The best tie-in merchandise is the kind that works equally on the informed and uninformed level. To those with no knowledge of gaming, this is just a nice WWII throwback design. To everyone else, they'll know you're geeky enough to have two Capcom references on one shirt.

Industry and multi-console news

• E3 will return in 2009 despite everyone apparently hating it.
• EA wants to bring its game properties to the big screen. Buy your tickets now for Madden: The Movie.
• Kotaku tries to determine why the E3 no-shows weren't there.
• An episodic Watchmen video game series is in the works for Live Arcade, PSN and PC.
• Street Fighter IV will make its first public appearance in the UK this weekend, with six cabinets available to play at the Battle of Destiny tournament in London.
• This week's Zero Punctuation review is for Age of Conan.
• The CodeBreaker line of cheat devices is being discontinued.
• Video site Vimeo has decided to no longer host videos of gameplay footage unless it's machinima. They argue that walkthroughs, strategy videos, replays, etc. don't count as "creative expression" and can expose them to liability from the game creators.
• The BBC has warned that unsafe third-party charging devices for game systems and mobile phones are "flooding" the UK.
• Joystiq has a Nyko FrontMan guitar compatibility chart.
• Aliens: Colonial Marines is being written by a pair of Battlestar Galactica scriptwriters.
• Atlus has an ad in Famitsu teasing some kind of August 1 announcement. But it's not clear what.
• Though Tomonobu Itagaki said he was leaving Tecmo on July 1st, it's been revealed that he was actually fired on June 18. It's possible he was fired in retaliation for the suit he had just filed earlier that month. Among other developments in said currently-ongoing suit, a voice recording of Tecmo's president has been submitted as evidence that Itagaki's bonus claims are valid and the president knows it.
• Colbert Nation has video of Rush playing Tom Sawyer in Rock Band prior to their appearance on the Colbert Report. They fail out, but they were on expert.

PC and mobile news

New content: Sword of the Stars: Born of Blood 1.5.3 patch, Frontlines: Fuel of War 1.1.1 patch

• Has Namco stepped in to save Hellgate: London? "In the short term, please do not worry. The game is up, the servers are not going away in the short term and any major changes to status will be communicated in advance."
• A Battlefield Bad Company stats application has been released for Facebook.
• Amazon's Gold Box deals are all Blizzard games today.

Nintendo news

• Nintendo has partnered with Fujifilm to release the Digital Camera Print Channel in Japan. The service allows users to order prints of digital photos stored on their Wiis, or Mii business cards. There's no better way to be taken seriously than with a Mii business card.
• Aspyr has announced an SAT prep DS game.
• And Konami has announced Time Hollow for the DS, a story-driven adventure game.
• The upcoming Wii Wario title will be called Wario Land: The Shake Dimension in Australia. At this rate every region will have a different name for it.
• Nintendo has sold 500,000 Wiis in Australia, making it the fastest selling home console to sell through 500,000 units in the country.
• Satoru Iwata says there is no guarantee of Wii stock this holiday. What else is new.
• Iwata has also apologized for this year's E3 briefing, "...specifically for those who were expecting to see Nintendo show something about Super Mario or Legend of Zelda. However, the fact of the matter is the so-called 'big titles' need a long, long development period. [...] We really didn't think this year's E3 media briefing was the time to do so."
• Capcom will be selling those Mega Man 9 t-shirts sometime soon.
• The president of Sega mentioned a Wii version of Resident Evil 5 in a Kotaku interview, but said later it was just a "slip of the tongue."
• GoNintendo tried asking some people at Nintendo about Fatal Frame IV, only to find that they weren't aware of its existence.
• A company that has made a TV remote for children called the Weemote since 2000 is struggling with the popularity of the term Wiimote. They're not looking to sue Nintendo, but they do claim sales have dropped considerably due to trademark dilution, plus they have to spend time and money sending C&Ds to retailers.
• Third parties are feeling annoyed and betrayed, according to Game Informer, by the surprise announcement of the Wii MotionPlus add-on. They found out about its existence at the same time we did.
• The producer of Taiko no Tatsujin says a US or European release is undecided but "we would release them if we receive a lot of requests from US and European customers!"

Sony news

New media: First MAG screenshot

• Sales of Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli have been hampered by poor distribution in the UK.
• It was reported recently that Wipeout HD was being held back by a "specific technical problem." It turns out that problem may be that the game has failed epilepsy tests and has to be re-engineered to avoid making people froth at the mouth.
• Penny Arcade Adventures is coming to the PS3 this fall.
• Amazon has R-Type Command for $18.89.

Microsoft news

New Live Arcade titles: Go! Go! Break Steady, 1942: Joint Strike

• At the company's recent GameFest event, Microsoft how DLC can be used to fight the used games market.
• Horror directors like Saw's James Wan and 30 Days of Night's David Slade will be producing short films for the Xbox Live Video Marketplace. Strangely, they're going to be comedies.
• Ars Technica has an interview with Dennis Dyack.