles.
• Series creator Kazunori Yamauchi says that Gran Turismo Portable will come after GT5.
• The truth comes out: Activision wants to be compensated before allowing Gutar Hero III controllers to work with Rock Band.
• Amazon has Ninja Gaiden Sigma for $39.99, Skate for $39.99, and Dirt for $39.99.

Microsoft news

New content: Guitar Hero III tracks (including one free)
New media: Ninja Gaiden II screenshots

• Hudson has announced a third add-on pack for Bomberman Live.
• A "traditional" real-time strategy sequel to Kingdom Under Fire is in the works.
• Microsoft has reduced the price of the Xbox 360 racing wheel to $99.
• Rare has teased the existence of Killer Instinct 3 on their Christmas card this year. Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean it's true.
• Amazon has Crackdown for $19.99, Virtua Fighter 5 for $39.99, and the standard 360 controller for $39.99.

Posted by Bill at 4:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

As evidenced by one of the site headers in rotation for the holidays, I love Christmas NiGHTS. I've always appreciated when developers went out of their way to offer something extra as a gift to their fans without asking for anything in return, and I think NiGHTS was one of the last Sega titles to have real charm and heart before they went all weird with the Sonic Adventure series. Given that it was a limited release on an already unpopular system, however, I know a lot of people never got to experience it for themselves.

So, presented here are the opening and closing FMVs for Christmas NiGHTS, telling the story of Claris and Elliot remembering that the true meaning of Christmas is a bigass star on your tree. Then they fall down.

The keen of ear among you undoubtedly noticed that

1) It has voice narration when the regular NiGHTS didn't
2) This narration is awful

Not awful like "hey let's give NiGHTS a goofy accent" awful; it just sounds like they pulled in a random woman from the office who was far too timid to be reading anything in front of a microphone. But this, again, is part of its charm. The other part of its charm is that it really doesn't make any damned sense whatsoever.

Posted by Bill at 11:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

In honor of the new Duke Nukem Forever news, let's take a look back at what George Broussard and Scott Miller were doing with their time back in 1982.

I can tell those young men are going places! You can see the entire book in PDF form here.

Industry and multi-console news

• Next Generation looks at 2007's 50 biggest events.
• And Gamasutra lists the top 5 poignant game moments of 2007.
• Annnddd MTV names the 10 great gaming moments of 2007. Alright you guys, stop it.
• MTV and Jerry Bruckheimer are teaming up to make video games.
• Want to know what's selling in Spain and Germany? Brain Training, apparently.
• MCV cites "senior industry sources" claiming that GTAIV will be released in the UK on April 25.
• Take Two says they have no intention of "harvesting" their franchises by putting out new sequels every year.
• The mayor of San Francisco wants to put a tax on sodas to encourage people to not be so Goddamned fat. The American Beverage Association says that video games are to blame for fat people, not soda. Of course, you and I know that the Masonic conspiracy is actually responsible for fat people.
• Wired has a series of articles about video games and Futurama's geek staff (Part 2, Part 3), including the tidbit that Zoidberg was named after David X. Cohen's Qix clone called Zoid.
• A trailer for Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete has been released, alongside the news the movie is coming to Blu-ray. "Complete" apparently means they re-rendered it with more dirt.
• Warren Spector talks to Eurogamer about retirement and Deus Ex 3.
• A New Mexico judge has dismissed Jack Thompson's wrongful death suit against Take Two and Sony.
• The New York Department of Criminal Justice made kind of a mess in his recent 20 minute slideshow called "Video Games and Children: Virtual Playground vs. Danger Zone." The presentation was filled with multiple mistakes, including listing a hoax site as a parental resource.
• According to a Nintendo Power interview, Mega Man series producer Takeshi Horinouchi had planned a game where all the iterations of Mega Man could fight each other as part of the series' 20th anniversary. The game never came together, but he'd still like to try it if given the chance.

PC and mobile news

• A new Duke Nukem Forever teaser trailer debuted today. It's been so Goddamned long I think I've run out of ways to make fun of Duke Nukem Forever. If you've pushed it out of your memory, you can take a look back at the 12 year history of the game.
• Bomberman has been released on the iPod.
• Steam now supports gift purchasing.
• Amazon has Sim City 4 Deluxe Edition on sale for $14.99.

Nintendo news

• Japan's Virtual Console page has been updated to include eight slots for systems, despite the fact that there are only six systems currently supported. This naturally leads one to wonder what consoles might be added next.
• Nintendo Wii Fanboy gets all controversial by listing 10 things they hate about the Wii.
• Emergency Mayhem is coming to the Wii, a title that will "combine chaotic driving sequences with arcade mini-games." Oh, good.
• First 4 Figures latest statue is Samus' gunship, with pre-orders starting December 21.

Sony news

New content: Rock Band individual tracks (Radiohead, Weezer, Pretenders cover)

• Atlus will bring Persona 4 to the PS2 in 2008.
• Yesterday's PS3 firmware update enables Remote Play of PS1 titles through the PS3 to the PSP.
• New features have been added to Folding@Home, including a shutoff timer and the ability to play music.
• The Final Fantasy I and II remakes on the PSP have been dated for February 8th in Europe.
• Amazon's deal of the day is Stranglehold Collector's Edition for $39.99.

Microsoft news

New media: Ninja Gaiden 2 trailer
New content: Kane and Lynch demo, Rock Band individual tracks (Radiohead, Weezer, Pretenders cover)

• Sensible World of Soccer was briefly released to Xbox Live Arcade today, only to be pulled due to a bug.
• Microsoft has signed a deal with Viacom to bring more content to the Video Marketplace, including shows from BET Networks. Finally!
• Rockstar has clarified that there is no additional 360 exclusive GTA4 content, after some news sites took a conference call mention of content released in 2009 to mean there was more coming than the originally planned two episodes. If none of this makes any sense just know that nothing is changed.

Posted by Bill at 3:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It sure would be fun to play them SNES games on the go. I ought build me a handheld SNES for carryin' like. But hell, seems like lotsa folks already done that.

Well no mind. I'ma make that sumnbitch outta wood.

Industry and multi-console news

• E3 is returning to the LA Convention Center, but it will still be the new, toned down E3.
• The fifth annual Child's Play Charity dinner auction is over, and it raised over $225,000.
• The success of Assassin's Creed may be the boost Ubisoft needs to fend off an EA takeover.
• Gamasutra has a feature on the history of the Vectrex.
• Take Two says that they are "disappointed" in the BBFC for pursuing a review of the appeal to their ban of Manhunt 2.
• EA is offering a free game to anyone who had to get their Rock Band guitar replaced, and their customer support site now has the full list of games you can choose from.
• Games.net looks at ten game magazines that died fast. Now I know why I could never find an issue of GameGO!
• Next Generation has an in-depth analysis of November's NPD sales figures.
• The Game Career Guide has an article on playing games like a game designer, i.e., studying them as you go. I don't know what it means that I do a lot of the stuff mentioned here already.
• Canadian prostitutes argue that GTA normalizes violence against sex workers.
• The Associated Press names BioShock game of the year.
• The soundtrack for Burnout: Paradise has been announced, and sadly "the sound of DJ Atomica being garroted" is not in the list.
• Harmonix answers some random Rock Band questions.
• After disappearing for more than a year, MMOFPS Huxley resurfaces with new video.
• One study suggests that girls prefer 2D games to 3D.
• Sega could be looking to acquire new products or companies.
• Japanese developers G.rev is working on a sequel to Senko no Ronde.

PC and mobile news

New content: Flight Simulator X Service Pack 2

• Sony Online is reactivating dormant Vanguard accounts for free play from December 18 to January 3.
• Gamasutra lists the five best freeware games of 2007.
• PhysX cards are selling for $50 in Japan.
• Sonic the Hedgehog and Peggle are now available for the iPod. GameDaily talks to Sega about wtf is up with this.
• Verne Troyer's World of Warcraft commercial is now online. Don't make me call him Mini-Me please, I'd like to afford the man some dignity.

Nintendo news

• Infendo lists the 10 most promising DS games of 2008.
• The UK team currently training for the Olympic men's hockey team qualifying tournament use Wii Sports to improve performance.
• Sony Defense Force has given Mario Galaxy a 1 out of 10 and that is delightful.
• According to the UK's Official Nintendo Magazine, there is no Kirby game currently in the works for the Wii.
• Reggie reminds that Nintendo is not a big fan of retail-forced console bundles. When asked if Nintendo was taking any direct action on the issue, Reggie responded: "We don't have to remind retailers of the strength we have right now. We are simply making an observation and that reinforces our point quite nicely with retailers." Ey, it'd be a shame if summin' happent to your nice lil' store 'ere.
• Amazon has the DS Lite Gold with Phantom Hourglass bundle for ten dollars off, putting it at $149.99. They are also selling The Aly & AJ Adventure on the DS for $7.99, and I have no idea what that is.

Sony news

New content: PS3 firmware 2.10, PSP firmware 3.8

• Sony has made Fortune's list of 101 Dumbest Moments in Business of the year not once but twice, for the God of War goat incident and the use of Manchester Cathedral in Resistance: Fall of Man.
• PS3Fanboy looks back at the best PS2 games of 2007. Oddly, most of them are RPGs.
• Jack Tretton says that publishers should not publicly suggest prices for hardware.
• Not that it was in much doubt, but it seems NIS America is hinting at an English release for Disgaea 3.
• You can get Sony's PSP Media Manager v2.5 for free if you're willing to fidget with a Japanese installer.
• Developer Quantic Dream says that "there is no uncanny valley any more", and that their next project will feature "extremely realistic characters that not only move like real actors but express themselves through facial animations and speech like real actors, and are extremely accurate to the actors they are portraying." For the record, these are the people who made the Heavy Rain tech demo shown at last year's E3, though they say their new work is better than that.
• Amazon is offering All Pro Football 2K8 for $9.99.

Microsoft news

• Australian site Gameplayer has a preview of Saints Row 2.
• GameDaily estimates that 52% of 360 owners bought Halo 3. After so many years of suffering as a white male, finally, I get to be a minority!
• Amazon is taking pre-orders for Gears of War 2 for some damned reason.

Posted by Bill at 3:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Error Macro is all about sorting out the worthwhile from the crap, and there is a lot of crap in the world of online video. Studies show that 97% of video game related videos on YouTube are some variation on this:

Although this counts as an exception to the crap rule because it's hilarious. At any rate, I will do my best to sift through the muck and find the videos that are moderately humorous or interesting or informative or at least brightly colored and present them to you in a tidy package. I'm sure I'll end up posting some things that some of you have seen before, but hopefully it hasn't all been passed around more times than Seth Dub at a NAMBLA meeting.

Supposedly a video for unlocking Super Mario Galaxy DS, this is the most impressive and thorough fake I've ever seen.

Before you fall too deeply into your rock 'n' roll fantasies, just remember that this is what you actually sound like when you play Rock Band.

Fun with physics and 3,000 barrels in Crysis.

Clearly the problem people have been having with the Dragonforce song in Guitar Hero III is that they weren't using drums to play the guitar.

Saving Private Ryan, Team Fortress 2 style.

What's the difference between Cruis'n on the Wii and Cruis'n USA on the N64? Answer: Not enough.

Posted by Bill at 7:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Man, we could have this war won already if we just had the right decals.

Industry and multi-console news

• A trailer for Resident Evil: Degeneration, the upcoming CG movie, has been released.
• Next Generation lists their 30 best games of 2007.
• Gamasutra names their top 5 developers of the year.
• Take-Two has formed a California studio called 2K Marin.
• Silent Hill 5 producer Akira Yamaoka has praised how advanced western developers are. "I look at what American developers are doing and I think wow... Japan is in trouble."
• The BBFC has decided to take the Manhunt 2 case to the High Court.
• If you told your mom you want to design video games for a living and she started to cry, show her this parents' FAQ about game development careers.
• The Escapist looks at the failure cascade, or how guilds break down.
• Destructoid has a preview of Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath.
• A Canadian doctor is trying to determine why video games work better to relieve pain than drugs.
• Police in Iran have closed down two dozen cyber cafes for, among other reasons, "using immoral video games."
• A PS3 and 360 Call of Duty 4 patch is coming later this month.
• Oddly enough, a scene at the end of the Golden Compass that was cut out of the movie can still be seen at the end of the tie-in game.
• Valve's online store started selling, and then immediately sold out of, official weighted companion cube plushies before I ever had time to link it. I'm.. I'm sorry. But hey, you can still get companion cube fuzzy dice or an Aperture Science coffee mug.
• The next wave of Guitar Hero III downloadable content has been detailed, including Linkin Park, some "popular European bands," and a free Christmas song. No, not from the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
• Patton Oswalt calls the Spike TV Video Game Awards "godawful". "The worst thing about this show was the fact that I'm the cheap, money-grubbing asshole who agreed to do it."
• The script for the animated film Castlevania: Dracula's Curse is shaping up, and it should be locked in five weeks or so.
• A Hong Kong man who left his seven year old daughter outside to go play games in an arcade told police: "I have to play video games." He makes a good point.
• Toys R Us is having a buy 3 get the 4th free sale on video games, in store and online.

PC and mobile phone news

New content: City Life Edition 2008 demo, World in Conflict patch

• The developers of EVE Online try to explain what went wrong with the boot.ini issue.
• Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike is being added to GameTap next week.
• The developers of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. are "seriously considering" an MMOG.
• Crysis and Unreal Tournament 3 have shown disappointing sales so far.

Nintendo news

• This week's Virtual Console titles are Cybernator, Alien Storm and Monster Lair.
• Earthbound/Mother fans have such a uniquely focused sort of obsession. The first 10 minutes of Mother 3 have now been translated.
• As you can imagine, Ebay listings for Wiis spiked following stores restocking the system over the weekend.
• I don't have to link any videos of people playing the Mario theme on various instruments, I can just link one montage of all of them.

Sony news

New content: Guitar Hero III patch
New media: Final Fantasy XIII and Versus XIII trailers

• The Mercury News has an extended interview with SCEA president Jack Tretton.
• Kaz Hirai says that focus at Sony is going to shift to Playstation 3 software.
• Uncharted's debut sales figures were a bit of a disappointment, with the game failing to make the top ten in November.
• Sony's Three Speech blog says that LittleBigPlanet and Killzone 2 will be released "around September or October" 2008.
• Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core has been given a US release date of March 25.
• A new firmware update tomorrow will include Divx and Blu-ray Profile 1.1 support.
• Amazon's deal of the day is Time Crisis 4 with Guncon for $49.99.

Microsoft news

New content: Guitar Hero III patch

• Network World reports that a "strange signal" generated by the 360 is suspected of jamming wireless LANs.
• Blue Dragon 2 could possibly be released in Japan in 2008.
• This week's Live Arcade titles will be Sensible World of Soccer and Tempest. Yes, now that a mildly updated epileptic-nightmare version of Tempest called Space Giraffe has flopped, it's time to bring out just regular Tempest.

Posted by Bill at 4:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)