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A Week In Comments

Microsoft Explains the E74 Code, Sorta Comment by: gojirah Nominated by: Billkwando I like how they insist on using the phrase “general hardware failure” when they also tell you there are different specific kinds of general failure. It’s like saying Jo, you are generally bad at sports, and also generally bad in academics, and generally…

Silver DualShock 3 Hits US In June

A listing has appeared on GameStop’s website for a silver DualShock 3 controller for the PlayStation 3. Which is odd, since there are no silver PlayStation 3 consoles available in the United States. Maybe Sony Computer Entertainment America are thinking of releasing the silver PS3 – currently only available in Asia – in the US.…

Here’s What Comes In Your Patapon 2 Box

We don’t expect you to be surprised by the contents of your Patapon 2 box, should you choose to pick it up, but let’s be very clear about what’s in that PSP game case. The official PlayStation blog lays it out for potential Patapon 2 customers, displaying the contents—box, instruction manual and download voucher—and clearly…

Was Pirate Girl Cut From Xbox 360 Tales of Vesperia? Namco Bandai Says…

The PS3 is getting Tales of Vesperia, and ToV for the PS3 is getting a new character, young pirate girl Patty Fruel. Let’s review and hear what Namco Bandai has to say. A young pirate girl was referenced in the original Xbox 360 version: “Inside the drawer, there’s a pirate outfit for girls. A name…

Muramasa: The Demon Blade Is Clearly Pandering

We have little doubt that Vanillaware and Marvelous Entertainment are targeting the tinglier areas of otaku with Muramasa: The Demon Blade, what with all the sexy bath time and fetishistic character designs. But the game is gorgeous, one of the more interesting third-party titles coming for the Wii this year. And one that’s managing to…

March’s Top-Selling Games, Accessories By Platform

Listing the top 10-selling games for March is always going to draw a line in the sand. What about #11? What about #13? Are they not worthy of attention, too? We say they are. After all, the difference in sales between #10 and #11 is slim. Also provided, courtesy of the NPD Group, is a…

Nintendo Stock Takes A Hit

The market didn’t take the news of Nintendo’s year-over-year drop in Wii sales well. Despite having the bestselling hardware in the United States, that 17% drop in sales did some damage to Nintendo’s stock price. While the week was mostly positive for Nintendo—it had announced sales of 435,000 Nintendo DSi handhelds in its first week—it…

Games As Journalism: A Quick Fix For A Dying Medium?

An Online Journalism Blog article says that traditional news outlets need to start making video games that either replace or improve the delivery of news stories. It’s no secret that print journalism is a rotting corpse; legitimate new sources are packing up and heading for the web left and right. With new levels of interactivity…

Tales Screens Tell Little, Show Rocket Ship

Somebody likes to wear white, Stan loses to Cless and Japan’s deep-seated obsession with pirates somehow ties into space and kabobs. That’s about all we can tell from this slew of Tales screens Namco Bandai reportedly released today. There’s a batch each for the upcoming Tales of Graces on the Wii, Tales of VS on…

New Virtual On Figures Appeal To Sexy Maid Mech Fetishist(s)

While dedicated Twin Stick controllers for the upcoming Xbox Live Arcade re-release of Virtual On: Oratorio Tangram may be nothing more than a pipe dream, we can definitely count on new mech action figures! *snort* Sega’s already got a pair in the works—the RVR-H8 Raiden II RNA and RVR-87 Specineff—but have added two more. Well,…

What Does Peter Moore Know About The Xbox’s Motion Control Plans?

Now that former Xbox exec Peter Moore is well established at EA Sports, he’s probably going to be willing to spill the beans on the oft-rumored motion controller planned for the Xbox 360. Right? Well… Moore, when asked by GameTrailers TV‘s Geoff Keighley about his knowledge of Microsoft’s plans—plans that may have formed during Moore’s…

Spring Thunder Snow

To: Ash From: Crecente Re: I Wrote You A Letter. No, You Didn’t. But… You know what’s worse than thunder snow? Spring thunder snow! Actually it isn’t that bad once you realize that it can snow pretty much anytime in Colorado. It snowed the day Tristan was born, in May. The trick to spring snow…

Japanese Hardware Sales In A Funk

This week’s hardware report from Media Create isn’t a positive one. Similar to the industry’s performance in the U.S., Japanese weekly hardware sales are down across the board—with the exception of the Xbox 360. That’s somewhat curious, as the Xbox 360’s rise over the previous week is substantial, enough to put it within spitting distance…

Adult Gaming on the DS: The Chinatown Conundrum

With 100 million DS and DSi in the hands of gamers worldwide, Nintendo’s portable is a mighty tempting platform for developers. So why are only seven of the nearly 1,100 games for the DS rated Mature? A popular argument is that Nintendo’s portable is for kids and soccer moms only, something that the Japanese developer…

Could Matthew Perry *Play* Any More Fallout 3?

Celebrities—they’re just like us! They shop for mundane things. They do movie promotion interviews on The View. They obsessively play video games like Fallout 3 to the point that they require medical attention. Or maybe that’s just former Friends star Matthew Perry, who tells the ladies of the view that he’s been playing Bethesda Softworks’…

Wolfenstein Opening Chock Full Of Dead Nazis

The opening cinematic for the new Wolfenstein starts off quietly and ends like any good Wolfenstein video should – with dozens of dead Nazis. The opening cinematic is filled with tons of heroic action, courtesy of America’s number-one weapon against the Nazi regime, special agent B.J. Blazkowicz. I love the fact that the clip reinforces…

Fallout TV?

Dwell On It points out that back in February Bethesda Softworks applied for a trademark on the word Fallout for “entertainment services in the nature of an on-going television program.” It could be a case of covering all of your bases, or maybe they really are thinking about turning the role-playing game into a tv…

Guitar Hero: Van Halen Confirmed By Ratings Board?

While Activision’s plans for a Guitar Hero game highlighting the music and career of Van Halen is a poorly kept secret, the publisher hasn’t yet officially announced it. But the German game ratings board has. The Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle (USK) has rated Guitar Hero headlining Van Halen for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, a fairly…

GameStop Shares Dip Despite Financial Assurances

The March NPD results indicated a year over year decline in game sales, and retailer GameStop felt it in their stock prices, despite a statement issued today reaffirming its 2009 financial guidance. GameStop stock has taken a bit of a dip today, currently trading at around $28.84, nearly 3% lower than yesterday’s closing price of…

Sponsor Shout-out

Thanks to this week’s sponsors: Cheez-It Star Trek Yourself, Eidos, EDMC Art Institute, Energizer, Final Fantasy XI, MSN IE8, New Egg, Red Faction Guerrilla, Virgin Atlantic.