Yes, Capcom Mobile and Discovery Communications have teamed up to bring Cash Cab to the iPhone. Players take a simulated taxi ride, answering increasingly difficult questions on their way to their destination, with three strikes getting you kicked out of the backseat, hopefully in a nice neighborhood. The game features pictures of the actual show's host, comedian turned cab driver Ben Bailey, heightening the sensation of playing a game set inside a taxi.

Seriously, this show has been running for four years now, and has won an Emmy award, and despite my scorn, whenever I catch a glimpse of it while sifting through my channels I have to sit and watch, and god help me if there's a marathon on. I can't explain it. Maybe I'm waiting for someone to get knifed.

Cash Cab is now on sale in the iTunes App Store for $4.99.

[thanks GameVideos]

The three words electrifies the crowd. The children swarming in the front yard of the Denver suburban house run to the curb. They crane their necks, point, howl with excitement.

The one-ton truck eases its way through the last turn and straightens, a 42-foot trailer in tow.

As the truck rolls down the street past quiet homes and neat yards the excitement grows and the vehicle's detailed decorations begin to come into focus.

Carefully detailed creatures painted in neat rows line the entire hood of the truck. Swirls of color, a galaxy of stars spread from the hood down the sides of the truck and to its trailer.

The trailer, all 42 feet of it, is festooned with 8-foot-tall animated children, fasntastic creatures and images of steel multi-hued balls. But more important than the spectacle of a rolling cartoon, than the chug of the one-ton truck are the words written in fire and gold across the side of the truck: "Bakugan Brawlers"

Last year Bakugan was the it present for children 8 to 12. The holidays saw national sellouts of the toys, a combination of trading cards and marbles based on a Japanese cartoon. This year game developer Activision hopes to fuse the wild popularity of the toy with a video game and create a new franchise that could possibly one-day give Nintendo's Pokemon a run for its money.

"Pokmon have a head start on us, so it's not an apples to apples comparison," Activision spokesman Bill Linn said. "That said, the Bakugan toys have shown great strength in the marketplace in the States and continues to dominate in retail, so it's certainly on track to give Pokemon a run for its money."

"The two brands certainly share an audience amongst kids. What kid doesn't like monsters and battles?"

Pokemon, Nintendo's most popular game franchise after Mario, was initially created by Nintendo in the mid 90s as a video game and later spawned movies, cartoons and a collectible card game. Bakugan, though, started out as a cartoon and went on to spawn a card and toy game and finally a video game.

In Bakugan players place metal cards on a playing field and then take turns rolling the Bakugan balls toward them like marbles. When a ball rolls across a metal card, a magnet inside the plastic ball releases allowing the ball to spring open and reveal a creature.

"The game's popularity is really tied to its design," Linn said. "Bakugan blends the classic game of marbles, the collector card craze and a little bit of Transfomers into one activity. Any one of those would be fun, but when you combine all three, it adds a level of depth and interactivity that really appeals with kids."

Linn says the video game was created to appeal to fans of the card game and TV show.

"In story mode, kids to create their own character and play through a plot scripted by the writers of the animated show," he said. "It's like playing through a season of the cartoon, with you as the main character. In the battle arena, we've really brought the world to life through power ups and other special activities that make this much more than just rolling a ball."

It was important, Linn adds, for the video game to also capture the physicality of Bakugan.

The Wii version of the game, which is also coming to the DS, PS2, PS3 and Xbox 360, has players mimicking a throwing movement with the console's motion-detecting remote to toss a marble at the playfield. Once on the move, players can guide the Bakugan around the interactive field to pick up power-ups and then try to stop on the virtual cards. As in the physical game, when the ball hits the card it springs open.

"The play mechanic really gives the player a lot of control in battles," Linn said. "When throwing, they can have a standard, power or special throw that will affect how the ball enters the arena. Players can then control the ball by twisting the controller and tapping the B button. This gives the ball a nudge, but is not unlimited. And finally, when your opponent plays, you can shoot his ball and affect their trajectory.

"For the other platforms, we optimized the game to the controller. With Xbox 360, you can use both analog sticks. For the PS3, we use the Sixaxis control and the analog stick at the same time."

And Bakugan: Battle Brawlers, due out on Oct. 20, will be just the first video game built around the franchise.

To help promote the birth of this new video gaming franchise, Activision launched the Roll Across America Tour earlier this month.

The nationwide tour gives fans of the toy and show a chance to play the Wii and DS version of the game on flat screen panels mounted inside a 42-foot long trailer.

The Bakugan-decorated truck and trailer, which features four Wii connected to flatscreen televsions, two DS, a couch, track lighting and hardwood floors, will travel more than 4,500 miles this fall to promote the game.

During a stop in Colorado last week children and parents crowded inside the air-conditioned trailer taking turns playing the game for four hours. Many spent the entire four hours gaming.

Everyone, parents and children alike, seemed to enjoy the video game, staying around until the sun set and the stars in the sky almost equaled those painted on the truck.

Well Played is a weekly news and opinion column about the big stories of the week in the gaming industry and its bigger impact on things to come. Feel free to join in the discussion.

Edna & Harvey: The Breakout is a 2D adventure game that tells the story of Edna, a perfectly sane girl who wakes up in a mental hospital with no recollection of how she got there. She obviously shouldn't be there... just ask her talking stuffed rabbit companion Harvey and he'll tell you. It's a quirky, humorous title that hearkens back to the good old days of simple point and click adventure goodness. The only real problem with the game is it was completely in German... until now.

Merscom is bringing the game to America, translating it to English in the process so we can understand what is going on! That's just the kind of value-added feature I can really get behind.

"Given our success bringing great and engaging adventure games to the evolving mass market, we believe Edna & Harvey is a wonderful addition to our line-up," said Lloyd Melnick, Merscom's Chief Customer Officer. "Casual gamers, in particular, are looking for innovative adventure games and you don't get much better than the adventure game of the year from probably the most sophisticated adventure game market."

Look for Edna & Harvey to hit the PC in downloadable form sometime in Q4 or this year. In the meantime, Google translate this!

The Louisiana Digital Media Act, sponsored by Senator Ann Duplessis, grants a 25% credit to game developers for digital interactive media expenditures, as well as a 10% credit on state payroll taxes. It's a very generous incentive that could see a growth in the number of development studios calling the state home. The Entertainment Software Association applauded the Governor's approval.

"We commend Governor Jindal for his strong leadership as well as that of Senator Duplessis for expanding the state's computer and video game development and production base, and helping lead the way in creating the next generation of entertainment innovation in Louisiana," said Michael D. Gallagher, president and CEO of the ESA, which represents U.S. computer and video game publishers. "Developers and publishers live and work for years in states where games are created, providing a higher return on investment than any form of entertainment."

Not too shabby for a state with baby bird vampires on its flag, right?

A growing number of states either have or are looking into implementing similar incentives, a reassuring sign that state governments are understand just how serious the video game business is.

The numbers can be found in the latest report from European retailer GAME, and reveal that each console has sold the following:

DS - 9.1 million
Wii - 5.4 million
Xbox 360 - 3.9 million
PSP - 3.3 million
PS3 - 2.2 million

Not many surprises there. There's a few surprises in the sales figures for just the past 12 months, however, with PSP sales falling through the floor (and PS3 sales dropping as well), while the 360 seems to be picking up steam.

DS - 2.7 million
Wii - 2.3 million
Xbox 360 - 1.7 million
PS3 - 900,000
PSP - 500,000

UK console installed base tops 24m [MCV]

The movie stars Gerard Butler, Ludacris and Kyra Sedgwick, and tells of a future in which MMOs have merged with mind control. The story will revolves around one game in particular, Slayers, which is a "savage, ultraviolent" first-person shooter.

Butler plays the game's champion, who is being forced to kill on a weekly basis by the game's owner and the boy making a living off "controlling" him. We can already see the inevitable scene in which Butler teaches this kid about "real violence".

The movie, which will be out in September, stars Gerard Butler and...Ludacris, and tells of a future in which MMOs have merged with mind control. The story will centre on one game in particular, Slayers, which is a "savage, ultraviolent" first-person shooter.

Butler plays the game's champion, actual combatant, who is being forced to kill on a weekly basis by the game's owner and the boy making a living off "controlling" him. He has to escape, find his family, get revenge, blah blah blah. You get the idea.

You can check out a trailer - with bonus Italian dub! - below.

As we speak, Gaplus, Star Force, The Tower of Druaga, Mappy and more with Space Harrier are all available to download and play on your Wii, priced at 500 Wii points a piece with the exception of Gaplus, where the plus apparently translates to 100 more Wii points. Space Harrier and Solvalou named as two additional titles coming soon.

As McWhertor pointed out during the liveblog of Nintendo's keynote, that means Sega, Namco and Taito has all signed on to provide their arcade hits to Wii owners. What games would you like to see show up on the Virtual Console Arcade?

What Is it?
Velvet Assassin is a third-person heavily stealth focused PC and Xbox 360 game from Reply Studios. The story follows Violette Summer, a World War II spy who's actually in a coma in a hospital. You're sort of re-living her past events in her mind trying to piece her story back together.

What We Saw
The first two introductory levels for the Xbox 360 on the New York Comic-Con floor. The demo itself took between 15 and 20 minutes to complete.

How Far Along Is it?
The demo was from an alpha build. The game is coming out April 14th for the Xbox 360 and PC.

What Needs Improvement
Gunplay: Aiming and shooting can be a hassle. While I was told they're still making some tweaks for the final game, it seems like it should be an entire overhaul. Violette aims slower than a jar of molasses and it's very hard to aim specific areas of enemies.

Stealth Positions: For a stealth game, there sure aren't a whole lot of options. Violette can only crouch and crouch-run. You can't lie down fully, hug walls, or even crawl.

What Should Stay The Same?
Glow: Violette will have an outer blue-ish glow emit from her as she nears cover. This adds a nice visual touch and will help stop you from constantly thinking if you're in someone's detection line.

Realism: You will die. A lot. You only get a few hits before you drop and most close-range attacks kill you instantly. Don't expect to charge at the enemy and live.

Environments: The environments in this early demo were really full and lush looking. Lots of great color and dynamic lighting can be seen through each area.

Final Thoughts?
There aren't a ton of heavy stealth focus games made anymore. The Velvet Assassin levels I played weren't very complex and more pretty straightforward. Hopefully the final game sees more variety in the way you can approach sneaking around and taking out enemy guards rather than being forced down one path.

And that's rentals. Having recently partnered with rental group SwapGame, the retailer are to offer British customers the option of paying a monthly subscription fee that will allow them to rent two games at a time.

The service will span across all major, recent consoles, including the three current generation machines, both handhelds and the Xbox and PS2.

GAME launches online rental service [MCV]

As we've touched on in previous stories, Australia's game classification stops at MA15+, lacking the R18+ rating that particularly violent films are afforded. Seeing as Silent Hill: Homecoming isn't exactly children's fare it was originally deemed too violent and graphic for an MA15+, which in effect banned the game from release in the country. Now an update to the Classification Board's website dated yesterday indicates the title has now been given the MA15+ rating, and therefor may see the shining light of those lovely Australian store shelves.

Now word on what if any cuts were made to the game to garner the new rating. I just think it's silly that a country filled with bears that drop out of trees to eat unsuspecting foreigners would be concerned with video game violence at all.

Silent Hill: Homecoming unbanned in Australia [GameStop]

So careful that, literally, the headline reads: "Interview with Metal Gear Solid Touch creators Hideo Kojima and its first-timer FEMALE producer".

The red font is not just our emphasis. Look at that photo. Those two kanji, in red, are "josei", meaning "female".

Let's back up and go over this again: the Cliff's Notes version of the title of the article is basically "New Game Made by a Man Named Hideo Kojima and a Woman Whose Name We Will Mention in the Story Itself, Though Not in this Title".

Is this the, uhh, nicest way to report this? Probably not. Maybe they could approach it a bit differently, say "Interview with Hideo Kojima and Some n00b Producer", and then in the article, it could just come out naturally that she's a woman. I mean, there's a photo of her in there, and everything.

Famitsu is typically read by schoolboys in convenient stores before school on Friday. Is this kind of nigh-subliminal sexism really the kind of thing we should be exposing them to? And thus open a thousand avenues to discussion of Japanese society.

[via Famitsu]

Former high street kings Woolworths (no longer connected to the American company F.W. Woolworth) have fallen on hard times and gone into adminstration - Gamestop have spotted an opportunity and are reportedly set to bid for half of Woolworths' 815 UK outlets. This will instantly make them the UK's biggest games retailer,

A source told MCV, "GAME frustrated GameStop when it bought GameStation. Bosses at GameStop had pretty much given up on launching a UK assault – but now, thanks to Woolies, that door is open again."

Now GameStop eyes Woolies stores

Whatever the reason for the absence of gâteaux de jeu, this birthday treat from blogger Kim Vallee to her husband (and former Xevious world record holder!) Jerome was special enough to attract our attention.

Montreal's Clever Cupcakes were commissioned to create a set of, well, cupcakes emblazoned with retro gaming icons such as Space Invaders, Frogger and Robotron, artfully arranged around a tower crowned with a delicious Weighted Companion Cube.

Oh, and they played Still Alive while the birthday boy cut the 'cube. Nice.

My Husband's Classic Video Games Cupcake Tower [Kim Vallee]

Sainsbury's has been knocking £30 from the price of the Xbox 360 and Wii, bringing the 360 to below £100 for the first time. Staff from GAME, Gamestation and other retailers, both chain store and indie, quickly descended on the bargains and re-upped their own stocks.

“With 360 and Wii on sale at these prices we allowed our store managers to supplement their stock,” explained GAME CEO Lisa Morgan.

Shame the gamers didn't get to enjoy the same benefits, really.

GAME in Sainsbury’s stock swoop [MCV]

We have recently contacted you regarding a marketwide problem with the Fable II Collectors Edition. We have since been informed by Microsoft that there has been a further complication.

They have advised us that the developer diary and soundtrack are no longer going to be available on the bonus DVD.

Let's just hope that they don't decide to cut the actual game from the CE before the title ships next month.

UPDATE: Looks like Game is delivering a bit of false info. Microsoft contacted us to let us know that the items Game claims were cut were never part of the Collector's Edition at all. Hit the jump for the full email from Game, and Microsoft's response.

Dear Customer,

We have recently contacted you regarding a marketwide problem with the Fable
II Collectors Edition. We have since been informed by Microsoft that there
has been a further complication.

They have advised us that the developer diary and soundtrack are no longer
going to be available on the bonus DVD.

We are very disappointed and would like to reassure you that your Collectors
Edition will still include:

Bonus DVD with new 'Making-of' Feature.
Bonus in-game content (requires Xbox LIVER) including:
. The Hall of the Dead Dungeon
. The Wreckager Legendary Cutlass Weapon
. Spartan armor and energy sword

Also because you have ordered from GAME.co.uk you will have already received
your code to download the Fable II Xbox Live Pub Games. If you have not
received this yet have no fear as they are being emailed out every Friday
afternoon, fear not! They are being emailed out every Friday afternoon.

Please accept our sincerest apologies for any inconvenience caused.

Kind regards,
Customer Services
GAME.co.uk

As previously stated, we have adjusted the contents and pricing of the Fable II Limited Collector’s Edition. Unfortunately certain retailers have contacted customers with incorrect information leading to speculation we have further adjusted the contents since this announcement. To be clear, the only elements of the Collector’s Edition that have been removed were those already stated: the box, five printed fate cards, and Hobbe figurine.

The Fable II Limited Collector’s Edition will still include the following content at this discounted price:

- Fable II game disc

- Bonus DVD with new ‘Making-of’ Feature

- Bonus in-game content (requires Xbox LIVE®)

· ‘The Hall of the Dead’ Dungeon

· ‘The Wreckager’ Legendary Cutlass Weapon

· Spartan armor and energy sword

The bonus DVD has never included existing video documentaries, nor was it to include the Fable I or II soundtrack. The behind the scenes video footage and interviews on the bonus DVD are completely separate. As previously stated, we have created a special Fable album for free download for a limited time. This includes a wonderful selection of Fable 1 music and 3 brand new tracks from the upcoming Fable II soundtrack. This was never intended to be on the bonus DVD. Fans can go to http://www.sumthingdigital.com, and enter “FableCollection” promotion code. This will be available beginning October 6, 2008 @ 9am PST.

GAME was quick to reiterate it planned no threat to game publishers at all, and would instead seek out smaller-scale opportunities that were good fits:

“If it works commercially for GAME and helps a smaller publisher get off the ground by GAME sharing some of the risk, then we would look at it – we have a distribution channel and we can offer a service.

It's a bit of a touchy subject, because according to MCV, publishers are already none too pleased that they get absolutely zero percent of the revenues from game trade-ins at retail. The tricky circumstances are probably the reason why GAME elucidated their entire policy up-front:

'This isn’t about us doing something that threatens publishers. It is about listening to developers who may come to us with titles that may not otherwise be able to get to market.

GAME explains self-publishing strategy [MCV UK]

Not so much a big deal here in the states, selling 18 rated games to underage children in the UK is an offense under the Video Recordings Act, punishable by fines of up to £5,000 and/or six months' jail.

If you ask me, I blame their use of a 15 year-old girl against the poor, unsuspecting video game store clerks. Looking back on my own underage years, some of the stupidest things I've ever done were for the sake of 15 year-old girls, the kryptonite of 13-17 year-old boys everywhere.

Kids buy 18-rated games on high street [TechRadar UK]