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  Midway In Trouble Over Dodgy Executive Bonuses

  As we told you at the start of the month, Midway are – despite poor sales and a bankruptcy filing – still finding ways to pay their top brass nearly $4 million in bonuses. Which a government-appointed trustee (who is overseeing the company’s financial and legal proceedings) is not happy with. Echoing similar government distaste…

  By Luke Plunkett Published March 30, 2009
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  Rumor: Pepsi Giving Away 1 Million Rock Band Tracks This Summer

  MTV Games and Pepsi appear to be teaming up for a Rock Band-themed, Pepsi-soaked promotion this Summer, giving away up to 1 million free Rock Band tracks to lucky sugared soft drink swillers. According to an anonymous tipster, Pepsi will be handing out 10,000 free Rock Band tracks per day to consumers via an “under…

  By Michael McWhertor Published March 30, 2009
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  Get Stuffed On The Munchables For Wii

  Namco Bandai’s The Munchables looks like it could be the feel-good hit of the Spring for Wii owners. It’s cute, colorful and looks to borrow from the best. The first trailer for the recently announced The Munchables further entrenches the game’s inherent similarities to titles like Katamari Damacy, The Maw and Nintendo’s Kirby series. That’s…

  By Michael McWhertor Published March 30, 2009
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  Class Of Heroes Held Back, Gets Summer School

  Atlus informed us today that its PSP game Class of Heroes has been given a two month delay, making fans of Japanese role-playing games forlorn and us look like a bunch of no-good liars. The publisher points to a “show-stopping bug” as responsible for the new June 9th release date in North America. Public relations…

  By Michael McWhertor Published March 30, 2009
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  Q-Games Updates Us On PixelJunk Eden, Dungeons And 4

  While waiting to speak with Q-Games Dylan Cuthbert and PixelJunk Eden artist Baiyon, we burned through a new level from the PixelJunk Eden Encore expansion, enjoying the new “mirror mode” gameplay. The new addition to the third PixelJunk brand game feels like a natural fit, both comfortable and innovative, not unlike the trio of downloadable…

  By Michael McWhertor Published March 30, 2009
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  Embargo!

  To: Ash From: Crecente Re: What’s A Radio? Today was a bit of a cluster. Already weighed down with more stories than anyone could hope to finish writing in a day, I decided to go ahead and write up my interview about upcoming action game X-Men: Origins. After posting it, I hit up Activision to…

  By Brian Crecente Published March 30, 2009
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  Midnight Club: Los Angeles Mini RC Cars Sprint Home

  The Midnight Club: Los Angeles “South Central” expansion has finally hit both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. So too has the Rockstar Games‘ promotional swag hit our inbox. The lil’ Saleen S281 Mustang is still mint in package and clearly no expense was spared in bringing us plastic Midnight Club: Los Angeles branded goods.…

  By Michael McWhertor Published March 30, 2009
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  Holy Invasion Of Privacy, Badman! May Be The Best Sony Trademark Ever

  It’s hard not to get excited about some trademarks, especially when they’re filed by Sony and they’re registering “Holy Invasion Of Privacy, Badman!” Yes, that’s what the PlayStation maker is protecting. Protecting it against what? The usual video gamey stuff, like “video game software” and “optical disc recorded game programs for hand-held typed electronic games…

  By Michael McWhertor Published March 30, 2009
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  G.I. Joe Taps Into Comics, Toys, Movie

  The upcoming G.I. Joe video game won’t rely on just the movie, instead the game will tap into 45 years of history, from comics to toys to the cartoons, the developers say. “It wouldn’t work if we just followed what was presented in the movie, which is an origins film, to have a fun gameplay…

  By Brian Crecente Published March 30, 2009
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  Guitar Hero: Metallica Ad Has Exactly Four Too Many Pantsless Men

  Activision’s marketing team looks to be suffering from a bout of March Madness, as the new Guitar Hero: Metallica television spot is ruefully lacking in Heidi Klum pantslessness in favor of Bobby Knight pantslessness. Four NCAA coaches match wits with four Metallica band members—thankfully modest in black denim—complete with Bobby Knight launching a trademark tirade…

  By Michael McWhertor Published March 30, 2009
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  Missed Opportunities: Lionhead Could Have Made LittleBigPlanet

  Peter Molyneux still wouldn’t give up the goods on his new game at the “Lionhead Experiment Revealed” panel, but he did give us a glimpse into how Lionhead let LittleBigPlanet slip through their fingers. The studio that brought us Black & White and the Fable games has a creative process called “experiments” where anybody in…

  By AJ Glasser Published March 30, 2009
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  What Diablo III’s Interface Got From World Of Warcraft

  In the latest episode of the Blizzard podcast, Diablo III senior artist Mike Nicholson discusses organizing the inventory system by size and giving skill buttons a World of Warcraft makeover. The Diablo series has always had inventory issues. I’d say 90% of “Town Portal” scrolls are used to head back to town and offload your…

  By Mike Fahey Published March 30, 2009
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  Tomorrow Is Wii Deal Day At Amazon

  Wii owners would do well to pay close attention to Amazon.com tomorrow, when the Gold Box fills with more Wii games than you can shake a white remote-control looking dealie at. We normally don’t hear about Amazon.com’s game deal days until whatever the first one was sells out, but this time around we’ve been given…

  By Mike Fahey Published March 30, 2009
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  Excitebots Trick Racing Preview: Excite Trucks Gets a Make Over

  The word Excite isn’t the only thing that Excite Truck and Excitebots: Trick Racing have in common. Anyone who spent time with the off-road Wii racer may notice a few similarities between the games. But a developer doesn’t have to reinvent the wheel to make a game fun and a new enough experience to warrant…

  By Brian Crecente Published March 30, 2009
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  Xbox Originals Getting Double Dose Of Payne?

  Rockstar Games and Microsoft may be giving Xbox 360 owners a chance to brush up on their Max Payne history in advance of the release of Max Payne 3, courtesy of the Xbox Originals program. The ESRB lists relatively new ratings for both Max Payne and Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne for…

  By Michael McWhertor Published March 30, 2009
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  Frankenreview: MadWorld

  Platinum Games and Sega turn down the color and turn up the violence with MadWorld, a brutal, bloody beat-em up for the Nintendo Wii. As soon as the first black, white, and red all over screenshots of MadWorld first surfaced, everyone knew this wasn’t going to be your ordinary Wii beat-em up. The game’s art…

  By Mike Fahey Published March 30, 2009
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  Wolfenstein Lifts the Veil

  Mystical weapons and plentiful Nazis remain a mainstay in the latest iteration of first-person shooter Wolfenstein. “For id, Wolfenstein is a very important IP, it goes way back and we care a lot about it,” said Peter Sokal, community manager for id Software. The game takes place right after the events of Return to Castle…

  By Brian Crecente Published March 30, 2009
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  PlayStation Moving Into The Cloud?

  Sony may be the latest company to explore the hot topic of cloud computing, the off-loading of software and services to remote servers, based on recent trademark filings with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Sony Computer Entertainment Japan has registered a trademark for “PS Cloud,” protecting it against it against all manner of video…

  By Michael McWhertor Published March 30, 2009
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  Re/Visioned Activision 2600 Classics Finally Arrive

  In November of 2007, Gametap promised to continue their Re/Visioned animation series, with comic book talent taking on classic Atari 2600 games. Now those shorts have finally seen the light of day, and they’re brilliant. Since Gametap isn’t quite the original content developer they used to be, the six animated shorts now appear on the…

  By Mike Fahey Published March 30, 2009
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  The Heavyweights Of Fight Night 4

  Decades worth of ass-kickery come to life in the latest screenshots from Fight Night Round 4, showcasing the power of seven legendary heavyweight boxers. Ali. Frazier. Foreman. How can you tell a true boxing heavyweight legend from the rest? Well for one, you could say those three names and I’d know what you’re talking about.…

  By Mike Fahey Published March 30, 2009