Microsoft Responds To Reports Of Xbox Live Account 'Jacking' 
GAME Australia Lays Off 281 Employees, Closes 60 Stores 
How Diablo III's Always-On Internet Requirement Makes It A Better Game GAME: No Buyers Yet, Crisis To Drag On For Another Month 
Have Your Say On Video Game Pricing 
35,000 Telstra Passwords Reset After Games Services Hacked Dutch site GamerCC are reporting (Nintendo are yet to confirm) that, during the Micromania Games awards show held in France earlier today, it was announced that Super Smash Bros. Brawl would be released in Europe on June 6. That’s June 6 2008 for the (understandably) paranoid amongst you. Bummed at the delay? Look on the bright side! That’s less than four months away! It could have been much, much worse. Europese datum voor Smash Bros. Brawl (!) [GamerCC]
Think the release date turnaround on Mario Kart was pleasing on the eye, Europe? It’s nothing on Wii Fit’s, which will be launching in Europe on April 25 (complete with new 150kg-taking balance board), nearly a whole month before the US, who won’t be seeing it until May 19. No explanation was given for this dramatic turn of events, though I’ve got my suspicions somebody at Nintendo in Japan has figured out there are several hundred million more potential customers in Europe than in either Japan or the US, and that constantly fucking them over with long delays probably isn’t in the company’s best interests.
For some playing erotic PC games isn’t enough. They need to feel closer. And what better way to do that than cover your keyboard with eroge stickers?! The above keyboard is covered with erotic game Escalayer [NSFW site]stickers. Puts new meaning to “touch typing,” huh? Big Version of Eroge Keyboard [Neta Michelin via Danny Choo]
First announced aaaaallll the way back in March 2007, Avatar Reality have today released the first screens and solid info on their upcoming MMO Blue Mars. Set on Mars in the year 2177, they say “players will be able to live out their fantasies through personalised avatars”, and that a public beta will kick off later this year. Oh, and it’s all looking very gorgeous, as you’d expect from anything powered by Crytek’s CryENGINE 2.
That’s where my optimism for this thing ends. For starters, this doesn’t sound like much of a “game”. It sounds more like a controlled version of Second Life, what with it being called a “massively multiplayer virtual world” and with screenshots dedicated to… women’s handbags and shoes. No, thanks.
Last week, PC gaming made the Cliffster sad. This week? Fable 2 creator Peter Molyneux! About the state of PC gaming, he says: I think it’s a huge tragedy. I mean, you might as well say PC gaming is World of Warcraft and The Sims… The weird thing is everyone’s got a PC, they’re just not buying software for it.
Please PC gaming, don’t make Peter Molyneux sad. CliffyB can handle it, but not Molyneux. Oh, no. So please. Moly Despairs [GamesIndustry]
So Mario Kart Wii’s coming out on April 10 in Japan, you say? When, then, can Europe expect it? September, perhaps? Maybe April 2009? Nope. Nintendo Europe have confirmed the game will arrive on the continent on April 11, 2008. Surely this is some kind of excitement trap. A major, first-party Nintendo title for a home console arriving only a day later in Europe than in Japan just sounds…wrong. Like some kind of sick joke. Note, Nintendo: this doesn’t make up for the Smash Bros. delay. But it’ll help. Mario Kart Wii coming to Europe on April 11 [CVG]
In a move that surely sounded better across the boardroom table than it does to consumers, Xbox Australia have released…an official soundtrack. No game themes here, however. There’s not even an orchestral rendition of the 360′s startup chime! This is instead an exercise in focus-testing gone wrong, with the 17 tracks – “a selection of uplifting alternative/rock tracks to game to” – thrown together at random including offerings from such respected, enduring international artists as Fall Out Boy and The Killers. I’m still struggling to find a reason why this even exists, but at $17 I guess they can say at least it’s almost half the price of regular CDs. Various Artists – Xbox Soundtracks Presents… Start [Xbox.com.au]
Multi-plat pays — big time. Just ask Capcom! Its multi-platform title Devil May Cry 4 is the fastest selling entry in the DMC series, shipping two million copies. Until Devil May Cry 3, the games were PlayStation exclusives, and DMC4 was originally announced as PS3-only. Then Capcom realised it wanted to make way more money! And so, we have a multi-plat version selling like hotcakes. Mmmm… And who doesn’t like hotcakes?! DMC4 Hits 2 Million [Gamespot][Pic]
So Wii Fit’s launching in May, is it? Eh. But WiiWare, Nintendo’s new downloadable games service, that’s interesting. If you’re also interested (and American), you’ve only got to wait until May 12, because (according to the Wall Street Journal) that’s when the service will be launching in the US. No mention yet of specifics like which games will be available at launch, costs, etc, but those can’t be too far off. Wii Fit, Other Innovations Unveiled [Wall Street Journal, Registration Required]
According to the Wall Street Journal, of all places, Nintendo have gotten around to announcing a release date for money-printing balance (remember, balance, not fitness) training game Wii Fit. It’ll be released in the US on May 19, so those looking for new ways to improve their sideways-leaning techniques or would like to bore houseguests to death with a new Wii Sports “replacement”, you’ve only got a three month wait. How exciting! Wii Fit, Other Innovations Unveiled [Wall Street Journal, Registration Required] ]
