Kotaku

I was about to let this one fly completely under my radar. Then I go and see this, and remember just why Ratchet & Clank games are so great (even when they're not done by Insomniac). It's the charm. In case you missed it last night, Secret Agent Clank's out June 12.

Secret Agent Clank Dated

The Official PlayStation Blog takes us behind the scenes at the gala casino night event held last week in honor of the impending release of Ratchet's robot buddy's first solo adventure, Secret Agent Clank for the PSP. Members of the San Francisco-based media were shown a brief presentation on the game and allowed to get their paws on it before retring to the gambling tables for some good old-fashioned James Bond style blackjack action. While looking at photos of the gaming press get drunk and play cards is fascinating and all, the big news here is the release date for the game. Clank strikes out on his own on June 17th, and judging by the series' first foray onto the PSP, we're more than likely in for a hell of a good time, even if it is mostly Lombax free.

Clank gets a Date [Official PlayStation Blog]

The Official Playstation blog just announced that the the DUALSHOCK 3 rumble controllers have started shipping to stores and should be on sale by next week, a week earlier than the original street date.

The DS3 includes pressure sensors that rumble with each action and the SIXAXIS motion controls. The asking price if a whopping $55. The post included a "complete" list of titles that will support the DS3 at launch, a list that is much shorter than the one released at TGS, though that list included titles that still haven't hit stores and this one doesn't. All new releases that support rumble will now have a DS3 compatible icon on them, according to the blog. Playstation is also a page on the official Playstation website dedicated to games with force feedback support.

Hit the jump for the list of available games that support the new controller, titles with asterisks will require a patch to use rumble. For those title the patch will automagically download to your console when you start it up.

Feel the Shock Next Week!

Tecmo Bowl Wii-Bound?

When Tecmo announced last year that its classic footballer Tecmo Bowl was returning to unlicensed glory in 2008, it failed to mention just about anything beyond that. No platform, no details, nothing but the sting of nostalgia. However, if the most recent rumors from EGM are to be believed, Tecmo Bowl is coming to the Nintendo DS and Wii, albeit in too very different forms.

The monthly rumor column from Quarterman says that a "classic version" of Tecmo Bowl is coming to the DS, with a "modern remake" Wii-bound. Considering that 1UP's account says that we can expect info in an upcoming issue "very soon" I suspect they know what they're talking about.

Quartermann: Downloadable Ratchet & Clank Sequel Coming [1UP]

Ratchet: Quest for Booty? Lair: Diabolical Dragons? The Last Guy? A Resistance 2 trailer next month? Those releases are rumored to be hitting the PlayStation Store this spring and summer, according to the above pic going 'round the internet today. It's all based on a allegedly leaked PlayStation Network release list from Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, which lays out the planned PSN releases for the next four months, including a July release date for Home.

As you can see, according to the list, April is a big month. These releases may be bundled together to help promote the PlayStation Store revamp, also rumored to hit on April 15. So what is all this stuff?

And Famitsu's Top 25 Games For 2007 Were...

Week In Games: Suffer Like G Did?

There is no shortage of things to kill this week, as hundreds of zombies, mutant fish and mentally unstable hobos vie for your first person view killing dollars. If House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return and Condemned 2: Bloodshot aren't up your alley, perhaps some of this week's portable role-playing games will be. The full list is after the jump!

Condemned 2: Bloodshot (PS3, Xbox 360)
Crumple the skulls of scores of scary homeless guys as you search for clues.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates (DS)
Four-player RPG fun over Wi-fi makes big-head role-playing possible.

House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return (Wii)
Zombies must be destroyed, whether by pistol or shotgun.

Mag Announces Top 50 Developers

A new study from Gamasutra and sister divisions Game Developer magazine and Game Deveolper Research division has selected the top 50 developers in the gaming industry today. It was based on reputation and sales data, through anonymous surveys and assessments of sales charts in the US, the UK, and Japan, the number of games released each year, and the average metacritic rating. While the sales data is handy, the all-encompassing approach taken by the study to include reputation, as well, makes this study interesting. According to Gamasutra, "the resulting report is the only multi-input empirical ranking available for game development studios."

Hit the jump for the top 20 devs on the list.

With the PlayStation 2 port of High Impact's excellent PSP take on the Ratchet & Clank series just a week away, the official PlayStation Blog posts some details about the game's multiplayer. PS2 Size Matters takes the same amusing multiplayer functionality from the PSP version and splits it in two for split-screen goodness between you and a friend. You get four maps - Island Escape, Danger Valley, Mega Cannons, and Moon Cow Disease - complete with the Iron Lombax special challenges for each map. Personally I miss my R&C online multiplayer, but how much can you really expect from a $29.99 port of a PSP game?

Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters PS2 Multiplayer Details [PlayStation Blog]

Insomniac Still Developing New IPs

Now that Insomniac has found success with both the Ratchet & Clank and Resistance franchises, you might expect them to simply sequel the IP as long as the checks come in, staggering each title's two-year development cycle to release one game a year. But Insomniac's president Ted Price explained that such a schedule ping ponging Ratchet and Resistance wasn't the plan. Instead they intend to, "continue to produce new IP, there's no question about that."

So a new IP is coming from Insomniac in the semi far to far future? Sounds good to us.

Insomniac's Ted Price Talks 'Ratchet' Sales Surprises, New IPs [MTVmultiplayer]

Sony today revealed that they have granted licensing agreements for some of their top games with four apparel companies. The result will be a slew of t-shirts, hats, boxers, even something called "loungewear" featuring the artistic stylings from such Playstation greats as God of War, Ratchet & Clank, Resistance Fall of Man, Heavenly Sword and Little Big Planet.

I can't friggin wait to lay about in my house wearing nothing more than a pair of LittleBigPlanet whitey-tighties under my silk God of War smoking jacket while I sip cognac and pass judgment on the gaming world.

IV Gear already has their list of games up, but no product pics yet.

So excited. List of companies and silly quotes on the jump.

Gamefly's Fifth Annual Q Awards

When I first read the words "Q Awards" I auto-magically thought of the late, great actor Desmond Llewelyn but was apparently way off track. These are Gamefly's version of the Oscars sans the cheesy dance routines.

Winners are determined by GameFly members, who according to the GameFly press release are the "... most discerning community of online video game renters." Unfortunately I'm not terribly discerning as I can be easily distracted by bright colors and flashing lights.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare took the Q awards triumvirate, winning "Game of the Year," "Xbox 360 Game of the Year," and "PlayStation 3 Game of the Year."

Hit the jump to read about the other winners.

Secret Agent Clank Cinema and Gameplay

I am always glad to hear another Ratchet and Clank is coming down the pike. I loved Size Matters and still think it's one of the best looking games on the PSP. Hopefully, this one can live up to it.

This time around, Clank gets the titular role as he sets out to rescue his good friend Ratchet from his fate in prison. What did Ratchet do to land in such hot water? Watch and find out! Make the jump for a little bit of gameplay as well.

Monday's feature took a broad, anecdotal look at ten different analysts, explaining a little about who the analysts are and what they do. For your enjoyment and discussion, we present to you today all of the predictions made by the analysts and our verdict on each of them.

There's been some changes to these results since the original article was released on Monday, due to the availability of new information. While this does change some of the numbers, it also indicates how fluid many of these predictions are, and the challenge of pin-pointing exact answers for many of them, both for journalists, traders who rely on the analysts for smart business choices, and gamers who want to know how well the industry is doing.

Here's the proof that being correct the most often doesn't always mean you're the best analyst.

Insomniac Announces Nocturnal Initiative, Gives Away Source Code

Insomniac Career Video Drops Resistance 2 Hint

Thanks, Mike!

Interview: Secret Agent Clank

Today, in between our sprinting between Moscone centers to cover all of Microsoft's news, we had a chance to sit down with High Impact Games' Lesley Mathieson. She was the Lead Designer on Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters, worked a bit on its PS2 port and is now Design Director on the second Ratchet & Clank minus the Ratchet title to hit the PSP: Secret Agent Clank.

And, between my heavy pants of hyperventilation at meeting the brains behind the PSP's best game to date, I was able to sputter out a few questions regarding the direction of the franchise and what sweet features we could expect in the new game.

Secret Agent Clank Trailer

I loved Size Matters, so I expect Secret Agent Clank will also blow my socks off. The clip looks promising too, though I'm going to miss Ratchet.

New PS3 Bundle Coming To Australia

While this has nothing to do with a larger hard drive, Sony will be offering a new bundle in Australia that includes a 40GB PS3, second Sixaxis controller and one of the following games: Heavenly Sword, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Ratchet and Clank: Tools of Destruction or NBA 08 all for $799.95. Wow, that's looking a LOT better than the original $1000 PS3 launch price that Luke had to put up with.
New PlayStation 3 bundle confirmed by Sony [PALGN]

David Jaffe's Wii Is Not His Tea

When David Jaffe isn't eating or sleeping, he's playing. And what's he playing? Well, he tried out Super Mario Galaxy, and here's what we're taking as his 3 second review:

I mean, I have a Wii, I barely play it — not because I don't like it or appreciate it, I just, you know, it's not my cup of tea at the moment. Mario Galaxy, I thought was pretty cool.

Looks like Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters appearance on the PlayStation 2 isn't just a well-founded rumor. A recent PlayStation Underground e-mail update shows the former PSP-only game will get the PS2-port treatment, but provides nothing in the way of upgrade details or specific release date. Gamestop says we'll get it in March, Amazon says February. So far, no release date from Sony themselves.

Complete List Of AIAS Awards Finalists Announced

Porn Queen, Hardcore Gamer

Do I like nerds? I am a nerd. I have shelves full of books at home about vampires and werewolves. And I always have my PSP with me. Right now I'm playing Jeanne D'Arc, which is just awesome. Also, I've got a PS3 and I'm dying for the new Final Fantasy to come out. See? I told you I was a total nerd.

Europe Gets Surprisingly Great PS3 Bundle

Having popped in a few times over the weekend to check things out, I couldn't help but notice a wee bit of dissatisfaction over the way the Reader's Choice Awards were run. What we decided to do this year was use the same finalist list we used for our own Game of the Year selection because it seemed the most practical way to proceed. While it may be possible to create a poll listing every single game to hit a particular platform in 2007, it just didn't make sense to. Next year I'll try to figure out a better way to broaden the finalist list in a way that works for you guys, perhaps by asking people to post their favorite games and then selecting the finalists from that list.

Once the winners in each category were selected I think it's very fair to use those as the finalists for the overall game of the year. If a game is voted by you the readers as the best game for a system then it should be the one used to represent the system in what is essentially the finals for the overall awards.

One other point. I didn't include the Wii's Virtual Console this year because they don't really have original games. But was that fair? Should I have included it along with the PSN and XBLA?

Hit the jump to see the winners and then make up your own list of winners in the comments. I'm interested to see how different the list would have been had it been entirely in your hands.

Our first-ever Game of the Year awards was a pretty straight forward deal. I asked all of the writers to submit a list of three games for each category and the three that showed up most in each category made it as a finalist. Once we had the list of finalists I asked each writer to go through and order the finalists and then tallied the vote. The one with the most points was named Game of the Year, the runner-up was named Not Quite Game of the Year. The game with the most votes for Worst Game of the Year received that dubious honor.

Hit the jump for the final results and lovely medallions which no one will receive. Check back later tonight for the Overall Game of the Year, drawn from the winners of each category.

Writers' Strike To Help Gaming?

TV has died, with most shows out of new episodes because of the Writers' Strike. So people like Joseph Olin, President of the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences, think that video games are ready to fill the entertainment void.

If you're a fan of network programming, maybe seeing another repeat of 'Pushing Daisies' or 'Cold Case' will inspire you to finish that level of 'Ratchet and Clank Future' instead.

And then Olin doesn't miss the chance to take a shot at the film industry.

There's a much better relationship between game developers and publishers than there appears to be in terms of all the polemics between the writers, producers and studios.

And while that's probably true, is it really saying all that much?

Video game industry capitalizing on writers' strike [via gamingtoday]

Size Matters PS2 Looking Increasingly Legit

Not so long ago we mentioned a rumor that Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters might come from the PSP to the PS2 after it had appeared on GameStop's website for $29.99 with a February 2008 ship date.

Now the plot thickens! While we've heard nothing official from Sony or Insomniac regarding the title, GameSpot has updated their page with box art. And even the ESRB has jumped on board by adding the title to their database.

We spend the entire year talking up some games and smack talking others, but we've never actually posted what we think were the best games of the year. Not until now, that is.

Starting earlier this month I polled Kotaku Tower to find out what they thought were the best and worst games for each platform. I also asked them what they thought were the best Xbox Live Arcade and Playstation Network games of the year. While I'm a judge for a number of awards, including the Spike TV, Best of E3, IGF and even the Rocky Mountain News, I don't typically have the power to design how the awards should be given out.

Most awards tend to annoy me on two levels. First is the almost pathological need to vote for the best games of the year well before the year is over. It's just plain stupid. Sure you can get early builds, and play demos, but why not wait until all of the games are out for the year before starting the vote? The other thing that bothers me is how some award shows bunch all of the platforms into one category. Why would an Xbox 360 owner care if a Playstation 3 game has a better action title? Why would a Wii owner care if the 360's shooter is better? It's just silly and almost feels more like flamebait than anything worthwhile for the readers.

OK, rant over. Hit the jump for our list of finalists and check back next week to see which games ended up taking the Goatie.

New York Times' Back-Handed Games of the Year