Well, the Wii is finally getting a Castlevania.. except it's a 3D fighting game called Castlevania Judgment. Ick. As long as they were deciding to do the opposite of what people want, they should have run with it all the way and made a kart racer.

Worth noting is that the character designs are being handled by Death Note artist Takeshi Obata, a man of unparalleled range. Judgment character designs on the left, Death Note characters on the right. I think.

Industry and multi-console news

• Harmonix has loosened the warranty restriction on Rock Band, meaning you can get a replacement for faulty equipment without providing a receipt showing a purchase in the last 60 days.
• New Japanese hardware sales numbers show the PSP back to being the top selling hardware in Japan, after coming in second to the PS3 last week due to the release of MGS4.
• The official E3 website has an entry for Half Life 2: Episode 3, which is a bit of a surprise as Valve hasn't said anything about it, much less gave any indication they would show it.
• Ubisoft has announced a Rainbow Six Vegas 2 fan pack, offering new multiplayer maps and High Stakes mode, coming in July.
• McFarlane Toys has revealed the first of their Guitar Hero action figures.
• Next week's Rock Band tracks come from Motley Crue, Papa Roach and Trapt.
• Game designer and Virginia Tech alumnus Manveer Heir wants to make a game about the aftermath of the Virginia Tech shootings.
• The Game Creators have announced the launch of the Game Creator Store, allowing you to buy assets for use in your game (as opposed to stealing them).
• The latest issue of Famitsu says Soul Calibur IV has tag team elements, though to what extent remains unclear.
• As part of the job cuts reported a while back, LucasArts laid off a number of key Force Unleashed personnel.
• Michael Pachter says "Around 90% of last-generation console sales were made at the $199 price point or below."

PC and mobile news

• 1up has a video interview with Will Wright about Spore.
• Duke Nukem Forever isn't going to be at E3 because 3D Realms thinks E3 is irrelevant. "In fact, I wasn't even aware it was coming up." Yeah, that tends to happen when you're not invited.
• Blizzard's splash page, which has been changing day by day, is really driving some people nuts.
• No doubt those people will be hammering the live streams of Blizzard's Worldwide Invitational this weekend.

Nintendo news

New PAL Virtual Console titles: Super Fantasy Zone, Pac-Attack, King of the Monsters, Cybernoid, Summer Games 2 -- Why do they keep getting so many VC games?

• The Mega Man Network has updated with some clearer scans of Nintendo Power's Mega Man 9 screenshots.
• Hudson is working on a new Adventure Island, which will "probably" be for WiiWare.
• DSes are being used to help Japanese students learn English.
• 2K has signed a deal to use Havoc physics in several upcoming Wii titles, like, uh.. Carnival Games: Mini-Golf. Woo.
• Metal Slug 7 will hit the DS in America on November 19.
• Wired has a lengthy interview with Shigeru Miyamoto.
• Sunsoft is developing a digital comic viewer for the Wii. This will allow players (presumably Japanese only) to buy manga through WiiWare.
• Nintendo has announced its Japanese Virtual Console line-up for July.
• Crave tells you how to cheat at Wii Fit. I'm more bothered by the douchebag host with his terrible hair and hispter t-shirt.
• Japanese people have apparently run out of ideas to jerk off to, as they now have a Brain Training parody porno movie.
• WiiHD has a guide to Wii homebrew.
• Remember that all Amazon Gold Box deals today are Nintendo games, while the deal of the day is Smas Bros. Brawl for $25.99.

Sony news

New PSP game: Medievil Resurrection
New content: Pain character, Guitar Hero track, Rock Band tracks, Top Spin 3 demo
New media: Dissidia: Final Fantasy trailer

• Level 5's PS3 RPG White Knight Story is due sometime before April 2009. What happened to when it was called White Knight Chronicle?
• Gamasutra has an interview with Nippon Ichi. about Disgaea, the PS3, and their success in America. I had no idea they had made a Pilotwings-esque flight game.
• While we continue to wait for the game to show up here, Japanese gamers get Disgaea 3 content packs.

Microsoft news

New content: Lego Indiana Jones demo
New media: Soul Calibur (XBLA) gameplay footage

• Today is Bill Gates' last day at Microsoft as CEO.
• Scans of a K-Mart flyer show a new $299.99 price for the 20 gig 360. Obviously, it's not guaranteed the scans are legitimate.
• Microsoft says they have some "fantastic surprises" for this year's E3. That's right, two new editions of Buzz!
• Microsoft is concerned that the recommendations of the Byron Review might make games more expensive in the UK. Lord knows they've been dirt cheap up until now.
• Screenshots floating around the Internet claim to show Microsoft's answer to Home, called My GamerPad.
• Three N+ map packs are on their way, totaling an addiional 750 levels.
• Amazon has Fatal Inertia for $15.88.