Scott Steinberg used to be a Sega man. Not anymore, though. He's a Sony man now. And don't you forget it. Yeah, I know, as a corporate exec he's trained - nay, expected - to beat the company drum, but in an interview with Next-Gen Steinberg goes beyond drumming. And the interview's all the better for it!

Third parties have started to move from the de facto 360 SDK. Of course people designed their next-gen games on it because that was the only one there. The PS3 shipped and so they said, 'let's port our 360 games to the PS3.' But now companies are recognising that 'hey, if I start on the PS3 and then port down to the 360, my 360 game is going to look better than if I had just designed it for the 360.'

[Microsoft] had a great crescendo moment with Halo and it helped catapult them into a pretty strong position towards the back end of last year, but they were still within a stone's throw of where they were with the original Xbox.

To me that speaks of a failure to broaden their reach beyond the core first person shooter player who was in their back pocket for Xbox. The question for us is 'are they really going after the PS2 demographic? Are they stealing share from us?' And the answer is no.

Certainly, you haven't forgotten admitted-cat-head-swallower Shoko Nakagawa. Besides being a popstar and a big cosplaying otaku, she also co-hosts Sunday morning cartoon show Pokémon Sunday! With nerd cred the inevitable shameful movie homage (NSFW) complete with Shokotan lookalike shouldn't be surprising. Here's what is: Another (yes, another) phony Shoko Nakagawa adult flick has been released. Okay, so? So! This one stars not one, not two, not three Shoko Nakagawa clones, but five. That's correct FIVE. And they appear on screen at the same time! It's like they're cleaving off each other or something. Hit the jump for a slightly safe-for-work screen cap of them sitting around and talking to each other. Creepy!

Last time I ever give the USK (Germany's classification board) any credit. German gaming site areagames is reporting that the Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle have refused EA's Army of Two classification, effectively banning the title from retail sale in the country. A quick search of the USK's website seems to confirm this, as the title doesn't turn up in classification searches (nor do other "banned" titles like Dead Rising). Anyone able to point out what makes this so different from the 1,943 "men with guns" games they've seen fit to OK over the past twelve months?
Army of Two nicht in Deutschland!? [areagames]

If not, go away. Best case, this will mean little to you, worst case, it's a major spoiler (hence the click-through). If you have, though... please, click right on through for some delightful artwork.

More data! CNN points out that according to the Entertainment Software Association, 38 percent of gamers are females and spend an average of 7.4 hours a week playing video games. What's more, they spend the rest of their time, doing other things. Not surprised! Sony Computer Entertainment's Torrie Dorrell points out:

Women are out there in significant numbers playing MMOs, action games, first-person shooters. What is lacking in the equation are women behind these games.

I'm sure that EA did OK at school. But just OK. Sure, they passed stuff like sports and marketing with flying colours, but other subjects were more of a struggle. Like geography. And history. Above is the back of the box for a Central European version of Army of Two. Says to register at EA Support you must be 13 or older in Hungary and...Czechoslovakia. Which hasn't existed since, oh, New Years Eve 1992. Way to keep up with current events, EA!
Army of Two w Polygamii! [Polygamia]

Today, State Parliament heard Attorney-General Michael Atkinson's arguments against an R18+ rating for video games.

Actually, that's not quite true. According to News.com.au, Atkinson was interrupted shortly after bringing up the use of drugs in the game Narc, which was refused classification back in 2005. However, News.com.au was able to get a hold of the full speech from his office.

If you haven't been following the saga, the R18+ rating for games will again be looked at during the next meeting of Attorneys-General, scheduled for later this month.

Unfortunately Atkinson is the AG for South Australia, and he's been against the rating since the beginning of time... possibly longer. His reasoning is, essentially, that every reasonable measure should be taken to prevent children from playing games containing adult content. Without the backing of every AG, there's no way the R18+ rating will be approved.

While noble, Atkinson's arguments against the rating are flawed.

We sure liked Resistance. It's a good game! So good that some people wish that they could take it will them on the bus and train and shoot-up aliens. That's be super! But is it going to happen? Insomniac Games bossman Ted Price says:

Sure. I think that's possible... I think Killzone demonstrated that it doesn't have to be a first-person shooter. I think Killzone: Liberation was a fantastic game, but a very different game from the original. Anything is possible.

As the headline states. If you're after impressions, it's the same demo we played at TGS. If you're after some news that will please prospective downloaders, it's this: the demo's not only got an English language track, but it's there for both the PS3 and PSP. Go!

The Atari opportunity is the best opportunity that exists in the industry today to redefine, re-focus and re-energise an incredible brand, an incredible group of people towards that networked future. Um, and to do it in a fun way.

Yesterday's online gaming poll, that was answered by mostly casual gamers, it seems. This post wasn't. Japanese game website Dengeki Online asked it readers two questions: "What is the best game you played during 2007?" and "What is the best game you ever played?" See, this is important stuff! Here's how the first question played out:

In the wake of big industry acquisitions and mergers like ActiBlizzard and the continuing EA/Take-Two dramas, Sega Sammy US chief executive Simon Jeffrey was asked by Reuters whether Sega were interested in getting in on any of that action:

That's not an area we want to play in right now. We have no interest in being acquired, we are very happy with our position right now.

This one is for a good cause. For the kids. Blog A Geek By Any Other Name was watching a fluff CNN piece about an Iraqi kids TV show. The clip showed how the show was a refuge from the war and let kids be, well, kids. Fair enough! Then guess who appeared? PHONEY FREAKAZOID PIKACHU! Yay!! A reporter interviewed one of the Iraqi kids who said that she really loved Pokémon. We bet she'd love the real ones even more.
Even Iraqi Kids Love Pokémon [a geek by any other name via Japanator]

Speaking earlier today at the - where else - Morgan Stanley Technology Conference, THQ boss Brian Farrell has said that while the Wii's been going gangbusters so far during this console generation, it doesn't have things sewn up just yet:

...the way we're thinking about this cycle from a high level is, the Wii at that lower price-point had a lot of momentum early in the cycle, but as Sony and Microsoft come down the price curve those two should accelerate, and there's a lot of firepower left in their arsenal...

p3ng has a special lady in his life. So special that, in January, the time had come to propose. Guy didn't want to do the standard dropping-to-one-knee thing, though, so he got a little clever: he hacked up a DS copy of Bejeweled and turned it into a cute little digital wedding proposal. Who can say no to that kind of effort? Not her, that's for sure.
A Nerdy Proposal Story (I'm Engaged!) [p3ng, thanks Sally!]

The first Saints Row did OK! Then again, it came out during a GTA drought, so had the market all to itself. This year, though...well, Saints Row 2 is going to have a tough time of it going up against the shiny new GTAIV. Are they worried it won't be competitive in the face of Rockstar's juggernaut? No. No they are not. A rep for developers Volition:

We wouldn't be releasing this year if we didn't think we could be competitive...The only thing I know about GTA is what I've read. From what I've read it seems like they're going in a more realistic direction. For us it's more about almost a hyper-realistic quality, over-the-top, all about these memorable moments.

Back in February, Valve said they've be splitting the PC version of The Orange Box up and releasing each of the titles separately at retail. They said they were going to do it in March. They're not. They're going to be doing it in April. April 9 to be precise, and while we still don't have any word on individual prices, picking up the entire HL2 saga in one box should be a bargain not to be missed.
Individual Orange Box games hit retail April 9 [Joystiq]

We wrote earlier today of the issues surround the Xbox 360 version of Bully: Scholarship Edition, hoping to get a statement from Rockstar Games on the status of either a fix or a replacement plan for those affected. For those not up to speed, the 360 port is reportedly plagued with freezing issues and audio glitches in addition to a less than solid frame rate. Rockstar issued a statement tonight, saying the staff was "devastated" to learn of the issues surrounding the Bully port, something they say didn't come up in the QA process.

Their full statement follows.

PC sales charts? Bloody useless. What good are sales charts when every second PC gamer just pirates games for nothing? Exactly. So Rock, Paper, Shotgun's Kieron Gillen has done a little digging through a single day's worth of downloads from BitTorrent site Mininova and come up with some charts that help show what many PC users are actually playing, if not buying.

Independent developer Dylan Fitterer's Audiosurf put a walloping on the rest of the Steam catalog last month, outselling everything else, in terms of dollars and units sold, Valve announced today. The IGF nominee was released mid-month, which makes the accomplishment even more impressive. We're sure that $US 9.95 price tag didn't hurt, but it sure sounds like there's money to be made for indies on Steam, something I'm sure the Valve marketing team wants to make sure everyone knows.

If losing weight balance training isn't your thing, and you find the idea of skiing fundamentally abhorrent, THQ might have a Wii Balance Boarding alternative for you: All-Star Cheerleading, a game they've got in development for the Wii. THQ boss Brian Farrell, speaking today at the Morgan Stanley Tech Conference, says it's "going right after girls", but I think he's underestimating the number of 20-something guys who own a copy of Bring It On.

With the demise of HD DVD, I imagine most retailers will be dumping what stock they have as quickly as possible to make way for boatloads of Blu-ray discs.

EzyDVD has decided the best way to empty its warehouses of HD DVD movies is to sell them for pennies. Those not being sold for pennies are being sold for Australian dollars.

Obviously, if you don't own an Xbox 360 HD DVD drive or a standalone player, this might as well be a garage sale for old Betamax tapes. However, if you do have the hardware in your possession, then Under Siege could be yours for less than a fiver!

HD DVD Price Crash [EzyDVD, thanks Gavan]

Capcom's announcement of Lost Planet: Colonies shouldn't be a surprise to anyone when it hits next week. The trademark was filed last Spring and the ESRB rating hit last month. Yesterday, the Achievements for the Xbox 360 expansion to Lost Planet: Extreme Condition were leaked, posted, then pulled by Xbox 360 Sync. They don't tell us too much about the game, other than that it would appear the game may have a serious multiplayer focus. We'll know soon enough.

Lost Planet: Colonies Achievements! [Pulled] [Xbox360Sync]

According to Morocco's Dune Films, Mike Newell's Prince of Persia film based on the popular video game series most recently in the hands of Ubisoft will be shooting in location in the Kingdom of Morocco, that sunny African country on the Northern Atlantic coast. Morocco is most famous for its largest city, Casablanca, the setting for a film of the same name that is doubtlessly 2,000 times than this one could ever hope to be. Casting and location scouting is set to begin on March 17th. So location is set, but still no cast. Anyone have any suggestions? I was thinking Santiago Cabrera (Isaac from Heroes) for the titular role, continuing Hollywood's long-standing tradition of hiring anyone but someone of the character's actual nationality. If Sean Connery can be Spanish, a Venezuelan can be Persian.

The US and Europe will have EA Montreal's co-op shooter Army of Two by the end of the week. As for Australia? We'll have to wait until this time next week.

So, if the chance to carry around your gun-toting mate on a forklift piques your interest, or other parts of your anatomy, and you own a Playstation 3 or Xbox 360, then Army of Two is probably worth a look. The PS3 box can be seen above, and the Xbox 360 art awaits after the jump.

If that's not enough, you can always check out our review.

Microsoft's latest version of its Windows operating system hasn't exactly been hailed as a boon to gamers, with early wonky driver support, a hit or miss Games Explorer and a handful of Vista-only releases that made little sense. But now that the OS has had time to mature, getting a few hotfixes under its belt, its more than serviceable. With Service Pack 1 coming this month, you may wonder if the big download and two hour install is worth sprinting to, rather than ambling toward.

Well, caricatures of famous people, but you can easily recognise them as Napoleon, Cleopatra and my dad.

I received this pleasant treat at a hands-on multiplayer preview of Civilization Revolution held today. Unfortunately I can't say much more about the preview as there's an embargo until the 10th, but be sure to tune in then for all the details.

I'm trying to organise a giveaway - just waiting for confirmation from 2K Games. There's also one more nice Civilization Revolution surprise to be revealed, and I'm hoping I can swing that today. A hint: It has to do with puppets.

Remember that horribly freakish Pikachu stand up? If not, his digital doppelganger is here to remind you what nightmares are made of. In this spoiler-filled clip of a hacked version of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the cast of the Wii fighter has their move sets swapped, resulting in some very odd animations and horrible disfigurements. For those who don't want to spoil themselves on many hidden characters, just re-imagine Brawl as if Chris Cunningham and Richard D. James had provided the game's direction and motion capture.

BrawlCentral's Videos [YouTube - thanks, Hanibal!]