Is your Pet a Gamer behind your back, check out the screen of a Cat playing on a DS via Comments. ...

via kotaku

Don't let Mario's overalls fool you, Nintendo likes money just as the next console maker. No surprises there — Memories do come flooding back to when Nintendo announced Wii pricing and many flipped out at parting with US $250 as opposed to the rumored $199. Newsweek's got a piece up on the Wii about demand for the machine, the radio contest fiasco and a few blurbs from Nintendo's Perrin Kaplan. Regarding the contest, Kaplan offered her condolences and stressed that Nintendo had nothing to do with it. Regarding the shortages, she said:

We produce a healthy number, with more shipments coming weekly. We're not sure what more we could have done to meet such overwhelming demand... We try to minimize that [airlifting in consoles as Sony did with the PS3], as air is costly. We're a profit-oriented company.
Yup, that you are. And turning a pretty penny from what we hear! ...

via gamesradar

If you go all misty eyed when someone mentions Streets of Rage or Double Dragon, then you've either a) got cataracts or b) got a squishy place in your heart for retro side-scrolling beat-'em-ups.

If it's the latter (and we hope it is), then you're going to be over the rose-tinted moon when you see that Rockstar has included Armies of the Night - a playable homage to those classic games of yore - in its upcoming PSP gang banger, The Warriors.

Dressed in glorious 16-bit-o-vision, Armies of the Night is a brilliant not-really-that-mini minigame, bundling in all the satisfying violence of the main game (minus the super-angry Rage attacks, though) and pitching one or two players (courtesy of WiFi co-op) against all the rival gangs and their bosses as you battle to rescue some bird from the undoubtedly despicable clutches of some bloke or other.

Although it was originally included in the console version of The Warriors, Armies of the Night was only available after completing the game. This time, however, it's ready to play right from the start and, after sampling it during our recent hands-on, it's inclusion from the get-go is real good news, boppers.

Screen Via Comments ...

via gamespot

Source: The forthcoming issue of Official Xbox Magazine UK.

What we heard: When Bethesda Softworks announced it was taking over the Fallout license in 2004, role-playing fans rejoiced. The series, which had been dying a slow death alongside its flatlining publisher, Interplay, was suddenly in the hands of one of the most acclaimed RPG developers in the business.

Judging by an interview with producer Todd Howard immediately after the purchase, Fallout 3 would be handled with much more care than it had been at Interplay. The latter publisher had closed series developer Black Isle Studios and stopped development of Fallout 3 in favor of releasing the tepidly reviewed spin-off Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel--the only console entry in the franchise--which was so hated by Fallout fans that it was nicknamed "Fallout: POS."

Though Fallout 3 was a no-show at both the 2005 and 2006 Electronic Entertainment Expos, enthusiasm for the project increased over the last two years. The surge in interest paralleled the avalanche of critical plaudits that fell on Bethesda's latest project, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, GameSpot's 2006 Role-Playing Game of the Year.

With the Xbox 360 and PC versions of Oblivion--both based on the Gamebryo engine--earning near-equal praise, the prospect of the currently PC-only Fallout 3 also being released for the Xbox 360 became tantalizingly real. So tantalizing, in fact, that the fact Bethesda refused to rule it out in a recent interview with OXM UK led to a spate of "Fallout 3 coming to 360" headlines on Gamernews.org, playfuls.com, and No Mutants Allowed.

Unfortunately, the majority of the OXM UK article is merely the author talking about the possibility of a 360 Fallout 3, which he (rightly) speculates would be both technically feasible and financially lucrative. For his part, Howard dodges the mag's questions. When asked about Fallout 3, he says only, "We started work in late 2004 with a few people. We only had about 10 people on it until Oblivion wrapped, but most of our staff is on it now."

Avoiding any mention of a platform, Howard continued, "We have pretty long preproduction phases on our stuff doing concepts, design, building prototypes, and such." He then dropped a tidbit more tantalizing to Fallout fans than fresh iguana-on-a-stick: "We should be ready soon to show it off, but we'll see."

Still, if Fallout 3 does come to the Xbox 360, gamers can take comfort that it won't be another half-baked console spin-off. Referencing the OXM UK interview on his blog, Fallout 3 producer Ashley Cheng spoke of how he "hated" Fallout: BOS, indicating a 360 Fallout 3 would (hopefully) bear little resemblance to the PlayStation 2 and Xbox misfire.

[UPDATE] The official story: Taking time out of a multicity trip, jet-setting Bethesda vice president of marketing Pete Hines got back to GameSpot. "Yes, we have said before folks are working on it and have been, but we won't say what stage it's in," he said. "In short, no, nothing's changed, no details, no platforms, etc. We give the same answers regardless of who is asking. It will be a while still until we unveil, until then we aren't saying anything."

Bogus or not bogus?: Bogus that anything official about a 360 Fallout 3 has been announced. Not bogus that the prospect gets gamers all hot and bothered. ...

Article from Gamespot

Tetsuya Mizuguchi is a man who loves his music. Whether it's Space Channel 5 or Rez while working at Sega, or Lumines and Meteos at his own company, Q Entertainment, his work has consistently featured banging beats and trippy visuals. Mizuguchi's latest game is called Every Extend Extra, and while it falls into this category, it's still a difficult game to describe. Close to Rez in terms of look and feel, Every Extend Extra focuses on creating chain reactions through explosions, with the number of enemies and the pace of the beat increasing as you progress. Every Extend Extra is already available in the US and Japan (check out our full review here), and with the game being released in Europe this February, we caught up with Mizuguchi-san in London to find out more.

GameSpot UK: Why did you decide to take Every Extend Extra from a free PC game to a full PlayStation Portable release?

Tetsuya Mizuguchi: One day, one of the younger members of Q Entertainment found Every Extend on the PC, and everyone started to play it. It was so addictive! So one of the staff came to me and said he wanted to convert it to the PSP and remake it with a Q flavour. I thought it was a good idea.

GSUK: Was that because it fit in well with games you've made in the past?

TM: Well, we call music interactive; it's a big theme for us to combine the music and the game experience. We wanted to make a music-based game on PSP because it's a really nice platform, an interactive Walkman. So yes, it's along the same lines.

GSUK: How would you explain Every Extend Extra's gameplay?

TM: It's a very simple game. You can move around the screen and explode yourself while enemies come at you. If there are many enemies, the explosion will cause a chain reaction--boom, boom, boom! These sounds and visual effects work with the music, and items called "quicken" allow you to speed up. Run out of time or your stock [of detonators], and it's game over. I think it's simple but really addictive. We wanted to focus on painting the musical elements onto the original game design.

GSUK: If it was another designer that came to you with the original game, what was your involvement in the project?

TM: I [would] just take the back seat! I think that this is a new challenge for us at Q Entertainment, encouraging new talent, and I feel like it's my job to cheer them on. I have to cultivate the future possibilities, and we need new heroes in this industry.

Tetsuya Mizuguchi Watch the full interview!
Watch | Download GSUK: Your games have a very distinctive visual style--is this something you enforce, or do the other designers share your tastes?

TM: I think Every Extend Extra is getting close to Rez, and it's something that I'm quite anxious about. Rez is Rez, and Every Extend Extra is Every Extend Extra, and I think they should each have their own individual style. So, I don't say to my designers, "You should do this, you should do that." I just watched them and kept silent, even though I usually have something [to say]. I will usually tell them important things--that is my role. But the graphical and musical tastes should be down to Every Extend Extra's designers.

GSUK: You've been heavily involved in music, most recently directing a music video for Lumines II. Is this something you want to pursue?

TM: Yeah, that was really fun! I've taken a lot of influence from music videos in the past. When I was in high school I first saw MTV, and I was so surprised--this new expression and art form. There were many great videos that came out like Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer" and a-ha's "Take On Me," and that was a new style. So when I had a chance to do Lumines II, I needed many [different] types of music videos and I was looking for a music video with people cheering. I couldn't find one, so I thought we should make one ourselves. It looks like it's been hand-drawn, like the a-ha video, and I wanted to pick on that, like a synaesthesia concept. I like the mix of colours and sounds--the synaesthesia keeps coming back in my creations--and it was a great experience.

GSUK: You've talked about synaesthesia and the work of artists such as Kandinsky as influences for Rez, but what other sources do you draw from?

TM: I had many inspirations for Rez, particularly from rave culture. When I first saw a rave party in about 1993 there were many people dancing, and it was like they were jumping in time to the music. I had a big, big flash, and suddenly I just remembered about the concept of synaesthesia. I studied Kandinsky at university, so this concept came into my brain and it took three or four years to think about making a game around this concept, and it was a long journey. One day, I saw a video from one of my friends in Africa. They'd shot a video of a restaurant with people eating, and suddenly one guy just picked up a bottle and began hitting it [percussively]. Suddenly, this other guy just began clapping his hands and many people began moving and swaying. Then one guy began singing ...

via gibiz

Electronic Arts is to repackage five of the most popular titles from casual gaming site Pogo.com for release on the Nintendo DS.

Word Whomp, Poppit, Phlinx, Tri-Peaks Solitaire and Squelchies will feature in the package, due for release this March.

"Million of people have been captivated by these simple, yet addictive casual games," said Kevin Chorney, producer for Pogo Island.

"We're so excited to finally bring the online experience to players on the go," he added.

EA bought Pogo.com in 2001, and the site currently enjoys an average of 2.6 million users per day. ...

via gibiz

Gonzague de Vallois, vice president of publishing at Gameloft, has warned that mobile gaming companies must find new ways of communicating with consumers if the industry is to expand.

Speaking during a panel discussion at the Osney Media Mobile Gaming Forum in London this morning, de Vallois said, "The biggest challenge for the industry is to drive people to the portal so they know they can download games and have a good experience... The only way is to educate."

Fellow panelist Anders Hakfelt of Hands-On Mobile said that it is also important to ensure that consumers aren't disappointed by their experiences with mobile gaming. "I think we have to look at game quality... Managing people's expectations is a challenge in retail because you have limited time and limited space to do it," he said.

"It's very important to be honest with the consumer in terms of what they should expect."

Other challenges for the industry, according to de Vallois, include the need to create new distribution systems. "SMS is not the perfect way. If you have to send three SMSes and receive three SMSes before you can download a game, there is no way we're going to grow this business," he argued.

"If we want to have new distribution channels which can help grow the business, there also need to be the right billing methods." ...

via engadget

You already know that Sony's PlayStation 3 can be dictated via IR, and even your iPod can be manhandled by an umbrella, but the latest discovery in controlling gizmos in unorthodox ways involves Microsoft's Xbox 360 and your universal DirecTV remote. Thanks to a little bit of trickery, you can save yourself the hassle (and expenditure) of buying an Xbox 360 remote by just using the one you've already received with your DirecTV service, and thankfully, the steps to completion are far from difficult. Simply switch the remote to AV1 and hold down the mute / select buttons until AV1 blinks twice. Then, key in 991, followed by 2, and finally tag the Power button; once you've worked off a few calories doing all this, just cycle Up a few dozen times until your console powers up, and once it does, just mash Select to complete the (essentially painless) process. If you're still holding tight to your doubts, be sure to hit the links below for a bit more proof, and click on through for a live action video showing the two (very) distant relatives playing nice together.

More Info ...

Full UK and European deatils of the PS3 launch date, price and hopefully launch line-up will be made at midnight tonight, Sony has told CVG.

The company has previously stated it hoped to reveal full info earlier this week, but then said, via its unofficial blog, Three Speech, that the news would be delayed until later this week. Well 'later this week' is Thursday or Friday.

Speaking to CVG Sony has confirmed the announcement will go live tonight at 12am GMT. It's a bit of an odd time to officially announce details of a UK and European launch at midnight, but who knows what goes on inside the mind of Sony?

So, £425 and March 23? Or will Sony announce it's been delayed again (might explain the midnight release)? We'll find out later on.

Check back at midnight. Or first thing tomorrow if it's past your bedtime

via cvg ...