Released today at Play Asia



features
Official Harry Potter Figures, licenced by Warner Brothers
Harry Potter with Hedwig
Hermione Granger with Chrookshanks
Ron Weasley with Pigwidgeon
All three figures come with a base and a magic stick ...

via gibiz

Heavenly Sword, Super Paper Mario and Stranglehold all debut

Electronic Arts' Medal of Honor: Airborne remains at the top of the UK all-formats charts this week fending off serious competition from high-profile titles from Midway, Nintendo and Sony.

Midway's John Woo Presents Stranglehold debuts at number two despite only being released on Microsoft's Xbox 360 – the PlayStation 3 version is due in October.

Electronic Arts' Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 is at three this week, with Nintendo's new entry, Super Paper Mario for Wii, at number four.

Wii Play is at five and DS title More Brain Training from Dr Kawashima is at number six.

SCEE's new IP Heavenly Sword enters the top ten at seven, EA's the Sims 2: Bon Voyage is at eight, Dr Kawashima's Brain Training is at nine and 2K Games' BioShock at ten.

Codemasters' Colin McRae: Dirt re-enters the top 40 at 11 following its release on PS3 and Microsoft's Forza Motorsport 2 also breaks back into the charts due to a promotional bundle pack. ...

via gibiz

Satisfied with BBFC procedure

The UK government has finally responded to an online petition filed after Manhunt 2 was banned by the BBFC.

"The Government is satisfied with the BBFC's procedure and with the provisions for appeal, and will not be intervening in this process," said a statement on the Prime Minister's website.

The government statement referenced the BBFC's guidelines and noted that it "uses its powers to reject works extremely rarely." It also noted that there is an appeals procedure "which the game's producers are apparently pursuing."

Shortly after the Manhunt 2 game was banned by the BBFC, a petition appeared on the Prime Minister's site which simply read:

"The BBFC have recently refused to rate the videogame Manhunt 2. As such, adults in this country will never be allowed to play this game. Adults should be allowed to make their own decisions with regard to what videogames they want to play. We all understand that this game is extremely violent and unsuitable for children. As such an 18 rating should have been applied."

Over 3,000 people signed the petition. ...

via gibiz

With a week to go before the North American launch of Halo 3, Microsoft has confirmed the details for four US regional events.

Although 10,000 US retailers are expected to open at midnight, four retailers will host special events in New York, Los Angeles, Seattle and Miami.

In New York, the Halo 3 launch event will take place at the Best Buy on 5th Avenue a few blocks from Times Square. It will be broadcast on Spike TV and G4, with appearances by Bungie team members and local professional athletes.

GameStop will host the Halo 3 launch event in Los Angeles at the Universal CityWalk store. It, too, will be broadcast by G4 and Spike TV, with trivia contests, a celebrity autograph session, and an appearance by Master Chief himself.

Best Buy is hosting the launch event in Seattle, with Circuit City hosting the Halo 3 launch event in Miami. Bungie team members will be on hand at both locations. Miami Dolphins players Chris Chambers and Joey Porter will be signing autographs and playing against fans in Florida.

Attendees at all four of the regional events will have an opportunity to receive giveaways such as Halo Action Clix, collectible trading cards, T-shirts and hats, graphic novels and calendars, soundtracks, figurines, weapon replicas and even a Halo 3-themed Zune.

Halo 2 generated USD 125 million in sales within the first 24 hours of its release in November of 2004. Many analysts are expecting Halo 3 to break the record for the highest single-day gross in the history of entertainment. ...

Microsoft is hiring out London's iMax cinema, the UK's largest cinema screen, for the launch of Bungie's Halo 3 next week.

Celebrities including broadcaster Jonathan Ross (who provides voice talent for the game) and producer Pharrell Williams will be on hand at the event to add some glitz to proceedings.

Fans are invited to turn up at the iMax on London's South Bank from 6:30pm on Tuesday September 25 for a number of planned events, including a photographic exhibition, which will later tour key Pearl & Dean cinemas across the UK.

An invite-only aftershow party is also planned with top DJ talent due to entertain the crowd.

Halo 3 goes on sale Wednesday September 26 in Europe, with many analysts expecting the title to reach impressive sales figures across the globe.

Microsoft is offering three versions of the game for sale, from the Standard Edition to the Legendary Edition which ships with extra content and a collectable Spartan helmet case.

Official confirmation of the launch event is expect from Microsoft shortly.

via gibiz ...

Outspoken anti-games lawyer Jack Thompson has decided that a representation of a 2nd amendment lawyer in GTA IV is a mocking version of him. He has declared that if the representation is not removed he will attempt to block the release of the game. Excerpt from GamePolitics: 'The showcasing play of the game to Game Informer revealed that the first killing mission of the hero of the game, Niko, is to kill a certain lawyer. When Niko comes into this lawyer's office, having used subterfuge to do so, Niko pulls a gun on the lawyer who says, that the firm supports the second amendment and that 'Guns don't kill people. Video games do

via /. ...

via engadget

Trevor Michael Karney – aka, The Elusive Dietrich – has been sentenced to jail by an LA judge for misleading police in the 162MPH crash of that $1.5 million Gizmondo Ferrari Enzo. Besides lying to police about his involvement as a passenger, the 27-year old German playboy also fled to Ireland before sneaking back into US the through the Mexican border in search of some tasty bud and cool waves. The sentence? 30 days, which roughly translates to a punishment of tickling by virgins until the onset of bellyache by the time the appeals process is through. ...

Source: VG.no (translated by me).

Last weekend, it got known that the Norwegian electronic store chain, Expert, had sold some copies of the upcoming game Halo 3 a week and a half before the official release date.

The news spread around the world, and the lucky owners told everyone about the game content on various forums.

For Microsoft, this is a big crisis. They have tried as hard as they could to keep the game from being sold on beforehand, due to fear of the game's story and the game itself being leaked to the web before the release date 25 September in the USA and the day after in Europe.

Today, Microsoft wakes up to some really bad news:

• A pirated copy of the game has been leaked to the Internet.
• The whole Halo 3 ending video has been uploaded to YouTube.
• Two copies of the game are being sold to the highest-bidding person on the Norwegian auction-service Finn.no.

It is not known where the pirate copy is from, but it looks to be an American (NTSC) version of the game. The YouTube video and the Finn.no copies, however, are most likely from the people who bought the game from Expert.

- As far as we can see by looking at our store systems, the mistake has happened twice. One nearby Stavanger, and the other in Oslo, marked director of Expert, Trond Bentestuen, says to VG.

He says that between five and eight games have been sold from the store chain, and that it was caused by human mistake. He is now working to get the games back from their owners.

- We are cooperating with Microsoft to get 110 percent control over the faults that have happened through our store chain. We strongly apologize what has happened, Bentestuen says.

- Are you considering to purchase the copies of the game that have been put out for sale on Finn?

- It is not impossible we might. We absolutely do whatever we can, Bentestuen says, while also making it clear that the customers that bought the game, have done nothing illegal.

- Will the case have consequences for those that sold the game?

- We are debating it. We first have to find out whether it was caused because they didn't know, or if they did it on purpose, Bentestuen says.

PS: Microsoft still hasn't answered our query for a comment on the case.

-----

Over at the site ITavisen, they can also confirm that Expert has made a deal with the two persons selling the game on Finn. ITavisen is also informed that more than five copies have been sold, but exactly how many is unknown.

Bentestuen makes it clear that the pirated version leaked to the web, does not come from the Expert-sale.


Readers, please do not post any links to neither the YouTube video with the ending without spoiler marking it, nor to the pirated version of the game!

DIGG THIS

...

This game supports Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. If you connect your Wii to the Internet, you can enjoy linked battles with distant people!

For details, click here.

But because this form of communication is greatly affected by the distance between you and your opponent, your brawls may not run smoothly if you’re really far apart—like, for instance, if you’re connecting between Japan and America.

The more distant you are, the worse your connection becomes, and the slower it feels. I apologize, but I hope you understand.


This is the main menu for Wi-Fi!

There are two primary connection methods. The names of these methods are "With Friends" and "With Anyone." The menus and structures of each method are pretty different.

With Friends
Wii friends who have registered one another’s names can play together freely.



Register your friends!

If you’re registered as friends, you can check each other’s status. If a friend is online and you earn his or her consent, you can enter a battle.



You can change your icon...



And even send short messages during brawls!

These short messages are entered in advance, and you send them by taunting. There are four messages for the four directions on the + Control Pad: Up, down, left and right.

With friends, you can brawl any way you like. And there are other modes besides just free-for-alls.

With Anyone
You can also battle with people you don’t know who are looking for brawls. The most important point here is that you will not know each other’s names.


If you think of your opponent as a simple scarecrow, any psychological barriers may melt away.

Your opponent will not know your name or any information about you, and neither of you can send short messages. There will also be no battle records kept for this mode, so whether you win or lose, it doesn’t matter. Just sit back and play.

Now, while you’re waiting for a match to start, you can kill time with a little practice on Sandbag.



Practice, practice!

We’re planning a number of services that make use of Wi-Fi, but we’ll reveal them gradually with the other modes. Enjoy.

[via Smashbros] ...