Swedish developer GRIN, working on Capcom's new Bionic Commando title as well as the PSN/XBLA update of the original one, were entertainingly forthcoming during an industry conference in the Netherlands where they talked about the tough path for an independent developer.

Managing director Bo had some blunt language for the harsh reality of game development as a business, something the audience may occasionally lose track of when levying certain accusations at development studios:

More characters join the Tatsunoko vs. Capcom fray! Previously, it was announced that the Capcom side was getting Street Fighter III's Alex and the Tatsunoko side was getting Gan-chan from anime Yatterman. The latest brawlers in this gaming characters versus anime character fight: Darkstalkers' Morrigan Aensland, Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams' Soki, Hurricane Polymar and Golden Warrior Gold Lightan. As game site Arcade Renaissance points out, the game's button layout seems similar to the Sengoku Basara X one. Something to keep in mind as Japanese arcade location tests kick off this weekend! That, and the possibility of even more new characters.

Capcom VS Tatsunoko features Gold Lightan [ToyboxDX Thanks, Matt!]

The Group of Eight - ie the cool, popular kids of the developed world - just had a meet-up in Kyoto, Japan. Seemed to go swimmingly enough. To mark the occasion, the hosts presented all visiting politicians with some gifts unique to Japan, like some manga-style caricatures and that very snazzy-looking DS Lite console. They're double-lacquered to give the consoles a glossy finish, and each was topped off with a print depicting a pagoda and some cherry blossoms. Needless to say, these are probably now the most valuable/expensive DS Lites in the world, and needless to say, you will never own one. Unless you get lucky and spy Condy or Gordon Brown hocking theirs on Craigslist for a quick quid.

Fans of Namco's Xbox 360-exclusive, J-pop idol sim THE iDOLM@STER are rich, it seems. Tickets for the iDOLM@STER event "THE iDOLM@STER 3rd Anniversary Live later this month have been going bananas. Auction prices have hit as high as ¥138,000 or $US 1,292 (starting at ¥6,500 or $US 61) and fetching about $US 470 on average. The event will have the full iDOLM@STER voice cast in attendance, so perhaps these prices are understandable.

No, no they are not.

アイドルマスターライブ [my game news flash via Sankaku Complex]

We've previously seen how Halo 3's Forge can be used as a canvas by the artistically included. And while the above image is certainly not the first "erotic" images made with Forge level editor by a damn sight. (Hey, give the plebs the ability to create, and you betcha, they'll whip up naughty bits!) But these are the first MAXIMUM RISKY Japanese anime-style ones we've seen -- then again, we haven't exactly been looking. They, of course, were made by lining up weapons.

HALO3」、武器を並べてエロアートを作る職人 [Hatimaki]

Mega Man 9 [Go Nintendo]

Capcom's posted the original art for the Street Fighter IV Ryu anime shown at this year's Captivate. The animation trailer is up on the Capcom site, so you can see that here. To check out the art, that's in the gallery right down there. Enjoy!

The first half of this year belong to the PSP. According to Famitsu publisher Enterbrain, the PSP moved 1,964,461 units, while the Wii was hot on its heels with 1,720,263 units. Rounding out the top three was the Nintendo DS, selling 1,593,844 units. Now that Monster Hunter Portable 2nd G has been out for three months, we'll have to wait and see if the Sony portable still has enough steam to snag the second half of the year.

PSP：196万台でWii越え1位に [Mainichi via PSPHyper]

As foretold, here are the first screens of zombie love, zombie bowling, zombie rock and roll, zombie sumo, zombie apple picking Ai sareru yori ai shitai: House of the Dead EX. The game looks more causal and more crazy. It's jammed pack with mini-games that are controlled by the gun and the foot pedal — mini games, and that's not in a pejorative sense! This series spin-off looks fun and totally fitting for arcade play. We approve, SEGA, we really do.

SEGA PRIVATE SHOW 2008 -SUMMER [IT Media]

Five games that made an impact on the life of Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima? According to the famed game designer:

• Super Mario Bros.

• Portopia Renzoku Satsujin Jiken

• Xevious

• Another World

• Metal Gear Solid

This list comes from a Yomiuri Newspaper article called "All About Kojima Hideo" dated June 11th. We haven't seen the full article (only that picture we found on a Yomiuri blog), and the English translation of Yomiuri article glosses over these five games and what they mean to him. From the pic we found, it certainly appears as though Kojima explained how they affected him.

Hide-and-seek with Hideo Kojima [Yoimuri]