To: Crecente
From: Bashcraft
RE: Guest Editors

Rad! I'm really looking forward to working with those folks as I respect their work. Hopefully that'll mean you can actually relax while you're on vacation and not check the site every five minutes. Hopefully.

When I first came to Japan a gazillion years ago, people really didn't celebrate Halloween. I mean, they had heard of it, but largely, it was a holiday foreigners (by foreigners, I mean Westerners) celebrated in Japan. This year, however, I really noticed that Japan was making a bigger deal out of Halloween, and some people seemed like they were getting into it.

Where does that leave the foreigners? Here, apparently — well some of them. A group of apparently drunk foreigners took over a Tokyo train car, got down to their skippies, climbed in the luggage rack, dirtied up the train carriage and did things like removed the lights. All this on a train that people use to get home, to their jobs, etc.

Sure, these folks just wanted to let loose, celebrate. It was the weekend before Halloween. And hey, Japanese people run amuck, too. When the Hanshin Tigers won the league championship, people vandalised things, got glorious drunk, jumped into the Dotombori River. The difference? Right or wrong, they are Japanese. This is their country — not that it gives them carte blanche. Shouldn't forget that we are guests here and that the Japanese government is actually very open about foreigners living here and working. Do I worry about events like this making my life more difficult here? Not really. Just feel bad for all those people who after a long day at work or w/e had to deal with that shit.

What you missed last night
Amazing Okami pumpkin and outfit
Rock Band's 360 USB dongle
All finalists are winners
Whoops! Capcom forgot something

Sick of the demo? Keen to get DX10ish goodies running on your Xp-runnin' PC? All good. Crysis just went gold. That's it! Expect no further changes to the promised product until you're inevitably forced to patch it 2 hours after picking your copy up on November 16.
Crysis Gold [GameDaily.biz]

Microsoft has lots and lots (and lots) of money. Shucks, Company CEO Steve Ballmer gargles with silver dollars and brushes his teeth with gold bricks every morning! So when it comes to promoting AAA Xbox 360 games like Halo 3, Microsoft does not fuck around. Microsoft doesn't even fuck around about fucking around. The company means business. Don't believe us? Reader Hendrik brings word from South Africa:

What does this show to you, you might ask? Well the area in the picture is a very broken down area. The train tracks aren't the same in the states or uk. Our "little" crime problem have made most of them damaged and stripped so no passengers will see the billboard. There isn't much car activity on the right or left side. The right side (of the photo) is blocked by trees or almost out of view range. The left side is a short road with only a few cargo trucks coming and going.

What does this tell us?
Microsoft wants cargo truck drivers to buy Halo 3 :D

South African truckers, great untapped video game market. Unresearched blanket advertising all around!

Website XboxFamily apparently has gotten up close and personal with the GTA IV box art. They are photos, too! Rockstart sent the site dummy Xbox 360 and PS3 boxes. There are currently three versions of box art, and Rockstar supposedly said there would be a fourth. No word what that will depict. They seem okay, but I prefer traditional GTA box art. That, or the simple GTA IV logo. These have me underwhelmed. Then again, what I was expecting?

Hit the jump for the other box art image.

Read More »

We had no idea there was a world record category for simultaneous DS playing. If we had, we'd have tried to set it. Internet fame counts for nothing against an appearance in a beer-sponsored trivia book! Alas, we did not, and this particular world record is now held by a bunch of Australian kids. 381, to be exact, who a couple of weeks ago in a Sydney shopping centre huddled inside a Nintendo-themed barricade in order to set the mark. Sadly they weren't all logged into the one Pictochat session, furiously sketching juvenile sexual taunts to each other; the record counts simply the number of people playing a DS "in one area at one time".
Nintendo Australia enters the record books [Nintendo Australia]

Capcom and Sony aren't exactly B.F.F. Former precieved exclusives like Devil May Cry 4 have gone multi-platform, while the next Monster Hunter game is sidestepping the PS3 for the Wii. Things are kinda prickly, it seems. Last week, Wii title Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure went on sale in Japan. (Did you get it?) A survey was included with the Japanese version that asked consumers what genre they like (RPG, Sports, Adventure, etc.) and what consoles they own. Let's take a closer look at that. Below is an English translation of the second to last bracket:

Read More »

Get a cuppa, we're going to be here for a while. We've got four European nations to get through this week: Britain, Germany, Spain AND Sweden. We don't want to spoil the surprises awaiting you after the jump, but as a tease, you can expect Zelda, and you can expect football. So much football, in fact, you could be forgiven for thinking Europe's big on the sport.

Britain (All-Format Charts)*

1. Pro Evo 2008
2. FIFA 08
3. Football Manager 08
4. Phantom Hourglass
5. Ratatouille
6. The Orange Box
7. Metroid Prime 3
8. Halo 3
9. High School Musical
10. Cooking Mama

Germany

1. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (DS)
2. Half-Life 2: The Orange Box (PC)
3. FIFA 08 (PS2)
4. The Settlers: Rise of an Empire (PC)
5. More Brain Training (DS)
6. Naruto Ultimate Ninja 2 (PC)
7. Brain Training (DS)
8. Pokemon Diamond (DS)
9. FIFA 08 (PC)
10. World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade (PC)

Spain

1. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (DS)
2. FIFA 08 (PS2)
3. Project Gotham Racing 4 (360)
4. FIFA 08 (PS3)
5. WWE SmackDown vs. Raw (PS2)
6. More Brain Training (DS)
7. MySims (DS)
8. Brain Training (DS)
9. FIFA 08 (PSP)
10. Pokemon Diamond (DS)

Sweden

1. Football Manager 2008 (PC)
2. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (DS)
3. Half-Life 2: The Orange Box (PC)
4. SingStar Swedish Hits Schlager (PS2)
5. Half-Life 2: The Orange Box (360)
6. World of Warcraft (PC)
7. World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade (PC)
8. Superman Returns (360)
9. Halo 3 (360)
10. Counter-Strike 1: Anthology (PC)

*NOTE: Britain's charts are from last week, the other three from two weeks ago. Which is why Pro Evo features in Britain's charts and not elsewhere.

[charts courtesy of GfK and ChartTrack]

Capcom announced today that Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition has shipped one million copies worldwide. The game went on sale in Japan back in May, while getting a June release in both North America and Europe. The Wii Edition offers a new take on RE4 with Wii-mote and Nunchuk compatible controls. Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition joins Dead Rising and Lost Planet as million shipped Capcom console games. The company's on a roll, no?

I've played the GameCube version of RE 4, so didn't pick up the Wii Edition. Do the new controls really justify a purchase?
RE4 Shipped Numbers [Famitsu]

Microtransaction pricing optimists, you may want to avert your eyes: the first DLC for the latest Tiger Woods on the 360 has just been announced. On offer is Doral's Blue Monster course. Which for the non-golfers among you is a single golf course. Asking price? 400 Microsoft points, or in people money, $US 5. Thanks, but no.
New course for Tiger 360 [Eurogamer]

The glowing orb speaks of itself. Let's hear what its creator ---___--__-_ - has to say:

i gotta say, seeing mario, zelda, master chief, toadstool, amaterasu from okami and others' likeness carved into big orange vegetables, I had to make a pumpkin creation with sonic's mug on it, mind you this is the sonic of old side scrolling style, not the abhoration of new school iterations, anyhow, thanks for making me excited about halloween again

That's what we do, make people Halloween kurazy. This isn't nearly as scary as the thought of Sonic losing to Mario in that Wii Olympics game. Thanks for the delightful pumpkin! We hope the folks at UK:R totally steal this amazing Sonic related non-news.

Europe loves Buzz! Loves SingStar, too. In fact, if it involves getting people together in the living room for some good times, Europe are generally all over it. America, though, not so much. Lots of hate for SingStar, and Buzz! has only just been released in the US (despite having been available in PAL territories for nearly two years). Why the disparity? David Amor, bos of Buzz! Developer Relentless, has an idea:

I have a feeling that games in America are more in the hands of the core gamer than in Europe. I think gaming has probably spread a bit more widely in Europe, compared with America, and maybe the gaming system in America is still more in the den then in the living room.

Think he's right, Americans? Are you trailing in Europe's cultural wake? Or has Amor gone and overlooked that Wii thing everyone seems to be talking about these days.
America's Ready to Buzz!, says Relentless Boss [Next-Gen]

This ad for Ubisoft's word game My Word Count teaches more than words. It teaches naughty baseball idioms, too! Just read:

Jim liked Sara. Sara liked Jim. Jim was saying all the right things and if he kept it up, it was turning out to be one ___________ night indeed.

Best part? This was in Nintendo Power.
Promotion [DS Fanboy via Infendo]

It's not "weighted". Sorry. But it is as heart-warming as the source material, will no doubt provide just as much (if not more) companionship owing to its cuddlier exterior and smaller stature and, most importantly of all, will burn up real nice.
Plushie Companion Cube [4Chan, thanks Kenneth!]

Boy, that Keita Takahashi is plum nutty! At Nottingham's GameCity, the always delightful Alice introduced him for a keynote he gave. Barefoot. Here are the highlights:

It would be impossible for us to be here... if the world was not peaceful. If there was heavy fighting or pollution in the cities could we talk about videogames like this? If you're suffering from poverty and disease could you worry about collecting coins? I don't think so.

Durr.

I don't know about the future but we will see more of the darker side of reality on the Earth. I'm not trying to be the next Al Gore but I'm not sure if we could afford to have videogames in ten or twenty year's time. I'm not saying that we don't need game events or games themselves, but in order to enjoy these events we should recycle rubbish... be friendly to your neighbors.

You are so trying to be the next Al Gore.

I might be being idealistic but I truly think so. Videogaming is good but it's also a luxury. You can't play videogames unless you are financially well off.

And go to a good school. Study ballet, too. Don't forget that! Continuing kooky quotes from Takahashi's word hole as the Nobi Nobi Boy publicity machine continues ramping up.

Keynote [GamesIndustry]

Over at The New York Times, Seth Schiesel has a great thought piece up. Not sure if it's intended to be a thought piece — it goes over the Manhunt 2 brouhaha and has a few quotes from Rockstar on it. That's not what makes the piece interesting. This is:

Just look at coverage of Halo, the top-selling science-fiction series that is akin to "Star Wars" in its level of made-up mayhem. In the mainstream media Halo is often described as a "violent space epic" or a "violent shoot-'em-up game." But when was the last time "Star Wars" was described as George Lucas's "violent space movie"? For that matter, when was the last time anyone referred to "The Sopranos" as a "shoot-'em-up television show," which at some level it was?

The answer to both questions is basically never, and that is because American culture has become so inured to violence in linear media that even the most heinous depictions of brutality go almost without comment.

So true, and for gamers, so sad.
Under Glare of Scruntiny [NY Times]

Impressed with the Ace Combat 6 contest finalists, Bandai Namco would like to give all finalist prizes. Yep! Every finalists gets something — plus, this semi-finalist who had several write-ins. Bandai Namco is sending us one more autograph picture, five faceplates and four hats. Everyone else gets nothing. We don't do this often, so don't ask next time unless you want to get up close and personal with the Ban Hammer. So, all you finalists and one semi-finalist, listen up: We need you to count up all the votes, plus the write-in votes. Send those to kotakucontestATgmailDOTcom. Those with the highest number of votes will get first dibs. And yes, we'll be comparing your calculations to ours. Congrats!

Man, those BAFTA awards were nutty. Games in the wrong category, games nominated that weren't even out yet...what a mess. Were the Golden Joysticks any better? We'd love to say "yes", but are going to instead bust out a resounding "no". Why? Because of the award's scheduling, the winners list reads exactly like a list of...the best games of 2006. Full list of winners after the jump, but know Gears of War and Guitar Hero II feature prominently.

Read More »

Granted, dressing up in funny costumes by yourself is fun. But it's so lonely and bittersweet. But cosplaying in a group, now that's almost as fun as a tickle party (and tickle parties are totally fun). Above the Team Fortress 2 Halloween cosplay. It's an orgy of amazing costumes! We're in awe.
Costumes this Halloween [Steam via Rock, Paper, Shotgun]

Are gamers today being denied the social love of good-old pen and paper role-playing games?

Maybe.

I only recently got back into the swing of things (and took some matters into my own hands), and I'm currently running a D&D 3.5 Edition game with a few mates every third Saturday or so.

Okay, that's a lie. We've had one session. But enthusiasm is super high.

There was the temptation, for a moment, to craft the campaign in something like NWN or NWN2, and do the whole thing online. And yes, it's social, but not the sort of social I, and indeed my mates, were looking for. There's something about scrawling hit points and gold piece counts on a slip of paper that no keyboard or mouse can replicate.

Of course, computers can keep track of all that annoying number stuff, like weapon bonuses and esoteric modifiers to saving throws. With the complicated mechanics hidden away, there's the potential to focus more on the story and characters.

Both have their pros and cons. I was once pretty sold on CRPGs, and I think there will be a point in the future where it can truly compete with PnP, but for now, the pen is mightier than the DWORD. I hope someone got that.

Now, I put the question to you: PnP RPG or computer RPG? Which do you think is superior and why?

PS. And yes, that is Firefly's Nathan Fillion with dice in hand, about to engage his warp drive into a nebula of hardcore nerdism.

Rock Band's going to be taking up a lot of room on a lot of people's living room floors. It's also going to be taking up a lot of USB ports on your console of choice. The PS3, it should be OK, it's got four USB ports already, but what about the 360? It's only got two, so if you're packing two guitars and a drum kit you're staring into the eyes of a problem. Enter ViPowER's USB adapter, which will ship with all 360 Rock Band bundles. Looks...functional. Bit of a pain that it's not powered through the 360, though. Also a shame it's not black and adorned with flaming skulls.
Check Out Rock Band's USB Hub [1UP]

Catchy lyrics and open box humping. This music video has it all! Comedian Andreé Meadows raps out the Wii's strong points — attempting to rhyme "Nintendo" with "Shigeru Miyamoto" was particularly inspired. Funny stuff.

May We Recommend "Chocolate Nerd" [BlackNerdComedy via BB Gadgets via Gizmodo]

You might want Assassin's Creed on Wii. You probably want a lot of things. And like a lot of those things (a Hindenburg replica, roller-skating helper monkeys), it's just not going to happen. Jade Raymond:

[A Wii version] would be possible, but it would need changes to the gameplay, like the DS version. But that just wouldn't be the same experience. Unfortunately, the Wii just doesn't have the same performance as the PS3 and 360.

It's OK, Jade, we knew that. Altair craves high-quality textures, not super-imposed wiggle controls. You don't have to let us down so gently.
Interview mit Jade Raymond [Gamers Spirit, thanks MDawg!]

Above, what could well be pumpkin of the year. Yes, the fact it's Okami helps, but the shading, the pose, oh, it's all so delightful. On any day of the week, this alone would be enough to win our hearts. Today, though, is not any day of the week. Today, Kotakuite Fatkraken went that extra mile.

We're so far beyond turned on it's a little scary.

Over the past weekend in Ciudad, Mexico, famous wrestler El Hijo del Santo put in an appearance for a round of FIFA 2008 at the 5th annual Electronic Game Show and faced off against Mexican goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa. Forget the lucha libre mask, just look at that pinstripe suit. It's spectacular!
Electronic Game Show [Medio Tiempo via Insert Credit]

Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Hannukah and Christmas are just weeks away, meaning the currently Wii-less are soon going to face hordes of desperate parents and grandparents in addition to low stock from Nintendo and Super Mario Galaxy availability. Pretty soon, everyone will be hunting for a new waggle box to place under the Christmas tree or... next to the Jewish thing. I've seen more Wii at retail than ever—actually, for the first time ever at a recent trip to Target—but we hear that Amazon will be releasing its recent shipment of Wii Sports playing consoles to internet shoppers this Wednesday. The internet doors open at 10 AM Pacific and I suspect they'll go fast. Consider yourself warned. You might want to do your friends a solid and pass this on. Good luck!

Amazon Video Games

To: Ash
From: Crecente
Re: Did You Play with Toy Robots?

Since I'm going to be vacationing in Australia for three weeks, I thought it might be fun to fill up that time, all of those empty slots, with guest editors. Guest editors are something that have a long tradition on other Gawker sites but something we've never done here on Kotaku, so I thought, "why not?"

After thinking about what sort of person I'd like to be posting on the site in my place, I came up with my own dream team. And when I approached the three, they all agreed, despite having incredibly hectic lives. So for the first week Geoff Keighley, of Game Head fame, will be posting on Kotaku, helping to keep the good tower tidy and even writing you his very own Day Notes. Week two will be in the hands of long time Kotaku friend and incredibly brainy Ian Bogost. Bogost, a professor at Georgia Tech, author of several books on serious gaming and one-time guest of the Colbert Report, should bring an interesting, and academic tone to his posts. Finally, the third week will be in the always charming hands of Gamasutra's Simon Carless. Besides once running Slashdot Games, he's also the guy most responsible for getting me hooked on Indie Games and helped me figure out which title to use in our practice run of the Game Club. (An idea I promise is not dead, just molting.)

I am overwhelmed that all three of these talented writers and gaming thinkers were willing to make the time to sit in the tower and keep things moving. It should be a blast. My only regret is that I won't be around to read their stuff.

What you missed:
Simpsons' Writers Go Off on Rockstar
Smiley Face Game Makes Smiley Face Gamers
Commenting Borked
Barbarians at the Game

If the thought of another arcade-style shooter coming to the digital distribution network of your choice hasn't set your eyes to rolling, you may be thrilled to learn that Mutant Storm Empire, the sequel to Mutant Storm Reloaded, is this week's Xbox Live Arcade game. It hits Xbox 360s on Halloween, leaning more toward sci-fi than this week's horrific Virtual Console update. It's 800 Microsoft Points, features online co-op and hits at 9 AM GMT.

Microsoft also gives us a look at what's on deck for XBLA in "the coming weeks", including N+, Switchball and Undertow. More information at the official media alert.

Get Your Freak On With Xbox LIVE Arcade This Week [Gamerscore Blog]

1UP's Jenn Frank was lucky enough to have come into possession of one of the wildest, wackiest animation moments from the 80s. It was a heady time, one that saw the genre cleansing of former arcade mainstay pinball viciously brutalised by video games. There are no words that could do justice to this animated battle between wannabe Space Invaders and not quote The Bride of Pinbot. Could've used a more metal soundtrack, but it's worth a watch regardless. Frank reveals more about the documentary from whence this came in her latest 1UP blog entry.

Arcade Attack: More '80s Than You Can Handle [1UP]

This week's release of Manhunt 2 is sure to generate a great deal of noise. It will foster unintelligent debate between basic cable's talking heads, turn thousands of young boys and girls into degenerates and maybe, just maybe, be enjoyed by a handful of gamers. MTV's Stephen Totilo sat down with the game's producer, Jeronimo "Seriously" Barrera, to talk more about the splatterfest, leading to some interesting responses on a future multiplayer Manhunt and the possibility of an AO-rated version for the laissez-faire platform, the PC.

When asked about the Manhunt franchise evolving into something more than a single-player affair, Barrera said "That's a very interesting question. ... Who knows where the 'Manhunt' series is going to go?", adding that the potential "warrants some exploring on our part for sure." Yep, for sure.

But when probed for a possible "director's cut" release of Manhunt 2 in its original, un-mucked with form. the Rockstar Games producer sounding less promising, replying "we have no announcements to make." I'll just pretend he again said "Who knows where the 'Manhunt' series is going to go?" but certainly won't count on it.

'Manhunt 2' Developer Finally Talks About Game, Ratings Controversy -- Much As It Pains Him [MTV News]

When Keita Takahashi isn't predicting an impending apocalypse or warning of destructive climate change, he's making video games, a job he seems to hate. He also hates Katamari Damacy, saying he's "sick of it." Also worthy of Takahashi's bile? Multiple console manufacturers! His numerous flights of fancy include one that sees a single console future, where Nintendo PlayBoxes (or whatever!) are a thing of the past. Instead, shift power to developers and pass the savings on to consumers.

He tells Gamespot:

In an ideal world, I want to see only one major console being retailed on the market, and everyone actually making games for just one console, and bring the price of that console down from what the three currently cost right now.

Ah utopia! So which console wins the bloody war? Is it the PlayStation 3, "exclusive" home to Nobi Nobi Boy? Nope, the game designer envisions a totally new console, something that can shake up the industry. There's plenty more fantasy where that came from at his Q&A.

Q&A: Katamari Damacy director Keita Takahashi [Gamespot]

Forums on GameSpot and the official Guitar Hero site are getting hit with a number of complaints about faulty Guitar Hero III controllers. Apparently some of the buttons will flake out over time with some controllers. It seems that a lot of gamers suspect that the guitar's detachable neck is to blame.

There's a lot of speculation so far, but no official word from Activision or RedOctane, which is unfortunate. I contacted the company this morning for a comment and they've yet to get back to me. We'll update or do another post once we hear some sort of official word. What about you, have you had any problems? The 360 I demoed with was fine and the Wii guitar had a momentary problem but seems fine again.

Guitar Hero III: Problems with the Detachable Neck [Law of the Game]

The finalists in the Doritos Unlock Xbox challenge have already been chosen, but now it's time to vote for the best snack-filled advergame from the lucky finalists. Five independently produced games have been given the beta treatment, Doritos Dash of Destruction, Monkeys From Mt. Doritos, Ultimate Dodgeball Champions, PB's Quest For Flavor and Rhythum [sic] Racing, and are now playable online, granted that you have some plug-in that looks like a lonely puzzle piece to Mac OSX. I'm sure they're all fine additions to the Xbox Live Arcade library, but I'm assuming one is nacho cheesier than the rest. You'll have to decide which of the five advertising vehicles is right for you.

Doritos Presents Unlock Xbox

Previously, we were a little unsure on Ghost Squad. Now? Totally keen for it. Games that feature dolphin guns, banana kills and fisticuffs with barely-clothed ladies don't exactly come around every day, you know.

If you're looking to give your PC a bit of a jolt in the 3D accelerator department because you can only play Crysis on "Looks like arse" mode, don't buy anything just yet.

NVIDIA's just released the 8800GT, which is essentially a refresh of G80, the main chip that powers the current range of GTX and GTS cards. The new hardware in the 8800GT, dubbed "G92", comes complete with a die shrink to 65nm, which means less heat and faster clocks. In fact, the GPU and RAM run faster than the top-of-the-line GTX.

Early benchmarks show the card coming very close to the performance of the GTX, which is pretty impressive for a refresh. Price-wise, 8800GT cards will be cheaper than the GTS (and about 1/3 the cost of a GTX), making the card even more tempting a purchase. Over in the US, cards are retailing for about $US 200-250.

There's nothing on the Oz market just yet, but give it a few weeks and they should start appearing.

UPDATE: Scratch that, a few eagle-eyed readers have spotted stock in the following places:
PLE
Aus PC Market

Going rate seems to be $350-400, which reeks of that awesome kind of madness.

NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT: The Only Card That Matters [AnandTech]

From what I can see from this post over at Crysis-Online.com, you don't need Windows Vista and Direct3D 10 to get all those gorgeous effects that are supposed to be "exclusive" to the new API. Windows XP and Direct3D 9 appear to cope with it fine, and even boast better performance.

My home PC is still out of commission (waiting for a new motherboard now), so I can't test the legitimacy of this, but it looks kosher. Keep in mind this is not a hack to get Direct3D 10 working on Windows XP, just to get Crysis pumping out D3D 10-like graphics in D3D 9.

Crysis was meant to sell Vista to gamers. Seems it's not the killer app we thought it was.

The details of the tweak after the jump.

DX 10 Features in Windows XP - MUST SEE [Crysis-Online.com]

Read More »

This is the last day we'll be accepting entries for the Assassin's Creed Xbox 360 faceplate competition, so if you haven't already sent your awesome Altair pick-up line to tips@kotaku.com.au, do it now!

To refresh your memory of the details:

Ten Assassin's Creed faceplates to be won, thanks to Ubisoft

To enter, come up with a sexy line Altair might unload on some unsuspecting ladies, and send it in to our tips email address (see above).

You may submit as many lines as you want, just try to keep them all in the same email

You don't need to submit your mailing address with your entry. We'll ask you for it if you win

The competition is only open to residents of Australia and New Zealand

Winners will be announced tomorrow! Make sure one of them is you!

Our service provider decided it'd be a great idea to reboot the Kotaku AU servers without warning. It probably sounded like a pretty fun idea at the time.

The flow-on effects did some bizarre stuff to the back end and stopped us from updating the site. Everything is relatively back to normal now, but I had to switch from IE7 to Opera to get things done. Go figure.

Sony Predicts Games Unit Losses Will Double
Will Sony be able to pull this one back? Guess it depends on Blu-ray.

Peter Jackson Still Fighting For Halo Movie
If anyone can do it, Peter Jackson can. Go you sexy Kiwi!

Ceramic White PS3 on Display
Look, it really is white!

EA Not Planning SKATE DLC
So SKATE is just, well, SKATE. Make the most of it.

Namco Bandai revealed Keita Takahashi's follow up to We Love Katamari earlier this year, giving us the title Nobi Nobi Boy, a handful of screen shots and some regrettable photos of execs holding what appeared to be a co-op dildo. This past weekend, Takahashi himself publicly played the game—more prototype than not, at this point—giving attendees of the Nottingham based event GameCity a taste of what to expect. So what is it? We, and maybe even Takahashi, aren't quite sure yet. The PlayStation 3 game's focus on stretching hasn't clicked as a gameplay concept yet, but it sure looks interesting.

In the best quality video of the display, unsurprisingly at Gamersyde, we're shown a controllable trio of Boys, amid scattered livestock and pets, simply bumbling about. The titular characters are shown stretched out, playing with animals, safely ingesting and passing them, floating through the air, all with a distinctive, attractive style. The game's emphasis on physics is apparent, but the objective escapes us.

I recommend taking a look at the Gamersyde hosted clip, if only for a fun personal game session of How The Hell Is This Going To Work.

Nobi Nobi Boy presentation video [Gamersyde]

I know I promised, super-duper promised, pinky-swore in fact, that I wouldn't post another Halo Helmet story... but I am, apparently, a big, fat liar.

I had to, just had to post this because MTV was calling us names, and I can't let that go by without pointing my finger and mocking them. While I know Totilo's post about how we "stole" their Halo helmet idea is a joke, I feel it necessary to point out that we actually were working on the idea first. And besides, it's not my fault you couldn't get your intern on the ball to make the helmet already!

To be fair, Totilo forced his poor intern to not only create a helmet with Krazy glue, assuring that she will spend Halloween in a glue-huffing haze, but he also made her document the 27-step process using a camera that actually focuses on things.

Oh and she removed the gold visor, something that obviously she realised she had to do by totally watching our tutorial.

More 'Halo' Costume Drama -- The Helmet Is Conquered In 27 Photographed Steps [Multiplayer]

Itching to rub elbows with game developers? Want to socialize with other gamers who are also wearing a brightly coloured GDC 2008 T-shirt? Does eavesdropping on the "Procedural Data Generation In Far Cry 2" session sound like your idea of a fun Tuesday? Then you may want to consider volunteering as a conference associate for next year's Game Developers Conference. You'll secure yourself an All Access level pass to the con if you put in 20 hours worth of grunt work, plus a brief training sesh, the details of which are specified at the official site.

GDC 2008 takes place February 18 to the 22 in San Francisco's Moscone Center and is sure to make for a memorable time in your life, should you answer the volunteer call.

Conference Associates Registration 2008 [Game Developers Conference - thanks, Terry!]

We're running out of new creative ways to play Tetris, thanks to the Park To Play project from Thijs Eerens, Michiel Waaijer and Joey van Dijk. It couldn't be more straightforward. You use your little European car as a joystick, aligning a never ending torrent of shapes with the steering wheel, or growing tired of the ages old game and moving on to other car-controlled titles like Space Invaders, Pong or Flatout. Clip via Make.