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Almost Same: Difference in 360 and PS3 Devil May Cry 4? The Controller
Once upon a time Devil May Cry 4 was pegged as PS3 exclusive. Then it wasn't, making the cross-platform jump to PC and Xbox 360. Still, the two console versions must be a little different, right? Nope! DMC4 producer says Hiroyuki Kobayashi points out:The actual contents are exactly the same, but having said that, the feel of the controller may cause a slight difference.So there you go. The version aren't just the same, they are "exactly the same." Which you buy will depend on which controller you prefer. So, what'll it be: SIXAXIS or 360 controller?Kobayashi Interview [Eurogamer]

Sales Charts: Australian Sales Charts
What is it with Brain Training? Nintendo spend all this money advertising the sequel and people are buying more of the original. And not just this week, loads of times. Nutty. That peculiarity aside, Australia still loves BioShock, and while the PC version slipped a pinch the 360 one is still at #1.1) Bioshock (360)2) Singstar 90s (Software)3) Brain Training4) Singstar 90s (Bundle)5) Bioshock (PC)6) Pokemon DIamond7) Mario Party 88) Pokemon Pearl9) AFL 200710) World of Warcraft[charts courtesy of GfK]

A Little Give And Take: BioShock Update Gives With One Hand, Taketh With Other
If you're both playing BioShock (likely) and connected to Xbox Live (again, likely), you'd probably already have been prompted to download an update for the game. Wondering what's inside? No, no plasmids, just a few fixes for an autosave bug, AI problems with splicers using health stations and a music bug on the menu screen. Oh, and something else. It's screwing up a lot of people's games. We've received a ton of emails from readers complaining about the game now freezing constantly, and sometimes locking up completely. 2K say they're working on a fix, but until then, you can get around this by clearing your 360's cache. To do this, just hold both bumper buttons while the game's booting, and don't let go until you see the 2K logo. That should do it.

Prolly Not: Can Ace Combat 6 Save Xbox 360 in Japan?
What's the Xbox 360 game Japan is looking forward to? Less Halo 3, more Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation. Just check out the above pre-order display that shows AC6 all big and other games all regular. The Namco series has a big following in The Land of the Rising Sun, and since the latest entry is a 360 exclusive, Ace Combat 6 might shift a few consoles for Microsoft! At the Sofmap in Osaka's Den-Den Town, shoppers would stop dead in their tracks to watch the Ace Combat 6 trailer and move on once it was finished. Even old bald men gave the demo a whirl. That, dear reader, after the jump!

Innovative: US PS3 Backwards Compatability Search Now Live
With the 80GB model of the PS3, Americans were invited to feel some of Europe's pain. Gone was the promise of near-universal PS2 backwards compatability, replaced with a software-based emulation system where many games work, many games work with issues and some games do not work. At all. I say some of Europe's pain, though, because half the hassle of it all is in checking the PAL BC list on SCEE's torturous BC site to see if your games work. See, the site does not contain a search function. The newly-launched US search site does, allowing you to enter the name of your PS2 games into a small text field, conduct a search and be provided with a prompt answer. Awfully clever, that, and definitely ground-breaking technology. I bet SCEE are kicking themselves they didn't think of it.SCEA PS3 BC Search Site [SCEA PS3 Support]

Giant Dave Karraker Face Says: Lair Is For Gamers, Not Critics
Lair's not doing so good on the reviews circuit. In fact it's stinking up the place, critics almost unanimous in their disdain for what's basically a Rogue Squadron game without a Hoth level. This should be a concern for Sony, but really, it's not, outgoing SCEA PR head Dave "Screw you, Jerktown" Karraker saying: At the end of the day, I'll be interested in the consumers' response, because the consumer awareness for this title was so huge. I've spoken to any number of people who really like it, and there's other people that find it a challenge. What really matters is whether or not the consumers are having a good experience, because they'll tell us on the [PlayStation] blog. Interesting approach, but unless a game's got a trusted IP or word of mouth behind it, it's going nowhere without positive reviews. This is new IP with rubbish reviews. Don't fancy its chances.Sony Brushes Off Lair Critics [Next-Gen]

Contest: Last Day For Globe Entries
This is it! The last day to enter our amazing World in Conflict globe contest, and there are only a few hours left. Just look at Kotakuite Zhai's amazing entry. It's a globe on a cat. Yes, a CAT. Brilliant! Says Zhai:When I was drawing continents, think I offended about 4 000 000 000 people all around the world,by mishshaping their countries/continents. I'm really sorry. Sorry Africans for ereasing half of west countries there. Sorry Europeans for connecting Ireland and Britain with the rest of a land. Sorry Asians for missing Japan, but it didn't hold well on cat. Sorry Australians for connecting your continent with New Zealand. To bring everyone up to speed: Make a globe out of anything you like, but it must be an actual tangible World globe with countries and oceans and stuff like that. The key here is be creative! Accuracy isn't so important! The best globes will be selected by the big mean Kotaku editors, while Kotakuland will vote for the best finalist. The deadline for...

Hardware Woes: Simple 2000: The Japanese Hardware Chart
Nintendo weekly hardware sales continue to drop as either supply remains constrained or, less likely, a nation of millions realizes they've grown quite tired of housekeeping diaries and scribbling kanji on their touchscreens. Week over week, hardware numbers were down across the board with the exception of the PLAYSTATION 3. The PS3 avoided a dip with a little help from solid sales of Koei's Bladestorm: The Hundred Years' War. For the week of August 27th to September 2nd, the hardware wars suffered the following casualties.Nintendo DS Lite - 94,339Wii - 39,371PSP - 22,196PLAYSTATION 3 - 18,068PlayStation 2 - 14,280Xbox 360 - 1,635Game Boy micro - 263Game Boy Advance SP - 195

Lord British: Garriott's New Playhouse
While the majority of last night's Tabula Rasa event took place at Britannia Manor MK II, the festivities came to an end at the site of Britainnia Manor MK III, Richard Garriott's new Texas castle, 10 years in the making. During a gap in the presentation, Garriott took some time to explain why his new house is going to be an 8 year-old's wet dream. First off is the tower, which is pictured here. Excuse the darkness of the shot, but it was taken at nearly 1AM by a large sweaty man wearing a hard hat. The five story tower will form the central point in the sprawling manor, and will consist of an observatory at the top, planetarium underneath it, and a giant room-sized elevator that travels the bottom three floors.Why a giant elevator? Well it figures in to the design of the attached main hall. It will be a massive, ,three-story structure comprised of a dining area on the second floor and a balcony on the third floor, overlooking said dining area. Not content to have just two stories...

Unhealthy Speculation: Mario Kart May Not Feature 16-Player Online After All
Sorry. Really. OK, I'm not sorry, Official Nintendo Magazine are, for all the confusion. Seems the news that Mario Kart Wii would feature 16-player online play wasn't news at all. It was speculation on their part: The details printed in Official Nintendo Magazine 21 regarding Mario Kart Wii were healthy speculation on our part and are in no way an official announcement from Nintendo.We are sorry if we have mislead anyone. We do not set out to mislead our readers. ONM apologises profusely for any misunderstandings that this has caused. Rest easy, Wii owners. The hassle of having to punch in fifteen friend codes has been averted. For now, at least, since there's always the chance ONM published something they shouldn't have, and that this will be announced at TGS in a couple weeks time.More players for online battle than expected? Update: Official Nintendo Mag reponds [Games Radar]

Final Fantasy XI: No Cross Platform Online Games For Wii Says Square-Enix
Final Fantasy XI producer Hiromichi Tanaka said the company has no plans to bring its PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 2 MMO to the online-enabled Wii. He explained at the Austin Game Developers Conference that "Nintendo's currently not allowing different cross-platform titles, and [...] resolution differences make it harder for us to make cross-platform games. Currently we're not looking at Nintendo Wii as a platform." Not good news, but I doubt it will drive many of you to rooftop ledges clutching suicide notes penned on Chocobo stationery.While Nintendo's clumsy and spartan online game offerings should ensure that this comes as a surprise to no one, Tanaka did reveal a slight surprise, according to Gamespot's report, in that he'll soon be able to reveal more of his next-gen online RPG. I've got five bucks on Final Fantasy XI-II.Square Enix: Nintendo saying no to cross-platform MMOs [Gamespot]

Day Note: Bioshock Hang-Over
To: AshFrom: CrecenteI'm sure you noticed but our servers all crashed four several hours this morning. Not only could we not post,but people couldn't read either. It sucked.I was up till about 3 a.m. this morning playing Bioshock, my first dip into the world. I've been meaning to play it for a bit now but I was in Leipzig and then up to my eyeballs catching up and helping you plan a bit for the Tokyo Game Show. I was, as I'm sure most were, stunned by how good the game is. It's not just that it's a solid bit of gameplay, it's how very atmospheric the game is. It really nails what it's going for with the lighting and the sounds and the, I don't know, the aesthetic I guess, of the game. What astounds me even more is how well the game seems to capture, both in tone and gameplay, Objectivism. I was highly, very highly skeptical when I heard the Irrational folks mouthing off about Ayn Rand. I knew, I was convinced, that the game would at most touch on some of the sentimentality of...

Only In Europe: Sony Dates PlayStation Games For Europe (Including Home)
SCEE today clarified some near final release dates for games across the entire PlayStation family, including providing a tentative release date for its online social software Home. PlayStation Network releases, including Home, after the jump, but it appears gamers with the above haircut will be moping it up online before Halloween.PLAYSTATION 3October 17 - FolkloreOctober 19 - LairOctober 24 - Eye of JudgmentNovember 7 - Ratchet & Clank: Tools of DestructionNovember 28 - Time Crisis 4December 5 - Uncharted: Drake's FortuneDecember 2007 - Gran Turismo 5 ProloguePlayStation 2October 19 - Buzz! Hollywood QuizNovember 2 - Syphon Filter : Dark MirrorNovember 7 - EyeToy Play : Astro ZooDecember TBA - ATV Off Road Fury 4February 2008 - Pursuit Force : Extreme JusticePSPOctober 17 - Pursuit Force : Extreme JusticeNovember 2 - Syphon Filter : Logan's ShadowNovember 2007 - ATV Off Road : Fury ProDecember 2007 - WipEout PulseFebruary 2008 - God of War : Chains of OlympusPlaystation...

Lord British: Garriot's New Playhouse
While the majority of last night's Tabula Rasa event took place at Britannia Manor MK II, the festivities came to an end at the site of Britainnia Manor MK III, Richard Garriott's new Texas castle, 10 years in the making. During a gap in the presentation, Garriott took some time to explain why his new house is going to be an 8 year-old's wet dream. First off is the tower, which is pictured here. Excuse the darkness of the shot, but it was taken at nearly 1AM by a large sweaty man wearing a hard hat. The five story tower will form the central point in the sprawling manor, and will consist of an observatory at the top, planetarium underneath it, and a giant room-sized elevator that travels the bottom three floors.Why a giant elevator? Well it figures in to the design of the attached main hall. It will be a massive, ,three-story structure comprised of a dining area on the second floor and a balcony on the third floor, overlooking said dining area. Not content to have just two stories...

Cedia07: PS3's Xross Media Bar Invades TVs, Media Servers
I know Sony announced that the Playstation 3's Xross Media Bar was going to be invading televisions awhile back now, but this is the first time I've seen it in action. While I think the Playstation 3 has a lot going for it, the user interface tops my list as one of the neater things packed into the console.These pictures showing a Sony receiver with a Xross Media Bar are kinda cool, but what I really liked was the Home Media Service with the XMB. Check out all of those movies.

Clips: More Left 4 Dead Gameplay
Turtle Rock's Left 4 Dead is, in a word, boneriffic. Every time the developer releases new footage, especially direct feed footage, I'm forced to watch, re-watch and post. The wait for 2008, alongside some 21st century PC hardware upgrades, is ever more unbearable with this new, crazy, brief clip. Who wants to join my Left 4 Dead clan next year?!

Cedia07: Pwning on Panasonic's Gaming Projector
Panasonic had their PT-AX200U high-def projector set-up off in a corner of their CEDIA booth. The projector has a 1280 by 720 resolution, 2,000 lumens brightness and 6000:1 contrast. More importantly the projector has a gaming mode which optimizes frame response to improve signal processing by a third. The setting also tweaks the contrast settings bringing out darker scenes and images that are typically over saturated.To promote the projector, Panasonic flew in Major League Gamings Tom Taylor, aka Tsquared, to beat up on people in matches of Halo 2. I sat down with him and talked about the television and pro-gaming, peppering him with questions as he peppered me with pwnage. Seriously, it was embarassing.Taylor said that he loves Halo 3, he seemed generally excited about the flexibility of map set-ups and the ability to capture replays in game. He plans on using it to help teach at his school for pro-gaming. He said there hasn't been any real talk yet about replacing Halo 2...

Ban Solid: Major Nelson Clears Up The Xbox Live Mega-Ban
It's a good thing Ashcraft wrote in last night's report that the banning of some 23,000 Xbox Live accounts for taking advantage of a Call of Duty 4 beta exploit was "unconfirmed" because Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb says, quite clearly, that it's not true. He writes in his Xboxy blog "We did NOT ban tens of thousands of folks yesterday as some are reporting."Hryb does warn that players who are seeking roundabout methods to sneak into the beta sans official token may be violating the Xbox Live terms of use, which could definitely result in an account hammer whacking you in the hiney. The Major also writes that sharing your account isn't just a dumbass move (dumbass), it's another violation of the terms of use.Basically, hold tight and don't do anything stupid like getting your account axed just weeks away from the Halo 3 release. Think you can manage that, braniacs?Xbox Live Bans and you [Major Nelson]

Cedia07: Wii Tennis on a 103-Inch TV
Walking through the Panasonic booth at CEDIA, I saw plenty of Playstation 3's being used to demonstrate the high-def screens. Panasonic is all about the Blu-ray so they nixed the Xbox 360 I was told... yes, I know that make no sense. As I rounded a corner I saw this, two guys playing Wii tennis on a 103-inch high-def television. My perspective is all screwed in this shot, but trust me it was impressive. Nearby a Panasonic rep fidgeted. "I thought you were just using PS3s in here because of the whole Blu-ray thing?""Yeah, we have a PS3 hooked-up to it too, but everyone wants to play with the Wii on this television.""Are you worried about people accidentally throwing their remotes into that screen?""Yes, but that's why they're wearing the straps.""That would really suck."Sickly smile.

Wow Retracted: Stranglehold System Requirements May Not Require Second Mortgage
Kotaku reader Iwo saw our previous post on the alleged system requirements for the PC version of Midway's Stranglehold, one that demanded hardware specs that one might expect to see in a $7000 computer. To his surprise (and mine) he found a very different set of minimum requirements on the back of the game's display case, despite the final retail version still being a few weeks off. We're waiting to hear back from Midway on the matter, but it looks like the near final hardware needs don't approach the sometimes ludicrous levels we posted earlier.They're rumored to be:OS: Windows 2000/XPProcessor: Intel P4 1.5 GHz or AMD Athlon XP 1500 or greaterMemory: 256 MB RAM, 64MB VRAMHard Disk Space: 3 GB of free space requiredDVD-ROM drive: 4X speedSound: DirectX 9.0b compliant sound cardDirect X: DirectX 9 will be supplied on the DVDVideo: Video Card DirectX 9.0b compatible, including the following: ATI 8500, All In Wonder 8500, 9000, 9200, 9500, 9600, 9700, 9800, X300, X600, X800, NVidia...

Hdmi: Sweet Remote Controlled HDMI Switchers
I may very well be one of the only people with this problem, but HDMI-enabled devices are a total pain in the ass for me. That's because when I bought my television there weren't many out there with multiple HDMI in ports, so mine only has one. And I have a cable box, PS3 and Xbox 360 Elite that all use HDMI. So I bought the only switcher I could find at the time, a 2-1 splitter, and just manually swap cables, which is a pain in the ass.Walking around CEDIA today I stumbled upon Digital Extender, a company that specializes in HDMI switchers and splitters. What caught my attention was this nifty set-up: One Playstation 3 playing on six high-def televisions at once. Once there they I spotted an 3-1 remote controlled HDMI switcher for $130, not bad, not bad at all.

Criminally Content: Real Time Worlds Says "No" To Crackdown Sequel
Love Crackdown? I assume a good portion of the 1.5 million of you who bought it did—and not just for the Halo 3 beta key contained within. If you're a big Crackdown fan, you'll have to wait a long time for the sequel, as developer Real Time Worlds says they aren't working on it. Why? According to Develop Mag's report, producer Phil Wilson said that "Microsoft were a little late in stepping up to the plate to ask for Crackdown 2, and by then we had already started working on bigger, better things."That bigger and better thing is most likely Real Time Worlds' cops and robbers MMO APB which is definitely not a remake of Atari arcade game of the same name (sadly). The Scottish developer also has something else up its sleeve, due to hit unspecified platforms in 2009.Despite a rocky development cycle that went overbudget and a "poor image pre-release", it seems that Crackdown was definitely a success. So why no sequel, Microsoft?Realtime Worlds chats about Crackdown creation...

Psn Thursday: PlayStation Store Update: Tequila Time
The latest update to the PlayStation Store has gone live, hosting a digitally rights managed smrgsbord of new content for PLAYSTATION 3 owners. In addition to new demos for Midway's Stranglehold (1337 MB) and EA's NBA Live 08 (661 MB), a slew of add-ons for already released games are available.MotorStorm owners can pick up the Revenge Weekend add-on ($5.99) which consists of one new track, five new vehicles (including a school bus!), a new online mode and nine new events. Four of those vehicles may be purchased individually for 99 cents each, if you're so inclined. For Ninja Gaiden Sigma players looking for more punishment, the Weapons Master pack adds five survival modes for $2.99. But wait, there's more!Trailers for upcoming games include: Turok "Quiet Kills" Trailer PixelJunk Racers Trailer Heavenly Sword "Making Of" No. 5 and Anime No. 5 Lair "World in Chaos" Video MotorStorm "Coyote Revenge" VideoOn the Hollywood front we have: Drillbit Taylor Trailer Resident Evil: Extinction...

Cedia07: Golfing for the Outdoors Averse and Super Rich
Saw this Full Swing Golf set up while cruising the booths looking for game-related technology. Full Swing Golf is a room-sized golf simulator that uses two 360-degree curtains of infrared beams, each emitting 60,000 pulses per a second, to track real-world fall flight data. In other words, sensors track what happens when you smack the shit out of a ball at the screen and then convert it into graphics that play out in front of you. Kinda neat, I assume super expensive.

Smells Just As Sweet: F.E.A.R. Fans Pick Dullest Name Ever For Sequel
With Vivendi retaining the rights to the F.E.A.R. name, developer Monolith Productions needed something unique, something catchy, something that's not a four-letter acronym for the follow up to the spark-filled first-person shooter. What did they wind up with? Something that's definitely not a four-letter acronym. What would have under normal circumstances been dubbed F.E.A.R. 2 will now be known as Project Origin. Memorable isn't it? Wait, what was it again? Right, Project Origin.Sure, it may not have the sex appeal of Dead Echo, but at least it's better than the rejected Blood Let: Drenched in Desecration, isn't it? Project Origin is planned to hit the PC, Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION 3 at a mysterious future date. Try to remember the name when it comes out.

Event: CEDIA Day in Photos
CEDIA was most definitely my type of show. While Gizmodo's Brian Lam was practically dry-humping the endless rows of high-end cabling, theater seating, hydraulic desks (which I tagged the Upskirt 2K because they had booth babes riding it up to eye level), I found very little gaming wise to talk up.There were some funny exceptions, like the 103-inch high-def television being used to play Wii Golf, a sales rep standing by cringing with every wild swing of those involved. The endless supply of PS3s being used to show off high-def video. The HDMI splitter being used to feed video from one PS3 to six high-def televisions. I'll be writing all of that stuff in a bit, including my being pwned by a pro-gamer on Halo 2, but for now check out the gallery and reveal in the non-gaminess of it. galleryPost('cedia07', 4, 'Land of the Lost');

Galaxy High: Star Wars Galaxies Razes Houses, Raises Money
We're suckers for charitable PR moves. And while LucasArts recently loose-justification for donating to Austin's Habitat For Humanity organization would normally smack of goodwilled attention whoring, I simply must give them some credit for going about it in a unique way. Here's the deal—Star Wars Galaxies is littered with unoccupied (read: abandoned) buildings. In order to clear some space for the remaining residents of the online Tattoine and Yavin IV, the Empire is calling in the TIE fighters to blow the crap out of them.The better part is that while LucasArts is tearing down in game, it's helping build up in real life. They're donating funds for each virtual building razed to Habitat For Humanity, the charitable volunteer organization that helps build and find homes for the less fortunate. Star Wars Galaxies subscribers are joining in on the fun, too, netting some in game rewards for contributing to the cause.Nice work all around, but I'm re-engaging my jaded cynic...

Fantastic Sams: Gears Of War: The Hair Cut
Major League Gaming's tournament director Andreas sent us a snap that contains a very important lesson. If you're on the fence about whether you should go for the Gears of War tattoo or the Gears of War haircut, I'm going to have to recommend the latter. This gamer, spied at an MLG event in Chicago and sporting a Cliffy B approved mohawk, made the right call. Remember kids, think before you ink! Thanks, Andreas!

Squenix From The Ashes: Simple 2000: The Japanese Software Chart
Last week's number two showing, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates, moves up a notch this week, with Koei's PLAYSTATION 3 strategic slasher Bladestorm: The Hundred Years' War breathing a little life into sales on Sony's pricey platform. The rest of the list is populated with a handful of newcomers, but little in the way of games you'll ever actually play.The top ten for the week of August 27th to September 2nd look like this. The rest of the top thirty is after that.01. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates (DS) - 79,000 / 256,00002. Bladestorm: The Hundred Years' War (PS3) - 59,000 / NEW03. Gintama Gin-San to Issho! Boku no Kabuki Machi Nikki (PS2) - 57,000 / NEW04. Sengoku Musou 2 Moushouden (PS2) - 52,000 / 235,00005. One Piece Gear Spirit (DS) - 41,000 / NEW06. Mario Party 8 (Wii) - 39,000 / 704,00007. Summon Night: Twin Edge (DS) - 28,000 / NEW08. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney 3 - Best Price! (DS) - 20,000 / 77,00009. My Housekeeping Diary (DS) - 20,000...

Clips: Marge Attacks in The Simpson Game
In this latest Simpsons Game clip we get a look at Marge's special attacks. I suspect that the game is going to be much better than the movie, but that wouldn't be too hard to do.

Roll Over Beethoven: Video Games Live CD Coming October 15th
For those of you who haven't been to a Video Games Live concert or are just looking for some good geek makeout music, the Tommy Tallarico album has been dated for an October 15th release date. Featuring everyone's favorite pop pianist Martin Leung and melodies from WoW, Super Mario and Halo, it's a must-buy to prove your dorkdom to those of us who feel you just are hardcore enough. Yeah, we aren't falling for that temporary Zelda tattoo. And neither is your mom. So who's planning on picking this one up? (Fahey, hand down please. We already know.) Video Games Live CD Releases October 15 [gamelife]

Banhammer: Sony Bans PSP Homebrew Talk on Forums
SCEA has said no more posting about PSP homebrew on their forums. Homebrew applications void the warranty of the PSP(PlayStationPortable) system, and an official area to discuss such activities cannot be provided by SCEA. Any postings that are clearly homebrew-related, such as those providing instructions on downgrading firmware updates, will be removed from this board.But is it really any surprise? While many have picked up this story, disgusted with Sony (and somewhat rightly so), who can expect Sony to allow their bandwidth to be spent in a manner that is (in their eyes) directly opposing their business? It's a shame that Sony has not found a way to embrace the homebrew community—a move that would be great PR for their promising but underutilized portable. But until they realize the potential in supporting non-pirated homebrew, we can't feign disgust or surprise at what is a very reasonable move made by an unreasonable company. Sony Forum [via gamesradar]

Event: Checking Out CEDIA
The Custom Electronic Design & Installation Association Expo isn't exactly a mecca for video gaming news, but they are holding it in downtown Denver so I sorta feel obligated to stop on by.I'm on the train heading there now. You'd think a show dedicated to "residential electronic systems" would have something worth posting about on Kotaku. We'll see.

Gc07: Justify Your Kane
newVideoPlayer("JustifyYourKane_gawker.flv", 475, 376);Joe Kucan, better known to many as Kane from Command & Conquer, was asked to "justify his Kane" for Kotaku. He turned to PR and asked, "How much leeway do I have with this?" They replied, "do whatever you want." He smiled...

Take It Off!: Nintendo Is A Metroid Dread Tease
Anyone remember those rumors of a 2D Metroid title for DS called Metroid Dread? Formerly all but extinguished, the fanboys became rabid again after this message was found in Metroid Prime: Corruption:Experiment status report update: Metroid project 'Dread' is nearing the final stages of completion.So this means Metroid Dread is coming, right? Wrong. When CVG asked Nintendo about their apparent easter egg, they responded killjoy-style:Nintendo is not making the 2D Metroid at this point in time.Note, Nintendo didn't brush off the rumor with a "no announcements at this time" sidestep. They said, "it ain't happening."I just wish my heart would listen. Nintendo denies Metroid Dread [cvg]

Roundup: Frankenreview - Lair (PS3)
Factor 5's Lair got one bad review. And after that, the levies broke and the criticism came pouring in. Now, in the wake of carnage, we can step back and see where things seemingly went wrong. (Of course, not having played the final build, I stubbornly stand by my impressions.) So hit the jump for our Frankenreview: the longest, most obnoxious review title you've ever heard. And find out why, aside from the questionable control scheme, most reviewers are hating on the game.IGNThe dragon fights in this dragon game are no good...The takedowns -- which have you fly up on a foe, jump onto the beast, kill the pilot and take out the dragon via some quick action events -- are cool, but they seemed to be the minority. One of the more prevalent attacks had us flying side-by-side with a bad guy and shaking our controller left to right...The next battle method had our dragon and the opposing dragon face to face falling toward the ground...Sound cool? It wasn't, and that pretty much sums...

Floodgates Breaking: PSP Slim Firmware Hacked
PSP modding fans fear hardware updates like nuns fear straight priests. But the PSP Slim's protection is already crumbling, as modders Mathieulh and Dark_Alex have downloaded the firmware from the internal flash memory....we wont tell how it's been done, however it shows that hacking into the slim is possible with enough will...And the other big find is that the internal memory is 66MB in size, or double that of the original PSP. So if my lousy match is correct, we can expect bigger and badder hacks with more complex launching programs. And don't worry Sony, it certainly won't hurt your hardware sales one bit. PSP Slim/2000 and hardware modding.... [maxconsole]

Gc07: Justify Your Platform, Gabe Newell
newVideoPlayer("JustifyYourPC_gawker.flv", 475, 376);We caught up with Gabe Newell at GC07 and made him justify the PC platform. How'd he do? Let's just say the man could sell a ketchup popsicle to a woman in white gloves. And the Kotaku staff is full of white gloves (though admittedly light on women).

Xbox 360: Shivering Isles Retail 360 Disc Coming
That's right, you don't have to download the Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles expansion to play it on your Xbox 360, Bethesda today confirmed that the pack will be going to retail in October and will also include the Knights of the Nine content.The retail disc will sell for $30, no word yet on whether they will be doing the same for the Playstation 3, though I'm told they are looking into options.Bethesda also let us know that Prima is releasing a new nearly 500-page Game of the Year edition of their Oblivion Game Guide which will cover all of the content released to date. Hit the jump for the release.Bethesda Softworks Announces The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles Xbox 360 Retail Disc Official Expansion to Award-Winning Role Playing Game, Available at Retail, Combined With Knights of the NineSeptember 06, 2007 (Rockville, MD) - Bethesda Softworks, a ZeniMax Media company, announced today that it will release The Elder Scrolls IV: Shivering Isles for Xbox 360 video game...

Take It Off!: Nintendo is Metroid Dread Tease
Anyone remember those rumors of a 2D Metroid title for DS called Metroid Dread? Formerly all but extinguished, the fanboys became rabid again after this message was found in Metroid Prime: Corruption:Experiment status report update: Metroid project 'Dread' is nearing the final stages of completion.So this means Metroid Dread is coming, right? Wrong. When CVG asked Nintendo about their apparent easter egg, they responded killjoy-style:Nintendo is not making the 2D Metroid at this point in time.Note, Nintendo didn't brush off the rumor with a "no announcements at this time" sidestep. They said, "it ain't happening."I just wish my heart would listen. Nintendo denies Metroid Dread [cvg]

Clips: Army of Two and the Magic of Tampons
Yes, they do use tampons as field dressing in the real world too.

Tabula Rasa: Logos Academy Swag Bag
While I am still busy processing everything that went on at last night's Tabula Rasa Logos Academy event held at Richard Garriott's sprawling estates, I thought I could share with you all the contents of the swag bag that was dropped into our weary laps as we shuffled onto the tour bus at the event's end. The bag itself has a very military feel to it, definitely a step above your standard swag holder. Inside I found a Tabula Rasa t-shirt, coin, dog tags, knit hat, and a tin that when opened revealed a shiny silver compass, flashlight, and pocket knife set. Classy and shiny at the same time. This should take up more space in my luggage quite nicely indeed! galleryPost('trasaswag', 4, 'Tabula Rasa Promotional Merchandising Goodness');

Original: Riding The Vomit Comet
See those happy, healthy, pretty people? They are enjoying the Zero G experience in a healthy and pretty fashion. I am showing you this so you can come back to this picture later and compare it with my own experience. You see, I have been invited to participate in a Zero G flight this morning, and I guarantee you I will look nothing like these people as the parabolic maneuver makes me weightless for 30 seconds (no mean feat). What will I look like? I am imagining vomit floating gracefully through the air as Swan Lake plays in the background. Stay tuned for more details later today, and wish me luck!

Clip: Japan's Eternal Sonata Wart on Core Bundle Unboxed
Best part of Japan's Eternal Sonata Xbox 360 bundle? It has an Eternal Sonata alarm clock. But! The alarm clock has no batteries. So spend a couple hundred bucks, but don't get free batteries for your free alarm clock. That's kinda odd, wouldn't you say?

Best Get A Move On: Call Of Duty 4 Beta Open For Australians
Australians, New Zealanders, your time to shine. Call of Duty 4 beta registrations are now open over at the Xbox Australia site, but spots are limited, so you might want to make snappy with the sign-ups. I've been on it for about a week now, and I'll tell you this: I'm having a whale of a time. And for reference, I normally hate MP shooters. Can't stand 'em! Those successful in getting in will be able to get cracking on September 11.Call of Duty 4 AUS/NZ Beta SIgn-Ups [Xbox Australia]

Doing It: Iwata's Personal Theory on Human Reproduction
Nintendo honcho Satoru Iwata doesn't just like to talk Nintendo games. He talks other stuff. Deep stuff. Stuff like reproduction and DNA and how this factors in why we compare out strengths and weaknesses. I'll let Iwata say it. It sounds better:This is my personal theory, but all living creatures bear the task of passing down their DNA through reproduction. To reproduce, there's the necessity to show your superiority. The individuals who can do this well are the ones that were able to pass down their DNA... So I think it's natural for us to try to show that we're better than others. That's why we tend to compare our strengths with other people's weakness. This happens in any type of social organizations, such as in companies.Way more interesting then hearing him drone on about old people playing Wii Sports!Conversation with Iwata [Itoi's Site]

Fight It: Bungie Level Designer Diagnosed with Cancer
Sometimes blockquotes say it better. This is one of those times:Peter Marks has been a part of the Bungie community, both inside and out, for more than ten years. Myth players knew him as BNA Mordia. Halo PC players knew him as Lud. Bungie fans of Halo know Peter's work, Hang Em High and other popular levels. Unfortunately, Peter has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. He is doing what he can to fight it, with doctors pulling every trick in the book to defeat it. With his physical being in the care of professionals, close friends and family have been giving him much love and support to give him a much needed lift in spirits. Bungie has an open letter to Peter Marks where people can show support, which is something he cannot get enough of right now. Hang in there Peter, stay strong and finish the fight. An Open Letter to Peter Marks [Bungie]

Now The Drugs Don't Work: Four New BioShock Plasmids Coming?
People are curious. We poke at shit, it's what we do. That goes double for internet types, and double double for internet gaming types, who simply will not rest until they've scrounged through every last line of code in a new game, looking for hidden secrets and spoiling PR and marketing parties the world over. Take BioShock, for example. Some cats have gone through the code of the PC version and found reference to four new plasmids, which form part of a "Downloadable content anouncement". The four plasmids are "Machine Buster", "Vending Expert", "Sonic Boom" and "EVE Saver". Vending Expert sounds handy, but Sonic Boom? Sounds like plain old-fashioned good times.Why you have not seen an editor - Theory [2K Forums, thanks MDawg!]

Needs More Jackie: Street Fighter Movie Finds Director
Another game gets another Hollywood movie. *Shudder* This has been long in the works, but like it or not, Capcom hasn't given up on the Street Fighter film adaptations. According to Variety, cinematographer-turned-director Andrzej Bartkowiak (Romeo Must Die, Exit Wounds, and Cradle to the Grave) will take the upcoming movie's helm, and the production will commence early next year. The script is getting a polish by hot scribe Justin Marks (Voltron, Green Arrow and He-Man). Good creds or not, just don't make it suck, 'kay guys? And put Jackie Chan in it. Thanx. Street Fighter Director [ICv2, Thanks Ming!]

Clip: Xperience Black College Football The Xperience
Ever since we heard about that Black College Football: The Xperience (yes, the Xperience) included half-time shows that lets players "step into the boots of a drum major," our interest was piqued. We so love rhythm games! Sadly, this clip, the first of the game I believe, doesn't show that. Instead, it has text telling me to "EXPECT MORE THAN JUST A VIDEOGAME" and an a football player reminding me "This is how we do it." Though, the clip does have some marching band music. Half way there!BCFX [Dtoid]

Needs More Jackie,: Street Fighter Movie Finds Director
Another game gets another Hollywood movie. *Shudder* This has been long in the works, but like it or not, Capcom hasn't given up on the Street Fighter film adaptations. According to Variety, cinematographer-turned-director Andrzej Bartkowiak (Romeo Must Die, Exit Wounds, and Cradle to the Grave) will take the upcoming movie's helm, and the production will commence early next year. The script is getting a polish by hot scribe Justin Marks (Voltron, Green Arrow and He-Man). Good creds or not, just don't make it suck, 'kay guys? And put Jackie Chan in it. Thanx. Street Fighter Director [ICv2, Thanks Ming!]

Alriiiight: PlayTV Coming To Australia In Early 08
There's been no official announcements from SCE Australia, but Aussie journo Jason Hill is reporting that Sony's PlayTV service for the PS3, which allows PS3 users to use their console as a HD personal video recorder, will be available in Australia in early 2008. Hopefully. Only potential snag is a conflict between some of Australia's commercial TV networks, who have been reluctant to allow PVRs access to their program scheduling, but that shouldn't pose too big a problem. Hopefully.It's playtime [The Sydney Morning Herald, thanks Lachlan!]

The Horror: PSP2K Tear Down
Sure, the PSP2K doesn't go on sale in Japan until September 20th, but that doesn't mean you can't yet buy a new PSP Slim. Hong Kong models are on sale in Akihabara for ¥27,000 (US $234)! Nerd site Akiba Blog picked one up and dissected it. And guess what? It's innards look pretty much like a regular old PSP. Click below for the grisly gallery. galleryPost('psp2kteardown', 8, 'Broken Up');PSP2K Torn [Akiba Blog]

Merde: PAL PS3 Starter Packs Will Vary Between Regions
That Heavenly Sword/F1 PS3 starter pack? It's official. Official for France, and France only. It'll launch there on September 19, same day as Heavenly Sword. As for everywhere else, SCEE were most helpful in clearing up some of the muddly-duddlys surrounding these bundle packs, telling us: To remove any confusion, the Starter Pack, with an extra controller and two titles is a SCEE wide initiative and has been launched in all of our territories. The choice of which titles to include in the Starter Pack, and the freedom to change the titles is up to the individual markets based on their unique market conditions. OK. So from here until they stop offering these packs, expect each SCEE territory (and that'll include Australia and NZ) to start mixing and matching their bundled games. Who knows, one of them might even get it right (HINT: Pro Evo will go down well).

Speculation: Is *This* The Super Smash Bros. Box Art?
There's been tons of phony or placeholder Super Smash Bros. Brawl box art floating around. But when really neat art recently pops up on big name retail sites (Go Nintendo found it elsewhere), then we think that maybe, just maybe this is the real deal. If not, it's still pretty cool! SSBB Box Art? [Amazon, Thanks Jacob!]

Buying Stuff: Ubisoft Wants Lara Croft
Forget those concerns that Ubisoft is going to be bought up. Ubisoft wants to do the buying! SCi Entertainment, owner of Lara Croft developer Eidos, stated that it received a bid from French publisher Ubisoft. SCi Entertainment has had rough times of late, and this Ubisoft move to snap up the company should peak interest from Time Warner, which already has a 10 percent stake in SCi. Nothing's set in stone, but Electronic Arts and Sony could also be interested in acquiring SCi. Aren't corporate takeovers fascinating? No, no they aren't. Ubisoft Buying? [The Guardian]

Street Date: Tabula Rasa Dated
I just returned from Richard Garriott's Britainnia Manor, which tonight hosted the Tabula Rasa Logos Academy, a well-crafted event that I will go into at great length at a later date. What I can tell you right now is what was revealed at the end of the event. Tabula Rasa now has an official street date. October 19th is when the game service will officially go live, with preorder customers getting a 3-day head start beginning on October the 16th. A newly redesigned website should be going live within the next day, so keep an eye out on http://www.playtr.com/ for updates throughout the day.