Valve has released stats for Episode One, like average completion time, number of total sessions, and average number of deaths per map. I'm not exactly sure how the average total playtime is half the average completion time.

• Sonic the Hedgehog turns 15 years old today. In celebration, Sega milks him a little more by releasing Sonic 1 to the GBA.
• EA officially announces Need For Speed Carbon.
• For $25, you will soon be able to transfer your WoW character to a different server.
• Johnny Depp will be lending his voice to the upcoming Pirates of the Caribbean game.
• The 50 worst game names in gaming history.
• Soccer fan attempts to apply for a manager position using Football Manager 2005 as his work experience.
• New screenshots for Mechassault DS.
• Photos compare the size of the Wii to.. just about everything else in the world.
• Final Fantasy III will be wifi enabled in some way. We just don't yet know what way.
• The PS3 will be the first device to use the HDMI 1.3 standard.
• In my day, we didn't have your fancy-pants "batteries." We had to hand crank our Nintendo DSes. And we liked it that way!
• Chronic Logic is offering a free contest version of their Bridge Builder game.
• Is Bill Gates learning from the mod community?
• A new Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter content pack is available on Live, for a hefty $15.
• The strange, sad story of a man pretending to be a woman playing a man in MMORPG Lineage.

Posted by Ermac at 03:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Ars Technica games blog asks, "Why should we fight to save used game sales?" Why should we care to save brick and mortar game stores at all?

• Nintendo Power suggests visuals for the Wii and Gamecube versions of Twilight Princess will be identical.
• EA buys Mythic Entertainment.
• Survey results show few Japanese gamers are willing to pay for online games.
• Next Generation lists the 30 best games coming out this summer.
• The Undertaker is a lot fruiter than I remember him.
• Phoenix Wright is still selling out, and the next printing isn't until August.
• Screengrabs from a Japanese report proving girl nerds exist. Downside: They're all into gay romance manga.
• Game Informer claims the wonky controls in Red Steel reported at E3 have been improved.
• Gamespot has a Q&A with the producer of Chromehounds.
• A collection of show how each Wii game at E3 used the controller.
• Ludologist attempts to chart how "matching tile games" (Tetris, Lumines, et al) evolved.
• Racketboy offers up a PDF scan of the first issue of Sega Visions, from summer 1991.
• A sampling of the goriest scenes in gaming history.

Posted by Ermac at 05:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

IBM has set a speed record with a chip that can run at 500 GHz when cryogenically frozen. Something tells me my stock case fans wouldn't quite manage the necessary drop to -451 degrees Fahrenheit.

• Soul Calibur 4 confirmed as.. existing in some form or another.
• Bandai Namco announces new Tales games for PSP and PS2.
• Indie game Rag Doll Kung Fu will be getting a retail version in August.
• THQ is too scared of WoW to put out their own MMORPG.
• The recently passed Louisianna game bill has been temporarily blocked by a judge while it's determined how unconstitutional the law is. Early signs say: A whole lot.
• Immersion debuts next-generation vibration for controllers that uses less power and space while simulating a wider range of feedback.
• Sony loses its case in Europe to have the PS2 classified as a computer (and earn a hefty rebate in import charges in the process).
• The VGA remake of King's Quest III is finished and ready for download.
• Superstar mode has been added in to the 360 version of Madden 07.
• Rumor: Microsoft planning 360 price drop for Christmas.
• A long interview at Nintendo Japan about Wii, NDS, the Game Boy Micro, and what Miyamoto is up to these days.
• Female gaming clans are protesting a "Miss World Series Videogames" beauty pageant.
• The Escapist asks, does the male-dominated video game culture actually exist?

Posted by Ermac at 04:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Mehrune's Razor mod for Oblivion is available now for $2.99, in case you don't already have enough weapons.

• Microsoft engineer comments on Cell's limitations.
• Eidos cancels an upcoming original Tomb Raider remake for the PSP.
• Cheap Ass Gamer charts Xbox game ratings vs. the percentage that are currently backwards compatible.
• Video: The One-Ups perform Dancing Mad.
• Best Buy is taking pre-orders on the Final Fantasy VII remake, a game that in no way officially exists in any capacity.
• 1up runs down the great ideas that changed gaming forever.
• Time declares the DS Lite gadget of the week.
• Sony's Ken Kutaragi continues with the "PS3 is a computer" bit by suggesting PS3's could be sold built-to-order with customized parts. How do I customize the part that makes it not $600?
• Red Octane says non-guitar "Hero" games are "Very likely."

Posted by Ermac at 05:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Tim Schafer wants you to write to Microsoft to request Psychonauts be made backwards compatible on the 360.

• George Broussard isn't swayed by the $500,000 offered to complete Duke Nukem Forever by the end of 2006.
• Screenshot accounts are being "delisted" (not removed, just unsearchable) on Flickr because they want the site to be about photographs.
• Laserdisc arcade classic Dragon's Lair will get a new release in August that is remastered in HD.
• Three Street Fighter II picture packs and one theme have been released on Xbox Live Marketplace. Contrary to what you might imagine, Capcom is saying this is not evidence that Hyper Fighting is coming soon.
• How to get Xbox saves on your 360, as long as you don't mind using some equipment to do it.
• New Pokemon Diamond and Pearl scans and information.
• Before you hit Ebay, read up on how to spot pirated DS carts.
• Bungie has a preview of the upcoming Halo graphic novel. Cheesecake shot of Cortana included.
• A major shipment of black DS Lite units has gone missing in Hong Kong.
• A boatload of scans from 1990 and 91 issues of Famitsu, showing early Super Famicom prototypes, and early screens of SFC games (SMW, a game called Dragonfly which would later become Pilotwings).

Posted by Ermac at 05:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

For those of you who plan on buying a DS Lite anyway, now you can grab a copy of Brain Age for free while you're at it. Circuit City and Best Buy are both offering online coupons that can be printed out and used in-store (doesn't work with online purchases) to get a free copy of Brain Age with the purchase of a DS Lite.

Circuit City coupon - expires 6/19
Best Buy coupon - expirse 6/18

Source: 1up

Posted by Ermac at 12:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A judge in New York has been accused of playing solitaire during a trial. As the article notes, in February New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg fired a city employee for playing solitaire during work hours. Doing it during a trial is just a teensy bit worse.

• The Oblivion patch has fixed some issues while apparently causing new ones.
• Best Buy is taking pre-orders for Wii games, despite none of them having solid dates.
• James Cameron's big upcoming movie and game project may not be Battle Angel, but Avatar.
• Take Two filings show 3D Realms will get a $500,000 bonus if Duke Nukem Forever is completed by the end of 2006. Good luck with that one, fellas!
• Nintendo is planning a follow-up to the Brain Age series called Common Sense Training For Adults. Sounds like a lost cause.
• THQ is bringing Tetris to the 360, because it's such a damned hard game to find.
• New scans of Super Paper Mario, Mario Hoops, Starfox Command, and more. Slippy has a girlfriend? Is that Kasumi in Super Swing Golf Pangya? People still care about Tamagotchi?
• Student websites go down because someone took out the Xbox.

Posted by Ermac at 04:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Nintendo has been granted a patent for a "messaging service for video game systems with buddy list that displays game being played." According to IGN's decryption of the legal jargon, it describes an instant messaging service that isn't specific to any one system; accounts, messages and buddy lists would be shared across multiple consoles.

Interestingly, the patent was first filed way back in 2000 (the patent office doesn't like to hurry with these things), and thus the application comes with illustrations of how the service would work with an N64. But, again, it isn't tied to any particular system. IGN also says "the patent goes to great trouble to describe the messaging service working with portable game systems, as well as working within a device which emulates other game systems." Nintendo was making provisions for emulators back in 2000?

At any rate, it's true that companies often file for patents for things that never see the light of day. But this goes to show that Nintendo does have some sort of plan in place, and honestly, it would be really silly for them to not use it or something similar.

Source: IGN

Posted by Ermac at 01:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The game is titled, I swear to God, Freshly-picked Tingle's Pink-colored Rupee Land. The game has immediately been nominated for Greatest Title In Video Game History.

I can't tell what the game is about, but given the counter in the upper right corner it seems like he has to collect a million rupees, maybe? Probably by doing lots of little quests for townsfolk and such. Who cares, it's got Tingle and an old man with a rupee for a head.

Source: 1up

Posted by Ermac at 12:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Here are the highlights of what's coming out today and tomorrow.

• Big Brain Academy (DS) - The next step in the Brain Training series arrives in America. $19.99 at EB Games.
• Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (PS2) - If you're like me and didn't feel like playing this on a small screen with a weird analog nub, now it's on the PS2. And it's only $19.99 at EB Games.
• Magnetica (DS) - A Puzz Loops game for your DS just in case you haven't played Zuma enough already. $34.99 at EB Games.
• The Movies: Stunts and Effects (PC) - An expansion for The Movies which may possibly add stunts and/or effects. $29.99 at EB Games.
• Gradius Collection (PSP) - Gradius I through IV and the never before released in the US Gradius Gaiden, all in one pack. If you haven't emulated them all already, anyway. $39.99 at EB Games.

The rest of the list can be found here.

Posted by Ermac at 03:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I'm getting the news out the door early because omg omg Half Life 2: Episode One is out NOW.

• Andy Serkis' mortgage leads him to star in Heavenly Sword.
• Game critics have chosen their best of E3 awards, if you care about that sort of thing.
• Amsterdam drug addiction center opens up game addiction ward.
• Eight year Duke Nukem Forever team member leaves the studio. I hope this isn't a sign the game's in some kind of trouble.
• Phil Harrison calls claims of Sony ripping off Nintendo "stupid", says the PS3 is a computer and "We do not need the PC." Also, he's a nut.
• IGN relaunches their Dreamcast section, for some reason.
• If you didn't immediately storm every store in your city on the news that the DS Lite was available yesterday, you can use this map to find stores near you that have them.
• Isn't it weird hearing a story from Xbox's Major Nelson about his quest to acquire a DS Lite?
• The AV Club lists 11 of video games strangest moments.
• World of Warcraft has a higher MMO market share than all other MMO games combined.
• I'd say that if you have to explain why your screenshots looked like crap, you probably shouldn't have released them to begin with.

Posted by Ermac at 03:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Games First has a new preview of Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, and one particular bit of information sticks out as a potential problem.

Players will be able to switch between Charlotte and Jonathan at any time. There will be times when both characters will be needed simultaneously to solve various puzzles or tag team enemies with attack combos. When both characters are on the screen at the same time, players will be able to control the movement of the active character with the D-pad, and use the stylus to control the movement of the sub-character by dragging it around the screen.

I suppose it would work with puzzles, though I don't like having to pull out the stylus in an action game. But using it in the middle of a fight? Just seems like a hassle to me. The Castlevania series doesn't really strike me as needing the touch screen in any way, except to perhaps manipulate a map or a puzzle. All this other stuff just seems tacked on to justify the game's presence on the DS.

Posted by Ermac at 02:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Reports are coming in from gamers across the country that certain stores in chains like Target and Wal-Mart have started selling DS Lites eleven days early. It doesn't seem to be confined to any particular area of the country, so if you're really obsessed with getting your hands on one of these things as soon as possible, head out now and try your luck.

Source: Joystiq

Posted by Ermac at 02:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The upcoming Medal of Honor Airborne will feature real, licensed, historically accurate Jeeps. Surely this is a momentous occassion, especially since you know how many of those Jeeps fly.

• Halo 3 is getting daily multiplayer testing, which I guess means it exists in some form greater than a two minute trailer.
• Eidos denies report of a next-generation Fear Effect.
• The two most popular console games in sales for the week of May 14 were both DS titles. How odd.
• Insane people roll katamari in San Francisco Bay to Breakers race.
• First screenshots of Earthworm Jim for the PSP.
• Unlockable secret modes found in the Japanese version of Street Fighter Alpha Anthology. I can't keep any of those things straight, so you'll have to read and see if they mean anything to you.
• First official info and screens for Tenchu: Time of the Assassins on the PSP.
• Has viral marketing pervaded Xbox Live? And if so, do they think anyone's going to believe that someone who describes M:I3 as "super artistic" isn't a shill?

Posted by Ermac at 05:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Attention 360 users: The Thieves Den mod is now available for Oblivion for 150 points. For the more budget conscious, the PGR3 Caddy pack is available for free, seeing as how it's basically a big ad for Cadillac anyway. If you're going to use games for advertising, at least use it to give us free cars, that's my system.

• Hitman: Blood Money PC demo available.
• PC game boxes to adopt a standard format closer to those used for console games.
• Ubisoft is developing a game based on the TV series Lost.
• Minnesota House passes a bill to fine minors who are caught buying M or AO rated games, not the retailers selling them. That's a new one.
• Peter Moore is not impressed with the PS3 controller.
• Nintendo officially announces Nintendogs: Dalmation and Friends, for those of you who couldn't be bothered to just find the fireman's hat in one of the original versions of Nintendogs.
• William Shatner wants you to buy a VIC-20.
• Miyamoto calls the PS3 controller flattering.
• Twilight Princess' Twilight Realm gets a new look.
• N-Sider has a hands on preview of Super Paper Mario.
• Bungie releases one new screenshot of Halo 3.
• IGN explains why the $499 PS3 lacking HDMI is a problem.
• Tennessee state senator kills his own bill that would have banned the sale of violent video games to anyone of any age.
• Achieve360Points.com has a handy list of all the content on the Live Marketplace. Note the statistics at the bottom, which say that buying every single thing on the Marketplace would cost you just under $900.
• Nintendo announces European DS Lite details.

Posted by Ermac at 04:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)