I really only have a slight knowledge of Second Life. Like you, I've heard the stories of millions of people flocking to what sounds to me like nothing more than one giant virtual billboard. Rock stars have concerts there, there are hotels and businesses and a California congressman even gave a speech on the steps of the virtual Capitol Hill.

Reporter, Amy Scott, of NPR radio show, Marketplace, recently conducted an interview with New York University tech teacher, Clay Shirky, about the reality of these huge numbers we hear about. Second Life creator, Linden Labs, recently released figures to Forbes magazine that reveal that while SL may have 2.3 million residents, these numbers only apply to actual created avatars. If you dig deeper, the numbers are quite different. 1.5 million people have actually signed on to the MMO, while only 250, 000 are actively playing. According to Shirky, this reveals a deeper problem about journalistic misrepresentation.

These aren't terrible numbers, but it's certainly a much more modest success than we've been led to believe by the business stories saying "there are millions of people using Second Life and it's growing by leaps and bounds.

I'd be very interested to see similar numbers from other MMO's, particularly World of Warcraft. While it's undeniable that WOW is the most popular game of its kind, what are the real numbers of people actually playing as compared to those who have just signed up and never really play? Flynn De Marco

Second Life gets a reality check [Marketplace - Thanks, Jay]

2000: Retailers begin taking preorders for the PS2 console. Remember when $299 seemed like a lot of money to pay for a system, but you just HAD to have it? The good old days, indeed.

2004: Sega releases Sonic Heroes for GameCube in the US (a few days after the Japan release). Personally, if the hedgehog isn't packing, I'm not interested in the series. Scratch that; I'm just not interested in the series. Mark Wilson

Have gaming history, trivia, or famous birthdays you'd like to see in TDIG? Drop us a line at tdig@kotaku.com

I've seen a lot of Wii videos in the past few months, but this one really takes the cake. I was a little reticent to watch it at first since the email announcing it had the subject line of "I'm so sorry." But, when I saw that it was sent from none other than Mario Opera creator and GameJew about town, Jonathan Mann, I decided to give it a shot.

The video was not made by Mann, however, and according to his email came from his keyboardist's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend who got it from this guy who knows this kid who's going with a girl who saw Ferris pass out at 31 Flavors last night.

This is absolutely NSFW and while I was skeptical at first, I got a good larf out of it in the end. It's as wrong as it is hilarious. I won't give anything away, but the final shot and sound effect is worth the price of admission. Flynn De Marco

The Wii Sex Movie [Pixelfish]

Last week when Microsoft sent me a copy of the retail version of Vista they also sent along this cool little PC dongle, it allows you to connect your standard wireless Xbox 360 controllers to your computer. I haven't had a chance to mess with it yet, but plan to next week after I get back from my 12-hour visit to Las Vegas on Sunday. In and out baby, that's how I roll. Brian Crecente

It seems that the Lego made Halo weapons and character craze has spread to the point that it now has it's own website. Webmaster and Lego wrangler, Saber Scorpion, has gathered the finest Lego Halo toy makers from around the world and cataloged them all on the Lego Halo Portal. You can peruse the works over over 30 different masters in the art of the little connecting blocks. There are vehicles, weapons, mini figures and some of the craftsmen provide instructions on how to build your own.

Submissions are always being taken, so go explore your Lego skillz and build a Scorpion Battle Tank for the world to see. Flynn De Marco

The Lego Halo Portal [Saber-Scorpion]

The Independent Games Festival has announced the ten winners in the Student Showcase portion of their annual competition. Each winner will receive a $500 prize from the CMP Game Group to help fund their trip to the Game Developers Conference where they can show off their wares and compete for the title of Best Student Game and a $2500 prize. The winners, taken from the IGF website, are as follows:

• TU Wien's paper cut-out 2D rotation-based title ...And Yet It Moves.
• Koln International School Of Design's extremely Gilliam-esque Flash soccer mini-game pastiche Ball Of Bastards.
• DigiPen's ingenious action-oriented cartoon strategy game Base Invaders.
• Stanford University's touchscreen and voice-controlled multiplayer abstract strategic romp Euclidean Crisis.
• DigiPen's 2D innovative color-absorbing platform action title Gelatin Joe.
• Guildhall at SMU's stylized vertical shooter meets puzzle game Invalid Tangram.
• Florida Interactive Entertainment Academy's interactive singing game vs. action title Opera Slinger.
• SungKyunKwan University's extremely original puzzle-sliding platform game Rooms.
• Hogeschool van de Kunsten, Utrecht's city color-painting roll-around extravaganza The Blob.
• DigiPen's clever 3D block-manipulating shooter Toblo. (pictured)

There are some really amazing looking games in there and I wouldn't be surprised if we see one or two of these in some form on the next gen consoles. Look what happened to Portal. Flynn De Marco

2007 IGF Student Competition Finalists Announced [Independent Games Festival]
[via: Gamasutra]

Move over X, X, A, B, X, Y, A, B. X, A, L, R, X, Y, A, there's a new button code in town. The DS button code. The folks over at DSButtons.com have come up with their own secret language for DS owners who not only want to let everyone know that they REALLY like their favorite portable, but also want to let any potential fellow DSers know that they are ready for a race or just want to come by and pick their fruit.

Your get your choice of 4 different game buttons plus an "I <3 DS" button. There are currently nine game styles to choose from including: Super Mario Bros., Mario Kart, Big Brain Academy, Nintendogs, Animal Crossing, Tetris, Star Fox Command, Metroid Prime Hunters, Mario Hoops 3 on 3. Shipping is included in the $12 price tag.

So pull out your eighties jacket with the skinny lapels, flip the collar up, pin these puppies on and take your DS to the streets for an all out Mario Kart throwdown with a stranger in front of the local fruiterer. Flynn De Marco

DS Buttons [DSButtons.com]
[via: Wonderland]

Well this seems to pretty much 100 percent confirm the rumor of the HDMI-touting Xbox 360. I wonder if it comes with can of petroleum jelly for all of us 360 beta testers. Brian Crecente

Exclusive: 360 HDMI Proof - HR Pictures and Video - HANA Scaler [Xbox Scene]

The Associated Press has a pretty interesting story up about the latest twist in in-game advertising, turning Easter Eggs into ads.

While I like the story and it's pretty fleshed out, I just can't get past this fun little sentence:

In many games, players who enter the top-secret "cheat code" could become invisible, get unlimited ammunition or play in an all-powerful God mode. Or they'd play for hours until discovering brightly decorated circles or balls - known as Easter eggs - that unlocked bonus points, monster-slaying swords, extra lives or infinite health.

Oh, what the hell just happened there? Seriously, is that for real? I actually had to read it like three times. That has got to be, absolutely got to be an editor adding something to Rachel's story. Brian Crecente

Advertisers Exploit Video Game Secrets [AP]

We kicked off the new year with a bunch of new Kotaku Originals. Fahey scooped the notorious Wii Panty Girl, PS3's sat in stores and the Columbine Game got yanked from the Slamdance competition. It must be 2007!

• Pokemon's Fake Christmas Booze For Children
• Exclusive: Columbine Game Kicked From Competition
• Feature: Wii VS. PS3 eBay Grey Market Comparison
• Kotaku Pantsu: A Chat With Wii Panty Girl
• Kotaku Labu: PAL VC Gimp Test
• Japan Starting To See More PS3s
• Msoft Ozy's 2007 Predictions
• Plenty O PS3s But No Takers
• My Darkest Moments of 2006 Video Game Reporting
• This Day In Gaming

Flynn De Marco

Citing a non-existent Dean Takahashi story, the always reliable Team Xbox is reporting what Bill Gates and Robbie Bach will announce this Sunday at the company's pre-CES speech.

Microsoft, according to the story, will be announcing that Microsoft has sold more than 10.4 million Xbox 360 consoles worldwide since launch.

Gates will also announce that the Xbox 360 will soon be given the capability to serve as a set-top box for IPTV, a sort of hybrid television and video service that delivers content over a broadband network.

The Team Xbox story doesn't mention if there is any confirmation that Microsoft might be unveiling a new model of their console that features an HDMI output and larger harddrive.

I searched around on Dean's new blogs, one for his tech coverage and one for CES, and couldn't find the article that TX was talking about. I was, however, greeted with an error message on one of Dean's pages. Maybe an embargo was accidentally broken. Brian Crecente

I've written up a piece about the reasoning behind Super Columbine Massacre RPG being pulled from the Slamdance festival for the Rocky Mountain News.

In it the festival president Peter Baxter says that he made the decision free of any outside pressure based on moral grounds and concern for the future of the organization.

"On the one hand a jury selected this game, and as a result of that decision it leads to our organization supporting their creative decision," said Slamdance President Peter Baxter. "On the other hand there are moral obligations to consider here with this particular game in addition to the impact it could have on the Slamdance organization and its community.

"Ultimately it was my decision to pull this game and I hope that a choice like it will never have to be made again."

We first broke the news of the game being pulled from the Slamdance game festival yesterday and the reaction has been, as expected, very mixed.

Surprisingly, one of the strongest reactions seems to come from Sam Roberts, the man who is in charge of the Slamdance's games' competition and helped convince Ledonne to enter the game in the first place.

"I believe this festival's mission is to give the artists a place to express themselves," he said. "This is a decision I disagree strongly with. I think it will hurt the competition. This is not what we are supposed to be doing, this is the very opposite of it."

And while Baxter even seems to worry over the implications, both Jamil Moledina, executive director of the Game Developers Conference, and Simon Carless, chairman of the International Games Festival, see to caution moderation in the reaction.

"We in the game industry love to compare films to games but the analogy is not 100 percent complete," Moledina said. "Games are interactive medium. There is this kind of grey area here. We need to be careful and not automatically fall for that analogy."

Simon Carless, chairman of the annual International Games Festival competition, while concerned about the decision to pull the game, said he doesn't think it will impact many other game designers.

"I don't think this will discourage people from making games that have social meaning," he said. "I think there is plenty of interesting and important ground we can cover in games before we get that far out."

Super Columbine Massacre RPG "is such a polarizing title," he said.

Check out the full story over at the Rocky.

Columbine Game Pulled From Competition [Rocky Mountain News]

Spike's Wii "survival horror" game, the one in which your character is armed with little more than a flashlight and a stick, has been hilariously renamed for its journey across the Pacific. What was once known as Necro-Nesia will now be known to Wii owners as Escape From Bug Island. If you aren't yet familiar with Necro-Nesia, it involves an island, infested with giant bugs, from which you must escape.

I'm hoping that whomever publishes the English language version will seriously consider adding a few exclamation points to that somewhat dry moniker. It will make asking for a copy from the Best Buy blueshirt that much more dramatic if I'm required to request it in a booming voice.

Unfortunately, since I have heard nothing but the worst about Necro-Nesia, my conscience won't allow me to spend money on it. I'll just make sure to bring it up in public often to satisfy my urge to shout the name. Michael McWhertor

Necro-Nesia Official Site (Japanese)

Starting next week, you can expect your Steam client to look and operate a little different. Here are the new features those of you still playing Counter-Strike and Half-Life 2 should be looking forward to.

Guest Passes
Guest Passes allow owners of certain Steam games (purchased either via Steam or at retail) to let their friends play games for free, for a limited time trial. The first game to take advantage of this new feature will be Day of Defeat: Source. Beginning the week of January 8th, owners of DoD:S will each receive a guest pass to give to a friend. So if you own Day of Defeat: Source, watch your games list for your guest pass to appear, and then send it to a friend.

Background client updates
Since the Steam client was first released, it has always kept itself up to date -- but now it'll do so without making you wait during startup. Instead, it will acquire new updates in the background and then (once they're downloaded) ask if you'd like to restart & apply them. Steam will also let you know what's new whenever a new update is ready to apply.

continue reading »

Looks like German Xbox 360 owners are going to have a harder time getting their Crackdown fix, as the German software ratings board, Unterhaltungssoftware Selbskontrolle, has refused to rate the sci-fi, cel-shady, third-person action game.

So what's the impact of a non-rating? According to Gamespot:

By failing to receive a rating, Crackdown will have a handful of restrictions placed on its sales. As an unclassified game, Crackdown cannot be sold to minors, the transaction must take place in person, and the game can not be displayed or advertised in stores.

Scheiße! The USK previously opted not to rate other ultra-violent MS exclusives Gears of War and Dead Rising. This, quite obviously, will have a tremendous impact on sales of Crackdown, but the game will still be available for purchase. Michael McWhertor

Germany cracks down on Crackdown [Gamespot]

According to IGN, Gran Turismo creator Kazunori Yamauchi has, for the third year in a row, made Motor Trend's top 50 Power List. The president of Polyphony Digital beat out the CEO's of two major car manufacturers (Ferrari and Honda) to secure his spot at #27.

Please note that the above photo of Kaz is clearly staged, as his office was uncontested as the messiest at Polyphony when we visited them in September. The man may be powerful, but he's a pig! Michael McWhertor

Gran Turismo Creator Makes Motor Trend List [IGN]

Blockbuster Inc. issued a press release earlier today on the sale of Rhino Video Games to Gamestop Corp. making the rumored sale of the southeastern game retailer official. Financial details of the sale were not disclosed, but Blockbuster expects to close the sale by the end of January.

No word on whether Gamestop plans to up orders on stickers with which they will plaster excessively all current Rhino stock or how said rumored order of stickers that just won't come off goddamnit will financially impact the company.

Full, totally unexciting press release about "operating synergies" after the jump. Michael McWhertor

Rumor: Gamestop Buys Rhino [Kotaku]

continue reading »

1UP's Sam Kennedy talked to Treasure president Masato Maegawa about his company's upcoming plans, including the oft-rumored Radiant Silvergun/Ikaruga sequel.

Maegawa says that while the same team and director of Ikaruga are working on a top-down shooter for the Xbox 360, that "I would have to say that this game is totally different."

So why would the developer of hardcore shooters and uniquely Japanese action titles focus on the Xbox 360, which has a meager install base in its home country? Simple, really, the Treasure development staff just find it easier to developer software on Microsoft's console.

And the Wii? "...Absolutely, in the future, we'll make a Wii game. We've already been in discussions with Nintendo about it." Yay! Check out the full interview, loaded with frank, refreshing responses, at 1UP. Michael McWhertor

Treasure Talks 360, Wii, and PS3 [1UP]