Because everyone likes ninjas wielding sharp objects.

Indeed, everyone does like bonuses because Amazon.com is throwing one in if you pre-order Ninja Gaiden II through them.  It's actually all quite clear on the site's Ninja Gaiden II order page. 

If you pre-order through Amazon, they're going to throw in a free $10 Amazon.com Gift Card.  Put it toward a future game purchase, if you'd like, or get something nice for your mother.  It's a gift card, the possibilities are endless!

The purchase will qualify for Amazon's free Super Saver Shipping of course, being over $25 and all; that also means you'll get the game later than someone who chooses the pricier (quicker) shipping options.  But if you're that eager to get your hands on the game, you'll probably want to head to your nearest game store, not a website.

Go ahead and click.  Ryu Hayabusa demands it -- and we cannot resist his sexy ninja charms.

Rumors of a slimmer 360 are brewing.

Microsoft has been up to quite a lot, and it looks like the Xbox 360 is getting a much needed revamp for next year.

No confirmation has been given regarding a slimmer console, but Microsoft has been on a mission to reduce production costs for the 360.

The Taiwan Economic News has reported that the first wafers with 65 nm GPUs are now ready to join the 65 nm Xenon CPUs.  Still, there's no word on whether the GPUs and CPUs will get a die shrink.  Apparently, Microsoft isn't comfortable with making any sort of changed until they're more certain of the manufacturing process.

However, the TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd.) is going to start producing the Valhalla chip, which will be the foundation of the Xbox 360's mid-cycle alteration, which has been dubbed "Xbox 2.5" or "Xbox 540" for Fall 2009.  The new chip will give Microsoft the opportunity to redesign the 360 casing if they wanted to go for a sleeker, slimmer look, following in the footsteps of Sony's PS2.

Rumors are also suggesting that Microsoft is looking for a more efficient cooling method, which will hopefully be an even cheaper alternative.  And by "cheaper" I hope they mean cost, not quality.  I'm not sure consumers would be too happy if the new Xbox 360 had worse heating issues than the current ones.

No, still no word on an internal Blu-ray drive.  I wouldn't get my hopes up.

Reflects on EA takeover, among other things

It’s no industry secret that Sam Houser, the genius behind Grand Theft Auto, is a bit of a nut.  Besides, we like crazy people because they make the best games.

Houser isn’t making any excuses, bearing his soul (just part of it) in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.

Most of the interview focuses on Houser’s quirky and volatile disposition.  He and his brother Dan Houser, Rockstar’s vice president of creativity, run their company with iron fists, their borderline OCD behavior often leading to insane work hours at the New York office accompanied by bouts of screaming and other seemingly incomprehensible behavior. 

Former employees have testified to the Houser brothers' unhinged tempers, one even claiming that Sam Houser once came in swinging a baseball bat.  The Housers deny all such claims, of course.

"What Rockstar does...is a very intense and creative-driven process," explains Gary Dale, chief operating officer of Take-Two who has long known the Housers. "At times there will be tension based on people discussing creative ideas."

Last year, after two Rockstar employees committed suicide (the two incidents were unrelated), Houser hired a spiritual healer to expel bad vibes from the office; he also brought in “traditional” grief counselors.

A variety of firearms are kept at headquarters, though all are allegedly just replicas, and a mix of bossa nova and hip-hop sets the working mood for about 120 employees at the Manhattan branch, mostly in their twenties and thirties.

Curiously enough, Houser considers himself a conservative man, with a wife and two young children -- all it takes is a parking ticket to make him freak.  I wonder if he exposes his kids to his work.

Not surprisingly, Houser strives for a realistic urban feel in his games.  There is a team of five at Rockstar dedicated to full-time study of street slang, architecture, and other elements that ensure the GTA games have an authentic taste.  While Grand Theft Auto IV was in production, Houser himself walked the city’s Russian districts as his research team grilled New York’s taxi and limousine commission for an accurate ratio of cabs to private vehicles.

Take-Two has actually become so dependent on the GTA franchise that Sam Houser now has an executive position with them as well.  This isn’t much a shock, considering the success GTA has garnered over the past few years.  And as we all know, EA has been wanting a piece of that pie.

EA CEO John Riccitiello expresses great respect and admiration for Houser and his amazing knowledge of music.  Whatever good times they shared, though, obviously didn’t help EA in its attempted hostile takeover of Rockstar.

Many think that EA wouldn’t be able to handle Rockstar.  As it stands, Take-Two gives the little firecracker studio free reign, covering their eyes while allowing Rockstar to go about business as usual.  A huge corporation like EA may not be as forgiving.

Houser says that should EA become the new boss, it’s unlikely that he’ll even bother seeking their approval for game content.  Still, he considers Riccitiello “the real deal” and sees some appeal in joining with the big guys.

He was actually turned down for a job at EA in the late 1990s.  Life’s little ironies really do hurt sometimes.

In a video on the Wall Street Journal site, Tom Weber, an editor for WSJ, expresses his views on GTA IV.  Keep in mind, the explanation he provides is likely meant for those not quite as familiar with Grand Theft Auto as we are.

Admits the Xbox 360 is not "big in Japan."

Hah, get it?  Big in Japan?  Okay, as long as no one understands these Initial D jokes, I'm going to keep making them.

So anyway, Bill Gates went to Japan recently and made a pretty obvious assessment -- the Xbox 360 is not Nippon's favorite toy.  This is why we all pee'd our pants when Gears of War made top 10 in Japan when it was released, surprising much of the gaming community.

Gates sounded rather optimistic when he explained the situation:

"Product share varies from country to country. In the US and the UK, the share [of Xbox 360] is high, but besides Japan, there are other areas we haven't penetrated. From now on, I think the breakthrough's going to be the online service, and you'll be surprised if you look at that."

This makes you wonder what other regions of the world the 360 may it off with.  There aren't too many places where money can be thrown away so easily on leisure products, and the 360's image will need to be altered from country to country.

I personally love the Xbox 360 (I named mine 'NAVI,' and dressed it up with some Assassin's Creed decals), but how many regions around the world can afford to throw money into the console wars?  Should Microsoft concentrate on pushing their product in Japan?  I'd love to see what more they can do with LIVE, if that's the case.

Yet another franchise that just won't die.

id Software has announced that it has started production on the next DOOM game and is currently hiring fresh talent for the task.

“DOOM is part of the id Software DNA and demands the greatest talent and brightest minds in the industry to bring the next installment of our flagship franchise to Earth.  It’s critical for id Software to have the best creative minds in-house to develop games that meet the standards synonymous with our titles," said Todd Hollenshead, id CEO.

DOOM is a practically a trademark, having once been rated “one of the ten most influential games of the decade” by PC Gamer.  But having already suffered a horrible movie adaptation and currently in line to experience a sequel, which will no doubt be just as pathetic, isn't it time to let the franchise rest?  It's had a good run.

Still, if anyone is interested in replying to id Software, here is their little pitch and contact info:

id Software is looking for talented, ambitious and passionate individuals eager to join its accomplished team of developers working on the industry’s most innovative and anticipated games. For a complete listing of available positions, visit www.idsoftware.com. Resumes can be submitted via email to jobs@idsoftware.com. All applicants must be authorized to work in the United States.

 A co-worker, who shall remain anonymous, had this to say about the upcoming DOOM game:

"DOOM 3 was ew....4 will be ew too I bet."

Honestly, doesn't id have anything better to do?  You know, like better games to make.  All they brought to the table in DOOM 3 was a series of cookie cutter monsters ripped out of every sci-fi horror survival etc. video game.

Numbers speak louder than words.

It's true, the English love Grand Theft Auto.  When GTA: San Andreas came out in the UK back in 2004, it sold 1,178,000 copies in just two days.  Now GTA IV is following in its predecessor's footsteps.

Chart-Track has just released finalized data for Grand Theft Auto IV sales the first week of release.  Combining figures for both Xbox 360 and PS3 versions, a total of 926,000 units were sold.  631,000 copies were sold on launch day, making up most of the week's sales.

As if Rockstar didn't have enough reason to gloat, GTA IV software revenue is "bigger than the entire software market revenue of any week so far this year after the first week of 2008."  If that doesn't impress you, I don't know what will; just think, this is only the UK figures.

If you split the figures according to platform, 514,000 units were sold for the Xbox360 and 413,000 for the PS3, which gives Microsoft a marginal lead.  On the flip side, Chart-Track reported that Sony's PS3 sales went up 127 per cent because of GTA IV while the 360 went up 125 per cent. 

Honestly though, couldn't we just drop this console war and be happy for Rockstar's success?

These pirates sure know what they're doing...

While Nintendo has been trying to get the US government more involved in stopping piracy of their products, hackers are hard at work pissing off the Japanese video game corporation.

It's only been a few weeks since these guys figured out how to install Virtual Console for free on the Wii using the Twilight Hack, yet pirates have already taken over WiiWare.  A video posted on YouTube showed Family Ping Pong on a North American console, but it has since been taken down. 

The online modes may not be operational since there's been no word on that, but the impressive part is that the hackers can actually install Japanese WiiWare ROMs/WADs on a US system.

Virtual Console and WiiWare games are tagged for microtransaction, like your iTunes purchases, so it'll be interesting to see if Nintendo can track down the pirates or at the very least, ban their consoles.  Who knows, maybe Nintendo secretly black-bags such perpetrators in the dead of night and fires them off into outer space.

Not that it would deter everyone from trying stunts like this.

Has casual gaming ruined us all?

Instead of starving myself by playing GTA IV for hours on end, I'm bringing you editorial news regarding the Rockstar's newest title because my 360 suffered hardware failure (it wasn't RRoD).

Your sympathies aside, it came to my attention that the game is receiving criticism from some gaming communities.  No, this isn't wrong because no game is perfect, but the basis for criticism should be sound.  There are those who have complained that the game is boring.  Go ahead, hit up Google with "boring" and "GTA IV" as key search words, then click a few links to read about it.

Boring?  Because it's not Halo and doesn't throw you into an ongoing war within the first 5 minutes?  Don't get me wrong, I did enjoy the Halo series, but I also recognize how unsatisfying it and many other recent video game hits are. 

Just because a game doesn't smack you with a gunfight as soon as it loads or can't be beaten with a speed run in 4 hours does not mean it costitutes as boring.

In an interview with New York Magazine, which was briefly covered by Neoseeker earlier this week, Houser expressed his feelings toward this affliction of A.D.D. inspired genre of casual gaming:

"Yeah, fuck all this stuff about casual gaming. I think people still want games that are groundbreaking...We're hopefully going to prove that there's also a very big audience for people who want entertainment in another form, who think of games as being a narrative device that can challenge movies."

Houser sounds sure of himself, and his confidence borders on obnoxious.  But the man has the right to be proud of GTA IV because it tries to be more than just a game by crossing into cinema. There is great care put into the mechanics, reminding us that it bears the core of a good video game, and Rockstar effectively harvests all the game's potential.  By taking storytelling into consideration, the company has molded an engaging story littered with complex cast that possess unique charms and character flaws.  You know, kind of like a novel or a movie with a functional plotline.

Casual gaming is a novel option for those who don't have the time to spare, but it seems that gamers have been spoiled by all these games that barely suffice as a quickie.  While titles like Heavenly Sword and Gears of War are impressive in their own right, developers seem to think it's okay to to whip out a campaign mode that won't last you two days while covering it up with multiplayer content -- that's called a "cop-out." 

Is it possible that all this is intentional?  Perhaps by making games shorter, they can produce more titles, knowing that gamers will drop the cash for it because the last installment was so unsatisfying.

The sad part is that people are buying into it.  Gamers would rather throw money away to start a whole collection of games than spend the extra hours on a single title offering a complete package.  GTA IV is not a tease.  Instead of tossing out mere pieces of interactive eye candy like the current industry trend, Rockstar has baked an entire cake and put it in a nice box for us.

Would you eat a whole cake by yourself in one day?  I certainly hope not.  Do yourself a favor and enjoy this game one slice at a time.

Team Fortress 2 goes to hell for two days

We were pretty excited when we learned about Valve's big update for Team Fortress 2 that would add new Medic achievements and weapons.  Fine, maybe only I was excited about it.

And how many of you guessed that Valve would somehow screw this up big time?  Very good, because you guys were correct.

This is the story of how Valve destroyed the TF2 natural order in merely two days.

April 29, Day 1 - Valve releases update, adding new Medic achievements to TF2.  The update killed my bandwidth, interrupting my GTA IV fun.  So maybe it was a bad idea for my roommate and I to try updating at the same time, but anyway...  The game is now flooded with Medics as players scramble to unlock the new achievements, not realizing that a team with no other classes can't efficiently deal out damage and win against a team that does appreciate balance.

This is quite annoying because I found myself forced to play as something else when I'm the one with 9 hours on a Medic (and less than an hour on the other classes).  Maybe I don't play TF2 like a gaming addict, but I play a Medic religiously; now suddenly, every joker decides they want to be a healing class?  Medic mayhem!

The best part of all this is that at some point, someone figured out that he did not need to actually earn any achievements.  The new update had somehow added an exploit in which players could simply type in commands to unlock the achievements and the three new weapons.  By the end of the day, many gamers were using these commands, whether to cheat or just out of curiosity.

April 30, Day 2 - Valve caught on and churned out a new update to fix the exploits.  Here is the update news directly from the Steam website:

Team Fortress 2 Client

• Removed TF2 achievement console commands

Team Fortress 2 Server

• Fixed clients being able to trigger sv_soundscape_printdebuginfo on the server
• Fixed potential "nuke" exploit in rcon subsystem

Valve has made an attempt to further resolve this problem by rolling back, removing achievements from those who used the commands.  On the Steam forums, some have complained about losing all their achievements from the roll back, even the ones earned legitmately.  Others have yet to feel the wrath of Valve and are still running around with their Milestone weapons.

If you want to update to actually take effect, it's suggested that you restart Steam.  However, many of the community discussions suggest that Valve's problems are far from over - there will be much work ahead.

I'll be holding my breath for more updates, hoping that Valve will effectively address these issues.

"Stop the f***ing cab!"

I've made a point to keep away from videos and reviews so I wouldn't develop any preconceptions of GTA IV, yet I can tell you that the several hours spent on this game after the purchase were enjoyable.  Niko Bellic, a fresh-off-the-boat Eastern European quickly stole my heart; he is easy to empathize with, and you'll invariably find indifference a difficult thing when thrown into his new life in Liberty City, USA.

Of course, you're allowed to be an absolute jerk too, if that's your thing.  In between (and during) missions, you're given free reign over the streets of New Yo-- I mean, Liberty City.  Mind the cops though, because they're just plain pesky. 

In case you haven't heard, those familiar stars at the top right of your screen now create a threat area around Niko based on how much havok you've created.  The more stars you accumulate, the bigger the radius of this threat-circle, the further you will need to run before you can shake the police on your tail. 

The city is a harsh place - at least, that's what Rockstar wants us to believe.  All the drivers seem as crazy as you are, and the citizens put up quite a fight.  CITIZENS BEAT ME UP!!  And when you're in a tense situation, civilians make a point of giving you a hard time.  Example?  I was participating in a high speed chase, and suddenly the streets were flooded with people (luckily, plowing through the mobs didn't add to my stars).

Also keep in the mind the cab drivers are terrible at their job and talk way too much.  Skipping through the painful ride will close money, so be prepared to mug a few.... thugs.  Yeah, that's right, mug some hooligans.  Anyone familiar with the franchise can expect a wide array of vehicles to choose from on these cluttered streets, and each car will have a different feel as your drive (your default car is pretty crappy).  Rest assured that there will always be the little GPS voice guiding you; however, the game does tell you in the tutorial that the suggested route may not always be the fastest one.

The city itself is stunning, and the people at Rockstar have really outdone themselves.  If nothing else, GTA IV is stunning, a huge graphical jump from GTA: San Andreas.  Try not to stare too much at the buildings/water/sky/people in the wrong place because the psycho civilian drivers won't hesitate to flatten you.  Seriously, these folks in Liberty City are way tougher than the gangsters of Los Santos.

And, after less than 4 entertaining hours, I've assessed that this is not a game for your baby cousin so keep him away from the controller.  Then again, as with any GTA, the game is only as bad as you wish it to be.  Niko is, at best, a victim of circumstance, and at worst, a pawn of your sick antics.

So have fun dicking around, gamers, and I'll see you online.

It may be worth noting that the Xbox 360 version does come with a 1 month trial of LIVE Gold.  It probably won't work if you've already got Gold membership, so feel free to share with a friend.

Rental company hopes new deals will boost business

American rental chain Blockbuster is hoping to expand its video game business by placing GTA IV and Mario Kart alongside its movies on their stores' outer release-wall.

The company is hoping to "significantly expand its game business" by focusing more on selling retail games and hardware while expanding their existing stock of video games for rent.

Rod Murray, VP of games merchandising at Blockbuster Inc. comments on their recent push into the gaming business:

"We're committed to offering a full assortment of everything gamers want in our stores -- hardware, accessories and retail and rental games across all platforms -- including Nintendo Wii, Sony PS3, Microsoft Xbox 360 and Nintendo DS."

They will also be offering more special game offers to consumers, like an exclusive PlayStation 3 bundle for $499.99, which includes a 40GB PS3, HDMI cable, Spiderman 3 on Blu-ray, the Transformers movie video game, and a 12- week PS3/Blu-ray rental card that allows users a free PS3 or Blu-ray rental per week for 12 consecutive weeks.

Blockbuster has been struggling these past few years, assaulted by competition from various angles - especially virtual competitors on the internet like Gamefly and Netflix.  Then again, internet retailers have been the bane of "irl" businesses for some time now.

I honestly have not been to a Blockbuster store since I was in kindergarten.

Expecting Bay's people to contact him

Director (if you can even call him that) Uwe Boll has challenged Michael Bay to a boxing match.  Yeah, you read that right. 

The king of crappy movie adaptions has issued a challenge to the king of cinematic fluff.  Boll wants Bay to face him in the ring for 12 rounds at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

What I found most amusing is the reasoning behind this.  Boll is apparently feeling angry/hurt/insulted/emo about Bay's response to a note he wrote:

"He said that he doesn't care about me.  And this was very insulting because I care about him."

Yes, that was a direct quote; insert random awkward pauses at your liking.  Can't you just hear him crying inside? 

In a very mature and well thought out comeback, Boll said he thinks Michael Bay "sucks big time," which was shortly before he issued the boxing challenge.

"... it's also independent filmmaking against the studio system."  Riiiight...

The man's obviously delusional.  How else can he wake up every morning and not feel the urge to kill himself for ruining so many movies?

Fresh Wii's for sale, get your fresh Wii's!

Okay, many of you are probably sick of Wii-related news by now, but an equal number of you guys may still be interested in purchasing one of these things.

Toys"R"Us will be receiving a huge Wii shipment this Sunday, April 27.  If shoppers want to get their hands on Nintendo's cute lil' console this weekend, they'll need to put down a $200 deposit on it first.

So in case you haven't been able to find a Wii in your area, you can head over to a Toys"R"Us and put down that deposit.  The number of consoles available will probably vary depending on where you live.

Curiously enough, when Joystiq called several local Toys"R"Us stores about this Sunday's Wii sale, two of those stores already had some in stock (and wondered why the hell they wanted to pre-order).

I honestly had no idea there was still a demand for these things, but the Wii Fit might just cause another so-called Wii shortage when it's released a month from now.  Hey, totally plausible.

Humans in Burnout? Preposterous!

I'm not as crazy about the Burnout franchise as some other games, but I do know it's a whole lot of asphalt-burning, metal-crunching fun.

Criterion has taken the next step by announcing the addition of motorcycles to the game, via an update this August.  The update has been codenamed "Davis" (don't ask, I have no idea why).

Motorcycles will get their own modes and challenges, along with maps to better suit the smaller, two-wheeled vehicles.  No telling how these bike crashes will look in slow motion Showtime mode, though the good people at Joystiq are hoping to see some flailing rag dolls.

Then again, who doesn't love rag doll physics?  Hilarity ensues!

On top of motorcycle racing (crashing, and burning), the August update will also be introducing night time driving.  I can only imagine the visibility issues with this one, but it'd be great if they let you use high beams to blind the hell out of an opponent.

The US isn't the only one with an ailing economy.

Japanese exports to the US have fallen dramatically over the past four years, which could spell trouble for the Japanese economy. 

Compared to March 2007, exports to the US have dropped by 11 percent, with a meager increase of 2.3 percent over the last three years.  Japan's exports to Europe and other parts of Asia have slowed as well, according to the Ministry of Finance.

"An export slowdown would squeeze corporate revenues and keep companies from raising much profit," Takeshi Minami, chief economist at Norinchukin Research Institute, told Financial Times.

As GamesIndustry.biz states, all of this is pretty bad news for Japan's export driven economy.  There's also the fact that despite all their apparent success, Nintendo's stock is at an all time low and has been struggling for a year now, as though mirroring the rest of Japan's economy.

One wonders if Sony, a heavyweight contender in the global video game industry and one of Japan's biggest corporations, is also struggling to overcome.

Will Japan be catering toward more stable markets in Europe, or the rising demands in China?  By this time next year, where will our economy stand? 

It's true, FOX hates video games.

No official statement has been made concerning FOX News' feelings toward games, but I think we all know the truth by now.

When the local FOX News affiliate questioned the appropriateness of posting ads for Grand Theft Auto IV on Chicago buses and platforms, the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) buckled under pressure.  It's a hot topic, especially in a bustling metropolis like Chicago.

CTA President Ron Huberman informed FOX News through a spokeswoman that the CTA will be closing this ad campaign and removing the advertisements.

Back in 2004, Chicago's Governor Rod Blagojevich spoke out against transit ads for GTA: San Andreas.  They were removed, but the CTA claims this was because their $90,000 contract for the advertising campaign was ending anyway.  In their own defense, the CTA states that transit ads do adhere to decency standards and are an important source of revenue for them.

According to GamePolitics.com, GTA advertisements have created friction in other cities as well.  Boston faced a similar issue in 2006, and Governor Mayor Thomas Menino forced the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority to remove transit ads for GTA: Vice City Stories.  He justified his actions by comparing M-rated games to X-rated movies (I want to hear the logic behind this one).

In the past, ads for GTA have also stirred up controversy in Portland, Oregon, and Denver, Colorado.

Maybe FOX should start funding video games that promote good health and love for your fellow man.

New game gets a new name

Unintentional rhymes aside, Silent Hill V will no longer be known as such.  Instead, it has been dubbed Silent Hill: Homecoming.

It's somewhat appropriate, considering the franchise is getting a fresh start with a new developer, The Collective.  The American game development company has brought us"classic" titles such as Buffy the Slayer (2002), Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith (2005), and Marc Ecko's Getting Up: Contents Under Pressure (2006).  Apparently, they cancelled Dirty Harry to make Silent Hill V-er.. I mean Homecoming.

The game features a new protagonist as well.  The story follows Alex Shepherd, who is returning to his hometown in search of his brother.  An investigation of his brother's mysterious disappearance inevitably takes him to Silent Hill, also known as the happiest place on Earth.

Does anyone else feel really uncomfortable about all of this?  Anyone who really knows me can tell you I'm an SH fanatic, I mean, Pyramid Head and Henry Townshend?  What a couple of lookers.  Can The Collective really live up to Team Silent's legacy?  I am praying that they do.

On a more relevant note, Silent Hill: Homecoming will be available for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation3 in Europe toward the end of September.  Most are assuming that North America will be seeing its release around the same time.

"That's a low blow, Snake."

Been looking forward to the Metal Gear Online beta? 

Yes?

Too bad.

Konami announced that the US public beta will be delayed due to service problems caused by "extraordinary levels of traffic from all around the globe."

Technically good news for Konami as an indicator of Metal Gear's popularity, but you'd think that they would've anticipated and prepared for this event a little better.  Am I the only one having flashbacks of Xbox LIVE and its holiday failures?

The beta became available for download on April 16 and was scheduled to open today; at least the end date has been pushed back from May 6 to May 11. In Japan, it was open to only 3,000 players between August and September of 2007.

For those who have absolutely no idea, Metal Gear Online is an upcoming spin-off of Konami's Metal Gear series.  While it was originally announced as a stand-alone product, MGO will be released as a part of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.  An online manual is available on Konami's website.

By the way, those of you who immediately remembered which game that quote was from, who said it, and when it was uttered have my everlasting approval.

UPDATE: GameSpot reported that Konami will be releasing more details later today, April 22, at 11:00pm PST regarding this set back.

FWOOSH!

We all make cracks about the 360 getting red rings left and right, overheating here and there, but it was all in good fun.  Hell, remember when Microsoft had to recall power cords for its original Xbox? 

Okay, maybe you don't, but it did happen several years ago.

Here's another reminder that electronics can be hazardous.  A house in Little Rock, Arkansas burned down while no one was home, causing more than $100,000 worth of property damages.  Apparently, this has happened twice before, both in Illinois where an infant was killed, and in Texas where a teenager was injured; not surprisingly, both families sued Microsoft.

The source of the fire was traced to an Xbox 360 power cord, as Little Rock Fire Department Captain Jason Weaver explained, "It was melted and it looked like they had it against the wall in on edge and things like that need a little space to dissipate heat."

Microsoft estimates the risk at 1 in 10,000 so it's not exactly something to panic over.  Still, gamers can take certain precautions, like unplugging their consoles when it's not in use, making sure the cords aren't bent, or keeping the power block off the floor so there's less friction.

I'm probably not going to do any of those things so if I suddenly stop posting, you'll know what happened.  Just don't sue Microsoft in my name.

Say hello to my little friend

For those of you who haven't already heard the great news, Valve will be updating the arsenal of Team Fortress 2's trademark healing class, the Medic.

After much play-testing, they've finally come up with an array of weapons that won't throw off the entire balance of the game.  Here's the low down:

The Blutsaugher will be unlocked after the player has completed a third of the 36 new Medic achievements.  It's an upgraded syringe gun, essentially, that steals health from your target with each hit.  You won't be able to score any crits with this, but at least you can be a little parasite and jack health while running the hell away.

The Critzcreig is unlocked after two-thirds of the 36 achievements have been earned.  This is a new Medi-Gun, whose ubercharge will grant the targeted ally 100% chance to fire crit shots instead of temporary invulnerability.

The Ubersaw is the final reward for getting all 36 achievements.  I know it's hard to imagine anything more badass than the Bonesaw, but Valve has just proven us wrong.  Four hits with this bad boy is all it takes to fully charge whatever Medi-Gun you happen to have on you.  Now doesn't that sound lovely?

Prepare yourselves, fellow Medics, because Christmas is coming early this year.

Someone get a camera and record this announcement

Today Neoseeker launched a stimulating new segment of our site. After a great deal on contemplation and argument, we have decided to call it Neoseeker Videos. With this new feature, we plan to increase our supply of fresh game trailers and game videos to everyone who likes such things. Additionally, we also want to feature videos on computer hardware (and robots), machinima (that's where fans make stories using game models), and podcasts.

Every Neoseeker user has the ability to upload whatever category-related videos they see fit. The videos can also be easily embeded into your own websites and blogs, if you feel such an inclination to do so. Not to mention, our videos look much nicer than some played from other big user-uploaded video sites (not to mention any names or anything.)

You can access our NeoVids over here.

Strategy for Eastward expansion announced

Looks like Take-Two wants to be big in Japan.

Transparent Initial D references aside, Take-Two Interactive announced today that it plans to establish a stronger presence in Asia.  Hubert Larenaudie, a senior executive with more than 15 years of experience in building successful Asian-Pacific businesses, is now leading Take-Two's efforts as President of its new Asia branch, which is currently an office in Singapore. 

Prior to joining Take-Two, Larenaudie served as President of Asia Online at EA, and before that, he was President-Asia Pacific for Vivendi Universal Games. 

While with EA, he held senior positions in China, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, and Southeast Asia, which is definitely a good thing if he's going to help Take-Two achieve their top priorities in Asia: "expanding distribution in the Asia Pacific (APAC) for the Company’s interactive entertainment products; developing a strong presence in Japan; and establishing a meaningful online game operation, especially in China and Korea."

Larenaudie will be reporting to Gary Dale, Executive VP at Take-Two Interactive.

“Hubert Larenaudie is an experienced senior executive who has successfully built or expanded Asia Pacific operations for prominent interactive entertainment and consumer goods companies,” Dale said, “His in-depth knowledge of the region; his skill in creating the right product development, distribution and marketing strategy for each local market; and his track record of driving growth will help Take-Two realize the tremendous opportunities in APAC.”

Larenaudie himself seems equally confident.  He states, "With the Company’s portfolio of leading brands, growing sports business, extraordinary creative talent and global appeal, I see exciting potential to build a significant Asia Pacific business for Take-Two, with a particular emphasis on the online game segment of the market.”

Then again, what do you expect these corporate guys to say?  We'll just have to see how well they can back themselves.

Violent ads shot down by common sense.

The Advertising Standards Authority in the UK has recently closed the door on the latest Kane & Lynch: Dead Men TV ad after receiving 26 complaints about it, most of which addressed an alarming depiction of violence towards women.

The committee found the ads to be irresponsible and likely to cause "serious or widespread offense," breaching responsible advertising and TV Advertising Standards codes.  An ASA adjudication stated, "The majority of the complainants believed (the) ad was offensive, because it included shocking images, which condoned violence, particularly towards women."

Eidos is arguing that the television ad was only aired after 9:00 pm, and printed ads were never meant to be seen by children.  Not surprisingly, Future Publishing has been forced into the fray, since one of the ads appeared in Edge magazine.  So far, the ASA seems pretty firm on their decision.

"Although we noted the image in the ads was not dissimilar to some of the images shown as part of the editorial content of Edge and Total Film magazines, we considered that the portrayal of violence it contained, with particular regard to the female hostage, was graphic and too shocking to be seen in any medium."

Apparently there's a vicious cycle of violent video game advertisements being produced, only to get bludgeoned by the ban-stick.  Rise and repeat.  Haven't they learned by now? 

No telling when the ads will be leaked though, so we can all see for ourselves.

Chinese developer joins the Disney empire

Disney, much like any other corporation of its girth, has one hell of an appetite.

Disney Interactive announced recently that it will be purchasing Gamestar, a Chinese game developer situated in Shanghai and Wuhan. 

The company was originally founded by former Ubisoft Shanghai staff back in 2002 and has done titles for the PS2, GameCube, Xbox and PC.

Graham Hopper, an executive VP at Disney Interactive, commented on the acquisition:

"Gamestar will play an important role in our global growth plans, providing a high quality talent pool for our expanding product portfolio.  Our global expansion is aimed at achieving a new level of creative capacity, quality, and expertise in video game software development."

Gamestar will be their sixth internal studio, joining Avalanche Software, Black Rock Studio, Fall Line Studio, Propaganda Games, and Junction Point Studios, which was actually acquired just last year.

Indie developers, watch your backs.

Research reveals shared traits.

Other than the fact that autism and video game addiction are both hot issues, there appears to be more common ground than most would suspect.  Don't panic, there's no cause-and-effect here, or even any correlation. 

At the British Psychological Society's Annual Conference in Dublin, some researchers Dr. John Charlton and Ian Danforth claimed that video game addicts share certain personality traits with individuals suffering from Aspergers, an advanced form of autism.

391 subjects (86% male) were questioned for this study, and the final report concluded "that the closer the players got to addiction the more likely they were to display negative personality traits."  The three personality traits in question (normally associated with Aspergers) are neuroticism, and lack of extraversion and agreeableness. 

Charlton and Danforth acknowledge that these game addicts cannot be classified as having Aspergers, they "share some of the same characteristics because they find it easier to empathize with computer systems than other people."  The two are essentially placing this group on a spectrum, sort of like a scale to measure normalcy. 

"Our research supports the idea that people who are heavily involved in game playing may be nearer to autistic spectrum disorders than people who have no interest in gaming," Charlton explains.

To be sure, no one is claiming that game addicts are in danger of being autistic, but we are all aware of the delibilitating effects games can have on certain people.  The research is, at least, a stab in some direction, a seemingly valid attempt at figuring all this out.