Performance Designed Products sent me this N-Strike Switch Shot Ex-3 last week (which they produced in conjunction with EA). The Nerf gun comes with three whistler darts and a red viewfinder. You can take the viewfinder off if you'd like and can also remove the air canister and pump that launches the darts.

Then all you have to do is slip the Wii remote into the gun and you've got an over-sized Wii blaster.

The gun doesn't come with it's own game, so I haven't had a chance yet to check out how well it works with Wii shooters. I did test out the Nerf aspects of the gun and managed to ping my son two out of three times.

It takes a big company to admit they might have been wrong, and Blizzard isn't exactly famous for doing so, but here we have it, in black and blue. The reply came in a thread on the official forums titled, "[Hunter] BM and MM are broken". At first the blue posters were standoffish, but eventually the truth came out.

We talked about it a great deal today and agreed that we probably over-nerfed BM. Marks is in a good spot and Survival might be too high once we look at the changes we are making to all other classes. Our plan is to buff BM before Ulduar, but I can't give you a timetable more detailed than that, and things could change for any number of reasons.

Hooray! The Beast Masters shall rise once again! Of course they're also looking to nerf the Survival specialization, but who really cares about those guys?

Blizzard: We Nerfed Hunters Too Hard [Worldofwar.net]

Previously you could only create a Death Knight on a server which housed a level 55 or higher character on your account. The next update takes away that restriction, allowing Death Knights to pop up all over the place...well, almost.

With the next minor content update for World of Warcraft, we will be opening up death knight character creation so that if the account you play already has a level 55 or higher character in World of Warcraft, you will be able to create a new death knight on any realm within your region. Please keep in mind that restrictions still apply to new, non-transfer realms such that death knights cannot be created on those realms until you level a character to level 55 on that realm or until transfer restrictions are removed.

Those of you who paid $25 to transfer a 55+ character to a friend's server in order to play Death Knights with them before this announcement remain completely screwed.

Account-Wide Death Knight Creation [World of Warcraft Forums via WorldofWar.net]

Calling their Hasbro lineup "hot holiday must-haves", EA applauds the performance of games like Littlest Pet Shop, Nerf N-Strike, Monopoly, and Hasbro Family Game Night for their performance.

“By innovating with these family brands and delivering a quality, fun game experience our EA Hasbro video games are something parents and friends can gift with pride this holiday season,” said Chip Lange, Vice President and General Manager EA Hasbro. “Our focus on creating audience-appropriate games has paid off with the consumers we wanted to reach and made EA Hasbro titles THE gift to give this holiday.”

This partnership was really a win-win for both companies. Partnering recognizable family-friendly Hasbro brands with video games created some of the most worry-free video game buys a parent could find on retail shelves. Hell, even I bought Littlest Pet Shop, which is "teeming with adorably cute pets that girls can collect." *cries*

Family Gamers Choose EA Hasbro Games This Holiday
LITTLEST PET SHOP, NERF “N-STRIKE”, MONOPOLY and HASBRO FAMILY GAME NIGHT Video Games Prove Hot Holiday “Must-Haves”

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—A video game for girls, a game and NERF blaster combo for boys and two video games for everyone in the family to play prove hot holiday sellers for Electronic Arts, Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS). The first wave of console and handheld titles under the EA and Hasbro, Inc. (NYSE:HAS) long-term agreement have combined to sell two million units globally since their respective fall launches, according to internal EA sell-thru data.

LITTLEST PET SHOP for the Wii™, Nintendo DS™, and PC reached store shelves in October and according to NPD aggregated DS skus were the #2 overall Nintendo DS title in the US for the month of November1 and the #1 Nintendo DS title in France in October.2 The game, inspired by the Hasbro blockbuster toy line, is teeming with adorably cute pets that girls can collect, take on adventures in four vibrant worlds, or play with via a myriad of mini-games.

NERF “N-Strike”, available on the Wii since October, was the #10 title according to NPD for the month of November. The game, inspired by the globally popular Hasbro franchise, features non-stop NERF-style pandemonium where players are faced with a series of challenging missions that put blasting strategies and skills to the ultimate test. NERF “N-Strike” also ships with a custom NERF SWITCH SHOT EX-3 blaster, the first ever 2-in-1 video game and toy peripheral bundle to hit the market.

HASBRO FAMILY GAME NIGHT, available on the Wii and PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, launched in November and was awarded a Toy Wishes 2008 All-Star Award. Featuring six games including: BATTLESHIP, YAHTZEE, BOGGLE, CONNECT FOUR, SORRY! and the all new, SORRY! Sliders. Both MONOPOLY which is available for the Wii, PlayStation2 and PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment systems and HASBRO FAMILY GAME NIGHT had strong launches and continue to build momentum through the holiday.

“By innovating with these family brands and delivering a quality, fun game experience our EA Hasbro video games are something parents and friends can gift with pride this holiday season,” said Chip Lange, Vice President and General Manager EA Hasbro. “Our focus on creating audience-appropriate games has paid off with the consumers we wanted to reach and made EA Hasbro titles THE gift to give this holiday.”

You might think Nerf N-Strike would be just one more nail in the coffin, but I’m pleased to report after my hands-on time that the game and its flashy controller that it is actually not made of suck. In fact, it’s almost the opposite of suck with it’s old school on-rails gameplay and simplistic graphics. If you liked the last Time Crisis or are looking for a bloodless version of it, Nerf just might be your thing.

One downside: a Nerf video game is a contradiction. It’s not really a Nerf “game” until somebody’s caught one of those foam and rubber darts in the eye and gone crying home crying, doing that little fake limp despite having taken it to the face.

As if in response to this unspoken criticism, EA set up a mega-huge Nerf gun at the event right outside the demo hall for people to shoot. Early in the day, they were all militant about where you could point that thing – targets only, one person at the gun at a time, etc. But by the end of the day, after the PR peeps had a few drinks in them, some EA higher-ups (who shall go unnamed) aimed the gun at the bar and started taking pot shots at abandoned cocktail glasses. One guy managed to land a dart in a martini glass before the gun manager broke it up and started putting the huge apparatus away.

Check it out for yourself:

Forsaken_angel24 presents Nerf Lancer. Shoots 90+ feet. [eBay - thanks, Joe!]

Electronic Arts today announced nine Hasbro games that will be hitting a variety of platforms over the next year.

Littlest Pet Shop and NERF "N-Strike" are both set to come to the Wii and DS this fall, with Littlest Pet Shop also making its way to the PC. Scrabble, Monopoly Here and Now and Yahtzee Adventures are all being developed for mobile phones. Electronic Arts is also developing Yahtzee, Monopoly Here and Now: World Edition, Trivial Pursuit and Operation for their online casual gaming service, Pogo.com.

"EA and Hasbro want to give families new ways to enjoy games; we want give them a new way to come together, connect, spend time and have fun around the TV or online," said Chip Lange, Vice President and General Manager of EA's Hasbro Studio. "Bringing the spirit of these games to life as video games has allowed us to create really unique and creative experiences for families and friends of all ages to enjoy together at home or online."

"We are thrilled that together we are bringing our great toys and games to life in the digital world and providing consumers with new and dynamic ways to enjoy our amazing brands," said Mark Blecher, Hasbro's Senior Vice President of Digital Media and Gaming.

EA will be showing off a number of the games at the upcoming Toy Fair in New York later this month. Hit the jump for the full release with game descriptions.

EA ANNOUNCES FIRST HASBRO TITLES IN DEVELOPMENT — PLAYERS CAN COLLECT, BLAST, DEAL OR SPELL THEIR WAY TO VIDEO GAME FUN!

LITTLEST PET SHOP, NERF, MONOPOLY and YAHTZEE among First Franchises to Hit a Variety of Game Systems, Online and Mobile under EA and Hasbro Agreement

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. - February 11, 2008 - EA Casual Entertainment today announces its first step in transforming the interactive family entertainment landscape with its initial slate of Hasbro games in development on a variety of game consoles, mobile devices and for online play. These games provide new ways for families to build relationships through digital entertainment with some of world's greatest brands. The first Nintendo Wii and DS titles that will be available this fall are LITTLEST PET SHOP, and NERF "N-Strike," both in production at EA's Salt Lake Studio. EA also is developing new MONOPOLY and SCRABBLE ®(in North America) titles for multiple platforms, as well as other titles that will be announced later this year.

Mobile gamers can already experience the fun of SCRABBLE (in North America) and YAHTZEE DELUXE on their phones. Starting this spring, EA Mobile will introduce the next generation of classic Hasbro titles. The first games in this exciting new expansion include MONOPOLY HERE & NOW, TRIVIAL PURSUIT®, RISK, and YAHTZEE ADVENTURES, a re-invention of the classic dice game.

For online web play EA's Pogo.com is developing engaging, authentic online experiences for MONOPOLY and YAHTZEE as fun, multiplayer experiences. Trivia fans can look forward to the much anticipated launch of TRIVIAL PURSUIT this fall. Additionally, Pogo.com is launching two connected downloadable titles, OPERATION and PICTUREKA, which can be played offline or players can connect online on Pogo for bonus features and the social experience of playing the game with others. With more than 13 million visitors a month, the pogo.com community delivers a unique online experience for family and friends to connect and play these hugely popular Hasbro games together in the virtual world.

"EA and Hasbro want to give families new ways to enjoy games; we want give them a new way to come together, connect, spend time and have fun around the TV or online," said Chip Lange, Vice President and General Manager of EA's Hasbro Studio. "Bringing the spirit of these games to life as video games has allowed us to create really unique and creative experiences for families and friends of all ages to enjoy together at home or online."

"We are thrilled that together we are bringing our great toys and games to life in the digital world and providing consumers with new and dynamic ways to enjoy our amazing brands," said Mark Blecher, Hasbro's Senior Vice President of Digital Media and Gaming.

At Hasbro's Toy Fair showcase in New York February 17-19th, EA will unveil LITTLEST PET SHOP on the Wii and DS, NERF "N-Strike", and EA Mobile's SCRABBLE, YAHTZEE ADVENTURES and MONOPOLY HERE & NOW.

EA HASBRO TITLES IN DEVELOPMENT INCLUDE:
LITTLEST PET SHOP for Wii, DS and PC, scheduled to ship Fall 08
LITTLEST PET SHOP brings the magic of owning your own pet shop to your home. EA brings the quirkiness and cuteness of the popular Hasbro girl's brand to life in a new digital world. Players can explore three unique environments as they unlock new pets, playsets, accessories and more.
Players will discover magical moments of delight as they build relationships with their pets. This game is the next must-have addition to fans growing Littlest Pet Show collection. Add to the ultimate Littlest Pet Show collection with three different versions of the Nintendo DS game; each with unique pets.

NERF "N-Strike" for Wii and DS, scheduled to ship Fall 08
Become the master of mayhem in the first NERF blaster action game. In a world created to be the perfect landscape for NERF pandemonium, players can wreak havoc and perfect their blasting skills or challenge friends to clashes with both single and multi-player game modes. With the brand new custom NERF blaster, players can then take the action outside as their controller transforms to fire actual NERF darts!

EA MOBILE
SCRABBLE® for mobile phones, currently available in North America
This exciting update of the classic board game now includes flexible difficulty levels, built-in word list, dynamic animations, scrolling and full-board views. Easy-to-use controls allow for alone play, a challenge with computer in a phone, or enjoy pass 'n play with a friend. Easily keep track of game scores and statistics. Fun new features appeal to both wordplay mavens and casual gamers. Test word wits with SCRABBLE!

MONOPOLY HERE AND NOW for mobile phones, scheduled to ship in March 08
Monopoly Here and Now, a modern makeover of the world's most popular board game. Buy and sell destinations around the U.S. as you compete to own it all and win! Unique player icons, sound effects, vivid graphics and easy-to-use, one-button controls deliver all the excitement of the beloved game.

YAHTZEE ADVENTURES for mobile phones, scheduled to ship in April 08
Play the treasured dice game on your phone. Travel the globe, meet new characters and challenge them to a game, roll the colorful dice and be the first to score a YAHTZEE! Enjoy Classic, Duplicate, Rainbow and Battle modes. Pass 'n Play with your friends, or try your hand at a Yahtzee single-player adventure. Dynamic, exciting gameplay, easy controls, automatic scorekeeping deliver terrific mobile entertainment for you, your friends and family.

POGO.COM GAMES
YAHTZEE for online play: scheduled to release Summer 08
Shake, Score and Shout YAHTZEE with family and friends online! There are two ways to win in this fun and addictive game from Pogo.com. Compete for the top score on a real-time leader board as you and up to 19 people roll the dice in a series of timed rounds. Show your team spirit as you collaborate with other players to advance your team goal and earn bonuses for scoring YAHTZEE together. Take the YAHTZEE fun online!

MONOPOLY HERE & NOW: WORLD EDITION for online play: scheduled to release Fall 08
Risk it all to own it all online! Jet set across the globe and buy and sell property in the most desirable cities in the world. Play alone or wheel and deal with up to 3 people using one of three sets of rules or make the game more challenging by customizing your own game. The unique player icons, sound effects and graphics deliver all the excitement of the beloved game. Will you be the next the next online billionaire?

TRIVIAL PURSUIT for online play: scheduled to release Fall 08
Get your daily dose of trivia fun online! Challenge your daily trivia knowledge with an easy to access, interactive online trivia game. Answer the trivia questions correctly and earn points towards your wedges in pursuit of completing your pie collection by the end of the week. The player with a full pie wins! Not a trivia expert? Take a stab at it. There's something in it for everyone!

OPERATION downloadable game for the PC: scheduled to release Fall 08
The medicine is madcap and YOU are the M.D. as the ER goes arcade-crazy in OPERATION. Your role: emergency surgeon. Your challenge: diagnose and treat patients by successfully performing operations, each one a mini-game. Resources are limited and the clock is ticking, so you've got to heal 'em up and move 'em out.... Do well, and you earn points and upgrades for your hospital. Do poorly, and you'll face malpractice lawsuits from angry plaintiffs with glowing noses. Either way, OPERATION will have you — and your patients — in stitches!

EA's Hasbro games in development are part of the newly formed EA Casual Entertainment Label within Electronic Arts Inc (NASDAQ:ERTS). The Casual Entertainment Label is focused on creating and delivering fun and appealing casual entertainment experiences for a mass audience. With simple rules and engaging designs, these games are easy for a new player to learn but difficult to master. EA's casual games portfolio include such titles as recently announced BOOM BLOX, and currently available SmartyPants™ for the Wii™, Tetris® for mobile phones and the online gaming destination Pogo.com™.

I didn't even know they made Nerf guns like the one he used as a base. And parents are worried about the Wii Zapper?

GameStop has these multi-colored Nerf DS Lite armors for pre-order in pink, blue, black and green for only $12.99. However, just because you order it early with cold, hard cash doesn't give you the right to choose whatever color you want. All cases will be shipped out randomly, because (as we all know) most video game customers don't have any sense of individual taste. We enjoy taking what we can get (why, that in itself is a game - how festive!).

Also, notice how thee is no mention of the availability of the color orange, although one obviously exists. Could GameStop be picking out all the orange cases like I selfishly used to pick out the marshmallow bits out of Lucky Charms? Kim Phu

Faced with Nerf or Nothing, We Choose Nerf [DS Fanboy]

AusGamers is reporting that Company of Heroes Patch v1.5 hits today. The patch fixes a bunch of balance issues and includes two new small maps.

Beaux Lowlands is a two-player map and Lyon is a four-player map. Some of the gameplay fixes in the patch include slightly nerfing the Sherman Callipoe, beefing up the Allied M10 and Allied M8. Hit the jump for the full list of fixes. Brian Crecente

Company of Heroes Patch [AusGamers]

General Fixes
- Games with friends now have a friend icon displayed when browsing the lobby game list.
- Messages regarding game connection attempts are logged to the chat window for all players in the session.
- Rank icons now indicate the type of game the rank was earned in.
- Games with players who have infinite pings now display an "X" for ping in the lobby game list.
- New game list filtering options added to the online lobby.
- Custom maps are now properly supported in multiplayer.
- Losing connection with the lobby while downloading a patch no longer crashes the game.

Sound
- UI sounds have been added to the online lobby.
- Auto match sound notification has been improved.
- Various speech fixes for weapons have been implemented and tuned.
- Destruction sounds have been added to various world objects.
- Repetition has been reduced in battle chatter and with various units.

Gameplay
Sherman Calliope:
- Sherman Calliope's main tank gun has been removed and the Calliope Barrage ability is now free to use.
- Sherman Calliope Barrage range increased from 130 to 150 meters.
- Sherman Calliope now has cap of 2, similar to the Pershing Heavy Tank.
- Sherman Calliope cost reduced from 600 Manpower to 560 Manpower.
- Sherman Calliope Barrage ability recharge timer increased to 105 seconds
M10 Tank Destroyer:
- Allied M10 Movement improved: 15% increase to acceleration and 10% increase rotation rate.
- Allied M10 Tank Destroyer weapon damage has been increased and Fuel cost has been reduced by 5.
- Axis Armoured Car (Puma) 20mm main cannon rear penetration vs. the Allied M10 significantly reduced.
M8 Armored Car:
- Allied M8 Armored Car's accuracy on the move increased. Now on par with the M4 Sherman and M10 Tank Destroyer.
- Allied M8 Armored Car's accuracy penalties vs. the Axis Armored Car (Puma) have been removed.
- Allied M8 Armored Car Armor upgrade Munitions cost reduced by 25.
M26 Pershing Heavy Tank:
- Allied Pershing penetration rate vs. the Stug increased to 80%.
- Axis Stug penetration rate vs. the Pershing has been reduced to 45% from 74.6%
Allied Commander Tree Improvements:
- Armoured Fury Branch changed to: Raid to Allied War Machine to Calliope.
- War Machine Branch changed to: Fast Deployment to Field Repairs to Pershing.
- Allied War Machine Command Point Cost reduced by 1
- Sherman Calliope Command Point Cost reduced by 1
Infantry AT weapon changes (Allies and Axis):
- All Infantry Anti-Tank weaponry (Bazooka, Recoilless Rifle, Panzerschreck) are slightly more accurate when firing at moving light targets.
- Allied Bazookas and Recoilless Rifles now deal slightly more damage to Light Vehicles
- Panzerfaust accuracy against infantry targets has been reduced as intended. While there is still a chance to directly hit and kill targets like snipers, - Panzerfausts are now more likely to cause splash damage rather than kill infantry.
- Panzerschreck Damage vs. base buildings lowered by 25%.
- Bazooka damage vs. base buildings has been lowered by 25%.
Allied BAR and suppression changes:
- Allied BAR Rifle upgrade now gives 2 BAR Rifles rather than 3. Allied BAR Riflemen squads will now be able to pick-up MG42 and Panzerschreck items
- Allied BAR Rifle damage increased by 40%.
- Allied BAR Rifle will take slightly longer to Pin units that are in a Suppressed state
- Allied BAR Suppression ability can no longer suppress and pin units in heavy cover.
Construction Changes:
- Players may no longer delete Sand Bags or Tank Traps.
- Allied Observation Post built from Riflemen now has the same build speed as the Observation Post built by Engineers.
- Allied Observation Posts, Axis Observation Posts, and Machine Gun Nests now have the appropriate target type while building; now like all other buildings they will be much more susceptible to damage while under construction
- Axis Volksgrenadiers can now utilize the same build menu as the Grenadiers - this allows them to construct Barbed Wire and Sand Bags.
Smoke Changes:
- All Barrage weapons no longer have a 50% chance to miss targets in Smoke.
- Projectiles will no longer pass directly through Sherman's on registered "Misses" - they will now behave like all other tanks and those hits will be registered as a non-penetrated "deflection".
- Sherman smoke launcher recharge rate was less than the duration of the ability, now set to 45 seconds
Axis Officer:
- Axis 'Leutnant' Manpower cost decreased to 260 from 340
- Axis 'Leutnant' Build Time increased to 60 from 30.
General Squad and Weapon Changes (Allies and Axis):
- All Snipers more effective against units garrisoned inside of bunkers.
- All Allied Rifles slightly more effective against Axis Motorcycles
- Allied Engineers with the Flamethrower upgrade are no longer resistant to Sniper Shots
- Fixed an issue where the Stug's main gun Area-of-Effect was too effective against infantry squads.
- Axis Assault ability will now break pinning/suppression and prevent pinning/suppression while the ability is active.
- Increased Axis Infantry passive health regeneration bonus received from their first level of veterancy by 40%.
General Vehicle Changes (Allies and Axis):
- Panzer IV accuracy while moving set to the same value as other tanks.
- Axis Goliaths now destroy Tank Traps in a single explosion.
- Axis Armoured Car Puma 50mm Cannon upgrade now requires Escalate to Battle Phase upgrade.
- Axis Motorcycles damage vs. units in light or heavy cover has been slightly reduced
- Axis StuH 42 now effectively kills infantry as was originally intended
- Axis Armoured Car Puma 50mm Upgrade accuracy reduced vs. infantry. It is intended as an anti-armor upgrade.
General Heavy Weapon Team Changes (Allies and Axis):
- All Mortars now have a chance to deal Mobility Damage if they hit Light Vehicles.
- All Anti-Tank guns are now more accurate when firing at moving and stationary Light Vehicles.
- Allied 57mm Anti-Tank gun firing cone has been increased by 20 degrees to match Axis 50mm Anti-Tank gun.
- Allied HMG Armor Piercing Rounds ability price reduced from 50 to 35 munitions.
- Allied Howitzer Gun Barrage is less accurate when firing into the Fog of War.
- Axis Nebelwerfer Manpower cost has been reduced by 20
- Axis Nebelwerfer Rocket Suppression area of effect increased.
- Axis Nebelwerfer Rocket area of effect damaged reduced. Direct hits and near misses will still damage infantry units.
- Axis Nebelwerfer will deal a reduced amount of damage to units in light, heavy, bunker, and garrison cover types.
- Axis Flak 88's are more resilient to Artillery, off-map attacks, and satchel charges (the crew manning them is not).
- Axis Flak 88's and Nebelwerfers can now be re-manned by 2-man Pioneer squads.

So, we have Wii boxing gloves, the three attachments listed above, now all we need is a baby soft mini-bowling ball within which we may stash our Wii-motes. Then the circle of stupidity will be complete. Michael McWhertor

Nerf and Nintendo's Safety Dance [Crave via NeoGAF]

IGN got some hands-on time with Pelican and Nerf's first controller collaboration, the Nerf PlayStation 2 controller. Covered in soft, biteable foam, the controller sounds perfect for those of us incapable of supressing the berserker rage brought on by, say, Shinobi's bottomless pits, Viewtiful Joe's pain-in-the-ass bosses, or Devil May Cry 3's entire game.

It also sounds like it's right up the respective alleys of those who love to release their frustration by throwing their pad at their hi-def televisions or by beaning their younger siblings in the head with said controller.

Surprisingly, impressions were very positive. While the d-pad looks cheap and semi-useless, the savings in new electronics and hospital bills shouldn't be overlooked. Michael McWhertor

Pelican NERF PS2 Controller [IGN]