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Bonus Echochrome Levels Up For A Limited Time Only
Posted by Luke Plunkett at 11:00 PM on May 6, 2008
One of the best features about Sony's Echocrome is that it embraces user-generated content. Thing is, it only embraces it temporarily. Like a female praying mantis, coupling with a mate in a fit of passion before turning on it and devouring it whole. See, each new round of user-generated levels, when thrown up, replaces the last lot. So if you want to play the best homemade designs available, you've only got a limited time before they're gone. Gone forever. Not sure I really like this idea, since Echocrome isn't a game that really makes me want to rush through it.
echochrome: no end in sight [PlayStation.Blog]
Got an idea which games will be available when WiiWare launches in the West? You don't. Because Nintendo haven't announced them. And from the sounds of it, won't ever be announcing them, telling Wired's Chris Kohler that as it stands, we may not be given advance warning as to what'll be appearing on the service. You'll wake up one day, check here/your Wii, and either there'll be new games, or there won't be. Oh, the suspense!
Last week, Blizzard launched a spiffy new website. The improvements run a little deeper than just a cosmetic touch-up, however: they've for the first time begun offering digital downloads of their games from their own online store. Warcraft III ($US20), Frozen Throne ($US20) and the Starcraft Anthology ($US15) are all available, with more (including Diablo) promised to appear later down the line.
That Xbox 360 bike with control pad-themed dash 
Last week, Gamasutra ran an interview with Tom Ohle, vice president of PR & marketing for CD Projekt, creators of The Witcher. They obviously get to talking about games PR, and in particular some of the challenges facing a public relations team when deciding how to market a game. While I don't agree with many of their points (Ohle's or that of the interviewer), especially that "major blogs just don't really cover" the PC that much (we try to give it it's due whenever & wherever possible), it's still an interesting read, if only for Ohle's idea that even a site with just one reader's worth taking care of, because that's still one potential customer.
Yes, other games came before it, but that's just nitpicking: for 99% of gamers, the first-person shooter genre kicked off with Wolfenstein 3D, which turned 16 yesterday. Happy birthday! Having played through the original only a few months ago, it's funny how, sixteen years on, I still had more fun with Wolfenstein than I do with most modern FPS games. Maybe that says something about the pure, arcade pleasures of the game. Or (more likely) it says something about the appeal of mowing down a mechanised Hitler with a chaingun while stuffing your face with plates of bbq chicken.
The rate things are going, they may never make a Halo movie. So that short Neil Blomkamp put together last year may be as close as you get. And these shots of the Warthog used in that short may be as close as you get to it. Built by WETA, the guys behind the special effects for Lord of the Rings, it's crazy the amount of detail that went into a vehicle built not for a movie, or even a trailer, but a cheap concept pitch. Plenty of pics at the link below.
GTA IV isn't the hardest game around, but hey, maybe you're not the best gamer around. Maybe you've got stubby thumbs. Maybe you can game, just can't be bothered, and want the ability to spawn sports cars in front of you just for kicks. If so, take note of the following GTA IV cheats, which will do things like restore Niko's health, give you all the game's weapons, change the weather and adjust your wanted level. ACHTUNG: these mess with your saved game files and can stop you earning achievements, so you might want to turn autosave to the "off" position if you want to safeguard your progress against a tragic corruption.
Remember that 2D, 
So the Wii can't do DLC, Harmonix & Neversoft? Maybe it can. It just needs to involve monkeys, and a couple of maracas. Pictured at left is the box art for the 
Did anything else happen in gaming last month other than Grand Theft Auto IV? Going over our original posts, it's hard to believe otherwise.
Zombies? In an MMORPG? That sounds like the sort of game I was born to play. Dead Frontier isn't such a bad name, either. There's no big developer or publisher behind it, just an independent group by the name of Jagged Blade Games.
Sony Computer Entertainment America recently filed a trademark for a product named "Qore," but we don't expect to necessarily see a game coming to the PlayStation 3 or PSP with that name. Instead of the standard description "computer game software and video game software" services—as in the case with the recent filing for The Last Guy, a planned PlayStation Network release—the trademark filed for Qore protects against "computer services, namely, providing interactive online magazine and entertainment services in the field of video games."
About a day from now, EBGames.com.au will relaunch with not only a new look, but much needed upgrades. The updated site will include an improved catalogue browser, trade-in viewer and best of all - drop down menus.
If you own a 360, odds are you've had to call Xbox support at least once. Maybe even more than once. And if you have, odds are also high you had a thoroughly unpleasant experience doing so. Next time you need to call them (or, for the lucky few, the first time), then, arm yourself with this quick and easy (and paraphrased) guide to getting shit done, courtesy of Consumerist reader Jason:
Take-Two isn't impressed with the Chicago Transit Authority's ability to crumble in the face of near-controversy, as it has filed suit against the CTA and ad provider Titan Outdoor for 
Worried about what D3 Publisher has in store for their upcoming Ben 10: Alien Force game, based off of the relaunch of the hit Cartoon Network series? Well then head over to the Ben 10: Alien Force game creator and make your own damn video game. Launched today at Cartoon Network's website, the flash game allows players to creator and share their own action adventure game creations with the community, where they will be weighed, measured, and assigned a rating based on how awesome they are or aren't. They've already got several entries ready for you to test out, or dig right in and create your own. It's a bit limited of course, but it is also completely free, so it balances out. Head over to 
Online shoppers seem to have fed frenziedly on Wii Fit at Amazon.com, up for pre-order as of April 15, with the retailer already claiming its allocation of the Nintendo fitness title is already at capacity. The site says it is "actively seeking more of this product from suppliers" and we suspect that the impression that one will be able to get their hands on the game/non-game day one—as we foolishly suspected would be possible with the Wii itself—is looking less and less likely.
Xbox Live Arcade weekly updates are back on schedule, after Niko Bellic and his gang hijacked all Live traffic last week. This Wednesday, it's Wits & Wagers, a trivia party game for up to six players that features Xbox Live Vision camera support for maximum avatar creepiness. The official site states that Wits & Wagers "includes 700 unique and fun questions for up to 25 hours of exciting play." That's important to note. At 25 hours, you absolutely must stop expecting exciting play. You've been warned.
Sega's racquetball meets Tron meets Breakout oddity Cosmic Smash may be one more Dreamcast-era property headed for revival territory as the publisher has recently trademarked the title with the USPTO. The arcade title only saw release in Japan and didn't get much attention from gamers as a too late Dreamcast port, but it looks like Sega may be bringing us an update.
One of this summer's blockbuster attempts from Sierra and Radical Entertainment won't show its face until next year, as GameSpot reports Prototype has been delayed until some time in 2009. Why? According to Sierra reps, "we need more time to deliver the game the team initially set out to create."
CrunchGear points to this pretty amazing Duck Hunt NES zapper lamp that features not only a Duck Hunt lampshade and orange plastic zapper, but also a replica Duck Hunt cart made of cardboard.
Following the poor box office performance for movies released around the time Halo 3 came out, the film industry began to blame the major game release for causing the poor attendance rather than the poor quality of their films. Insiders 
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe's press day is set to hit tomorrow and lucky European press types will get a chance to check out Resistance 2, Go! Explore and HOME. To celebrate the European Playstation Store will be getting two updates, one featuring a Haze Demo and the other sending out demos for GRID and The Bourne Conspiracy.
This week's update for the Wii Virtual Console brings what many consider to be the best Pokémon title for the Nintendo 64, which is extremely odd considering it's really just Tetris Attack (Panel de Pon) with Pokémon painted over it. Pokémon Puzzle League (1,000 Wii Points) features Ash, Brock, Misty, Pikachu, and all of their adorable little friends playing Tetris Attack. It's got story modes, continuous play, timed play, animated cutscenes, and even 3D puzzles to keep the gameplay from falling flat. If puzzles and Pokémon aren't your cup of tea you can always check out this week's other release, Renegade for the NES (500 Wii Points), a beat-em up with a unique story about a guy who has to fight his way through several street gangs to rescue his kidnapped girlfriend. Girlfriends were such a liability in the late 80s.