The idea here is what if Mario was a real person, to which my instinctive response is "then he wouldn't have those proportions," but I understand that a picture of just a dude in a red hat would be kind of boring.

Industry and multi-console news

New media: Alone in the Dark trailer, Sega Superstars Tennis trailer, Lost Planet: Colonies trailer, Street Fighter IV screenshots

• Next Generation has posted the first half of a two part feature called Grand Theft Auto: The Inside Story.
• They also have a feature on the making of The Thing, the movie-based game released for the PS2, Xbox and PC back in 2002.
• 1up has part one of their interview with Denis Dyack on story and content in games.
• A beta copy of Rez called K-Project has been released on the Internet.
• This week's Rock Band tracks make up the Earache Thrash pack, so you can guess what you'll be getting here.
• Gamasutra interviews the people behind the Bourne Conspiracy game on making filmic games.
• With their Final Fantasy retrospective series finally done, Game Trailers' next feature begins with episode one of their Star Wars games retrospective.
• A columnist at Next Generation speculates that the recent Gibson lawsuit against Guitar Hero may originate from Gibson learning of Guitar Freaks in Japan, quickly jumping to patent the idea in the US, then sitting on it.

PC and mobile news

• The CEO of Linden Labs, the company responsible for Second Life, is stepping down to become chairman of the board and be replaced by someone with "more operational and management expertise."
• Sony Online Entertainment President John Smedley disputes claims that PC gaming is in decline. "It's not that dollar sales are down; it's just that retail PC sales are the narrow focus that ignorant people are looking at."
• Bioware says their long awaited RPG Dragon Age (last seen around 2004) will be out by April 2009.
• An English translation patch for visual novel/strategy RPG Utawarerumono is now available.

Nintendo news

New media: Video of Korg DS-10 in action

• Agetec has plans to localize DS title ArchimeDS as LOL, a comedic social "free-form gaming experience."
• Develop Magazine has a WiiWare Week round-up post, collecting all their recent articles about the service and its upcoming games.
• Racketboy lists the rarest and most valuable NES games.
• It sounds like snaking has been removed from Mario Kart Wii.
• Reggie Fils-Aime once again demonstrates his masterful skill at leading fans along by dropping vague hints about what Nintendo games we might see at E3 and beyond. “There’s gonna be a big game for the holiday that the gamers will want. All I can tell you is what we announce during E3 is gonna be fantastic."
• The Mercury News asks a good question: Does Smash Bros. Brawl deserve the Teen rating?

Sony news

• The official Playstation blog has some more information on the Eye of Judgment expansion pack. It will be available over PSN on March 27 for $14.99.
• On YouTube, you can watch the Sci-Fi Channel's interview with the developers of Haze.
• The UK will be getting a special edition of Crisis Core with an art book and fancy packaging.
• Capcom explains why the PS3 isn't getting a Street Fighter II HD Remix beta.

Microsoft news

New content: The Darkness multiplayer map

• More details have been released on Tales of Vesperia.
• Microsoft tries to explain the recent shortages of 360 consoles they say is responsible for the PS3 outselling the 360 the past two months. "Greenberg said that Microsoft's 'number jocks' assumed that everyone who would typically buy an Xbox 360 in November and December would instead buy it in September or October after the September launch of Halo 3."
• If you're looking to buy a 360 and must have the latest model, Paul Tallett explains how to tell a Falcon-model 360 from older versions.
• The Xbox Vice President for Microsoft Interactive Entertainment Europe claims that the 360 will have over 1000 titles by this summer.