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Thursday Newspost for May 15, 2008

2008-05-15T22:34:53Z

The news was leaked already, but Sega has now officially announced they are publishing the first group of titles from PlatinumGames, the new studio helmed by former Clover staff. Above is a screenshot from one of those games -- Bayonetta, about a witch with guns on her feet, depicted here shooting the head off an angel. Video games are all the same these days.

Another one of their titles is Mad World, a violent, heavily-stylized Wii exclusive. It has this t-shirt associated with it, which I would wear regularly alongside the MGS4 boxhead from Tuesday.

Industry and multi-console news

CBS plans to buy CNet, parent company of Gamespot.
Gamasutra has an interview with Terminal Reality about the Ghostbusters game.
The London Games Festival is returning for a third year.
Another Soul Calibur IV character has been revealed, and if you guess tits and swords, you get a cookie.
The newest Japanese sales chart is pretty much the same as it was last time.
InfoAddict lists ten things that suck about Grand Theft Auto IV.
EA has been conducting surveys about Rock Band 2. Features reportedly mentioned in the surveys include online play, recording music videos, and band competitions.
You knew it was coming: Konami has announced Rock Revolution for the PS3, 360, Wii and DS.
According to a Google translation of a JeuxFrance article, Michel Ancel says Beyond Good and Evil 2 is in pre-production but Ubisoft has not yet fully greenlit the project.
Spong talks to the British Board of Film Classification's press officer about what a game examiner's job is like.
Another researcher has come forward and said that violent games don't lead to real world violence.
Hidden Path developer Mark Terrano argues that realism is losing its luster, and instead video games should try pushing the limits in other areas like camera techniques, animation and AI. "I thought it was sad that we had to let The Matrix show everybody how much fun Bullet-Time can be. We have control of the camera, we have control of all the content, we're not limited by lenses, we can have some things in sharp focus or in rich saturated color or other things in muted tones, so we can do a lot more things to draw the player's attention and to tell a story that haven't been discovered by movie cameras."

PC and mobile news

New GameTap titles: Five Card Deluxe, Outpost Kaloki
New media: EVE Online The Empyerian Age teaser trailer
New content: Europa Universalis: Rome 1.2 patch,
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 5.3 unofficial patch

Wrath of the Lich King is scheduled for release in the second half of 2008.
Worldofwar.net lists all the undocumented changes in the 2.4.2 World of Warcraft patch.
GameSetWatch looks at the story behind the five races of the Horde in WoW.
Gamespot has a Q&A with the Stargate Worlds team.
GWAP is a website for Games With A Purpose -- a collection of simple browser games that help computers get "smarter." Mostly they involve tagging something like an image or music, so search engines give more accurate results.
Amazon has 1701 AD for $20.99.

Nintendo news

Konami has announced Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia for the DS. The link has a few screenshots.
Nintendo has been ordered to pay a small Texas company $21 million for infringing on their patent when designing the Gamecube and Wii classic controllers.
Disney has launched the DGamer online service, a multiplayer community for all Disney DS games.
The Nintendo World Store is no longer taking Wii Fit pre-orders.
Thank God: Cornholing is coming to WiiWare in the form of Target Toss Pro: BAGS.
Nintendo has officially announced Pokemon Platinum.
Nintendo Europe senior marketing director Laurent Fischer doesn't like the term "casual gamer." "For me, you are a gamer or non-gamer. I think most of you know that you can spend ten or twenty hours on an internet flash game and have not realised. The guy who plays these games regularly - he's a core gamer."
Play Asia is taking pre-orders on plush Mario Galaxy dolls.
It will no doubt vary from store to store, but Kotaku points out that Wal-Mart stores have some deals on various Nintendo products, including a 2000 Wii points card for $15.
Amazon's deal of the day is Manhunt 2 for $19.99.

Sony news

New content: Rockmen: It Came From Uranus expansion

PS3 firmware 2.35 is coming shortly, but it doesn't do anything major beyond improve stability on some games.
In anticipation of the release of MGS4, the Japanese Playstation Store has gotten Policenauts.

Microsoft news

New content: Dragon Ball Z Burst Limit demo, Timeshift map pack, American Idol Encore tracks, Rocketmen: It Came From Uranus expansion

Series creator Gregg Mayles says Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts is 80% vehicles. "I know it is going to be tough for people to accept ... especially the old fans, but I believe they make the old games look limited and very outdated. People are always afraid of change. But change for the better is great, which is what I believe this game to be."
Shane Kim says he's happy Microsoft didn't release a handheld. "Our content assets don't naturally lend themselves to driving success in that particular market." Does that mean no one wants to be seen playing your games outside of the house?
There will be a Too Human demo. There won't be a Fable 2 demo.
Microsoft says they're the first current-gen console to reach a 10 million unit installed base in the US.
Microsoft's Kudo Tsunoda admits Gears of War's story "wasn't necessarily as robust as it could have been," and for Gears 2 they "want to do a much better job of that."
Microsoft has explained why they banned the name thegayergamer. "To answer the question another way, yes 'TheStraighterGamer' or 'TheHeterosexualgamer' would have gotten the same treatment and would have been found to be in violation and forced to be changed. We've actually done that to tags like that before."
Stuff.co.nz is reporting that the 13 year old with his dad's credit card story may be a hoax. I guess it was silly of me to trust "money.co.uk" to be capable of basic fact checking, they certainly sound like a shady organization.

Wednesday Newspost for May 14, 2008

2008-05-14T23:55:42Z

There she is -- the Guitar Hero IV drum kit as scanned in from the next issue of Game Informer. The accompanying article is filled with a lot of "Rock Band isn't so big, we were gonna do that anyway, and better too!" kinds of talk, but I suppose that can't be helped when you get beaten to the punch like they did.

Industry and multi-console news

New media: Resident Evil 5 concept art

EA CEO John Riccitiello claims that the next Madden game will use a "holographic interface", and no one really knows what that means.
GTA4 has set new Guinness World Records for Highest Grossing Video Game in 24 Hours and the Highest Revenue Generated by an Entertainment Product in 24 Hours.
Rock Band Track Pack Volume 1 for the Wii and PS2 will be a standalone disc that doesn't require the original game to play.
Tomonobu Itagaki says that he's not planning on making any more games in the Ninja Gaiden series. He wants his next game to be something totally new, adding: "I think it would be cool to work with an American developer and do a game based on the Pacific Theater."
Gamasutra talks to Stubbs the Zombie and Hail to the Chimp developer Alex Seropian about the state of the union for indie games.
They also have a summary of the Traveller’s Tales keynote at the Nordic Game 2008 conference, talking about making Lego Star Wars and designing games for kids.
To round out the triumvirate of Gamasutra game design columns you won't read, they have an article about the pros and cons of player-set difficulty levels vs. dynamic difficulty adjustment.
The release of GTA4 has raised the prices on old GTA games a bit.
This week's Zero Punctuation review is for, what else, Grand Theft Auto IV.
The release of Velvet Assassin has been set for this fall.
Denis Dyack says there's a "strong chance" they'll return to the Eternal Darkness series.
Capcom's blog is holding a poll asking which Street Fighter characters you want to see made into figurines.
Playboy's Cyber Girl of the Year is a big game player, especially RPGs. "I'm 100 hours into FFXII and I'm not even done with the game yet. I'm doing all the hunts and the sidequests - I'm probably a third into the game and my guys are at level 60. I hold my characters high so when I go through the game it's a lot easier."

PC and mobile news

Nine more Ubisoft games are now available on Steam, including cult favorite Beyond Good & Evil.
A panel at the ION Game Conference advised that developers should design MMOs with gold famers in mind. "You'll always have a black market conversation rate for your game, so bring it in and use it to your advantage. The game demographic is growing up and having more money than time, and you should take that on from the start."
Gamer director Gaute Godager it will take about 250 hours to reach the max level in Age of Conan.

Nintendo news

New media: Skate It demonstration videos showing how to play the game on the Wii and DS

EA has announced My Sims Kingdom for the Wii and DS.
The Australian release date for Brawl is set for June 26.
Game of the Blog points out the number of crosswords and brain training DS game clones currently available.
There's a trailer on YouTube for Mad World, a Wii-exclusive, violent, black-and-white Sin City-esque title created by the former Clover devs at PlatinumGames. Neither the trailer nor even the game's existence have been officially announced yet.

Sony news

Gamespot has a Q&A with the developers of LittleBigPlanet.
Sony has released their hardware sales data for the last fiscal year. PS3 sales totalled 9.26 million units, while PSP sales hit 13.39 million.
There's already question as to whether Konami is hinting at another MGS sequel.
Amid the growing casual games market, Hideo Kojima says "we shouldn't forget about the hardcore gamers." He also laments, as Miyamoto did recently, that Japan's role as a leader in the game industry is "becoming a thing of the past."
The official Playstation blog answers questions about Haze.
New user-created Echochrome levels are coming between May 15 and 21.
PSU has a feature on the guns of Killzone 2.
Now that MGS4 is done, people are asking Hideo Kojima what he has planned next. He says "Zone of the Enders is quite near the priority list."

Microsoft news

New Live Arcade game: Assault Heroes 2
New Xbox Originals: Stubbs the Zombie and Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows

Kotaku has an "alleged and wholly unconfirmed" list of changes supposedly going into the spring dashboard update. Microsoft has told Joystiq that they don't comment on rumors and speculation, but "what we can tell you is we've never seen this list before."
Joystiq has an interview with CliffyB about Gears 2.
They also talk to Tomonobu Itagaki about Ninja Gaiden II, including why easy mode is called "Path of the Acolyte" instead of "Ninja Dog" this time around. "The first Ninja Gaiden was a hardcore game for the hardcore gamer. There wasn't really any way to make it easier except to make a mode where you artificially dumbed down the difficulty ... Whereas for Ninja Gaiden II, the philosophy is, now that we have enough bandwidth with our game design, we can make it not only accessible for casual gamers, but also include the higher difficulties."
One Consumerist reader reports that her boyfriend has tried repeatedly to get a faulty copy of Mass Effect replaced, but Microsoft keeps sending French versions.
Stephen Totilo noticed a prompt to press a "What's Up" button in the Gears of War 2 demonstration run for reporters recently, but CliffyB wouldn't say what it was for.
Somebody with the Gamertag "thegayergamer" has been told that he'll have to change his tag because "the greater Xbox community" finds it offensive.
Amazon has Virtua Tennis 3 for $19.99.

Tuesday Newspost for May 13, 2008

2008-05-14T01:45:12Z

A Japanese retailer will be offering a selection of MGS4 t-shirts as part of a marketing onslaught associated with the game. There will even be an in-game iPod -- an actual branded device, not just a lookalike -- to switch background music. I want this shirt.

Cracked has an article on the ten most terrifying video game enemies of all time. I don't know that I agree with the list, and I'm sure that many people would complain about the omission of popular examples like Phanto. More interesting than the article itself, though, was something they linked -- the Wikipedia entry for Berzerk contains a section entitled Problems and Player Death Toll. Eeg.

Industry and multi-console news

New media: Alone in the Dark gameplay footage

The next issue of Game Informer has Guitar Hero IV details, including the addition of vocals and drums, a character creation system, and the ability to make your own songs and upload them.
While a rumor for now until an official announcement, we may know what the first games to come out of PlatinumGames will be. PlatinumGames is the studio formed after the closure of Clover (actually it was Seeds first, but then they changed it).
Gamestop reports that 64% of their GTA4 sales were for the 360 version.
GTA4 is still on top on the newest UK sales chart, where the game has broken the one million units sold mark.
GameTrailers offers some explanation for their recent GRID comparison video goof.
GameCareerGuide points out three novice mistakes in game design.
Erin "EA Spouse" Hoffman says that EA is "tremendously reformed", but quality of life is still an issue in the game industry.
Uwe Boll says he's "the right guy" to make a GTA movie.
The Gambit Game Lab blog talks about the concern that GDC is getting a little too flashy. "With E3 gone, GDC is in danger of ceasing to be a conference and openly becoming a convention, which I think might be a horrible mistake."
Venture Beat talks about "funware" as a threat to traditional video games. "Funware" being a term for "applications with game-like mechanics and game-like behavior" such as the Google Image Labeler.
This Flickr photoset compares photos of New York sights to their equivalents in Liberty City.

PC and mobile news

New demos: Lego Indiana Jones, Heresy War
New patches: Assassin's Creed 1.02, Rainbow Six Vegas 2 1.02, World of Warcraft 2.4.2, Guitar Hero III 1.3

The Wall Street Journal reports that Dell is phasing out the XPS line.
Registration has begun for the Requiem: Bloodymare open beta.
Episode One of Penny Arcade Adventures will be available on May 21.
Two new pirate classes are coming to Pirates of the Burning Sea.
PopCap's latest project has a budget of $1 million, which is a record for casual game development.

Nintendo news

Viva Pinata: Pocket Paradise is a DS version of the original game, coming sometime this holiday season.
Europe's WiiWare launch line-up has been announced.
A sequel to LostWinds is already underway.
Virtual Console Database tells you how many blocks you'll need for the various WiiWare releases.
Amazon's deal of the day is Major League Baseball 2K8 Fantasy All-Stars for $14.99.

Sony news

New media: Metal Gear Solid 4 theatrical trailer

IGN has an interview with Ted Price about Resistance 2.
Agetec is bringing PS2 RPG Falling Stars to America.
There's a rumor that Sony will issue a firmware update to fix GTA4 problems.
A mock-up screen showing TV shows being sold on the Playstation Store is briefly visible in a new PS3 ad.
Amazon has Crush for $14.99.

Microsoft news

New media: Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts screenshots and trailer, Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise screenshots and gameplay footage, Too Human screenshots and trailer, Fable 2 screenshots
New content: Rock Band tracks

If you hadn't guessed, Microsoft has officially revealed Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts and Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise.
CVG has an interview with Rare about the new Banjo.
Lode Runner is coming to Live Arcade.
Episode One of Penny Arcade Adventures is coming to the Live Marketplace on May 21.
Too Human has been dated for August 19 in North America and August 29 in Europe.
Fable 2 has been given the vague release window of "this holiday."
Gears of War 2 will include "new weapon-specific executions."
Atlus USA is bringing Zoids Assault to the 360 on August 26.
A 13 year old boy has been convicted of fraud after he stole his dad's credit card to pay for a $30,000 shopping spree ending with two hookers and a game of Halo in a motel room. "The escort girls who were released without charge, told the arresting officers something was up when the kids said they would rather play Xbox than get down to business."
Amazon has the Rock Band drum set for $48.99.

Monday Newspost for May 12, 2008

2008-05-12T22:20:56Z

Screenshots from Banjo Kazooie 3 and Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise have been leaked, ahead of their official debut at the Spring Showcase tomorrow. Though most of the Banjo shots focus on vehicles, Rare is quick to point out that the game isn't a kart racer. "You can't really tell the gameplay mechanics from a screenshot, and it's the gameplay mechanics which are going to blow people away tomorrow."

Industry and multi-console news

In reference to EA's possible buyout of Take Two, Rockstar's Sam Houser says he has no problem with becoming a "much smaller fish in much bigger pond."
EA has announced Skate 2 for the 360 and PS3.
Marvelous Entertainment will be bringing a number of titles to the US through a publishing agreement with XSEED Games, the first of which being Valhalla Knights 2 for PSP.
Tory MP David Ruffley says there is a failure to crack down on the sale of violent videogames to children.
Blizzard has announced Blizzcon 2008, set for October 10 and 11.
GameTrailers has gotten itself in a bit of trouble by doing another one of their pointless comparison videos between the PS3 and 360 versions of a game (in this case, GRID), except they used PS3 footage for both sides. And somehow the "PS3" side was made to look worse.
A modified version of the game Full Spectrum Warrior is being used to help Iraq War veterans deal with post-traumatic stress disorder.
The Medal of Homer trailer for the Simpsons Game won in the best video game trailer category at this year's Golden Trailer Awards.
An 11 year old Kentucky boy sold his bicycle and video game collection to fund Hilary Clinton's campaign. Preview of next week: His social studies class gets to the chapter on the electoral delegate system and he screams AW SHIT

PC and mobile news

New content: GRID demo

PMOG is a passive multiplayer online game one plays while surfing the Internet, via a Firefox browser extension.
OGPlanet has announced the first Invitational Tournament for Albatross18.
Bit-Tech has more on the mini-controversy between ATI, Ubisoft and Nvidia over Assassin's Creed and DirectX 10.1 support.
Amazon has Star Wars: The Best of PC for $27.99. The box contains Empire at War, Knights of the Old Republic, Battlefront, Jedi Knight II and Republic Commando.

Nintendo news

This week's Virtual Console title is the blackest game for the most brutal of all game players... NOOOOOTTTHIIIINNNNGGGG
But the Nintendo Channel DS demos have changed, at least. However, that does mean they removed most of the old ones.
Wired has an interview with Shigeru Miyamoto, in which he says America "has always been better at creating unique products."
Next Generation talks to WiiWare developers about their experiences with the service.
Activision has announced Pitfall: The Big Adventure for the Wii.
Epicenter Studios has announced Real Heroes: Firefighters for the Wii.
Gamasutra has an interview with the developers of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King.
There's a DS game to teach you just about anything in Japan, including suggestions on how to play with a child. The example seen in the screenshot from the article is to dress up like a ghost and chase the kid around.
You can also be trained to run a convenience store. This is actually a new installment in a series of simulation games in Japan, but they tacked on the word Training because everybody's doing it.
A German Sega website is claiming that Skies of Arcadia 2 is coming to the Wii.
Amazon has Viewtiful Joe 2 for $5.84.

Sony news

Downloadable content for Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds is coming later this week.
Metal Gear Solid 4 has gotten its first review: a 10/10 from the UK's Official Playstation Magazine.
Kaz Hirai believes "there was some confusion as to what PS3 was initially -- some of the third parties didn’t understand and they wanted to scale back a little and see how things went before they really put in their resources."
Amazon's deal of the day is Sega Rally Revo for $29.99.

Microsoft news

New content: Burnout Paradise revised Bogart patch

This week's Live Arcade title will be Assault Heroes 2.
After being revealed in the database of the German ratings board, Microsoft has confirmed that Ticket to Ride is coming to Live Arcade.
Alongside the screenshot leaks mentioned above, in Microsoft's materials for tomorrow's event there's also mention of items called Lips and Ninja Blade, but no one knows what they are.
Major Nelson says that GTA4 has a 40% attach rate with new 360s.
Amazon's deal of the day is Sega Rally Revo for $29.99.

New Releases for the Week of May 11, 2008

2008-05-12T18:26:56Z

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (PS3, 360, PS2, Wii, DS, PC) - Coming out at the end of the week to coincide with the release of the movie, so you'll have a few more days to wait before getting in on the magic adventures of Jesus the Animorph. $59.99 on the PS3 and 360, $49.99 on the Wii, $29.99 on the DS, PS2 and PC.
We Ski (Wii) - A skiing game that supports the Wii balance board -- once we get it. $29.99 at Amazon.
Deca Sports (Wii) - An odd combination of sports games ranging from basketball to kart racing to figure skating. $29.99 at Amazon.
Myst (DS) - If you're one of the five people left on the planet to have not played Myst, you might not want to pop that cherry on a version with a 53% Gamerankings score. $29.79 at Amazon.
Castle of Shikigami III (Wii) - An old fashioned vertically scrolling shooter. $29.99 at Amazon.
Drone Tactics (DS) - A tactical RPG with robot bugs, what else could you want. $29.99 at Amazon.

Aside from Prince Caspian and a couple low end PC games, this is pretty much Nintendo Week -- not just for the titles above, but also because today is the launch of WiiWare in America. Wired has a guide to all the titles debuting with the service. The rest of the international release list can be seen at Gamasutra.

Weekend Newspost for May 11, 2008

2008-05-12T03:52:51Z

1up has another round of the worst video game box art.

Industry and multi-console news

New media: Facebreaker trailers

EA has secured a one billion dollar loan for a potential buyout of Take Two.
Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li has been given a release date of February 17, 2009.
The newest episode of GameTrailersTV features coverage of the upcoming Ghostbusters game.
Gamespot has a feature on making superhero games. Unfortunately, movie tie-ins can mean more than they ought to -- The Incredible Hulk Ultimate Destruction sold "not nearly as well" as the earlier Hulk game based on the movie.
EA is purchasing Rupture, a social networking site made by the guy who created Napster.
GameSetWatch has an opinion piece on being a gamer and coming to grips with adulthood.
Here's Scorpion's new look from Mortal Kombat vs. DC. Thrilling.
Chris Hind has scans of the first issue of TV Gamer magazine from 1983.
In honor of Mother's Day which is already over by the time you read this, Destructoid lists the best video game moms.
Kezins has a summary of Niko Bellic's background from before GTA4 begins.
You can watch video of a GTA4 bit on Saturday Night Live from the most recent episode, but if you drive a nail into your foot it will be funnier.
The Escapist looks at the changing world of game difficulty. " Once upon a time, games were competitors. Now, primarily, they're entertainers. They aimed to beat you. Now, to be beaten."
Flash of Steel has a series of posts about significant ancient-themed strategy games.
BOB is a device for parents that can be programmed to shut off a TV or game system after a certain period of time, to give kids a hard limit on how much they can watch/play. Only cold, emotionless machines can control your children.
Slate has an article on "what GTA4 gets right about gangland and illegal economies," written by a professor of sociology and African-American studies at Columbia University.
N'Gai Croal laments that mainstream game reviews are missing the gameplay. "Mainstream critics must sum up an experience that's anywhere from six to 100 hours long-one that's fundamentally non-narrative, as we keep insisting--in the same amount of space or less that's devoted to 90-120-minute movie. The end result is a review where so much effort has been spent distilling the game into something that's understandable to non-gamers that no-one ever asks how truthful the distillation is."
British Gaming Blog lists the ten best games never released in Europe. You didn't get Final Fantasy VI, Chrono Trigger or Super Mario RPG? Man, being European sucks.

PC and mobile news

GameTap now has a page specifically focused on their indie games.

Nintendo news

New media: Professor Layton and the Mysterious Time Machine art and screenshots

EA has announced Skate It for the Wii and DS.
The New York Times describes the World Ends With You as "one of the best role playing games ever designed for anything."
People with too much time and energy have created a functioning giant NES controller/coffee table.
Platypus Comix looks at one of those How to Draw The Legend of Zelda books.
Zelda Informer writes about the message of Majora's Mask. Disclaimer: I can't personally vouch for it because I don't want to read a lengthy essay about a game I haven't even played yet.
Yes, I haven't played Majora's Mask, yes, I must be a horrible person.

Sony news

Gamespost has a Q&A postmortem with the developers of Chains of Olympus.
Amazon and Gamestop have God of War III available for pre-order, claiming a March 2 release date.
Hideo Kojima responds to claims that he was disappointed in the graphics of MGS4. "Westerners do not have a tradition of modesty. And so, the statements are translated correctly, but the original meaning is totally different. And those statements are on a totally different website and the meaning totally changes." Yeah Kotaku, this is totally a "PR disaster", thanks for your awesome input.

Microsoft news

New media: First Gears of War 2 gameplay footage -- Also available on the Live Marketplace

People with Vista Premium can stream Netflix movies to their 360s. It's not an official feature, though.

The Error Macro Video Gallery - Tuning

2008-05-10T16:40:23Z

A while back people starting making hacked Mario World levels that could be completed without ever touching the controller, just by letting Mario get guided around by the environment. Naturally that's not good enough, so now we need an 11 minute level that doesn't have to be touched and plays along to music. There are a number of songs in there, unfortunately most of them are themes from one anime or another.

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Another in a continuing effort to find different ways to play game music: The Tetris theme on bottles.

Force Dynamics takes a motion simulation rig normally used with realistic driving sims and customizes it for Mario Kart.

Gran Turismo creator Kazunori Yamauchi proves he's not just some geeky programmer by driving the Nissan GT-R around the Nurburgring -- wet, no less -- at 193 miles an hour. Yamauchi actually helped design the information screens in the GT-R, and Nissan gave him one of his own for his efforts.

The cliche is that there's a legion of basement-dwelling American dorks who make it their life's goal to move to Glorious Nippon where women will love and accept them for being gamers instead of being repulsed because they don't shower. Judging by the crowd reactions in this video, maybe they should be setting their sights on Korea, instead. As long as they know how to use a PSI Storm.

If you can overlook the goofy presentation, this episode of Famicom Dojo has some interesting information about NES hardware, including a demonstration showing that many NES carts consisted of nothing more than the Famicom version of the game attached to an adapter.

I'll end this post with something I can't embed here, so a link will have to do: Full episodes of Starcade, "TV's first video arcade game show" from the early '80s. It's a fairly straightforward contest for the highest score (as high a score as you can manage in a piddling 40 seconds, anyway), with occasional trivia questions to determine who gets to pick the game. Given how simple and oftentimes derivative arcade games were back then, you have to feel bad for the guys tasked with creating commentary for each game featured on the show. All this time I thought Xevious involved shooting at little flipping squares, when apparently you actually "encounter forces beyond your imagination, like the deadly Bacula resistor shields! A flotilla of floating mirrors!"

Friday Newspost for May 9, 2008

2008-05-09T23:59:06Z

Insert Credit points out SuperPCEngineGrafx.com's collection of PC Engine system card warning screens -- screens that would appear if you attempted to play a CD game without the proper system card. It's somewhat remarkable to see the number of times developers went through the trouble of creating original art, sometimes even animated, for what amounts to a simple error message.

Industry and multi-console news

Pirates of the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski has been confirmed as director of the BioShock movie. "We're prepared to make it an R-rated movie. I don’t intuitively see it as PG-13. The content and the graphic nature of the story itself is smarter than that. It's not for young kids."
Activision has announced Call of Duty 5 for fiscal 2009. They add that this game will take place in "a new military theater."
Activision claims they are two weeks away from revealing a "significant leap forward in innovation " for the Guitar Hero franchise. Gee, I wonder what it could be.
Next Generation has the new European sales charts and GTA4 is on top of all of them.
Not a day after reports that Sony was in danger of losing it, it's been announced that Codemasters has secured the Formula 1 license.
Atari has been delisted by Nasdaq.
A game based on the new James Bond film Quantum of Solace is in the works, using Call of Duty 4's engine.
A Battlefield Bad Company demo is coming June 5.
Eurogamer cites a "credible industry source" in reporting that Realtime Worlds bought back the rights to their upcoming MMO All Points Bulletin so they could try to sell it to Rockstar as GTA Online. Realtime Worlds was founded by David Jones, who helped create the GTA series.
Next week's Rock Band tracks come from Blondie, the Clash, and Sonic Youth. The latter track, Kool Thing, was previously seen in Guitar Hero III.
Gamasutra summarizes Neils Clark's talk on game addiction from the recent Games for Health conference.
MSNBC's list of the top 5 hardest levels in video games is adorable. I kept clicking through expecting the obligatory Battletoads Turbo Tunnel mention, and instead it ends on Clubhouse Games.
Game Politics has an interview with Nebraska congressman Lee Terry, who is a co-sponsor of the new bill that would require retailers to check IDs for M and AO rated games.
FASA founder Jordan Weisman talks about the need for game developers to practice "planned parenthood" with their creations. "They don't adequately prepare for the baby they're about to give birth to. So they make a single thing. They make a movie, they make a game, and they don't know any more about their world and what's in that world than what's in the game. Then in the happy circumstance the game becomes enormously popular, all of a sudden they're going to be making a lot more. And they're caught behind the eight ball, frantically trying to write into a background of what's already there."
GameFly has opened a new distribution center in Austin, Texas.

PC and mobile news

After carefully considering the input from everyone in the whole world who told them their SecuROM plan was retarded, BioWare has changed the way authentication will work with Mass Effect. The game will now authenticate once and will only require another connection if the player downloads new game content.
Burnout Paradise is coming to the PC.
EA Mythic says that Warhammer Online has been designed for five years of content. "What you don't want is when you launch the game you've got 40 levels - and it takes however long it takes to get to level 40. You then launch an expansion and it now takes two weeks to get to level 40 because now we need everyone to spend six months to get from level 40 to 50."
Tech Report talks to Ubisoft about the recent issue involving Assassin's Creed and DX10.1 -- namely, that DX10.1 in the game was found to improve performance, but then Ubisoft announced their new patch would take it out.
Rock, Paper, Shotgun talks to the developers of Stalin vs. Martians. "The dullest people are Russian publishers, who have no sense of humour at all and invest money in serious WWII titles, worn-out IPs and cheap adventure games. It is a very hopeless situation and I think that the Jews are involved somehow."
The embargo has lifted, so lots of new WoW: Wrath of the Lich King information and previews have been released, along with several videos.

Nintendo news

The DS will get an exclusive Tony Hawk game in 2008 as part of a "reinvention" of the franchise. Haven't the last two or three games been reboots?
GameCyte talks to the creators of Homestar Runner about Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People.
Guitar Hero On Tour will be available bundled with a DS.
Kombo believes they have their hands on concept art from the new Kid Icarus game. I'm not so sure.
Reef Entertainment has announced Rogue Trooper: The Quartz Zone Massacre for the Wii.
GameFly's "coming soon" database mentions two games not yet confirmed for the US: Exit DS and Legend of Kage 2.
The newest Iwata Asks column reveals some odd information from Shigeru Miyamoto, including his surprising support of the FPS genre. "At first when we were developing The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, I even proposed using a first-person perspective. I thought that the FPS system would be the best way of enabling players to take in the vast terrain of the Hyrule Field." Iwata also suggests that perhaps westerners take to FPS games better than the Japanese because "people who were traditionally hunters would have a better understanding of using space, whereas people who were traditionally farmers might not."
Amazon's deal of the day is Driver: Parallel Lines for $9.99.

Sony news

New media: Killzone 2 trailer

The Gran Turismo series has shipped over 50 million units worldwide.
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe president David Reeves, who apparently just can't stop being honest lately, admits he'd like to see more games on the PSP.
Valhalla Knights 2 has been announced for a fall release.
In addition to their still ongoing Star Wars retrospectives, GameTrailers has now released part one of their Metal Gear retrospective.
A new ESRB entry suggests Suikoden is coming to the Playstation Store.

Microsoft news

New media: Ninja Gaiden II screenshots
New content: Timeshift map pack

New information on Banjo Kazooie 3 is coming next week.
Remember that the first footage of Gears of War 2 goes up at 1up tonight at 10:30 PM PST, and it will be on the Live Marketplace a half hour later.
A plane ticket found on the Rockstar Social Club website has sparked a rumor that GTA4 DLC will involve going to San Andreas.
Bizarre has no plans for future PGR4 content.
Amazon has Devil May Cry 4 for $49.99.

Thursday Newspost for May 8, 2008

2008-05-09T00:01:19Z

We haven't been given the rights to use this Resident Evil art to hock our gun peripheral. But it would look so good.. Wait! I know how we can use it and never get caught -- slightly longer hair! Perfect.

Industry and multi-console news

New media: Saints Row 2 trailer

An FTC study found that only 20% of under-17 kids were able to buy M-rated games. Game Politics has reactions to the report from the usual people.
New game announcements: Pandemic's The Lord of the Rings: Conquest, Sierra's The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, and THQ with an unnamed game based on the Marvel Super Hero Squad.
New legislation in Congress proposes that retailers check IDs for anyone attempting to buy an M or AO rated game.
JoBlo has an interview with the wrtier for the Street Fighter movie. It's a good read and answers a number of questions (from "why not focus on Ryu" to "will this one have a shower scene") and it threatens to make me actually interested in this movie.
GTA4 has been delayed in India due to global shortages.
Eidos has confirmed new Hitman and Tomb Raider games.
Someone on the Age of Conan official forums has started a petition for the option to turn nudity off (in a game full of horrible violence), because we needed a more crystalline example of America's bizarre double standards of decency. Even better: The post is signed "Thanks & God Bless."
Ed Boon says that Mortal Kombat vs. DC will still having finishing moves, they just won't be the ultraviolent fatalities the series is known for.
Gameplayer looks at the issue of drug use in professional gaming.
Rockstar has released a GTA4 multiplayer guide.
A writer at the Arizona Daily Star questions a member of the Parents Television Council about claims that GTA4 gives you points for driving drunk.
Vinny Caravella is leaving Gamespot. I don't know that you can fit this in with the Gerstmann thing by this point.
Infendo has an interview with Tommy Tallarico about the Video Games Live concert series.
Racketboy has collected a gallery of the best Samurai Shodown fanart.
MST3K's Bill Corbett links to a series of Still Alive videos. Nothing you haven't seen a million times before, it's just so odd that Bill Corbett is the one doing it. Worlds are colliding.
GameDaily tells you how to dress like Niko Bellic.
Best Buy has a coupon for $10 off when you buy $75 worth of video games or game accessories.

PC and mobile news

New GameTap titles: Alpha Prime, Chameleon Games, Flip Words 2
New content: The Lost Cases of Sherlock Holmes demo, Battlefield 2142 beta 1.50 patch

Gizmodo compares the Razer and SteelSeries sets of gaming gear to see if they can improve one's scores.
Spacetime Studios has acquired the rights to their MMO Blackstar from NCSoft. NCSoft cancelled plans to publish the game earlier this year, so now Spacetime has the game to themselves and can look for a new publisher.
The release of the Witcher: Duelmail has been delayed by a few days.
Ars Technica talks about Blizzard's case against the Glider World of Warcraft bot, and why it's bad for copyright law. "The issue is whether or not Glider is breaking any laws, and Blizzard is hoping that by stretching the boundaries of what constitutes copyright infringement, it can get MDY shut down. If Blizzard succeeds, it could set a very dangerous precedent."
You can now install homebrew games on your Zune.
Everyday Shooter is now available on Steam.
EVE Online players are getting a surprise gift to celebrate the game's fifth anniversary.

Nintendo news

Former Nintendo president and certified crazy old man Hiroshi Yamauchi has become the wealthiest man in Japan.
Shacknews summarizes the history of American fan support for the Earthbound series and Nintendo's insistence on ignoring all of it.
A GameSetWatch article focuses on what pretty much everyone else ignored about Mario Galaxy: Rosalina's storybook and what it means for storytelling in games.
IGN's Matt Casamassina seems really convinced that Kid Icarus is coming to the Wii.
A Top Chef game is in the works for the Wii.
EA is making a Wii fitness game that will focus on more "western" cardio-vascular workouts instead of "eastern holistic fitness."
It was inevitable: A Haruhi Suzimiya dancing game is coming to the Wii in Japan. If you don't know what that means, count your blessings and keep on walking.

Sony news

New game: Rocketmen: Axis of Evil
New content: PixelJunk Monsters Encore expansion, Rock Band tracks, Guitar Hero III tracks
New demos: Haze, GRID, The Bourne Conspiracy, SOCOM: Fireteam Bravo 2

Next Generation has an interview with the developer of MotorStorm Pacific Rift.
Sony is now selling a headset with remote control for the PSP for use with Skype.
SCEE president David Reeves admits that Home was too ambitious with non-gaming applications, and that's what has caused the game's delays.
He also mentions why Europe gets games after the US: Companies don't have incentive to translate beyond English during the development process. "You're absolutely right, we should do it at the beginning. But they look at it like, 'How much can I get for a Dutch version of the game?'"
LittleBigPlanet is definitely not getting an open beta.
Destructoid lists the 10 most anticipated PS3 games of 2008.
Vampire Rain has been confirmed for the PS3. It was released on the 360 last year to, uh.. rave reviews.
There's a rumor that Daxter and Wipeout Pulse will be ported to the PS2, which would surprise no one.
The Playstation Blog is doing Free Card Friday for Eye of Judgment again.
PS3 owners will also be getting the cheap Rock Band tracks previously mentioned for the 360.
TG Daily reports the rumor that Sony is in a dispute with Formula 1 over the cost of renewing the Formula 1 license.
Amazon's deal of the day is High School Musical: Sing it! Bundle for $19.99. They also have Syphon Filter: Logan's Shadow for $23.39.

Microsoft news

New content: GRID demo

Microsoft claims that sales of the 360 rose 54% due to GTA4.
GameVideos will have exclusive Gears of War 2 gameplay footage this Friday at 10:30 PM PST.
Costume packs for Ninja Gaiden II will be coming in July for 200 points each.
Erotic game TimeLeap is getting ported to the 360 in Japan, minus the erotic bits.

Wednesday Newspost for May 7, 2008

2008-05-07T23:07:44Z

Cross Edge is an upcoming PS3 RPG made with the collaboration of Nippon Ichi, Gust, Namco Bandai, Idea Factory, and Capcom. The game will feature characters from Darkstalkers, Disgaea, Ar Tonelico and more. God only knows if we'll ever see it.

Industry and multi-console news

New media: Far Cry 2 introductory trailer, Incredible Hulk screenshots, Lego Batman trailer and screenshots featuring Two Face

id Software has announced that they are developing Doom 4.
Take Two has called the launch of GTA4 the "largest launch in the history of interactive entertainment" with 3.6 million units sold worldwide in the first day and six million total going in the first week.
The new Australian and UK sales charts are out, and imagine that, GTA4 is on top of both of them.
Take Two chairman Strauss Zelnick was on CNBC and said that there were no glitches in the game. Except, y'know, the ones people are complaining about.
EA Sports has launched the Freestyle sub-brand, focusing on more casual sports games.
Next Generation has excerpts from interview with Fallout 3 lead designer and lead writer Emil Pagliarulo. The full interview can be heard in this Game Theory podcast.
Bethesda has hired Inon Zur to compose the Fallout 3 soundtrack. In addition to sounding like a supervillain, Zur has previously worked soundtracks for games like Crysis and Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones.
Mike Tyson is returning to video games as one of the fighters alongside Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard in Fight Night Round 4.
THQ is cutting 200 jobs, most of them people working on last gen platforms.
Gamasutra has an article on the value of texture in video games. Not meaning "those pictures you put on polygons."
THQ has signed a deal to make a game based on DreamWorks Animation's Master Mind, a movie that isn't coming out until November 2010.
They've also announced WWE Legends of WrestleMania for the 360 and PS3.
Anascape has filed patent-infringement suits against Nintendo and Microsoft for various patents involving analog pressure sensors.
Square Enix is releasing Final Fantasy XI 2008 Edition for the PC and 360 on May 23. The pack contains the core game and all the expansions.
Game Politics has some analysis of why Activision left the ESA.
Three Rock Band tracks will be included with copies of the 11th season of South Park on DVD.
The Japanmanship blog answers questions about working in the Japanese game industry.
Stride Gum is offering a coupon for a free pack of gum to everyone who signs the StopUweBoll.org petition if it reaches one million signatures by May 14. This is one of the odder marketing moves I've seen.
Mirrors Edge, the trailer for which debuted yesterday, will be powered by Unreal Engine 3.
PSM3 has revived the Beyond Good and Evil 2 rumor with no real evidence or source to back it up.
Some guy was calling around SNK USA trying to get Card Fighter DS replaced, and ended up leaving a message on company president Ben Herman's machine. Herman responded and did offer to help resolve the issue, but didn't exactly do himself any favors by also saying "As far as customer service, we have a very small sales office here. We don't pride ourselves in customer service."
Brian Crecente writes about his 70-year old father getting into GTA4.

PC and mobile news

New content: Nvidia 175.16 beta drivers, Sango 2 demo

Nvidia has plans to simplify its gaming product range.
I didn't mention it yesterday, but Spore will also be using the Internet check anti-piracy protection that Mass Effect has.
FileFront is giving away 50,000 copies of SAGA.
The Lord of the Rings Online is having a Welcome Back Weekend, when old players are given the opportunity to come back on and play with their old characters for free.
Osu! is a free PC game based on Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan! aka Elite Beat Agents. The game includes a built-in editor so people can create their own beatmaps.

Nintendo news

The Nintendo Channel has been launched and is available for download now. The service offers videos of upcoming games along with downloadable demos for the DS. It's a little silly that you have to agree to share your usage data to access the demos.
This week's Zero Punctuation video is a response to all the hate mail he got from the Brawl review.
If the Pay to Play logo on the box is correct, Samba de Amigo could be getting downloadable content.
Majesco has announced Zoo Hospital for the Wii.
Dr. Mario Online Rx is the official name of Dr. Mario on WiiWare, and the price has been set at $10.
USA Today talks to Steven Spielberg about Boom Blox. "There is a continental divide in my own house between what I play and the kind of games my kids play. I wanted something that would bring the family together in the same room, standing shoulder to shoulder with four different controllers."
Peter Moore really could've used a better analogy to describe EA's Wii game brand All Play. "It's like how swimming pools have a deep end and a shallow end. EA Sports has really only built a swimming pool with a deep end. It's intimidating for a lot of people to jump right in the deep end. With All-Play, we're building a shallow end."

Sony news

New media: Secret Agent Clank opening cinematic, Killzone 2 screenshots

A PS3 ad from British retailer PC World has been found to be misleading because it claimed that the PS3 could play all PS2 games.
Rockstar has released a patch for GTA4.
A demo for Haze is coming tomorrow, and so is PixelJunk Monsters.
GameFly has a listing for a PS2 fighting game called Shining Dragon, leading Siliconera to wonder if "battle damage" fighter Ikki Tousen: Shining Dragon could be coming to America.
The US and Japan are getting DualShock 3s with their MGS4 console bundles; Europe is stuck with the Sixaxis in theirs.
SCEE President David Reeves thinks you will "probably see" downloadable content for GTA4 on the PS3.
Sony has trademarked the name Qore in reference to an "interactive online magazine and entertainment in the field of video games."
Siren: Blood Curse is an episodic game series coming to the PS3 starting this summer. And to think I cashed in my menstruation joke ticket for yesterday's newspost.
Amazon has Call of Duty 3 (PS3) for $29.99.

Microsoft news

New Live Arcade title: Wits & Wagers

Two million GTA4 achievements were unlocked in the game's first 24 hours of availability.
MTV Multiplayer breaks down the cost of the 360's 120 gig hard drive.
The guy who did the music for Omega Five says that the situation for music in Live Arcade games is getting better. "When the service first started, we either had to limit the number of the tracks or use built-in synth to play each tune in order to accommodate the capacity restrictions. I think that most of these technical problems can be solved now because of recent improvements in the technology."
Amazon's deal of the day is Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom for $25.99.

Tuesday Newspost for May 6, 2008

2008-05-07T00:15:17Z

The Street Fighter movie blog has the first photo of Detective Maya Sunee, a new character created specifically for the film. She's played by actress Moon Bloodgood, a name that could only be chosen because Menses McLunadruid was already taken.

In unrelated news, a note to Game Politics. Yes, Glenn Beck called video game bloggers "losers." Since you seem to be unfamiliar, this is a tactic known as "trolling." Trolling, much like junk mail, is broad, unfocused, substanceless and only effective when responded to, and thus best left discarded, unexamined. I know that regular appearance on TV can be confused with merit, but remind yourself that this is a man who describes Hilary Clinton as "Stalin in a pantsuit" and, even more damning, hosts the lead-in program to Nancy Grace.

Industry and multi-console news

New media: Mirror's Edge trailer

Grand Theft Auto IV sold 926,000 units in its first week in the UK, with 631,000 of those going in the first 24 hours.
Take Two is suing the Chicago Transit Authority over their decision to pull ads for GTA4.
Gamasutra features all over the place: lessons learned from four grad students who made over 50 games in one semester, Ask the Experts tells you how to practice game design on the cheap, and Design Lesson 101: Crysis teaches that once you give the player the power to choose, you shouldn't take it away.
Uwe Boll is suing Billy Zane, claiming Zane did not hold up his end of a deal that was supposed to put Bloodrayne in 2,000 theaters (it ended up opening in 950).
GameCareerGuide has an article on the history of physics in mass market games.
Decision Problem wonders if games can create meaning.
Trivia question for your next cocktail party: Which Pulitzer Prize-winning novel contains Street Fighter and RPG references?
1up talks to various game designers about how they handle death in games.

PC and mobile news

New content: Audiosurf update

Warcraft III, the Frozen Throne expansion, and Starcraft Anthology are now being sold as downloads from Blizzard's online store.
Postal III will be coming to Linux.
The people who made the 2D web game Portal: The Flash Version are now offering a Portal map pack with all the stages from the Flash game made into real Portal maps.
There's a lengthy thread on the Mass Effect forums concerning the kind of copy protection the game will use. Good: The game doesn't require the disc to be in the drive when playing. Bad: Instead, the game has to connect to the Internet every 10 days.
The Harvard Business Review talks about how people are honing their leadership skills in MMOs.
Illinois Congressman Mark Kirk warns that Second Life is a danger to children.

Nintendo news

The ESRB has rated Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen for the DS, confirming the remake's full title.
A group of fans are working on an unofficial Pokemon MMO that will no doubt be shut down very soon.
GameSniped points out a number of incredibly rare Nintendo items up for sale on Ebay right now, including the only known copy of the PowerFest ‘94 Competition Super Nintendo.
Amazon has sold out of its Wii Fit pre-orders, with approximately 2.5 units going every minute.
Ubisoft is bringing 3D top-down vertical scrolling shooter Protöthea to WiiWare.
At least one person has already complained that Wii Fit called her daughter overweight. "She is 92lbs and 4ft9" tall and there is not an inch of fat on her. She is solidly built but not fat."
Amazon's deal of the day is New York Times Crosswords for $9.99.

Sony news

New media: Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm screenshots, Motorstorm 2 screenshots

The official name for Motorstorm's sequel is Motorstorm 2: Pacific Rift, set on an island inspired by Hawaii.
Killzone 2 has been delayed to February 2009, while LittleBigPlanet has been pushed back to October.
Secret Agent Clank has been dated for June 17.
Kaz Hirai admits that the PS3's first year wasn't great. "There were some teething problems, success from our competitors, and our customers were a little underwhelmed by the range of titles that were available."
Sony says they have sold more PS3s than Microsoft has sold 360s in Europe.
Gamasutra looks at the positives and negatives of the Playstation Network as it stands now.
An industry source has claimed that Uncharted has been optioned for a movie adaptation. Keep in mind that "optioned" just means that they could make a movie out of it sometime in the future.
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe and Nissan have announced the GT Academy competition, which will put two Gran Turismo 5 Prologue players in a real race.
Resistance 2 will feature eight-player co-op and 60-player multiplayer.

Microsoft news

New content: Rock Band tracks

Gameplayer has a preview/interview for Halo Wars.
Each week until June 1st, two Rock Band tracks will drop to 80 points each.
A patch is in the works for Mr. Driller Online.
GTA4 is at the top of the newest Live activity charts, to the surprise of no one.
The Consumerist offers advice on the fastest way to get help with a broken 360.
NZGamer has some up-close photos of Weta's full-scale Warthog.

Newspost for 05-05-08

2008-05-05T23:52:47Z

Feel nostalgic and/or old as you celebrate the anniversary of Wolfenstein 3-D, first released on May 5, 1992. Minimum specs: A 286 with DOS 3.0 and 640k of RAM.

As a point of interest, Insert Credit notes that Sega made a sort-of first person shooter called Last Survivor in 1988.

Industry and multi-console news

Prototype has been pushed back to 2009, and Hail to the Chimp has been delayed to mid-June.
Rock Band DLC tracks are coming to the Wii and PS2 via a retail expansion disc called The Rock Band Track Pack Volume 1. It will contains 20 tracks and sell for $29.99.
Gamasutra has an interview with flOw creator Jenova Chen about his studio Thatgamecompany and why he left the Spore DS development team.
They also have an interview with Street Fighter II creator Yoshiki Okamoto. "I've graduated. You know, from the school of fighting games. I've got no desire to make them right now, so I haven't been keeping up with them at all."
That answers that: GTA4 had no discernible effect on Iron Man's opening weekend, with the film taking in over $100 million.
On the subject of learning curves, N'Gai Croal asks what's the equivalent of three frets for Madden? Or Call of Duty or GTA or whatever. "Three frets" being a reference to Guitar Hero/Rock Band's easy mode.
Pixel Park makes a simple but interesting point on the difficulties in adding details to games. "It's obvious that it is much more expensive to add even a small element to a game compared to a book, or even a movie. The manhours necessary to add something as simple as a woman on rollerblades to a game is staggering."
When Rockstar and Amazon signed a deal to let people buy songs they hear on the radio in GTA4, Amazon didn't even have 40% of the soundtrack in their inventory. This is largely due to obscurity -- for instance, Rockstar had to hire a private investigator to find the people who had the rights to Walk the Night by the Skatt Bros. so they could use it in the game.
EA has responded to comments made by the head of Activision, who said that EA sucks the souls from the studios it acquires.
As a counter to Jack Thompson's appearance, the authors of Grand Theft Childhood will be on Glenn Beck tonight at 7:00 PM EST.
The municipality of Bekasi in Indonesia is banning TV and video games for students between the hours of 7 and 9 PM, as that is time for students to "study and do their homework or face legal consequences."
New Zealand chief censor Bill Hastings says that parents aren't allowed to buy GTA4 for their children. "If a game is R18 it's R18 for a reason and it's illegal to make it available to anyone under that age."
If you wonder why THQ makes all those Nickelodeon games, it's because it's made them over a billion dollars.
A Japanese company has made a charger bracelet that can power the PSP, DS, or a number of other portable devices.
OXM reports the rumor that 2K Boston is working on a new X-Com.
Stephen Totilo notes 8 things GTA4 gets wrong about New York City. "No sensible New Yorker uses a car as their primary means of transportation in the city, unless — maybe — they commute from the suburbs."

PC and mobile news

Rock, Paper, Shotgun has a retrospective on Kingpin: Life of Crime.
Funcom has laid out their initial ideas for rules for the role-playing servers in Age of Conan. "'I’m just roleplaying a homicidal maniac' is not an excuse for harassing, griefing, etc., other players."
Lego Universe has a story, apparently. And not just any story, but an "overarching epic storyline about the origins of LEGO Universe and the minifigs that inhabit it."

Nintendo news

New Virtual Console titles: Pokemon Puzzle League and Renegade

In a refreshing change from all the "GTA4 ruins lives" articles currently going around, the Daily Mail runs a column from a mother of four who blames the Nintendo DS for turning her children into monsters.

Sony news

The Guardian takes a look inside Sony's London studio.
Valve says there are no plans to bring Left 4 Dead to the PS3.
Amazon's deal of the day is The Simpsons Game (PS2) for $17.99. They also have Dark Sector for $39.99, dropping a full $20 just 5 weeks after release.

Microsoft news

New content: The Bourne Conspiracy demo

This week's Live Arcade title will be Wits & Wagers.
OXM names the best Live Arcade games you're not playing.
The developers of Vigilante 8 Arcade say they're shooting for early June.

New Releases for 05-05-08

2008-05-05T18:10:34Z

Boom Blox (Wii) - Steven Spielberg's latest blockbuster. OH HO HO $49.79 at Amazon.
R-Type Command (PSP) - The side-scrolling shooter series follows the natural progression to turn-based strategy. $39.99 at Amazon.
Speed Racer (Wii, DS) - Based on the movie, of course -- if you want a game based on the original show, go find this. $49.99 on the Wii, $29.99 on the DS.
Crosswords DS (DS) - Crosswords, anagrams and word search! Be still my heart! Despite sounding like yet another crap shovelware title, this is actually first-party Nintendo, part of the Touch Generations line. $19.79 at Amazon.

And it goes further downhill from there, into Dog Island and Baseball Mogul 2009 territory. A thin week over all, but it could be worse -- Japan has no releases at all, as this is Golden Week. See the full release list at Gamasutra.