They're waiting for you Gordon... In the rock chamber.

Industry and multi-console news

New media: Bionic Commando screenshots and art

• Yet another video of the interview with Yoshinori Ono, this time talking about balancing Street Fighter IV.
• Gamespot's Best of 2007 awards are complete now, with the usual entries for special achievements and dubious honors.
• A few new details have been released concerning Just Cause 2.
• A source has told Next Generation that Midway and SCi/Eidos are in merger talks.
• THQ has confirmed the continuation of their deal with Pixar, as they are working on a game based on the upcoming movie Wall-E.
• Virgin Megastores saw a 112% increase in fourth quarter game sales.
• Futurist Ray Kurzweil will predict the next 20 years of gaming at this year's GDC. Maybe he'll compile it in a book called Kurzweil Predicts.
• You can watch pretty much a full runthrough of the Simpsons Game on YouTube if you don't feel like mucking through it yourself.
• Tomb Raider developer Riley Cooper says that the Playstation Network is more flexible than Live for delivering content, due to the restrictions Microsoft has placed on their service.
• Racketboy has been doing a series of posts highlighting well-done fan art for various old games. The newest entry is for NiGHTS.
• Speaking of art, old game screenshots and VectorMagic make for some odd yet visually appealing results. I think Loom turned out best.
• A Polish immigrant was tasered to death in Vancouver International Airport in October, and now some people are upset that some random dude made a Mega Man vs. Polish Immigrant YouTube video parodying it. Not much going on up there in Canada.
• While talking about recent movies he's seen, Warren Spector mentions that he wanted to make a Golden Compass game.
• Valve is offering some surprisingly nice Portal shirts that aren't overdone or stamped with an ugly website address or anything else you normally see on game-related clothing.
• Famitsu got Jade Raymond of all people to interview Hideo Kojima. He talks about the differences between the east and west as well as his stance on violence in games. “If you don’t see the pain, you can’t understand what you’ve done, and you’ll pass through battles without taking responsibility for your actions. I don’t want to ignore that."

PC and mobile news

• New GameTap titles for the week include B-Wings, Express Raider and Vanguard.
• The preview release of Multi Theft Auto: San Andreas has been released.
• The real way to measure who's going to win the presidential election is to see how many characters in World of Warcraft are named after each candidate. Ron Paul is the clear winner.
• Valve is hosting a free Team Fortress 2 weekend in Germany starting January 4.

Nintendo news

• Hudson has announced Deca Sports for the Wii.
• Remember all those budget Wii games that came out this week? Did you know they were all from the same publisher? MTV talks to Destineer about where all this crap comes from. "This whole group of titles we’re publishing under the Bold brand was just an opportunity I came across a few months ago.”
• The Metroid 3 preview channel has expired. How will I get my streaming video now??
• NintendoWiiFanboy looks back at the history of vaporware title Sadness.
• Best Buy apparently has a new policy of going around and quietly mentioning to customers that they have Wiis so to avoid a mob scene.
• Celebrities who endorsed the Brain Training series are among those being criticized for promoting fads with no hard scientific basis.
• The first screenshots of Professor Layton in English have kind of a tiny font.
• Pre-registration is open for people who want replacement Guitar Hero III discs.
• Amazon's deal of the day is Pokemon Ranger for $20.99.

Sony news

• A patch for the Orange Box could be in the works.
• UK retailer Play.com found that the PS3 was their best selling item in the fourth quarter.
• Gamefront reports that a Yakuza 3 demo is in the works and could be available as early as the middle of this month. For Japanese PS3s, of course.
• Epic is "very close" to releasing an update that will allow Unreal Tournament 3 mod-makers to cook their mods into the PS3 format. "If all goes well then we should see the update released next week which is what I expect will happen."
• The maid taxi service in Japan that gave you the opportunity to blow $50 to ride in a taxi with a girl in a maid costume while playing a PS3 has closed down. Not due to lack of interest, quite the contrary: They were licensed as social-welfare and could only transport the handicapped and injured, and too many people were faking problems to get in.
• One of Amazon's subsidiaries is offering open-box 60 gig PS3s for $353.97.

Microsoft news

• Hudson has announced that next week's Live Arcade title will be Omega Five.
• Nice to know our military has a full complement of nerds. (though obviously the best of them all is the first one here)
• Why do people keep making these Halo suicide videos?
• Occasionally someone will suggest I call a Wal-Mart clerk to ask about the availability of this or that game, and I refuse because I don't trust them to know what the hell they're talking about. This is why.
• The February issue of OXM will contain exclusive Rock Band songs on their pack-in disc. Why does that chick from Freezepop always look so damned bored in her own videos.
• Photos have been released showing the newest McFarlane Halo figure, the Arbiter.
• Impress the ladies with your real and wearable Halo 3 recon helmet.
• Then you can tell Bungie all about it, as they are looking for true stories of love and adventure that relate to your Halo experience.