Looks like Toys 'R Us of Australia is in fact giving away an unspecified free game with Wii pre-orders of $249. Gameworld Network reports: "After contacting Toys 'R Us for comment, they have indeed confirmed that everyone will receive a free game with their Wii as part of the package, but they did not know which game this might be... Sounds to us like Nintendo might be planning to include Wii Sports, as many have speculated."

While "Wii" doesn't even show up at Toys 'R Us' US site, the Big N has neither confirmed a launch price nor a bundled game so at the moment, this sounds more like a local Aussie promo. ...

While most of us have moved on and accepted the name Wii, CNET still holds a grudge at the sudden shift from Revolution. In their roundup of the worst of the worst for the past three months of 2006, CNET slaps Nintendo with the dubious title "Worst name change." They keep their disgust short and sweet:

"Nintendo Revolution" sounds cool. "Nintendo Wii" sounds dumb. That's about all there is to say.

Other gaming-related worsts include And 1 Streetball for "Worst electronic referees" and X-Men: The Official Game for "Worst game based on a movie." It seems X-Men had to beat out some real stinkers, but it had what it took to get the job done. As CNET says, "Plugging your game controller into a ham sandwich while pushing buttons and making your own sound effects is more engaging."

What has been your worst gaming experience of the past few months ...

Is this the answer to our summer woes? Well, let's put it this way: it's either Prey or Chromehounds -- if you're an Xbox 360 owner. We're goin' with the Cherokee alien abductee, even if Prey is a short-lived romp. This one's got 'summer blockbuster' written all over it...

Detroit Free Press (100/100) is not noted for its gaming insight, but chimes in with praise: "This is one game any Half-Life or Doom fan can buy without reservations."
1up (80/100) wants more of the gimmicks: "If only the Native American mysticism had figured in more. If only the spirit "death walk" had developed into something more than a shooting gallery. If only the voice acting and storytelling were a little better."
GameSpot (75/100) deals a low score -- by its standards -- summing it up: "[Much] of the game's potential for unique thrills feels wasted by its straightforward level design, and the multiplayer doesn't add much to the package." ...

There's lots of talk of Blu-ray movies shipping, and now here's the first software to ship on Blu-ray disc: the entire ComicBase art archive, a good candidate for the massive storage capability of Blu-ray because it consists of over 150,000 cover scans, filling up 26GB of Blu-ray goodness. We knew Blu-ray was good for something.

Comic book mavens tell us that ComicBase is the best, most extensive database and cataloging system for comic books in existence. Version 11 on Blu-ray disk will be shipping July 14, but you'll pay dearly for all that content, $399

Read ...

This week, Japanese shopping site Trend One began offering life-size replicas of Nintendo's most famous plumber. The Mario figure is 155 cm, or a little over five feet tall. According to the site, this is Mario's actual height as given in the games' background story. The product's manufacturer is unspecified, but the advert claims the character likeness is fully licensed from Nintendo. This Super Mario also features a supersized price tag of 248,000 yen (about $2,170), and a superlimited production run of 30 units.

via gamespot ...

With Sony continuing to come under fire from critics over its Blu-ray strategy, the Japanese giant's next-generation DVD technology has received a boost from Midway boss David Zucker.

the US publisher's CEO and president dismissed fears that PS3's Blu-ray-inflated price tag is a significant issue, while predicting that success for Sony's next-gen console will provide a major leg-up for the new DVD format in its war with Toshiba's rival HD-DVD standard.

"There's a lot in the PlayStation 3; think about the fact that you get Blu-ray, the next-generational leap in DVD - you get a Blu-ray player in the machine," Zucker said.

"When you think about that and some of the feature sets that come with it, including the hard drive, it seems like a reasonable price for the early launch. Presumably that price will come down over time as they move through the console cycle."

Asked how significant a bearing the next-generation DVD battle would have on the console market, he added: "I think it's an important part of the puzzle. The other side is, if PlayStation 3 is huge, the gamer helping to drive that, that's going to have a big impact in helping Blu-ray DVD technology. It's going to work both ways."

Following a solid E3 showing, spearheaded by stunning next-gen action title Stranglehold, Zucker was also keen to highlight the dramatic turnaround in product quality the publisher has achieved, following a period of extensive reform.

"We've improved the quality of our games over the past couple of years; we're doing a much better job on the marketing side now," he commented. "You're going to see as we go into 2007 fewer, bigger, better titles that really move the dial in terms of quality and their impact on the industry."

Elsewhere in the interview, Zucker stressed the importance of Europe to Midway's global ambitions, and praised the achievements of territory boss Martin Spiess, who joined the publisher in May 2005.

"Martin Spiess has done a great job over the past year," Zucker enthused. "We've actually now got our own offices in the UK, France and Germany, the biggest three markets over there, so I'm very happy with the progress. Europe's a big focus and we're expecting big things for Rise & Fall over there - we're very excited.

"In 2004 (Europe's share of our overall revenue) was 18 per cent. Our goal is to get to 35 per cent by 2007, which is similar to what a THQ or Activision does with publishing revenues. Martin has assured me he's going to get us there and I think he will." ...

Microsoft's new digital music player is actually a complete line of Xbox-branded digital-media products, software and hardware, according to Seattle Times columnist Brier Dudley.

Pictures of the main device, codenamed Argo, are now circulating, and Dudley says that the device will be capable of playing games as well - something that would see Microsoft taking on Sony's PSP and Nintendo's DS as well as its most likely rival, Apple's iPod.

Last week, Bloomberg reported that the device would go on sale this Christmas and include Wi-Fi network connectivity - something that Apple's iPod range does not feature.

Microsoft has so far declined to comment on any of the reports, which have been widespread for several months and usually identify the Xbox division - headed by J Allard - as the principle architects of the device and now service.

In a column entitled "Argo aims guns at more than iPod" this week, Dudley cites "research, reporting and information from a source close to the project", and ultimately identifies not just a device that plays back media, but a software media player and an online media service - immediately drawing comparison to Apple's iTunes and Music Store respectively.

"This is more than just another MP3 player," says Dudley. "It will also compete with game players from Sony and Nintendo that have long had Wi-Fi and work as media players, Internet terminals and communication devices."

He goes on to say that Argo will "likely" showcase XNA, Microsoft's multi-platform game development architecture. ...

Total sales of DS consoles in Europe now over 5 million units

Nintendo has this morning announced sales figures for the DS Lite in Europe, revealing that 200,000 units of the new handheld were sold through in ten days following its launch - despite concerns that it would be swamped by World Cup fever.

Total sales of the DS and DS Lite in Europe have been nudged over the 5 million unit mark by the early success of DS Lite, which is priced at around 150 Euro and rolled out in two colours - white and black - on June 23rd.

According to Nintendo of Europe's marketing director Laurent Fischer, the launch of the console has reinforced the company's claim that it is broadening the market for videogames into new demographics.

"Retailers across Europe said that they had never seen such a vast array of different people buying the product, everyone from business men to young women to grandfathers," he commented.

The firm is also celebrating the success of several of the software titles for the Nintendo DS - with Nintendogs still by far the most powerful title on the platform in Europe, with over three million units of the software now sold in the region in the wake of the launch of the most recent version, Dalmatian and Friends.

Animal Crossing: Wild World has also been a success, with 600,000 copies sold since it launched in March, while Dr Kawashima's Brain Training has reached 250,000 sales across Europe - a far cry from its 2.5 million selling performance in Japan, but the title looks set to continue to sell steadily for some time

via gamesindustry ...

Gamasutra reports that Microsoft has announced Xbox Live Wednesdays, a soon-to-be weekly release of content to Xbox Live. They have a listing of the next few weeks worth of content, and happily Street Fighter II Hyper Fighting is slated for August 2nd. Frogger will be coming out tomorrow, July 12th, with Cloning Clyde due next week, Galaga the week after that, and Pac-Man expected on August 9th. From the article:
"Xbox Live Arcade's Frogger has been enhanced for the Xbox 360, and features new, enhanced artwork that matches and complements the original style. In addition, according to Microsoft, the game's audio, including sound effects and music, has been modernized to sound crisp and clear on today's high performance sound systems."
While these releases have mostly been seen as filler for the 360's very uneventful summer schedule, I can't complain too much about the chance to play Street Fighter II again. I'll be playing Chun Li; Who is your character? ...