GAME Australia Lays Off 281 Employees, Closes 60 Stores 
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Have Your Say On Video Game Pricing 
35,000 Telstra Passwords Reset After Games Services Hacked 
Dragon's Dogma: The Kotaku Review Sure, you sat at your PCs, bleary-eyed, lapping up every goddamned inch of Leipzig coverage we crammed down your yaps. And for that, we thank you! But one thing you probably missed by not being there was a sense of the scale of the event. I should know, I missed it too, and am only coming around to its size by looking at the official numbers provided to us by the organisers. Over the four days 185,000 people wandered in to check out 503 exhibitors. 12,300 registered trade visitors were present, of which 43% were from outside Germany. Other super-fun stats include: 20% of visitors were women, 45% of visitors indicated they were “casual gamers”, 52% of attendees were over the age of 20 and the event was covered by over 3300 journalists from 46 countries. Who said numbers weren’t fun? They’re fun and then some.
Ack! We went from squinty Ken Levine to this. And thank you, Vonthora for this. Some PR person sent us actual respectable Ken Levine PR glamour-shots. We probably won’t use them, but have posted them after the jump. You know, in case you want to make a Ken Levine coffee mug or something. Onto the post:
BioShock was traumatic for many. Folks are just getting over the emotional scarring! No, strike that. People will never get over server downtime, piracy-protecting SecuROM and widescreen issues. Pain like this runs deep. Game site 1Up cornered BioShock dude Ken Levine to get his thoughts. It was a screw up on our part. I don’t think we were ready. We didn’t know the game was going to do as well as it did [and the]servers got overwhelmed…. So it went down 6 hours one night and that was really stupid. People had just bought the game, spent $US50 and they go home and find out they can’t run it. That ain’t good.
And what about that widescreen issue?
Bars used to places where people could get ripped and throw darts at each other. Not these days! Reader meltyman spotted this bar in Hoboken, New Jersey. The sign board says: COME IN & PLAY Wii w/ Mii on our 82″ BIG SCREEN
AKA, get shitfaced and accidentally throw the Wii-mote. Sounds like an evening right there!
California State Senator Leland Yee hates ultra-violent videogames. He doesn’t hate you, necessarily, just some of the games you play. Games like Manhunt 2, which became the pin-up boy for his sponsorship of the abortive California Video Game Law. With the game now back on the menu, he’s going after the ESRB, calling for greater transparency in how they determine their ratings:
Just got word that the Crysis demo will be launching on September 25. I’ve got a feeling a lot of people may be busy on September 25. Playing some other first-person shooter. Sure, it’s on another platform, but you can’t help but think less people will be downloading this demo than they would have if they weren’t busy playing…something else. The Countdown to Crysis Continues: Single Player Demo – 9.25.07 [Crysis Official Site]
Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello’s name has popped up in a German Activision brochure as a boss for the upcoming Guitar Hero III. No word if Morello will be penning an original tune or playing something from his back catalogue. The game already features Slash and Poison’s Bret Michaels. (Fear not, Michaels won’t be playing the guitar, but singing along with your shredding.) And as we previously mentioned, the game also features the Stone Roses’ “She Bangs the Drums.” With all the Rock Band hype, Guitar Hero III might feel all second fiddle-like. But know, I’m excited — even if it features Tom Morello. Rumor Mill or Fact [kwaselow's Blog via Dtoid]
It may not hit Europe until late October, but Metroid Prime 3: Corruption finally gets its release. Yes! Soon people will be using their Wiis to play an actual game. It’s due in stores today, and the title’s website has gone live. There’s a new MP3 ad with those Wii-mobile dudes as well as other stuff to click on. Anyone picking this up? Personally, my Wii is starved for Something. Anything. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption [Nintendo.com]
The silver DS looks lovely. I have one thing on my TGS shopping list, in fact, and it’s one of these suckers. Mainly because I imagined they’d be Japan-only for a while, but a Dutch toy store is advertising that the colour scheme’s heading to Europe in the fall. Leaves us with two options. One is the retailer’s pulling this out their ass. Other is that they weren’t meant to advertise this until Nintendo Europe announced it. Knowing how Nintendo Europe roll, my money’s on the latter. Exclusief: Zilveren Lite naar Europa [DS-Gamer, via Thomper @ NeoGAF]
You’ve read the list of nominees for “Best in Show” from the Leipzig Games Convention. You’ve thought it through, mulled over the lists, imagined in your head the winners, the losers, the stark contrast between ecstasy and agony. Wonder no more. Here are the winners. The Best in Show:
Odd, for an ad out to promote a new product, we don’t see much of that product. And hearing about how much lighter something is really isn’t all that exciting. Then again, neither is a twisting towel.
