In what is looking like a trend today (if two posts can be considered a trend), there's another LEGO bit of news today, this time involving Halo. However since this is appearing in EGM's April edition it's likely their idea of an April Fool's joke. It's tough to say though as this issue is already on newsstands and we've just entered March.

Also, I don't find this to be especially outlandish, certainly not any more than the Batman game posted earlier today. Personally, I think a Halo LEGO game could be every bit as successful as the other games in the LEGO franchise.

Feel free to tell me how utterly wrong I am.

I'm not entirely sure what I think of this but do find it telling with respect to the impact of Video Gaming on our society that Guinness (of the world's longest fingernails fame) is attempting to record the World's largest gathering of game characters. I was surprised to see that instead of the obvious location (Tokyo) that this will instead be attempted in London.

If you want to be in on the fun (yes, "fun" is such a subjective term, isn't it?) you better start planning your itinerary now as this will be attempted on Tuesday, March 18th. For further details check out Guinness' Gamer's Edition through the link below. Personally I think it would be a more interesting social experiment to have the World's largest gathering of Birdo characters. And when I say interesting I obviously mean scary as hell.

[Guinness World Records via Kombo]

Wow. You certainly don't run across these every day. Goodwill Industries is auctioning off a NIB Sega Dreamcast. The system comes with the system CDs and an extra controller. No games are included but those aren't too tough to find - even Amazon has a wide variety from third-parties.

My Dreamcast is still running beautifully and Soul Calibur still looks great on it so I can attest to the longevity of the system. I am curious however to know the story behind how this wound up at Goodwill in the first place. I hope that some college student doesn't go home at Spring Break to find that his collection of vintage gaming systems has been cleared out to make room for Christmas decorations by Mom.

Gamer Watch [Thanks to Jenni for the tip]

Yesterday Penny Arcade announced The PAX 10, a showcase of independent games that will be displayed as part of the upcoming Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) August 29-31, 2008 in cooperation with the DigiPen Institute of Technology.

They are looking for ten independent developers that are interested in seeing their games viewed by attendees, media and publishers at the Expo. A panel of 50 industry experts, including Penny Arcade's own Gabe and Tycho, will be selecting the ten submissions that they consider to be the best based on gameplay and "fun factor." Of the ten, one will be chosen "Audience Choice Award" by attendees.

Check out the details at the link below.

Brown Paper Tickets

A couple of weeks ago, Reflexive's director of marketing Russell Carrol issued a 'startling installment' of his regular Gamasutra column. The issue? Piracy, DRM and casual games. His conclusion, based on data from Reflexive, was that 'for every 1,000 pirated copies we eliminated, we created 1 additional sale.' Well, some people had a hissy fit and he's back with some more data and discussion of the issue of piracy:

The 1000:1 ratio is really, I think, the key takeaway of the article. Several people have grasped that and started applying it to different numbers in the industry, and the results are very disappointing.

Clearly, if we could always have a big gain from a fix that maintains itself, it is worth spending the time to fight piracy. However, since that isn't always the case, it can sometimes (often?) be pretty discouraging to try and stop piracy.

One of my favorite blogs deals with the issue of piracy relatively frequently, and I'm interested in the pirated goods market in Asia - but Mainland bootleggers are the least of some companies' worries. I think as long as people are selling things, there are going to be people out there trying to figure out how to get it for free; but I'd be curious to know what companies have found to be most successful in terms of trying to stem the tide.

Piracy & Casual Games - The Follow-Up [GameSetWatch]

When I first read the words "Q Awards" I auto-magically thought of the late, great actor Desmond Llewelyn but was apparently way off track. These are Gamefly's version of the Oscars sans the cheesy dance routines.

Winners are determined by GameFly members, who according to the GameFly press release are the "... most discerning community of online video game renters." Unfortunately I'm not terribly discerning as I can be easily distracted by bright colors and flashing lights.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare took the Q awards triumvirate, winning "Game of the Year," "Xbox 360 Game of the Year," and "PlayStation 3 Game of the Year."

Hit the jump to read about the other winners.

Oh, the racing game: whither your future? NextGen rounded up some heavyweights of the genre to talk about the past, the present, and the future of racing games. Nigel Kershaw, game director at Evolution Studios, Gareth Wilson and Gerard Talbot, lead designers on the Project Gotham series, Guy Wilday, studio director at Sega Racing Studio, and Gavin Raeburn, executive producer on Codemasters' Dirt all sat down for a roundtable chat on the state of racing games. Operating on the premise that 'while other genres have rapidly evolved ... racers seem stuck in the same old routine of race upon tournament,' they get down to business:

Actually, I kind of fear for racing games in the future. Look at last year - there's been so many quality games that aren't racing games. Even me, as a racing game lover, there's a lot of good games I'd buy ahead of pretty much any of them, even though there's been quality there, too. I do worry that it might become an extremely niche area unless we work out a way of making it become more massmarket.

It's an interesting interview with several well-pedigreed people in the industry. Even if you're not a racing game fan, it's an enlightening look at one part of the industry that has traditionally been a staple, even if it's lost a lot of its luster these days.

Is Racing Gaming On Its Last Lap? [NextGen via RPS]

As long-time listener, first-time caller Jonathan McNamara writes of the happenings in Scottsdale, Arizona, "A club called Axis Radius held a Rock Band competition last night featuring 'hot girls and plenty of brew'." Hot girls and plenty of brew? You had me at hot girls.

The Phoenix Times has a pretty detailed gallery up on their site, yes that picture comes from it. I do believe this calls for a look-see.

Press X to Rock [Phoenix New Times]

Great production values + obscure video game references + man-boobs means that it's time for Street Fighter: The Later Years - Part 9. The final chapter has Ryu and E. Honda fighting as well as those slapstick gags that you've come to love. Those of you that are working today be aware that there's the bonus of a hairy man-ass.

Street Fighter: The Later Years, Part 9 [College Humor]

Gamasutra has a lengthy (10 page) but interesting interview up with Tarn Adams, the programmer behind Dwarf Fortress. The interview touches on a lot of issues: the history of Dwarf Fortress and how it came to be, game mechanics, the follow that's sprung up in the game's wake ...

What's left to answer is why'd we be so into doing a fantasy game. That's probably the same as everybody else: Tolkien, D&D;, myths, and of course, the movie Beastmaster. (We like the part where the evil priest is like, "You'll be sacrificed to 'The God of AAaa,'" like they didn't even bother thinking of a name, just powering through on the power of their badassedness.) But there were all kinds of things like that. In the movies, books, the arcade, PC, consoles, we were surrounded by that sort of thing.

It's an interesting, if lengthy, interview and worth a read through. The community that's sprung up around the game is almost as interesting as the game itself, especially the bits and pieces that have become popular outside the Dwarf Fortress community.

The Making Of Dwarf Fortress [Gamasutra]

On a topic that is close to my heart, another educator is bemoaning what he sees as the ubiquity of violence in video games.

"There is a tremendous lack of imagination on the part of the games industry..."

For those that may not remember, my organization is sponsoring a video game contest in which the goal is to create a video game with a theme of Teen Dating Violence without actually using violence in the game itself. Obviously many games have absolutely no violence whatsoever but there are nonetheless some interesting points to be found in the original article.

Crazy Woody the mercenary shills for Army of Two [Montreal Gazette via GamePolitics.com]

Back in December, I mentioned a little game called Passage. Well, Jonathan Blow clued me in to the fact that Jason Rohrer is back with yet another weird, artistic little game, this one called Gravitation:

I'm not going to provide an in-depth explanation for Gravitation. I'm hoping that most people will understand it as it stands. However, it involves more complex game mechanics than Passage, and it is trying to express something much more subtle .... The mechanics themselves are relatively simple, but the emergent behavior harbors a lot of texture. Know that there are no "accidents" in this game design. Everything you notice about the game, and every subtle interaction that you experience, is intentionally packed with meaning. Gravitation explores how a particular corner of my life feels, as only a game can.

It's definitely worth a quick play through; Windows, Mac OSX, and Linux versions are available.

Gravitation: a video game by Jason Rohrer

Vicki Vale. Vi-Vi-Vicki Vale.

Check out the trailer to the upcoming game. Complete with mock-serious voiceover guy, a tight-rope waddling Penguin and Vicki Vale. Actually I have no idea if Vicki Vale is in it - those LEGOs all look the same to me - but couldn't pass on her very lovely image.

Hit the jump & check it out.

My dogs have expressed little interest in my lamentations on the subject of HD DVD and my brother even less. While I don't realistically expect more from this audience, the allure of large numbers compels me to share these final thoughts on the demise of HD DVD.

I'll start with the admission that I am one of the early a-duh-pters that has the HD DVD add-on for the XBOX 360. That doesn't make me a MS fanboi, I would instead describe myself as an evil-company-hateboi. And if you want proof that I'm not in MS' camp just talk to me someday about Vista and its wonderful support of earlier versions of Office.

Happy Saturday! This week saw a new GUI for Playstation's store, sexuality in gaming, some drunk guy and more.

Portal Devs Reveal The GLaDOS That Never Was, Inspiration Behind Weighted Companion Cube

APB's Geek Squad: Miyamoto, Molyneux, Spector & Garriot

EA CEO/ Take-Two Chairman Talk Take Over Bid

EA Or Not EA - The Take-Two Question

Lucasarts' 1993 Catalogue Is A Pleasant Stroll Down Memory Lane

Take-Two Stock Jumps 47% In Wake Of EA Proposal

Drunk Guy Tries to Steal Portal Song at Valve Party

Presenting Puzzle Quest: Galactrix

An Interview With Street Fighter IV Producer Yoshinori Ono

Metal Gear Solid 4 Finally Has A Release Date

PlayStation Store Getting Overhauled In April

N+ A Triumph For Tiny Ninja

The MGS4 PS3 Bundle That Should Have Been

GDC, DICE, E3 Could All Be Press Invite Only Next Year

How Resistance: Fall of Man Makes Home Really, Really Cool

How Uncharted: Drake's Fortune Makes Home Really, Really Cool

How Warhawk Makes Home Really, Really Cool

Fuck MGS Papercraft, MGS Cardboardcraft Is Where It's At

Where In The World Is Phil Harrison?

Battlefield: Bad Company Impressions

Liberty City Is The Worst Place In America

In the Mood for Love: Cinema, Games, and Sex

PSP2 Concepts, A New Challenge!

Nintendo Almost Used Microsoft-Style Parental Controls

Bionic Commando ReArmed Impressions

White PS3 Due In March?

MGS4 Simultaneous Worldwide Release Confirmed

An Arcana Heart-Breaking Defeat