While a lot of people are actively wondering where EA's sprawling Spore won't turn up, we can tell you where it is likely to appear: on the Wii!

Color us unsurprised that Will Wright wants to turn Spore into a franchise powerhouse; we all know what happened with The Sims. With the evolutionary sim, however, Wright intends to focus on the differences of each platform, and he's pointing specifcally to the Wii. Or should that be with the Wii ... mote?

In comments this week, Wright let two very telling details drop. First, he lauded the Wii in its creative potential, mentioning specifically the controller (of course). He went on the decry the lack of a mouse for consoles, pointing out that this was something of a limiting factor when dealing with games for both the PC and consoles. The Wiimote, however, can point and click with the best of them. We're betting that we'll be getting ready to guide our own species next year on the Wii. ...

Some scans from what we're assuming is the latest issue of Nintendo Power have hit the net and there is a rather lengthy, screen-filled article centered around Rayman and these "raving rabbids" we keep hearing so much about. In the article, it's confirmed that the game plays more like a collection of minigames huddled around one central platforming theme, as opposed to a game that is nothing but platforming. Ancel feels that taking this approach allows him to maximize the different uses of the Wiimote.

The article also begins to mention what we are assuming is some ability to share trial times and records online, but the page continuing that paragraph seems to be missing from the spread.

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In what has to be the coolest promotion of the year, 7-Eleven is offering 711people (of course) a chance at a free Wii starting in November. Distressed because there's no 7-Eleven in your neighborhood? Not to fret, fanboys and girls -- the official rules include a backup plan for those of us denied the pleasure of a Purple S'Creme. Until the Wii becomes available as a prize in November, there are other goodies to tide you over, like iPod Shuffles (that look like they can double as a pregnancy test stick in a pinch) and portable DVD players.

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Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam has been somewhat of a mystery since it was first announced, so this video really helps give us an idea on what to expect with the titles. Half chock-full of intense menu selection screens, half chock-full of gameplay, the game looks to keep the overall spirit of the Tony Hawk franchise, albeit in a form catering more towards jammin' down some gnarly hills as opposed to tearing it up at Love Park.

Check out the Video ...

Winnydows has released a new version of his video converter app for the PSP

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Download Here ...

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The sequel to the best selling destruction racer, FlatOut 2 takes racing to the limit with numerous enhancements and additions including brand-new much requested online multi-player modes, twice as many vehicles, additional race environments and twice the number of tracks. The mayhem continues off the track with 12 all-new Ragdoll mini-games including basketball, baseball and royal flush cards, a Ragdoll Championship and full online support. Unlockable bonuses including additional cars, Championship Cups and Destruction Arenas Improved opponent AI with each AI driver represented by a character and exhibiting a unique driving style Online multiplayer modes, up to six players on PlayStation 2 Two player offline split screen multiplayer mode on PlayStation 2 Now available online, Destruction Derby Arenas and Ragdoll Mini Games. ...

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Super Monkey Ball Adventure is your chance to use your puzzle and Monkey Ball skills to bring a young couple together. A young prince and princess from opposing kingdoms traveled to Jungle Island and quite accidentally fell head over heels in love. But their kingdoms are unhappy places completely lacking in joy, and thus, their marriage is forbidden. For them to wed, you must guide 4 monkeys across 5 islands, to spread cheer and happiness. Grab some friends for Party Mode, use your newfound spell casting powers to become invisible, climb walls, and much more. Let the adventure begin! Enter Party Mode with up to 4 players and battle it out turn-based style or in split-screen mode Transfer saves between PSP and PS2 -- continue playing while you save ...

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Freedom Wings takes you into the wild blue skies, for an incredible set of missions in the early days of aviation! In the South Sea islands, aircraft were the ideal choice for transportation. But there were always pilots who sought to prey on aircraft, and these air pirates turned the skies into a war zone. The world's top pilots got together and started the Air Patrol Association (A.P.A.) hoping to make the skies safe once again. You are now an A.P.A. member -- your job is to find and shoot down the pirates, to secure the open sky.

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It looks as though investor-pressure is seeing publishers back away from PlayStation 3 software during the early phases of the machine's launch, preferring instead to back Nintendo's Wii, the latest home console from the Game Boy-famed games giant.

Publishers are all turning in financial reports, no doubt slightly optimistic Q1 offerings with egged projections to investors, that show loss after loss after loss. The highest-profile to date has been that of Electronic Arts, which filed a loss of $81m causing analysts to remove confidence in its stock, a situation almost mirrored in the Activision camp late last month in spite of the company scraping a slight profit.

It is becoming an open secret that publishers are shying away from the compounded risk associated with supporting two 'traditional' next-gen launch platforms within 12 months, namely that of the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3. Microsoft remained quiet on its anticipated shipping figures, allowing analysts to make their own predictions, predictions that proved way off the mark.

And because of this lack of information, no doubt encouraged by a Microsoft third-party relations team which has come in for hefty criticism from every supporting publisher (albeit in guarded public words and in off the record mutterings) there was simply too much launch software for the Xbox 360. Publishers readied offerings for a non-existent audience. Those able to buy hardware, opted only for the safest game purchases and everything else was left on the shelf.

It is looking likely that third-parties are shying away from day-one PlayStation 3 support, preferring to back Nintendo's 'new-gen' Wii offering. See, for example, recent comments from Atari CEO Bruno Bonnell suggesting the embattled French company will risk nothing on PlayStation 3 shipping figures, stating in a recent interview, "...we're lacking information about the PS3 at this stage, because we have basically a rough release date and a high retail price point."

Bonnell highlights the potential shift towards Wii development, believed to be an emerging practice amongst a number of major third-party publishers, explaining that Atari is "...accelerating some of the Wii titles, because with the technology being so close to the GameCube, we are able to effectively convert teams faster than on PS3."

SPOnG would predict that right now, third-party publishing strategists are recommending if not demanding a significant shift in resources away from PlayStation 3 development and towards the more cost-effective Nintendo platform. As we have seen, the Xbox 360 has seen losses of its own, with THQ killing (dare we say whacking?) The Sopranos for the Microsoft platform and Vivendi following suit, canning a planned 360 version of Scarface.

Although Nintendo fans may see this as only good news, come Wii launch they may well find themselves bitterly disappointed as publishers cram shelves with gimmicky rushed software claiming to make use of the Wii's unique interface, but in actually offering little more than filler gameplay within heartless software releases.

Let's not forget that early DS software from third-parties was almost universally appalling, with titles from Activision and Electronic Arts, flagged as works of genius by Nintendo of America at the time, representing little more than beefed up GBA code with pointless use of the touch-screen thrown in very much for its own sake.

Indeed, although the Wii may be sapping development resources away from the PlayStation 3, it might be taking only it's dead wood with adopters of the Nintendo platform looking set to be dazzled by huge shiny pile of what might largely be sub-standard crap. To kick off with, of course, the Nintendo first-party games, Zelda, WarioWare, Metroid, will float the machine with some of the best games available anywhere, though what to expect from third-parties is anyone's guess. SPOnG has seen glimmers of what we can expect from some corners, with Sega's Super Monkey Ball for Wii one of several titles worthy of a punt. ...