Kotaku

Phil Harrison's a busy boy - dude's been everywhere in the news this week. And not exactly for the best reasons. So it's only fair he be allowed to go on the front foot for once, and try and explain to Americans why SingStar is so wonderful. From part III of his epic interview with N'Gai Croal:

N'Gai: Over here, it's still not as well-known why [Singstar has] been so successful in Europe. Why would you say it became a hit?

Phil: First and foremost, in the U.S., SingStar Rocks! shipped in November, it's done incredibly well, it's just been one SKU. In Europe, we're up to the sixth major iteration, multiple local language variations. Probably the the thing that most people even in the U.K. don't recognize is the broad variety of local language variations that we did. There's a Croatian version of SingStar Rocks! I think we're up to our 40th different build with different languages. If you're going to sell music in France, it has to be French. If you're going to sell music in Italy, it has to be Italian, and so on and so forth.

I believe the reason why SingStar has done so well versus Karaoke Revolution is very, very easy to articulate. I don't know why Alex was struggling over that. The reason is we had real performances--real recordings with the real original music videos--and they had sound-alikes.

Hey, if it sells like DS-flavoured hotcakes in Japan, why not release it in Europe and Australia. It's worth a try.

March 1, 2007 - Capcom®, a leading worldwide developer and publisher of video games, today announced Monster Hunter Freedom 2 for the PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system. Monster Hunter has quickly become one of the most remarkable and successful series for Capcom, with sales in excess of 2.4 million units worldwide. Capcom's previously released Monster Hunter Portable was a runaway hit, becoming Japan's top selling title for the PSP system, with an attach rate of about one game sold for every five systems in the country. Monster Hunter Portable 2nd has just released in Japan and is already well on its way to surpassing the previous title with remarkable initial shipment numbers. Capcom plans to release this game as Monster Hunter Freedom 2 across PAL territories in September 2007.

If a new Wii goes for ¥25,000, then how much should a used one command? Kotakuite dokool found out at the Shibuya Mandarake. For those who don't know, Mandarake is super anal about people taking pictures in their shops and has no problem causing a confrontation about it. Writes dokool;

Lo and behold, after descending two floors of stairs, sneaking past the shoujo doujinshi section, past the auction display cases, and through the Shrine of the Silver Monkey, I finally came to the videogame aisle. There were no shop clerks nearby, and fortunately there were enough people to my left browsing the used PS2 games so as to keep the security camera busy while I snapped my illicit photos.

The first shot shows a Wii box, with a 28,350 yen (US $238) price tag, slightly above the 25,000 yen ($210) retail price. The second shot has several DS Lites of all the colors of the rainbow (at least, the really boring pastel rainbow), for 19,950 yen ($168) each, again above retail. Sorry for the weird lighting on that one, but my flash went off by mistake and I decided that it was legible enough.

Sure that marked up price tag is cheaper than the US version, but don't forget that the Japanese don't get a bundled copy of Wii Sports. Hit the jump for the DS Lite pic, bad flash and all. Brian Ashcraft

Looks like the trailer for Resident Evil: Extinction, the third in the series of zombie flicks based on Capcom's video games, snuck out onto the internet without us really acknowledging it. Sorry about that, Resident Evil movie! I was busy not caring about the film series and focusing on my not paying attention to it. As someone who hasn't seen the previous two, am I missing out? I mean, I know there's lots of Milla Jovovich to be had, but I haven't heard good things.

Yahoo! Movies has high definition trailers and a Milla slideshow if you're so inclined. Michael McWhertor

Resident Evil: Extinction [Yahoo! Movies]

Answering rumours that they were planning on taking the 20GB PS3 out back to be shot, David Karraker has had to get out of his comfy executive chair and say:

The type of model found in stores is completely up to what the retailer orders, so if they don't see a big demand for a particular SKU, they simply don't order it from us. We continue to manufacture both.

Time to let go, Sony. Luke Plunkett

Sony: 20GB PS3 Not Dead Yet [Next-Gen]

To: Ash
From: Crecente

I totally whiffed it on a post about Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 today. Some how I got it in my head that we were back on Feb. 21, instead of Feb. 28 and said the game was out in two weeks. Doh! Oh, that exciting PC gaming news I was telling you about? It looks like it won't be hitting until next Monday, at least that's the latest.
I put up our shirt poll. Some neat ideas in there, but I think my favorite was a graphic someone sent in. I've already forwarded it to our shirt peep.

While you were sleeping:
My eyes, oh God, my eyes.
Denver gets something cool and people attack it.
Def scratches my shoe fetish
Oh ,Sony.
Blur is one step above meh.

My Second Life story for the Rocky got pushed back a few weeks, so the ulcer feeling has subsided. Unfortunately, it looks like they want this to be very graphic heavy, as in non-texty. Gah! We're getting an extra greyhound over the weekend, like a loaner, in case ours breaks. JK, a neighbor is off having fun, so we're dog sitting. Too bad they can't blog.

Following the announcement of Acclaim's Top Secret MMO project was a cloud of confusion. How exactly will a game designed by John Q. Public work?

David Perry sat down with Gamespot to talk about the logistics of running a development team that could top "more than 1,000 people":

The moderators will pull them together as far as keeping them focused. We'll take votes on it; sometimes we'll have people coming in to help decide the winner of something. The most important thing is we'll be directing this so it's not just a crazy forum of people talking about random stuff. The goal is to try and keep them all going forward. We'll be working through the individual milestones just like a professional game. We're starting with a prototype and they're all going to get copies of that, like a build so they can play at home, and get more ideas and talk about that as we move forward to get to the next milestone.

What about getting paid? When will it ship? And why? Why, damn it?! Perry does his best to clue us in to how his free MMO will not suck out loud. Michael McWhertor

Q&A;: David Perry's Top Secret [Gamespot]

To say that SNK's Art of Fighting is pretty niche at this point may be an understatement. The 2D Neo Geo fighter saw its debut in arcades in the early '90s, hot on the heels of arcade smash Street Fighter II, but was rendered arguably obsolete by the company's own The King of Fighters series. After eleven KoF games, I'd be surprised if SNK Playmore revisits Art of Fighting in any new way.

But it appears that SNK Playmore is tapping into fighter nostalgia, as it will be bringing Geese Howard, Mr. Karate, and the rest of the Art of Fighting crew to the PlayStation 2 this spring with the Art of Fighting Anthology. It collects all three arcade releases on one handy disc. It's sure to sell well into the triple digits.

Props to the Insert Credit news crew for the tip off. Michael McWhertor

Here it is, the trailer for Odin Sphere, the upcoming PlayStation 2 RPG from Vanillaware and Atlus that Kotaku readers called "gorgeous indeed" and "hot enough to melt your eyes." This first look at the spiritual successor to Princess Crown comes to the internet courtesy of Japanese news hound Duckroll and should be welcome video therapy for those of you mentally scarred by my earlier Punch-Out!! clip. Michael McWhertor

Wahoo Studios' Outpost Kaloki X is evolving for its upcoming Wii release to be published by Namco Bandai Games into the much friendlier sounding Space Station Tycoon. Not a port, the Wii space station sim is built for Nintendo's console from the ground up and will see players playing through a much more fleshed out story-driven adventure than it's predecessors for the PC and Xbox Live Arcade.

Check out IGN for an interview with the dev team and actual shots of the Wii version, not a hastily grabbed Xbox 360 screen like the one above. Michael McWhertor

Wii's Space Station Tycoon [IGN]

Somehow this game managed to sneak up on me.

Ubisoft just announced that Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 has gone gold and will be hitting store shelves on March 8, as in one week from tomorrow.

The game will have this spiffy new achievement tracking system too, letting you see how close you are to unlocking any of the achievements. Brian Crecente

Ps. Crap, that was a fast month. Sorry about the date confusion.

Celebrating thirty (THIRTY!) years of Zork and twenty years of Leisure Suit Larry, the Las Vegas AdventureCon will act as the meeting ground for gamers who love the dying point-click-read genre.

Old and old-shool gamers who have a fondness for The Longest Journey, Zork, or Gabriel Knight should clear their calendars for the August 28th and 29th get together as it promises some pretty big names... in the adventure game world, of course.

Registration is open now and the whole shebang will set you back $599 per person (including hotel rooms, meals, and con tickets), but cheaper packages are available. Hardcore adventure games hitting Vegas in the middle of summer? I expect a sexy, texty time! Michael McWhertor

AdventureCon Plans Adventure Game Celebration [Gamasutra]

Pricing for upcoming releases on the PlayStation Network has been set, for the most part, for our friends in the UK. It's okay, guys, unlike other PLAYSTATOIN 3 pricing news, this really won't hurt that bad. Three titles will be available on launch day via the PlayStation Store, Blast Factor (£3.49), Tekken 5 Dark Resurrection (£6.99) and Gran Turismo HD (free!).

The following Friday (March 30) will see Super Rub-A-Dub hit for an unspecified price with flOw hitting one week later (April 6). No price has been set for flOw either. Go! Sudoku (April 13) and Go! Puzzle (April 20) hit the following two Fridays.

See, that wasn't so tough! Grab a lollipop on the way out. Michael McWhertor

This fan-made homage to (Mike Tyson's) Punch-Out!! is probably the worst thing I've ever seen. It's rather old—just came across it on NeoGAF—but I want to share it with you, as this basement filmed clip from the 80's is so painful, the sadist in me screamed "Post! Post now!" It's marginally NSFW, as it features a handful of pre-teens jumping around in their underwear and certainly doesn't help argue the case that video games aren't for pedos. Michael McWhertor

New for Xbox Live subscribers is the teaser trailer for EA's upcoming shooter Battlefield: Bad Company. It's pure teaser showing off no gameplay, but instead focusing on the destructive capabilities of the game's two main characters. It features "in-game engine" based footage and, frankly, it's one of the most amusing game trailers I've ever seen. Kind of a refreshing take on the teaser. Did I mention it's free?!

Those without Live, you can watch it on the web over at Gametrailers. Michael McWhertor

Remember when I posted about that Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories ad on Denver's local train months back?

The Parents Television Council and the Campaign for Commercial Free Childhood just announced that they are trying to get the ad pulled from the trains.

Specifically, they're asking the Regional Transportation District to "stop advertising video games rated "Mature" or "Adults Only.""

What bothers me is that this group is so specifically targeting mature and adult games and don't seem to care about the same content being advertised for movies or music or, shudder, books. God forbid they slap an add up for Lolita or Choke.

Adidas may have beaten Reebok to the punch with their Tron-licensed kicks last year, but Reebok knocks it out of the goddamn park with their much more subtle, far less dorky Glow sneakers due to hit this summer. The New Dandyism column over at streetwear fashion blog High Snobiety has first pics of the glow-in-the-dark shoes in action. Shoes are so hot you'll want to keep a pocket flashlight handy for late night recharges.

New Dandyism also teases with a promise of an "apparel hook-up" alongside the Reebok release, which had better glow, too, or we'll be pissed. Michael McWhertor

Exclusive: Reebok "Glow" in action! [High Snobiety]

In an interview with GDC executive director Jamil Moledina, the bar has been set unbelievably high for Phil Harrison's March 7th keynote "Game 3.0: Developing and Creating for the 3rd Age of Video Games." Will there be megaton caliber announcements from Sony?

Possibly, as GameDaily's James Brightman reminds Moledina of the following:

BIZ: You told me at D.I.C.E. that on March 7, I'd be "very happy" that I'm a PlayStation 3 owner. What revelations will Phil Harrison have for us during his keynote that will make us go gaga for PS3? Care to give us some hints?

JM: Haha! Not to be coy but you'll just have to come to his talk James. All I can say is that I stand behind my comment regarding your future emotional state.

Poor, Phil! Now he has to do something spectacular or we'll unfairly rake him and the entire Sony corporation over the coals. As a PLAYSTATION 3 owner, I'm fascinated.

The Kotaku crew will be in attendance for GDC in San Francisco next week and I'm bringing an emergency morphine drip just in case Harrison fails to elicit a positive reaction with his speech. Michael McWhertor

Jamil Moledina Talks GDC 2007 [GameDaily.BIZ]

Somewhere in my flu-induced hallucinogenic fever dream over the past few days the fact that alien Hominid was going live on Xbox Live Arcade this week completely slipped my mind. That having been said, Alien Hominid HD is now available for download via Xbox Live for 800 points, and it is pretty freaking sweet. If you've played it before on the PC or PS2, try playing it with 1-3 total strangers via Live Multiplayer. As my mother always told me as a child, strangers make everything better, and they have the best candy. Thanks to kotakuite Josh for jumpstarting my virus-riddled memory.

We've been talking about getting a t-shirt for almost as long as I've been guiding the good ship Kotaku. For one reason or the other (mostly because we suck at slogans) we've never gotten around to doing it.

Well dammit, now we are. The good techs at Gawker have whipped up this fancy voting and slogan entry system to let you craft what you think would be the best slogan to have on a shirt and then vote.

If you're not the crafting a slogan sorta person you can just jump straight to the list and vote otherwise hit the jump and submit your idea... and then vote.

Skip the slogan, get to voting. Brian Crecente

Since the PS3 was released in the states, gamers have been anxiously awaiting an update that allows them to do something other than look at the progress bar and dream while downloading something from the PlayStation Store. Now Inner Bits claims to have stumbled upon some information regarding the upcoming March PS3 patch 1.60, which is supposed to coincide with the European release of the console. The patch is said to feature background downloading for the PS3...but not while you are playing a game. The PlayStation 3 needs the resources for gameplay, so when you enter a game the download will pause, resuming when you exit it. While this is 100% times better than just having to stop your download and start over should the urge to play hit you, it is still rather bleh overall.

Mind you, the Inner Bits article begins with a sentence that reads like dialogue from a Tom Clancy novel...

We have recently obtained through our contacts in the industry a summary of a high level meeting of the major players involved in Sony's network platform

PS3 Online: Background Downloading, the Sony Way. [Inner Bits]

1992: Konami releases Contra III: The Alien Wars for SNES in Japan. I remember this game as extremely hard. Almost as difficult as the original Contra (when I was moderately to grossly intoxicated at our Barcade party—so much so that I actually jumped on the exploding bridge at the beginning).

1997: Acclaim releases Turok: Dinosaur Hunter for N64 in the US. Any game in which you start with a bow and arrow but end up with a nuclear fusion cannon is alright in my book. And my book is of the utmost importance; it has very small, hard to read type. Mark Wilson

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

The latest edition of the sociology journal Contexts features an article by Karen Sternheimer that tackles the subject of the effect of violent games on teens. Entitled Do Video Games Kill?, it explores the use of video games as a "folk devil"; a device allowing society to focus blame and fear, offering up an easy explanation for complex problems.

Such games have come to represent a variety of social anxieties: about youth violence, new computer technology, and the apparent decline in the ability of adults to control what young people do and know.

do video games kill? [contexts via GamePolitics.com]

A number of readers have forwarded us emails from Microsoft showing that the Games for Windows team is prepping to test Games for Windows Live.

Unfortunately, the Games for Windows Live Beta announcement is rather sparse on details:

Are you interested in being part of a select group that is invited to help beta test a new service that lets Windows gamers connect with their friends on the Xbox through the LIVE gaming network? If you are, please read on.

The registration period for this upcoming beta testing opportunity will only be available for a limited time. To be considered you will need to complete the Games for Windows - LIVE Beta application survey.

The email goes on to say that the beta testers will be contacted in the "coming weeks" with more details. Also if you get in you have a chance at winning some spiffy prizes.

While not a killer app, I am very excited about the potential. I'm sure it will start with games like Texas Hold 'Em and Uno, but you know full-scale games are going to be hitting the system later this year. Brian Crecente