Congratulations, Soul Calibur IV! You've broken Nintendo's stranglehold on the top end of the British sales charts. At least for this week (and last week, really, but we missed last week's charts...sorry!). Because they're not just the only games for a system that's not made by Nintendo in the top 10, they're the only games for a system that's not made by Nintendo in the top 20. Seeing as both have slipped from their loftier positions last week, however, we expect regular service to resume this time next week.

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PlayTV, Sony Europe's HDTV tuner & recorder for the PS3, has gotten a final release date for the UK. While it was previously announced that the unit would be released September, Sony announced today that PlayTV will be released September 19th for £69.99 ($US 133). Originally, it was thought that PlayTV would retail for £80.

Play TV Release Information [ThreeSpeech]

Bond game Quantum of Solace stars movie Bond Daniel Craig. The Bourne game does not star Matt Damon. It stars some dude. Quantum of Solace dev Garrett Young chimes in about his thoughts about that:

The Bourne movies I think are really good. I think a lot of people maybe thought they were maybe better than the Bond movies until Casino Royale. The Bourne game... we did download the demo, we did look at it, like we do anything that's new and coming out. Turok we played and other things that are new, we played GTA although that's not really in our space.

But... yeah... not super impressed with the game. No offence to those guys at all. We're actually now partners. They're kind of merged in with Activision, so now they're in San Diego. I haven't met them yet. I don't know anything about them at all. I hope their game does well. It's always tough though when you make a game and you don't have the lead character from the movie.

Yep, yep. The suspension of disbelief is obviously harder. If you're making a Bourne game, you need fucking Matt Damon.

Quantum of Solace's Garrett Young speaks [OXM via CVG]

Expecting a big announcement from Microsoft at Leipzig? Don't! The company have confirmed that they won't be holding a press conference at the show, instead choosing to focus on...booths and demos. Demos that won't include Gears of War 2, since that game will be absent from the show entirely. So...no Microsoft presser, no Gears 2, and Nintendo won't be at the show at all...that leaves us with a single, solitary press conference. Which is Sony's, on August 20. No arguments over best presser this time!
Confirmed: No Microsoft press conference at Games Convention [VG247]

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People are excited about LittleBigPlanet. No wonder the game's being pushed to push PS3s. Says marketeer for LBP Mark Valledor:

We want LittleBigPlanet to lead the charge into a new genre of gaming and turn Sackboy into the next emblematic character for the PS3... We have coined 2008 'the year of the PS3', and are confident that with the launch of LittleBigPlanet we will continue to see the momentum build throughout the end of this year and on to the next... This is a very big title for us.

It really is. You think it'll move PS3s?

PS3's Future Rides on This Unlikely Superhero [Advertising Age via Eurogamer]

You pop in your Halo 3 disc, you fire up Xbox Live, and you won't have any trouble finding somebody to play against. Same goes for Call of Duty 4. And Grand Theft Auto IV. But what about the other end of the multiplayer spectrum? What games are you least likely to find somebody still playing in August 2008? OXM ran a little test, and while it's far from scientific, it's certainly indicative. They played a range of games for around half an hour - Brian Lara Cricket, World Championship Poker, SmackDown v Raw amongst them - and catalogued how many other players they ran into. The results are entertaining, if hardly surprising, though I'd have loved to see them try Chromehounds.

Xbox 360's Dead Online Games [OXM]

A month before E3, Nintendo Co., Ltd. copyrighted "Piktura" with the Japanese patent office. Hrm, Piktura? Does that refer Pikmin? Or does that (Piktura = a pun on picture?) refer to something connected to the Wii Photo Channel? Or maybe, the new Pikmin game will incorporate the Photo Channel? Who knows. Nintendo, Nintendo does, that's who.

Search Engine [Industrial Property Digital Library via Siliconera] [Pic]

There's one boss that stands above all others in Final Fantasy XI. Pandemonium Warden. Never seen it myself (never even played FFXI myself), but I'm assured he's a tough cookie. So tough, in fact, that when the guild BeyondTheLimitation tried to take him on the other day, they ran into some problems. Namely, that it was taking hours to defeat just a single form of a monster that had already changed form 20 times. In the end, the guild had to call it quits, because after 18 hours of combat members of the party started throwing up and passing out from exhaustion. 18 hours? We get it Square, tough bosses are tough, but 18+ hours of combat isn't fun. It doesn't sit well with the game's own warning message, either.

How Long is Too Long? [Pet Food Alpha, thanks Brandon!]

This Halloween, DS title Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia is getting released in North America and Japan. Konami Style is offering a limited edition pack that includes the game software, two disc soundtrack and a book cover. And not just any book cover, a fancy book cover. All this is yours for ¥8,830 ($US 81).

『悪魔城ドラキュラ 奪われた刻印』にサントラ＆ブックカバー付きの特別版が登場 [Dengeki Online]

Hey, what's hot with the kids right now? Music games, that's what. Particularly the ones where you hit buttons in time with scrolling cues. It's into this receptive market, then, that PM Studios will be publishing DJ Max Fever, with the Korean fave (Fever is a mix of DJ Max Portable and DJ Max 2) due to receive its first ever American release on November 11. If you're a fan of the series, and have been stuck importing it until now, this is good news! If you've never seen nor heard of it, and the idea of Guitar Hero-but-for-DJs-on-a-PSP sounds great, be warned: it's really, really hard.

DJ Max Fever Announced [IGN]

Here it is! This is apparently the first US arcade to have Street Fighter IV. It's in Southern California, which is good for people who live there, but bad news for people who live in Maine. Here's the details:

Super Arcade
1211 N. Grand Ave
Walnut, CA 91748
MAP

As game site SDTEKKEN points out, that's right across the street from Mt. San Antonio College and near a Jack In The Box. Above is a picture of a Jack In The Box to make you hungry.

First STREET FIGHTER IV Machine In The US! [SDTEKKEN] [Pic]

Hope this story from last week didn't get your hopes up. Turns out that information - about a Blu-Ray release for Siren: Blood Curse in the Fall - was for European eyes only. You Americans, you're still in limbo, left only with the option of downloading the game and these helpful words from SCEA:

At this time, there is no Blu-ray Disc version planned for the North American market. Please note, however, that you are able to delete and then re-download episodes since the purchase is linked to your PSN account. The developers kept this functionality in mind knowing that the episodes were fairly beefy.

Hah. "No plans". Already, our favourite catchphrase of 2008! Of course, being a PS3 game it's not too hard to import it, so long as you don't mind the characters telling you to stick to the footpath, mind the grey-skinned chaps and use only aluminium weapons. Side note to publishers: more press statements need the word "beefy".

Still No U.S. Plans For Disc-Based 'Siren: Blood Curse' [MTV]

Gundam Gundam Gundam! The Gundam Expo 2008 is all about, that's right, Gundam. There's artwork, statues, dioramas, arcade games, PSP games, ca — all Gundam, all the time! The event is in Ikebukuro's Sunshine City and runs through August 17th. Admission is free.

バンダイナムコグループ「ガンダムEXPO東京2008」を
8月12日〜17日まで開催 [Game Watch Impress]

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Billed as a work that "puts video games on the philosophical map as a serious area of study", The Legend of Zelda and Philosophy is seeking to ask, and answer, the burning questions surrounding the Zelda series. Does Link have a will, or do gamers project their wills onto him? Can Hyrule be seen as an ideal society? How does time function? Is Zelda art? All terribly vague, all terribly pretentious, all making this sound less like an interesting book on the series and more like a bad first-year philosophy term paper. Since we're on the topic of a Zelda book, however, if a publisher feels like releasing a large, expensive, coffee table book of the series' concept art (complete with notes from artists and game designers), we may be a little more receptive.

The Legend of Zelda and Philosophy [Amazon, via Go Nintendo]

"Brett" is easy to spell. B-r-e-t-t. "Favre", not so easily. But to review: F-a-v-r-e-. Not "Farve". If you're a football fan, you should know that. And if you're EA, you damn well should know that — especially because he's the coverboy! Reader Devon points out that Brett Favre's name is mispelled in the collector's edition menu in Madden 09. That's a pic of it right up there. Well, at least EA didn't put "Brett Favour".

Thanks, Devon for the tip!

I've been talking with a representative from the Office of Film and Literature Classification. Well, I thought I was, until it was pointed out by said representative that the OFLC doesn't exist.

Eh?

That's right, it's the Classification Board now. I'm not sure when the change occurred or why, but there's no such thing as the OFLC. I'm guessing it had to do with the fact it classifies more than just movies and books these days. Anyway, from here on in, all our articles regarding the office will refer to it as the Classification Board, not the OFLC.

I've also sent off a bunch of questions to be answered by the board, regarding everything from importation and board reports through to how much say (if any) the board has in classification laws and guidelines. Hopefully, we can clear up some misconceptions about our classification system and the bodies involved.

This winter, doujin circle Team-DSX planned to release DS title Half Elf Tentacle Assault at Comic Market. The self-made game's entirely homebrew and certainly does not have the Nintendo Seal of Quality — and never will!

However, the Comic Market preparation committee has cancelled Team-DSX's registration, meaning that the circle won't be allowed to sell their DS game. There's no word whether Nintendo was behind this, but the facts that the R4 cartridge was on the Half Elf Tentacle Assault poster and that Team-DSX seemed to be selling the R4. (Nintendo has taken legal action against the R4 in Japan.)

Team-DSX originally planned to sell Half Elf Tentacle Assault in Akihabara as well. However, the doujin circle's website is currently blank. Hit the jump for a pixelated version of the game's flier.

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Fable 2 was classifed just two days ago, while the XBLA-bound Pub Games has been sitting in the database since mid-last month. So it's no surprise Microsoft has fired out a press release today declaring that Pub Games is now out on Xbox Live Arcade and the contents of the Collector's Edition.

According to the release, Pub Games is 800 MS points, or free it you preorder the game from a "participating retailer" (listed after the jump). Pub Games comes with the following "casino-styled" diversions:

Keystone: A combination of Craps and Roulette
Spinnerbox: An updated take on slot machines
Fortune's Tower: A "press your luck" style of game

These should keep you occupied for two minutes or eternity, depending on how big a gambler you are. As for the CE, it's packed with a number of goodies, including bonus in-game content (a dungeon and a weapon no less), five "Fate" cards and a figurine. This will set you back $119.95, while the normal game is $99.95. October 23 is given as a local launch date.

Full press release after the jump!

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It's not like Mercenaries 2 wasn't looking good enough on its own. But hey, co-op never hurts, it only helps, especially when it's instituted in the way Pandemic have it running for Mercenaries 2. After you start, there's no game-interrupting menu screens, no lobbies, nothing. It's drop-in, drop-out combat, and while the guest's progress through the campaign won't be saved when they quit, they will get to keep any cash and weapons they pick up. As for the host, there's no adjustments made to the game when playing co-op, which means no extra enemies. So if you're stuck on a spot, no problems, just get a friend playing and you can hide your singleplayer shame amidst the high-fives and hollering.

Mercenaries 2 Co-Op Hands-On [IGN]

Brutal Legend was one of the titles that didn't make the Activision Blizzard cut. But developer Double Fine's Tim Schafer said "Brutal Legend is fine". (Only once!) There were rumblings that a "non-traditional" publisher would pick up the action heavy metal title. MTV? The company tells Variety that it won't be publishing the game:

We are big fans of [Double Fine chief] Tim Schafer. We hope the game finds a good home.

That's kinda vague PR speak from MTV.

Brutal Legend not landing at MTV [The Cut Scene]

Poor Nancy Drew. She couldn't hold off EA forever. The latest bricks-n-mortar PC charts see the indomitable Ms. Drew drop a spot to #2, as she's dethroned by chart stalwart The Sims 2. The rest, well, you know the rest. Maxis, Blizzard, Maxis, Blizzard, Maxis, Blizzard, etc etc etc.

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Blizzard is rolling out a bunch of its MMOs in China. Striking a joint venture with NetEase.com affiliate Shanghai EaseNet Network Technology Limited, Blizzard will be introducing StarCraft II, Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos, Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, and Battle.net platform. Says Blizzard's CEO Mike Morhaime:

NetEase has been a leader in the Chinese game market, and we look forward to working with them to deliver high-quality entertainment to Chinese gamers. This partnership is a sign of our continued commitment to our players in China and to the local industry.

The licence will be on a three-year term and have a mutual one-year renewal period. Full details in the release after the jump.

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Last week, we got our first look at some concept art for a second Halo movie project currently doing the rounds in Hollywood. The drawings - by artist Kasra Farahani - are depicting some of the key scenes from writer Stuart Beattie's (Pirates of the Caribbean, GI Joe) screenplay, which in turn is based on the events in the novel Fall of Reach. We were promised that last week's image was the first of five, and this week, film site Latino Review obliges, with a second picture, this time showing the kids (including Master "John" Chief) being put through their paces by some UNSC instructors. Wide pics screw up the front page, so the full version's after the jump.

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Diablo III might be end of the trilogy and finishes the story arch, but it's not the end of Diablo. Heck no! Blizzard would be looney to shutter that IP. You can bet there will be more Diablo games in the future. Says Diablo III lead designer Jay Wilson:

We're not saying this is the end of the 'Diablo' universe, but we are trying to bring this story line to a close. It's not just Diablo III --- we've got plans beyond.

Is anyone really surprised? Anyone? No?

Designer: 'Diablo III' Rounds Out Trilogy, But Not The End Of 'Diablo' [Multiplayer]

The Nintendo Famicom, picture above in happier times, was sadly gutted by Benj Edwards for PC World, giving us a disturbing, yet educational look at the NES precursor. Even as we look at the grisly insides of the Famicom, its game cartridges, controllers and Japan-only disk system, we learn quite a few things. For instance, I didn't know the Famicom had microphones built into the controllers and that one could shout into them, killing enemies in the Japanese version of The Legend of Zelda.

That makes this lovely little feature information and fun, a sort of "edutainment", if you will. Do check it out, as it's gorgeously photographed and loaded with easily digestible NES era minutiae.

Inside Nintendo's Classic Game Console [PC World]

That's fine, EA. You take all the time you need before announcing your Batman game. In the meantime, we'll make do with this one. Announced today by the folks at Game Informer, Batman: Arkham Asylum is a new title currently in development at Rocksteady Studios (Urban Chaos: Riot Response), which will be published by Eidos. Why the different publishers? EA only have the rights to the movies, while Eidos have a deal to make games based on the Batman comics. Hence this game, which GI describe as being "reminiscent of Bioshock".

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Germany's rating board, the Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle, may have let an Xbox Live Arcade announcement out of the bag a bit early, as it has rated Death Tank for the Xbox 360. Should you have gone without a Sega Saturn and copies of either Powerslave or Duke Nukem 3D, Death Tank is a 2D multiplayer tank shooter with a deforming landscape, similar to the Worms series, but with more tanks and more death.

The game has yet to be officially confirmed or announced, but with the Leipzig Games Convention right around the corner, we're hoping to get our hands on a playable version very, very soon.

OH #%!& SON, IT'S 'DEATH TANK' FOR XBOX LIVE ARCADE [GamerBytes]

Here it is - the Classification Board's report on the edited version of Bethesda's Fallout 3. The refused classification from last month has been exchanged for an MA15+ and the advisories of "strong violence, drug references and coarse language". So, what can Australia expect (or not expect) from our super-special build? Sadly, the report is vague on details, but it looks like the art and names of a few drugs may have changed, and the action, not the effect, of taking drugs removed:

The drugs depicted are fictional; drugs are depicted as stylised icons on a menu with the drug use itself not depicted. Whilst navigating a post-apocalyptic futuristic landscape, players can invoke the use of a variety of "chems" listed by fictious names which include "Buff", "Rad-X", "Psycho" and "Ultrajet". Within the context of the game's narrative, the player may choose to make use of these "chems" to alter the physiological characteristics of their character in the game.

You might have noticed there's no mention of morphine, which leaves its existence up in the air.

The effects of taking drugs may also have changed, according to this snippet: "The Board .. found that relationship [sic] between drug use and the incentives and rewards is not such that it promotes or encourages the use of proscribed drugs". Like I said, it's a little vague. Seeing as Bethesda and Red Ant are staying silent on the issue, we'll have to wait for the game to come out before any apples-to-apples comparisons can be made.

Anyway, I've included the section regarding drug use from the report after the jump, if you'd like to read it in full. There's also an interesting perspective from the minority view, which felt the game still deserved an RC.

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Earlier this week, we were told by an anonymous source that Korean publisher NCSoft was planning on laying off between 140 and 160 employees at its Austin based studio. That's the home to MMOs Tabula Rasa and Dungeon Runners, the former being the Richard Garriott helmed sci-fi title and the latter a free-to-play action fantasy outing. That's something NCSoft reps have denied, though.

According to additional unconfirmed reports from Massively, that decision may lead to the closure of the Austin branch altogether, with development on certain titles being shifted elsewhere.

NCSoft has since denied or downplayed the rumours. Calling the alleged reports "pretty outrageous" and "not accurate at all", NCSoft reps responded that "Those are rumours right now, and we can't comment on any of those rumours" when asked for comment. We're hoping to get better clarification from staffers on the current situation.

Midway announced earlier this week that it would be "reducing headcount" at its Austin location, eliminating some 80 positions. We hope that NCSoft employees aren't facing the same treatment and the prospect of joining them in unemployment.

Ticket sales for this year's BlizzCon went up, then down, earlier today as the bulk of those made available by Blizzard sold out within minutes of going live. It's been a bit of a rocky road, as the Blizzard Store processing ticket orders barfed from gorging itself on the horde of potential BlizzCon attendees.

That's the bad news. The good news is that Blizzard has "a small reserve of tickets left" which will be going up for grabs tonight, August 12 at 8:00 PM PDT. Even with the larger crowd accommodation and the $US 100 ticket prices, expect whatever's left to sell out at lightning speed.

And expect even more grumbling and griping in the official Blizzard forums when they do.

Cryptic Reveals More Trek Online Details Via FAQ
No, you can't play as Spock. Maybe sPoCk_137, but not Spock.

Pirates Of The Caribbean MMORPG Goes Free This Weekend
Free MMO action - it's the best kind.

NVIDIA Unleashes PhysX For GeForce 8 and Up
I wouldn't expect the number of PhysX-supporting games to increase dramatically, if at all, until AMD implements something also.

Tomb Raider's Underworld
Oh dear... those are some risky shots.

This little beauty is never going to give the iPod any sleepless nights (or even the Zune, bless it's funny little heart) but for gamers of a certain age — or just music fans who appreciate a classic game when they see one — it has a certain charm.

The Muga is a rugged, but otherwise uninspiring looking MP3 player. Hidden behind that little screen, though, is an emulator packed with 20 classic SEGA Genesis games. Well, 20 Genesis games of which at least six are classics and the others are 'ok', anyway.

It isn't clear if these are hard-coded or if you can load your own 'found' ROMs, but there is an SD slot which can't just be for music, surely?

Muga MP3 Sega Genesis Game Player [GP2X store, via DCEmu]

In what we hope turns out to be better than the Jenga video game for the Wii and Nintendo DS, board gamer USAopoly is merging the tower climbing fun of Donkey Kong with the tower disassembling kicks of Jenga with Donkey Kong Jenga. The manufacturer guarantees "edge-of-your-seat excitement" — so did Atari's games — with two ways to play, the traditional Jenga style or by climbing the girders with your "Mario mover" to save Pauline from the beast.

It won't be released until late September, but it's never too early to put in your pre-orders.

Donkey Kong Jenga... why didn't anyone think of it before?

USAopoly Donkey Kong Jenga [Amazon via NeoGAF]

Rare has released the first official Viva Piñata Vision Card for use in Viva Piñata: Trouble In Paradise.

As we covered back in May, Viva Piñata: Trouble In Paradise for the Xbox 360 can be used with the Xbox Live Vision Camera and a selection of special cards. Players can wave the cards in front of the camera to invoke certain game effects.

Players will be able to download free cards, which can then be printed out — or just displayed on a PDA or mobile phone screen held in front of the camera. Players can also create their own cards for online trading.

It looks like it will work a bit like the PS3 game Eye Of Judgement although Rare say that the game will be fully playable without the card/camera combo.

"The Vision Camera just adds a new dimension to Piñata and how you can interact with the game. Vision cards are really versatile, by showing one of the cards to the Vision Camera you can affect the weather, the time, garden items, piñatas, you can do just about anything" - Ryan Stevenson, Rare

The first Piñata Vision Card goes online! [MundoRare]

If you're a friend of Robert Pelloni and you're wondering why you haven't seen him for half a decade, here's why. Bob's Game, a title we'll assume is tentative for now, is a top down 2D adventure game built over the course of five years by a single person. Yes, one (obviously mad) developer is responsible for the programming, art, music, story and script required to bring Bob's Game to life.

According to the developer, the homebrew title is a simple adventure game, an RPG-lite sans repetitive battles that looks more than a bit Shenmue-esque. You can learn all about it by checking out the annotated version of the above clip at YouTube. Pelloni is currently seeking a publisher and hopefully sunlight.

"bob's game" for Nintendo DS [YouTube - thanks, Matt!]

Clearly, when Star Trek Online was announced, it was going to be a tough sell to the really die-hard fans.

No matter how accurately those Type II phasers were modelled, someone was always going to point out that the comms badges were slightly out of proportion or that the Bolians' skin is more of a duck-egg blue rather than the tourquoise the idiot developers went for.

To try and clear up some of the fans questions on issues as diverse as Pricing, PvP and Travel Times, Cryptic has released a comprehensive FAQ for the game.

Hit the jump for a selection of Q's that have been A'd F.

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Steven Spielberg's name sells movies, it probably sells games too. That explains why his name appeared so prominently on the cover of Boom Blox, but what about less mainstream A-listers?

Stephen Totilo of MTV Multiplayer sat down with EA CEO John Riccitiello to talk about crediting on the front of game boxes. Why, he asks, aren't top talent like Will Wright featured on the cover of their creations?

In music it's typically a writer and a band of four. With films it's a couple of lead talent, actors and actresses, a director and maybe a cinematographer. With games it's typically 30, 50 100 people that make these things and they're all integral to the process. So I'm absolutely in favour of bringing forward the teams. But the team dynamic in creation of our product is quite different than other forms of entertainment.
...
I've always been of the belief you should give credit where credit's due. And I think in times past major publishers would say "This is an Electronic Arts game" or 'This is name-the-
other-publisher.' It's from them and it's all about them. And the truth is, it never was. It's really about the teams that create this stuff and we're big believers in that. And I'm personally all about that. Again I don't think there are any creator in the industry that would say it's them individually making that happen.

The short answer, Riccitiello doesn't ever see Wright's name appearing on a box. Then he goes on to explain why Spielberg's name did appear there, back-peddling all the way.

EA: Why Will Wright's Name Shouldn't Be On A Game's Box (Or: How To Give Proper Credit) [MTV]

Distributor Toho boasted today that the feature films based on the Pokémon video game franchise have grossed over 50 billion yen to date, about $US 455 million. In financial terms, that's "a lot". The latest animated feature, Giratina and the Sky's Bouquet: Shaymin, opened in Japan this summer, collecting some $US 32 million, but disguised as yen.

Nintendo announced earlier this year that it had sold over 175 million Pokémon games worldwide.

We're thinking Nintendo and Toho might be on to something here. Just a hunch.

'Pokemon' sets record box office [Variety]

It has been a long time coming, but Vigilante 8 Arcade is finally rumbling its way towards Xbox Live Arcade. After several months of developmental false starts, Isopod Labs have confirmed that they have sent what they hope is the final release version to Microsoft.

Microsoft's XBLA testing crew will now pore over the release code to ensure it is fit to grace the virtual shelves — I like to imagine that this bit takes place in a proper mad science lab with a Van der Graaf generator and loads of curly glass tubes.

Last we heard, Vigilante 8 Arcade was going to feature gameplay from both the original Nineties classic and the sequel, Second Offence, with a Noughties graphical makeover and plenty of single and multi-player options.

V8 Arcade in final submission! [V8 Arcade via Xbox 360 Fanboy]

Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty hits next week when the nearly 2.4GB downloadable game hits the Playstation Network.

Quest for Booty will take about four hours to play through, we're told, and doesn't require that you own the retail game Ratchet & Clank Future, although it does co