Stick candy cigarettes from the Philippines. I guess they taste like fruit and hedgehogs.

Industry and multi-console news

New media: Soul Calibur IV trailer featuring brief Vader and Yoda in-game footage

• Soul Calibur IV has been dated for July 29. There will also be an $80 premium edition that includes an art book/comic, a tournament kit, and "extra customization content". It's not clear what the tournament kit is, although Bandai says it will "give fans the opportunity to document the battle amongst friends."
• Shacknews talks to Valve's Robin Walker about the new Team Fortress 2 content. More importantly, though, we have a finalized list of the medic's new weapons. Before you start drooling over them, be sure to check the achievements you'll need to get them, and marvel at some of the best names for achievements ever. "You'll Feel A Little Prick: Assist in killing 4 enemies with single uber-charge on a scout."
• Develop magazine has a comparison between US and UK salaries for various game development jobs.
• This year's Paris GDC will include a keynote from the executive producer of the Battlefield franchise, as well as sessions from Ralph Baer and id Software.
• Next Generation has more suggestions for making games more user friendly.
• A game based on Afro Samurai is set for fall.
• Variety, citing sources close to Take-Two, believes that six million copies of GTA4 will sell in its first week, generating $400 million in revenue.
• This week's Zero Punctuation review is for Condemned 2: Bloodshot.
• Gamasutra has a new feature looking at the history of Panzer Dragoon. I admit I was unaware of the Game Gear game.
• Many people felt Tanya Byron treated the game industry fairly in the Byron Report, but they take issue with what she's doing now. Her new BBC TV show Am I Normal? looked at the issue of video game addiction, comparing it to heroin addiction and referring to World of Warcraft as a "childish computer fantasy game."
• The European Commission has approved the Activision-Blizzard merger.
• The Sims series has sold over 100 million copies worldwide.
• GameDaily suggests 25 things every gamer should do before they die.
• Kotaku thinks they may know what was removed from the Australian version of GTA4.
• The Sydney Morning Herald reports that many Australian gamers are canceling pre-orders for GTA4 and planning to import it, due to the content cuts and higher price.
• Gamasutra has an opinion piece on fewer mechanics making a better game. "BioShock is an example a great game whose giant mechanic set only weakens its play aesthetic. While the title's story and environment have set the bar for many games to come, there's just too much to do. In many a difficult situation players are left to decide between their guns, plasmid powers, hacking, stealth, and the use of one-shot items."
• Brash Entertainment may be working on a Six Flags video game.
• Eurogamer has new Edge of Twilight details.
• Games Radar has a collection of news articles and stories about ways in which gaming has helped in the real world, from avoiding accidents due to instincts honed in Gran Turismo to that Norwegian kid who feigned death to avoid a moose attack because he had learned it in World of Warcraft.

PC and mobile news

New content: Europa Universalis: Rome 1.1 patch

• The free racing game TrackMania Nations Forever has been released.
• Seven Pirates of the Burning Sea servers are being shut down to condense the game's population onto the remaining four.
• Universe at War developer Petroglyph is working on a free-to-play microtransaction-based game.
• The PC specs for Mass Effect has been revealed.
• IGN talks to Maxis to clear up the Spore Creature Creator issue. "A trial version of the Spore Creature creator will be available for free through a variety of sources including as a download from Spore.com and in The SimCity Box. There will also be a version of the Creature Creator available at retail. The free Creature Creator has about 25-percent of the creature making parts from Spore. The retail version will have 100-percent."
• 3DV Systems demonstrates a 3D control system for Second Life using body movement and a camera. Scientists are hard at work every day, finding new ways to make you even more of a douchebag when playing Second Life.
• Quake Live is now accepting beta sign-ups.

Nintendo news

New media: Lost Winds gameplay footage

• Gamasutra has a Q&A with Marvelous' Yoshiro Kimura, maker of Chulip and the upcoming Pikmin-esque RTS Ousama Monogatari.
• The Wii Fit balance board's voice sounds like a Portal turret. It's a little weird.
• Hudson confirms that their WiiWare title Star Soldier R is coming to America.
• The DS remake of Dragon Quest V has been given a July 17 release date in Japan.
• Internet fan favorite (and actually good game) River City Ransom is coming to Virtual Console next week. Double Dragon and Renegade will follow in each successive week.
• Majesco has announced Air Traffic Chaos for the DS.
• Atlus has announced Izuna 2: The Unemployed Ninja Returns for July 22.

Sony news

New media: Persona 3 FES webisodes and game footage, Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm trailer -- It looks really nice, shame it's a Naruto game

• The Metal Gear Online beta is downloadable now, a day early.
• A remake of Siren called Siren: New Translation is coming to the PS3.
• The DualShock 3 controller will be coming to Australia April 24. And for only AUD$99.95!
• Sony has announced SingStar Volume 2 for the PS3.
• The Japanese Playstation website has a countdown for.. something, presumably horror-themed. It's possible it's just going to be a page for the Siren remake mentioned above.
• Destructoid has details on a new Persona 4 character.
• Play-Asia is selling a reprint of Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne for $44.90.
• Sony acknowledges that some people are experiencing slow Playstation Store speeds as a result of "a new system implementation and high global traffic levels."
• Realtime Worlds is considering bringing APB to the PS3, "but that doesn't mean it's going ahead, and it doesn't mean it's not going ahead."
• Amazon has Space Ace for $25.95 and Jeanne D'arc for $19.99.

Microsoft news

New Live Arcade titles: Battlezone, Rocky and Bullwinkle

• Gamasutra talks to David Sirlin about working on Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix.
• Zen Studios is running a contest in which the first 200 people to get all the achievements in Rocky and Bullwinkle will win a copy of The Best of Rocky & Bullwinkle - Volume 1. What a gyp, it's not even one of the season boxes.
• Microsoft is giving out a free episode of Voltron on the Live Video Marketplace.
• Obscured View wonders if Geometry Wars hurt Live as much as it helped. "I think it would be safe to say that GW caused the industry to collectively say 'ooh! Retro can be profitable!' and start cranking out straight ports of retro games, “re-imagined” games that are suspiciously similar to retro games, and a host of quick smaller games."
• GameDaily has 10 questions for Shane Kim. "While it is unfortunate that HD DVD was discontinued, there is still enjoyment to be had from your Xbox 360 HD DVD Player. You can take this as an opportunity to build out your movie collection! There are around 500 HD DVD movies to choose from and many at great deals, so there is a fair amount of content for HD DVD on the market." ahahaha you dick