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CheapAssGamer is reporting that both Target and Walmart have broken the U.S. release date for the DS-Lite and have begun selling them to the public via their retail outlets. If you have either store near you and are planning on grabbing one without a preorder, you may want to head on over and see if your store is “participating” Check out the CAG story here.

Gamasutra is reporting that in his daily podcast, Xbox Live’s Major Nelson revealed that the Xbox Live Vision camera will be released on September 19th of this year, and that the upcoming Xbox Live update will add the required support for the camera to the 360. In addition to releasing the street date for the camera, the interview confirmed that in addition to World Series of Poker gamers, Rainbow Six: Vegas players will also be able to use the camera to map a players face and add it to the game models. If you have a 360 and a Live account and want to see more on this feature, download the E3 Backstage videos from the marketplace as there’s a short demonstration in one of them. Is the world really ready to see what gamers really look like? Only time will tell. Check out the full Gamasutra article here.

If you’re a regular reader, you’ve probably noticed that I’ll jump on just about any Gears of War news I can find, so I was thrilled to spot a story over at Kotaku that stated that one of Epic Games artists who posts under the name Hawkprey, had posted some concept art for Gears of War and Unreal Tournament 2007 over at the conceptart.org forums. Stop listening to me ramble on about this and head on over to the ConceptArt forums by clicking here to check them out!

No, I’m not talking about sausage, I’m talking about the links from this page to outside sources. Would you prefer them to open inside the site, leaving our navigation bar on the left or would you prefer each link to open a new window for the listed link.

While we’re at it, we’d like to ask that if you stop by here for your daily dose of gaming news without all the fluff and searching you might have to go through elsewhere, why not tell a friend about us? We’ve got plenty of bandwidth to share.

Anyway, click the below comment link to leave your suggestion about which way you’d prefer your links presented, either inside the site or via a separate popup window.

Gamerscore Blog, Microsoft’s in-house employee blog, has an interesting little tidbit that was revealed in an interview with Shadowrun Lead Designer John Howard regarding cross-platform play between the Xbox 360 and PC;

“In the interview, John gives an overview of the game, talks about the decision to go w/ action vs RPG genre, and dispels the myth that mouse/kb gamers are going to pwn controller gamers. He also mentions that in their existing testing, the controller boys are winning out against the Mouse/KB boys.” -Gamerscore Blog

Now I certainly would have thought in a shooter, the PC mouse/kb using players would have an edge, but I guess both the gameplay and design of Shadowrun is built to make it an evil playing field. Guess the PC guys are going to have to go and buy a Microsoft Xbox 360 wired controller or the 360 wireless controller and adapter. When you think about it that way, maybe it’s not that surprising after all. Check out the Gamerscore Blog entry here.

We’ve updated the link for the News/Update Archive on the left to point to our new blog based archive system. For those who are looking for the updates from prior to August 2004, including the still as of yet not processed cabinet add-on updates, there is a link to those archives on the left hand navigation pane of the archive blog. We’ll be moving April’s updates off the front page on Thursday to help the page load faster and have a slightly neater appearance.

Following the results of a customer poll, Stardock has announced that they feel there isn’t enough support to release a planned starship pack mini-expansion for Galactic Civilizations II, but that they will be incorporating new ship designs into a just announced full expansion pack for the game, which will hit stores by the end of 2006.

The expansion pack, which will have my preorder money just as soon as it’s available, will feature 2 new races, a new campaign mode and the hint that 2 races will not survive to see Galactic Civilizations III. Check out all the available details over at Stardock’s Galactic Civilizations II forum here.

ArsTechinca has an interesting article up that explores the question of whether or not Sony should have made the Playstation 3’s Blu-Ray drive an optional feature, much the same way Microsoft is handling the Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive. While the article basically doesn’t cover anything that we haven’t heard before, it brings together all the arguments regarding the decision to market the Playstation 3 with a Blu-Ray player in one cohesive article. The most interesting point in the article comes towards the end when disc space issues are discussed, and the following data is given;

“There’s no doubt that BD-ROM has more space than DVD9. There’s also no doubt that several games that were once thought to be impossible to fit on DVD9 nonetheless fit (Oblivion being a good example). To get a sense of the real situation, consider existing game sizes. Original Xbox 360 titles, for example, used an average of 3.2GB per disc in 2005, up some 77 percent from 2001. Meanwhile, existing games on the Xbox 360 use slightly more space, with NBA Live 06 taking up 4.5GB, and Condemned: Criminal Origins taking 3.9GB. That is, they’re roughly at half capacity. Furthermore, the argument that x times the resolution equals x times the data is without merit as an objective rule. There’s an excellent article at GamesFirst dealing with this very topic.” -ArsTechnica article

The author also makes the interesting point that with games being developed for both the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 simultaneously, developers may limit game size to the lowest common denominator - the 360’s DVD9 format.

Check out the full ArsTechnica article here and the referenced GamesFirst article here

An article over at Gamasutra takes a look at a report entitled “On the Future of Portable Game Consoles: Analysis & Forecasts” from the consulting firm, The Diffusion Group, which states that they predict that Microsoft will be entering the handheld game business sometime in 2007 or 2008 once they fully stabilize the console end of their business.

By piecing together that report with recent comments made by Bill Gates as well as the noticeable absence of J. Allard from the public scene since the Xbox 360 launch, it’s easy to further support the concept that Microsoft is at the very least looking into the possibility of entering the portable market. One thing I like about the supposed approach Microsoft would be taking this way is waiting until they can focus on the handheld entirely, rather than trying to fight two battles at once.

Check out the Gamasutra article here, and a Gamasutra article regarding Bill Gates earlier comments on the portable market here

Tulga Games has announced the first expansion for their mmog Horizons: Empire of Istaria. The expansion, tentatively titled "Horizons: Settlements" will be provided free via download to those who already have the game, as well as in a bundle with the original game for $19.99. I both beta tested Horizons and played it at launch, and I've got to say that I loved the game. To date, there still isn't a game featuring as deep of a crafting system or a character class system as flexible as Horizons in my opinion.

I left the game because unfortunately, the folks behind it (Artifact Entertainment at the time) just didn't have the cash on hand to properly maintain the game, and after awhile there was just a complete lack of content. A man can only kill "cursed wolves" for so long, you know? Anyway, it's very nice to hear that there's some hope for the game yet, and who knows, they may even get my subscription money again someday. Big thanks to drkphreakx for the tip. Click here for the press release.

Kotaku is reporting that they’ve been tipped by an insider at Eidos Interactive that the company is working on a re-make of the original Tomb Raider for the PSP and perhaps the PS2. According to a quote attributed to the source over at Kotaku;

“Eidos/SCi are planning on celebrating Lara’s 10th birthday by releasing a remake of her original adventure. We are talking improved graphics, new moves, the lot. If there is time, the “new” game will feature a remake of both Tomb Raider and Tomb Raider II: The Dagger of Xian, but right now the developers are focusing on Lara Crofts first adventure.” - un-named source as per the Kotaku article

I was just thinking the other day that they really ought to update the original game as it’s certainly been long enough that it would in essence feel “new”. I’ll keep my fingers crossed that the rumor is true and that they do make a PS2 port, as the odds of me having a PSP anytime soon are pretty remote. Click here to head over to the Kotaku article.

No, it’s not the action game coming from LucasArts. The good folks of Screen7 are building a prequel to LucasArts graphic adventure game Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis using Adventure Game Studio. Screen7 describes the demo for Fountain of Youth as follows;

“Join our hero in this 10 room playable demo, featuring beautiful & original artwork in an exotic new location! Using a new separate storyline to the full game but including some relevant facts, you discover the paths to the mysterious Fountain! Don’t forget - this is just a sample of what is to come. Look out for future demo updates!

EXPLORE the island of Bimini, MEET and INTERACT with friends and foes! Find out who’s there and exactly what they are up to!

The DEMO also includes original MIDI music, animated characters and a demonstration of the fighting engine. The full game will boast many further features. There are several puzzles to solve in the DEMO, but none of these will feature in the full game.” -Indiana Jones & the Fountain of Youth Website

Huge kudos to another company looking to keep the graphic adventure genre alive, though I’m a bit surprised LucasArts hasn’t come down on them with a 10 ton hammer yet. Click here to head over to the Indiana Jones & the Fountain of Youth website, here to check out Adventure Game Studio (Freeware) and take a look at some of the other games people have made using it. For those wondering, this was also the tool used by the now defunct LucasFan Games to create Maniac Mansion Deluxe.

A post over at the official MAME32 forums by team member John Hardy states that the MAME32 team will not be releasing v.1.06.2 of the windows arcade emulator due to the large scale changes made in the latest command line version of MAME. They suggest continuing to use v1.06 or v.1.06.1 until the rendering system has been stabilized and they begin releasing updates again. Click here for the post in question.

Stardock has released v1.2 (beta) of Galactic Civilizations II, and the update is a big one feature wise. As per the official Gal Civ 2 website;

“There is a pretty significant list of changes (see the link below) of what’s in there.  Everything from a modified battle system, updated AI, user interface enhancements, as well as support for modding with the starts of our example mod.” - Galactic Civilizations 2 website

While it is a beta update, and may have some “rough edges”, the full list of updates will probably be more than enough to make you load up Stardock Central and get your fix before the full version of the patch. Check out the full v1.2b1 change log here.

I’d like to take the opportunity now to ask you to stop for at least a moment at some point today and give thanks in your own way to all those soldiers who have made the ultimate sacrifice for this nation. Whether it’s saying a prayer, observing a moment of silence or just raising a toast to the fallen, do not let their sacrifices be forgotten. It’s the least we can do.

“Let no vandalism of avarice or neglect, no ravages of time, testify to the present or to the coming generations, that we have forgotten, as a people, the cost of a free and undivided Republic.” General John A. Logan

While reading Gamasutra today, I came across the following little tidbit in one of their articles on Infinium Labs SEC filing regarding a request to change their corporate name. It would appear that in addition to changing the companies name, Infinium is also seeking shareholder approval to create and sell an additional 600 million shares of stock to further fund the company. The following statement from Infinium’s filing is quoted in the Gamasutra article;

“Our Board of Directors has unanimously approved, subject to stockholder approval, an amendment to our Certificate of Incorporation to increase the number of authorized shares of Common Stock from 600,000,000 to 1,200,000,000… The Board believes that the increase in authorized common shares would provide the Company greater flexibility with respect to the Company’s capital structure for such purposes as additional equity financing, and stock based acquisitions.” - Infinium SEC filing as noted by Gamasutra

Now call me crazy, but it would seem pretty convenient to change your name just before you offer a huge amount of stock to the public when your current corporate name is pretty much worthless and scandal ridden. It’s so much easier to slap a new name on this clunker and see how many more people you can sucker in.

Sure, most investors with knowledge of the industry or a good broker will know the real deal, but how many people will just hear that there’s a company called Phantom Entertainment that is trying to enter the “hot” video game market with a new game console, do a lookup and see a shiny new website that Infinium will probably put up that promises the moon, not see any negative reports about “Phantom Entertainment” and invest? Hell, it wouldn’t even surprise me if those scam stock spam e-mails suddenly started pushing Phantom Entertainment. It’s only speculation on my part for certain, and I’ll be the first to admit I don’t know much about the intricacies of investing, but that seems like a pretty plausible scenario to me.

Quite comically enough, a whois search for the domain name “phantomentertainment.com” shows that it is indeed owned by a George Townsend of Infinium Labs with the oh so professional contact e-mail of “goodhelpishard2find@hotmail.com”. We bet it is, George, we bet it is.

For the required linkage, check out Gamasutra’s article here, and our archived stories on Infinium here, here and here.

The following Xbox 360 games are shown as being on sale for the memorial day weekend over at Outpost.com.

• Burnout Revenge - Electronic Arts - $29.99
• Madden NFL ‘06 - Electronic Arts - $29.99
• NBA Live ‘06 - Electronic Arts - $29.99
• FIFA ‘06 - Electronic Arts - $29.99

If you’ve been wanting any of these titles and didn’t grab them when the $39.99 price drops were announced, now may just be the perfect time.

Gamespot is reporting that the folks at Infinium Labs, “makers” of the Phantom game console and Phantom Lapboard are now attempting to change their name from Infinium Labs to Phantom Entertainment. For those unfamiliar with Infinium Labs who may be wondering why I’d put the word “makers” in quotes, since they announced the Phantom game console back in 2002, they have made absolutely nothing. The company seems to exist solely for the purpose of draining investors money and never having a thing to show for it. Quite amazingly, people continue to invest in the company. Perhaps Infinium figures if they change the name of the company, the stink won’t hit prospective victims noses as fast as it currently does. I guess they’ll soon be asking for a few more million dollars to blow as they try to figure out how to make a PC keyboard.

You’d think after they opened the books back in February and showed that for all the money they took in and squandered on everything but development of their product, there was still nothing to show for it, they would have just folded. Nope, not these guys, they’re here for the long haul. As listed by Infinium Labs in their SEC filing for the prospective name change;

“The Board of Directors believes that the name change would be in the best interests of the Company because the new name better reflects the long-term growth strategy of the Company.” -Infinium Labs SEC filing as reported by Gamespot

So… the long-term growth strategy of the company is better reflected by the word “Phantom”? - that sounds about right.

Check out our previous articles on Infinium Labs here and here, as well as the Gamespot article here. I still love how the Phantom console is displayed proudly on their homepage when they effectively cancelled the project to work on the Phantom Lapboard.

Major Nelson has updated his blog entry regarding the multiplayer over Live aspect of the Perfect Dark Zero demo. As per the Major, the demo does in fact support multiplayer over Live. More specifically;

““Outpost, the story mode level included in the Demo, is playable co-op over Live. Plaza (a new map included in the upcoming DLC) is playable over Live in Team Killcount and Infection game types. (Bots are included in both game modes.) The disabled Live features are Leaderboards and Custom Match. Quick Match works for both game types” - Major Nelson

The second intermediate version of MAME v.106 has been released on the public. If you like to use the intermediate updates, head over to Mamedev.org and get the new files. A word of caution though, the latest build starts an overhaul of MAME’s video system, and as a result there may be many bugs and broken games. Per the MAME what’s new file;

“IMPORTANT NOTE: The video system in this version has been completely upended and redesigned. The old video system is still the default; however, some features may be broken. These are not bug-worthy reports, as the old system will soon be deprecated. The new system can be compiled by setting the NEW_RENDER flag on in the makefile.

THE NEW SYSTEM IS STILL WORK-IN-PROGRESS! Apart from video card- related issues (like it doesn’t work on particular hardware or has an incorrect display), bugs are not being tracked at this time. There is already a laundry list of things that are broken at the top of render.c, and there are many other things that still need to be looked at.

In order to run the new video system with hardware acceleration, your machine will require DirectX 8 or later.” - MAME V.106U2 What’s New file

At this point, we’d like to once again suggest that you take the MAME development team’s advice and stick with V.106 proper unless you really want to test out the changes. Click here to see what’s new in this update.

Gamespot is reporting that Nintendo may have a few more tricks up it’s sleeve when it comes to the Wiimote. According to an article posted today, Nintendo has taken out the domain name “wiikaraoke.com” sparking rumors that in addition to there being a speaker built into the Wii’s remote control, there will also be some type of microphone. From there, it’s only a short jump to the possibility that the Wii could offer Voice over IP features as well. To quote the Gamespot article;

“Besides karaoke games, the obvious application for a Wii-mote-mic would be a voice commands a la Nintendogs or Odama. However, some sites have gone one step further. A string of reports tracing back to a MegaGames.com article speculates that, with the Wii’s built-in wireless internet functionality, the Wii-mote could support voice-over IP. That would give it functionality like an Xbox Live headset and could allow it to be used like a phone. As Yanko notes, that would be a very big draw to non-gamers indeed.” - Gamespot

Click here to head on over to Gamespot and get the full story. The Wii saga certainly is getting more and more interesting.

Nintendo of America’s Vice President of Sales & Marketing and E3 showman Reggie Fils-Aime has been promoted to President and Chief Operating Officer of Nintendo of America. In addition to his new task of overseeing day to day operations at Nintendo of America, File-Aimes will continue to be directly in charge of the sales and marketing divisions. I’m sure we all wish Reggie the best in his new position and hope for his continued success in being about kicking ass, taking names and making games.

Kotaku has gotten a scoop from Microsoft on the features in the upcoming Xbox 360 Dashboard update due to hit sometime next week. The biggest things to note in the update are;

1. The much desired Background Download Manager will finally be released, freeing your 360 to do tasks other than multiplayer gaming while a Live Marketplace download is in progress.
2. You will now be able to specify if you want your Xbox 360 to boot either the media in the drive or directly to the dashboard at startup.
3. A general reorganizing of the layout of the Live Marketplace.
4. The download is a Xbox 360 firmware update, so you do not need a hard drive to obtain it. Just speculation on my part, but I’m quite sure there’s also something in there to kill that Xbox 360 backup game hack.

Beyond those items, there will also be enhancements made to the systems for DVD playback and photo viewing, support for the Xbox 360 Vision camera and new friends list features. Click here for the full article from Kotaku.

In his blog, Xbox Live’s Major Nelson has advised that a demo of Perfect Dark Zero is now available in the Xbox Live Marketplace. The demo features both single player and co-op modes, but does not support multiplayer games via Xbox Live.

Eurogamer has published a response by Jennie Kong, a Sony UK spokesperson stating that the rumor about Sony looking to restrict the sale of used games is false. To quote the Eurogamer article;

“However, a Sony Computer Entertainment UK spokesperson today outright denied that any such message had been conveyed to retailers - telling GI.biz that following conversations with the firm’s European parent company, neither division has “any knowledge” of such a strategy. “We have definitely not been communicating that,” UK spokesperson Jennie Kong confirmed. “It’s false speculation. We don’t have any further knowledge about this topic - either officially or unofficially, to be frank.”" - Eurogamer Article.

So there you have it folks, Sony goes on the record with more than the regular “We don’t comment on rumors” statement and flatly denies the story. From the way the statement from Ms. Kong is worded, it almost sounds like Sony is beginning to get a little tired of the constant negative rumors surrounding the console. Click here to head over to the Eurogamer article.

Kotaku is reporting that at their press conference for fiscal year 2005, a reporter asked Nintendo what the price of the Wii console would be. While Nintendo stated that they would not be announcing a price or release date until a later date, they added that there were no plans to price the console for over 25,000 Yen (approximately $222 U.S.). Nintendo also added that they expected to sell 6 million Wii consoles and 17 million Wii games by March of 2007. Click here to head over to Kotaku for all the pertinent details.

UPDATE 1: It now appears that Nintendo has further clarified the matter by stating that the Wii will not exceed 25,000 Yen in Japan or $250 in the United States. We’ve corrected the headline to this story accordingly.

Gamespot is reporting that Valve has announced that the much anticipated expansion to Half Life 2, the colorfully named, Half Life 2: Episode One has finally gone gold and will be shipping on June 1st. As if that wasn’t enough news to make Half Life fanatics jump for joy, they also gave a rough figure of “later this year” for the expected release of the Half Life 2: Episode Two expansion, and confirmed the existence of Half Life 2: Episode Three for a Holiday 2007 release. I bet they agonized for weeks over what to call each expansion… “do we call it, four even though it’s the third?”, etc. Insert your own Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch joke here.

Half Life 2: Episode One will retail for $19.99 via both Valve’s Steam download service and in retail box form distributed by Electronic Arts. Most interestingly, Episode One will not require buyers to own Half Life 2. Gamespot summed up the situation in Episode One this way;

“Episode One will be rated M for Mature due to sci-fi violence. However, unlike most expansions, it does not require the original game to play. That may be because the game goes outside City 17, the setting of much of Half-Life 2, to follow hero Gordon Freeman and supporting heroine Alyx, who plays a more prominent role this time around.” - Gamespot

Definitely a good news day for Half-Life 2 addicts everywhere. Click here to head over to the Gamespot article to get all the juicy details.

U.K. rumor-monger Games Radar, the same people who brought you the false “No wireless controller support for the 20gig PS3″ story, have now resurrected the “No Used Games” on Playstation 3 rumor. The original rumor was based upon a technology patent Sony had taken out that would restrict software to the original machine it was purchased on. This time, the rumor as per Games Radar is the following;

“High street games shops have been told by Sony that there will be no PS3 pre-owned sections in their stores as it will be illegal for customers to sell any next-gen PlayStation games that they’ve bought, retail sources have revealed to GamesRadar.

It seems that Sony is planning to adopt a licensing system that will mean gamers won’t own the PS3 titles that they’ve paid money for. Instead, they will only be purchasing the licence to play the game and that the software itself will still be Sony property - meaning that the disc won’t be the customer’s to sell.“ -Games Radar

Beyond the many legal issues a scheme like that would invariably bring up, based on the wild nature of the rumor, the fact that it’s source is completely anonymous and the past history of Games Radar in terms of stories like this, and you’ll probably come to the same conclusion that I have - until I see something official from a solid source, I consider it false. This is just my opinion, but something here smells not only rotten, but reeks of a publicity stunt - and based on the server overload at Games Radar right now, I’d say it’s working.

Click here if you must for the Games Radar article, and then wash your hands. If you’re really concerned, click here for the older rumor as summed up by Gamespot. Stay tuned as we specifically don’t follow this story. Thanks to JG for the heads up on this one.

Yesterday we mentioned that a PC demo for Eidos Interactive’s Hitman: Blood Money was made available. In his blog today, Xbox Live’s Major Nelson reported that the Xbox 360 version of the demo is now available in the Xbox Live Marketplace. The demo weighs in at 783mb, so plan your download accordingly. Hopefully the “Active Download” update for Live will be coming soon so you won’t have to plan your day around downloading large chunks of content.

Yesterday we mentioned that a PC demo for Eidos Interactive’s Hitman: Blood Money was made available. In his blog today, Xbox Live’s Major Nelson reported that the Xbox 360 version of the demo is now available in the Xbox Live Marketplace. The demo weighs in at 783mb, so plan your download accordingly. Hopefully the “Active Download” update for Live will be coming soon so you won’t have to plan your day around downloading large chunks of content.

Yesterday we mentioned that a PC demo for Eidos Interactive’s Hitman: Blood Money was made available. In his blog today, Xbox Live’s Major Nelson reported that the Xbox 360 version of the demo is now available in the Xbox Live Marketplace. The demo weighs in at 783mb, so plan your download accordingly. Hopefully the “Active Download” update for Live will be coming soon so you won’t have to plan your day around downloading large chunks of content.

Yesterday we mentioned that a PC demo for Eidos Interactive’s Hitman: Blood Money was made available. In his blog today, Xbox Live’s Major Nelson reported that the Xbox 360 version of the demo is now available in the Xbox Live Marketplace. The demo weighs in at 783mb, so plan your download accordingly. Hopefully the “Active Download” update for Live will be coming soon so you won’t have to plan your day around downloading large chunks of content.

Yesterday we mentioned that a PC demo for Eidos Interactive’s Hitman: Blood Money was made available. In his blog today, Xbox Live’s Major Nelson reported that the Xbox 360 version of the demo is now available in the Xbox Live Marketplace. The demo weighs in at 783mb, so plan your download accordingly. Hopefully the “Active Download” update for Live will be coming soon so you won’t have to plan your day around downloading large chunks of content.

Yesterday we mentioned that a PC demo for Eidos Interactive’s Hitman: Blood Money was made available. In his blog today, Xbox Live’s Major Nelson reported that the Xbox 360 version of the demo is now available in the Xbox Live Marketplace. The demo weighs in at 783mb, so plan your download accordingly. Hopefully the “Active Download” update for Live will be coming soon so you won’t have to plan your day around downloading large chunks of content.

Yesterday we mentioned that a PC demo for Eidos Interactive’s Hitman: Blood Money was made available. In his blog today, Xbox Live’s Major Nelson reported that the Xbox 360 version of the demo is now available in the Xbox Live Marketplace. The demo weighs in at 783mb, so plan your download accordingly. Hopefully the “Active Download” update for Live will be coming soon so you won’t have to plan your day around downloading large chunks of content.

News from around the web shows several Xbox 360 games getting price drops coming into the Memorial Day weekend. Here’s a quick list;

Burnout Revenge - Electronic Arts - $39.99
Madden NFL 06 - Electronic Arts - $39.99
NBA Live ‘06 - Electronic Arts - $39.99
FIFA Soccer ‘06 - Electronic Arts - $39.99
Tiger Woods PGA Tour ‘06 - Electronic Arts - $39.99
King Kong - Ubisoft - $39.99
The Outfit - THQ - $39.99

So there you have it, if any of those titles have been on your want list for awhile, now may be the time to pick them up.

CNN Money has posted an interview with Shigeru Miyamoto of Nintendo in which they discuss the Wii, Miyamoto’s reaction to the name, and what could very well be another surprise feature of the console. While discussing Sony following Nintendo’s lead with the motion sensor, they hint at another feature of the console, personalized gamer images.

““The game was Wii Tennis - but instead of using generic character models, the onscreen faces in this match were caricatures of Miyamoto, Iwata and Fils-Aime (the contest winner did not have a personalized character). At the time, it seemed like a visual in-joke for conference attendees, but Miyamoto said the Wii might be able to create those personalized visages for players and their family members.” - CNN Money

When I first saw the caricatures of Miyamoto, Fils-Aime and Iwata in the press conference, I figured it was done specifically for the demonstration and wasn’t indicative of a new feature. From what I saw, I would assume it will be more akin to creating a virtual avatar who resembles you as opposed to digitizing your actual likeness. Either way, it could be a very cool personalization feature for many of the Wii games. Click Here to head over to the CNN Money article.

Ars Technica is reporting that according to a german website, Spiegel Online, Hollywood and the major electronics manufacturers have come to an unofficial agreement to not implement the Image Constraint Technology (ICT) that has caused much of the stir surrounding the lower end, non HDMI equipped Playstation 3 until 2010 or 2012.

For those unfamiliar with it, in short, the ICT would downgrade any HD video signal in either a Blu-Ray or HD-DVD player from 1080p or 720p to 540p on non-HDMI equipped televisions and monitors. While this move is certainly welcome, the report mentions that the hollywood studios are not happy with the arrangement, and since the deal is unofficial, could renege at any time. To quote the Ars Technica article;

“If indeed there is an “agreement” of sorts between companies like Microsoft and Sony and the studios (including Sony’s own entertainment interests), this could certainly help to explain why these consoles are shipping today without HDMI support. But such unofficial agreements are gentlemanly in nature: at any time, all bets could be off.” -Ars Technica

If it turns out to be true, and manufacturers can convince people that the deal won’t fall apart at any moment, Sony could be hearing a lot less grief on the Playstation 3. Click here to head over to the Ars Technica article.

Next Generation is reporting that Microsoft responded to the rampant rumors of a holiday price cut on the Xbox 360 with the following statement;

“We have no plans to make any price adjustment. Xbox 360 is a great value proposition.” -Microsoft Spokesperson

While I’m certain everyone would welcome a price drop on the 360, the response from Microsoft while short, is a step above the usual “we don’t comment on rumors and speculation” they usually give out. I’d be willing to believe Microsoft may have been contemplating a price cut prior to E3, but after the Sony price announcement Microsoft really doesn’t need to make any moves. They’ve got a nice head start, they’re still losing money on the hardware, they’re competitively priced and most importantly, they’ve got Gears of War riding into the holidays. What more could you ask for?

Click here to head over to the Next Generation tidbit and here to head over to the official Gears of War site. Can you tell I’m psyched about letting Marcus Fenix loose on my 360?

The folks over at PCEngineFX.com have unveiled a working build of the classic PCEngine SuperCD game Demon Castle Dracula X: Rondo of Blood. Not to be confused with the lackluster SNES Castlevania: Dracula X, this version aims to recreate all the things that made the original, unreleased in the U.S. game, special. This is the first full public build of the homebrew, so keep in mind there are still a lot of bugs to be worked out. Click here to head on over to PCEngineFX’s Dracula X PC Port page.

Agent 47 will be back in Hitman: Blood Money, the fourth installment of the Hitman series, and Eidos has set up a PC demo of the game for your enjoyment. This time around it seems someone is bumping off his fellow assassins and unless he can find out what’s going on, he may very well be next. Hilarity ensues. Okay, maybe not but it just seemed like the thing to type at the time.

I’ll admit to not having played the previous Hitman games all that much as I’m not really big on stealth games, but a new demo is always worth a look. Head on over to your favorite download site such as Fileplanet, Fileshack or Gamespot to get it.

I’ve been seeing reports all over the place that in a news clip over at Bungie.net, Bungie let loose the information that the multiplayer part of Halo 3 is already undergoing in-house testing. Well, that certainly is exciting news and I’d love to bring you the particulars, but I wasn’t able to find the article everyone was referring to over there. So for more information on that, check out the articles over at Gamespot and Kotaku.

What I did find however, was The Bungie Waaahmbulance, a great post by Bungie’s resident “Content Monkey” Frankie regarding the letters they’ve gotten from people who were banned for cheating. Nothing says funny in my book better than some kid trying to explain how he’s innocent of cheating while not only implicating himself, but sounding like a complete idiot in the process. See wonderful quotes such as;

• ” If none of these accusation are settle, you may be hearing from a lot of complaints. Some may be said by lawyers.”
• “the only way they think I could have been banned permanently on my first ban is because I commited a Major Offense. I dont understand, I admit that I have had cheaters on my team, but Ive never cheated more then 8 times that I can remember, Not even close.”
• “Can you guys at least just make the suspension for (name deleted) for like a month or two. I only want it to be a couple months because this is the third twelve month account that i have bought. It is killing me to keep using money for something that i can’t trust.”
• “Please! I’ll destroy my mods. i’ll snich on some people that r getting away with mods on matchmaking! Just PLEASE appeal my ban. i want to play matchmaking again. i want to be clean for the arrival of Halo 3! c’mon! i didn’t know what i was getting into when i got mods from my friend”

I swear, some of the responses rank right up there with The Acts of Gord, which if you liked this little bit, you’ll absolutely LOVE. Besides, if you don’t check it out, you could be hearing from a lot of complaints. Some may even be said by lawyers!

Check out the Gamespot article here, the Kotaku article here, The Bungie Waahmbulance here and the Acts of Gord here. *whew, that’s a lot of links!*

I’ve been seeing reports all over the place that in a news clip over at Bungie.net, Bungie let loose the information that the multiplayer part of Halo 3 is already undergoing in-house testing. Well, that certainly is exciting news and I’d love to bring you the particulars, but I wasn’t able to find the article everyone was referring to over there. So for more information on that, check out the articles over at Gamespot and Kotaku.

What I did find however, was The Bungie Waaahmbulance, a great post by Bungie’s resident “Content Monkey” Frankie regarding the letters they’ve gotten from people who were banned for cheating. Nothing says funny in my book better than some kid trying to explain how he’s innocent of cheating while not only implicating himself, but sounding like a complete idiot in the process. See wonderful quotes such as;

• ” If none of these accusation are settle, you may be hearing from a lot of complaints. Some may be said by lawyers.”
• “the only way they think I could have been banned permanently on my first ban is because I commited a Major Offense. I dont understand, I admit that I have had cheaters on my team, but Ive never cheated more then 8 times that I can remember, Not even close.”
• “Can you guys at least just make the suspension for (name deleted) for like a month or two. I only want it to be a couple months because this is the third twelve month account that i have bought. It is killing me to keep using money for something that i can’t trust.”
• “Please! I’ll destroy my mods. i’ll snich on some people that r getting away with mods on matchmaking! Just PLEASE appeal my ban. i want to play matchmaking again. i want to be clean for the arrival of Halo 3! c’mon! i didn’t know what i was getting into when i got mods from my friend”

I swear, some of the responses rank right up there with The Acts of Gord, which if you liked this little bit, you’ll absolutely LOVE. Besides, if you don’t check it out, you could be hearing from a lot of complaints. Some may even be said by lawyers!

Check out the Gamespot article here, the Kotaku article here, The Bungie Waahmbulance here and the Acts of Gord here. *whew, that’s a lot of links!*

It seems nowadays everyone has a blog or two. While you may not be interested in hearing what the kid down the block thinks about his favorite band, you may be interested to know what your Xbox 360 thinks about you. 360voice.com has a nifty little web-based service that gives your console a chance to let the world know what kind of a console owner you truly are.

Once you sign up, the site will generate a blog entry daily for your Xbox 360 where it details it’s interactions with you and adds it’s own little take on things. It’s amusing, and more importantly free, so why not try it out? Click here to head on over to 360voice.com and sign up!

Saw these listed over at Kotaku this morning, so I figured I’d share. For the cost of your e-mail address and a bunch of spam, you can get a free years subscription to EGM, Computer Gaming World and the Official Playstation Magazine.

I know the EGM one works, as I signed up for it a few months back via an e-mail offer and got my first issue last week. I also received the Computer Gaming World link via e-mail this weekend, and it’s from the same place as the EGM offer, so it should work as well. I’m not familiar with the Official Playstation Magazine offer though, so no guarantees.

One last thing, I’m sure they’ll spam the crap put of you in return for the mags, so be sure to use your “bulk e-mail” address if you have one set up.

• Click here for the Computer Gaming World sign up
• Click here for the EGM sign up
• Click here for the Official Playstation Magazine sign up

Enjoy the bathroom reading all!

Cadillac wants you to know about their V series automobiles, the CTS-V, STS-V, and XLR-V and to introduce you to them, they’ve had Bizarre add those cars to Project Gotham Racing 3 for your downloading pleasure.

How much is it going to cost you to see this little bit of automotive advertising? Nothing, it’s a free download. Sounds like a pretty fair deal to me, they put the three V series cars on your radar, you get to drive them around in PGR3. We all win. It’s in game advertising the way it ought to be. Head on over to the Xbox Live Marketplace to get them!

Bethesda’s latest official add-on to Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is now available for both the Xbox 360 and PC. The add-on pack, “The Thieves Den”, contains adventures geared towards the more stealthy characters of Oblivion. As per Elder Scrolls Store;

““The Thieves Den provides you with everything you need to outfit your stealth-based character for missions. Rediscover the legendary Dunbarrow Cove and the ancient pirate ship The Red Sabre. Dunbarrow Cove not only provides a home base to operate out of, you can purchase new vendors, trainers, and even an upgrade to your sleeping quarters with the loot from your heists.” -Elder Scrolls Store

The content is available through the Xbox Live Marketplace at a cost of 150 points ($1.88) for Xbox 360 owners and in the Elder Scrolls Store for $1.89 for PC users. Is it a decent add-on or is it just another cheap gimmick to milk two dollars out of you? Only time will tell, but at least this time the mod comes with free pirates, and pirates are always welcome! Bring out the Grog! Click here to head over to the Oblivion Store for the full details on what the add-on pack contains.

But were too disinterested to ask. Xbox Live’s Major Nelson filled us all in on a project over at Achieve360points.com where they’ve mapped the entire Xbox Live Marketplace so you can easily see what’s currently available. They don’t make any mention of if they plan on keeping it updated, so keep in mind it may not be accurate as more content is released into the Live Marketplace. Check out the Live Marketplace map here - hopefully, they’ll keep it up to date as the organization of the real Marketplace could use some serious work.

Normally, I try to stay away from all the fluff news a lot of sites carry, because I figure you can get that anywhere and one of the benefits of actually coming to a smaller site like this is that it’s easier to find the big news of the day. Well, I’m breaking with that tradition for today, for two reasons. First, it’s been slow on the news front and I figure I need to add something to make you keep coming back, and secondly, not only is the video a riot, but it gives a very nice look at the character creation process in Will Wright’s upcoming game “Spore“.

So without further delay, click here and head on over to Devil Ducky to see the video and be sure to hang around for the end of it when Mr. Williams talks gaming in general, and unlike so many other celebrities, comes off as knowing what he’s talking about.

IGN has a pretty good article up regarding why the lack of HDMI support on the 20gig Playstation 3 is such a problem. As we’ve pointed out before, the issue lies in the fact that the upcoming digital copy protection schemes movie distributors are going to use will downgrade Blu-Ray video to 540p (as opposed to Blu-Ray’s high end 1080p or the standard HDTV 720p/1080i) if played through an output that does not support the protection.

Before you start asking why Sony would implement this technology, this would also go for HD-DVD formats and is something being pushed by hollywood, not the electronics manufacturers. The point here is, only two output formats that currently support said protection - HDMI and DVI. As the lower end Playstation 3 has neither, once those discs start coming out, much of the benefit of owning a Blu-Ray player vanishes.

Since Sony is pushing the fact that the Playstation 3 pricing is fantastic because you get a Blu-Ray player, this causes a bit of a quandary. Sure, you’re getting a Blu-Ray player, but it’s a Blu-Ray player that can’t play Blu-Ray movies the way they were meant to be played. It would be like selling someone a CD player that could only play things back with quality a little better than a tape. Not a good thing.

Check out the IGN article here for all the technical details and the reason why if you’re planning on purchasing a Playstation 3, you really need to spend the extra $100 and get the higher end model.

IGN has an article up where they identify 16 confirmed Wii launch titles. If you’re wondering why we put offical in quotes, it’s because there has been no full announcement from Nintendo regarding the full launch lineup at this time. The titles are;

• The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
• Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
• Wii Sports
• Red Steel
• Tony Hawk’s Downhill Jam
• Madden NFL 2007
• Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors
• Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz
• Metal Slug Anthology
• Trauma Center: Second Opinion
• Elebits
• Marvel: Ultimate Alliance
• Blitz: The League
• Rayman Raving Rabbids
• Spongebob Squarepants: Creature from the Krusty Krab
• Disney/Pixar’s Cars

Not a bad mix at all if they all make it to launch. According to IGN, there are also a few other titles still in the running to make the launch date, such as ExciteTruck, so the list could get a bit longer. Check out the IGN article here for the full story and for info on each of the titles listed. Big thanks to Digital for the lead.

As you may be aware, one of the reasons we believe Sony dropped the vibration function from the Playstation 3 controller was that they still are in litigation with Immersion regarding the type of vibration used in the Dual Shock and Dual Shock 2 controllers. Based on an article over at Gamasutra, It appears that Immersion is still willing to not only let Sony license their haptic technology for use with the Playstation 3 controller, but are also willing to assist them in getting it to work with the tilt function Sony introduced at E3 and claimed was the reason why they had to drop vibration.

There is a catch though - Immersion would require Sony to drop their current challenge to the injunction issued in the case that would prevent Sony from the production, sale or manufacture of the related technologies in the United States. In other words, Sony would need to pay the penalty awarded by the court, drop their counter-claims against Immersion and enter into a licensing agreement for the Haptic vibration technology. Click here for the full Gamasutra article.

Microsoft has set up a site to introduce Windows users to the features that will be available in Windows Vista and help users find out whether their system will support the new operating system. In addition to all the relevant information on features and requirements, Microsoft has included a downloadable upgrade advisor which will check a users system and determine if they will be able to run Windows Vista as well as listing any needed upgrades.

Below are the minimum system requirements listed and the “Windows Premium Ready” recommended system requirements;

Minimum System Requirements

System will not be able to run “Windows Aero” 3D Interface at this level

• 800mhz or better 32bit (x86) or 64bit (x64) processor
• 512mb system memory
• DirectX 9.0 capable, SVGA (800×600) capable graphics adapter
• 20 gigabytes HD space for install
• 15 gigabytes HD free space
• CD-ROM Drive

Windows Vista Premium Ready System Requirements

• 1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
  • Processor speed is specified as the nominal operational processor frequency for the device. Some processors have power management which allows the processor to run at lower rate to save power.
• 1 GB of system memory.
• A graphics processor that runs Windows Aero.
  • 128 MB of graphics memory.
  • DirectX 9 class graphics processor that:
    • Supports a WDDM Driver.
    • Supports Pixel Shader 2.0 in hardware.
    • Supports 32 bits per pixel.
  • Adequate graphics memory.
    • 64 MB of graphics memory to support a single monitor less than 1,310,720 pixels
    • 128 MB of graphics memory to support a single monitor at resolutions from 1,310,720 to 2,304,000 pixels
    • 256 MB of graphics memory to support a single monitor at resolutions higher than 2,304,000 pixels
    • Meets graphics memory bandwidth requirements, as assessed by Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor running on Windows XP
• 40 GB of hard drive capacity with 15 GB free space.
• DVD-ROM Drive.
• Audio output capability.
• Internet access capability.

Click here to head over to the Windows Vista homepage and here for the Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor download page.

Some of you may have downloaded the part one of Gears of War: The Race to E3 last week via the Xbox Live Marketplace. For those of you who can’t get enough information about Epic’s upcoming masterpiece, part two of the special airs tomorrow night at 10pm EST on MTV, with replays airing throughout the week. Set your Tivo accordingly.

Microsoft’s employee blog, Gamerscore Blog, posted the company’s official response to the news that the Xbox 360 disc authentication system was hacked earlier this week. The statement reiterates their stance that any modification to the Xbox 360 hardware will render the system warranty void, that bootleg games may not run properly on the system and that they will make changes as need be to both correct the security flaw and identify those responsible. In other words, Microsoft isn’t happy, but it wasn’t unexpected.

If you look back to before the system even launched, J. Allard had made a statement to the effect that Microsoft knew that people would eventually crack the 360’s security system, and that while they would do everything they could to make it difficult to do, they felt that their interests were better served by creating a gaming experience, via services such as Xbox Live, that would discourage people from doing so. Click here for the Gamerscore Blog post.

Walmart and the TV show “The Apprentice” are offering a free Xbox 360 disc that contains movie trailers, music videos, clips from “The Apprentice” and playable demos of Kameo: Elements of Power and Project Gotham Racing 3. Sure you can get the demos in the Xbox Live Marketplace for free, but free swag is always a good thing, and since they’re on a disc, they won’t take up any precious hard drive space. Click here to head on over to the promos page at Walmart.com and sign up for the disc.

MAME32 has already been updated to support the 1st intermediate release of MAME v.106. Head on over to the MAME32 page here. As with the standard version of MAME, I’d suggest skipping this one due to the stability issues mentioned below.

The first intermediate version of MAME v.106 has been released on the public. If you like to use the intermediate updates, head over to Mamedev.org and get the new files. A word of caution though, the MAME development team also advised the following;

“Please take special note of the warning at the top of the whats new file. Things are likely to be in flux and unstable for a while, so if you are looking for solid, everything works releases, stick to the full 0.106 release.” - MAME Development Team

Personally, I’d take their advice and wait for a more stable version. Click here to see what’s new in this update.

First there were the rumors that only the 60 gigabyte Playstation 3 model was going to be available in the U.K., now Eurogamer is reporting that in an interview with Ray Maguire, Sony Computer Entertainment UK’s managing director, he stated that the UK price for the PS3 would be £425. For those unfamiliar with exchange rates, that comes out to about $802. That $600 tag for the US 60 gig model isn’t looking so bad now, is it? Click here for the Eurogamer article

In his blog, Major Nelson noted that the “Collateral Damage Map Pack” for The Outfit is now available in the Xbox Live Marketplace for 500 points. ($6.25)

I finally finished breaking down Microsoft’s E3 2006 press conference and getting it up on the site. Hopefully I’ll have the write ups for the Sony & Nintendo conferences up on the site by the end of this week or early next week.

Overall, it was a pretty solid conference for Microsoft. They highlighted their successes with the 360 and indicated the direction they plan to take both with their consoles and the PC industry over the coming year.

One thing I definitely took away from the conference is that it seems like Microsoft plans to become much more involved in the realm of Windows software, as shown with both the “Games for Windows” rebranding and Live Anywhere. I would almost go so far as to say they want to take it to the point of making the PC another MS branded console.

Click here for our full write up of the conference along with our full impressions on the presentation.

IGN has an article up where they take a look at the 5 upcoming Xbox 360 accessories and give a bit more detail on them than Microsoft gave out at E3. More importantly, they have pictures of 4 of the accessories, something I haven’t seen anywhere else yet. Two interesting things to note; first off, Microsoft apparently is working on a 256mb Memory Card and secondly, the wireless headset will communicate directly with the Xbox 360 and will not require any controller attachments. Head on over to IGN here to see them for yourself.

Pandemic’s Mercenaries 2: World in Flames website has been updated with a FAQ covering some of the more pressing questions fans of the series are dying to find out about. Unfortunately, the big question of what platforms the game will be available on is still apparently up in the air;

“We have not made any final decisions concerning the various platforms for Mercenaries 2. “ Scott Warner, Lead Designer

The plot seems to revolve around your character now working as a freelance mercenary (Ex-Ops is out of the picture) who was originally hired in Venezuela by a client who was about to seize power. The problem is this; once you finished the job, he attempted to have you killed - and even worse, he stiffed you on the bill. Complicating the matter further, the client’s coup succeeded, and you’ll now have to go up against his vast resources to teach him that, like the games catch phrase says, “Everybody Pays.” Click here for the FAQ page at the official Mercenaries 2: World in Flames website.

During E3, the Seattle Times got a chance to speak to Nintendo President Satoru Iwata. Surprisingly, It’s actually a pretty good read and not the usual clueless rambling you’d expect from a “normal” news outlet. As for Iwata’s thoughts on the Wii name;

“There were some criteria for us to come up with the name. It had to be short enough so that we didn’t need any other nicknames or abbreviation. What we are targeting with Wii is not only existing gamers, but also people who have shown no interest in other games. These non gamers, for example, really cannot understand what GBA means, if GBA is something different from Game Boy Advance. We wanted something with a strong impact that people will remember as soon as they hear it.

Finally, we wanted a name unlike any video-game machines” Satoru Iwata

You know, as much as I griped when the name was announced, following the whole E3 week, I’ve got to admit the Wii name is really beginning to click with me. I think it’s all the fun people are having with the name - I mean, if just saying the consoles name is that much fun, the thing itself must be a blast!

In fact, forget about all the stuff Nintendo officially has said about the name, that should be their answer. “We wanted a name that could at least begin to provide you with the fun our console will.” - Wiially.

Click here for the Seattle Times interview.

Bungie has posted a FAQ and Q&A session regarding Halo 3 over at Bungie.net. Find out more about the end of the current Halo trilogy and discover the full significance of everything shown in the Halo 3 E3 teaser. Yes, we said current trilogy, because according to the FAQ, this is merely the end of this story arc, and not the last “Halo” game ever. So what are you waiting for, click here for the FAQ and here for the Q&A session and get your answers you crave about Earth, Cortana’s possible rampancy and the in-game rendering of the teaser.

An article over at Microsoft’s Xbox E3 site notes that there is another add-on in the works for Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. This add-on, entitled Thieves Den, adds a bit of high seas piracy to the game;

“In the downloadable mission, which will be released in two weeks, you battle for control of a massive cave, complete with a haunting pirate ship. Once you conquer the lair, it forever belongs to your character.

You can start a band of pirates. You can plunder. And you can decorate your captain’s chamber with furniture. “ - Ashley Cheng, Bethesda Developer

Now I know the last 3 downloads have been a bit of a disappointment, but Arrrr - there be pirates! Be clicking here to see the article over at Xbox.com mateys!

Eurogamer is stating that they got a reply from Sony on the whole Games Radar “the $499 Playstation 3 will not support wireless controllers” rumor, and as we all guessed, it’s false. From the Eurogamer article;

“Both configurations will support Bluetooth PS3 controllers. The only non-upgradeable feature of the 20GB configuration will be the HDMI output.”- Sony representative by way of Eurogamer

Nice to see the matter finally get completely cleared up - you’ll be able to play your PS3 wirelessly no matter which model you pick up. Too bad the lack of HDMI wasn’t just a rumor as well. Click here to head over to the article at Eurogamer.

Evil Avatar is reporting that Gamestop and EB Games have decided to not take Playstation 3 preorders until October of 2006 in an attempt to head off some of the problems they had with the Xbox 360 launch. While waiting until you know how many units you’ll be getting definitely seems like a step in the right direction, especially given the expected demand for the Playstation 3, I can’t but somehow feel that this will actually lead to even less inventory going to the retail outlets in favor of high priced online bundles. Click here for the Evil Avatar news forums and begin wondering if the same will hold true for the Wii.

While over at Kotaku, I read one of their news links about a chart Curmudgeon Gamer made showing both the actual costs of several game consoles at release, and their relative costs in 2006 dollars. If you can avoid the entire debate on the page raging over just how the relative figures were computed, you’ll find it’s a pretty interesting look at console pricing and how much people are willing to pay to get their game on. Click here for the Curmudgeon Gamer article - you may just be surprised at what you find.

CNN Money is reporting that ex-Infinium labs chairman and former CEO Timothy Roberts has been charged with artificially inflating the stock of Infinium Labs while simultaneously selling off his shares of the company. CNN Money can explain the situation far better than I could;

” The Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday accused Timothy Roberts of hiring a promoter to send junk faxes to tens of thousands of investors across the country, making it appear Infinium Labs was on the verge of launching a new gaming system, dubbed “The Phantom.” Infinium, in actuality, had postponed the system’s launch due to insufficient resources. It has yet to launch.

The SEC said Roberts made $422,500 from the scheme by selling more than 1.3 million shares of his own stock in the company - often without publicly disclosing those sales - and paid the promoter in Infinium Labs stock without registering the transfer with the SEC. Both activities violate federal securities laws. It is asking a U.S. District Court in Orlando, Fla., to force Roberts to surrender those proceeds, pay a civil penalty and be prohibited from ever again serving as an officer or director of a public company or participating in any offering of penny stock.” - CNN Money Article

It somehow actually feels great to see some of the people behind the scam that was the Phantom game console finally get some kind of legal payback. It’s still beyond me how they could have convinced anyone to pony up more money for the Infinium Lapboard after finally announcing the end of the Phantom. While I’d much rather see actual criminal allegation of fraud, at least someone is finally doing something - who knows, maybe the SEC filing will cause many of the former victims… err investors of Infinium Labs to file charges. We can all dream, right?

Click here to head on over to the CNN Money article and if you want a laugh, head on over to the Infinium Labs website here, where despite the announcement that they killed the Phantom off (at least for the time being) it’s still prominently featured all over the site.

Ben Heckendorn, creator of the Atari 2600 handheld VCSp and author of the ExtremeTech book “Hacking Video Game Consoles“, has created his latest portable masterpiece. The nPod is a handheld, cartridge based, NES that merges a NES cartridge port to the processor of one of those “multi-game” NES clone TV units. I picked up Ben’s book at the same time I grabbed ExtremeTech’s other book “Project Arcade”, and the projects are all well laid out, but I just haven’t gotten a chance to build any them yet. I figure the next thing I build will probably be the tabletop arcade machine I worked out last summer, but the temptation to build a VCSp is always pretty strong. Check out the nPod here.

Nintendo DS owners rejoice, your wait is over! New Super Mario Bros should be on store shelves today for your goomba stomping pleasure. For those of us who are waiting for the DS-Lite before taking the DS leap, the wait to June 11th suddenly seems a lot longer. Nintendo has also re-vamped the NSMB website, so be sure to head on over and check it out. Click here for the offical New Super Mario Bros website.

Further nailing the coffin closed on the “no wireless support” rumor surrounding the lower end Playstation 3, we came across this Sony press release dated May 8th, 2006. The press release notes that the PS3 will have one standardized controller, and that the controller will be wireless. Here are some excerpts from the release;

“Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCEI) today announced the new controller for PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3), which will become available as standard with the system.” - Sony Press Release

and more importantly,

“All input information will be immediately transferred to the PS3 system through the Bluetooth® wireless technology.  By using a USB cable, the PS3 controller can be swapped seamlessly from wireless to wired, and can be charged automatically.  The cable can be attached and detached at anytime.

By integrating all these features into one standard PlayStation controller, SCEI, together with content creators, expects to further expand and accelerate the world of next generation computer entertainment.” - Sony Press Release

Based on those statements, there is one standard Playstation 3 controller, and it is in fact a Bluetooth wireless device. At this point, we’ll stop following this story religiously unless some bit of news comes up that settles the matter beyond a shadow of a doubt. For now, it looks to us like both machines will support wireless controls. Check out the press release we’re referring to here.

It seems Kotaku has taken the same view we’ve currently taken on the Games Radar article about the lack of wireless controller support in the lower end model Playstation 3 - namely that it’s bunk. They point out the same spec sheet that we did as proof that the official word from Sony at this point is that both systems support bluetooth and wireless controllers. We’ll stay with the story, but as of right now, we’re not particularly worried about it. Check out the Kotaku article here.

Intrepid reader drkphreakx let us know that this weeks sale circular from Circuit City has Rise of Legends listed as on sale for $34.99. Check the Circuit City website for your local circular, and it if it’s on sale, head on down and pick it up - I plan to. The sale is scheduled to last until the 20th, and there seems to be some type of bug with the online ordering at Circuit City’s website, which results in the game not appearing with the sale price in your basket. Hopefully they’ll get that fixed soon. Click here to head on over to Circuit City’s site. Big thanks to drkphreakx.