Unfortunately, due to unforeseen technical difficulties, we won't be able to release Rush's "Moving Pictures" this week. We'll be working on it as hard as we can, but it looks like it could be a couple of weeks to fix. In the meantime we will be moving around our schedule so we still have DLC coming out each week

I'm guessing they're trying to determine some way to keep people from trying to sing as high as Geddy Lee, which can lead to strangulation by your own vocal chords. Bring it down an octave folks, don't be a hero.

In the meantime, savor the irony of the "Rush Delay".

Rush Delay Info [Rock Band Forums - Thanks BatDanNG!]

Here's the first 10. The other 15 are on the jump. The comments on Game With a Brain absolutely crucify the guy. I don't know if they get the point of the satire, but they take it way too seriously, and that could be reason No. 26

1. Halo is not a sport.
2. The controllers are indeed too complicated.
3. No, I have no clue what happened in Mega Man 4.
4. I don’t need 502 ways to decapitate my opponent.
5. No, I do not need to read a FAQ to find all 502 ways.
6. Zelda games do not need to be hard edged.
7. Resident Evil 2 is not the best in the series.
8. Final Fantasy VII is the best Final Fantasy.
9. I find Wii Sports to be incredibly fun.
10. I own a PSP and have not installed custom firmware.

11. I really like Guitar Hero.
12. I don’t really like drawing maps to play video games.
13. Madden Football is good enough.
14. Portal was a fun game and not a religion.
15. I need help playing games sometimes.
16. You are not persecuted.
17. Sorry, but dressing up as Cloud makes you a nerd.
18. $600 is a lot to play video games.
19. I will ask if you have Pac-Man or Donkey Kong.
20. I don’t want to join a clan.
21. I like licensed games.
22. Game stories bore me.
23. I will not read a book or watch a film based on a video game.
24. I have no idea what a PokeMAN is.
25. I enjoy Bejeweled.

25 Reasons Gamers Annoy Non-Gamers [Game With a Brain]

At this time, there is no Blu-ray Disc version planned for the North American market. Please note, however, that you are able to delete and then re-download episodes since the purchase is linked to your PSN account. The developers kept this functionality in mind knowing that the episodes were fairly beefy.

Hah. "No plans". Already, our favourite catchphrase of 2008! Of course, being a PS3 game it's not too hard to import it, so long as you don't mind the characters telling you to stick to the footpath, mind the grey-skinned chaps and use only aluminium weapons. Side note to publishers: more press statements need the word "beefy".

Still No U.S. Plans For Disc-Based ‘Siren: Blood Curse’ [MTV]

GNN Gamer posted a Microsoft Taiwan statement that clarified earlier remarks, stating: "The announcement of the release of Final Fantasy XIII on Xbox 360 at this year's E3 is at the moment still at the planning stage. We don't have any further information regarding the releasing date or the possibility of localization." Microsoft contacted Kotaku, telling us that this statement GNN Gamer was actually incorrect. That statement has since been updated on GNN Gamer, but the site has not made such mention of this update or change. The post now reads:

針對日前媒體對於Final Fantasy XIII會在台上市的引述報導，台灣微軟在此作出聲明。

在2008年E3展中，微軟宣布Final Fantasy XIII將在北美與歐洲地區推出Xbox 360版本，並沒有在台灣推出的計劃。如果造成任何的誤解，台灣微軟特此澄清。

台灣微軟

Regarding recent inaccurate media reports about the availability of Final Fantasy XIII in the Taiwan market, Microsoft Taiwan hereby issues this statement:

At E3 2008, it was announced that Final Fantasy XIII will be available for Xbox 360 platform in North America and Europe. There is no plan to launch the game in Taiwan. We regret any confusion caused by this.

Microsoft Taiwan

When we contact Microsoft directly about whether or not Final Fantasy XIII will be getting an Asian version, Microsoft issued this statement: "There’s really no more to say than that as announced at E3, "Final Fantasy XIII" on Xbox 360 is scheduled for release in North America and Europe. There are no plans to release the game in any other region, including Asia."

Do keep in mind that after the E3 press conference, we approached Xbox Japan boss Takashi Sensui about the chances of FFXIII getting a Japan release. His response? Ask Square Enix.

[Pic]

Poetic, isn't it? I got the idea from that Sony television commercial. Anyway, nothing to see here.

Xbox 360 System update now available (no new features) [Xbox Live's Major Nelson]

"In the year 8002, a mysterious mind disease is spreading and the road to the cure lies somewhere in the depths of space."

Wow, sounds interesting. Then I hit play and got a face full of space shooter. What is this? 1982?

Ian Baverstock, CEO for Kuju Entertainment, said, “Headstrong is the final ‘piece in the puzzle’ for Kuju’s offering in the UK. As action specialists they complement the other studios that have already rebranded and together offer publishers a full service solution to their development needs. ”

The development studio is expected to stay busy-busy through the rebranding, working on several projects, including an unannounced game for Sega. Teases.

Kuju London renamed Headstrong.

Headstrong launched today as the rebranded London studio of the Kuju Entertainment network. The central London developer has already enjoyed huge success with Nintendo's Battalion Wars™ and Battalion Wars™ 2 and continues to focus on what it does best; great Character Action titles. Headstrong offers publishers a specialist service on the Wii™ and occupies an exclusive position in the market due to a wealth of experience gained by working on Nintendo titles.

Studio Head, Bradley Crooks, commented, “We have the ideal opportunity to build on a solid foundation at Headstrong and we have some great projects in development. The studio has a real advantage on the Wii due to our experience with both single-player and multi-player development and we can get projects up and running quickly with our mature technology and tools”.

The studio is expecting a busy schedule over the coming months with discussions on a number of projects. Headstrong has a flexible approach to new opportunities and is happy to work with publishers on licensed products, existing IP or to develop new ideas.

Ian Baverstock, CEO for Kuju Entertainment, said, “Headstrong is the final ‘piece in the puzzle’ for Kuju’s offering in the UK. As action specialists they complement the other studios that have already rebranded and together offer publishers a full service solution to their development needs. ”

Headstrong is located in the Bankside area of London, near the Tate Modern, and is working on a soon to be announced title with SEGA® and a number of other projects.

"One reason is, even if we were to give out what you played today - even if we put invisible walls around it and said, here's the demo, you can go anywhere you like inside these walls and play it how you want - that's potentially right there eight-to-ten hours of gameplay. I don't know too many people who are willing to give away a 12-hour game for free."

How about really tiny invisible walls? Maybe with a time limit? No? As gamers get more and more used to having demos available before games are released, the sandbox game devs are going to have to adjust. Perhaps just give gamers a square of land, a selection of weapons, and a target range? We can work this out folks!

No Far Cry 2 demo planned [Eurogamer]

NO MORE HEROES FLASH ゲーム [Game Watch]

I can't talk about what I saw yet while playing through a chunk of the game last month, but the Bethesda folks took the time to throw together a massive fan-driven 25 question and answer post. In it they touch on everything from child killing and drug addiction to AI and dialog trees. Here's my favorite question. Hit the jump for one on the AI and two more screens. Make sure you check out the full post if you're interested in the game.

1) Which of the following, if any, will be featured in Fallout3; Romance, Sex, Homosexuality, Nudity, Prostitution, Slavery, Cannibalism, Children, Child killings, drugs, addictions? And of the things that won't be featured, can you explain why they won't be included in the game?

It touches on most of those. Slavery, children, drugs and addiction more than the others, as those factor for into the setting more. In regards to nudity and child killings, no, it features neither of those, as they don't really add to the flavor of the game (I'll get into children in the next question more). I think if you look at Fallout 1, and the footprint it has with the topics you ask about, Fallout 3 is pretty much the same, in that it features the types of things you mention at about the same rate, no more, no less. Drugs and drug addiction play a larger role perhaps, as it's a key gameplay device. I think the heart of this question is "has the harshness and maturity of the world of Fallout 3 been tempered from the earlier games?" and I can certainly say "No, it hasn't been."

10) How advanced will the AI of NPC's be this time around? Are they really going to have a life? Speaking to other NPC's in a logical manner, traveling and trading with/in faraway places, Submitting to the player rather than fighting if they know, or think, they're no match for him?

I wish I could answer with a number, like "it will be 17 advanced." AI is difficult to define, the NPCs certainly appear much smarter than our previous stuff, by a lot. Much of that is us giving them better data, massaging what they do so the player gets to see more of it. We added a lot of animations, so people in town are doing more. They "seem" to be interacting with the world in a more realistic manner, but that usually means going up to something and playing an animation. It can be something really simple, like we added "lean against wall". It's funny how something that small can give life to a person. They walk into a space, and just lean against the wall, arms folded. Like Oblivion, we use our Radiant AI system, so most of the NPCs eat, sleep, work, etc. I think we take it for granted now, but it's pretty great to have that level of control. We've also done a lot to the conversation system, which makes them seem a lot smarter, but again, that's better data, not a new system.

On the technical side we spent most of our time doing an all new pathfinding system. Morrowind/Oblivion use nodes for pathing and Fallout uses a navmesh. This is the difference between an NPC having a valid point to stand on (node) versus an area to stand in, or walk around (mesh). You can do much more sophisticated actor movement and behavior with a navmesh, and I think you'll see the results onscreen, especially when the bullets start flying. The actors do a great job of finding cover and using the space well, something we could never have done with pathnodes.

In terms of the NPCs traveling around, many travel around town, and some travel the wasteland. There are a few caravans in the game that go from town to town trading. Radiant AI handles something like that really well.

Lastly, as far as submitting to a more powerful foe, yes they do that, in that they run away. If they're overmatched, they holster their weapon, flee and try to hide. While this sounds cool on paper, it's often not fun at all, and we've ended up really dialing that back, because it gets really annoying really fast, to have people run away all the time. The main faction that still acts like this are the Raiders, the others don't do it so much.

She got the unlock codes from two different launch events in Japan today, in Shinjuku and Yokohama. A third was released at Omiya but she wasn't there, so its code is still out there, presumably (if you have it, send along to tips.) But McWhertor tested these out and they're on the level:

password mekakorkkk unlocks the .45 caliber pistol.
password mnsoymsyhn unlocks the Mosin-Nagant rifle.

Enjoy your ill-gotten firearms! The U.S. Supreme Court just ruled you have a right to 'em after all ...

Speaking about the game's development, he explained that they were "about a third of the way through" the campaign, and were concentrating on story structure and cinematics at this point - commenting that by the end of the year, Blizzard should have something very impressive to show off.

That said, Mac gamers can expect a simultaneous release of this title, too — whenever it arrives.

StarCraft II — Not Happening in 2008 [Internode Games Network]

In the process, the AP determined the favorite game of one 12-year-old:

Like many other Japanese youngsters, she has the DS at home and plays DS games like "Mario Kart" and "Animal Crossing." But she insisted her favorite was her English class software

It was only a couple of years ago that I went to a high school in Chicago to watch students try to learn from Civilization III. Putting each student at a desktop computer seemed to make communication hard. I wonder if the DS is any better a replacement for a textbook.

Curious detail about this story #1: Nintendo is providing 40 DSes to a classroom of 32.
Curious detail about this story #2: English Training for best game?

Nintendo DS Teaches English In School [AP via NPR, OK?] [English Training DS Pic]

Konami Digital Entertainment Spain regrets to info of possible delays, through no fault of the company, may occur in the distribution of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots for PLAYSTATION 3 in the coming days.

Although the official launch globally is June 12, 2008, the product will be unavailable this week in Spain due to the transport strike.

In the continuing effort to maintain the best gaming experience for our users, Konami Digital Entertainment deeply regrets that this contingency affect the date of launch of a long-awaited title.

Will be informed shortly of the date on which the product will be available in our country.

Bummer that the launch had to be pushed back due to a transport strike. The price of gas isn't anything to be happy about, either.

Comunicado sobre la fecha de lanzamiento de Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots [Konami Thanks, Lauren!] [Pic]

Nintendo 2008 nicht auf Games Convention

Im August 2008 wird Nintendo Deutschland nicht mit einem eigenen Stand auf der Games Convention in Leipzig vertreten sein.

Mit kleineren lokalen Events und nationalen Promotiontouren, auf denen die zum Teil völlig neuartigen Spielkonzepte für den tragbaren Nintendo DS und die Heimkonsole Wii vorgestellt wurden, hat das Unternehmen in den vergangenen Monaten viele positive Erfahrungen gesammelt.

Auch im zweiten Halbjahr des Jahres 2008 setzt Nintendo daher statt auf eine zentrale Messe auf deutschlandweite Event-Präsenz: In den unterschiedlichsten Lebensumfeldern werden seine Videospiele so bei vielerlei Gelegenheiten direkt erlebbar.

„Um auch Medien und Handelspartner so früh wie möglich über die neuesten Spiele zu informieren, wird Nintendo im Anschluss an die Spielemesse E3 2008 eine bundesweite Roadshow starten", ergänzt Dr. Bernd Fakesch, General Manager Nintendo Deutschland.

Nintendo legt Wert auf die Feststellung, dass es mit seiner Entscheidung keine Kritik an der Games Convention verbindet. „Wir sind immer gerne nach Leipzig gekommen und haben uns hier sehr wohl gefühlt. Wir möchten uns an dieser Stelle noch einmal herzlich für die vielen Jahre der guten Zusammenarbeit bedanken", so Dr. Fakesch. Er betont außerdem, dass die Entscheidung keinesfalls eine Vorentscheidung für die GAMESCom in Köln 2009 darstelle. Nintendo werde das Messekonzept bewerten und dann auf Basis seiner bis dahin gewonnenen Erfahrungen neu entscheiden.

Thanks Daniel!

Seriously, there was a kid in Missouri who destroyed a vacuum cleaner in order to play video games. I'm betting at least one BOB's power cord, locked or not, gets introduced to a pair of scissors. AND THEN WHO'S GONNA BE THE BAD GUY????

Can you believe the "Today" show touted this as "fun stuff for summer?" You mean something that deactivates the fun stuff I do in the summer? Honestly, I'm wondering if I can reverse engineer BOB to not shut off my TV. Because I have Netflix and Gamefly rentals piling up while I do stuff like THA LAUNDRY, and DINNER, and CLEANING MY TOILET.

BOB— The Screentime Controller [usebob.com, hat tip to Richard Blakeley for the video again]

By the way, whenever you see me type all caps, you should imagine a monster trucks voice — Owen

This picture comes from an animation that gets annoying after about like 2 seconds. Turn down your speakers if you have easily startled house pets or children around. Fair warning.

Don't Do Drugs in Space! PLEASE! [ytmnd.com]

Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter saw that similar February spike as a vote of confidence from the shareholders that the acquisition was likely to go through. This time, though, with the state of the buyout apparently in limbo until May 16th, the climb in stock price looks likely due to a voluminous wave of super-hyperbolic positivity from reviewers regarding the imminent GTA IV.

Stressing that their offer is "full and fair," EA senior VP of corporate development Owen Mahoney recently said that any GTA IV-related spikes in Take-Two's share price would be "a short term event," since he agrees with the analyst opinion that investors have already considered the value of GTA IV.

Neither EA nor Take-Two have yet responded to requests for comment on what, if anything, the elevated share price might signal for the ongoing bid.

Zero Punctuation: No More Heroes [The Escapist]

The game includes 10 characters, a pretty bitchin soundtrack and some amazing graphics, all packed into a flash game you can play on your keyboard. The controls are a bit awkward because they force you to move with the arrow keys and attack with the number pad, but I got used to it pretty quickly.

Hokuto No Ken

The company today confirmed that they are working with Human Heads Studio on Prey 2. They also announced that Recoil Games is working on a shooter called Earth No More and third title being worked on by a yet-to-be-announced studio.

Hit the jump for the description of all three and some more art.

Prey 2
The follow up to "Action Game of the Year" (PC Gamer), reprise your role as Tommy, the native warrior who saved Earth from alien invasion in Prey. This time, abandoned and framed for the disappearance of his family and girlfriend, Tommy escapes an Earth that no longer wants him for a future that cannot survive without him. Building on the mind-bending portal and gravity-defying gameplay of the original with several innovative new twists, Prey 2 promises to once again take players into a compelling science-fiction world with breathtaking visuals and adrenaline-pumping action gameplay. Prey 2 is currently being developed in cooperation with Human Head studios and slated for Xbox 360 and PC platforms.

Earth No More


Earth No More does away with the "lone-hero" shooter archetype, instead focusing on the dynamic between an ensemble cast that must learn to work together to survive the threat of an environmental extinction event. As Will Foster, a DHS chemical weapons specialist, you are among the first to respond to a gas attack on Washington, D.C. However, it soon becomes clear that the gas attack is a cover-up for something much more sinister. Earth No More is currently being developed in close collaboration with Recoil Games and is slated for release on next-gen consoles and PC.

Incarnate
Incarnate poses the question: Can evil ever die? The re-incarnated souls of history's most evil people are converging on present-day Chicago. As Thomas Ludlow, you are recruited by a secret organization to hunt down and capture these 'Incarnates'. But the further you dig into the reasons for their arrival, the more you learn of the true nature of your efforts and your own connection to the events unfolding before you. Stalk your prey in the wide open city, search for them in the dark places, and maybe you will survive long enough to solve the mystery of your own past. Can you break the chains of destiny, or will you let them bind you to your doom? Incarnate is currently being developed in collaboration with a yet-to-be-announced studio.

The serial numbers matched of course, but the case would never been the same. Completely blank save for a few smudges thought to be the remnants of diluted permanent ink. Unless they somehow printed up a new serial number sticker to match the old one, someone had cleaned off the case completely. No signatures, no custom artwork - nothing.

I cannot even begin to imagine what was going through the head of the person who did this. Perhaps there was an accident of some sort - some thinner spilled or something - and rather than return the case with a smudge they simply cleaned it off. Maybe someone was just being a sadistic bastard. I've no clue, but knowing the reason why won't help. That's the saddest thing about the whole situation. Nothing will bring those signatures back, so what could Microsoft even do to appease Nathaniel? Even if they somehow got the case passed around to the various signers and had the artwork redone it could never be the same. What a complete and utter nightmare.

As with all stories of this sort, there's always the chance this could be some sort of hoax, though I highly doubt it, as other than discrediting Microsoft I see no real gain from making this up. We're currently trying to reach Microsoft for comment on the situation.

Hit the link below for the full story, including the text of the letter Nathaniel wrote and more pictures of the formerly signed 360.

Another Gamer Screwed by Microsoft [Hawty McBloggy - Thanks Everyone!]

Report: Gizmondo delayed until end of 2008 [GameSpot]

I want to make a Super Mario game for adults...Maybe Mario could wear an Italian suit and have a machine gun...But Nintendo probably wouldn't like that idea.

With a gun.

Suda wants to make 'Mario with guns' [CVG][image]

This originality will always remain, but I also want us to challenge ourselves by working at making realistic visuals as well. The next title will have a very different style, but keep the Grasshopper feeling at the same time... The Xbox 360. Definitely, I want to develop on this platform. It is really easy to work with. It is also quite popular outside Japan on markets that I would like to aim at. Specifically, I think of the American market as the Major League — I would like to go there and be successful.

Want to see what Wii owners in Europe and Japan are missing out on, in terms of flowing rivers of blood, decapitations and amputations? Then watch xserothx's No More Heroes Death Scene Comparison clips for a study in regional censorship. This is grisly stuff, folks, and not for the faint of heart of virtual murder. Anyone wary of spoilers should skip 'em, as they're essentially every boss fight in the game.

No More Heroes Death Scene Comparisons [YouTube - thanks, Sidepocket!]

So imagine my surprise when two of the greatest things in the world—food and video games—fused into one during Bourdain's visit to Vancouver and he showed up at the set of infamous filmmaker Uwe Boll. Bourdain actually participated in shooting a short cameo in FarCry that will appear during what I'm betting are the best 4 seconds of the film. So what's it like to work with Boll? Watch the clip.

Oh, and for those interested, Bourdain also visits the illustrious EA Vancouver campus as well in the episode, so it's worth giving it a good DVRing...but I do hope he keeps actually eating food every once in a while for my vicarious salivation.

So what did the critics think? Hit the jump for our Frankenreview to find out: not quite every review, but probably more than you're going to read anyway.

IGNYou've got the GTA free-roaming that is used for doing individual missions, exploring the city of Santa Destroy, and hitting up a few shops and training areas, which leads the way for the action-oriented story. If the game was based only on the open world style, it would have been a pretty sizable disappointment as far as we're concerned, as there are constant frame issues, pop-in everywhere, very little NPC activity, and a huge overall lack of polish...What it all boils down to is about 10 or so stores and buildings to go into, a handful of mission points that bring you into new loading zones, and some mini-game jobs which are fun, but hardly necessitate an entire open world.

Gamespot
The crux of the action is found in No More Heroes' numerous and impressive boss encounters, where you'll use these subtleties to your advantage, though they don't usually present a foreboding challenge until the final few fights. Yet they're still enormously entertaining, thanks to your opponents' melodramatic (and often hysterical) soliloquizing, interesting attacks, and pure wackiness. Holly Summers launches missiles at you from her fake leg, while Stage magician Harvey Moiseiwitsch Volodarskii locks you up in the box used for his disappearing act...

NGamer
Never before have we played a game that felt so completely in love with being a game - text is rendered in an eighties pixellated font, your map's a sloppy digital display, the whole HUD ripped from Grand Theft Auto without mercy or apology; the ten best assassins table is the high score chart from a 1984 coin-op and the pause menu is like a scene from Tron.

4 Color RebellionThe music in is excellent. The No More Heroes theme is catchy and runs in several variations throughout the game. Fans of Lumines will recognize the song "Heavenly Star" by the Genki Rockets and you can even watch the song's music video from a tape in Travis's apartment...The voice acting is over the top and often hilarious. People have ridiculous accents, crazy rants, and seem to be doing nothing but spouting catch phrases. The dialogue is not good in an Oscar Wilde sort of way, but it is good in an "Army of Darkness" sort of way. No one really sounds like a real person, but nothing in this game ever feels very real to begin with.

InsomniaIn regards to the first point, what's happened here is that the remote/nunchuk functionality is used to mask how terribly shallow the fighting system is. So shallow, that it is quite possible to win half the fights in the game by — get this — turning your back on the TV and mashing the A button while vigorously shaking the remote in random directions.

Back to us—not dissimilarly from the public's reaction to Killer7, No More Heroes garners polar reactions. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't give it a shot.

I am concerned to learn my comments in one interview regarding the success of Nintendo 3rd party titles have been misinterpreted. My point was that "NO MORE HEROES", unlike a lot of Nintendo Wii titles currently available is the kind of product which will attract a different kind of consumer to the hardware. ie. gamers who are looking for a different genre to the products which have been successful on this platform thus far.

No More Heroes (WII)
Suda 51's surreal cel shaded adventures of Travis Touchdown.

Advance Wars: Days of Ruin (DS)
The follow up to the wildly popular Advance Wars hits with a new storyline and wi-fi.

Pirates of the Burning Sea (PC)
Arrrgh! Live the life of a pirate on land and sea in this new MMO.

Burnout Paradise (PS3, X360)
Drive, crash and burn!

Endless Ocean (WII)
Explore the mysterious world under the sea.

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (DS)
Pit Mario against Sonic on your DS.

One Piece: Unlimited Adventure (WII)
Search for booty with Capt. Monkey.

Iridium Runners (PS2)
It's a space race!

Rainbow Islands Evolution (PSP)
Bub and Bob are back again in a new old adventure again.

Whilst the sales weren't as high as I hoped, other titles for Wii aren't selling so well either. Only Nintendo titles are doing well. This isn't just because of the current situation in Japan, as this is happening outside Japan... Actually I was very surprised about the reality about Wii, because before I was making this game, I wasn't expecting that Wii would be a console targeted only for non-gamers. I expected more games for hardcore gamers. The reality is different to what I expected.

No More Heroes Ships Early [IGN]

1. Boring
2. Not super clear
3. Nor concise
4. Dull
5. Synonym of dull

But this No More Heroes manual is modeled after a comic book and looks to lack Wiimote sketches altogether. Why not take a risk on the manual? It's not like you are going to disappoint anyone if the idea's a miss. Of course, if it is fantastic, chances are that no one will notice then, either.

Marvelous! No More Heroes has a comic book manual [siliconera]

Senko no Ronde 2 [Yahoo! Japan]

Senko no Ronde 2 Announcement