Lies! Lies! Lies!

Gamespot reported Feb. 26 as the release date for the Xbox Live Arcade titles Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting, Feeding Frenzy, Astro Pop, and Jewel Quest. Although they aren't the most credible source at times I'm praying this sticks. I want to be able to waste away my spring throwing Hadokens!

Well, the day has come and gone, and I am still not whipping Dragon Punches across my friends list. Looks like we're going to have to wait a while longer before we get our beloved arcade games. Until then, I'll be playing Wik: Fable of Souls. It's kinda like Street Fighter. Except without the street... or the fighting.

Burnout Revenge trailer and themes on Xbox Live Marketplace

Burnout Revenge has popped up in the marketplace with a lovely trailer, display pics and a theme set for your gaming pleasure. The pics are 40 points, the theme is 150 and the trailer is of course, free. The game will be shipping March 7th, so keep your road raging fingers crossed.

To make you feel like a man

I was thinking about getting this game, now I don't know if I can bring myself to do it. But one thing's for certain; I would not want to meet one of those crazy little girls in a dark alleyway.

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Final Fantasy XII potions, they're real

If Red Bull gives you wings; this stuff has got to seriously perk you up! These crazy looking potions come in one of 6 collectable bottles with a free collectors card (27 total). The potions are supposedly a "'herb drink potion' which will apparently soothe the soul and bolster your fiery fighting spirit. Or something like that." The bottles cost 12.50 USD each, so make those extra hitpoints worth while.

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PSP camera on the way

This interesting ad has been spotted on the London subways. Sounds to me like a camera is on the way. Let's hope so it'd be the perfect addition to the handheld. Well, not to mention the little camera picture in the bottom corner. That helps too.

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The Sims coming to next-gensville

Maxis had posted on their job board that they were looking for a PS3 Engineer. EA is refusing to comment on the possibility for now, but if this is to hold up my guess; expect an announcement at E3.

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Revolution's SDK only $2000

While that not mean much to most readers, the $2000 pricemark for a dev. kit is surprising considering the PSP dev. kit was over $5000. This definately helps the rumours that the Revolition will be around the $150 mark. Don't get too excited, it could just mean that Nintendo's pricing cheap to get smaller developers in. Anyway, it's hope.

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MS back at the viral marketing

www.origamiproject.com , an odd website that doesn't tell us anything other than that we will learn something in 3 weeks. Engadget did a search on the site and it is indeed linked to MS. What will the announcement be? Inclsion of The Urge? Handheld device?

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Jim Lee to produce DC Comics MMO

Jim Lee, artist of All Star Bat-Man & Robin, will be atributing his artistic talents to the Sony Online Entertainment production of the upcoming DC Universe MMO.

“The truth is that I love gaming as much as I love drawing and telling stories and look forward to bringing the DC Universe to life for players and comic book fans all around the world.”

That's going to be one pretty game, expect it coming for PC and next-gen consoles sometime next year.

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PGR 100 continues!

The next phase of the PGR 100 has started. The next phase allows players to challenge the creators of the game and have a chance to win a free special edition PGR3 Xbox 360. To challenge them add the following gamertags to your friendlist and on March 1st look for a game invite; the most stylish and speedy racers will be chosen as winners.

Project Gotham Racing 3:

PGR100 1
PGR100 2

Project Gotham Racing 2:

PGR100 3
PGR100 4

Remember, this only applies to European players (or those with Euro accounts). If you don't have a Euro account create one, you get a free month of Gold with a Silver subscription, so there's nothing to loose (except maybe the race).

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Call of Duty 2 2nd update details

Infinity Ward earlier released that they were working on a second patch for Call of Duty 2, to fix the major multiplayer issues it had. Now the patch is looking concrete. Here's the letter they posted for all the fans.

Dear Call of Duty Community:
As you recall, we announced plans that we were working on our second Title Update for Call of Duty 2, improving the Xbox Live multiplayer functionality. We’re happy to report that this update is currently in the final stages of testing and all is going well. In fact, we will be releasing it soon, so stay tuned. To give you a better understanding of what we have been working on, the second COD2 Title Update will have the following enhancements:
1. Player Lag has been addressed

Plus, we have added the following functionality:
2. Private Game Lobbies / Reserved Slots
3. Enabled the Live Host to set custom game options
4. Map Preferences setting
5. Post Game Lobbies (all players at end of match will return to their game lobby)
6. Enemy Player Name Notification
7. Ability for the Host to kick a player
8. In game Lobby - Game Type, Map and Host Notifications
Again, thank you for your support…and stay tuned for future updates!
- Infinity Ward

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Call of Duty 2 demo on marketplace

Microsoft has released a way late demo for Callof Duty 2. It's the same one you've played in the store. Not to mention on your OXM disc. Oh! I almost forgot the burnt Kiosk disk you downloaded. Anyway, enjoy!

Blue DS Lites delayed

YamaKiyo Press has reported that the Nintendo DS Lite launch will have a shortage of the Enemal and Icy Blue models. Plenty of the iPod coloured ones though. Let's hope there's no such quam with the North American release.

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Hiroshi Yamauchi donates $60 Million to hospital

Hiroshi Yamauchi, former big cheese of Nintendo, has donated $60 Million dollars to the Kyoto University Hospital. A new wing will be built where the parking lot is. It will be eight floors, include a basement facility and contain the best in medical tools. This is the same man that brought us the NES, SNES, N64, Game Cube, and the various GameBoys. Coolest old guy ever? YES!

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Free Gold weekend April 1st

For all those silver subscribers to Xbox Live, April 1st will be the first Free Gold Weekend. Players will be given temporary use of all the privilages Gold members recieve for free. The weekend is sponsered by Verizon Wireless, let's just see if we'll be getting some lovely ads.

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Oblivion content for Xox Live Marketplace

Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion got a trailer, a few picture packs, and a theme on the marketplace today. Japan also got some Wrestle Kingdom gamerpics, so if you have a Japanese account, enjoy. Not quite as fun as a playable demo, but keep your eyes peeled. I smell a Ghost Recon demo soon.

Link turns twenty

Link turned twenty today! To celebrate we mourn over the delay of Twilight Princess! 4 Color Rebellion has posted a nice articl on the hero's bi-decenial (is that even a word?). Check it out!

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Xbox Live camera details

Xbox.com had put up info on the new Xbox 360 camera that we've all seen images of. The page was taken down, likely because they want to announce the camera first. Kotaku managed to snag the info so here it is:

In-Camera Video Processing:The camera itself is capable of not only receiving the information, but also processing it. It’s no mean feat in something so small, and it allows the console to run unfettered, as the image processing doesn’t suck up all its bandwidth.

Thirty Frames per Second: The camera is capable of capturing 30 frames per second. If you need a standard for comparison, think about this: Television is displayed at 30 frames per second, most video games are displayed at 30 frames per second (though developers are striving to make 60 the norm), and film is captured and displayed at 24 frames per second.

Stills: Like any good video camera, the camera is also capable of taking still images (with 1.3 megapixels of memory) as well. Your faces can be imported into games or accompany your name on leader boards for even more recognition and fame.

Low Light Performance: We gamers love playing in the dark—most gaming environments have very low illumination, and the camera is designed specifically with that in mind.

The camera will also feature a special microphone that will allow party chat (everyone in the room) and will enable video chat as well as Eye Toy style Gesture Gaming.

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Video game art gallery in Toronto this weekend

Xbox.com has reported this weekend (Feb.24-26) in Toronto a gallery featuring next-gen art concepts for the Microsoft Game Studios games will be at the Blue Dot Gallery. The events run pretty much all day. If you're into that kind of thing check it out.

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It's like re-inventing the wheel... but cube-ish!

The Rubik's Cube has been redisigned for blind people, it now features touch based surfaces with different materials on each side (wood, plastic, rubber, stone, etc.) This is a great idea for those who wanted to know the joy of completing a Rubik's Cube, but were unable to, and those who just like cheating (you can match up the wood sides, they make a perfect ring).

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Xbox360 to get DirecTV's HD service?

While DirecTV has signed with Microsoft to enhance the Media Center with HDTV downloads, this functionality may be released for the Xbox 360 aswell. A new blade would arrive on the dashboard for DirecTV, allowing you to get high res versions of movies and TV shows. Hope it turns out to be true.

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EA and Sony team up to take knock out your privacy

EA's Fight Night Round 3 on the PSP will charge you $2 USD (from Credit Card) to play online without submiting your personal information for them to sell to third parties and spam you with. Thanks alot, hope that $2 makes you feel a little better when some poor kid's parents loose their jobs because important memos are getting stuffed and lost in the mailbox, where all the flyers you plan on sending him are shoved into!

PS3 HDD to be sold seperately

Looks like the Play Station 3's hard drive will not come styandard as the official Sony site has listed both the HDD and memory units as "sold seperately". This is likely their way of cutting costs. My question however, does this mean we'll see core and premium versions of the console?

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Katamari Damacy flash minigame

Found a cool minigame online, I've been looking for a flash version of Katamari Damacy for a while. Hope you enjoy.

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14 Year old boy p0nz Jack Thompson

Just check out this link and enjoy. Thouroughly. I did.

Meet the new Laura Croft

Karima Adebibe is the new babe that will be wearing the hotpants and pistols this E3. The 20-year old model, hailing from London England, will be posing nicely at all the upcoming Tomb Raider: Legend events.

Full Auto arriving soon. With Faceplates!

Sega has announced they've shipped away Full Auto, with a whole pile of Faceplates for retailers to give out with the game. Expect the game to be hitting shelves very soon, and call your retailer to find out about that faceplate.

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The Outfit demo hitting Xbox Live

The Xbox Live Marketplace will be recieving a demo for THQ's The Outfit March 3rd. The game features plenty of your favourite WWII shooter action, with a quirky twist.

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Bomberman, we hardly knew ye

Bomberman, the cute, fun, classic, loved, legendary, bomb-weilding character of many of our childhoods is dead. In his stead a monstrosity of a creature stands. The funeral will be held May 26th as Japan's Xbox releases Bomberman: Act Zero. The title will bring the new "Bomberman" into the first person and feature Xbox Live play. I just pray now they don't find Kid Icarus.

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Xbox Live Arcade to get lots before March?

Gamespot reported Feb. 26 as the release date for the Xbox Live Arcade titles Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting, Feeding Frenzy, Astro Pop, and Jewel Quest. Although they aren't the most credible source at times I'm praying this sticks. I want to be able to waste away my spring throwing Hadokens!

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Uwe Boll to ditch Video Game movies?

Uwe Boll may have just saved both the Video Game and Movie viewing community in one fell swoop. It may have been from himself but holy jesus, I love this man.


“I won’t say that I won’t acquire another videogame licence in the future. But I’m not so eager to do it any more, to be honest. After Far Cry, maybe I’ll go away from videogame-based movies. And everybody can be really happy about it”

WE DISCOURED HIM! I never thought those petition thingies would work, but OMFG...It's like Christmas in February! This may be the greatest thing Uwe has ever done.

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I Salute Thee Uwe Boll

ABC Fakes DS Article?

On Feb. 14, 2006 ABC Action News ran a segment/article on the Nintendo DS claiming that a young girl, Theresa Keel, had been using pictochat on her DS when a user with a lewd screen name started talking to her. The article try to prove that people all over the world can send messages to your children through the DS.

Keith Dunn/Internet Safety Expert: "Predators are using Nintendo DS anywhere in the world. And it's going to be really hard to track down those individuals because of course, they're on a wireless network from a hotspot such as a coffee shop. Or if they're in a wireless environment, say a coffee shop or whatever, they jump on the wireless network so now you have predators who are trying to get at our kids."

This supposed Expert is either a lier or was misled by ABC because the DS's pictochat has no online abilities. In fact, the few games for DS that has chat over the internet requires you know each others 'friend code'. This means anyone you talk to will be someone you knew before.

To top it off, in their very last line they mention "...there are other wireless gaming systems made by different manufacturers and they may have similar issues." This means they have insulted and tarnished the reputation of the DS, which isn't even capable of what they are claiming it to do, yet they don't even name the PSP which can!!!! This is horible newsmenship and I hope you all go here to complain.

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Revolution Patent reveals...what?

This patent contains images of the back of the revolution. Try to figure out what all the holes are for. One for power, one for video, and...do I see correctly, two usb ports???? Check it out yourself!!!

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Revolution Playable at E3!!

A very exiting confirmation, Reggie Fils-Aime of Nintendo has said Nintendo's next system will be ready and waiting at the next E3. I know I'm waiting for the hordes of posts and reviews that will inevitably come from E3 goers.

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Mystery Gamer's a chick... and HOT

Tonight as a special Valentine's treat Xbox Live will be having the Mystery Gamer poking around PDZ. Beat 'em and you win a cool T-shirt. Who is this Mystery Gamer you ask? Her name is Jen, "the hottest chick at Xbox. She'll be your Valentine...right before she beats your ass."

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PDZ gets Halo 2 style map pack

Looks like after the mediocre reviews the game got Rare's ramping up to release some online maps for the over-hyped launch title. Expect to see them hitting the marketplace before next season.

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Mother 3 Screenshots

The Japanese Mother 3 site has unlocked some of the presents, and I must say Christmas wouldn't be better.

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Tons of new Xbox Live Marketplace content

Lots of new content has just hit the Xbox Live Marketplace, here's a little breakdown:

Bejeweled 2:
Dashboard Theme - 150 Points

Crystal Quest
Animal Sound Pack - 100
Synthesizer Sound Pack - 100
Sketch Graphics Mod - 100
Microscopic Graphics Mod - 100
Xtreem Scenario Add-On - 100

Fight Night Round 3
FN3 Dashoard Theme - 150
Oscar deLaHoya Dashboard Theme - 150
Ring Girls Dashboard Theme - 150
FN3 Picture Pack - 50
Oscar deLaHoya Picture Pack - 50
Ring Girl Picture Pack - 50

Hexic HD
Dashboard Theme - 150

King Kong
Playable Demo - FREE

Lots of goodies for players. Crystal Quest buyers can now change those annoying sound affects to something less annoying; like Animals...or syntheser sounds... *sigh* can't blame them for trying.

Advent Children gets North American release date

April 25th will be a day of celebration for fans of Square Enix' Final Fantasy series as the long-awaited DVD/UMD movie will be released. The 100-minute film will come in a special 2-Disc pack, with bonus features for only $26.99 USD. The bonus features include a story digest, deleted scenes, a making of featurette, footage from the Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children’s Venice Film Festival showing and a sneak peek of the upcoming FF VII game.

Max Media player for Nintendo DS

The ability to play portable media seperated many handheld fans, opting for the PSP's various media format support, allowing them to view, listen and play their mobile collections. MAX Media however has answered the Nintendo fanboy's prayers, releasing a 4GB MAX Media Hard Disk for the DS. It allows music, movies and pictures to be played on the DS' handy screens with a delightful touch interface. The amazing cartridge fits into the GBA slot, and goes for a whopping £129 (About $177 CDN). It's a bit pricey, but definately provides more functionality than an iPod Nano.

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Kameo to get Xbox Live Co-Op

Looks like Kameo: Elements of Power is getting an update. Rare has announced that they will be releasing a patch over Xbox Live to allow online play in co-op mode, which had previously been limited to same system fun. “Co-op over Live is currently in the last stages of debugging and should be available very soon. And there are firm plans to release more downloadable content soon after - details of which will be made available soon. Watch this space…” Hopefully the trend of updates will stay.

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DS Lite, strange new image

Check this image out, looks like the DS Lite, much like the GBA and SP will not be able to fully encase their predecessors cartridges. The system will have GBA games sticking a few centimeters out of the slot. I guess it's wise they include the slot cover, not likely I'm going to keep a game in there when I'm not playing it.

Full Auto hits stores

Sega's fast-paced destruction oriented racer, Full Auto has just hit store shelves, this should help players who have grown board with the original launch titles and looking for something new to play other than arcade games. If you're interested in the game head to the Xbox Live Marketplace and grab yourself the free demo.

Burger King, champ of the ring?

EA has released some new screens for the upcoming boxing title, Fight Night Round 3. The batch included this puzzling piece, featuring the Burger King in-game. The shot appears to be from the Xbox version, but I can't wait to see him in all his High-Definition Xbox 360 glory. I'm not sure how I feel about this, worried that he's a playable character, but even more frightened that advertising has reached such high levels in games.

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New content for Half-Life 2 fans

Valve, in an expected move, announced that they will be releasing regular content downloads over their Steam Service as an episodic expansion for Half-Life 2. The add-ons will be short consecutive stories extending the tale of Gordon Freeman, Alyx and the ever loveable D.O.G. The downloads will be regular, the premiere being Half-Life 2: Episode One. With April 24th as the first installment's release date and the upcoming SiN Episodes, this may be the start of a nice new trend in gaming.

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Sam and Max 2 in the works

Fan favourites Sam and Max, the loveable Lucas Arts characters, are getting a sequel. "Right now we're in pre-production on this, and we're still working out some of the designs," It looks like the game is definately under way, and the dynamic bunny and dog duo will be hitting the roads before we know it.

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Why gamer's don't have girlfriends

Found this video online, pretty sure it's from Just For Laughs. Check it out, it's quite hilarious.

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Advent Children coming! ...to Europe...

Looks like FFVII: Advent Children will be arriving in Europe April 24th. While no release date has been given for the North American release, mention of the voice actors has been updated. Mandy Moore [Aerith], Jessica Alba [Tifa], as well as many of the cast from Kingdom Hearts will be voicing the beloved RPG characters.

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Announcing LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy

David Perkinson, in an interview with IGN.com, ancounced the sequel to the oddly succesful LEGO Star Wars. LEGO Star Wars II will feature the tales of the original Star Wars films, as well as including several interesting new features. "LEGO Star Wars II offers the new customizable character feature. This new feature will allow the player to use pieces and parts from all unlocked characters to put together their own creations and then use them in Free Play mode. At last count, this system allowed for -- no joking -- millions of different customization options for individual characters! " Boba Binks here we come!

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N3 and Burnout get more promotions

On Feb. 11 Burnout Revenge and Ninety-Nine Nights will be apearing in store kiosk demos. The games will be playable and anyone who stops to try will recieve a free Xbox 360 screen cleaner. Starting March 1st players who buy 360 products in-store will recieve a copy of the demo, 50,000 copies will be distributed in total. Those who pre-order the game will recieve a special "motion view card" featuring the character Turur. Combine this all with the Burnout kiosk downloads you can take home on you Memory Unit and you've got yourself one packed store. If you don't manage to get a copy of the N3 demo, don't fret it'll be apearing on the Xbox Live Marketplace before long.

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Ghost Recon: Advance Warfighter to get pre-launch demo

In an interview with 1Up Ghost Recon's development team confirmed that there will be a marketplace download for the upcoming shooter coming soon. "we are putting something special together as we speak which will be out soon." This is good news for fans of the series and anyone who likes free downloads. They also make mention of new leaderbaord systems, achievements and more.

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Secret Xbox 360 Achievements found

CheapyD of the Cheap Ass Gamer forums has unlocked several achievements hidden in the dashboard. They're not all that hard to get if you're looking for points. Click the image for a better view.

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Nintendo serious about DS web browsing

Reggie-Fils-Aime, in an issue of EGM, stated that Nintendo had a third party company developing a web browser for the DS. He also said that if the third party's project fails Nintendo will be picking up where they left off. Looks like they are rather serious about getting more use into the NiWiFi.

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More DS Lite information

Nintendo Japan updated their website, showing off the three colour variations for the DS. It will be available in navy, white and a soft blue. The site also shows pictures of the adapter, handstrap, stylus and GBA port cover. Let's just hope that we don't get shafted in North America and miss out on the cool colours.

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Microsoft interested in Lionhead Studios

According to GameIndustry.biz, Lionhead studios, makers of Fable and Black & White, are getting a look over by Microsoft. The article says that Microsoft may be interested in buying the company. This can be nothing but good news, Lionhead has produced top-notch games with amazing originality, something the Xbox 360 is striving for. Teaming with Microsoft would bring the 360 plenty of those creative titles, while providing the innovative studio with the funding and support to keep on their trend of unique games.

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