The Game Over column over at CNN has a hands-on look look at the Nintendo Revolution and its unique little controller. From the article: "By adding an auxiliary thumbstick controller, I was able to play through a level of a retrofitted 'Metroid Prime 2' (a GameCube game). Confession time: When it comes to console shooters, I'm terrible. I can finish them, but I'm nowhere near as competent as I am with my mouse/keyboard setup for the PC. In the early stages of the 'Metroid' demo, it looked like this trend would continue, as I was all over the screen. By mid-way, though, I was better able to move and aim - and enjoyed the game far more than I did with the GameCube controller. ('Metroid' fans... well, you're probably already pretty excited.)"

While IGN originally reported that the 360 would see a HD-DVD update in 2006, they quickly released a response from Microsoft saying that as of the moment there are no plans for such an update. From the article: "Microsoft, in both America and Japan, has not announced anything regarding the possibility of a next generation DVD drive being placed in the Xbox 360 ... There are currently no plans to release an Xbox 360 equipped with a next generation DVD player."

As a follow-up to the announcement that Jamdat was being purchased by powerhouse Electronic Arts, Gamespot has the news that a Jamdat investor is suing to stop the business deal. From the article: "While Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter said EA 'bought Jamdat for a fair price if they intend to get big,' some questioned the premium paid to become an instant player in the growing mobile market. Piper Jaffray's Anthony Gikas said the $680 million figure was actually $200 million too high. Even so, Gikas favored EA's purchase in a note to investors, telling them, 'don't sweat the small stuff.'"

1up.com is running a lengthy piece talking to Microsoft VP J. Allard and Sony Computers of America President Kaz Hirai about what exactly the 'next generation' of consoles are about. The article is informative and varied, with talk about Xbox Live, the launch of the Xbox and PSX, and what past efforts from Sony and Microsoft will mean as the newest front in the console war heats up. From the article: "OPM: What are the benefits of being first to market, much like the Dreamcast was? What are the pitfalls? JA: Good question. I'd say one of the pitfalls from a competitive point of view is that you don't know what the other guys are doing, and to be frank, the guys over at Sony have been very good at not telling anyone what they're doing. It's tough to tell where they're going with the PS3. The other tough thing is that you're under the microscope [when you're first]. [Sony] shows two movies and a product that you can't touch behind a piece of glass, and that's what you get to write about on them."

GrnArmadillo writes "The official City of Heroes site is reporting that Marvel's lawsuit over the CoH character generator has been settled. It looks like CoH essentially won, though it's unclear what price, if any, they're paying for the victory. The key portion of the brief press release: 'The parties' settlement allows them all to continue to develop and sell exciting and innovative products, but does not reduce the players' ability to express their creativity in making and playing original and exciting characters ... While the terms of the settlement were not disclosed, all parties agree that this case was never about monetary issues and that the fans of their respective products and characters are the winners in this settlement.'" Commentary is available on Gamespot. Glad this is over. This has been pending almost as long as I've worked here.

wyndairn writes "Blizzard Entertainment and Xfire have just announced the largest ever machinima contest with over $10,000 in prizes from AMD, Hypernia, Creative Labs, XFX, D-Link, Corsair, ZBoard and Time Games. The contest involves entrants producing movies using the Blizzard Entertainment MMORPG World of Warcraft game engine to create imaginative movies in the three main categories of Dance, Comedy and Drama. Six prizes will be awarded for each category. An additional Twenty prizes will be awarded in special categories including Best Music, Best Dialog, Best Action Scene, Best Pun or Line, and Best Editing and Special Effects. A special prize from Hypernia will also be awarded to a selected movie. Entries must be submitted by January, 21st 2006." Good luck to folks who decide to enter. If you aren't already familiar with it, the Curse Guild's Blackwing Lair: The Movie may give you an idea of what is possible with WoW Machinima.

heartless_ writes "Gamergod.com has part one of an interview with Scott Jennings and Sanya Weathers of Mythic Entertainment. The interview covers Darkness Rising, Dark Ages of Camelots' Realm vs Realm system, and the Korean gaming culture. Scott Jennings elaborated on the Korean gaming culture a bit: 'It is more of a technological thing. It is also kind of a cultural thing that in Korea, the cyber cafes are really seen as kind of skuzzy, not to put to fine a point on it, but they're very much like the back alley skid row bars we would go to here in the States. They are very much smoky elements that you do not want your kids to go to, that kind of thing.'"

aussie_a writes "The Child's Play charity auction of last night was a huge success, with $82,100 raised in the one night. As previously reported on Slashdot, before the night $200,000 had been raised for children around the globe. Organised by Penny Arcade creators Gabe and Tycho, they have reminded naysayers that gamers are responsible members of society, and not pixelantes." As a reminder, the Child's Play Charity season is starting to wind down. If you're planning on donating, the hospitals would like to have everything by December 20th, so order away.

The BBC is reporting that the makers of the Kong game recommend against purchasing the 360 version of that title. The article states that an Ubisoft rep, Yves Guillemot, stated that the 360 version is just too dark to play well on a non-HD screen. However, Voodoo Extreme got in touch with Ubi for the official party line, and they had something very different to say. From the article: "Ubisoft is actively investigating isolated reports of resolution issues on specific plasma screens, which should be easily resolved by adjusting/increasing the settings. Ubisoft believes that King Kong offers one of the best gaming experiences available on the Xbox 360 and encourages gamers to check it out for themselves."

Gamasutra has an article on the ever-burgeoning market for casual gamers, with commentary by the people who know the most about it. James Gwertzman is the Director of Business Development at PopCap Games, and he talks about the business side of the non-hardcore market. From the article: "One, of course, is to raise the quality bar - but there are risks there. No one wants to go the path of traditional $30 million games. And second, we are continuing to try to maintain our high level of reputation. Making clones of existing games isn't as profitable as it used to be. We're trying hard to continue innovating."

dakotamangus writes "Players of the massively multiplayer online game Star Wars Galaxies are feeling a bit like the films' besieged rebel army these days. To them, LucasArts is the evil Empire, raining down terror in their alternate universe. Says Nancy MacIntyre, the game's senior director at LucasArts: 'There was lots of reading, much too much, in the game. There was a lot of wandering around learning about different abilities. We really needed to give people the experience of being Han Solo or Luke Skywalker rather than being Uncle Owen, the moisture farmer. We wanted more instant gratification: kill, get treasure, repeat. We needed to give people more of an opportunity to be a part of what they have seen in the movies rather than something they had created themselves.'" These latest mainstream press articles are just the latest examples of the profound backlash the NGE has wrought among the SWG player community.

jkdove writes "GamerGod recently held an interview with top executives at BuildForge and learned a little known trade secret of video game industry giant Electronic Arts' arsenal. Granting the ability to reduce costs of 80 million dollar titles to an only 40 million, there can be little doubt that BuildForge will find its way into many more of the game industry's top production firms. From the article: 'Utilizing BuildForge's capabilities result in dramatic reductions in team workload and build/release cycle time - typically creating 4-20x efficiency improvements over in-house or open source systems. This is what EA is looking to do by bringing in automation, better practices and standards into those process that have been traditionally more free wheeling.'"

simtastic writes "John Szczepaniak in his article, Obscurity Below the Radar, exposes the underground world of buying, selling, stealing and acquiring rare, one-of-a-kind, and non-public games and gaming hardware. From the article: 'Oftentimes, such groups run the risk of the law, yet still dedicate their lives to the acquisition and recording of things. In trying to uncover this secret realm, I was graciously granted access to some of the more high profile members, including the head of one such community. A renowned American gentleman who wishes to be known only as ASSEMbler, he tells us a little of himself and also the nature of such undocumented people ...'"

PSP News writes "The people over at Lik Sang have done a great hands on review of the new no Modification PSP TV Device by Blaze. The main differences between this and the Team Xtender adapter is less than half the price and the Pal-Ntsc switch while quality is as good if not better at different display settings. From the article: 'Compared to the previous TV Adapter that we had in our hands a couple of months back, the display result you get varies from as good (16:9 ratio wide screens) to better (on 4:3 ratio) depending on the type of television set you use the devices with.'"

ScoobyScooby writes "An interesting story went live on Games.net yesterday in response to a 'letter from the editor' penned by Dan Hsu of EGM. In his letter he accuses a number of publications and publishers of being essentially buying coverage and vice versa. A Games.net editor responds with his own take on things and the resulting comments and discussion are worth investigating. Are veiled accusations about improprieties really helpful at bringing gaming journlism to a more respected level? Or, do such accusations hurt more than they help? The Blame Game: Where Do You Keep Your Integrity?" GameSetWatch has commentary.

Illness and Holidays conspire to keep even the best intentioned reviewers from their goals, and so today you're going to get a potpourri of gaming goodness. November was a big month for games, but most of the attention went to Microsoft's new console. Three titles in particular stand out for creativity, for fun, for addictiveness, and for their lack of 360ness. Some of them have been out for a little while now, but if you're looking for recent releases to put under the tree and either can't afford or can't find a 360 to gift, these titles may be just what you're looking for. Read on for my impressions of Soul Calibur III, The Movies, and Civilization IV.

kafka47 writes "Turbine's much-anticipated MMO, "Dungeons and Dragons Online: Stormreach", is now opening up its stress test to Fileplanet subscribers. The registration is free, and it is a great opportunity for MMO and D&D fans to sign up and try out the game! Paid subscribers get a higher-rez client, but if you're curious about what DDO has to offer (and by all accounts, it's a lot) this is your chance to see it early."

Lost Levels has a great piece looking at the never-released Final Fantasy title. Really nothing more than a tech demo from the N64 days, it's an interesting bit of videogame history nonetheless. From the article: "Other gaming magazines, including Nintendo Power, also ran articles on the demo with different information, helping to fuel the rumors of an upcoming Nintendo 64 Final Fantasy title. When no further information about the game appeared and Square subsequently announced that a game titled Final Fantasy VII would be released on the Sony PlayStation, fans cried foul and accused Square of betraying Nintendo ... Most of these claims were nothing more than rumors that were spawned as the result of some shoddy journalism; however, many people accepted these rumors as fact, and these faux facts were perpetuated as being truths. But many rumors are based in fact, and the rumors surrounding Final Fantasy 64 are no exception. The images of the demo that were shown in GameFan, Nintendo Power, and other magazines were real, which meant that the demo itself was real. So what exactly was the demo, and where had the information in the magazines come from? "

The official Bungie site is running an article entitled The Making of SlugFest, the story of how a Spartan ended up in Dead or Alive 4. From the article: "Initially, team Ninja wanted, and asked very politely, for Master Chief. Well, we balked at that. Master Chief is busy, fictionally speaking. We left him at the end of Halo 2, involved in a very large scale galactic conflict with world-ending repercussions. Fictionally speaking, he just wasn't available for fisticuffs. But we loved the idea of seeing a Spartan fight, unarmed. You have to figure they'd be pretty serious pugilistic contenders right? Half ton of bio-mechanically enhanced armor-clad uber-trained soldiering nightmare? Has to have at least a decent right hook."

G4 has apparently canceled two more of their holdover shows from the TechTV days. G4TV.com and Filter have been been put under the axe. While I wasn't a big fan of either of these shows, this seems to be indicative of the market-driven decision-making over at that network. They've got their product, stamped it, and now they're pumping out whatever lifestyle some exec has decided is the flavour of the moment. "Geek is out, but we'll keep X-Play, Icons, and Cinematech for our old market, Whip Set, Anime Unleashed, and Fast Lane for the new market, and reruns of the Man Show for everyone to look at hot girls." Mmmmmeh.