The Disgaea 3 trophy patch goes live on July 16th, adding in the ability for players to earn coveted trophy points for achieving various goals. Unfortunately, most players will have to achieve those goals all over again, as the patch will render all of their Disgaea 3 save files useless. The official press release for the announcement contains the following warning in bright red type: CAUTION: Trophy Patch Update will make old save data unusable.

Disgaea 3 is the sort of game that one can play for 100's of hours, so news of a patch that renders such progress null and void might as well have been titled "Don't Download This Patch" as far as most fans are concerned. The only alternative I can see is to back up your save files, just in case, start a new game to unlock trophies, and then uninstall the patch when you are done in order to access your previous saves.

That's an awful lot of hoops to jump through, but if you really want those trophies, then there you go. Me? I think I'll pass.

LawlMart's Duck Hunt was "developed" on the "iPES" for the iPhone and iPod touch, and just in case that didn't rip off Nintendo's IP enough, the game's designer stuck an N64 analog stick and NES A-button up in the corners to serve as controls. Offered for a buck, you moved a crosshair and blasted away at one or two ducks — with no sound and no dog to laugh at your bad aim.

Somehow this made it through the iTunes App Store's vetting process. Macworld reports that Nintendo's lawyer mans cleared their throat, crooked their fanger at Apple and said, "Fix it." Lawl Mart developer Lucas Mansfield told Macworld it was taken down.

“It’s an unfortunate situation, but I do understand Nintendo’s position,” he told Macworld. He said he'd rework the game to remove the infringing material while taking “as much inspiration from the original as possible.”

And now, please rise and remove your hats as the Kotaku Honor Guard and Band pays its respects to LawlMart in its time of loss.

Press 21 times to achieve full effect.

Duck Hunt iPhone Game Pulled at Nintendo's Request [Macworld via GoNintendo]

Anascape sued back in 2006 and went for the kitchen sink, claiming Nintendo and Microsoft both infringed on controller designs they had patented. Microsoft settled with Anascape. The original suit against Nintendo covered everything from the Gamecube forward — the Wavebird and the Classic, plus the Wiimote and Nunchuk. The case decided in May found infringements only on the former two not the motion-sensing controls in the Wii. Still, $21 million is not pocket change.

Nintendo's Appeal on Reduced $21M Verdict Denied [QJ.net]

We've been hearing a lot of chatter about how they botched a comparison video of Race Driver: GRID. In an attempt to show cooler crash physics on the 360, they used PS3's instead — easily identifiable by the controller map in the lower left corner. Doh!

Gametrailers took down the video after getting barbecued in the comment flamewar. But someone already YouTubed it and spliced in comments pointing out the negligence, or worse.

Anyway, here you go. Just shows that console comparison is absolutely the third rail discussion in our neck of the woods. And if you undertake it, everything has to be bulletproof, or you'll get ripped for looking like a shill.

GRID Playstation 3 vs Xbox 360 Comparison is Fishy [onaxis]

We still havn't had any contact with Games Workshop. We called them but they told us that someone would get back as soon as they could. Perhaps the fact that they do not chase us around 24 hours a day is a good sign? We'll soon find out. once more thank you for all conerns and support. Time will tell if it is worth something.

Website is closed [Teardown - Thanks Mark]

Microsoft backtracks on Halo 3 LIVE ban threat [Pro-G - Thanks msane]

We have proof that will bring to light the true nature of the owners of SonyDefenseForce.com [PS3Tag.com]

"All I can say is that code did not leak from Climax - 100 per cent guaranteed," said Jeffery.

"The code that is out there is fingerprinted and was supplied solely to Konami for marketing purposes."

Silent Hill PSP demo leaked online [GamesIndustry.biz]

"In his enthusiasm, one of our online games team indicated that hmv.co.uk would start taking pre-orders for MGS4 on Xbox 360, when, in fact, he simply meant to ask customers if they wished to receive an alert in the event of this title one day coming out on this platform," admitted the retailer to GamesIndustry.biz

'MGS4 for Xbox 360' a mistake, admits HMV [GamesIndustry.biz]

Now technically it could just be the announcement of the 80GB system for Europe and not a price cut, so don't count Luke out of the analyzing game yet! There is still a chance he can make Pachter proud.

Sony to announce new PS3 Euro deals [GamesIndustry.biz]

Grand Theft Auto IV — ...Take Two had wanted to continue its long-standing practice of giving Sony a lengthy timed exclusivity on the game, but they didn't want it.
Newsweek says that former Sony Computer Entertainment president Ken Kutaragi's "radio silence" on the issue left Sony's American execs without the authority to make deals, and nothing happened. Same with...

Assassin's Creed — Again, Newsweek revealed that Ubisoft had actually gone to Sony with an offer to make the game a PlayStation 3 exclusive. Although Sony did go through the trouble of asking Ubisoft to make it seem as if their multiplatform action game Assassin's Creed was indeed PS3 exclusive , it came out shortly after E3 that it would ship simultaneously on both platforms.

Today, a big ol' surprise announcement was expected at EA's San Francisco event. Turns out it was to show off some gameplay for the upcoming Simpsons' game. Our pirate man on the ground Brian Crecente will be posting about it later. He might even get some time with the game, so be sure to check back. Later, even! Brian Ashcraft

Simpsons Game Announced [Kotaku]

What is surprising is that it may or may not be offered at the Kwik E Mart!

The Times in Virginia is reporting that efforts are being made between 7-11 stores and the Simpsons Movie to turn eleven stores across the US into Kwik-E-Marts where customers also will be able to buy products usually only available in the show like KrustyO's cereal, Buzz Cola and iced Squishees (the cup says Squishee, but the contents are pure Slurpee.)

Which just begs the questions: Who needs the Kwik-E-Mart? ME! Kim Phu

Real Kwik-E-Marts? Woo-Hoo! [Richmond Times Dispatch]

There's something about the Wii-mote that induces flailing. First some toothy dude snaps the controller's strap, sending the Wii remote into his TV, and now, a busted laptop screen. Writes Ugamer_X in the CAG forums:

When the [Nintendo Wii] warning screen appeared today saying 'Attach wrist strap and keep your distance from other objects in the room,' I laughed at such a silly proposition. I don't need a shaq-fuing wrist strap, I'm a man dammit. One shattered laptop screen and thrown Wiimote later, I've changed my position on the issue.

People! Glue the damn thing to your hand if you have to. Brian Ashcraft

Laptop Destroyed By Wii-mote [CAG]

Here at Kotaku, we don't have a cracker jack team of proof readers. When we fuck up, it's because we, and we alone, are checking each of our posts. Ourselves. But, when big companies make an boo-boo, it's because groups of people screw the pooch.

Take the GameCube box for Capcom's Killer 7, which apparently lists the game's website as www.killer7.com, a NSFW site that has nothing to do with video games but everything to do with interracial gang bangs. (The actual game's site is www.killer-7.com.) Whoops! Brian Ashcraft

Eds. Note: Capcom just dropped word that when the game was originally released, www.killer7.com was the game's official site. Since then, it was not able to renew the URL. Another company did instead.

Capcom's Nudie Link [iBloggedThis]

Jake Tapper's latest piece on Nightline does an excellent job of summarizing how idiotic the Pentagon looked when they mistook a bit of machinima for a terrorist training tool and showed it to the House Intelligence Committee.

Man, I hate when that happens.

Early in the story Tapper asks incredulously: Terrorists twisting an American video game into a Jhiadist training tool? And then proceeds to lay out how the whole thing happened, including getting an anonymous interview with the European gamer who created the now infamous "terrorist Battlefield" clip.

Interestingly, the Pentagon still claims that the machinima is being used by terrorists. Tapper calls bullshit on the excuse and tells the Pentagon talking head so. He then shows the video from the briefing proving that the Pentagon is full of it.

Kotaku pal and Georgia Tech Smartie Pants Ian Bogost is quoted throughout the seven-minute piece.

"We should really be questioning the kind of advice that Congress is getting," Bogost says.

It all makes for some great video. Brian Crecente

War Games [Nightline]