• Uncategorized

  GameStop Breaks Demigod Street Date, Ruins Stardock’s Easter

  A street date broken by GameStop late last week had Demigod publisher Stardock scrambling to get enough multiplayer matchmaking servers up to handle the sudden rush of players. GameStop was selling the real-time strategy PC game from Gas Powered Games as early as last Friday, days ahead of the planned April 15th street date. Those…

  By Mike Fahey Published April 14, 2009
• Uncategorized

  Winner: Worst Product Catch Phrase

  As seen at Fry’s. Offworld

  By Brian Crecente Published April 14, 2009
• Uncategorized

  Black Or Brown Eyes?

  To: Crecente From: Bashcraft RE: Viral Happiness I’ve kinda forgotten, actually. So many people in Japan use the word “black” to describe their eye color: dark brown. Today, Mini-Bash was telling me that some kids in his class have black eyes and other kids have brown eyes. I know in English we use “black eye”…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published April 14, 2009
• Uncategorized

  Prayers Answered: Grim Fandango Action Figures

  People, if you want to impress us with custom action figures, don’t do Metal Gear Solid, or Grand Theft Auto. Do classic Lucasarts adventure games! That’s what Iain Reekie did with these Grim Fandango figures, which are amazing not only for the likeness, but for the fact that he did the entire sculpt. Then again,…

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 14, 2009
• Uncategorized

  MotionPlus, Wii Sports Resort Dated & Priced For US

  Earlier this week, Nintendo announced that Wii Sports Resort and MotionPlus would be out “overseas” in July. Today, Nintendo of America sets firm release dates for both. The Wii MotionPlus accessory goes on sale a month earlier on June 8 in the U.S. for US$19.99. Wii Sports Resort drops later the following month on July…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published April 14, 2009
• Uncategorized

  First Look At Assassin’s Creed On iPhone

  If you were excited by the prospect of Assassin’s Creed appearing on the iPhone, well, good for you. Just a word of advice, though: you might want to scale that excitement back a little. Why? Because the game isn’t a new title, developed with the iPhone in mind to take advantage of the platform’s numerous…

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 14, 2009
• Uncategorized

  These Games Are Hard

  Some games are easy, others are hard. But then there’s a batch of titles that are in a category all unto themselves. Website GameDaily has a list of 25 truly difficult titles. While it’s not a perfect list (no list is), it does start an interesting dialogue. Yippie. Before we get to that, let’s have…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published April 14, 2009
• Uncategorized

  British Sales Charts: Business As Usual

  It was a respectable few weeks you had going there, Britain. Street Fighter, Resident Evil, Empire: Total War…pity it couldn’t last, then. Because this week’s charts look a lot more like last year’s dreary procession of fluff than this year’s showcase of genuinely interesting titles. Wii Fit, Mario & Sonic, Wii Play, Mario Kart…and what’s…

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 14, 2009
• Uncategorized

  Beatles Rock Band Bundle Detailed

  The Fab Four are coming to Rock Band, and they’ve got a limited edition bundle to prove it. Dubbed the Limited Edition Premium Bundle, it includes The Beatles: Rock Band game; a Höfner Bass controller, Beatlesque and Ludwig-branded Rock Band drums with classic pearl finish, a metal kick pedal and a vintage replica drumhead

  By Brian Ashcraft Published April 14, 2009
• Uncategorized

  Microsoft Extends Warranty For “E74” Failures

  For a few months now, Xbox 360 users have been quietly venting about a “new” hardware fault with the console, where instead of displaying three red rings, machines would show an “E74” error. Just because it didn’t flash the iconic red rings, though, doesn’t mean it wasn’t bad! If you got it, your console would…

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 14, 2009
• Uncategorized

  Who Knows, Ten Years Of New tri-Ace RPG

  Like what you’ve seen of upcoming multi-platform role-playing-game End of Eternity? Get used to it, because you might just see more of it. Lots more of it. Ten more years of it, maybe. At the SEGA press event today in Tokyo, it was excitedly stated that End of Eternity was a “truly epic title” and…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published April 14, 2009
• Uncategorized

  Netflix Looking For Console Programmers

  Hey, Netflix. We get it. If two surveys weren’t enough to get us ready for it, this job listing certainly has us convinced you’re interested in streaming moves from the PS3 and Wii. The position is for a “Engineering Leader-Gaming Platforms”, who will be responsible for “prototyping, testing and building the Netflix experience for gaming…

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 14, 2009
• Uncategorized

  Wii Sensor Bar Stand Is Totally Patented

  Two-and-a-half years after the Wii was released, the Nintendo sensor bar stand patent has been approved by the U.S. government. On April 7, Nintendo’s patent for “Base Stand for Sensor Bar” was approved for a 14-year patent. The stand is described as an “ornamental design for a base stand for sensor bar.” That’s an ornamental…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published April 14, 2009
• Uncategorized

  PC Sales Charts: Tales Of (Sales) Valor

  A new Company of Heroes expansion is out, and it’s doing well on both Direct2Drive’s and Steam’s sales charts. Probably will on the NPD ones, too, when they catch up. But those ones take longer to put together, so until then, you’ll have to look at a retail chart topped by…The Sims 2. And a…

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 14, 2009
• Uncategorized

  Bayonetta Out Fall 2009 Worldwide

  Today in Tokyo, SEGA announced multi-platform title Bayonetta will be ready to magical giant boot kick you in the face this fall. The game, designed by Devil May Cry creator Hideki Kamiya, follows main character Bayonetta as she casts magical spells, shoots the shotguns in her high heels and wields four handguns and a katana.…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published April 14, 2009
• Uncategorized

  Microsoft In Talks With Gay Rights Group Over Xbox Live Policies

  Microsoft took a lot of flak last year for the way they handled some gay-related stuff on Xbox Live. And rightly so. But time heals all wounds, and Microsoft are trying to make amends. In the latest “Major Nelson” podcast, Microsoft’s Larry Hryb and Xbox Live cop-on-the-beat Stephen Toulouse reveal that the company have been…

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 14, 2009
• Uncategorized

  The Amount Of PSN Games Will Bust Your Sack

  There are a great many PSN games. How many? Enough to tear a hole in your shopping bag — at least, according to this TV spot. This is the first PlayStation Store ad in Japan. It’s got added Final Fantasy VII appeal.

  By Brian Ashcraft Published April 14, 2009
• Uncategorized

  What Hollywood Game Adaptations Does Japan Want?

  Big time movie studios have been going game crazy of late. For better or worse, game titles are making the leap to big screen. Japanese online polling site Secret Survey has quizzed 5,000 users about which video game title they’d like to see turned into a major motion picture. Drumroll please, because… Here’s the top…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published April 14, 2009
• Uncategorized

  Malaysian Kids Set New LAN Party World Record

  Last year, 203 attendees at Nvidia’s Nvision ’08 set an official Guinness world record for the world’s longest LAN party, clocking up 36 hours of non-stop gaming. That record has now been broken. Over the weekend, 300 kids at the Cyber Fusion 2009 event in Malaysia set a new mark (a new “official” one, at…

  By Luke Plunkett Published April 14, 2009
• Uncategorized

  From Girly Idol Group To Hit Nintendo Game

  Prolific Japanese music producer Mitsuo Terada (aka “Tsunku”) is best known for producing idol J poppppp group Morning Musume and helping to launch the career of singers like Aya Matsuura. He also created Rhythm Heaven. How did candy pop wizard Tsunku add smash-hit game designer to his already impressive resume? Terada tells Wired that it…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published April 14, 2009