I hold nothing against Nintendo, nor do I care if you’re a Wii fan. If you’re having fun, great. It’s all entertainment, but no logical human can ever say that the PS3 and 360 are in direct competition with the Wii. Totally different target audience, and a totally different method of delivering entertainment. One is a video game, the other is more like one of those old Tiger handhelds brought to life in your hands with a fancy peripheral.

The game industry definitely needs lawyers, but it takes a specific kind to really understand the needs of the industry. It looks like law firms are finally picking up on that…and the money that the game industry is generating.

Link

Ghostbusters The Video Game Atari Fall 08 Press Event Interview 1

Need for Speed Undercover DS review

The generous tax breaks on offer from other countries are resulting in a mass exodus of some of the best talent in the U.K. In order to put a halt to this, the U.K. needs to wake up to the value in this sector and beat these foreign incentives with our own supportive measures.

• Atari: second hand game sales hurt industry, outlines plans to compensate
• UK youths blame violent video games and films for rise in knife crimes
• Sony will not raise PlayStation 3 prices in UK
  

The generous tax breaks on offer from other countries are resulting in a mass exodus of some of the best talent in the U.K. In order to put a halt to this, the U.K. needs to wake up to the value in this sector and beat these foreign incentives with our own supportive measures.

• Atari: second hand game sales hurt industry, outlines plans to compensate
• UK youths blame violent video games and films for rise in knife crimes
• Sony will not raise PlayStation 3 prices in UK
  

We’ll admit it, we were a little perplexed when we first pressed the play button on the Dead Rising trailer above. “What’s this?” we thought. Had we stumbled across a new “undead mode” for Guitar Hero? Is Rock Band 2 coming out with a Friday the 13th track pack? Had we fallen into a parallel universe?!?!? Alas, none of those particular possibilities turned out to be valid. However, that doesn’t mean the video doesn’t still get our cold blood flowing for the upcoming Wii iteration of Capcom’s zombie-slaying classic. Hit the new vid above, and a newer gameplay one below, and be prepared for some intense (if foreign) rock-till-you-die action.

I want to introduce you to one of my co-workers, Robby Zinchak. Don’t let his young looks fool you. He’s an up-and-coming associate producer extraordinaire who’s ready to answer all your questions regarding this truly unique, downloadable game. Just don’t ask him to show you his ID. (Just kidding Robby.)

Hi! This is my first time posting here, so I figure I should introduce myself first My name is Robby, and I’m the Associate Producer on FLOCK! here at Capcom. As mentioned previously on this blog, the new episode of Qore (available today!) includes both a video feature on FLOCK! and a fully playable demo!

The premise of FLOCK! is simple: you’re a UFO (the ‘Flocker’) which seeks to abduct animals. Through the levels, you’ll abduct these cute animals by herding them into your Motherflocker (yes, really, we named the ship that :P). But it’s not a simple point A to point B operation – all sorts of peril and surprises lie between the animals and their destination. For instance, in one level you’ll play, there are crops between the sheep and the ship, so you’ll have to make crop circles with your UFO’s depressor beam to make a path for them to cross (finally we know the true purpose behind all those crop circles!). Through the game, you’ll have to contend with numerous challenges. Among these challenges, your flock will face pits, scarecrows, water, bridges, and even trampolines that’ll send them flying!

The full game also includes co-op gameplay, so you can bring a friend in to help you herd the animals. In co-op levels, you’ll have to work together to get your objectives met. For instance, one player may need to lift a gate while another player herds the animals through the gate. It’s a lot of fun, so look forward to it! One of our more unique features is the ability to create your own maps with our built in map-editor. We use the same tool to make the official levels, so you’ll have a lot of flexibility and power in the kind of maps you’re able to make. Plus, you can even upload your maps online where you’ll be able to share them with other players.

Each of the levels (over 50!) is replayable – there are bonuses to beating the map quickly and also beating the map perfectly by collecting all animals. As you beat levels, you’ll unlock new abilities to use and items to place in the editor. Sometimes you’ll need to unlock something later in the game that’ll help you beat a level earlier in the game perfectly. Between all the levels and modes included, we think you’ll be getting a lot of gameplay value out of this downloadable game!

So, hopefully that’s a good introduction to FLOCK!. Don’t forget to download the FLOCK! Winter Qore Demo — you’ll be among the first to ever play the game! It includes a full six levels, with three of the four animals unlocked to play with. We’ve even included the level editor to make your own levels! I’ll keep an eye out for comments here and reply where I’m able to. Keep your eyes out for more FLOCK! news in the coming weeks – we’ll have lots more information coming soon!

Thursday Regulars:
No RetroforceGO! this week: We all have SARS
The Memory Card .46: Insult swordfighting!

Review:
Tomb Raider Underworld

Contest:
Get your running shoes on: we have 80 copies of Mirror's Edge to give away!

News:
Gran Turismo 5 release date still in the air, fast car devs build slow
Virtual Peace 'better than shooting 'em up'
Ken Levine likes PC gaming, would like to have it back
Square Enix expected to bid for Eidos
Character in Animal Crossing tosses out the N-word, Nintendo rescues our eyes
Harrison: Kids will soon refuse to buy discs
Research group says that consoles are the new hotness for on-demand video
Could Brutal Legend news be coming? We all hope so
Qore episode 7 is free this week at the PlayStation Store
How Sirlin struggled with Street Fighter 2 HD
Dress up your Xbox 360 avatar in new duds -- for free, no less!
Animal Crossing Wii character imports region locked: Because that's not dumb
Real bands vs fake ones: the argument goes on
WiiWare manga starts this January with Princess Ai Monogatari
Penn describes motivation behind Desert Bus minigame
Buy this PS3 for the every day low price of $736.99 [Update]
List of streamable videogame movies on Netflix

Rumortoid:
SCEE reminds staff of their NDA after PS3 price drop talk

Offbeat:
The Daily Mail: Win a Sega Megadrive! Or ... not

Galleries:
Screenshots for Suikoden Tierkreis: Because the DS needs more RPGs
Go to Burger King for a heart attack/Nintendo toy combo

Videos:
Mirror's Edge DLC announced, looks bloody weird [update]
Banjo goes to Paris in this absurd Nuts & Bolts promo video
New 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand video displays the art of Counter-Kills

Community:
C Blogs of 12/04/08