1up has the first look at the 3D reinvention of Splatterhouse's hero. Veiny, tiny head and skin like a potato, that's what I think when I think of Rick.

Industry and multi-console news

• Assassin's Creed has sold six million units worldwide.
• The U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency is using three specially-created video games to train spies. Though their names sound more suited to a series of porn films: Rapid Onset, Vital Passage and Sudden Thrust.
• Gamasutra has an interview with Gamestop's divisional vice president of corporate communications.
• China has surpassed the United States to have the world's largest Internet-using population.
• Gamasutra has the new Japanese sales chart, which hasn't changed much from last week.
• GamesDaily lists the games that defined the '70s, to remind you young folk that there were games in the '70s.
• Gamasutra lists 20 underutilized licenses they think would make for good games.
• Free Radical boss Dave Doak said in an issue of PSM that if enough fan support was shown, they'd make Time Splitters 2 HD. So CVG is looking to assemble just that.
• In light of the Okami IGN watermark goof, Desert Hat talks about the need for a better system of preserving game assets and sharing them between studios.
• Will Ferrell's comedy website Funny or Die is getting a video game themed spin-off.
• A third person Call of Duty title was in the works at Activision, but it was canceled because it was "a mess."
• GamesRadar has a GTA hooker beauty contest. Naturally, the real point of this exercise is to be reminded how butt ugly the character models in previous GTAs were.
• 1up has a feature on how message boards influence game makers. It seems primarily focused on licking NeoGAFs balls.
• Swiss representative Roland Näf wants to ban violent video games completely.
• A new survey finds that 18% of people bought an HDTV for gaming.
• MSNBC asks what makes video games addictive?
• Days after it was discovered that Jordan Mechner had trademarked the name, now Ubisoft has registered PrinceOfPersiaProdigy.com.
• GameSetWatch's Design Lesson 101 feature looks at Condemned: Criminal Origins, which teaches that combat in an action game should complement the atmosphere.
• A new study published in the Journal of Experimental and Social Psychology attempted to measure the effect of the amount of blood in a game on "aggression, hostility and arousal." They did this by having people play Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance with different gore levels. It's pretty crap overall; participants were told that using weapons dealt more damage, so using their weapon more often was taken to mean higher aggression.
• Kotaku has a lengthy essay on gaming and maturity -- in a deeper way, not about violence or sex or prepubescent children on Live. "A game doesn't have to be full of belabored Gnostic or Objectivist overtones to be 'smart' or 'deep,' and aiming for 'smart' or 'deep' doesn't have to mean an end product that isn't any fun. Throwing games off the deep end does us — and them — a disservice, but so does ignoring the subtle potential for just a little bit more."

PC and mobile news

New GameTap titles: Darkstar One, Great Journey
New content: Shadowgrounds Survivor update, Hellgate: London 1.2 patch
New media: S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky trailer

• NASA has explained that whole "make our MMO for free" thing. Basically, by not paying the developer, they bypass rules against getting paid by both the government and consumers. So NASA doesn't pay you, but you're then free to sell the resulting MMO at retailers.
• XSReviews doles out advice on how to silence your PC.
• Joystiq has an interview with Stardock CEO Brad Wardell and Gas Powered Games founder Chris Taylor about Demigod.

Nintendo news

• Nintendo has announced record sales for the past fiscal year.
• Capcom has set up a site to order a free Okami box cover to replace the one with the IGN watermark on it. "I can honestly say that my worst day at Capcom was this Monday."
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl has been given a European date of June 27, with WiiWare arriving May 20.
• Toys R Us will be getting a big shipment of Wiis this Sunday.
• American releases for the DS remakes of Dragon Quest IV and V are looking very likely. In fact, the ESRB has already rated Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen.
• Three key people behind the Metroid Prime series have left Retro Studios.
• Sega has announced an RPG called World Destruction for the DS that reunites scenarist Masato Kato, character designer Kunihiko Tanaka, and composer Yasunori Mitsuda, all three of whom worked together on Xenogears. The game also has Grandia's design director, but that didn't fit the theme.
• Less interesting new game announcements include Cocoto Kart Racer for the Wii and Journey To The Center Of The Earth 3-D for the DS.
• Gamasutra analyzes why the correlation between game scores and sales doesn't apply as much to the Wii.
• Japanese and European loyalty program Club Nintendo is coming to Australia.
• The Nintendo Channel is coming to America alongside WiIWare next month. The channel will include WiiWare game reviews by users and DS demos.
• Amazon's deal of the day is Sega Bass Fishing for $19.99.

Sony news

New media: Metal Gear Solid 4 trailer

• Sony's Go!View video download service for the PSP will be launching across Europe this summer.
• Analysts are warning movie studios that the picture for Blu-ray isn't all rosy. 85% of the Blu-ray players in the market are PS3s, and it's growing increasingly likely that people are actually using them for games.
• The US senior producer for GT5 says that the Gran Turismo series "could become the MySpace or Facebook for auto enthusiasts."
• Eye of Judgment Set 2 cards have made it to stores earlier than expected.
• A YouTube user has video of apparent cheating in Call of Duty 4 where he repeatedly gets shot by invisible flying people.

Microsoft news

New content: Operation Darkness demo, Def Leppard track pack

• This week's Famitsu details three characters from Square's 360 RPG Infinite Undiscovery.
• Rainbow Six Vegas 2 has gotten an update implementing a number of improvements and fixes, including faster respawning and weapon switching.
• The first American content pack for Lost Odyssey will be available tomorrow.
• Mark Rein is trying to bring mods to Unreal Tournament III on the 360.
• Konami side scrolling shooter Otomedius G is coming to the 360.
• Microsoft is looking into early GTA4 players, though nobody knows what, if anything, will be done about it yet. Some people are already showing up with achievments for the game.
• Casting has begun for one of the original TV series coming to the Live Video Marketplace. The show is described as the "wacky adventures of a group of friends" and includes illustrious roles like "Girl in Bikini" who, it is important to note, must be "super-hot, good with comedy" and "must look great in bikini". This is going to be so awful.