EA CCO Bing Gordon departs

For the past 25 years, William "Bing" Gordon has been a staple at publishing giant Electronic Arts. No longer. Venture-capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers announced today that EA's longtime chief creative officer would be joining its ranks as partner beginning in June.

Gordon, who joined EA when the publisher was still a startup in 1982, oversaw the creation of many of the publisher's hallmark franchises, including Madden NFL, The Sims, and Need for Speed. At Kleiner Perkins, the former exec will lend the VC firm insight into the entertainment and consumer-technology sectors. Gordon will also maintain his relationship with his former employer as chief creative officer emeritus, "leading periodic workshops on innovation with EA Studio leaders."

Studios bankrupted

Since January, a host of development studios have closed their doors, suspended operations, or otherwise stopped making games. Stormfront Studios, Perpetual Entertainment, Pseudo Interactive, Iron Lore Entertainment, and Castaway Entertainment have all hit the rocks in the last four months. Still-unconfirmed reports also have Activision's Foster City site, formerly Z-Axis, on the chopping block.

During that same period of time, the industry has racked up phenomenal sales. NPD's retail software-sales data for the US has been up by double-digit percentages for each of the first three months of the year, with growth of 47 percent and 63 percent in February and March, respectively. Meanwhile, Chart Track has reported its own record sales figures for the UK industry in the first quarter of the year.

Blockbuster expands game offerings

Retail game sales are experiencing explosive growth, and Blockbuster is intent on getting a piece of the gaming pie one way or the other. After making a billion-dollar bid for electronics retailer Circuit City earlier this month, today the video-rental chain announced that it would be stepping up its game offerings in the company's corporate-owned US locations.

Customers will now be able to purchase software, hardware, and accessories for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, and Nintendo DS at roughly 4,100 domestic Blockbuster locations. The company also said that it would be expanding the variety of games available for rental, and upping the number of rental copies as well.

Blockbuster's announcement made no mention of PlayStation Portable or PC offerings, and company representatives had not returned GameSpot's request for confirmation on those platforms as of press time.

Spyro strikes back

In March, the writing appeared to be on the wall for Sierra Entertainment. According to a report on Variety's gaming blog, the long-standing publisher was in store for significant shake-up as a result of the impending $18.9 billion merger between its parent company, Vivendi Games, and Santa Monica-based megapublisher Activision. Two Sierra stalwarts evidently not to be affected by any reevaluation are Spyro and Crash Bandicoot, given that the publisher announced today a new game in each of the series.

With Radical Entertainment looking to finish off the violent Prototype this fall, the developer is targeting the same release window for its family-friendly Crash Bandicoot: Mind Over Mutant. As is evident from the title, franchise antagonist Neo Cortex has devised a mind-control device, and is using it to dominate the will of monster and marsupial alike in a bid to take over the world.

Spore Creature Creator germinates July 17

Will Wright's Spore won't be spotted in stores until September, but those eager to tinker with the fabric of life can start mucking about with Mother Nature much earlier. Electronic Arts today announced that the Spore Creature Creator will be available worldwide beginning June 17.

The full retail version of the Creature Creator will be sold only at retailers in North America and at most European territories, for $9.99 and €9.99 respectively. However, a free downloadable demo will be made available from the game's official Web site on the same day. The demo includes about 25 percent of the full version's various creature parts. Both versions will let players share their creations with others and will include a way to seamlessly upload videos of the creatures to YouTube.

No Wii or DS price cuts

ike anything else, the price of game hardware is affected by the law of supply and demand. If everyone wants something but there isn't enough of it to go around, prices aren't likely to come down.

Nintendo has no doubt realized that demand for its hardware is high and supply is not, as it reportedly doesn't expect to bring down the cost of admission for either piece of hardware anytime this year. According to Reuters, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata addressed the possibility of price cuts in an analysts' meeting earlier today.

"Our earnings projection for the year is not based on hardware price cuts, and I don't think we are going to need them," Iwata was quoted as saying.

Metal Gear beta back online

Konami and Kojima Productions' Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is easily one of Sony's most prized upcoming titles. Though fan anticipation can already be considered at a fever pitch, the console maker said when it announced the game's June 12 launch date in February that the online portion would benefit from an online beta test, beginning in the latter part of April.

That April launch date turned out to be earlier this week, but the beta didn't stay up long, thanks in large part to the massive interest surrounding the game. However, after a week of tinkering, Sony said today on its official blog that the Metal Gear Online development team has patched the beta client and servers are now back up for play. To compensate for the delay, Sony has said the beta period will now extend to May 11.

Microsoft cuts 360 prices

Microsoft is continuing its attempts to gain a foothold in the Asian gaming market with the Xbox 360, and the latest part of that effort is a series of hardware price cuts. As reported by The Wall Street Journal and later confirmed to GameSpot, Microsoft is lowering the price of the Xbox 360 hardware in Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea, and Taiwan.

Each country receives a different price cut, with Singapore gamers getting the biggest of the breaks at nearly 20 percent to SGD$499 ($366). Taiwanese Xbox 360 prices will drop 17 percent to NT$10,360 ($340), with Hong Kong gamers receiving a drop of nearly 11 percent to HKD$2,499 ($321), and South Korean systems falling barely beyond 5 percent in price to settle at KRW$369,000 ($367). Korea's price cut goes into effect on Thursday, whereas the remaining drops are effective as of today.

Game trumpets record results

The year 2007 was good for gaming, with the likes of Super Mario Galaxy, BioShock, Guitar Hero III, and Portal providing top-notch experiences for gamers of all tastes. Such a breadth of titles, coupled with a price drop for Microsoft's Xbox 360, improving stock levels of Nintendo's Wii, and the launch of Sony's PlayStation 3 all amounted to a bumper fiscal 2007 for British high street retailer Game. Chief executive officer Lisa Morgan described the results as "a record year for the group."

Game, which billed itself as the UK's biggest games retailer even before its merger with Gamestation was green-lighted in January, reported that it has boosted profits, total sales, and like-for-like sales by impressive margins. The company also grew from 817 to 1,170 stores, in five different countries. As well as various internal changes, the company stated in its preliminary results for fiscal 2007--the 12 months to January 31, 2008--that one of the factors behind its forward march was, "The Nintendo Wii and DS Lite... broadening the appeal of video games."

Game trumpets record results

Wii Fit muscles to top of charts

2008 is shaping up to be a very healthy year indeed for Nintendo. The company recently announced record financial results, and saw Mario Kart Wii race to the top of the charts after its recent European release. Today, Nintendo has seen its latest product, Wii Fit, not just hit the top of the UK's all-formats sales chart, but also become the sixth-fastest-selling games debut ever in the country.

Wii Fit is the latest extension of Nintendo's strategy to target the mass market, following DS games such as Brain Training (Brain Age in the US) and Sight Training (Flash Focus in the US). Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto told The Sunday Times recently that, "People say video games are a waste of time and are bad for your brain and for your health. We wanted to create something to answer that." Wii Fit, using the new, included balance-board peripheral, tracks each player's weight, and provides a multitude of activities designed to be a part of a daily exercise regime.

Koei UK dates Samurai Warriors 2 4 PC

It's all go for Koei's UK arm, which has announced UK launch dates for PC versions of both Samurai Warriors 2, in shops on June 27, and Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI, due July 25--four days ahead of its US release. There is currently no planned US release for the PC version of Samurai Warriors 2.

It wasn't always this way. Previous iterations of Romance of the Three Kingdoms--one of the longest-running historical simulations, dating back to the late 1980s--had been released on the PC only in Japan and the US.

"We're constantly striving to bring our games to as wide an audience as possible, and our move into the PC arena is a very important step for Koei in Europe," said sales manager Will Curley.

SingStar hits sales

The rhythm action genre is a competitive market these days, with Guitar Hero, Rock Band, and SingStar all vying for musically enamoured gamers' time. Sony's SingStar may be the gaming equivalent of The Rolling Stones, having been around for nearly four years, but it shows no sign of being forced out by the new kids on the block. Sony announced today that the series has sold more than 12 million copies in PAL territories to date, with 5 million units sold in fiscal 2007.

The karaoke series, which first hit the PlayStation 2 in 2004, has seen more than 15 spin-offs on the PlayStation 2 and a next-gen version on the PlayStation 3. While certain editions, such as SingStar Rocks and SingStar '80s, have made it to the US market, these sales figures only include the PAL territories.

Favre tackling Madden NFL 09 cover?

It used to be that Madden NFL cover duties would be a simple affair. A gridiron grunt would perform well, EA Sports would offer that player a pile of cash to appear on the cover of its game, and then the superstar would sit out the following season with a debilitating injury. Clean, simple, easy.

This year, however, EA Sports has thrown a monkey wrench in its well-oiled machine for all its football franchises. Rather than selecting a single cover star for NCAA Football 09, EA has opted to cover individual editions with a different athlete, with Darren McFadden gracing the Xbox 360, Ryan on the PS3 edition, Michigan State's mascot Sparty for the Wii, and others to come.

Petz help breed profitz for Ubisoft

Launching a new hit franchise with Assassin's Creed may be the most visible success that Ubisoft achieved over the last year, but the French publisher spread the love around a little more broadly in its fourth-quarter financial report today.

Assassin's Creed was just one of a few big wins to which the company attributed its 36 percent full-year sales increase. The publisher also said that existing brands such as Rainbow Six, Rayman, Settlers, and Ghost Recon all turned in strong sales performances. Furthermore, its Games for Everyone range of casual games, which includes the Petz, My Coach, and Imagine series, tripled its sales over the course of the year.

For the 12 months ended March 31, Ubisoft racked up revenues of €928 million ($1.46 billion), up from €680 million ($1.07 billion) for the previous year. The Wii- and DS-centric Games for Everyone line accounted for nearly a full quarter of that haul, bringing in a total of €230 million ($361 million).

Little League World Series

As the sole third-party rights holder to the Major League Baseball license, Take-Two has enjoyed a monopoly of sorts on the sim baseball gaming space, with the only real competitor of its MLB 2K franchise being Sony with MLB: The Show. As the pro license is wrapped up until 2012, Activision has found the best solution to this conundrum is to step up to the little league plate.

The publisher has announced Little League World Series 2008 for the Wii and Nintendo DS will take the field August 5. Billed as "the first officially licensed Little League video game to hit next-generation consoles," Little League World Series 2008 offers 16 international teams, eight of which hail from the US. In addition to a standard franchise mode, the game offers a variety of skill-based minigames and character customization options.

Burnout Paradise

Last year, Bizarre Creations significantly tinkered with the formula for its fourth installment in the Microsoft-exclusive racer Project Gotham Racing. Dynamic weather effects aside, Bizarre added a hefty helping of zip to the high-octane street racer, adding in a variety of motorcycles both mundane and ultrasleek.

Taking a similar tack, Criterion Games said today on its official Web site that as part of its August software update for Burnout Paradise, motorcycles will be added to the game. As with other vehicles, bikes will receive their own game modes and challenges as well as "some new locations tailored to fit their unique performance and handing characteristics."

New PS3 Store

After a rough first 13 months on the market, the PlayStation 3 is having a good 2008. Though it still trails the Wii, Sony's high-powered console outsold its archrival the Xbox 360 in January and February, according to industry-research firm the NPD Group. March was essentially a tie between the two consoles, with the 360 eking out a 5,000-unit victory.

Perhaps more importantly, Sony's 2008 software lineup for the PS3 is its most robust yet. Following next week's launch of the dual-platform Grand Theft Auto IV, the electronics giant has lined up a string of high-profile third- and first-party exclusives, including Haze (May 20), Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (June 12), LittleBigPlanet (Q3), SOCOM: Confrontation (September 16), Resistance 2 (TBA '08), Killzone 2 (TBA '08), and Gran Turismo 5 (TBA '08).

GTA 4 New Review - IGN

New Review from IGN they rated GTA 4 10/10.

PS3 GTA4 beats down 360 pack

When Microsoft announced its multimillion deal with Rockstar for exclusive downloadable content for Grand Theft Auto IV, many predicted that this would provide a significant incentive for gamers to choose the Xbox 360 version of the game over the PlayStation 3 version. But Australian presale figures seem to be telling a different story, with major retailers contacted by GameSpot AU today saying that the PS3 version was currently in the lead.

A spokeswoman for EB Games Australia--the largest specialty games retailer in the country--told GameSpot AU that the PS3 version of GTAIV was just ahead of the 360 in terms of presales. "We are happy to tell you it's neck and neck, but at the moment, PlayStation 3 is currently in the lead," EB Games Australia brand and public relations manager Debra McGrath said.

Head Coach going solo in EA

EA Sports is constructing one heck of an elaborate trick play for the latest installment of NFL Head Coach. Benched after a modest performance following the 2006 season, EA said in February that it would be giving the coaching sim another go this year, with Super Bowl XLI-winning Colts chief Tony Dungy fronting the cover. Dungy cover duties were promptly called into question a month later, when EA said that NFL Head Coach 09 would only be available as part of the Madden NFL 09's 20th-anniversary $90 collector's edition bundle, available August 12.

Aspiring virtual skippers were apparently none too happy about the compulsory purchase of Madden NFL to receive Head Coach 09, a fact EA Sports president Peter Moore noted yesterday in his company blog. "I have to admit, even I was surprised by how much feedback we've gotten the past few weeks since we announced it as a featured item of our Madden Collector's edition," said Moore.

Stray Bullet MMOG striking Wii

When Stray Bullet Games announced last year that its first game after breaking away from Wolfpack Studios would be a new, original massively multiplayer online game, most assumed it would be a PC project in the vein of Shadowbane. Some may have thought it would explore the Xbox 360's or PlayStation 3's online networks, as Square Enix's Final Fantasy XI has done and Sony Online's The Agency will do. However, it's likely that no one thought it would be a project for Nintendo's Wii.

Be that as it may, it appears as if that's just what Austin, Texas-based Stray Bullet Games intends to do with its as-yet-untitled project. According to a recently posted job requisition, the professed MMOG development outfit is looking for a senior programmer with "experience developing and shipping title(s) on Wii and/or GameCube platform." Stray Bullet's job req also leaves open the possibility of the game appearing on other systems, noting that experience on other platforms is a plus.

Industrial Growth

March's US retail sales figures were through the roof, but one analyst thinks the current growth rate can't be sustained for long. MarketWatch is reporting on a note to investors from Goldman Sachs analyst Robert Higginbotham, who recently downgraded his assessment of stock in retailer GameStop to a "sell" rating.

According to Higginbotham, GameStop shares are "poised for a pullback as industry growth remains on a path toward deceleration from its current peak," suggesting not that the industry itself has peaked, just that growth figures later in the year likely won't be quite as impressive as March's 57 percent spike.

Ubisoft doing Prince of Persia

In October, the secretive industry mole known as Surfer Girl landed what she claimed to be early-in-development screens of the next installment in Ubisoft Montreal's Prince of Persia franchise. Surfer Girl claimed that the game--subtitled Ghosts of the Past--would operate as a prequel trilogy to Sands of Time, have a family-friendly focus, and launch in the second half of 2008 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, and PC. Despite the convincing screenshots, Ubisoft was mum on the details of a new POP game, though the publisher did say in January that it plans to ship a game from Jordan Mechner's venerable franchise in its 2008-09 fiscal year. Today, a few more details on the project may have emerged, thanks to all-things-trademark site Trademork. Rifling through the United States Patent and Trademark Office's online database, Trademork unearthed an application for trademark filing by Prince of Persia creator and rights holder Jordan Mechner for Prince of Persia Prodigy

Nintendo record sales

With Mario Kart Wii reaching the top of the UK sales charts in its first week of release, the Wii and DS continuing to rule the hardware sales charts, and a multimillion-selling US debut for Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Nintendo has had plenty of good financial news lately. Further evidence of that arrived today, as the company reported "record results in both net sales and income" for its most recent financial year. In a separate statement, the company also confirmed the release of Super Smash Bros. Brawl for Europe on June 27, 2008.

Nintendo says it wants to be the games company that "puts smiles on the faces of people of all ages and genders," and following its financial statement today, there are likely grins all around at the Mario Factory headquarters. The company has reported that net sales for the year ending March 31, 2008, were ¥1.672 trillion ($16.2 billion), up 73 percent on the previous year. This resulted in a net income (or profit) of ¥257 billion ($2.5 billion) for its 2008 fiscal year ended March 31, up 47 percent on the previous year.

The GTA4 fever

Grand Theft Auto IV's hype has just about reached fever pitch. With only days to go until GTAIV's global release, Rockstar's vice president of creative, Dan Houser, spoke to British men's magazine ShortList about the game's development process; the replication of New York as a living, breathing, city; and why GTAIV isn't so controversial after all.

Houser, who cofounded Rockstar with brother Sam Houser, says early on in the interview, "Grand Theft Auto IV will change the way people think about video games...we had to make sure no one thought, 'It's just like the previous one; I could have played this on my old machine.'"

So besides new characters, music, and multiplayer modes, what else is new in GTAIV? Houser says, "the fourth dimension is details...there are about 40 new things in GTAIV, from the new motion physics of the main character to the firearm targeting to the interaction with pedestrians. The overall goal was to make the world feel more alive. Every little detail was researched, analysed, and broken down."

Devil May Cry 4 get PC dates

Considering Devil May Cry 3 made the move to the PC 10 months after its PlayStation 2 counterpart, the keyboard-and-mouse friendly edition of Devil May Cry 4 ruffled far fewer feathers than the Xbox 360 version. With the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 editions having enjoyed ample success when they launched in February, Capcom today said that the PC version of the game will ship out this summer.

The PC game will benefit from an extended stay in purgatory, as it comes equipped with two extra modes, some additional content, and a variety of graphical customization options. In Turbo mode, the game will be sped up to an even faster pace than the original, while Legendary Dark Knight mode will up the difficulty by dramatically increasing the number of enemies thrown at the player.

PC Age of Conan golden

Before his untimely suicide in 1935, author Robert E. Howard said the "Hyborian Era" that his stories featuring Conan the Barbarian was set in took place about 12,000 years ago. Ironically, the period following the 2005 announcement of Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures has also felt like an eon, thanks to several delays.

In the end, though, PC gamers will end up only having to wait three years and 10 days for the massively multiplayer game. Developer Funcom has announced Age of Conan has gone gold and is already in production. The game will launch the US on May 20 for $49.99 with a $14.99 monthly subscription fee. In Europe, the game will cost €49.99 ($79.38) with a subscription fee of €12.99 ($20.62).

GreenScreen over Take Two

In February 2007, Take-Two founder and CEO Ryan Brant pleaded guilty in the publisher's ongoing stock options-backdating scandal, agreeing to pay up some $7.3 million in the process but trading five years' probation for jail time. As a consequence of that outcome, Brant has been effectively barred from running a publicly traded company, but that hasn't stopped the one-time exec from flexing his entrepreneurial muscle.

GreenScreen Interactive announced its presence today, saying GT Interactive founder Ron Chaimowitz will act as the company's chief executive officer. While Brant's role in the company was not disclosed, Chaimowitz did discuss having the former Take-Two chief on the payroll with Newsweek.

PS3 bundle pack for GTA4

It's fair to say that Grand Theft Auto IV's April 29 release date is a big day on the gaming calendar. Janco Partners' Mike Hickey said that the game could "conceivably" ship 9.5 million units in one week, while Variety said that GTAIV could make $400 million in revenue in the same period.

Such performance is also sure to drive sales of consoles, and while the game will land on both the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360, Sony has made the first move to bundle hardware and software together at launch. A package of its 40GB PS3 console, a Sixaxis controller, and the standard edition of GTAIV will hit European stores on April 29, with a recommended retail price of £319.99 in the UK (approx $635) and €439 in Europe.

BBFC classifies Metal Gears Solid 4 for UK

The British Board of Film Classification should need no introduction to British gamers, after making headline news over its banning of Rockstar's Manhunt 2, and the ensuing court case that Rockstar eventually won.

This was shortly followed by Dr Tanya Byron's government-commissioned Byron Report, which examined the effects of games and the Internet on children in Britain. The report called for a high-profile campaign to educate parents on video game age ratings and consoles' parental controls.

After granting Grand Theft Auto IV an 18 rating without incident, and, more importantly, without cuts, the BBFC yesterday classified Konami's Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots for the PlayStation 3 and posted the result on its Web site.

BBFC classifies Metal Gears Solid 4 for UK

The British Board of Film Classification should need no introduction to British gamers, after making headline news over its banning of Rockstar's Manhunt 2, and the ensuing court case that Rockstar eventually won.

This was shortly followed by Dr Tanya Byron's government-commissioned Byron Report, which examined the effects of games and the Internet on children in Britain. The report called for a high-profile campaign to educate parents on video game age ratings and consoles' parental controls.

After granting Grand Theft Auto IV an 18 rating without incident, and, more importantly, without cuts, the BBFC yesterday classified Konami's Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots for the PlayStation 3 and posted the result on its Web site.

Playstation Home back again

First it was scheduled for release in late 2007, then it was delayed to Spring 2008. Now PlayStation Home has been pushed back even further, with Sony Computer Entertainment today announcing that the service's closed beta would be extended, with the open beta now not expected to begin until Fall 2008.

Home--Sony's Second Life-like online service for the PlayStation 3--was first unveiled in March 2007. In a statement, Sony Computer Entertainment president and group CEO Kaz Hirai said the company needed more time to complete Home.

Harry Potter gets Half Blooded Prince for the games

Like a string of handkerchiefs pulled from a magician's sleeve, Electronic Arts has produced a seemingly never-ending line of Harry Potter games and spin-offs on virtually every possible platform. Beyond the games based on the blockbuster movies, EA has also released Quidditch World Cup--a fantasy sports game based on a competition that played a significant part in the Potter books--and a variety of mobile phone games like Find Scabbers and Mastering Magic. There was even a massively multiplayer online Harry Potter game planned at one point.

In keeping with tradition, EA today announced that it will be bringing out a full line of games based on the upcoming film Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Timed to coincide with the film's November release, the games will arrive on the Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable, PC, Mac, and mobile phones.

Foundation 9 buried Harker

Earlier today, Konami unearthed details on the fifth installment in its long-running survival horror series, Silent Hill. Formerly announced as Silent Hill V at Konami's whirlwind E3 Media and Business Summit press conference last year, the game has been renamed Silent Hill: Homecoming, and will arrive for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation this September--in Europe at least.

Developed by Foundation 9's Double Helix outfit, Silent Hill: Homecoming has apparently had a garliclike effect on the studio's other supernatural horror game, Harker. GameSpot has confirmed with Foundation 9 that the Bram Stoker-inspired vampire-slaying action game has been put on permanent hiatus.

PS Home pushes back again

First it was scheduled for release in late 2007, then it was delayed to Spring 2008. Now PlayStation Home has been pushed back even further, with Sony Computer Entertainment today announcing that the service's closed beta would be extended, with the open beta now not expected to begin until Fall 2008.

Home--Sony's Second Life-like online service for the PlayStation 3--was first unveiled in March 2007. In a statement, Sony Computer Entertainment president and group CEO Kaz Hirai said the company needed more time to complete Home. "We understand that we are asking PS3 and prospective PS3 users to wait a bit longer, but we have come to the conclusion that we need more time to refine the service to ensure a more focused gaming entertainment experience than what it is today," he said. "Our overarching objective is to provide users with new gaming experiences that are available only on PlayStation Home. Spending more time on the development and on the closed beta testing reaffirms our commitment to bringing a quality service, maintaining the PlayStation tradition."

Activision CEO: songs to Guitar Hero

For a while, its been known that more instruments were coming to the Guitar Hero franchise. Before it was bought by Activision in 2006, the series' publisher RedOctane had registered the titles "Keyboard Hero" and "Drum Hero." The following January, its new owner plunked down for the titles "Guitar Villain" and "Drum Villain." Then, just this past February, the soon-to-be-merged megapublisher trademarked the title "DJ Hero."

Despite the lengthy paper trail, Activision has made no indication as to which Guitar Hero game would bring other instruments into the mix. Meanwhile, original Guitar Hero developer Harmonix has received critical accolades and millions of content-download dollars for its own platinum-selling rhythm game, Rock Band--which lets gamers play drums, bass, or guitar as well as sing.

Midnight Club hits the streets Sept 9th

All eyes are on next week's launch of the much-anticipated Grand Theft Auto IV from Rockstar Games, but the developer is already looking forward to the next big sequel in another of its well-known franchises. Rockstar Games announced today the release dates for Midnight Club: Los Angeles on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, as well as Midnight Club: LA Remix for the PlayStation Portable.

All three versions of the game will arrive in North American stores on September 9, with European releases scheduled for September 12. Midnight Club: Los Angeles was originally scheduled for an early 2008 release, but was delayed by Rockstar parent company Take-Two Interactive "to leverage the retail strength leading to the key holiday-selling season, and in order to provide some distance from the release of Grand Theft Auto IV."

No GTA Movie

It doesn't take much for a game to warrant a big-screen adaptation these days, as evidenced by such produced and proposed films as Painkiller, Bloodrayne, and Jagged Alliance. So with deals in place for so many gaming properties, why hasn't there been more speculation about a movie for one of the industry's most successful--and cinematic--properties, Grand Theft Auto?

It turns out the GTA creators at Rockstar Games simply aren't interested in turning their signature series into a movie. Rockstar cofounder Dan Houser gave Variety an extended interview that touched on a slew of topics, including the noticeable absence of a cinematic GTA adaptation. The reason came up in an explanation of how cautious the company is about milking its cash cow.

ESRB goes opinion with parents

With Rockstar Games gearing up to release Grand Theft Auto IV next week, the Entertainment Software Rating Board is likewise bracing for scrutiny over the readily granted M-for-Mature rating it awarded the game earlier this year. In advance of that controversy, which has already begun to rear its head in Chicago, the ESRB today announced its latest partnership with the Parent Teacher Association to help keep parents informed.

As with its previous collaboration with the PTA, the ESRB will be distributing free booklets to all 26,000 PTAs that offer a step-by-step guide to setting parental lock features as well as a guide to online safety penned by Andrew Bub of GamerDad.com. The booklets will also be available online in both English and Spanish through the PTA and ESRB Web site.

Ubisoft opens Casablanca Campus

Last year, the Moroccan government created an incentive program to encourage companies to create new tech-industry jobs in the country as well as train individuals for those positions. One publisher to take Morocco up on its offer was Ubisoft. The publisher said it would be dramatically expanding its Northern Africa operations from 50 to 150 positions by 2010.

Today, the publisher said that it would also be partnering with Moroccan audiovisual company Sigma Tecnologies on a new digital media training campus. The school's curriculum will focus on training individuals for jobs in the gaming and animated-film industries, with courses ranging from "programming to 3D animation and modelling, game and level design to project management."

Mario Kart Shippin' out

This week sees Mario Kart Wii powerslide its way to retail, just in time for the ANZAC day long weekend. The game features more control schemes than you can poke a stick at, including the Wii Wheel, Wii Remote/Nunchuk combination, Wii Remote/Classic Controller combination, and GameCube controllers. Fans of the series will be pleased to note that the game boasts 32 tracks and now givers racers the ability to choose motorbikes. On top of that, you can take Mario Kart Wii online and race up to 11 other players from around the world via the Nintendo Wi-Fi Channel. Be sure to check out the Mario Kart Wii and the Wii Wheel bundle this Thursday when it goes on sale for A$99.95 ($93.32).

The Dual Shock 3 controller for the PlayStation 3 will be debuting on April 24 for A$99.95. The only difference between the Dual Shock 3 and Sixaxis controller is it supports rumble feedback. It still features the motion-sensing technology that the Sixaxis contained, so it will still be backward compatible with all existing PS3 games. Some of the older PS3 games already support vibration feedback, but it's up to the developer to patch in the function for those that don't support it.

No WOW Movie for Blizzard employee

News was in no short supply during the 2006 Electronic Entertainment Expo, but one of the biggest tidbits to come out of the trade show was news that Blizzard Entertainment and Legendary Pictures would be teaming up for a silver-screen adaptation of the massively popular massively multiplayer online game World of Warcraft.

At the time, Blizzard Entertainment was adamant about its level of control over the project, with chief operating officer Paul Sams saying it took the developer five years to find the right partner. Directorial partners have faced a similar level of scrutiny, with Sams saying, "While I can't give out names right now, there's some meaningful people that have expressed interest."

Realtime repurchases APB rights

Last week, Crackdown creator Realtime Worlds officially announced that it had secured $50 million in funding for the "continued growth and expansion as the company develops new creative properties and brings innovative online gaming experiences to market." A specific use for that cash has emerged today, as the Dundee, Scotland-based developer said that it has repurchased the distribution rights to its urban-warfare massively multiplayer online game APB from Webzen.

While terms of the deal were not disclosed, a recent Securities and Exchange Commission filing sheds some light on the particulars. Under the original deal, Webzen, which signed on to distribute APB in February 2005, was to pay out to Realtime Worlds 10 percent of all online revenues and 20 percent of all retail revenues for a period of five years after the launch of the game in exchange for funding development time on APB. With the change in contract, Realtime Worlds will now be paying Webzen 15 percent of all net receipts for three years following APB's commercial release, and the former distributor of the game will "retrieve some of the development cost at the first year."

UK game sales hit records

UK gamers are voting with their wallets like never before, with sales at record highs following record periods in 2007 and previous years. According to data released today by the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA) and compiled by Chart-Track, the UK games industry racked up a total of £418.4 million ($828.9 million) in software sales in the first quarter of 2008.

It appears that Nintendo is the real winner of the increased sales, scooping up 37 percent of all unit sales thanks to the success of its Wii and DS offerings, which took the top two spots. The PC was the third most popular platform for game sales, followed by Microsoft's Xbox 360. The report also shows Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games to be the most popular game in the first quarter.

Unreal Tournament for 360

Fifteen months ago, Midway Games announced its competitive shooter Unreal Tournament III would be headed to the Xbox 360. The news came as a bit of a shock, as the game had previously been touted as a possible PlayStation 3 launch title and was the console's answer to Gears of War, Epic's wildly popular 360 shooter. (Both games are also available for the PC.)

Later that year at the E3 Media & Business Summit, some ruffled feathers at Sony were smoothed by the news that UTIII would have timed PS3 exclusivity on consoles, with the 360 version not arriving until sometime in 2008.

Mortal Kombat invades DC

Mortal Kombat is getting a major makeover. For the first original installment on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, Midway is not only tinkering with some of the fundamental features of the long-running fighting franchise, it's going to feature a crossover cast of characters pulled from the pages of DC Comics.

That means Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe will feature Sub-Zero and Scorpion taking on the likes of Superman and Batman. Other characters from each universe have yet to be confirmed for the game, but Mortal Kombat creator Ed Boon told GameSpot the developers were looking for counterparts between the two brands.

Wrestling fans have a few extra months to brace for TNA iMPACT!, as Midway today announced that its debut title with the wrestling league's license won't launch until September. Originally set to debut last year, the game will be released on the Xbox 360, Wii, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation 2.

Featuring a mix of former WWE talents, standouts pulled from the independent circuit, and homemade stars, TNA originated as a pay-per-view-only wrestling series in 2002 and has since expanded to include weekly shows on Spike TV. A full roster of wrestlers to be included in the game has not yet been released.

COD4 hits 9m milestone

From the get-go, Activision's Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was a certifiable hit. Its PC performance notwithstanding, the Infinity Ward-developed modern-warfare shooter debuted with more than 2 million units sold across the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in its first month last November. Though having been available for only two months, the title also managed to take the 2007 sales crown, with Activision saying in January that COD4 had sold 7 million units worldwide by year's end.

Proving to have legs beyond 2007, COD4 landed the top slot in the NPD Group's monthly sales dump for January and February, though it was ousted in March by Super Smash Bros. Brawl's staggering 2.7 million-unit debut. Even so, March's NPD report did signify a significant milestone for Activision and Infinity Ward. According to a post by Infinity Ward director of communications Robert Bowling on the game's official blog, COD4 has officially sold more than 9 million units worldwide since launch.

EA extends Take Two lower the offer

Yesterday brought two key developments in the ongoing Electronic Arts/Take-Two Interactive takeover saga. The morning began with the Federal Trade Commission's announcement that it was launching an investigation to see if an EA buyout of the Grand Theft Auto IV publisher would violate anticompetitive legislation. The evening ended with a Take-Two stockholder meeting in which chairman Strauss Zelnick underlined the company board's repeated declarations that EA's $2 billion buyout offer is "the wrong price at the wrong time."

Majesty attempting return to glory

Back in 2000, Cyberlore Studios' Majesty: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim took a novel approach to the PC empire-building strategy genre with its hands-off emphasis on heroes, and soon established itself as a cult hit. The game received an expansion the next year, but Cyberlore never got around to making a sequel, and put its rights to the series up for sale after shifting its focus away from game development.

Now, eight years after the game first hit shelves, Majesty is finally set for a sequel. Paradox Interactive today announced that it is planning to release Majesty 2: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim for the PC in the first quarter of 2009. Calling it the biggest title the company has published to date, Paradox executive vice president Fredrik Wester said in a statement the team is trying to rekindle fans' passion for the series while also broadening its audience.

Judas Priest first Rock Band song

Last year, Harmonix and MTV Games promised that their rhythm game duet Rock Band would feature full downloadable albums, with The Who's "Who's Next" one announced offering and Nirvana's "Nevermind" a heavily rumored second option. However, these albums were conspicuously absent from the game's launch lineup of downloadable content, and months passed with no word of when they would finally arrive.

Last month's Boston six-pack of songs came a single track shy of a full album, but next week Harmonix is finally set to make good on its prelaunch promise with the release of Judas Priest's Screaming for Vengeance in its entirety. The 10-song album will be available Tuesday on the Xbox Live Marketplace and Thursday on the PlayStation Store, with an asking price of $14.99 (1,200 Microsoft points).

Miyamoto uncertain of Wii Fit

With Wii Fit set to arrive in the US May 19, Nintendo is bringing out the big guns for its public relations and marketing blitz. Yesterday the company held a media roundtable in New York to give the press an introduction to the physical fitness game, courtesy of Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto.

One of CNET's Crave bloggers was in attendance to watch the Nintendo figurehead do some yoga stretches and field questions. In addition to discussing where he got the idea for the game, Miyamoto talked about Wii Fit's success in Japan, where it has already sold more than 2 million units. When asked what he expected the American response to the game would be, Miyamoto admitted it was tough to predict due to cultural differences.

DC Powers Gears of War comic

DC Comics is all over the gaming world this week. First the publisher announced that it was adapting Sierra's upcoming action game Prototype into a comic book. Today Midway dropped the bombshell that the next installment of its flagship fighting series would be Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, with characters such as Sub-Zero and Scorpion going toe-to-toe with Superman and Batman. Capping off the trifecta, DC has joined with Epic Games to announce plans for comics based on the developer's sci-fi Xbox 360 and PC shooter Gears of War.

The Gears of War comic series will debut in October, just ahead of the November Xbox 360 launch of Gears of War 2. The comics will be published under DC's WildStorm imprint, home to such critically acclaimed titles as Planetary, The Authority, and the America's Best Comics line that includes Alan Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

Soulcalibur IV date til July 13th

Following yesterday's announcement that the original Soul Calibur will be making an appearance on Xbox Live Arcade, Ubisoft has announced that Soulcalibur IV will be making its way down under on July 31 on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Soulcalibur IV is the series' first foray into the next-generation domain and features an expanded roster of fighters. Those who get the game on the PlayStation 3 will have access to Star Wars supervillain Darth Vader, whereas the Xbox 360 version features Yoda. Not since Star Wars: Masters of Teras Kasi have Darth Vader and Yoda appeared in a fighting game. On top of that, for the first time, you'll be able to take Soulcalibur online and challenge fighters from around the world.

GTAIV golden, already in transit

Say so long to those delay rumors. While word has yet to come on whether Take-Two will accede to Electronic Arts' $2 billion acquisition offer, one scenario that will not occur is analysts' speculated delay of Grand Theft Auto IV.

During Take-Two's shareholders' meeting today, the publisher said that GTAIV has gone gold. The game is "in production and in trucks en route to retailers," proclaimed Take-Two CEO Ben Feder. Rated M for Mature, GTAIV will be released on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on April 29.

Though it won't be released for another 12 days, industry watchers have already projected a massive debut from the next installment in Rockstar North's prized franchise. Last October, Janco Partner's Mike Hickey projected global opening-week sales of more than 9.5 million, with 5.8 million units turning up in US consumers' hands alone. Earlier this week, Variety reported that sources within Take-Two fully expect the game to sell some 6 million units in its opening week, generating revenue in excess of $400 million.

New Mortal Kombat details inKoming

The Earth realm has been a pretty quiet place since 2006's Mortal Kombat: Armageddon pummeled PlayStation 2 and Xbox owners into submission with more than 60 playable characters--and even a kart-racing minigame. A handful of ports in the series have surfaced since, but fans have had to go without an all-new installment for nearly two years.

Now, the evil forces of the Outworld appear ready for another round. Later today, Midway Games will officially unveil the Mortal Kombat game at its Gamers' Day event in Las Vegas. Presumably, the title in question is the next-generation installment of its famously gory fighting franchise that the company announced last October.

PS3 Video DLC details 'soon', in-game XMB in 08

Earlier this week, Sony globally launched its remodeled PlayStation Store, the PlayStation 3's answer to Xbox Live Marketplace and the Wii Shop Channel. Like its competitors, the new version of the online downloadable content vendor will be based on an in-console application, versus the slower-loading Web-browser storefront it used before. However, European Sony reps have admitted that some users were having problems with slow-loading icons in the store--a problem the company assured would soon pass.

Meanwhile, over in the US, Sony Computer Entertainment America has dropped some hints about what further updates to the PS3's store will bring. In a post on the official PlayStation blog, SCEA senior vice president of marketing and PlayStation Network Peter Dille (pictured) promised that long-standing requests by PS3 owners for a downloadable catalog of Sony Pictures Entertainment's films and television shows were not going unheeded.

Spider-Man weaves Web of Shadows

The future of the Spider-Man films may be murky, but Activision's games based on the webbed wonder will swing on regardless. The publisher has set up a teaser Web site to promote the next game featuring Marvel Comic's iconic arachnid, Spider-Man: Web of Shadows.

The site doesn't specify platforms for Web of Shadows, but it does give some insight into the development team's approach to the game. Even the URL of the site, seizecontrol.com, emphasizes an attempt to put players in command of the game.

Air Traffic Chaos, Izuna 2 head to DS

With nearly 65 million units sold globally as of the end of last year, the Nintendo DS has a wide and diverse audience that needs to be catered to. Luckily, publishers are lining up to meet that demand with games that touch all ends of the gaming-audience spectrum.

To wit, Majesco has announced that Air Traffic Chaos will touch down on Nintendo's portable this summer. Air-traffic control is considered to be one of the most stressful real-world jobs, and Majesco hopes to replicate the high degree of tension while removing the life-and-death implications with Air Traffic Chaos.

NO New DS

Last week, the spin of the Nintendosphere sped up precipitously with rumors of a new DS model. The speculation stemmed from a Bloomberg Japan report that played up a seemingly offhand remark by Hirokazu Hamamura (pictured), president of Famitsu magazine publisher Enterbrain. The article said that, when asked if Nintendo would unveil a new DS at the 2008 E3 Media & Business Summit in July, the executive responded: "I think there is the possibility."

After several days of second-hand accounts of Nintendo denials--denials the publisher's US reps still could not confirm as of press time--Enterbrain has stepped up with its own statement. According to a press release obtained by popular game blog Kotaku, the Tokyo-based publishing house and industry-research firm is accusing Bloomberg Japan of concocting its Hamamura quote out of thin air.

BIA: Hell's Highway til August

While the latter part of 2007 was well represented across the board, the genre receiving the most attention was easily the first-person shooter. Rather than go head-to-head with the likes of Valve's The Orange Box, Crytek's Crysis, or 2K's BioShock, Ubisoft and Gearbox opted for a tactical retreat with Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway, delaying the game to the first part of 2008. In January, Ubisoft pushed the game back even farther, saying the title wouldn't appear until the publisher's 2009 fiscal year, which runs April 1, 2008 to March 31, 2009.

It now appears as if Gearbox's squad-focused World War II shooter will arrive sooner rather than later, as the game's latest trailer touts an August 2008 release window. First announced in April 2006 for a holiday release that same year, Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway will ship for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.

FTC double Takes on EA buyout

Later today, Take-Two Interactive will hold its annual shareholders meeting, in which board members may or may not take Electronic Arts up on its $26 dollar-per-share buyout proposal. Regardless, the US Federal Trade Commission may step in to halt the merger before it can commence.

EA said today that it has received its second request for information from the FTC regarding its Take-Two takeover intentions. "While EA believes that its proposed transaction with Take-Two would not be anti-competitive, the FTC has not yet reached any conclusions regarding the proposed acquisition and has indicated that it needs further information and additional time to conduct its review," the publisher said in a succinct statement.

360 sales down

In the first stage of the next-generation console war, the pint-sized Wii was the clear budget choice in Europe; at £179.99, it was £80 cheaper than the next-best option, the Xbox 360 Core.

All that changed in March, when Microsoft announced that it would be cutting the price of all of its Xbox 360 SKUs, meaning that the Xbox 360 Arcade--which replaced the Core SKU in October 2007--swapped places with the Wii and became the cheapest console at £159.99. The other two models, the Premium and the Elite, also shed £40, making them £199.99 and £259.99 respectively.

DC Soulcalibur swings onta XBLA

In more than a decade of reviews on GameSpot, perfect scores have been exceedingly rare occurrences, with only four games receiving a 10. One of those was the original Dreamcast launch fighting game Soulcalibur.

The Dreamcast may be gone and in some cases forgotten, but the standout star of its launch is about to get a new lease on life. Namco Bandai today announced that Soulcalibur would make a Cervantes-like return to life this summer as a downloadable title on the Xbox Live Arcade.

God of War

God of War protagonist Kratos kills more deities before 9 a.m. than most people do all day. That lack of reverence--combined with a sex-themed minigame and wanton violence--may be what United Arab Emirates authorities had in mind when they originally banned the game for containing material offensive to the religion, values, and traditions of the country.

That ban wasn't quite effective enough, given that UAE-based Gulf News is reporting on a new crackdown against the distribution of the game stemming from complaints of residents in the country's Sharjah municipality. One resident was quoted in the story as saying that pirated copies of God of War weren't difficult to come by despite the ban.

Litigious inmate sues publishers

Typically, lawsuits against game publishers are dense tomes, thick with legalese and reading like a team of lawyers has systematically drained every ounce of personality from the writing. Not so with the latest lawsuits to come out against Activision, Atari, and Take-Two Interactive.

Filed over the last few months by an inmate in South Carolina's Federal Correctional Institution Williamsburg, the handwritten suits seek restraining orders against the publishers. The Federal Bureau of Prisons and FCI Williamsburg are also listed as defendants in the Activision and Take-Two Interactive suits, respectively.

Game BAFTAs skipping '08

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts handed out its first video game awards during its regular March ceremony in 1998. In 2006 and 2007, the game BAFTAs were held in October instead, so as to coincide with the London Games Festival. This year, though, there won't be a 10th anniversary party--in fact, there isn't going to be a 2008 ceremony at all.

GameSpot UK has confirmed that the next BAFTA game awards will be held on March 10, 2009, instead of during this year's LGF in October, as had been widely expected. Tim Wapshott, journalist with The Times newspaper and a member of the BAFTA video games committee, told GSUK, "The awards are indeed going back to the early part of next year for a number of valid reasons, one of them being to improve the judging process to make sure these are the best and most democratic recognising the UK games industry."

EU says OK to Acti-Blizzard union

Today, Activision and Vivendi Games cleared yet one more hurdle lying in the path of their $18.9 billion merger. The European Commission, which is part of the European Union, has approved the deal under its antitrust guidelines, concluding that an Activision Vivendi mash-up "would not significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area or any substantial part of it."

According to the EC's report, the merger's reach was measured on both a horizontal and vertical scale. In terms of horizontal competition, the EC deemed the Vivendi-Activision union would "continue to face several strong, effective competitors, such as Electronic Arts, and the game console manufacturers, such as Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft."

All quiet on the Take-Two front

Take-Two Interactive has a few big days ahead of it. The publisher's annual shareholder meeting kicks off after the markets close tomorrow, and Electronic Arts' $26 per share offer to acquire the company is set to expire just before midnight on Friday.

With more than enough on its plate already, at least the publisher no longer has to worry about a shareholder revolt like the one that took place at last year's annual meeting. Take-Two today announced that the April 15 deadline for shareholders to nominate opposing candidates for the company's board of directors or propose other new business has passed without incident.

Namco unveils National Geographic Panda

Ever since China began loaning pandas to the West in 1958, the adorable ursines have been star attractions at zoos in North America and Europe. Now, game publisher Namco Bandai and the famed National Geographic Society are hoping to use the black and white bamboo munchers' appeal to sell games--and raise awareness about their endangered-species status.

As part of its Gamers Day events this week, Namco announced National Geographic Panda, a new DS game set for release this fall. The game will be a Nintendogs-like title where players raise and care for their own panda cubs in a wildlife park. As with other creature-rearing sims, players' treatment of their pandas will determine how they behave. To keep them happy, National Geographic Panda will offer a range of toys and treats for players to purchase with a daily allowance. Players will be encouraged to play with their pandas, as neglecting them will eventually make them so unruly and despondent, they will run away.

All quiet on the Take-Two front

Take-Two Interactive has a few big days ahead of it. The publisher's annual shareholder meeting kicks off after the markets close tomorrow, and Electronic Arts' $26 per share offer to acquire the company is set to expire just before midnight on Friday.

With more than enough on its plate already, at least the publisher no longer has to worry about a shareholder revolt like the one that took place at last year's annual meeting. Take-Two today announced that the April 15 deadline for shareholders to nominate opposing candidates for the company's board of directors or propose other new business has passed without incident.

Namco Bandai brings it on

As part of Namco Bandai's Gamers' Day yesterday, the publisher parted the curtain on a number of its more high-profile releases for the year, giving GameSpot hands-on time with Soulcalibur IV, Afro Samurai, and Tales of Vesperia. The publisher also dished out a few dates for its previously announced games, saying that Soulcalibur IV would toe the line on July 29 and the Samual L. Jackson-led Afro Samurai would bare its blade on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 this fall.

Previously revealed games thus slated, Namco Bandai today rattled off a spate of new games that would be making their way to gamers' homes in the near future. With Naruto: Rise of a Ninja and Clash of a Ninja Revolution being greeted with tepid reviews on the Xbox 360 and Wii respectively last year, Namco Bandai announced it would be completing the current-generation circuit with Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm for the PlayStation 3 this fall.

APB PS3-bound in 2009

As first revealed on the last day of March, Crackdown creators Realtime Worlds have secured a $50 million loan to fund its ambitious contemporary massively multiplayer online game APB. First announced in 2005, APB springs from the mind of Grand Theft Auto creator Dave Jones, and pits players on both sides of the law in a kill-or-be-killed urban warfare environment. As shown during a presentation during the 2008 Game Developers Conference, the game eschews many of the traditional precepts of the MMOG space, banking on gamers desire to earn street cred in lieu of monotonous leveling and questing.

While the news of the cash infusion was less than new, the Dundee, Scotland-based developer officially announced that it had secured the additional funding yesterday, triggering a fresh wave of mainstream media reports. One such outlet, Edinburgh daily The Scotsman, landed an interview with Realtime Worlds creative director and president Dave Jones, and from it sprung a font of thus far unannounced details on the title.

The Sims passes 100 million mark

The best-selling PC game franchise of all time just got a bit more best-selling. EA announced today that The Sims series has now sold 100 million copies worldwide since it launched in 2000. Since the first game, the series has been translated into 22 different languages and sold in 60 countries around the world. According to the New York Times, the franchise has generated over $4 billion for its publisher, Electronic Arts--or around $500 million per year.

The first Sims game was the brainchild of celebrated game developer Will Wright, and was released for the PC on EA's Maxis label just over eight years ago. Dozens of expansion packs, spin-offs, and console ports followed, and this trend continued after the launch of The Sims 2 in 2004. The launch of The Sims 3, recently announced for 2009, will let a new generation of virtual humans wander around their neighbourhoods freely for the first time.

GTAIV poised to make $400M in 1 week

There's no question that Grand Theft Auto IV will have a massive debut. How massive, exactly? Today, Variety predicted that the Rockstar Games title could be the biggest entertainment-property launch of all time when it goes on sale worldwide on April 29 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

The Hollywood trade claims that "sources close to publisher Take-Two Interactive," which owns Rockstar Games, have been tracking how many units of GTAIV they have presold to retailers. According to said sources, the publisher believes that 6 million units of the Rockstar North-developed game will sell during its first week on the market, generating over $400 million in revenue.

Take-Two reiterates EA rejection at annual meeting

A month and a half ago, Electronic Arts stunned the game industry by announcing an unsolicited $2 billion takeover bid for Take-Two Interactive. The offer was a whopping 64 percent premium over Take-Two's closing stock price the prior day, and was regarded by analysts as being too generous for shareholders to turn down.

However, the board of the Grand Theft Auto publisher didn't feel the same way. On March 26, company directors--led by Chairman Strauss Zelnick and CEO Ben Feder--urged holders of Take-Two stock to reject EA's "inadequate" offer, which had turned hostile. EA then relented, giving its takeover target until 11:59 p.m. EDT on Friday, April 18--the day after Take-Two's annual shareholders meeting.

March game sales skyrocket 57 percent

When a professional athlete produces unbelievable statistics, they are sometimes said to be posting "video game numbers." The industry-tracking NPD Group today released its US retail sales figures for the month of March, and the gaming industry itself can safely be characterized as producing "video game numbers."

Overall, the US game industry's total retail take for hardware, software, and accessories amounted to $1.7 billion combined, up 57 percent from the $1.1 billion it posted for March 2007. "You'd never know that the U.S. economy was under distress by looking at the video games industry sales figures," NPD analyst Anita Frazier said in a statement. "Year-to-date growth is a rock-solid 27 percent through March 2008."

SingStore update coming

The last two days have been good to SingStar fans. Yesterday Sony announced that a new PlayStation 3 game is coming, SingStar Volume 2, which will add a new Harmony Duet mode and revamped interface. Today the company revealed details of its scheduled bimonthly update to the SingStore, which will make 45 new songs available to purchase online by tomorrow.

The new tunes arriving on April 18 include tracks from Placebo, Duran Duran, Maximo Park, and Natasha Bedingfield, along with many European-language songs from France, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Italy, Spain, and Portugal.

When karaoke game SingStar PS3 was originally announced, Sony played up the possibilities of the SingStore, which was meant to let wannabe pop stars browse a huge database of songs and buy them for as little as 99p ($2).

Star Soldier R bound for US WiiWare

With Nintendo's WiiWare downloadable game service set to launch in North America on May 12, specific details about how the program will work and what games will be offered are starting to emerge. The latest piece of the puzzle comes from Hudson Soft, which today announced that one of its Japanese WiiWare launch games will be making the trek westward.

Star Soldier R is officially headed to the WiiWare service in North America, giving gamers a chance to try out the score-attack-focused installment of the long-running vertically scrolling shoot-'em-up series. Previous installments in the series, such as Super Star Soldier and Blazing Lazers, have been traditional shooters in which players blast their way through multiple levels with the main goal being to defeat an armada of alien spaceships.

Singstar 4 PS3

For those times in life when people just feel like they have to break into song on their games consoles, there's SingStar. Released in 2004 for the PlayStation 2, the original game saw sequels tapping into new musical territories with titles such as SingStar Bollywood, SingStar Amped, and SingStar '80s.

The PlayStation 3 version of the game, developed by Sony's London Studio, was released in Europe on December 7, 2007, but remains unreleased in North America. SingStar PS3 brought with it the online SingStore, which allows crooners to browse an ever-growing library of songs and purchase their karaoke favourites.

Sierra and DC Prototype Comic

Cross-media promotion is becoming de rigueur for the gaming industry, with Hollywood vying with the comic-book industry as the two most likely venues for proliferation. Continuing with that trend, Sierra Entertainment and DC Comics announced today that the publisher's upcoming open-world action game Prototype would get the comic-book treatment. With the game expected to be released sometime this fall, the publisher said today that the comic-book series would hit in August.

DC Comics expects to reveal more details on the comic later this year, but presumably it will follow a storyline similar to that found in the game. Prototype drops players into the shoes of antihero Alex Mercer, a genetically altered shape-shifter suffering from amnesia. Once awakened, gamers take Mercer on a path of rampage through New York City, attempting to reconcile the mystery behind his mutation while waging war against the military and the viral outbreak that turns the populace into deranged mutants.

Splinter Cell and Metal Arms coming to Xbox orginals

When Microsoft originally announced its Xbox Originals initiative, the plan was to release games from the company's first console for download on the Xbox 360 at "a very steady flow" approaching a weekly basis. Five months down the road, the initial offering of Xbox Originals has expanded by only four games (Ninja Gaiden Black, Sid Meier's Pirates, Black, and Dreamfall: The Longest Journey).

While the program is off to a slower start than expected, Microsoft is continuing to add to the roster of downloadable Xbox games. On the blog of Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb, the Xbox Live director of programming today announced that two new games would arrive on the service next Monday. Specifically, Xbox 360 owners will be able to download Ubisoft's 2005 stealth game Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, as well as Vivendi's Metal Arms: Glitch in the System.

Beijing 2008 adorned with gold-medal hopefuls

Last year, Sega split the difference on which iconic superstar would cover Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games. For the Wii and DS games, both Nintendo's mustachioed plumber and the publisher's own blue hedgehog were featured front and center. For the game based on the real deal, however, Sega has been faced with an Olympic-size pool of world-class athletes to pick up from.

Rather than risk a gold-medal debacle to rival Marion Jones, Sega has opted for four promising athletes to cover the US edition of Beijing 2008 - The Official Video Game of the Olympic Games: Amanda Beard, Tyson Gay, Nastia Liukin, and Reese Hoffa. Beijing 2008 is expected to release for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC sometime this summer. Opening ceremonies for the official 2008 Summer Olympics are scheduled to commence August 8.

Wrath of the Lich King on Warcraft

In 2006, Blizzard Entertainment made the somewhat audacious statement that the developer was targeting annual expansions for its massively popular massively multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft. The news was smirk-inducing, considering it came nearly a year after the game's first expansion--The Burning Crusade--was announced and just a few weeks after the add-on had entered alpha testing. However, thanks in large part to ample and substantive in-game content updates, Blizzard has had no problem growing its rabid fan base past 10 million subscribers.

Needless to say, WOW's second expansion--Wrath of the Lich King--breezed through The Burning Crusade's one-year anniversary in January on a wind as frigid as the add-on's fictional locale, Northrend. However, as the summer approaches, Lich King may be ready to emerge from Blizzard's cooker. Enthusiast fan site WOW Insider reports today that "anonymous sources" claim the game has entered alpha, and "various players are being invited to check it out, under a strict [nondisclosure agreement]."

M16 for 2020

Even great games can flop, and one of the biggest reasons why is marketing. It's not enough to simply have a great product if nobody knows about it, or if the characteristics that make it great aren't made clear to the buying public.

That's why there's the MI6 Conference. Now in its third year, MI6 brings together gaming marketers throughout the industry to network, share secrets, and dole out MI6 Awards to the best and brightest in the field. This year, the launch ad campaigns for BioShock, Halo 3, Assassin's Creed, and Call of Duty 4 took home some of the top honors.

This year's conference capped off its stint at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Union Square with a panel discussion featuring some of the biggest names in the business. Moderated by Wedbush Morgan Securities' quotable industry analyst Michael Pachter, the panel featured Atari founder and industry pioneer Nolan Bushnell, EA Sports president Peter Moore, EA Casual president Kathy Vrabeck, Ubisoft North America president Laurent Detoc, and WildTangent CEO Alex St. John.

Boom Blox

Today, Nintendo kicked off its media summit at the Clift Hotel in San Francisco, and thus far the event has proven to be a font of information. Earlier today, the publisher took the wraps off of Mario Super Sluggers, a Wii reimagining of Mario Superstar Baseball for the GameCube. In a press conference, the publisher also dished on the upcoming Wii Fit as well as Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time/Explorers of Space for the Nintendo DS.

One other game shown during Nintendo's opening remarks was Boom Blox, an action puzzle game for the Wii developed by EALA and creatively inspired by Hollywood auteur Steven Spielberg. While EA had previously given Boom Blox a broad May release window, the publisher said today during its demonstration of the game that Boom Blox will stack up on Nintendo's console beginning May 6.

Frontlines: Fuel of War

I wasn't even alive when Computer Gaming World launched in 1981. However, I was around this week when the print version of the magazine, renamed Games for Windows in 2006, was repurposed for inclusion in Ziff Davis' 1UP gaming portal. I talked with 1UP vice president for content Simon Cox about GFW's move online, the state of print gaming journalism in general, and the difficulties facing Ziff Davis. Some excerpts from our conversation:

On the reasons behind the move:

"I can tell you that GFW closing is a direct result of dollars and eyeballs moving from print to online way more quickly in the PC space than they are, from our reckoning, in the console space. Part of it is, [on the PC] you can surf the Web and play a game without leaving your seat. These guys are obviously more connected online, they tend to be more into the community aspects online...I think it's sort of a natural fit to have PC content where PC gamers are hanging out, which is more online."

Toki Tori for WiiWare

With Nintendo planning to turn on its WiiWare channel in North America on May 12, developers have been lining up to get their bite-sized games on the publisher's digital distribution service. Earlier today, Sam & Max creator Telltale Games said it would be adapting Internet satirist Strong Bad of Homestarrunner.com fame for an adventure game distributed through WiiWare and PCs. Now, another niche game has been announced for the service. Dutch outfit Two Tribes said it would be adapting its 2001 Game Boy Color puzzle platformer Toki Tori for WiiWare.

Toki Tori on the Wii is an update to the original, and gamers will once again attempt to navigate 2D environments as a chicken in search of eggs. To do so, players will make use of a variety of zany tools, with Two Tribes calling out the Telewarp, Freeze-o-Matic, and InstantRock, "to name but a few." The variety of unusual implements is unsurprising, considering that Two Tribes' previous efforts include last year's Worms: Open Warfare 2 on the Nintendo DS and PlayStation Portable.

New games for Nintendo

Today at a small presentation at the swank Clift Hotel off of Union Square, Nintendo of America gave a presentation to a small group of gaming journalists. The event was a coming-out party of sorts for Cammie Dunaway, NOA's recently installed executive vice president of sales and marketing, and successor to ex-exec George Harrison.

After going over her background with Frito-Lay and Yahoo!, Dunaway buttered up the reporters by talking up their love of gaming. "It's your job to bring the joy of the game experience to everyone," she said. She then praised the "enthusiasm" of Nintendo Inc. president Satoru Iwata and gave props to "passionate" NOA president Reggie Fils-Aime.

"We want those attending to experience that passion," she said, saying, "The games we're showing hopefully will excite the core and grow the total game market."

Mario Super Sluggers

Earlier this year, Nintendo announced that Super Mario Stadium: Family Baseball would arrive for the Wii in Japan this year, later clarified to be June. A US release for an adaptation of America's cherished pastime seemed like a no-brainer, and the publisher made it official today in a San Francisco press event. With the game sporting the new moniker Mario Super Sluggers, Nintendo promises to build on the baseball minigame in Wii Sports by offering the same level of accessibility but adding a more fully realized baseball experience.

Much in the way that Mario Strikers Charged offered an arcade take on soccer last year, Mario Super Sluggers takes liberties with the basic precepts of baseball. Pitching is handled with a standard throwing motion, but is complicated by a timing mechanic, and the ball can also be curved by twisting the Wii Remote.

While batting, players first charge their swing, and then can either aim for the fences or attempt a bunt. Special moves also factor into pitching and hitting, with pitchers able to turn on the heat by hitting A and B while throwing, and batters adding flame to the ball by hitting the same buttons and making contact.

Final Fantasy 4 set for DS

Final Fantasy faithful have been waiting on an oft-rumored remake of the landmark seventh installment in the series for years. Although Square Enix hasn't seen fit to even announce such a project, it has kept up a steady stream of Final Fantasy spin-offs and remakes to keep fans busy in the meantime.

Today the publisher confirmed the North American release of the latest such remake, Final Fantasy IV for the Nintendo DS. Set to arrive on retailers' shelves on July 22, the game will feature 3D graphics, CG cutscenes with voice-overs, a remixed score by series composer Nobuo Uematsu, touch-screen support, and a multiplayer head-to-head battle mode.

A Super Nintendo version of Final Fantasy IV was originally released in North America in 1991. However, because only one of the first three games had been localized, it was dubbed Final Fantasy II upon arrival.

Strong Bad roughs up WiiWare

Despite the recently announced retail release of Sam & Max: Season 1 for the Nintendo Wii, Telltale Games was built from the ground up to sell its games online. Given that focus, it's fitting that the developer has announced today that its next digitally distributed project will feature a character born and bred on the Internet.

Telltale today revealed Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People, an adventure game for the PC and WiiWare starring the "thousandaire gadabout" Strong Bad. The first episode of the five-part series will debut on WiiWare in June, and follow-ups will be released on a monthly basis. (Telltale did not specify if the series' PC releases would be simultaneous with the console versions and had not responded to a request for clarification as of press time.) In the game, players will take control of Strong Bad himself, solving puzzles while interacting with the world and characters of Homestarrunner.com.

Sony not aware about PS3 error

The "Red Ring of Death" is something that all Xbox 360 owners dread: seeing the green lights around the console's power button turn red, indicating a fatal hardware error.

In July last year, Microsoft responded to mounting anecdotal evidence of a high Xbox 360 failure rate by stating that there had been "an unacceptable number of [360] repairs." The company then extended the warranty from one to three years.

Now, unconfirmed reports indicating discontent are spreading across the Internet, and this time it's the PlayStation 3 that is alleged to be having some issues. According to posts on various Web site forums, including those at GameSpot and the official US PlayStation forums, several gamers are seeing "error code 80010514" instead of the loading screen of their favourite games.

Game Revolver contacted Sony Support and was told, "The code is not common, and a simple reset of the system and restoral of factory settings should do the trick." However, the writer, Steriotyp, said that this failed to fix the error, which he or she was told is caused by one of two things: The first is a faulty sector on the internal hard drive, and the second is a faulty installation of software or firmware.

Nintendo for Develop 100

It's the time of year when Develop magazine reveals which game studios the British public have voted for with their wallets. The Develop 100, an annual list, has been topped by Nintendo, which generated £129.83 million ($256.19m) in sales in 2007.

The Develop 100 showcases the top worldwide studios by the value of their retail games' sales in the UK. EA Canada, the winner last year, came in at number two with £68.78 million ($135.73m), and Ubisoft Montreal came in third with £52.17 million ($102.94m). Top US studios included Call of Duty 4's Infinity Ward (fifth with £39.6 m/$78.1m), Electronic Arts' Sims-shop Maxis (seventh with £36.84m/$72.70m), and Halo 3 ringers Bungie (eighth with £31.45m/$62.06m).

PS3 stores wired for sound

Next week's planned update to the PlayStation 3 will bring with it not only the revamped PlayStation Store, but also DTS-HD High Resolution Audio and DTS-HD Master Audio for Blu-ray movies.

The PlayStation Store has not received any new content or updates since work was announced to be underway on a redesign to overhaul the navigation and interface.

After the revamped Store front goes live, users logging on will be prompted to download the firmware 2.30 update so that they can access the new service. An exact date has yet to be confirmed by either Sony Europe or Sony America, but according to a statement from Sony Japan, it's all going down on April 15.

Mama's cooking at the sushi bars

UK restaurant chain Yo! Sushi is going to be letting gamers play with virtual Japanese food while they eat the real thing.

The eateries will have Nintendo DS portables loaded with 505 Games' Cooking Mama 2: Dinner With Friends placed around the sushi-delivering conveyor belts for the amusement of diners.

The Yo! Sushi branches in London's Farringdon Road and Poland Street will be the first to get the game on April 14, and the rest of the restaurants will be getting theirs "over the coming months." Sushi lovers will be able to play solo, or against other diners by challenging them to a cook-off.

EA scraps Bad Company weapons

At the end of March, EA invited a select number of gamers to participate in an online multiplayer beta for the Xbox 360 version of Battlefield: Bad Company. Shortly after the Xbox Live server opened, gamers discovered that while many weapons would be available out of the box, 10 firearms appeared to be available only as downloadable content or through the purchase of the collector's edition of the game.

A firestorm of controversy followed, with fan site Sarcastic Gamer organizing Battlefield fans into a boycott of sorts due to the downloadable content for the title. EA moved quickly to diffuse some of the complaints, saying that five of the 10 locked weapons will actually be given away as part of a promotional campaign, and as such were incorrectly flagged. However, the publisher also noted that the remaining five would indeed be premium content, available only in the Gold Edition of the game or as downloadable extras purchasable over Xbox Live.

EA's clarification on the issue acted as a gentle breeze on the conflagration, working only to further fan gamers' rage over the issue. Taking heed of the outcry, EA today confirmed for GameSpot that it has scrapped plans to charge extra for the weapons included in the Gold Edition of the game. Instead, those who purchase the Gold Edition will receive the weapons out of the box, while all others will gain access to the weapons by ranking up their online personas to the maximum level.

Two SCEE staff poached

The games industry can at times seem to be nothing but an oversized game of musical chairs. In the past year, Phil Harrison has left Sony to go to struggling veteran publisher Atari, Peter Moore has left Microsoft to head up EA Sports, and David Gardner left Electronic Arts to become CEO of Infogrames. This trend continued today with the departure of two staff from Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, although at a markedly more junior level.

UK development and publishing house Codemasters was the first to break cover today, with a release confirming the appointment of Hal Bame as its director of distributor territories. Bame moved from SCEE, where he had been its distributor markets sales and marketing manager for five years.

Shortly after that, Microsoft joined the party, announcing the capture of Daniel Maher as Xbox Live Editor for Europe. He will be responsible for all European editions of Inside Xbox, Xbox Live's daily news magazine, and will oversee the service's European expansion during 2008; it is currently only available in the UK, US, Canada, and Japan.

Harmonix denies Rock Band

This week, Electronic Arts finally announced a European release date for the rhythm game Rock Band: May 23. The title will be a timed Xbox 360 exclusive in the region, with other formats being released sometime in the summer. The game won't come cheap, despite the delay--a full set of instrument peripherals and a copy of the game will cost £180 ($355) or €240 ($380). In the US, the game plus the instruments has a recommended retail price of $169.99 (£86).

European gamers were less than pleased, with many pointing out that they could buy an Xbox 360 console for less, given the recent price cuts in the region. Now, in response to posts on the official Rock Band site's forums, Greg LoPiccolo, vice president of product development at Harmonix, has offered an explanation.

LoPiccolo says, "We're not making a killing on Rock Band in Europe. We are incredibly sensitive to pricing issues. We are painfully aware that the higher the price we charge, the less copies we'll sell. The fact of the matter is the costs of releasing in Europe are far higher than in the US."

Metal Gear online for April 17th

Yesterday, Sony Japan issued a release saying that the new and improved PlayStation Store would be coming April 15. It was assumed by many--but not officially confirmed at the time--that this was going to be a global launch, due to the nature and history of the store.

To remove any doubt, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has now reconfirmed that the "enhanced" PlayStation Store will indeed be coming on April 15.

It also had more good news for Europeans: On April 17, the first content update for two weeks will include the launch of Metal Gear Online Premiere Beta. The beta had already been confirmed for Japan, but those outside of the country had been left hanging.

The online beta will be running from April 21 to May 6 as an online multiplayer companion to Konami's highly anticipated Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, which is due for release on June 12. Two maps will be available for testers to explore: Blood Bath and Groznyi Grad, each of which "requires unique strategies" for success. Up to 16 gamers are able to play together in each.