New Doom 3 For Xbox 360 And PlayStation 3 Supports Head-Mounted Displays 
Far Cry 3 And The Stranger In A Strange Land 
Why Robin Makes Batman Better 
Resistance: Burning Skies: The Kotaku Review 
Harley Quinn's Revenge Is Batman: Arkham City's Bad New Ending 
High Scores And Egos: There's Always A Bigger Doodle The Xbox 360′s Japanese victory over its hi-def console competitor was short lived. Xbox buying fever has broken in a big way overseas, with the flagging console returning to last place on the Media Create hardware charts. Not that Sony’s PlayStation 3 is doing that much better right now. At least Microsoft can blame its drop on depleted stock.
The success story this week though is that of the Nintendo DS, which extends its lead over the PSP by a hefty margin. The numbers you need are below.
Nintendo DS – 78,666 PSP – 64,413 Wii – 53,036 PlayStation 3 – 11,393 PlayStation 2 – 10,168 Xbox 360 – 7,358Nintendo has snagged the top spot for another week, with Rhythm Tengoku Gold — Rhythm Heaven in my neck of the woods — beating out a host of back catalog releases, including Sega’s unsurprisingly popular Phantasy Star Portable. It debuted at #2, dropped to #3, then leapfrogged to #1. That’s Nintendo software for you. Older titles creep higher up the charts in this slow week, as Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G threatens to return to the top ten.
Not much in the way of new Japanese software releases for the week of August 11 to 17. Hit the snooze button and save your excitement for next week.
01. Rhythm Tengoku Gold (DS) – 137,000 / 480,000 02. Phantasy Star Portable (PSP) – 74,000 / 564,000 03. Dragon Quest V (DS) – 74,000 / 1,092,000 04. Wii Fit (Wii) – 47,000 / 2,516,000 05. Mario Kart Wii (Wii) – 36,000 / 1,692,000 06. Fire Emblem: Shin Ankoku Ryuu to Hikari no Ken (DS) – 35,000 / 180,000 07. Band Brothers DX (DS) – 24,000 / 280,000 08. Meccha! Taiko Drum Master DS: 7-tsu no Shima no Daibouken (DS) – 20,000 / 282,000 09. Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyuu 15 (PS2) – 19,000 / 161,000 10. Wario Land Shake It! (Wii) – 18,000 / 76,000
James Bond 22 the Quantum of Solace is coming! It’s the first original Bond film starring Daniel Craig and no 007 would be complete without his game counter part. In these videos we see how TreyArch visited the movie sets as well as how they were able to capture the likenesses of all the actors. More videos after the jump.
Dungeons & Dragons-mongers Wizards of the Coast have come up with an uber-casual version of the venerable role playing game that just might make it worthwhile signing up for privacy-siphoning office time-sink that is Facebook.
Dungeons & Dragons: Tiny Adventures is a Facebook app that lets you create a character, equip them with potions and weapons and them set them off on a (hey!) Tiny Adventure.
Your character will send you regular updates from your chosen quest, and because FB is a Social Networking site you can ask your friends to buff them up by throwing potions and other kit your way. Success in the various game events is determined by dice rolls modified by your initial choices.
The game server is down at the moment due to heavy demand, but should soon rise again, stronger and more powerful than ever.
D&D Tiny Adventures [Facebook via Tor]
What we’d seen of Left 4 Dead at Games Convention, we’d mostly seen before. Just prior to E3, we played through the entirety of the game’s first scenario, a sprint to the roof of a hospital through a cluster of zombies, where the four survivors await evacuation by helicopter. And, should you be too lazy to check out our impressions from that gameplay session, we’ll just tell you it was tight, adrenaline pumping stuff.
There were only a few noticeable changes in the Games Convention build. It was our first look at the updated models and skins for the four playable characters, each given a new coat of paint to help further distinguish them from the hordes of undead.
But it was the new touches of detail — and the promise of more Left 4 Dead — that sparked our interest once again.
To get everyone ready for SPORE, EA has released this Galactic Edition trailer for all of you big spenders out there. The $US 80 edition will include a “Making of” DVD, a National Geographic DVD with the “How To Build A Better Being” segment, a foldout poster, 100 page “Galactic Handbook”, and a mini artbook. The game is due to be released September 7th so mark your calenders.
Okay, so Runes of Magic bears a passing resemblance to World of Warcraft. The original Taiwanese creators of the game were big fans of Blizzard’s MMO, so it makes sense that there would be some similar elements. Yes, the graphics, fonts, and interface all channel the wildly successful MMO, and sure, some of the character classes and abilities are very much like those you’d find on Azeroth. And yes, perhaps the first monster I saw taken down in the demo I attended this morning was a minotaur creature called a Tauren Patrolman. While at times it stretches the very limit of the word homage, Runes of Magic isn’t a WoW clone. If anything, it’s a game that seeks to harness the best elements of all MMORPG games into one, adding a few innovative new elements in the hopes of becoming one of the most compelling free-to-play online RPGs in existence.
Rather than focus on what’s similar to WoW, let’s take a look at where the game differs instead.
What do you buy for the Wii owner who has everything?
No, I mean who really has everything – like, there is literally no Wii-related consumer good that they do not own apart from the one you are going to buy them.
Can we cautiously recommend the Hori Remote Controller Pocket? It is a smalll cardboard box that you can put your WiiMote and Nunchuck in. It’s got ‘Wii’ written on the front in the correct font and everything. Er, that’s it.
Even the National Console Support store, who are the ones trying to sell the thing on import seem mystified. Observe their high-pressure sales technique:
Anyone can fashion a similar pouch from an empty tissue box, a wonton soup container, a paper bag, or the cardboard box that your GA-KO Alarm Clock arrived in. Sure it won’t look as nice as Hori’s rendition but the functionality is the same and the cardboard box is free.
Sure, it’s only $US 9, but there is a global recession on, for goodness’ sake!
Remote Controller Pocket [NCSX via Wonderland]
The XBLA port of Duke Nukem 3D is to include some new features intended to spice up the classic run ‘n’ gun ‘n’ make-sexist-pun gameplay.
First up is the ability to record and share video clips of multiplayer games and share them with other players via Live. This is, frankly, genius – multiplayer was always Duke 3D’s ace in the hole and the ability to record your friend’s humiliation for posterity is an excellent idea.
Secondly — and slightly bafflingly — the single player elements of the game will incorporate a ‘time rewinding’ mechanic that we assume will be like that found in Prince Of Persia – Sands Of Time or perhaps Braid. Whether this is intended to make the game a bit easier or just to allow you to replay a particularly explody battle is unclear. It sounds a bit unnecessary, but perhaps it will all make sense when we actually see it.
Duke Nukem 3D to feature saved films and rewind feature [Xboxic]
A few days ago we told you about FUEL, the new racing game Codemasters announced at Leipzig. Today you get to see what it looks like in all of its glory. It kind of has the Motorstorm feel to it, but with a really cool climate twist and an insane 5,000 square mile playing area.
