The launch party, on the corner of Wooster and Spring streets from noon to 4 p.m., will be hosted by Fab 5 Freddy and feature performances by DJ Z Trip and J.Period.

The free event, co-sponsered by PUMA, also gives you a chance to go hands-on with the game before it hits stores next week.

Make sure to send us pics if you go to the free event.

Soon that empty space will be filled with people playing Tatsunoko VS. Capcom, Marvel VS. Capcom 2, and Super Street Fighter IV, and while you won't be able to join them, you'll at least be able to watch them via Capcom's Ustream channel, which will be broadcasting until the end of the event. Witness the joy on fans' faces as they revel in competition! Envy the amazingly good time they are having. Or, you know, enjoy this relatively empty room. Your choice!

You can watch the stream via the little doohickey below, or hit up the channel page to break the first rule of Fight Club.

Video streaming by Ustreamhttp://www.ustream.tv/channel/pac

I suppose the Empire State is in cutting-edge democracy-lab mode for this one, having seen the devastation wrought by a rogue PSP player on a Honolulu bus. Yes, this is a blanket ban on using all portable electronics, and is probably meant to stop driving while texting, which is more profligate and a bigger problem than playing Patapon on the Thruway. But the ban is only a secondary violation - meaning you have to get popped for something else first before you can be cited for the $150 fine.

Now, if a cop rolls up beside you while you're scratching on the DS, my guess is he'll consider you're driving carelessly, pull you over for that, and then slap you with driving-while-gaming. So it's not like you can flout this so long as you're buckled up, doing the speed limit and have all tail lights intact. But if so, it kind of raises the question why this law is necessary in the first place.

When I start my own state legislature, we are going to ban driving while making belgian waffles. Just putting that out there now.

NY State Bans Texting, Gaming, Surfing While Driving [GamePolitics]

"We are treating game openings like movie openings if they're cool," he told Kotaku. "Video games are interesting, I think it's something a lot of people do now.

"It's entertaining and it gets your mind off things like my life sucks, or I have to pay the bills. It's almost like meditation for me."

And Fallon's not just tapping into a hobby that he thinks he viewers might find interesting, he's a life-long gamer himself.

"I'm 34, so I think I grew up in that generation where video games were always a part of my life," he said. "Getting an Atari 2600 was a huge deal for me, I think I had that before I had cable."

The next big thing for Fallon was Nintendo and Super Mario Bros. an experience that made him a stalwart fan of Nintendo and their consoles. Nowadays he owns all of the gaming systems, including a modded PSP that he rarely touches and an iPhone, but rarely has the time to play on them.

He says that they have all of the consoles at the studio, but people rarely have the time to use them and when he's home he tends to spend his down time with his wife.

Fallon says he just landed a copy of Ghostbusters, but asked me how it was because he hadn't had a chance yet to check it out. (I haven't either.)

Growing up, Fallon said he never really stopped playing games. When he was at Saturday Night Live he was one of the people who helped get pieces on video gaming into the weekly show.

"I shared my office with Horatio (Sanz) and we had an Xbox," he said. "You're up so late at Saturday Night Live, it's kind of like a dorm vibe."

And out of that came several funny skits.

On Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, the crew doesn't really have time to play games, but Fallon still thinks incorporating gaming into the show is important.

Fallon played Punch Out!!! on the Wii on his show earlier in the year, and last week sent a correspondent to E3, SNL's Jason Sudeikis. Tonight he will have Microsoft's Kudo Tsunoda on to talk about Project Natal, something Fallon had heard about but hasn't seen.

He said he didn't want to know much about the system before tonight's show so that he could see what someone new to the idea can do with it.

And Fallon isn't gun shy about having game developers and producers on his show either. He recently invited Double Fine's Tim Schafer to come on the show with Jack Black to talk about their collaboration on Brutal Legend.

That flies in the face of the argument that game developers may not be as entertaining on a talk show as a musician or an actor.

"I think it's all about how interested you are in talking to these people," Fallon said. "There are some really famous celebrities out there that aren't that exciting.

Tsunoda says he happy to see video games getting so much time on Fallon's show.

"I am really excited to be able to show him the Project Natal technology and how it works," Tsunoda told Kotaku. "We have been working on this project for so long in secret, it's awesome to finally be able to show it off. Hopefully, we can bring that same spirit of fun we had during E3 to the Late Night with Jimmy Fallon show."

And what about showing the people at home what the bottom of an avatar's shoe looks like?

"That was something totally improvised," Tsunoda said. "I'm not even sure what possessed me to do that at the time. I'm sure something just as fun will happen tonight on the show."

You can catch Fallon and Tsunoda on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on NBC tonight.

That's because the work, called "Here & There", was partly inspired by Halo (which, it must be noted, was in turn influenced by the work of Larry Niven). But that's not where the gaming influence ends: while cataloguing the inspiration for the piece, Schulze writes "I don't like the way maps (in-game maps) work in most video games."

"They seem to break my flow of play, and locating one's actor in the game isn't satisfying. I'd love to see a first person or third person shooter where the landscape bent up to reveal a limited arc of the landscape in plan over distance."

So in putting the map together, the creators cite not just Halo, but Grand Theft Auto, SimCity, Syndicate and even Luigi's Mansion as having contributed towards their idea for the picture, all (presumably) because of the way they depict the world around the player.

Here & There influences [Here & There, via Gizmodo]

Paterson's proposal, issued in December, included a section titled "Close Digital Property Taxation Loophole", which would impose taxes on all digitally-delivered items, including iPod songs, digital movie rentals, and video game content. In a press conference in Albany yesterday, the governor announced that that particular provision had been removed, along with taxes on clothing over $100, haircuts, non-diet soda, movie tickets, and gasoline priced over $2.

According to Paterson, the taxes were viewed as "inconvenient and frustrating" by New Yorkers, who viewed them as a direct attack on their leisure activities, and the one thing no one wants to deal with is inconvenienced and frustrated New Yorkers.

New York skips Internet, soda and other tax hikes [Reuters]

Crafted lovingly by Assemblyman Keith L.T. Wright, measure A01474 would prohibit underage sales of games that promoted racial stereotypes or negative actions towards specific groups. The wording, exactly:

Prohibits the sale to minors of certain rated video games containing a rating that reflects content of various degrees of profanity, racist stereotypes or derogatory language, and/or actions toward a specific group of persons.

Oh my god...this man wants to keep our children from playing Final Fantasy VII! Damn you, Barrett!

Really though, isn't this a redundant sort of bill? You don't get many games that portray young black men as gang bangers coming out with T for Teen ratings. Besides, who decides what a stereotype is? Does the game B-Boy fall under this law because it depicts minorities as break dancers? It's too general. Probably too general to pass.

According to Game Politics, Wright tried to pass a similar bill in 2007, which failed. Poor guy.

Bill Summary - A01474 [New York Assembly via Game Politics]

In a budget proposal that can be read in its entirety online, Patterson calls for state worker layoffs, cuts in education and health care spending, expansion to the state's lottery program, and taxation on all digitally delivered property. From the official document:

Close Digital Property Taxation Loophole. Imposes state and local sales tax on purchases of prewritten software, digital audio, audio-visual and text files, digital photographs, games, and other electronically delivered entertainment services to achieve tax parity. For example, with the passage of this bill, a book, song, album, or movie would be subject to sales tax no matter if it was bought at a brick and mortar store or downloaded online.

I wouldn't worry too much just yet. The budget still needs legislative approval, and I can't see much of a chance of that happening, especially with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg firmly opposed.

Gov. David Paterson unveils dire New York State budget that includes new taxes, layoffs and cuts [NY Daily News via Game Politics]

To commence next fall, NYU will be offering "long-term undergraduate and graduate degrees in the research, design and development of digital games". Sorry board game fans. That's digital only.

Don't go flooding the college's phone lines with enquiries just yet, though, as NYU are taking baby steps with this one. Only 10-12 students will be offered positions next year, with plans to establish a two-year masters course the year after.

NYU Launching Videogame Degree Next Fall [Shacknews]

From next autumn, NYU will offer courses via its new NYU Games Center, which was also announced today.

NYU is no stranger to videogames, having opened the Microsoft-funded Games For Learning Institute which aims to research the use of games in education.

NYU launches video gaming degree [Crain's NY]

Of course Best Buy locations across the country will be opening as well, but they are nowhere near as important as that one right there. Until Morhaime can be cloned, this is the way it has to be.

Best Buy® Counts Down the Arrival of Wrath of the Lich King™ in New York City

World of Warcraft® Players to Meet Blizzard Entertainment® Developers and Be Among First to Obtain Their Copy at an Exclusive Launch Celebration

MINNEAPOLIS—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Alliance and Horde members will converge on the Best Buy at 44th Street and 5th Avenue to take part in the highly anticipated midnight launch of Blizzard Entertainment®’s World of Warcraft®: Wrath of the Lich King™. The celebration, starting at 8 p.m. Eastern Time on Nov. 12 at the Best Buy store near Times Square, is the premiere developer meet-and-greet in the U.S. for the popular World of Warcraft game and the only such event on the East Coast.

The event includes appearances by Blizzard Entertainment cofounders Mike Morhaime, CEO, and Frank Pearce, executive vice president of product development. In addition, a number of the game’s developers will be available to meet players and sign copies of the game. Geoff Keighley, videogame TV host, will emcee the evening that will feature interviews, trivia and prize giveaways.

With more than 11 million subscribers, World of Warcraft is the most popular massively multiplayer online role-playing game in the world. Wrath of the Lich King is the game’s second expansion. For more information on the game visit www.WorldofWarcraft.com.

In addition to the original game and both expansions, players can purchase 60-day World of Warcraft subscription cards at Best Buy.

“At Best Buy, we’re passionate about helping gamers get the most enjoyment from their gaming systems – from having the latest releases to a full complement of gaming platforms, accessories, electronics and services,” said Jill Hamburger, Best Buy vice president games and movies. “Our newly introduced Reward Zone Gamers Club provides additional benefits and amazing experiences for our most loyal customers who love gaming.”

Reward Zone® program Gamers Club is a specialty expansion of Best Buy’s Reward Zone Loyalty Program. For every $150 spent on qualifying gaming software and accessories (certain exclusions apply) Reward Zone program Gamers Club members will receive 500 points/$10 reward certificates, in addition to their regular Reward Zone program points, that can be used on almost everything within the store. Additional membership benefits include special offers on game software and accessories, information on the latest gaming trends and hints and cheats for popular games to maximize the gaming experience. Members may also receive special access to invitation only gaming events hosted by Best Buy.

For more information on the launch event, visit www.bestbuy.com/midnightopenings.

Wrath of the Lich King is a trademark, and World of Warcraft, Blizzard Entertainment, and Warcraft are trademarks or registered trademarks of Blizzard Entertainment, Inc., in the U.S. and/or other countries.

From the bill's description, it:

Creates an advisory council on interactive media and youth violence and requires video game consoles to be equipped with a device or control to permit owners to prevent the display of violent or indecent video games; defines "video game"; addresses sale and rental of video games.

Now that the bill, spearheaded by Staten Island Republican Senator Andrew Lanza (R), has been passed 61-1 by the State Senate, the proposed 16-member advisory council still needs to meet with the approval of New York Governor David Paterson (D). If he signs off, the bill could become law in 2010 - which could open the door for the New York State Senate to use its judgment to control video game content.

GamePolitics, who yesterday broke the news of the bill's passage in the Senate, also obtained an mp3 of Senator Lanza's argument to the Senate in favor of the bill:

If you look closely at this bill, [concerns expressed by Sen. Duane] are not valid. Let's start with speech. There's all kinds of speech. If we take an old-fashioned pinball machine and plunked it down here in the middle of the chamber, no one would call it speech. But when we put that up on a video screen, it does become speech and I acknowledge that. And it deserves protection under the Constitution... There is some confusion with respect to what this bill actually accomplishes... The word prohibition was talked about. I want to be clear. This bill does not prohibit the sale of any video to anyone...

This simply says that every video game sold in the state of New York simply should have a rating consistent with what the ESRB does presently in a voluntary way... it does work. But the problem with "voluntary" is that tomorrow someone can change their mind. Someone could decide tomorrow to no longer place ratings on these games. So this is not about prohibiting the sale, this is simply about providing information to parents...

Last year's version... that included a provision that would have made it an E-felony to sell these games, we all thought it was wrong. And we took that out. We worked with the [video game] industry. We worked with the Assembly and we do have an agreement here on a piece of legislation that I think will go a long way in allowing parents to make good decisions in regard to what is and what isn't appropriate for their chidlren...

As with similar laws struck down in the past, we can likely expect a lawsuit - in the meantime, though, there is something you can do. If we can defend our favorite games in flamewars in comments on message boards, it's not too much to ask for us to write a letter.

The ESA had established a page within its Video Game Voters network that offers an easy letter form for New Yorkers to write their representatives in opposition to this measure, and even though the bill has already been passed, it might be a wise move to petition the Governor's office now as Paterson considers signing the bill into law.

You can even recruit your non-gaming, tax-paying friends to petition this cause, because history's shown us that efforts to regulate games through law - especially through legislation that precedent has established as unconstitutional in California, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Illinois and Minnesota - end up a futile expense of taxpayer dollars, when the same end can be accomplished through industry self-regulation.

We've contacted the ESA for comment and will update with any response we receive.

NY Senate Passes Video Game Bill 61-1 [GamePolitics]

The report found that the city has more incentive to focus on the game industry than it's been given credit for:

According to local industry experts, the number of game development companies in New York City could be counted on one hand as recently as five years ago. But today, the city is home to more than 30 game development companies and another 55 firms involved in some aspect of games, from sound effects to distribution. Only a handful of other cities in North America have as many gaming firms.

The report recommends a number of strategies for the city's administration to bolster New York City's role in the industry, to create jobs and support economic health, and to develop "a framework for supporting the video game sector," including government liaisons, encouragement for trade shows, and expansion of city university programs for game development.

The report doesn't go as far as to encourage the Georgia-style tax breaks, however, which might at a further stage be a reasonable recommendation for the city with one of the highest costs of living in America.

Getting in the Game [New York City Center for an Urban Future] (Thanks, Mike!)

The farmacias and bodegas in East Holland, the Starbucks-esque cup in every hand, the prevalence of "Craplist" social interaction, even the thriving Russian community beside the boardwalk in Hove Beach where the story begins all capture that tickly feeling of home. But MTV Multiplayer's Stephen Totilo notes that from Bohan to Schottler, there are a few things about New York that GTA IV gets wrong, and he's compiled a tongue-in-cheek list of eight key items that are, as he says, "grossly misrepresented."

1. We are not a car town: No sensible New Yorker uses a car as their primary means of transportation in the city, unless — maybe — they commute from the suburbs. Car ownership doesn't make much sense. There are never any parking spots. Parking garages are prohibitively expensive. And, most importantly, the subway is a faster, cheaper and more efficient means of transportation. We don't drive here. Niko, to be a real New Yorker, should rely on the subway. But what would he be left to grandly thieve?

True enough. Certainly, in New York, only rich commuters who live in swanky penthouses or in the outlying boroughs have cars. Rent here for the average denizen is pricey enough without the cost of gas and parking — and, that aside, I'd never even think of owning a car here just due to the crushing traffic and inconvenience.

But there are a lot of cars here nonetheless, and having been many times a pedestrian nearly clipped by some crazy speeder cornering badly, it's a fun turnabout to be behind the wheel this time. If you do happen to be in a car, people always seem to be wandering into the crosswalk at the worst of times — that, at least, is accurate.

Totilo picks more hangups: There are no dinosaurs at the Met! Times Square — er, Star Junction — should be much more congested with pedestrians, it's true. And bagels are a quintessential part of our diet, unobtainable in Liberty City.

8. We eat bagels: Have I missed something or is it not possible to eat a bagel in "Grand Theft Auto IV"'s Liberty City? Niko can eat burgers, hot dogs and go to diners. But bagels? The most famous New York City food? Never fear, visitors to our town, we have bagels that can be eaten and enjoyed, whether Liberty City acknowledges it or not. Burgers? Waste of time. You can eat them in any town.

And finally, where are Manhat— um, Algonquin's legions of tiny, tiny little doggies? It's the must-have accessory for Upper East Siders. We don't mean to quibble with such a fantastic game world, but, you know.

8 Things 'Grand Theft Auto IV' Gets Wrong About New York City, Including Bagels [MTV Multiplayer]

Flowing Pixels in the East Village [Gawker]

Take for instance the fact that Dragon Sword is the first Gaiden game that Hayashi's mom has endorsed, or that the game was designed to be played at the speed of penmanship:

- The game is designed to move at the pace of penmanship. Hayashi started working on "Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword" after wrapping work on the PS3 game "Ninja Gaiden: Sigma." Taking the DS game's reigns from his boss, Tecmo Team Ninja leader Tomonobu Itagaki, he re-designed the controls and made a breakthrough. "Itagaki had programmed the jump to double-tap," Hayashi told me. "When I played it, I just didn't get any sort of attachment to it. When the double-tap happened it didn't feel like the character was going to jump. So I proposed the idea that, when [series protagonist Ryu] jumps it [requires stroking the stylus] from down to up. When I chose that, there was no doubt that this is the way we should use this... This opened up our concept to how we were going to use the stylus."

I asked if the stroke-based controlled were influenced by favorite strokes of letters in the Japanese alphabets. He said, "Rather than [any one] Japanese character, it has more to do with the pace when one is writing, either in English or Japanese ... Someone can write really fast or really slow, but there's a tempo we thought worked really well."

Plenty of other gems in Totilo's write-up over on Multiplayer.

'Ninja Gaiden' Producer: Video Games Depict Only 10 Percent Of Ninja Lifestyle [MTV Multiplayer]