Harley Quinn's Revenge Is Batman: Arkham City's Bad New Ending 
High Scores And Egos: There's Always A Bigger Doodle 
The Last Moments Of GAME 
How Bad User Interfaces Are Ruining Video Games And Other Wonderful Things 
She Tried To Make Good Video Games For Girls, Whatever That Meant 
The Story Of Doodle Jump: Brotherly Love And Digital Snacks Don’t be ashamed. We know there are still some of you who play PSU. It’s OK! We’re not judging you, or your niche online gaming habits. We’re just letting you know that Ambition of the Illuminus is now out on 360 (1600 points), PS2 and PC (both $US 40). It adds a bunch of stuff like new cities, new weapons and new bad guys, as well as increased character customisation. 360 players will need a copy of the original PSU, while PS2 and PC owners can make do without, as for them it’s a standalone expansion.
It was big news when we heard Mario Galaxy had overtaken Ocarina of Time as the #1-rated game of ALL TIME over at Gamerankings. That was a record that had stood for a long, long time. And, unless you want to be a prick about it, is still standing: Ocarina of Time has reclaimed the top position. Seems not everyone was done reviewing Mario Galaxy, and when a couple more scores trickled through the gates that weren’t up to the other’s standards, it dropped Mario to #2. I know that was enough to cancel my pre-order (Aus release date: Nov 29). Who wants the second-best game of all time? Not me, that’s for sure.
Nintendo Wars: Ocarina of Time Strikes Back [Go Nintendo]
Good news! Mario Party DS‘ success probably means there will be future Mario Party games! Thanks, God. We appreciate you answering our prayers. What didn’t hold up as expected was Shin Sangoku Musou 5, also known as Dynasty Warriors 6, which certainly didn’t sell as well as Mario Party and Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles. Still, it’s a fairly solid week for the underdog PlayStation 3, which charted with the aforementioned, Hot Shots Golf 5, Ratchet & Clank Future, and newcomer Heavenly Sword. Plus, folks bought Game Center CX. Good for them!
The following stuff sold pretty well in Japan for the week of November 12th to the 18th.
01. Mario Party DS (DS) – 116,000 / 350,000 02. Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles (Wii) – 83,000 / NEW 03. Shin Sangoku Musou 5 (PS3) – 76,000 / 264,000 04. Pro Yakyuu Famista DS DS (DS) – 49,000 / NEW 05. Game Center CX (DS) – 46,000 / NEW 06. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) – 40,000 / 365,000 07. Heavenly Sword (PS3) – 15,000 / NEW 08. Final Fantasy Tactics A2 (DS) – 14,000 / 230,000 09. Wii Sports (Wii) – 13,000 / 2,211,000 10. Soukou Kihei Votoms (PS2) – 12,000 / NEW
For a few weeks now, we’ve been getting emails and hearing complaints about Guitar Hero III on Wii. Namely, that its sound only outputs in mono. Mono. Hey, Activision, the 1950s just called, they want their sound format back. While many obviously either don’t notice or don’t care, those who have and do should know that Activision are…looking into the problem: We are already looking into the issue, and rest assured, are working to offer a possible solution to our fans.
Course, they haven’t found one yet, but hey, I’m sure the same guys who let a game ship in mono sound will be able to speedily resolve the issue. No sweat.
Fatal Inertia was at one time a PS3 exclusive. Not it’s not! Heck, the Xbox 360 version of the Unreal Engine 3-fuelled racer has been out for over a month. So when’s the PS3 version going to hit? Koei won’t give a formal release date for it, but said it would be out sometime in Spring 2008. No word whether that version will have extra content. Previously, the game was delayed “indefinitely,” but Koei has since decided to keep the dream alive. But, man, these companies and their floating release dates. Who can keep up?!
Fatal Inertia [1Up]
That’s not just some music box. It’s a Gradius music box! This early 90′s promotional item wasn’t available in Japanese stores, but only from King Records Japan by sending in application tickets from three King Records Gradius CDs. It plays a 15 snippet of “Farewell,” the ending tune from Gradius 2. You can listen to that right here. Yes, this music box is awesome to the core!
Gradius Music Box [Game Sniped via Wii Fanboy]
Yes, we know, Guitar Hero III helped spur sales of DragonForce and Slipknot CDs. Horrible news! But what about other bands featured in the game? Ars Technica got hold of some Soundscan sales figures and took a look, finding that it’s not just shitty metal bands seeing a sales increase: in these heady post-Guitar Hero III days, bands like Sonic Youth are doing as good a job shifting CDs as they are of…well, avoiding the grave.
Songs included in Guitar Hero 3 see a dramatic leap in digital sales [Ars Technica]
They grow up so fast, don’t they? One minute they’re drawing giggles, amazement and doubt from onlookers, the next they’re being briskly sold to every man, woman and child in the developed world. Why the teary-eyed sentiment? Today, November 21, was the day the Nintendo DS launched in the US market, all the way back in 2004. No need to recap on its achievements, we’ll instead use this time to just say “happy birthday, little friend”, before going back to a heated bout of Advance Wars.
Gabe Newell made millions at Microsoft, but cashed out and co-founded Valve and developed Half-Life. A guy that like sounds like he has a vision, like he’s an auteur. Nope! Newell explains:
There’s not an auteur, not the fiction that movie people tell themselves about the movie occurring in the director’s head, and it being your job as someone who’s witnessing that on the screen to connect with that vision. That’s a terrible way to think about videogames, because they’re a collaboration. You’ve got this lead actor and they don’t have a copy of the script, but if they’re not having a great time then it doesn’t matter what you thought you were doing. All that matters is your ability to engage with him. You have to focus on collaboration, you have to focus on this sharing of authoring the performance with gamers.
So true, so true. And like that, Gabe Newell explains why game movie adaptations just don’t work.
Interview [Rock, Paper, Shotgun]
The National Institute of Media and Family and its partners have released a portion of their findings from a study of 60 U.S. retailers, showing that 46% of minors who attempted to purchase an M-rated game were successful doing so. Gamespot writes that the organisation’s annual report card on its Annual Sting Operation findings is due next month, a report I’m sure at least one of our commenters is looking forward to.
The findings from the NIMF report preview were similar to the Federal Trade Commission’s report from earlier this year, showing that some 42% percent of underage buyers were able to get their hands on a Mature-rated game. That report showed a decrease from 69% from 2003, part of a downward trend, but clearly illustrative of a program that needs a great deal of improvement.
Violent, pro-drug games reportedly sold to minors [San Diego Union-Tribune - via Gamespot]
