"Super Mario Bros.: Cleaning pipes and taking names," goes the first entry. We can see where this is headed. "Two bare-chested dudes on a mission neither can accomplish without the other," is the description for Contra. Duke Nukem is a "muscled Chelsea queen." Mortal Kombat is "Likely the first and most tranny-relevant video game." And the "hands-down gayest video game of all time," oughta set a few people off.

The Gayest Video Games [Out.com via Go Nintendo]

Let me clarify: A PS3 won't access the mp3 files from a Blu-Ray disc. PS3s absolutely will play mp3s, just not from a Blu-Ray. Original article continues:

In addition to a bunch of other stuff, the $75 special edition comes with a bonus DVD whose content includes the fantasy RPG's epic soundtrack. Of course for PS3 that's upgraded to Blu-Ray to take advantage of that drive in the PS3, which in turn won't read the mp3 files. Basically, you have to buy a Blu-Ray player for a PC to get to it, and who the hell wants to do that, right?

BioWare's forums are said to be full of threads on this subject. In this one, a customer complains to Electronic Arts over its support chat, and is told more or less that EA's aware of the problem but has no remedy for it. Ouch. But the guy did get a $20 EA Store coupon, a code he immediately posted after proclaiming he had no intention of doing business with EA after this screwup. Pretty sure that code's been cashed, but who knows, if you complain, maybe you can get one.

I have emailed the EA press contact handling Dragon Age: Origins to ask if there might be some sort of larger fix for this - like either making the content available for download elsewhere, or shipping out a CD/DVD-ROM version. If I hear anything - remember, it's the weekend after Thanksgiving, it'll be updated here.

EA/Bioware Unwilling to Address DA:O PS3 Soundtrack Problem [BioWare forums via tipster David S.]

The comments, by the Rt. Revs Mark Bryant, Brian Smith and John Goddard, apparently first appeared in a news release sent out in the past week, written and reported by a freelance journalist. I couldn't find a copy of this release. MCVUK, whom we cited yesterday, only reported Capcom's reaction to the comments; MCVUK did not originally report the clergy's remarks.

Anyway, the Rt. Rev. Smith said his remarks were taken out of context and made out to be more authoritative than they were. "I made it clear that I was not qualified to make a comment," Smith told TVG. "I suggested that the researcher should contact someone in one of the dioceses in London where I understood she was working."

Rt. Rev. Bryant added that his comments had been misrepresented. "I know enough not to go offering outright condemnation of things about which I know comparatively little," he said.

So, OK, sounds like these guys were played to type for purposes of someone's attention-grabbing news release. Sounds plausible. My original point still stands: Why did Capcom even bother to respond? Either these guys, or the people using them, are pikers looking to stir up a fight. Best to just let that dog lie.

Priests Misrepresented In Resident Evil PR Stunt News [Total Video Games]

Game or film would be bad enough. Both together would be like multiplying zeroes. The Movie Blog drops word of Boll's latest ambition, which is confusingly titled Bloodrayne 3: Warhammer. Yeah, I have no idea what that means, either, except maybe a C&D in the mail from Mythic Entertainment? Kirstanna Loken is said to be back in the lead role.

I couldn't track down what The Movie Blog was sourcing but this post says this movie will begin filming in January. Which means it'll be finished in February. Or at least look like it.

Uwe Boll to Bring Us Bloodrayne 3: Warhammer [The Movie Blog via Joystiq]

The Naples, Fla. teen says two guys in a white pickup truck blocked his car as he tried to enter a gated community where his friend lives. Two guys, one with an assault rifle, the other with a pistol, jumped out, drove him to his stepfather's home in another gated community to steal some jewelry. Then it was off to Walmart with stepdad's credit card.

There, the victim says one of his captors demanded he buy him a shotgun. But it being past 8:30, the gun counter was closed. So the bandits said they'd settle for a PS3 Slim, which the victim bought. They then set him free, and he went running to the law.

Yeah, there's been one arrest, and it sounds like there's surveillance footage, but let's show a little skepticism here. If this is true, two dudes just went to a hell of a lot of trouble and are facing a whale of a stay in the joint to pull off the heist of a lifetime - a PS3 - before turning loose their rich captive. Kidnapping, plus a gun crime doesn't just get pled down to loud muffler and disorderly conduct because you netted $300 in merch. Plus there's the matter of the suspect's fingerprints not being found inside the house.

That doesn't stop WBBH-TV. Be sure to watch that video. I don't know East Naples or Immokalee from Muncie, Indiana but it sounds like the reporter's reminding us both places are the H-double-O-D hood. And remember, "Jane," (if that's your real name) you're not safe anywhere, even behind rich people gates. Another shining example of local news teaching you to hate and fear your world.

Teen Accused of Kidnapping Teen at Gunpoint, Forces Him to Buy Playstation 3 [Naples Daily News via Hot Blooded Gaming]

All of them, whose names aren't being published because they were working undercover, got nastygrams and retraining. Nobody lost their job, which probably is fair. It was embarrassing as hell to the Polk County (Fla.) Drug Task Force but, despite the pleading of the kingpin's lawyer-mans, their conduct did not invalidate the search.

Caught in the blast: six detectives, a deputy, and four sergeants. The detectives got "a letter of retraining" (i.e.: Don't do that again, dammit) and "two hours of retraining." The supervising sergeants got a "letter of guidance" (i.e. Please, dammit, don't do that again) and "four hours of retraining." Retraining? Like what, how to put better spin on the Wiimote?

The Lakeland Ledger has the full story at the link.

Polk Officers Disciplined in Wii Bowling Incident [Lakeland, Fla. Ledger]

BASHandSlash user PST*Joker has claimed that Modern Warfare 2's AC-130 reward (achieved for a killstreak of 11) was influenced by mods he and other PC gamers made to the original Modern Warfare. Infinity Ward posted a video (above, currently hosted on a non-Infinity Ward account) highlighting the AC-130 bonus in Modern Warfare 2.

So one of the site's community members sent a tweet out to PST*Joker recommending he, as the owner of the content, send a DMCA takedown to YouTube. "See how youtube responds," he said.

Shortly thereafter, the video was pulled, right off of Infinity Ward's official channel.

BASHandSlash says that after the takedown, Infinity Ward community manager Robert Bowling direct messaged PST*Joker about the removal: " "Really? Copyright infringment claim? :sigh:" read the message, according to BASHandSlash.

MW2: IW Gets AC130 Takedown Notice [BASHandSlash.com, thanks Sean H.]

You can see the filing here, but my bet is that this is for some mobile game. I can't imagine the song's appeal is strong enough in consoles' core demographic to justify a title there. But stranger things have been published.

Margaritaville Trademarked for Games [Superannuation via Joystiq]

There was an event for the game at the Yodobashi Camera in Akihabara over the weekend. It featured demo play, a tournament and a dearth of players?

There have been rumors swirling around the internet that 100 copies of the game was sold — haven't seen official numbers, but the game isn't in the sales top fifty.

But all wasn't lost! Some sites are reporting that the actual event packed in some people, that the early pics unfairly represented the event. There is an audience for cat mini-games on the Nintendo Wii. Everything is just fine.

What can I say, people like cats.

なんか物哀しい… 初週100本『女番社長レナWii』の体験会の様子 [はちま起稿]
某有名ゲームブログに続いて某有名2chブログまでもがネガキャンに釣られる！ [アタシ的ゲーム速報＠刀 ]

"I find the in-game uses, OK, may be interesting, the out-of-game, hey, it's a camera, use it to connect to Facebook or whatever - I don't find that at all interesting," says Neustadter. "Don't we all have phones that do that? Why do we need our gaming device to do that?"

Yeah. Good question. Why would anyone integrate Facebook with a gaming platform, anyway?

To be fair, maybe Neustadter meant just a gaming handhheld, not a console. To be more fair, hey, at least he's being an honest gamer. And earlier, Neustadter and security boss Stephen Toulouse said they were gaming more on their phones than their DSi, which is where one might also be more likely to use a Facebook mobile app.

But I think I did detect a semipregnant pause from The Major after e piped up (31:30 of the podcast). Like "Oh man, someone's gonna stick this on a blog." And, I guess someone just did.

Show #337: DJ Hero, MUA2, Lego Rock Band and MW2 [Major Nelson, thanks elektrixxx]

IGN noticed scuttlebutt about bannings in technical feedback forums and asked Microsoft about it. A spokesperson confirmed they banzored some modded consoles. Said the spokesperson to IGN:

"We have taken action against a small percentage of consoles that have been modified to play pirated game discs. In line with our commitment to combat piracy and support safer and more secure gameplay for the more than 20 million members of our Xbox LIVE community, we are suspending these modded consoles from Xbox LIVE."

Microsoft wouldn't say exactly when the action was taken, although IGN speculates that, from the chatter, it's been happening over the past week.

Microsoft Performs Mass Xbox Console Banning [IGN via Hot Blooded Gaming] [Image from KnowYourMeme]

Pasta Padre, on the ball as ever, speculates "no." Even though we're about four months away from the game's typical release date, "from a public relations standpoint 2K cannot feature Phillips in the game," he says, and I agree. Phillips is a recidivist philanderer, and the latest ESPN scandal is top-of-mind for baseball fans. If his only television appearance in 2010 is on a gaming console, it makes his dismissal more conspicuous by half, and it's 2K's problem to manage, not ESPN's.

Problem is, what can 2K do about it? It's one thing to not give Phillips any extra work. But his dialogue library is already in the game. To remove him entirely at this stage? Wow. Especially - as Padre correctly notes - Phillips' contribution was one of the few positives in last year's poorly received title.

Right now it is 11:30 U.S. Mountain time, so I don't expect this to be answered, but I have emailed 2K Sports to see if they want to swing at this. If they answer, it'll likely be updated in a new post tomorrow.

It's almost impossible to imagine that hanky panky in Bristol, Conn.. could actually send a game in Novato, Calif., down the toilet. But this is not a welcome development for them, either.

Steve Phillips News Affects MLB 2K10 [Pasta Padre]

In an interview with the Rebellion senior producer David Brickley, CVG pointedly mentioned that "There's been a lot of controversy this month surrounding Modern Warfare 2 and its ditching of PC dedicated server," and "Historically AvP is obviously a big PC game. How are you making sure you support the PC version and keep your community happy?

Replied Brickley:

This is a title that we want to support for a long time to come. If it's not been announced yet then certainly the PC version will benefit from Direct X 11 features. That's one thing we can use to make sure that people who invest in the hardware will get the absolute best.

Uhm, yes, but the question was about dedicated servers, right? CVG pressed on with:

And it was originally a PC title so you can imagine the heritage and the need within Rebellion itself to make sure that people who still play and talk of that game are not left behind.
And are you guys going to have those dedicated servers the community so clearly expects?

Replied Brickley:

Well the one thing we can say is obviously running an operation like that is monumentally expensive. For the period the original was up, people who played that game got an incredible experience.

You know what the internet's like. We're obviously used to getting things for free over the years. I guess on our side the thing we're focusing on is whatever your set-up at home, you get the best possible experience from it. We're just trying to use our time and resources wisely.

We think we've got our answer here, but just to get it for the record, CVG asks:

CVG: So is that a yes or a no on the dedicated servers?

Brickley: As I said the game is still quite a way from release so I guess there are other things to be determined during that time.

Given three opportunities to talk about it, we'll take that as a "no."

Interview: Aliens vs. Predator [CVG]

Hand it to that guy, he does not deviate from the sales pitch after such a colossally embarrassing f—kup, even with his cohost laughing and, no doubt, a production crew trying to keep it together. And hats off to the director who switched over to the b-roll while they got the pitchman positioned perfectly in front of the TV to cover up the scar the Wiimote left.

Now, $329.90 for a standard Wii bundle and a doubled-up set of peripherals? That's a tragedy. Especially since they pretend it'd retail for $379.99.

Nintendo Wii Gaming System with Wii Sports and 15 Accessories [YouTube via Joystiq]

Sure, videos get taken down all the time. But search for "Guitar Hero" on YouTube and you get more than 300,000 results. While not all are video directly from the game, it's undeniable that there are many out there showing gameplay, except in a positive light. Most recently there's a guy hundred-percenting eruption in Guitar Hero: Van Halen and using the video to pimp Gamer Grub. Maybe not as embarrassing as the Cobain foofaraw, but I'm sure some lawyer-mans could reason that it's an unauthorized endorsement.

For his part, the video's poster - corporalgregg3 - says:

Yeah, my last account was permanently disabled due to (I think) Activision. Right before my account was shut down, the Kurt Cobain vid was removed due to copyright claim by Activision Games Inc. I will be continuing with this account so whatever f—k it all.

The three videos on his new account are all of Rock Band.

Rock Band 2 The Metal Expert Guitar Bass Drums Gold [720p] [YouTube, thanks Jonathan S.]

According to Sweden's Metro, the unnamed 18-year-old assailant "became angry when his internet connection wouldn't work." He then consulted a troubleshooting manual which apparently told him "grab a knife and go outside, that'll solve everything." There he attacked a 15-year-old girl "who was on her way home from a party and laughing with a friend." Take that, you inconsiderate laugher!

Her injuries were not life threatening. Knife guy just got sentenced to psychiatric care. The prosecutor wanted hem tried for attempted murder but the court stepped in and said, no, it's quite likely this guy is nuts.

Oh, this happened Aug. 9. And people say I'm slow with the news.

Starcraft player charged after knife attack [SK Gaming]

"This could be the most embarrassing fail of all," posits enigmax at Freakbits.

When navigating menus today while connected to Xbox Live the game suddenly crashed again. When my rage had subsided and I got a better look at the screen, I was pretty shocked at what I saw.

Was my Xbox 360 version of Need for Speed Shift really trying to access the Playstation Store? Microsoft are not going to be happy about this.

Is the console really trying to get to the PlayStation Store? Or is it just stray code left over? Either are plenty embarrassing, of course, as that's a Sony logo in a Microsoft game version.

I don't have Need for Speed: Shift, so I can't replicate what he's talking about. If any reader comes across anything that confirms this bug or indicates it's fixed, please do email me or comment below and I'll update up here.

Meantime I've emailed the EA contact for NFS to ask WTF. If I hear anything, it too will be updated here.

Xbox 360 Crashes Accessing PlayStation Store? [Freakbits]

As you can imagine, Michael Difalco's lawyer-mans is probably looking for a way to invalidate the search on account of the game-playing. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd scoffed at that, but he's not too happy about the game playing.

That is not appropriate conduct at a search warrant. But I am less pleased with the supervision that didn't walk in and say, turn that off. That's what supervision should have done.

Instead, a sheriff's detective assigned to catalog the goods repeatedly bowled frames - and when she nailed strikes on two in a row, she raised her arms triumphantly, jumping and kicking.

Chiefs of police in three other jurisdictions forming the task force that performed the raid likewise bemoaned the bad publicity. But it could get much worse than that.

A Tampa-area defense attorney, not the one representing the alleged dealer, offers this argument for chucking out the cops' search.

The real question here is have they seized property that wasn't described in the search warrant? Clearly if they're using it, they've seized it and for totally improper purposes, because it's for entertainment. Investigations are not for entertainment.

Tampa's WFLA-TV has the raw video. I haven't viewed it all yet, but someone please tell me that they took time to make some Miis.

Polk Undercover Drug Investigators Play Wii During Raid [Tampa Bay Online, thanks Jon A.]