Video game apparel is often uninspired (oh look something else with Pac Man on it), but this is neat.

Industry and multi-console news

New media: Incredible Hulk trailer, Call of Duty 4 gameplay footage from the new Broadcast map

• Gearbox president Randy Pitchford defends their recent in-game ad deal with Double Fusion. The "improved authenticity" argument is interesting (one of the Hell's Highway missions takes place in a circa-1944 Philips factory), but I don't think you need an ad contract for that.
• Gamestop is continuing its expansion into Europe by acquiring 49 stores in Norway.
• Victorian Deputy Premier Rob Hulls argues that Australia is "out of step" with the rest of the world due to its lack of an R18+ rating for video games.
• 1up suggests that the Def Leppard songs mentioned last week as coming to Guitar Hero 4 might actually be coming to GH3 as downloadable content.
• Capcom has announced plans to acquire Tenchu Z developer K2.
• Ian Bogost wonders if Spore is truly "for everyone", noting the reactions of people who have never heard of the game before.
• Still Alive is coming free to Rock Band on April 1 for the 360 and April 17 for the PS3.
• A teaser site for the next Mortal Kombat is up with a countdown on the main page that has 17 days to go. Does anyone still care enough about Mortal Kombat for this to be effective?
• A British newspaper is offering cash for game violence stories. "‘Write a few lines about how computer games turned you to crime and if it's something we like, we'll call you straight back."
• Having continued trouble in their amusement business, Sega Sammy has closed their Korean branch and canceled plans for a Yokohama amusement center.
• 1up fires off a quick list of the top 5 racist video games. And they're all console games, so none of that Ethnic Cleansing silliness.
• GamePolitics has the final part of the coverage of Jack Thompson's Bar trial, in which they recap the series and how it came about.
• Newsweek's Level Up blog has a guest columnist named Justin Blankenship who was a former lawyer for the Federal Trade Commission. He wonders if the FTC might reject the EA/Take-Two merger on antitrust grounds.
• GameTrailers has put up part two of their Star Wars games retrospective.
• Capcom has dumped their Gamers Day event in exchange for a different event called CAPTIVATE08. Five members of Capcom Unity will get the chance the chance to attend.
• The planned Onimusha movie has been put on indefinite hold. How will I go on.
• GameDaily looks at forgotten mascots that should stay forgotten.

PC and mobile news

• A "confidential source" tells Tech ARP that ray-tracing will debut in DirectX 11 and that it will launch with Vista Service Pack 2. Normally I'd say to regard this as a rumor, but given that the article contains a total of four smileys, I have doubts as to whether even the site I'm reading it on actually exists.
• Some Montana Child Support Enforcement Division employees were annoyed to find that the games were missing from their new work PCs when other divisions still had them, so they complained until the games were added back. Then an anonymous tipster wrote to the newspaper saying that government employees should not be goofing off, so the state removed all games from everyone's computers in every division.
• I don't know how you go about ranking one above another, but Cnet has listed the top ten obsolete ports. Not games from other systems, literal ports you plug stuff into.
• Amazon is still dumping Tabular Rasa for $9.99, but they've also got the Tabula Rasa Collector's Edition for $19.99. That's fifty bucks off.

Nintendo news

New Virtual Console titles: Wonder Boy and Cruis'n USA

• The very Metal Slug-ish Commando: Steel Disaster is coming to the DS in the third quarter of this year.
• Ubisoft has announced open-world rescue game Emergency Heroes for the Wii.
• Slate has an article on the Wii's "pitiful online gaming service."
• In the fitness center at Manhattan's Le Parker Meridien hotel, you can work out with a trainer in Wii Sports for $120 an hour or play by yourself for the bargain price of $50 an hour.
• Modders doing odd things with the Wii continues: One man creates the full-body Wiimote music controller suit.
• In case you were worried, the Guitar Hero: On Tour peripheral works with the original DS.
• The plastic wheel shell packed in with Mario Kart Wii is also being sold separately for $14.99.
• Hudson has announced a WiiWare Karaoke game in Japan.
• Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon has been confirmed for a July 8 US release.
• According to GameFly, a Guinness Book of World Records video game is coming to the Wii and DS.

Sony news

• The Playstation Store will be getting a redesign in mid-April. Current content will still be available while work is being done, but there won't be any new content updates for the next two weeks.
• Metal Gear Saga Vol. 2, the bonus DVD for pre-ordering MGS4 is now shipping to retailers with Metal Gear Online beta keys.
• GameSetWatch talks to artist Neil McFarland about his contribution to the Wipeout Pure Omega Pack.
• Someone claims to have gotten a "hello world" app running on a PS3, and has a shaky, dark YouTube video to prove it. Well, show it, at any rate.
• Amazon's deal of the day is Major League Baseball 2K8 for $39.99.
• While I'm looking at Amazon, I notice that Karaoke Revolution Country is out of stock and only being sold by a few third parties -- the one used copy is $109, while the new copies range between $130 and $160. How the hell did that game get rare?

Microsoft news

New content: Football Manager 2008 demo -- Not available in Austria, Asia, Germany and North America

• This week's Live Arcade title is Mr. Driller Online.
• Next Generation has an interview with Bungie's CJ Cowan about the production of Halo 3 and what they're doing now.
• Infinity Ward says that 1.3 million people play Call of Duty 4 every day on the 360 alone.
• A number of original shows are coming to the Xbox Live Video Marketplace. Gizmodo notes that the company Microsoft has signed the deal with is headed by Peter Safran, producer on such classics as Meet the Spartans, Rocketman, and Jiminy Glick in Lalawood.
• The list of Grand Theft Auto IV achievements has leaked.
• The Gears of War movie is aiming at a summer 2010 release date.