More than 2000 people lined up in Akihabara last night to be the among the first to own erotic game To Heart 2 Another Days. Aren't nerds supposed to be awkward and shy? How do 2000 of them work up the gumption to stand around in public waiting to buy porn?

Industry and multi-console news

New media: King of Fighters XII English trailer

• Next Generation has an interview with Fallout 3's lead designer.
• According to Nielson Media Research, the constantly looping Gamestop TV tape you're subjected to in all Gamestop stores does actually help drive sales.
• Revenue from the games industry has overtaken the music industry in the UK, and is closing in on DVD.
• A video game based on the Showtime series Dexter is in the works.
• MTV Multiplayer has a preview of Lego Batman. Details include the news that villains will be playable, and Traveller's Tales is finalizing the arrangements to use Danny Elfman's Batman score.
• An ESA report finds that 38% of gamers are female.
• Sid Meier talks to Newsweek about the possibility of EA's buyout of Take Two, which owns Meier's development studio Firaxis Games.
• Scans of EGM's new preview of GTA4 are already floating around. The feature includes a short sidebar interview with the modder who uncovered Hot Coffee.
• The Alone in the Dark Special Edition package will include an art book, a figure, a soundtrack CD and a DVD.
• A Gamasutra opinion piece details Why EA Rocks (and Sucks) in 2008.
• Game Daily has an interview with Sega's Simon Jeffery about the company's reinvention. "Much of the product that comes out of Japan isn't really suitable or appropriate culturally for the Western market, and Sega has become the first of the Japanese gaming companies to recognize that the global market has various tastes and isn't necessarily just one great big Japanese market."
• Financial reports from Viacom show that Harmonix stands to earn $208.7 million in bonuses if Rock Band exceeds certain sales marks.
• British MP Keith Vaz apparently thinks that video games let you rape women. It's like he deliberately attempted to make himself sound as old as possible: "Someone sitting at a computer playing a video game, or someone with one of those small devices that young people have these days, the name of which I forget - PlayStations or PSPs, something of that kind…"
• Joystiq has an interview with a couple of the people behind Penny Arcade Adventures -- producer Joel DeYoung and creative director Ron Gilbert.
• Capcom has a number of new job openings available, from QA Manager to Senior Producer.

PC and mobile news

New content: Penumbra: Black Plague 1.0.1 patch, Gears of War revised patch #1

• THQ creative director Michael Fitch has criticized pirates and hardware vendors in response to Iron Lore closing. "If even a tiny fraction of the people who pirated the game had actually spent some god-damn money for their 40+ hours of entertainment, things could have been very different today."
• Now the Minutemen Civil Defense Corps is targeting serious PC game I Can End Deportation, calling it an “illegal alien video game which teaches kids contempt for U.S. immigration laws."
• Pre-ordering the World of Goo gets you access to the first chapter of the game right away along with a profanity pack that replaces the normal in-game voices with naughty words.

Nintendo news

New Virtual Console title: Super Turrican

• Nintendo of Japan's official WiiWare site has gone live, with a list of 11 titles coming soon for the service.
• Datel is assuring people that Wii firmware updates won't keep their recently released Wii Freeloader disc from working.

Sony news

New media: Warriors Orochi trailer and screenshots

• In Japan, Amazon is currently selling the discontinued 20 gig model of the PS3 for twice as much as a 40 gig system.
• PSW claims that the PS3 version of Crysis will be almost 50% new.
• Multiplayer in Dark Sector will be slightly gimped compared to the 360 version.

Microsoft news

• Microsoft is holding a Grand Theft Auto 4 sweepstakes. Prizes range from Gold subscriptions to a trip to New York to attend the GTA4 launch party.