Back in February, we brought word of the Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li movie cast. It went something like this: Michael Clarke Duncan ("Balrog"), Chris Klein ("Charlie Nash"), Rick Yune (Chun-Li's trainer) and Kristin Kreuk ("Chun Li"). While we also knew that the Black Eyed Peas' Taboo would be joining the cast, we didn't know which role he'd be taking. Today, Capcom announced that Taboo will be "Vega", and Neal McDonough (pictured) will play "M. Bison". The movie will be out in 2009.
Cast Confirmed [VideoGamer.com] [Pic]

Ah, yes. Timed "exclusives". Originally, Ubisoft's Haze was scheduled for the PS3, the Xbox 360 and the PC. Then! It was slated as a PS3 exclusive. What does that mean? According to a Ubisoft spokesperson, Haze is:

While the choice of hosts is...regrettable, those able to withstand the obtrusive chit-chat may see instances in this video where console RTS EndWar's much-hyped speech command system actually works. There aren't many of them, but those precious few there are, well, they're enough to give you the chills. After all, real generals don't tap buttons on a controller, they say stuff, and stuff gets done.

Quick! If you go go on an innocuous adventure with any celebrity, who would it be? If you lived in Japan, odds are, you'd say you'd want to escape with cat-head swallowing otaku celebrity Shoko Nakagawa. According to research site Oricon Life, Shokotan was the number choice for the 900 men and women surveyed. Hit the jump for the breakdown. Japanese celebrities ahead!

Man, losing is hard. Not only that, it's expensive. Back in February, Toshiba pulled the plug on its HD DVD, thereby ending the format war. That, along with the falling price of flash memory chips, means that profits are expected to drop 125 billion yen, compared to the 137.4 billion yen profit it recorded last year. The decision to stop making HD DVD players alone will cost Toshiba 65 billion yen. That's $US 666 million dollars. 666? That's certainly an omen!
HD DVD Defeat [BBC]

Tisk, tisk, Nintendo. You've done and pissed off the treehuggers again. Last year, Greenpeace released its sixth "Guide to Greener Electronics", which grades electronics makers on how environmentally sound their manufacturing and recycling processes are. It was the first time game consoles were included. Out of the three console companies, Sony came out on top with a 7.3/10 score. Microsoft posted a laughable 2.7/10. Ha. Ha. Ha. Nintendo was the absolute lowest with a 0/10. A first for the Greenpeace guide. Congrats, Nintendo.

Hinge cracks aside, things the DS Lite can survive: Being put in a bag with keys and shaken, being dropped on the floor, being tossed from a motorbike, being thrown down the stairs, getting hot tea poured on it, falling two floors. Things the DS Lite cannot survive: Falling three stories, being thrown against the wall and being ripped to pieces. Website Broken Reivew put the DS Lite through a battery of tests, coming to this conclusion: TK. So, remember, it's okay to chuck your DS Lite from a moving vehicle, but don't try ripping it apart. That fucks 'em up.

Dead or Alive creator Tomonobu Itagaki is back with another masterclass in bad arsery! When asked what advice he'd give to young game developers, Itagaki replied:

Bungie has revealed the second map from next month's Legendary Map pack that's slated for April 15th for 800 marketplace points. Dubbed "Avalanche," the map is, as Bungie's Luke Smith points out, "a lovingly crafted reimagination of Halo: Combat Evolved classic Sidewinder". Click through the gallery below for a look or swing by Bungie.net for a chat with designers Niles Sankey and Lars Bakken along with artists Mike Buelterman and Jason Sussman.

Korea, get ready. The Nintendo Wii is finally coming. According to The Korea Times, the console should be coming this spring, but Nintendo Korea refuses to confirm the release date. Since Nintendo Korea recently applied for game ratings for Wii Sports and Wii Play (probably won't be bundled — it's not in Japan). What's more, Activision also got the country's game ratings to board to rate two of its Wii titles. All signs point to a probable release around Children's Day on May 5th. Kim Sang-yean, Nintendo Korea's PR mouthpiece says:

We will make an official announcement once we are all ready.

As the dust on Gerstmann-gate has finally more than settled, another GameSpot staffer is exiting the building. As announced on GameSpot's podcast "HotSpot", Senior Editor Brad Shoemaker will be leaving the site this Friday. He's been working at GameSpot since 1999. Shame they never gave him a larger GIF image. We wish him luck in his future endeavours.
The HotSpot [GameSpot, thanks to all who sent this in!]

Here's MTV's Stephen Totilo testing out the new Wii Wheel that's being packed in with Mario Kart. Still looks...well, pointless. This is a GameCube game, Nintendo. We all know it, we're all cool with it, you should be too!
Two Videos Of New 'Mario Kart': Wii Wheel Vs Remote [MTV]

Do we love GameTraders? Yes we do. To be fair, we love all the independent retailers that are doing their best to keep Australia out of the gaming Dark Ages. Kudos!

Today however, the focus is on that magical retailer in Perth. If you're sick of waiting for Nintendo to get its act together, and don't mind a bit of fiddling, you can play SSBB today. And then the next day. And the day after. And probably for a long time after that.

According to tipster Raze35, GameTraders has the NTSC USA version in stock, with copies going for $99.95 each. It also has Freeloader discs available to get past the region lock - one of these will set you back $50. Don't panic - there's a combo deal for $129.95.

Raze35 says the game runs perfectly on his Wii. In fact he's been delivering his special brand of justice on unsuspecting Nintendo characters with Solid Snake for close to 12 hours now.

Surely there are other stores around the country that are in a similar position to offer non-Perth gamers the delectable awesomeness of SSBB. Drop us a line if you're one of those stores, or happen to know of one!

Okay, yes, it's nothing but coloured cardboard and it's $US 12 dollars for the set, but still. It's a mini arcade for the PSP. We're not sure this is even necessary (it's not), but we admire the delightfully meaningless gumption.
Cardboard Mini Arcade [Perpetual Kid via ALBOTAS]

Bonkers. We've gone competition bonkers. Well, at least today. First faceplates, now event tickets. Is there medication for people who compulsively give stuff away?

I don't think so.

Anyway, hit the jump for the second, and final, lot of Game On ticket winners. We'll be in contact soon to get your mailing addresses.

Much love to the ACMI for helping with the comp!

Nintendo are pretty good at releasing different colours of the DS, but colours are just so damn subjective. One man's masterpiece is another's masterpiece of crap, so you'll never, ever be able to please everyone. Enter Colorware, and their custom-painted DS handhelds. You can change everything from the panels to the stylus, and while the end result is pricier than your standard off-the-shelf model, those still reading this and considering the deal won't be the type to put a price on individuality, especially when it comes to portable consumer electronics.
Colorware DS [via Gizmodo AU]

Cross cultural exchanges are always fun — especially when sex is involved! Over in Chile, gender-bending teens called "Pokemones" hold public oral sex orgies called "poneco". Says 15 year-old Natalia Fernandez:

After first hearing about it back in January, Nvidia have today officially launched their GeForce 9-series 9800 GX2. With said launch, subtlety is straight out the window. They're calling it "bar none the fastest Graphics Card on the Planet", which, technically, it may be. Then again, seeing as it's priced at $US 600 and is pretty much just two $US 200 8800 GT cards bolted together, it's also "bar none the easiest way to blow $US 200 on the planet". Jargon-filled presser follows.

The house of Final Fantasy is bringing its Square Enix Member program stateside, starting March 24. However, if you want to pre-register, securing your username of choice, you can do that right now. What do you get for submitting all your personal information? We're not 100% sure, but Square Enix is promising access to "exclusive interviews, blogs, giveaways and more."

Yes, folks, the competition has come to a close and four winners have been chosen. Thanks once again to 2K Games for providing the goods. I'm sure you've made our four creative readers and their Xbox 360s very happy.

Hit the jump and see if your entry made the cut!

Square Enix internet fun! The RPG factory has hooked up with internet provider Nifty to build and operate a web portal for Japanese folks. Nifty will provide internet expertise, while Square Enix will provide content and hairstyles. Besides typical Square Enix fans, the web portal hopes to attract new users, namely females and seniors. Final Fantasy Golden Years Chronicles Arthritis Within anyone?
Square Enix Ties Up [Japan Today Thanks, Jean!]

Get this right. All of you. The PC version of Mass Effect isn't a port, OK? It's a conversion. Not a port. A conversion. If you walk up to BioWare's Chris Priestly (or anyone from BioWare, really) and say it's a port, he may well smack you one in the mouth, right there on the spot. Speaking with Eurogamer about the upcoming PC port conversion of last year's 360 hit, he said:

This is a conversion. BioWare hates ports.

Microsoft has announced a special offer for those of us willing to cop the $120 price tag of Grand Theft Auto IV and pre-order the game locally.

Inside each pre-order box will be a code for Xbox Live. The code will give you access to four exclusive GamerPics and 500 Microsoft Points to spend on whatever you like. The announcement notes that the code will only be included by "participating retailers", so be sure to ask before you make your purchase.

While a nice gesture to Xbox 360 owners, it's not enough to compensate for the high cost of the game - not that Microsoft has any control over this. More importantly, is it enough to coax you into spending your money in Australia? Let us know.

It doesn't take much to impress the folks at the Guinness Book of World Records, I guess. They deemed the gathering of 80 cosplayers, each dressed up as a video game character, "The Largest Gathering of Games Characters" that they've ever had on record. The GameSpot report on the matter points out that the record wasn't officially recorded prior to the event, so it wasn't exactly hard.

Yes, I've been a bit obsessed with the Korg DS-10 synthesiser software since it was announced by AQI. Fortunately, it seems that others share my passion for making electronic musical diversions, as the company has responded to (I assume) BILLIONS of requests for a global release. Turns out, Korg DS-10 isn't Japan only, as previously thought.

Sega's Yakuza 3 (aka Ryu ga Gotoku 3 Kenzan!) is nothing if not cinematic. And while the above clip, the intro to the PlayStation 3 game, may be lacking in action beyond the first minute, the attention to detail in Toshihiro Nagoshi's open-world adventure is still impressive. Maybe it's just me, but I didn't care so much about the language barrier, only hoping that Sega gets this localised—subtitles are just fine, by the way—as soon as is humanly possible. The HD version is even easier on the eyes.

Yakuza 3 Opening Cinematic HD [GameTrailers]

EA really wants Take-Two. Actually, they mostly want Rockstar Games and Grand Theft Auto—and they want them now. EA CEO John Riccitiello certainly thinks that the swallowing of Rockstar would be good for the developer of Manhunt, GTA and Bully, telling the New York Times "We, in many ways, represent a white knight". The kind of white knight who can provide stability and exposure, we assume.

While THQ may have backed away from the Juiced series and developer Juice Games, it may still ultimately be responsible for the alleged swiping of one man's work. Photographer Paul Ferradas claims that Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights features some of his work, a photo which he says was used without his permission.

To: Ash
From: Crecente
Re: Not A Big Fan of the Phone

So I totally forgot to tell you about the poker game we had Friday. SOE Denver hosted and myself, Dave Thomas, and folks from NetDevil and Idol Minds showed up to play. Play and take my money. We played by tournament rules which let you buy in for $US 20 as many times as you liked in the first hour... I bought in three times. I don't really suck that much, though I'm more than willing to admit I suck. I blame it on the fact that I was sitting next to Scott Martins, head of SOE Denver, and a guy who once took home $US 33,000 from a local mountain casino. He oooozed skill and had this bad luck vibe that just stuck to me... and I suck.

I did, with the help of three $US 20, manage to stick around long enough to be bled out at the final table, down from 17 or so players. It was sad. The good news is that I brought a case of Becks and Shiner, so a good time was had by all. Funniest moments? A developer walking into a glass wall not once but three times while on the hunt for a bathroom, I think, and me making my way to the losers room to find people engrossed in a game of Settlers of Catan... for cash. I stayed away. Oh, Scott ended up taking the pot at the end, btw. Bastard!

Hopefully we'll be playing again in the near future.

What you missed:
Human Heads' Prey 2 Confirmed, Two Other Games Announced
Tragnarion Conjuring Doodle Hex Wii
Rainbow Six Vegas 2 Review: Revenge of the AI

Want to add a touch of Super Mario or Portal-inspired love to your Easter holiday? It's easy, really. Take Kotaku AU reader Leigh, who decided to paint a few gift boxes in the style of the gold coin bricks from the former and Weighted Companion Cubes of the latter.

To enchant them with Easter spirit, all Leigh had to do was sprinkle some chocolate coins inside and before you know it, Santa Claus is trying to convince a jealous Easter bunny not to neck himself with leftover ribbon and a giant crème egg.

There's another photo after the jump, as well as a link to Leigh's blog that has a bunch more.