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Rumor: Wii Music Dated for Japan, Different Colored Straps In-Coming

Not confirmed, but Nintendo-centric Japanese blog Rambing Man has a street date for Wii Music: The game will apparently be released on October 16th for ¥5,800 (US$54) as part of the Touch Generation Series and will have Wi-Fi. Other details floating include a Japanese release date for Captain Rainbow (August 28th for ¥6,800 or $63) and Valkyrie Profile DS (October 2nd for ¥47). Oh, new Wii-mote straps, too. Make that new, colored Wii-mote straps. Priced at ¥300 a piece, they'll come in white, pink, blue and green. All four will be available for ¥1,000. Those will be out this September, says Rambling Man.

Quick show of hands: Who's interested in picking up Wii Music? Who's keen for new strap colors?

Wii Music 発売日決定 [Rambling Man via Jonnyram@GAF] [Pic]

Sony Computer Entertainment honcho Kaz Hirai is confused. Just look at his Giant Kaz Face, see how tranquilly baffled it is? That's some serious confusion. When Xbox bossman Don Mattrick said Microsoft would sell more consoles than the PS3 this generation, Hirai wasn't quite sure what that meant. How long does Microsoft think the generation is? Is the Xbox 360 going to be around for ten years like Sony claims the PS3 is? Questions, questions, questions. Here's Kaz's take:

Treyarch On The Legacy Of EA's Sucky Bond Games

Goldeneye was a good Bond game. The last good Bond game, really. Problem being, Goldeneye was a loooooong time ago, and there have been a lot of Bond games since. So that's a problem for current Bond developers Treyarch, right? Nope! Those sucky games were all EA's fault:

We’re not trying to fix anything EA did wrong, because that’s just what they did. I’m sure the series pissed off a lot of gamers over the last few years as the games started to go downhill, but we have no control over that.

Hope your body can cash those cheques your mouth's writing, Treyarch!

‘Second-rate James Bond games a thing of the past’ [MCV]

Gulliver's Travels Meets SimCity

A Kingdom for Keflings Revealed [IGN via Xbox 360 Fanboy]

GPS Tech To Update Driving Games With Real-Time Info

Picture this. You're playing a Formula 1 game on the TV in your bedroom, while in the living room, another TV is set to a real, actual Formula 1 race. And you're racing the same cars, in the same positions, at the same speed, as they're going on the TV. Impossible? Probably, but that's not going to stop iOpener from trying. They claim that through a combination of "Differential GPS and an Inertial Management Unit" attached to a competitor, a car's location on the track and current speed can be relayed back to a game in around five seconds. iOpener are in talks with six developers at the moment, and hope to have the system implemented in a retail game as early as this holiday season.

Real racing in the virtual world [BBC, via Gizmodo]

Don Mattrick Says Nintendo And Sony Have Been "On Vacation"

Forget what you think about how those E3 pressers went, Xbox honcho Don Mattrick is here to tell you what he thinks. And what does he think? He thinks the other companies have been slacking off — that they've been "on vacation." No, not just "on vacation," make that "on an extended vacation." Here's the sound-byte:

I think we got more than 12 months’ work done, and others went on an extended vacation. Hopefully they got some good vacation photos, because they sure weren't showing up at work... Of course I'm going to be biased, but so far what I've heard is that Sony and Nintendo have disappointed. And Microsoft has been leading, innovating and driving a very comprehensive global programme... We're building momentum and we're on a scale that no other consumer electronics company or entertainment company has been able to achieve in nine years. It's been a very good show and I'm very pleased with what we've been able to accomplish. I think there was a lot of good work, a lot of innovation and a lot of news from us.

Oh, Don.

Mattrick: Rivals have been slacking off [MCVUK]

As can be witnessed by their decision to, after only a year, cut their losses and start offering the service for free, Microsoft's Games for Windows Live initiative hasn't exactly set the world on fire. But just because it hasn't, doesn't mean that it can't. What could help spice things up a little? How about, oh, the ability to play XBLA games on both your 360 and PC? Would that help? It's something Microsoft are obviously thinking about, because after being asked about the subject by 1UP's Shawn Elliot, Microsoft's Kevin Unangst replies:

There's lots of issues about price points and models and the benefits to publishers — you have different developers that do things on different platforms. It certainly interests us, and it's one of many things we talk about, the fact that we have a service that spans both platforms opens up all kinds of opportunities like that. When we feel like we have all of the right pieces together, and we have partners who tell us they want to do that, you can expect that it's something we'll look at, much more closely.

Interesting, no?

Games for Windows Head Kevin Unangst Explains Move to Free Live [1UP]

Captain Rainbow Continues to Defy Belief

Sony: PS3 Is A Global System, 360, Not So Much

Say what you will about his outbursts, Sony's Peter Dille is a man who wears his heart on his sleeve. Dude bleeds Sony. And as is often the case with passionate, outspoken types, as often as they're wrong about something, they're right about something else. Yesterday, Dille was so wrong about Final Fantasy XIII, but today (well, last week, it's from the same E3 interview), speaking about the PS3's global appeal, he's bang on the money:

Developers know they have to amortize that investment over a global marketplace and the best place to do that is on a PlayStation format. Because if you look at the global footprint, PlayStation 3 dominates in Japan where the 360 is really irrelevant. In Europe, the PlayStation 3 is already past the 360. And in the United States you have a dogfight...So back to the third-party community, they’re looking at what’s going on, they’re realigning their development resources to exploit PS3 and I think they understand that if they want to have a global return on their investment, PlayStation 3 is the only place they’re going to get it.

Man's got a point, a point that - as the PS3 begins to slowly, inevitably pull away from the 360 in Europe - will only get sharper!

Sony: ‘Final Fantasy XIII’ Going To XBox 360 Creates ‘Jump Ball’ [MTV]

Homebrew Japanese DS Development Brings Tentacles

We've gotten dangerous close to actual naughty games on the DS. But those always end up being big teases! Now, we're going to get an actual dirty game at this year's Comic Market this summer. The person who's making it says there are plans even to sell it in Akihabara after that. The self-made game's entirely homebrew and certainly does not have the Nintendo Seal of Quality — and never will! And the best part? The name of this 18 years old and up game is Half Elf Tentacle Assault. The developer says game play clips are forthcoming. For better or worse.

Hit the jump for a THANKFULLY pixelated promo-scan. Still might be NSFW, depending on where you work. You've been warned!

"Leaked" Final Fantasy Versus XIII Trailer

Thanks, Nicoara for the tip! In case this clip gets pulled, we've posted the clip after the jump. That one is slightly better quality.

PixelJunk Eden Brings Trophies For You And Me

PixelJunk Eden is a short-form PSN title so there are fewer trophies when compared to, say, a Blu-ray title (which can have the esteemed platinum trophy), but we still managed to pack in quite a few. To begin with, you can get a bronze trophy for opening every “seed” in a stage. This is quite a challenge on some of the stages as the gardens are large and expansive. Then there are trophies for a load of other things, such as destroying 500 of the “prowlers,” or collecting 15 “crystals” in one jump. My personal favorite is a trophy that you can only achieve in 3P mode, where you have to “volley” a player between you back and forth five times without him/her landing on a plant, a bit like tennis.

Sounds great. Very much looking forward to this one.

PixelJunk Eden: Trophies Galore! [PlayStation.Blog]

Sony Holding Resistance 2 Beta Keys Hostage In Next Qore Episode

Outside of the most die-hard of PS3 zealots, few people are yet to see the worth in Sony's Qore programming for the PS3. "Editorial" games content provided by the platform holder, at cost to the user? No, thanks. Perhaps sensing this apprehension, Sony will be sweetening the pot for the next episode, offering an undisclosed number of keys to the Resistance 2 beta, scheduled to kick off in September. You want in, you pony up for Qore. Simple.

[thanks Matt!]

Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix needed a turbo remix of a soundtrack. And that's what it got from non-for-profit website OverClocked Remix (www.ocremix.org), which provided fan mixes and arrangements. According to the site's creator David Lloyd, "Artists can submit their own ReMixes of classic and modern game soundtracks, from consoles, handhelds, arcade, or computer games, in any musical genre, from rock to jazz to orchestral to trance." Capcom was able to tap this pool of talent for the game's soundtrack. And that's pretty darn cool.

how OC ReMix put its stamp on Street Fighter II HD Remix [ArsTechnica via s-kill's Blog Thanks, Gantz!]

No More Nintendo Surprises This Year

Are those of you who felt let down by Nintendo's E3 showing hanging onto hopes that maybe, just maybe they'll pull something out just for you at the last minute? As if it were your birthday, and all day everyone seemed to have forgotten, and just as you're heading home for the night, surprise!

If that sounds like you, here comes Cammie Dunaway to crash your party.

"You have seen the extent of Nintendo's 2008 holiday lineup," she told Wired recently, in the same interview wherein she also said she's really as jaw-crackingly smiley in real life as she appears to be during press conferences.

When you think about it, though, the holiday's not that far off. And before you know it, it'll be a brand new year, and time for brand new announcements. Such as?

Simple Ways To Kotaku Komment Better

Hello there! It's time for some housekeeping. Yes, yes, housekeeping. In today's thrilling edition, we're going to try to bring some of you up to speed with the way commenting works. Rather, the way commenting works best. By doing so, we're going to direct you attention to a feature our nerdy, but still sexy, sister site Lifehacker ran a while back. Do please read the entire feature! We're just pulling the bullet points from it:

Classy, Classy Shadaloo Street Fighter Shirts

Yup. They're not just classy. They're classy classy. They're part of an upcoming Street Fighter II line by Triumvir, which will be out later in the year. These shirts, however, (also available in black, with matching caps) will be available this week at Comic Con. If you've always harboured a desire to be part of Bison's shady gang but lacked the physical chops, these are the safe, legal option for those feeling the need to nevertheless "represent".

[via highsnobiety]

Capcom Keeps RE5 Nice And Gruesome

With the ratings spotlight seeming to sharpen on gory games these days, will we see any sanitation in beloved horror titles, say, Resident Evil 5?

Not to worry, Capcom told MCV:

“We’re never going to create a gore-free Resident Evil title to try and get a lower rating as it’s a game about the horror experience and gore is part of that,” said Rhys Cash, Capcom UK's research and planning manager.

“We’re primarily about making great games and if it’s appropriate to the title we won’t shy away from making a 15+ or 18+ title.

What if Sega president Simon Jeffery's wagging tongue is actually a prophecy foretelling the advent of RE5 to the family-friendly Wii?