via Eurogamer


THQ has announced the Saints Row 2 Collector's Edition bundle, and in keeping with the game's general sense of fun and social responsibility, the box is shaped like a gun and you get a USB stick in the shape of a bullet.

The publisher has since told Eurogamer that "that particular pack is exclusive to 360". Boosh!

Obviously it's a bit difficult to fit a DVD inside a Beretta, but judging by the picture of the Xbox 360 version (see below), the idea is that the box is like a gun mounted in a frame, and the disc lives somewhere behind the veneer.

It's not alone, either, with a 1GB USB key in the shape of a golden bullet to keep it company, along with a 3rd Street Saints poster (a woman blowing the smoke away from the barrel of her man's gun) and a map of Stilwater, the game's sandbox location.

If you're more of a thinker than a brute, there's even an exclusive limited edition artbook so you can admire developer Volition's hustle, and particularly devoted consumers can also take advantage of exclusive content "including buddy icons and wallpapers".

Sadly though no henna gang tats, and despite multi-AVN-Award-winning "adult actress" Tera Patrick joining as a special producer, she doesn't seem to be doing anything special for collectors.

Saints Row 2 is due out on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC on 17th October, and the Collector's Edition should be available at launch from shops and websites. And yes, that includes the UK - you can even see the BBFC logo on the box.

We've contacted THQ to find out if separate Collector's Edition packs exist for PS3 and PC, or whether it's just the 360 owners who they've identified as the gun-hungry crime stats of tomorrow. ...

via Joystiq


It's been three months since we've seen any moving pictures from Golden Axe: In Name Only, but is that enough time to prepare yourself for a new trailer? Have you had enough time to get ready for footage of a title that's so clearly not a Golden Axe game that it's almost kind of adorable? Are you ready for "Not this day!" sure to be one of the classic video game lines of all time? Most importantly (and prominently), are you braced for the most gratuitous digital ass shot of this or any other decade?



...

via IGN


Microsoft and Tecmo/Team Ninja are proud to announce that over one million fans have joined Ryu Hayabusa in his epic quest to avenge his clan and prevent the destruction of the human race in Ninja Gaiden II. In just a little over two months since its release in June 2008, Ninja Gaiden II has sold over one million copies worldwide on Xbox 360 and currently enjoys an average critics' rating of 81 out of 100, according to Metacritic.com.

Ninja Gaiden II is the latest chapter in the beloved franchise, where players are armed with an assortment of ninja weaponry to skillfully maneuver through a world fraught with peril and danger. Ninja Gaiden II features an all-new gameplay engine, a new auto-health regeneration system, levels, adventures, enemies and thrilling combat with an extensive assortment of ninja weaponry, representing a true evolution of the highly popular franchise. ...

via Eurogamer


Sony CEO Howard Stringer has said PS3 sales aren't suffering as a result of the Wii's popularity - even though Nintendo may have adopted "a superior business model".

"The Wii is a well-made device that has found a new target group. For a while, we held the same target group with the SingStar karaoke game. But perhaps we neglected to pursue that avenue," Stringer told Die Welt.

"PlayStation games are rather designed for those who play a lot. Although it's a different strategy, it pays off. We currently have a production bottleneck with the PlayStation 3."

In other words, people are snapping up PS3 consoles faster than Sony can make them, according to Stringer. "You also know, however, that our business model is not perfect, and that we make a loss on every console we sell," he conceded.

"Nintendo makes money with the hardware alone, which may be a superior business model. But the Wii is not succeeding at our expense - it is not hurting us."

And besides, Stringer went on, "We are already making more money with the games than we are losing with the hardware."

But Sony spent USD 3 billion on bringing PS3 to market, let's not forget. Will it ever get that money back?

"Not for as long as I live," said Springer, laughing the laugh of a man who wouldn't get out of a next-gen DVD format war for less than USD 3 billion.

"It will certainly take some time... We are currently at the stage in which we need to get a grip on the production costs. That takes time." ...

via Eurogamer


Nintendo has released a pair of WiiWare games and two more for the Virtual Console as part of the latest phase of the Hanabi Festival.

Sadly there's nothing to rival last week's amazing Super Mario RPG, but the WiiWare titles might be interesting.

The first is MaBoShi: The Three Shape Arcade, where up to three players tackle three separate puzzle games - based around circle, square and bar shapes - at the same time on the same screen, each trying to score a million points and each player's actions impacting the other puzzles.

MaBoShi also allows you to use Mii characters and save off replays, which you can distribute to friends via WiiConnect24. There's even a DS download version for taking The Three Shape Arcade on the road with you. MaBoShi costs 800 Wii Points (GBP 6 / EUR 8 approx).

The other WiiWare release is Critter Round-Up from Konami, where players have to mend fences to put animals back in their cages. Or as the press release puts it, "The critters have escaped and the barnyard is in chaos!"

Fence-mending is puzzle-based, it says, with over 50 levels set in areas like the Outback and Arctic, and various mini-games including Snowball Soccer, Chicken Catch, Fence Trap and potentially the odd one out, "Predator Rampage". All this and four-player competitive/co-operative multiplayer for 1000 Wii Points (GBP 7 / EUR 10 approx).

As for the Virtual Console additions, first is Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa, which came out on the Famicom Disk System in 1988, and must not be misread as "Bio Miracle Bukkake Upa", lest the amazing story take on a terrifying new significance.

It's a Japanese platform game, see, in which a baby named Upa fights people by inflating them using his magic rattle, and can then bounce or ride around on their ballooned bodies.

"By accident, Upa smashes an urn that releases the spirit of Zai, an evil goat-like demon who proceeds to absorb the life force of the kingdom’s adults and kidnap every baby!" the press release explains. 600 Wii Points for this, or approximately GBP 4.20 / EUR 6. Bearded ex-pats in Asia should probably steer clear.

And finally there's a damp squib to go out on - the NES version of Dig Dug. "This original Famicom version was unavailable outside of Japan, until now, making this tunnel-digging classic a real monster-bashing gem for all Virtual Console fans!" the press release protests.

However, Dig Dug is available on about four billion other formats and we suspect you'll be hard-pressed to get excited about it or value for money out of it, especially with Hanabi inflation pushing the asking price up to 600 Wii Points (GBP 4.20 / EUR 6).

Look out for our thoughts on MaBoShi, Critter Round-Up, Bukkake thing and Dig Dug in a forthcoming WiiWare/Virtual Console Roundup. ...

via Games Industry


Titles for the Nintendo Wii have held onto the top spots in the German and Spanish software sales charts for the week ended August 24, according to data from Media-Control GfK International.

The Spanish chart saw Wii Fit take the top spot, followed by Beijing 2008: The Olympic Games for the PlayStation 3 in second place, and Wii Play in third.

Wall-E for the Nintendo DS jumped up the Spanish chart from last week to number six, followed by Cooking Guide: Can't Decide What to Eat?, Guitar Hero: On Tour, and Dr Kawashima's Brain Training, all for the DS, in seventh, eighth and ninth places respectively.

Closing off the Spanish chart was the PlayStation Portable title, Buzz! Master Quiz, at number ten.

Mario Kart Wii for the Nintendo Wii held onto first place in the German charts, followed by Wii Fit at number two and Dr Kawashima's Brain Training for the Nintendo DS at three.

The only non-Nintendo platform title in the chart was the PC game Drakensang: The Dark Eye in fifth place. Guitar Hero: On Tour for the DS came at number nine, while Summer Athletics for the Wii came in at ten.


The software chart for Spain follows:

1. Wii Fit (Wii)
2. Beijing 2008: The Olympic Games (PS3)
3. Wii Play (Wii)
4. Mario Kart Wii (Wii)
5. Super Smash Bros Brawl (Wii)
6. Wall-E (DS)
7. Cooking Guide: Can't Decide What to Eat? (DS)
8. Guitar Hero: On Tour (DS)
9. Dr Kawashima's Brain Training (DS)
10. Buzz! Master Quiz (PSP)

The software chart for Germany follows:

1. Mario Kart Wii (Wii)
2. Wii Fit (Wii)
3. Dr Kawashima's Brain Training (DS)
4. Mario Kart DS (DS)
5. Drakensang: The Dark Eye (PC)
6. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (DS)
7. Wii Play (Wii)
8. Dr Kawashima: More Brain Training (DS)
9. Guitar Hero: On Tour (DS)
10. Summer Athletics (Wii) ...

This time around this week, all consoles experience a drop in hardware sales. All still maintain rank position from previous reading. With that explained, down to the point with the data show below as follows:


Nintendo DS Lite: 55,995
Playstation Portable: 47,604
Nintendo Wii: 35,173
Playstation 3: 9,020
Playstation 2:8,420
Xbox 360: 3,551


In rough figures, DS lite takes a hit of 22,600. PSP is second, down by 16,800. Wii comes next, reduced by 17,900. PS3 and PS2 sales are down 1,400 and 700 respectively and Xbox 360 is down 4,800.

All in all, not a great week for consoles sale for any of the big three companies in Japan. ...

Hi All,

Here a new version of gp2x-write the text editor for GP2X.

For those who haven't seen previous release, it permits to edit even huge text file,
in both dos and unix mode, using iso8859-1 (8bits) characters encoding.
All iso8859-1 characters are present in the "Danzeff like" virtual keyboard.

What's new then ?

- New background images from Gruso !
- Add word wrap mode !
- New built in fonts with various size (8x10, 8x14, 8x16 and 16x22)
- New option to specify wrap settings
- New hotkey to display help menu
- New hotkey to rewrap a paragraph
- A new menu for all settings
- Minor bug fix

How to use it ? Everything is in the README.txt file.

Sources are included, and this package is under the GNU public license,
read COPYING.txt file for more information about it.

http://zx81.zx81.free.fr/

Enjoy,

Zx. ...

New Openmoko Project announced:

Simple alarm using RTC and ioctl to program the alarm, the alarm has two modules alarm and ring that have to be installed. Is already functional to set, cancel, sound the alarm, function snooze and wake up the device from suspend.

http://projects.openmoko.org/projects/moko-alarm/ ...