Speaking at the London Games Festival, Jerry Johnson told an audience at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts that cloud gaming, such as the on-demand OnLive platform announced at GDC 2009, isn't a mass market likelihood "for the foreseeable future."

"Streaming technology is something that the industry is betting on longer term," Johnson said, according to TechRadar. "Right now I don't believe that technology can scale out against the experience we can offer on a local machine."

"The technology will continue to improve," Johnson said. "As an industry we'll have to accept that and move with it - but I don't think it's on an accelerated timeline for the foreseeable future."

Johnson's remarks came during a panel discussion of "Digital Distribution and the Future of the European Games Market" at the London Games Conference. As trendy topics go, this one set out to answer when digital downloads might overtake retail sales of boxed games.

Analyst Nick Parker said that might happen around 2014. He also said, speculatively of course - because that is what analysts do - that it wouldn't surprise him to see "one new entrant" to the console game - namely, Apple, Inc. - produce a dedicated console. Apple gamers such as myself shrugged and/or snorted.

Microsoft Dismisses 'Cloud Gaming', Analyst Predicts Apple Console [TechRadar]

10. Squall Final Fantasy VIII
10. Yuna Final Fantasy X
10. Professor Layton Professor Layton series
8. Toad Mario Kart
8. Doraemon Doraemon series
7. Chocobo Final Fantasy series

Huh. I'd think of Doraemon as being more an anime character than a video game character, but whatever. There are Doraemon video games. (Trains, too, it seems.) Hit the jump for the rest!

4. Slime Dragon Quest series
4. Solid Snake MGS series
4. Pikachu Pokémon
3. Yoshi Mario series
2. Cloud Final Fantasy VII
1. Mario Mario series

The top three breakdown for men and women is rather interesting. For men, it was 1). Mario 2). Cloud and 3). Solid Snake. For women, it was 1). Mario, 2). Yoshi and 3). Cloud. Everyone loves Mario and Cloud!

好きなテレビゲームのキャラクター、1位は“マリオ” [Oricon Life via Alafista] [Pic]

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in ]

Back in the days of the comic books of my youth, I always enjoyed the "What If...?" series. They would take well known superheroes and characters and give their stories a twist. What if Spider-Man Had Joined the Fantastic Four? What if Captain America became President? What if Wonder Woman was Really a Pre-op Transsexual Furry with Dreams of World Domination? Ok, so I made that last one up, but the other two were real.

Kotakuite Murd3r continues the tradition with his great piece entitled What If? or Mushroom Cloud with the premise being What if Cloud from FF VII had to fill Mario's shoes for a day. Certainly not a combination I would have thought of, but it's extremely well executed. Kudos! Flynn De Marco

You can check out a larger version on Murd3r's Deviant art gallery.

Screw Final Fantasy Potion. Adult Square-Enix fans drink booze. Cloud's private label booze. Spencer over at Siliconera explains:

This past weekend I was hanging out at a Kingdom Hearts themed Valentine's Day party (not Square-Enix sponsored!) and there was "Cloud Strife's Buster Brose" to drink. The label says "A Scottish SOLDIER tradition" and below it "Made with the finest blend of scotch, oats and Mako energy." There was also Maleficent Mimosas which was some kind of punch mixed with Champagne.

The difference between this and Final Fantasy Potion: Drink a bottle of "Buster Brose" and puke on somebody's shoes. Drink a bottle of Final Fantasy and see spots. Brian Ashcraft

Cloud's Liquor [Siliconera]

Let's get this straight: Square doesn't just create frosted hair RPGs just for Japan. It also makes them for Europe! And, heck, America as well!! Company honcho John Yamamoto believes that the Euro game market will eventually eclipse Japan's, adding:

I am very interested in European development because there are a lot of very good independent studios. We have started having meetings with people right now, and we will keep going. Titles I'm looking at are for Europe and also the US. We are not looking to hire staff one by one, so maybe studios that have good experience would be easier to work with.

And to top it off, Square Enix also plans to release many "Japan only" titles outside Japan and produce games with more Western appeal. Can't wait for the big, bulky muscular dudes with frosted hair! Brian Ashcraft

Square Eyes Europe [QJ.Net]

Square Enix president Yoichi Wada admits that it is difficult to repeat the success of Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts. It's getting hard to maintain a flow of new game titles," said Wada. ""We haven't come up with hit software to follow in the footsteps of 'Final Fantasy' and other major titles. So we will have to alter our strategy."

Even though Final Fantasy XII and Kingdom Hearts II were monster hits, Square still ended up short due to a weak online segment and the newly acquired Taito. To combat this, Square signed a deal with Osaka's Matsushita to provide graphics for Panasonic TVs, DVD recorders and music players. Both companies have previously worked together (see above image). Square inked other deals as well, such as providing educational products and working on Pokemon cell phone packages.

Square Enix educational products, TV graphics and Pokemon crap? Bring on the frosted hair. Brian Ashcraft

More Here [Next-Gen]