Nike? Ha! Adidas? Whatever! EA's Peter Moore is rarin' to turn his company into a sporting brand that eclipses all. Says Moore:

EA has had an extremely successful sports brand for years, but we're evolving with new experiences targeting new consumers in our space... There's a hunger that fuels our teams to challenge to be the leading sports brand in the world... We need to knock down the barriers to those who find the learning curve of our games too steep, and find new areas in sports - and health and wellness — that our brand can truly make a difference.

Well, there ya go, Peter Moore lays out his plans for EA to conquer.

EA sets sights on becoming leading sports brand [MCVUK]

Rockstar Games gets lots of hate. And that's a shame, because Rockstar makes good games, which make lots of money. So we guess that balances it, so whatever. Here's company co-founder/president Sam Houser on that:

Most of the people who hate us are people it is truly an honour to be hated by — reactionary creeps with strange agendas — and the Daily Mail. Most people who know about modern pop culture know about GTA and like or dislike it on its own merits...

I think we [Sam and his brother and co-founder Dan] are both depressed at how boring we really are and how unexciting even the worse fabrications and exaggerations are when you read about them. None of it seems very rock and roll, so we find it a little sad, when there are probably better stories that could be written about both us and the industry/medium. No sharks, groupies or pounds of coke or anything fun at all. We read like angry dorks, which might be true, but is certainly not very exciting.

So all you haters, just think of Rockstar as angry dorks. That, and take deep breaths.

Grand Theft Auteur - Part 1 [Develop Mag via CVG]

And that's all we know! Because all we know is that a rating for the game has turned up on the website of the Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle (ie the USK, ie Germany's classification board), it's got a 12 rating, it's only for the PS3, and it is, apparently, a military strategy game. Seeing as we've never heard of this before, odds are good that it's a PSN title. Odds are equally good that we'll be seeing it at some stage during Sony's lone ranger press conference at Leipzig next week.

Savage Moon [USK, thanks everyone who sent this in!]

We already knew that Mark Wahlberg won't play Max Payne because of his "addictive personality". Well, what did he think of the Max Payne script when he first read it?

They knew I wouldn't even had read it if I knew it was based on a video game. But I read the script, and I thought this is a great script and a great character. And then, after seeing the game, I thought, 'Wow, this is the most elaborate story I've ever seen from a video game.' Really, there's a lot going it, it's a very intricate story. And, you know, the writers didn't have to take my liberties... My assistant, who's a complete gamer freak... I let him play the game non-stop...

That was nice of Marky Mark — you know, letting his gamer freak assistant to play! Wahlberg says that he does enjoy Wii Tennis with his daughter. While playing it, he also mentions how he hurt his thumb. That's too bad.

Spike Interivew [Game Trailers via CVG]

Crysis Warhead is coming with a little bundled extra: Crysis Wars, a new take on Crysis' multiplayer aspects. This trailer, made from in-game footage, shows that it's looking both nice and fast, but if they don't fix it so the Koreans don't take 1,736 bullets to kill, it'll all be for naught.

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BlizzCon tickets went fast, completely selling out. And while Fahey didn't have the best of lucky unluckily trying to secure tickets. Blizzard CEO Mark Morhaime released a statement on the WoW Forums:

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I've got a bit of a rule when it comes to posting box art, since 90% of the time it's utterly unremarkable. If it's going up, it either needs to be for a big, big game, or it needs to be truly excellent cover art. It's lovely when - like in LittleBigPlanet's case - the two come together. Click through for a bigger version.

Exclusive: LittleBigPlanet UK packshot [Three Speech]

Sony Computer Entertainment announced two new entries in its "the Best" series: Patapon for PSP the Best and Oblivion for PLAYSTATION 3 the Best. Patapon is out September 25th for ¥2,8000 ($US 26) and Oblivion is out September 4th for ¥3,800 ($US 35). Wonder if you can get them cheaper used...

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Know this, industry followers: Sony aren't kidding around when they say the PS3 will have a ten-year shelf life. They mean it. It's hard-wired company policy, that comes straight from the top. What's not so widely known, however, is that it's a policy that is being applied to all PlayStation products. Which, yeah, includes the PS2 (which is nearly there), but also the PSP. Sony's Scott Steinberg:

We do not have a planned obsolescence strategy [for the PSP]. Whether it's Skype or some other peripherals, it's not just a dumb terminal that lies secluded and isn't enhanced with all the recent technologies and opportunities.

Did he...did he just call the DS a "dumb terminal"?

SCEA's Steinberg On 'Future-Proofing' A Ten-Year PS3 [Gamasutra]

Remember when Japanese people lined up for Xbox 360 RPG Tales of Vesperia? That was pretty kooky! Kookier even still is that the console is sold out at gianormous retailers like Yodobashi Camera in Tokyo's Akihabara. Above is a picture of the retailer from spring. According to CheapAssGamer's CheapyD, who spotted this sell out:

Yodobashi Camera in Akihabara is not just a big electronics store in Tokyo, it is one of the (if not the largest) electronics stores in the world. I was there earlier this week and was pretty suprised to see that they had sold out of all versions of the Xbox 360 consoles. Looks like the Japanese have got Tales of Vesperia fever, which was recently released over here.

Might be that or just an Akihabara thing — or it could be that stores are making space for the 60GB SKU. Read more of our previous and thrilling Xbox 360 Japan shortage coverage here. Hit the jump for Cheapy's photographic evidence!

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Worried you won't be able to play Crysis Warhead? Check the specs. EA have posted these on the game's store page, meaning that while you may not find solace in them, you can at least be assured that they're official. Basically, if you could play Crysis, you can play this. If you couldn't, and still can't, we're sure you're still squeezing hours of fun out of Oblivion. Or Starcraft. Or Nancy Drew: Phantom Of Venice.

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Activision Blizzard announced the preliminary results of its self-tender offer. The company offered to buy up to 146,500,000 of its outstanding common stock at $US 27.50 per share in cash. This offer experienced at 5:00pm EST on August 13th. Out of that preliminary self-tender, Activision Blizzard will be able to purchase 86,000 common stock shares for $US 2.37 million (excluding tender fees and expenses). These results are preliminary, and the final results will be announced once they are verified by the depository. Payment will occur promptly after that, and Activision Blizzard will fund this with its available cash on hand.

Full release after the jump:

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It's not the PSP-3000, but it's damn close! Documents published on the FCC's website have confirmed that Sony are to release a new model of the PSP, the PSP-3001. Before you ask, yes, the new PSP looks...a lot like your old PSP. There appear to have been no changes made to the exterior of the unit, nor to its core specifications, meaning the changes will be for less sexy things like cost-reduction (by using newer, cheaper components). Course, if that is your idea of sexy, there's a mountain of paperwork you can read up on at the link below while you get yourself all lathered up.

PSP-3001 [FCC, via Gizmodo]

Just because SEGA gave up on the Dreamcast that doesn't mean everyone has! Take the Costa Rica-based Yuan Works, a two man development team. It's releasing a Dreamcast version of puzzle title Wind and Water: Puzzle Battles later this month/early next. This is a new version of the puzzle game it released for the GP2X handheld. Why the hell are they releasing it on the DC? Why not! Says developer Yuan-Hsi:

Well, it's a nice console with a dedicated fanbase. When I was younger, I would be extremely grateful when a Super Famicom (SNES) title arrived very late in its life, as it felt more like a tribute than a big commercial project. Many Dreamcast users around the world are really excited about this release! And the market, especially in Japan, is big enough to make it very profitable, which doesn't hurt one bit!

On a more techie side, the DC is very robust, and supports true 240p RGB, which provides the definite 2D arcade experience. The controller suits the game perfectly, and there are practically no load times. There is also VGA and Arcade Stick support, so you can truly play this game any way you want on DC!

Those are good reasons. Damn, good reasons. Nice to see developers keeping the Dreamcast dream alive.

Interview with Yuan-Hsi Chiang: Developer of the World's Next Dreamcast Game [Siliconera]

You know Mega Man 9 is coming, you know the score when it comes to the game's retro aesthetics. Now witness the game's intro (and familiar-looking newsreader) in all its 8-bit glory.

Reader Dean has sent in a letter he received from the office of the honourable Kerry Shine, Queensland's Attorney General, regarding the need for an R18+ rating for video games. While the AG wasn't in a position to reply, Derran Moss, his Senior Policy Advisor, was. His response is thought-out, if a little generic, and makes mention of the SCAG discussion paper. Sadly, in the sixth paragraph Mr Moss shows just how narrow-minded our politicians are about video games:

Effective enforcement of the R18+ classification may also be difficult to achieve where the product is located in the home and parents/guardians are unlikely to have the skills, time or opportunity to appropriately monitor computer game use by minors under their supervision.

The sheer dumbness of this statement stuns me. What sort of skills does a parent need to stare at a computer screen or the classification sticker on the box? How hard is it to not buy an inappropriate game or take it away if a mistake is made? No harder than doing it with DVD movies, which do have an R18+ rating and haven't caused kids to go on murderous rampages, despite being available in homes.

To Moss' credit, he does admit that adults "should be entitled access to R18+ classified computer games", so there's hope yet for Queensland and the rest of Australia.

Oh, and to any politicians against R18+ who may be reading this, please stop with the "can't be regulated at home" argument. It's bullshit.

I've included JPEGs of the letter after the jump, if you'd like a read.

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Meet the man called "Wii". Wii Yatani is a graphic designer and the son of Japanese parents. Did his mother and father name him after the Nintendo Wii? No way! He's 26-year-old. The name "Wii" certainly isn't common in Japan, and the kanji characters used in his name mean "universe" and "will power". And picking the "Wii" English spelling, however, was just "creativity" on his mother's part, says Yatani. What did Wii Yatani think when Nintendo dubbed its new console the Wii instead of the Revolution?

I thought it was weird Nintendo would go with that. I thought it sounded really gimmicky and too cutesy.

Now when he meets people, Wii says, "My name is Wii. I'm the original". And while he got pee-pee jokes as a kid, friends now ask him: "Oh, Wii, are you going to go home to play with yourself?" Oh, the hilarity.

A Man Named Wii Describes How Nintendo's Game Console Changed His Life [MTV News]

Sigh. Big sigh. The EB Games' website pretty much confirms the pricing details we heard about last month. $289.95 for the drum kit, guitar and microphone, $119.95 for the game, $109.95 for one guitar and $169.95 for the drum kit. Which means you'll have to shell out $520 bucks for the complete Rock Band experience. If this number looks familiar, it should - it's exactly the same price NZ gamers will be paying, going by the now-retracted info from Gameplanet.

What's particularly damning is that EB's prices prove Harmonix has absolutely no idea what the hell is going on.

Even taking into account the insane cost and delayed release of the original, you guys are still hot for Rock Band 2, with song, DLC and (for those who imported) instrument compatibility with Rock Band being the sexiest factor.

In a related note, AU IGN is reporting that retailers are not interested in stocking Rock Band, given its pricing, bulk and delayed release, and that Rock Band 2 could share a similar fate. Can't say I'm surprised.

Update: Games Warehouse has pricing up as well, with most items selling for ~$10 less. A complete pack will still set you back $480 though [Thanks Adam].

[Thanks to Nick for the EB Games info]

Sam's Club? You don't need Sam's Club to print your Madden covers off. Or EA, for that matter, because we know you're lazy, and have trouble navigating the homepages of monolithic publishers. So we're giving you the option of getting them right here, with these watermark-free, printable copies of the new Packers-less, Jets-orientated box art. There's one for each version - 360, PS3, PSP and PS2 - and they should be big enough that, when printed, they'll look indistinguishable from the copies of Madden 08, Madden 07 and Madden 06 next to it on the shelf. Oh, except Wii owners, there's no cover for you. Don't take it as a sign EA don't think you care, take it as a sign EA know you don't care.

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Is Dead Rising the first of many Wii ports? On the official Capcom blog a commenter complained that Wii owners won't be able to play Resident Evil 5, "possibly" Dead Rising 2, Lost Planet, Flock, Age of Booty, Street Fighter IV, Devil May Cry 4 and Dark Void. Capcom's Christian Svensson replied:

We are contemplating versions of one or two of the CEI titles you've mentioned on the Wii (not saying which), but we'd like to see how they do on their initial target systems before doubling down on additional SKUs.

CEI (referring to "Capcom USA") developed titles include Street Fighter IV and Flock. Upcoming CEI titles include Age of Booty and Dark Void. Let the speculation begin!

Thread [Capcom via Shack News]

Since the recent Xbox 360 price cuts in Australia, the Arcade SKU has been the biggest-selling 360 in the country. That's not anecdotal, that's according to Xbox Australia. Before you start giggling or accuse them of straight-up lying, be aware that those price-cuts made the Arcade 360 the cheapest current-gen console in the country, at $350 (the Wii retails for $400), so don't be surprised if this unnatural phenomenon spreads to other markets when sales figures start turning up.

Arcade outsells the Pros [Screen Play]

When Nintendo announced MotionPlus for the Wii, who knew about it? Nintendo did. And that's it. They didn't tell a soul. Not even their beloved third-party publishing and development partners, who were understandably a little upset. Lucasarts are among those upset, and...oh, did I say upset? I meant to say totally pissed. Here are Lucasarts, supposedly working on the "ultimate lightsaber game" for the Wii, and they're kept in the dark over technology that could have turned a combat game with waggle into an actual ultimate lightsaber game? No wonder they're not happy!

Nintendo Waves Off Third Parties [Game Informer Magazine, via NeoGAF]

The Mega-Man franchise has cool bosses, and Mega-Man 9 is no exception. Bosses include concrete shootin' Concrete Man, twister spinnin' Tornado Man, fireball blastin' Magma Man. Run down of the bosses, screenshots and art after the j-u-m-p!

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Check your e-mails, kids, as those with access to the multiplayer beta for Insomniac Games' Resistance 2 are playing the game right now. They're enjoying 60-person competitive multiplayer and/or/possibly even 8-player coop in a work-in-progress version of R2, something they'll be doing for the next few weeks.

Hey, if you didn't get in, there's no need to sob uncontrollably in the corner. You still have options, whether they be signing up for PlayStation video mag Qore, making the beta a pay to play affair, or by pre-ordering the PlayStation 3 game. There are many ways to enjoy the Resistance 2 beta, says Insomniac.

Resistance 2 Beta [Official Site - thanks, Gantz!]

Levine Wouldn't Say No To More System Shock
I wouldn't say no either! Shame EA holds the IP.

Electronic Arts Publishing Brutal Legend?
As long as someone publishes it, I'll be happy.

The iPhone Just Became A Text Adventure Goldmine
Finally, I have a valid reason to buy an iPhone.

Old School Dungeoneering In The Tombs Of Asciiroth
Nothing like a bit of ASCII action to get the retro juices flowing.

We wouldn't say "no" to more System Shock. You wouldn't say not to more System Shock. You know who else wouldn't say no to more System Shock? Ken Levine, who told VG247 "Would I turn my nose up at another round with Shodan? No". Hardly a firm statement of intent, but SS fans will take what they can get these days. Course, there's always the tricky issue of the System Shock rights being owned by a company that's not Levine's current employers 2K, but as Fallout 3 has shown, where there's a will, there's often a way. So who knows. Maybe some day in the distant future System Shock fans can stop complaining about wanting a new System Shock game and start complaining about the new System Shock game.

Levine on System Shock 3: "Would I turn my nose up at another round with Shodan? No" [VG247] [Image]

Crunchtime Games is kicking off the unofficial Fall of Arcade... wait, Autumn of Arcade on Xbox Live with the release of Shred Nebula, a game that I feel should be punctuated with brief guitar solos at every mention. The independently developed space shooter will be released on the Xbox 360 on September 3 for an unspecified amount of Microsoft Space Bucks. We can't possibly do it justice with our clumsy prose, so check out the video of Shred Nebula in action because with all those pictures in sequence, it's equivalent to, like, a trillion words. Also not strong at math.

Shred Nebula Official Site

Things are lookin' up for Atari! The company announced its quarterly results today, seeing $US 40.3 million in revenue for the quarter ending June 30. That's much better than the quarter from the previous year, if you don't have your earnings spreadsheets handy and translates to reported net income of $US 3.5 million. Sure, Bagel Mondays probably aren't returning any time soon and toner cartridge rations will still be in effect at all Atari offices, but it's better than losing nearly twelve million bucks.

Atari execs likely have the universally 'meh'ed Alone in the Dark reboot to thank for that non-loss, but we're anxiously awaiting the publication of their 10-Q form to find out all the thrilling financial details.

Perhaps wanting to catch some of that crowd-pleasing lightning in a bottle from Nintendo's fabulous E3 2008 keynote, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe reps showed off EyeToy Play: Hero at the Edinburgh Interactive Festival. The PlayStation 2 game, revealed earlier this Spring, is touted as having one-to-one motion sensing, a phrase we've heard bandied about often since Nintendo revealed the Wii MotionPlus add-on.

UK site DarkZero wrote up the first-person sword swinging adventure game's on-stage demo, which utilised the fluorescent-green foam toy sword to interpret a player's motions. That NERF-life sword comes packed in with the EyeToy Play sequel.

SCEE London sounded pretty proud of themselves for developing the tech, but we'd actually seen it in an EyeToy game before. An early version of Harmonix's EyeToy Antigrav, a futuristic hoverboard game, was initially going to ship with bright green gloves to achieve the same effect. Ultimately, it didn't, depriving us of fingerless glove ownership (again).

Sony to have 1:1 motion-tracking sword game by Xmas [Dark Zero]

Activision-Blizzard seems to have forgotten all about another Sierra game.

After throwing out 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand, The Bourne franchise and Brutal Legend, the company has seemingly let the sequel to Scarface: The World is Yours slip down the back of the development sofa as well.

It isn't a huge loss, it has to be said — there isn't exactly a shortage of a gangster-themed games around at the moment — but it still seems a shame that we haven't yet seen a version of Tony Montana on the latest console hardware. Chainsaws may be old hat, but I'll bet the PS3 could really render the living heck out of a line of blow.

There is still some hope — Ghostbusters managed to slime its way back in, after all.

Scarface 2... another Sierra game killed by Activision Blizzard [Variety's The Cut Scene]

For the millions missing out on the now sold out BlizzCon 08, here's some salt for those fresh wounds. The official BlizzCon web site has updated with a list of the convention's developer panel plans, covering all things Diablo III, StarCraft II and World of Warcraft.

While you might think developer panels are dry stuff, the descriptions indicate otherwise. One Diablo III panel, for example, hints strongly that we'll get a look at new classes beyond the Barbarian and Witch Doctor.

The Diablo III Game Design session promises "new and exciting features the upcoming sequel", which we find attractive because new and exciting things are what we live for, and one StarCraft II panel is listed as hosting a developer led live demo. A similar session last year spelled out a host of new features and unit details.

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Film buffs know the Criterion Collection label for its foreign films, niche releases and attention to detail and film quality, but you may be a little bit surprised to learn that they opt for the PlayStation 3 when it comes to Blu-ray playback. Sure, the PS3 has been lauded for its Blu-ray capabilities, but Criterion approval will still have some of Sony's more smug hardware engineers and execs feeling good about themselves.

The label doesn't have any Blu-ray content commercially available yet — its planning to release classics like The Last Emperor, The 400 Blows and Bottle Rocket on the Sony approved format this fall. We wouldn't be surprised if at least one of the Criterion employees making corporate theatre room decisions is using it off-hours to play some Metal Gear Solid 4 on their 123" screen.

Criterion Collection's reference Blu-ray player is a PS3 [Crave via Giz]

Although Rock Band 2 is slated for a September 14 release on the Xbox 360, gamers who were hoping to save some cash by buying the game + instruments bundle will be disappointed.

The game will still launch as a timed Xbox exclusive, but only as a game disc with instruments available separately. The cheaper bundle will not turn up until mid October, coinciding with the PlayStation 3, PS2 and Wii version launch.

The Special Edition bundle will retail for $US 189, but eager Xbox 360 gamers who want the full Rock Band 2 experience on day one can expect to shell out an extra sixty bucks if they buy everything separately.

You know, maybe this isn't a deliberate attempt to gouge money from a segment of the Rock Band fanbase. Maybe Harmonix are just trying to show Xbox gamers what it feels like to buy a more expensive import version of a game? Bah, either way.

Rock Band 2 Bundle on Xbox 360 Getting Delayed October Release? [Shacknews]

From Software and Acquire are bringing Tenchu-style ninja action to the Wii with Tenchu 4, the eleventh game in the series. This promotional clip, via Insert Credit, shows that Acquire is on the right track, finally letting us take control of kitties for some of the game's stealthier sections. It would appear that ninja-trained cats needs a bit of coercion to enter stealth mode, but when they do, expect serious pussy action.

Indie developer Zombie Cow (they did the spoof deathmatch platformer Gibbage)- have released another 'tribute' game — this time a Windows Point 'n' Click adventure heavily inspired by classic Lucasarts SCUMM games like Monkey Island, Sam & Max Hit The Road and Day Of The Tentacle.

Ben There, Dan That follows the adventures of programmer Dan Marshall and his reanimated zombie flatmate, Ben. What starts out as a simple hunt for a TV aerial to facilitate viewing of Magnum: PI turns into a multidimensional quest for a missing Yin-Yang.

If you don't mind some fairly primitive graphics, enjoy in-jokes about retro gaming and think you can stomach what Zombie Cow themselves describe as "the odd dabble of mild racism" (Eh? Careful with the irony guns, guys, that stuff can get everywhere) then BTDT is available for the low, low price of free - although Zombie Cow would certainly not object if you wanted to chuck a donation their way.

Ben There, Dan That [Zombie Cow]

I just finished watching Tropic Thunder, not a laugh out loud movie but packed full of giggles. Robert Downey Jr. totally steals the show. He's quickly becoming my favourite actor. But on to my point. I couldn't help but notice two fairly large nods to gaming and one relatively sly one in the movie.

First and foremost are the two scenes with Ben Stiller talking to his agent. In both scenes, the agent, played by Matthew McConaughey, is wailing away at different mini-games in Wii Sports while talking on the phone with Stiller. He's playing on a pretty large screen in his office so there's no way you can miss it, so let's chalk that up as product placement.

Next comes this odd dialoguethat occurs about a third of the way through the movie with one of the characters trying to explain why Blu-ray won in the format war. His answer? Porn and video games. Porn backed it and Sony backed it with their... but he never quite says PlayStation 3.

Finally, and this one is just odd, during the credits they show a bit player, a non-speaking part mind you, and when his name pops up it does so on a background riddled with old-school Space Invaders. Invader invades Tropic Thunder? Hells yeah!

Canada's Cineplex theatre chain has opened up 29 of its theatres for gamers, letting them have multiplayer gaming sessions on, most likely, the biggest screen they'll ever have access to — some 50-plus feet wide. Going rate is $US 179 Canadian, plus tax, for up to twelve people.

The CBC report hints that it will only be available for Xbox 360 gaming, at least initially, and that during summer operation, open spots will be limited to the morning, but that night time bookings are possible. We just hope all this big screen gaming doesn't interfere with any showings of Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants 2, because that's a tear-jerking adventure with heart.

Cineplex big screens available to Xbox gamers [CBC]

Load up on the flouride and check your blood sugar. Über-sweet farming/life simulator Harvest Moon: Island of Happiness has been confirmed for release on the Nintendo DS on August 26th.

The latest DS outing for the franchise is said to be the biggest ever , with EVEN MORE huge-eyed chicks to marry and raise happy children with.

It's all so.. beautiful. Sniff. That's it, I think I need to go and have a bit of a cry.

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Harvest Moon Games, pre orders can nab a plush chicken. Yes, you read that correctly.

Harvest Moon: Island Of Happiness [Natsume]

Nintendo has been far too busy printing money and dreaming up strange new controllers to actually finish that DVD-on-Wii thing it has been promising for the last couple of years.

Happily, the homebrew community has stepped up and put together a Wii channel that will read a DVD disc and pipe it through the open source MPlayer media player.

It's not quite ready for prime time — the audio can sometimes get out of sync, although this is more a 'feature' of MPlayer than the fault of the hack, we suspect. Worth checking out, though, and it might just save Nintendo the bother of building something that nobody has really been crying out for but would be nice to have for free.

Homebrew Enables DVD Playback On Wii [Gemaga.com]