Why are there no laundry games yet let's get on this

Industry and multi-console news

• Chronicles of Riddick and The Darkness developer Starbreeze is currently working on a reinvention of a "classic EA franchise." That could be many things -- Gamespot throws out an initial suggestion list including Wing Commander, Desert/Jungle Strike, Road Rash, and Syndicate.
• Portal took home Game of the Year at yesterday's Game Developers Choice Awards.
• And the Escapist has put up Zero Punctuation's video clips from the awards.
• More GDC presentations: Ralph Baer and Al Alcorn talk about the beginnings of the industry, Marc Laidlaw, Steve Meretzky, and Ken Rolston debate the best examples of interactive storytelling, and Jonathan Blow has ten challenges for game design.
• Okay, so Lego Indiana Jones won't have four player co-op.
• The new Japanese sale charts are out and Smash Bros. is still on top.
• Sony Online Entertainment has launched a female game developer scholarship.
• Warriors Orochi is coming to the PSP and PC.
• Joystiq has footage from an early version of BioShock as well as a gallery showing early concepts for what would become Little Sisters, all from Ken Levine's GDC speech.
• Capcom is looking at a simultaneous May release for Bionic Commando Rearmed on Live Arcade, PSN and PC.
• German developer Daedalic is working on an "eco-thriller" called A New Beginning for the PC, Wii and DS. "In a flooded San Francisco, time pilot Fay overlooks the magnitude of the destruction. Sent from a distant future to avert the evisceration of mankind, she is faced with the horrible realization that it is already too late. The last hope for salvation is another desperate leap back in time to our present!" Did she go to Castleton?
• Aliens: Colonial Marines now has a release window of late 2008. The game will feature four player co-op.
• THQ has officially announced Red Faction: Guerrilla.
• The Florida Supreme Court has hit Jack Thompson with a show cause order, asking Thompson to explain "why this Court should not find that you have abused the legal system process and impose upon you a sanction for abusing the legal system."
• Infinity Ward has talked about upcoming changes in Call of Duty 4, including host migration (if the host drops the game the remaining players stay together and restart in a new match), accuracy fixes and new spawn points.
• An Ebay seller was auctioning off a 100% complete set of factory sealed Japanese Dreamcast games for $20,000, but it ended with no bids.
• Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive developer Tomonobu Itagaki says that maybe he'll like GDC as an event when he matures. "I do this for the fans and the people out there who want to play my games. So, when you're talking about an event like GDC, which is really an event by game developers for game developers, then I don't really have a whole lotta interest in that event in and of itself."
• Lorne Michaels talked to the New York Times about getting SNL back on its feet after a long period off due to the strike, saying “Our competition is not so much other television shows as it is Guitar Hero."

PC and mobile news

New content: Depths of Peril demo, Depths of Peril 1.009 beta patch, Savage 2 1.3.1 patch

• Havok plans to make their physics engine available for free for approved PC game developers.
• EA has announced the first city pack for SimCity Societies.
• A custom note chart editor for Guitar Hero has been released free on the PC.
• Lord of the Rings Online developer Turbine has extended its Tolkien license to 2014.
• GamingSteve has several videos and liveblogs of the Spore presentations at GDC.

Nintendo news

• The Commodore 64 is coming to the Virtual Console in Europe, with most titles priced at 500 points.
• Masahiro Sakurai has no plans to make a DS version of Smash Bros. "I don't think that there are control limitations that keep it from being ported to the DS. But I personally have no plans to do this myself."
• Reggie Fils-Aime says that over ten games that use the Wii Fit balance board are in development.

Sony news

• King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match is coming to the PS2.
• Sony plans to release PhyreEngine, a free to use graphics engine that was used in the development of flOw, GripShift and DiRT.
• At GDC, Sony showed a chart listing the top PSN downloads since launch.
• You will soon be able to access the Playstation Store directly through your PSP instead of using your PS3 or PC.
• Bionic Commando on the PS3 will implement an achievement-like trophy system.
• Bloomberg notes that Blu-ray's success doesn't necessarily mean a win for Sony. They still have competition from other companies in the Blu-ray Disc Association. Bloomberg further notes that the success of the VHS format in the last format war didn't translate to gains for JVC stock.
• Amazon's deal of the day is the High School Musical: Sing it! bundle for $25.00.

Microsoft news

New content: Ninja Gaiden 2 trailer, NBA Live 08 All Star 2008 pack
New media: Fable 2 screenshots

• It looks like a Ninja Gaiden 2 demo is on the way.
• Gamespot has video of Epic's updated Unreal Engine tech demo from Microsoft's GDC keynote. Includes destructible environments, the 1000 locust march, and a.. cube of meat.
• The downloadable content for GTA4 should be coming this autumn.
• Turns out that shrouded display at GDC was hiding the XNA Community Arcade.
• Castle Crashers is coming to Live Arcade this summer.
• The next issue of Xbox World 360 will have screenshots and hands-on impressions of the Live Arcade Goldeneye port, though this is in no way an announcement that the game is coming out. It's more a way to drum up interest so hopefully fan pressure will push Nintendo and Microsoft to work out a deal.
• According to an Ars mole, the HD-DVD add-on drive will drop to $49.99. They say on the 21st, which is today, but I don't see the change on any retailer websites.