Michael McWhertor

GameStop Strikes Back At Best Buy In Used Game Price Wars

Retailer GameStop has responded to Best Buy’s plan to price match new games at used game prices as expected—by slashing prices on used games. But like Best Buy’s pricing scheme test, this is extremely limited. These prices come from a West Jordan, Utah area GameStop, the same location that Best Buy is testing its “buy…

GRIN Is Officially Dead, Spawns Outbreak

It’s official. No more gold teeth will be added to that gruesome smile, as GRIN, the Swedish developer responsible for games like Bionic Commando, Wanted: Weapons of Fate and more is closing its doors due to “an unbearable cashflow situation.” In a letter from GRIN founders Bo and Ulf Andersson, the CEO and director, respectively,…

MAG Beta Invites Going Out To Way More Than 256 People

Time to check your e-mail, PS3 fans. Those desperately wanting to get into the MAG beta might already have an invite cooling in your inbox, getting you one step closer to shooting the bejeezus out of your PlayStation 3 peers. Zipper Interactive’s Massive Action Game has already been beta testing for a select few, but…

Valve Gets Classically Cryptic In Hidden TF2 Update Clues

Today’s Team Fortress 2 update may have more to it than originally met the eye. A series of hidden update files reveals… well, we’re not yet sure what the hell this stuff is alluding to, if anything at all. While Valve’s write up on the 18 new hats and single new Arena map stressed that…

Prison Break: The Video Game Busts Out

Another piece of licensed flotsam recovered from the crash of Brash Entertainment have been recovered, as Deep Silver and Koch Media announce, officially, the video game version of Fox’s Prison Break. Slovenian developer Zootfly, made famous for their work on Panzer Elite Action and that Ghostbusters video game concept, will be the ones responsible for…

Wii Remote Chargers Recalled After Going On Hand Burning Spree

Warning, Wii owners! The machines are rebelling! Specifically, the Psyclone Essentials and React Wii 4-Dock Recharge Stations, which have been reported to overheat and have caused at least two reports of burns. Those products are being officially recalled. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission says the Wii Remote chargers, distributed by Griffin International of Minneapolis,…

GameTrailers TV Reveals New L4D2 Campaign Thursday

Gamers on board with the slow trickle of Left 4 Dead 2 reveals will want to look up the Spike TV channel listing this Thursday, as GameTrailers TV reports straight from Valve on its upcoming games. The show promises to reveal at least one new campaign from the zombie shooter, plus bug Gabe Newell about…

New Team Fortress 2 Update Features 18 Hats, Zero Class

There’s a new Team Fortress 2 update coming down the pike, full of fancy hats and new maps. Not coming? A new class update. The game’s latest changes feature absolutely no class. Hats? Those they got in spades up there at Valve, with 18 new pieces of headwear coming to the class of your choice,…

Borderlands Box Art Might Blow Your Mind

Gearbox Software let loose final box art for Borderlands today, certainly one of the more unique game covers we’ve seen this year. Really, how often do you see what appear to be in-game assets on the front of the box? With the exception of game compilations like Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection the odd Nintendo Touch…

Batman Studio Rocksteady Named In Hitman 5 Development

Are Batman: Arkham Asylum developers Rocksteady Studios working on the next Hitman game? British voice actor and motion capture suit wearer Mark Sloan says they are. But in what capacity? Probably not as much as Hitman series developer IO Interactive—developers of the first four games in the Eidos published series—probably are. While Sloan may list…

Sega Says Let’s Party! In New Trademark

Sega of Japan is apparently bringing the party, registering a trademark and logo for Let’s Party. It could represent the latest in a line of software from developer Prope, responsible for Wii games Let’s Tap and Let’s Catch. Sega’s trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office doesn’t tell us much, other than Let’s Party…

Don’t Forget To Redeem Your Club Nintendo Rewards!

Don’t squander your Club Nintendo elite status like I almost did! If you reached Gold or Platinum with Nintendo of America’s version of Club Nintendo, today is your last day to score that sweet Mario hat! Me? I’m going for Doc Louis’s Punch-Out!!, somewhat reluctantly. I dig physical goods, but what am I going to…

Activision Practically Giving Away Guitar Hero Van Halen

Wait, scratch that. Activision is giving away Guitar Hero Van Halen. For free. Sorry, “free,” as you’ll need to buy a copy of Guitar Hero 5 to get the Van Halen-themed edition of the guitar game at no additional cost. In what is either an early shot at MTV Games’ upcoming Rock Band offerings or…

Before Pink Spidey, There Was Shinobi’s Green Spidey

This weekend’s post about the Wii Virtual Console version of Revenge of Shinobi swapping a bubblegum pink “Spider-Man” for the copyright offending blue and red version in the Genesis original reminded me of the changes made to the XBLA Shinobi. The arcade original version of Sega’s Shinobi once featured a not-so-subtle homage to old webhead,…

THQ Happy Not To Be In EA’s MMA Position, Thank You

Publisher THQ may have had a rough 2008, but its 2009 is shaping up nicely, thanks in part to UFC 2009 Undisputed. That’s likely one of the reasons THQ’s Paul Pucino seems so pleased with its mixed martial arts position. Pucino, speaking at today’s Pacific Crest Securities Technology Leadership Forum, shrugged off worries about MMA…

Dementium II Wins Most Frightening Box Art Of 2009

Renegade Kid‘s follow up to Dementium: The Ward is going to have a hard time getting people to pick up the box, especially the shoppers who browse the Nintendo DS section for Imagine Babyz and Pony Friends type fare. But the first-person survival horror adventure crowd is probably going to adore Dementium II‘s box art,…

Who’s Leaking PS3 Slim Info Now?

Allegedly, the French, as a purported screen shot from retailer Micromania’s product database shows the oft-rumored PlayStation 3 “Slim” redesign. If this listing is the real deal—it’s not reflected on Micromania’s web site—it would confirm a long-standing rumor. That shot, hosted by Total Manga and via NeoGAF’s marathon thread of PS3 Slim speculation, could be…

ESRB Assures Us Puzzle League Express Coming To DSiWare

The existence of a whittled down version of Planet Puzzle League for Nintendo’s DSiWare download service shouldn’t come as a surprise—unless you forgot Nintendo already released that miniature version of the game in other territories, as I did. Thankfully, the ESRB is here to remind us that Nintendo of America will bring the game formerly…

Namco Bandai Brings Games, “Major” Announcements To Gamescom

Publisher Namco Bandai has big things planned for next week’s Gamescom convention in Cologne, Germany. It’s bringing eight games, from Tekken to Katamari to Dragon Ball, plus “major exclusive new announcements” to be unveiled at the show. Namco pledges to drop said “major exclusive new announcements” at its Gamescom press conference, currently penciled in for…

Hot Flashes: This Is The Only Level

May want to get familiar with this level, because in This Is The Only Level this is the only level you’ll ever play. But it’s one of the best you’ll play dozens of times. If that elephant looks familiar, that’s because This Is The Only Level‘s pachyderm protagonist is the same from the similarly excellent…