Cheapy's Site [CAG]

Sony showed a few games off at GDC, but one they didn't "show off" was MotorStorm 2. That one was reserved for the BBC, apparently, as only the Beeb's Darren Waters got a premiere showing of Evolution's upcoming racer. The sequel to 2006's launch favourite is leaving the desert behind, and will instead concentrate on a "lush island environment, full of interactive vegetation". More importantly - for both haters of exotic flora and PS3-owning Mario Kart enthusiasts - the game will feature 4-player split-screen racing, so you and three friends can party like it's 2002.
PlayStation bounces back [BBC] [Image]

Poor CryENGINE 2. It didn't get enough hugs as a child, and now it's got some serious insecurity issues. It's always trying to show us how much better it is than real life. Trees, shacks, whatever, if it's real, CryENGINE 2 wants us to know that it can't just do real, it can do real better than real. Latest example: that Bravia commercial with the bouncing balls. CryENGINE 2 can so do that.

This. Is. Insane. Rumour has it Phil Harrison is leaving Sony to join, you might want to sit down, Atari. Yes, Atari. That Atari.

...

Apparently, Phil Harrison is joining forces with ex-EA exec and current Atari honcho David Gardner to make the beleaguered company less crappy. Previously, Gardner said:

My goal is to help rebuild that passion around the company. First, with the employees and then very quickly to spread it virally on the internet to millions of new customers. I have a personal challenge to create a world-class company that is European in flavor but reaches global markets.

This will take some time of course, but here we have fantastic gaming DNA formed at the birth of the industry, access to creative talent and a company with the working capital to make the necessary investments to realise this vision.

Yeah, Valve are Top Dog when it comes to quality PC games, but on consoles? Not so big. Sure, they've been bringing their games to the PlayStations and Xboxs for years now, but a lot of those have been either sloppy ports or a job handed to an outside developer. The Wii, though, well, the Wii presents a different opportunity altogether. One that Valve are both aware of and obviously thinking about:

If Valve were to develop in-house for another format, it would be the Wii. It's growing, there's already a huge user-base, and it's fun. Source is really scaleable. We can do that.

Phil Harrison, President of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios (SCE WWS) will resign on February 29th. Harrison has been with Sony since 1992, when he joined Sony Electronics Publishing. That Sony branch later evolved into Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. Says Harrison:

The past 15 years at Sony Computer Entertainment has been the defining journey of my life so far. I am grateful to all the PlayStation family for their incredible support, guidance and friendship. It has been a privilege to serve as part of the team and be inspired by them on a daily basis. I am so proud of everything PlayStation has achieved and will continue to support its future in every way I can.

A little while ago, the Shenzhen Nanjing Technology Company released Final Fantasy VII. On the NES. Totally unofficially, of course, but also totally, officially awesome. Sure, the game eschews Chocobo racing, limit breaks and even Yuffie and Vincent, but this being a NES cart, casualties are to be expected. What does make it in there are the other six characters and almost the entire main storyline of the multi-disc PlayStation epic, an achievement I have no hesitation in labelling Herculean. Since you'll never own nor play this, you can check out some screens here, with well over 100 more at the link below.

Over the weekend, garage kit convention Tokyo Wonder Festival kicked off. Cosplayers came in droves, dressing up as everything from Haruhi Suzumiya to Lucky Star or from Haruhi Suzumiya to Dead or Alive's Kasumi or from Haurhi Suzumiya to Nazis. Always marvel at folks who think dressing up as genocidal killers is a good idea. (Hey, maybe they're getting ready for Indy 4! Oh, wait...) Click through the gallery below for pics.

Top Ten List [Jyouhouya]

This is the Fly Mobile MC100. It's a pretty standard phone from a phone company I've never heard of. Which should make it utterly unremarkable. It's got one thing going for it, though - comprehensive and most probably completely unlicensed support for the NES, SNES, Game Boy and Game Boy Colour. I say probably unlicensed because all Fly will say is that, to play the games on the handset, you can just download them "freely" from the internet and bung them on your phone. Which I'm sure Nintendo's lawyers are totally cool with.
Nintendo games available on a mobile phone [Pocketgamer]

Now that the Nintendo DS has a naughty game, it's the Wii's turn! Dubbed Osouji Sentai Clean Kuri—n Ki-pa- ("Cleaning Squadron Clean Keeper"), the game has players clean a high school in heaven that's been polluted by the "Filth Devil." According to Famitsu, winning in-game battles gives players lewd "reward CG." We seriously doubt that it will be pornography (the game hasn't yet been rated), but the screens do look rather risqué. Shudder at the bad Wii puns this game will spawn!

Hooray! Put on those smiles, Ban Monday has finally arrived! While we don't have any problem banning on regular days, we turn up the Ban Hammer sensitivity to MAXIMUM on Ban Monday. For those who don't know, here's how it's gonna go down: Send us the commenter page for anyone that should get the axe. No, wait. Send it to Witzbold! That's his job. You can put in your request at commentsATkotakuDOTcom. No ban gloating. Gloating leads to Ban Hammer backfire, which could cause you to get the boot. And that would be very embarrassing. We'll be back to normal on Tuesday, lighter, faster and better. Hope to see you on the other side.

Hopefully you didn't miss the Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness competition we ran over the last couple of weeks. Before you get all worked up, it ended last Wednesday.

As such, we took some time over the weekend to peruse the entries and select five winners. Four of these will take home a copy of Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness. The top of the bunch will receive a lovely new PSP Slim and a copy of the game.

The competition demanded creativity. It taxed the edges of your imagination. It asked, somewhat kindly, for you to craft something epic.

And craft you did.

Judging these was rough as hell. It's hard looking at art people have poured a lot of time and effort into, knowing you can only pick five of them to reward. So, if you sent an entry in, you'd be well advised to hold your breath before hitting the jump.

Just remember to let it go at some point.

Big props to KEOI and THQ for making the whole thing possible.

To: Ash and Luke
From: Flynn
Subject: GDC Hangover

Ahoy gents! I hope you've had a great week. Mine was rather grueling what with GDC and all. I wish I could say my GDC hangover was from going to parties but it was really more from exhaustion coming right on the heels of last week's flu. Still, GDC was a blast and I got to see some pretty cool stuff including Lucas Arts Studio which was somewhere I've always wanted to visit.

Some things you might have missed this weekend:

Microsoft announced that they will no longer be making Xbox 360 HD-DVD players

EA wants to buy Take-2. Take-2 doesn't want to be bought.

if you steal someones virtual gold, is it a real theft?

And now I am off to play some more Patapon. Those little singing guys sure are addictive. I'm also going to finally see what all the hub-bub is about this Portal thing that all the kids are always talking about. Hope you have a great week and we'll see you next time. Goodnight!

Quite a few titles out this week but I only have eyes and ears for one game... Patapon. I'll also be checking out Lost Planet on my PS3 if i can manage to tear myself away from my little rhythmic friends. What's on your list this week?

Patapon (PSP)
Action plus rhythm plus great art style equals awesome.

Frontlines: Fuel of War (X360, PC)
Battle for control of the earth's depleted natural resources.

Lost: Via Domus (X360, PC, PS3)
Solve the mysteries of the island.

Turning Point: Fall of Liberty (X360, PC, PS3)
The Nazi's won WWII and boy are we in trouble.

Naruto: Ninja Destiny (DS)
A Naruto 3D fighter for your DS

The Sims 2: FreeTime (PC)
Exactly what the Sims need. More free time. Bastards.

Lost Planet: Extreme Condition (PS3)
The world of giant bugs comes to the PS3.

Destroy All Humans! Big Willy Unleashed (WII)
Aliens and penis jokes: a winning combination.

Mazes of Fate DS (DS)
Determine your fate in this RPG with mazes.

Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None (WII)
Live (or die) through Agatha Christie's greatest mystery.

ArmA: Gold Edition (PC)
ArmA: Armed Assault and ArmA: Queen's Gambit together again for the first time.

Heavenly Guardian (PS2)
Animated 2D shooter action.

Puzzle Guzzle (PSP)
Guzzle this puzzle!

Last week, 2K Games announced the US release date for Civilization Revolution on Xbox 360, PS3 and DS. In case you missed it, it was June 3.

So, should Australia and New Zealand expect a mammoth release delay? No, not at all! The local 2K Games branch has informed us that Oceania will receive the game just a few days after the US on June 6. that's plenty of time to, say, read some hands-on impressions.

Now, if only all games could be released in all regions within days of each other...

I am always glad to hear another Ratchet and Clank is coming down the pike. I loved Size Matters and still think it's one of the best looking games on the PSP. Hopefully, this one can live up to it.

This time around, Clank gets the titular role as he sets out to rescue his good friend Ratchet from his fate in prison. What did Ratchet do to land in such hot water? Watch and find out! Make the jump for a little bit of gameplay as well.

Next month, the Australian government will again discuss the necessity for an R18+ rating for video games, according to a story over a the SMH. The article states that the SCAG, or Standing Committee of Attorneys-General, will toss the issue around at its next meeting on March 28.

This fact was confirmed by a spokesperson for Bob Debus, the Minister for Home Affairs.

Note that this means the issue will be debated, not that an R rating will definitely be implemented. So keep the corks on your champagne bottles folks, at least for now.

Last year Activision had its fair share of difficulties with the OFLC when Soldier of Fortune: Payback was refused classification. Of course, Activision revised the game to remove the offending elements, and the new build was subsequently given the okay. Good news, right? Not really, seeing as the whole point of the game was its ridiculous amounts of blood and dismemberment.

All I can say is if the rating does get the nod - it's about bloody time.

R-rated games may be on shelves soon [SMH.com.au, thanks to everyone who sent in a tip!]

Not precisely a game, but there has been talk lately of physics (and science in general) in games, and this is a neat little program that's fun to spend a while playing with. It's still in beta and has the requisite bugs you might expect, but here's what the creator has to say about it:

Phun is a Master of Science Theises by Computing Science student Emil Ernerfeldt for supervisor Kenneth Bodin at VRLab, Umeå University. The solver is based on work by Claude Lacoursière

Phun is meant to be a playground where people can be creative. It can also be used as an educational tool to learn about physics concepts such as restitution and friction.

You can snag the download (Windows only for now, but an OSX version is apparently on its way) at the Phun website, where there's more information. There's also a thread going over at the GameDev.com forums.

EA Makes Offer to Buy Take 2
First Bioware and Pandemic, and now a publisher. Boy, EA sure does love to spend money.

New WipEout HD Screens
Because if there's anything better than Wipeout, it's Wipeout in high-def.

Microsoft Kills Xbox 360 HD-DVD Player
I guess Microsoft caught on to the fact that even at $US 50, people aren't going to buy something they'll never use.

Kotaku Originals: From GDC to RIP HD-DVD
Another massive load of original stories from Kotaku.

Activision Now Offering Refunds For GH III Wii
Feels good to do the right thing, doesn't it?

So EA wants to buy Take-Two Interactive, to the tune of $US 2 billion, and while to a certain degree I agree with EA's CEO John Riccitiello - this would be a major win for Take-Two stockholders, who've hung on for a rather bumpy ride over the past few years, I'm not sure how good it would be to the people who really matter to us here at Kotaku - the gamers. I thought I would take a look at the pros and cons of such a massive purchase, and then let you folks discuss it a bit as well. Imagine a squiggly, screen-distorting dream sequence effect here as we ponder the question, "What if Take-Two agreed to an EA buyout?"

The Take-Two Board of Directors has released a long (long) response explaining why they have rejected EA's acquisition proposal. In short, they think EA's undervaluing Take-Two's worth. Included with the press release are several pieces of correspondence between the two companies regarding this proposed acquisition. Hit the jump for the full text from the Take-Two investor relations site:

I just got off the phone with Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello who called to talk about the back-and-forth going on right now between Take-Two and EA over Riccitiello's multi-billion dollar offer for the company.

I also, coincidentally, received Take-Two's comments on the whole, now-public, affair while on the phone with Riccitello. While the two seem to match up on the basic facts, their final analysis don't.

Up from the terrifying depths of 4chan comes this terrific Professor Layton desktop. No don't worry, I didn't sully my hands raking through the 4chan muck. Thankfully the BBPS' Dan Zuccarelli has done all the work so all we have to do is enjoy it. Thanks Dan! Also thanks to the unnamed 4chan poster who create this so we can carry the wonder and magic of St. Mystere with us wherever computers are found.

Professor Layton Desktop at full size [the bbps]

A wildly amusing set of three stress tests on the PS3, Xbox 360, and Wiimote: how well do they hold up to gamer temper tantrums? The 'researchers' over at Insult Swordfighting set up rage-inducing scenarios, flung controllers, and looked at how both aesthetics and performance were impacted. An example? The SIXAXIS didn't fare so well after being hurled "in a shallow downward motion, simulating disgust and frustration":

According to MetaCritic, the soon to be released God of War: Chains of Olympus is already garnering high enough review scores to take the top PSP game spot surpassing long time record holder, Lumines. The current ranking is based on seven reviews and currently is averaging 94 out of 100. Of course this could change once more review scores are added to the average, but for now, Kratos is on top before he even hits the store shelves. From everything I have seen and played of this game, it well deserves its scores and will probably go on to become a PSP system seller for many.

[Thanks, Cadaverine]

NCSX is now taking pre-orders for these lovely Space Invaders 30th anniversary bath towels; if you've been waiting to complete that retro game-themed bathroom, here's your chance. Orders will be shipping in mid-to-late June, and are retailing at $US 19.90 a pop.

Space Invaders 30th Anniversary Bath Towel [NCSX via Bits Bytes Pixels Sprites]

I am an obsessive collector of action figures, but during my time as a transient I stopped purchasing things due to lack of funds and shelves to put them on. Now that I am back in the land of the apartment dwellers, my interest in little plastic men has been renewed with this awesome DMC III Dante Revoltech figure. When I was in Tokyo I found an early Dante Revoltech figure at a store but unfortunately it was only on display. They had no actual one for sale and despite the efforts of myself, Witzbold and Cheapy D, we were unable to find one anywhere. Well now it seems a new version is coming out that I will be able to get my hands on come March.

I've got a couple of game related books on my 'someday, someday I'll have time to read these' book list, and I've just added a new one after seeing a post on Grand Text Auto: Jeff Howard's Quests:
Design, Theory, and History in Games and Narratives. While "each theoretical section is followed by a practical section that contains exercises using the Neverwinter Nights Aurora Toolset," something I'll never be using, the meat of the text sounds really interesting, blending literature and game design. Says Nick Montfort, an assistant professor at MIT:

Electronic Arts just called me to let me know that they are making a bid to acquire Take-Two Interactive in an all-cash merger of about $US 2 billion.

The offer set Take-Two's stock at $US 26 per a share, about 64 percent over the company's closing stock price prior to the company's Feb. 15 offer.

Take-Two's board rejected the offer, leading Electronic Arts to make their offer public to the company's shareholders.

In the letter, attached in the jump, EA CEO John Riccitiello tells Take-Two's Stauss Zelnick that the buy-out would help both the company and its stock holders:

Our all-cash proposal is a unique opportunity for Take-Two shareholders to realise immediate value at a substantial premium, while creating long-term value for EA shareholders. Take-Two's game designers would also benefit from EA's financial resources, stable, game-focused management team, and strong global publishing capabilities. ... There can be no certainty that in the future EA or any other buyer would pay the same high premium we are offering today.

Specifically, the letter mentions that EA could really help out with the launch of GTA IV. Hit the jump for the full letter and check back later to read our interview with Riccitiello.

Updates:
EA CEO/ Take-Two Chairman Talk Take Over Bid
The Take-Two Letters: EA Rejected