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With all this talk about the move away from console exclusives this generation, we've ignored the real victim here: Me. And of course you, the Gentle Reader. All these multiconsole games frontload the first section and make the whole thing look like ass while defeating the purpose of having sections to begin with. I hate to have to divide it out any further, but then, I'd also like it to be readable.

Industry and multi-console news

New media: Bionic Commando multiplayer trailer, Street Fighter IV gameplay footage,

• Tomonobu Itagaki has left Tecmo, and is suing the company for unpaid completion bonuses. "Ninja Gaiden 2, which will launch on the 3rd of June will be the last Ninja Gaiden I will create. I will also never be able to make Dead or Alive 5. I regret the circumstances that have forced me to leave Tecmo, where I had worked for so many years, and I regret the disappointment this will cause my fans."
• The new UK sales chart still has GTA4 in the lead.
• Destructoid has photos of Street Fighter IV's movelist taken from the game's cabinet.
• Along with extra characters, the console versions of SF4 will also contain anime intros and endings.
• The people behind Puzzle Quest have been called upon to make Neopets Puzzle Adventure for the Wii, DS and PC.
• Atlus has announced Dokapon Kingdom for the Wii and PS2, a mix of RPG and Mario Party-style board game.
• A pair of editorials about game narratives: Next Generation says we need more depressing games, and Gamasutra talks about the need for integrating story into the game, not just laying it on top.
• But while opinion pieces regularly come out about how games should be deeper, more emotional, etc, David Jaffe wonders if we're barking up the wrong tree. "And if you look at the medium of GAMES themselves, well, there's over 4000 years of road behind us at this point, and there's not alot- anything?- that I can point to in my board/card game collection that evokes deep philosophical discourse and/or deep, emotional release."
• Gamedaily goes over a list of overused game features that should die.
• An Australian consumer group finds that the PS3 conumes five times the energy of a refrigerator, with the 360 not far behind.
• An Escapist editorial makes an interesting point: That your chosen "guilty pleasure" game may say more about you than your favorite game of all time.
• Ubisoft is working on a game based on the Prince of Persia movie, which, of course, is based on a game. It's bound to be as good as Street Fighter: The Movie: The Game.
• Also, Ben Kingsley and Alfred Molina have joined the cast of the movie.
• Resident Evil 5 is 60% done, with the producer estimating that total playtime is over 20 hours.
• Research by ad company Massive finds that in-game ads work and gamers think they "fit" and look "cool."
• First details have been released about Activision's game based on Quantum of Solace, the next James Bond movie.
• Capcom says Dark Void is single player only, and the game is still a year away.
• The Entertainment Software Association has accused Entertainment Consumers Association-owned GamePolitics of bias. "Calling GamePolitics a news site is a laughable as saying there's a Cuban free press." Meanwhile everyone else just tries to remember what the difference between the ESA and ECA is.
• In an even less substantial claim against GP, Jack Thompson is accusing the Bar judge of leaking documents to the site. This is one of several attempts by Thompson to discredit and invalidate the authority of the judge any way he can.
• The BBC has a questionable article on how games will change the world. "How long before you find yourself proudly appending your Brain Training data or your Hexic high scores to an online application form?" Never?
• Ars Technica looks at the problems in the current world of game reviewing. "Game reviews are a lot like laws and sausages: the process of creating them is rarely pretty. The difference is, with reviews, you do want to know what went into them. Is this an exclusive? Was the game reviewed a finished version? Did a developer walk the reviewer through the game? What aren't people allowed to say?"
• The people behind Bionic Commando Rearmed talk a bit more about the scene that earned them an M. "We've cut those five seconds from the Japanese version and it got a B rating, which is like 12. It's a 2D game with an M rating for five seconds."
• Game-Releases.net is a simple new site that provides a calendar of game release dates, with the ability to filter by system.
• The Guinness record for most cosplayers at once has been broken. I'm not linking any more of this Guinness World Record crap because it's always stupid.
• About 150 people walked out on a free screening of Postal in New Jersey.

PC and mobile news

• Fallout, MDK and Descent are coming to GameTap.
• Kwari has shut down. It was a gaming portal in which players would make bets on the outcome of matches.
• Gamespot has an interview with Fatal1ty, and I suppose someone somewhere cares.
• Totem Games has announced Ironclads: American Civil War.
• Planet Unreal has the patch notes for the upcoming Unreal Tournament 3 1.3 patch.
• A 27 year old man has been arrested for kidnapping a 14 year old girl that he met through World of Warcraft (though technically she willfully ran away with him, not that that makes it better). Maybe he can plead mental incapacitation, with the evidence that he was driving a 2008 Chevy Aveo with the license plate OMGROFL.

Nintendo news

New media: Final Fantasy IV DS trailer with English voices

• Capcom has announced Spyborgs as a Wii exclusive.
• IGN has a shot of the Guitar Hero: On Tour bundle.
• Yoshinori Ono says Street Fighter IV on the Wii isn't impossible, but for now the 360, PS3 and PC are the safer bet.
• Square-Enix admits the first shipment of The World Ends With You sold quicker than expected, with the next round of units coming mid-June.
• Age of Empires: Mythologies is coming to the DS.

Sony news

• Sony has revealed what Qore is: a "highly interactive, monthly lifestyle gaming program" delivered through PSN for either a per-episode fee or a subscription. So basically they advertise their new games to you, but you pay for it.
• Japan is getting red PS2s and blue PSPs.
• Resident Evil 5 producer Jun Takeuchi says the Sixaxis isn't sensitive enough for FPS aiming.
• Sony says Home will be released this year, with the initial release being an open, working beta "similar to Gmail."
• It sounds like Konami's review restrictions on MGS4 didn't apply to everyone. Or maybe they're restricted from mentioning the restrictions !!!
• Amazon's deal of the day is Uncharted: Drake's Fortune for $39.99.

Microsoft news

New content: Rock Band tracks, Ninja Gaiden II demo (available everywhere except Canada, Germany and the US, son of a bitch)

• While waiting for the demo to show up, you can read this partial list of Ninja Gaiden II achievements. How many people are going to beat the game 8 times with 8 different weapons just for 5 points each?
• Rooster Teeth has released episode two of Red vs. Blue: Reconstruction.
• Itagaki offers his own explanation for why the 360 isn't popular in Japan. "It's not as though the hardcore would make a big difference. This all goes back to decisions that politicians made like sixty years ago."
• Kotaku has an interview with a Bungie designer who is leaving the company for the world of educational games. "It is hard to figure out what is the impact that Halo makes in the world ... that's why I'm going in a field where the impact is going to be smaller, but at least I'll know that I'm probably educating some people. So I'm going to do educational games... where the impact is clearer."