You haven’t eaten lunch for a whole year. You’ve sold organs you didn’t even know you had. On the rare occasion that you venture out to a restaurant, your meals are more spit than food because you’ve become notorious for never-ever tipping.

But all of that’s ok! Because now you can afford a fancy-shmancy “next-generation” game console. Your life’s back on track, it’s all uphill from here, and… hold on. “Sold out”?!

This is bad. Real bad. But don’t panic. Everything will be all right. Just ask GameStop’s Executive VP of Merchandising Tony Bartel. Tell ‘em, Tony!

“Obviously it’s a question we ask the platform holders constantly,” Bartel said of recent PS3 and Wii shortages. “I can tell you that we do anticipate we will be in this situation, at least with the PlayStation 3, for another couple months unfortunately because we could sell a lot more hardware than what we have on both the PS3 and Wii platform.”

“We do believe the Wii will come into stock quicker than the PS3, so we do anticipate that those shortages should abate sometime before the next couple months,” he added. “But I don’t have clarity as to why there is a shortage other than because of the unprecedented hardware demand in December, and I think we are still scrambling to catch up from the surge that occurred.”

Wait a minute. That’s not reassuring at all! Tony, why can’t you be more like SCEA comms boss Patrick Seybold, who told us the PS3 shortages would only last a just-vague-enough-to-be-reassuring “bit longer”?

Really, the nerve of some people. Telling the truth? It’s sickening, is what it is.

Thanks, IGN.

Huh? Wii MotionPlus is out already? Could’ve fooled us.

Yes, Wii MotionPlus – Nintendo’s second stab at total motion domination – has been available since last June. And yet, the number of games that support what was supposed to be the full realization of the Wii’s potential are shockingly few – especially in terms of first-party titles. MTV Multiplayer asked NOA president Reggie Fils-Aime about that gaping hole in the Wii’s lineup, to which he replied:

“There’s tremendous support for Wii MotionPlus. First, what it would highlight is that Wii Sports Resort continues to sell exceptionally well. In addition to that you’re seeing some fantastic third party support. Red Steel 2 …about to come out. And from a first party perspective we showed Fling Smash. There are more titles that are coming, it continues to be a core part of what we do.”

“Core part,” huh? Then how come only one of Nintendo’s “core” games (Legend of Zelda) has jumped onto the MotionPlus bangwagon?

“But I guess what’s unique with Nintendo is we don’t force our developers to stick to a particular type of control scheme, and you’ve seen that. Everything from the new Metroid title to be single remote driven to Fling Smash utilizing the Wii MotionPlus. So it’s all about what’s right for the game,” Reggie explained.

More through the link.

Oh Miyamoto, you sly dog. You climb up on stage as we hold our breaths, and then ramble on and on until we drop to the ground gasping for air and wake up in the ICU. And as you saunter off the stage with your award in hand, all of our lung-straining effort appears to have been for naught. No megatons. Not even a tiny white flag that says “boom” on it.

As it turns out, though, good things come in small packages – not rambling speeches. One tiny tweet later, Pikmin 3’s back on the map.

“ONM is at the BAFTAs! Miyamoto just told us Pikmin 3 development is ‘well under way,’” tweeted – who else? – ONM.

That sound you just heard? That was the Internet. It’s gone now. Replaced by a smoldering crater. Oh, but 4chan’s still around. Why? Well, as it turns out, cockroaches really do survive nuclear explosions!

Shigeru Miyamoto took the stage at the BAFTA awards tonight to accept the Fellowship Award.

In his acceptance speech, he said that he was not only honored, and appreciative of the award, but proud of the games industry itself.

Here is our rough transcription of his speech:

“It is a great honor to receive this award and I would liek to thank BAFTA for this great honor.

When I get an ward like this two things come to mind that, One, that I am getting older. I made first game when I was 27 years old, and looking in the faces of people in front of me tonight, reminds me that I am getting very old. But secondly, I am humbled because I can’t do this by myself.

I am embarrassed to receive such an award, so I am taking it for everyone who has worked with me in the last few years and I thank them for all their hard work.

I have been in the industry now, for over 20 years. I am grateful Nintendo took me in off the street. The industry has changed dramatically since I started my career at Nintendo. Back then there was no such thing as videogames at the company, but I wanted to make something that could surprise and entertain people. I was lucky to get a job that involved making videogames from the dawn of the industry.

The first game I was involved in developing was Donkey Kong. It was one of the first games created by artists and game designers and due to its popularity, designers got a larger role in creating videogames.

The most important thing today, though, is to make them fun.

I am often asked what inspired me as a child. I loved playing outside and looking at the natural world around me and even today it inspires my imagination. For example, playing with my dogs gave me inspiration for Nintendogs. My staff and I are always trying to develop something that is unique.

To create a new standard, you have to be up for new challenges. That’s why I have become even more conscious in how people play with videogames rather than the content I develop for them.

When I was working on Super Mario Bros. Wii, I imagined how people would play and how people could enjoy it together, which had been my dream sine the first Mario game was made 25 years ago.

So instead of focusing on content, I am more interested in atmosphere where player can interact with each other. Our imagination and creativity takes us to countless fascinating places were we hope to make new experiences for people of all ages

This I call a recipe for joy.

Thank you for this great honor, and than you to my colleges at Nintendo and developers all over the world for making this journey possible

I hope the videogame industry continues to develop with both entertainment and character”.

The list of BAFTA winners from tonight can be found through here.

Uncharted 2 walked off with Best Action Game at the BAFTA awards this evening, beating out Assassin’s Creed 2, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Modern Warefare 2, inFamous, and Left 4 Dead 2.

It also took the awards for Use of Audio, Original Score and Story. It’s up for nine awards tonight.

The running list of winners is below the break and you can watch it live through here.

We will update the list as winners are announced.

Here are the winners:

Action Game: Uncharted 2
Family & Social Game: Wii Sports Resort
Use of Online: FIFA 10
Artistic Achievement: Flower
Best Game: Batman: Arkham Asylum
Gameplay: Batman: Arkham Asylum
Handheld: LBP PSP
Multiplayer: Left 4 Dead 2
Original Score: Uncharted 2
Sports: FIFA 10
Story: Uncharted 2
Strategy: Empire: Total War
Use of Audio: Uncharted 2
BAFTA Ones To Watch Award (presented by David Braben): Shrunk! by The Butterflyers
GAME Award of 2009 (voted for by the public): Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Second place was Assassin’s Creed 2, and Uncharted 2 took third.
Academy Fellow: Shigeru Miyamoto

The full list of nominees can be found through here.

Sony has updated the US PS Video Store with HD offerings, Ninja Assassin, Astro Boy, and the last and certainly least of the Austin Powers flicks, Goldmember.

For TV this week, new episodes of LOST (Team Locke!), 24, Chuck, and The Simpsons are in and all available in HD.

Check out the list of HD films below, and as usual the full thing is over on the US PS Blog.

HD MOVIE NEW ARRIVALS

1. American Me
2. Astro Boy
3. Austin Powers in Goldmember
4. Band Slam
5. Big Fat Liar
6. Dark Water
7. Deliver Us from Eva
8. Did You Hear About the Morgans
9. Illegal Tender
10. Law Abiding Citizen
11. Major Payne
12. Mr. Bean’s Holiday
13. Ninja Assasin
14. Planet Hulk
15. Return to Paradise
16. Sgt. Bilko
17. Sydney White
18. The Best Man
19. The Fourth Kind
20. The Lookout
21. The Princess and the Frog
22. The Producers
23. The Shadow
24. The Watcher
25. Twilight Saga: New Moon
26. Universal Soldier: Regeneration
27. Unrivaled
28. Waist Deep
29. Waiting

David Cage has told IndustryGamers that trying out the online space is something Quantic Dream would like to sink its teeth into.

Chatting about Heavy Rain and where he plans to go from there, Cage said that there still many stories he would like to tell, but his version of online has nothing to do with World of Warcraft.

“Well, we have definitely discovered something with Heavy Rain, and the market has responded very positively to it, so we want to continue to investigate what it takes to create experiences based on interactive storytelling and emotions for an adult audience,” he said. “I want to write better stories and make them even more interactive with more consequences and tell different types of stories.

“I want to go further. And there are also many interesting changes awaiting us regarding the online space. So this is something we are going to explore in the very near future.

“With each project I try to answer one of several questions. And my goal is that by the end of the project I got my answers. But you know, I’m not going to do online like World of Warcraft.

“I think Heavy Rain is really an important moment for Quantic Dream definitely and maybe other people in the industry. So we’ll try to bring to multiplayer experiences the same change that Heavy Rain was to single-player”.

The Taxidermist DLC for Heavy Rain up next for players on April 1 with even more on the way.

BioWare has tweeted a photo of some new Mass Effect 2 DLC, and what it’s calling an appearance pack.

Here’s the tweet:

New ME2 DLC announced. New appearances for Thane, Jack and Garrus as an appearance pack. Coming March 23.

This is on top of the Firewalker pack releasing the same day, and Kasumi’s Stolen Memory on April 6.

The Alternate Appearance pack runs $2 and features new outfits for Garrus, Subject Zero, and Thane. After that the 12th member of Shepard’s squad, Kasumi Goto, will be skulking in the shadows early April.

Infinity Ward’s Robert Bowling has tweeted that the first Double XP Weekend for Modern Warfare 2 will happen April 2-5 on Xbox Live.

Here’s the tweet:

Mark the calendars now! April 2nd – 5th marks the first Double XP weekend on #MW2 for #xboxlive worldwide. New Maps + Double XP = No sleep

This will also be the first full weekend you will be able to play the new maps which are included with the Stimulus Pack on March 30.

Thirty days later, PS3 users will get the DLC.

More through the links.

Season One: Common Ground’s going up on the test server for Star Trek Online, and Cryptic wants you to participate.

So much so, that it will give you your very own Tribble and title.

To be eligible, you have to log into the Tribble Test Server between today and Monday, March 23 and spend at least an hour testing.

Once the patch goes live, you will get your own furry little dickens that grants you a bonus when dealing with the Borg and a Crash Test Tribble Title that you can assign to your captain.

You can get an idea of the other bits of goodies in store for Season One through a video over on FileFront.

More information can be obtained through the official Star Trek Online site.

Star Wars: The Old Republic’s producer, Jake Neri, has told VG247 in and exclusive interview that Lucasarts has “no idea” just how large the MMO could get.

Speaking with us at GDC, Neri said that because of the vast lore behind Star Wars, and all the different planets contained within it, the possibilities are endless.

“I mean, I guess it really depends. We would love to imagine this game lasting for years and years and years, so I don’t know how big it could get,” Neri told us. “I know that at launch we plan on providing a substantial amount of content; stories, planets, adventures, zones, zones that are ripe for conflict and others that are safer for low level players.

“I am not exactly sure where we will net out by the time the history of the game is done, but we do have to continue to support new exploration and new planets.

“One of the things that you hit on, is the fact that there is all this rich lore and so there’s endless possibilities of what we can do, and endless planets that we can go to. I think it’s safe to say that we would love to continue tapping into that as time goes on.

“So, I don’t know if that gives you the number that you are looking for or not, but philosophically you’re right. We want to be exploring either the current stuff that’s going on or the extended universe stuff that’s going on.

“We want to be in the mix with all that and pull the really cool stuff out and give people what they want and expect from a Star Wars game”.

During our chat with Neri, he also reconfirmed that the game is slated for launch in spring 2011, so at least we won’t have to wait too much longer.

You can read our full interview with Neri through here.

Games Investor Consulting analyst Nick Gibson has told MCV that not having a game adaptation of the Twilight series has cost “millions” in lost opportunities for revenue.

Seriously.

“Given how hot a property it is, [a Twilight video game] could easily present a seven-figure exploitation opportunity, especially if publishers consider taking it beyond retail gaming and considers network gaming,” he told MCV.

“It may well be that the rights holders aren’t aware of the potential benefits as they haven’t explored the games market before. It’s not unheard of – although it is increasingly unusual in this day and age.

“Given the demographic Twilight appeals to, there probably isn’t a huge crossover between them and Xbox 360 or PS3 fans. The brand’s appeal could actually extend significantly beyond the expected teen girl market and into the 20- to 30-year-old female market, which has a very substantial crossover into gaming.

“There’s a greater resonance with Wii and DS users.”

No comment on this from us.

A Twilight Scene It? game from Konami hits today, so at least there is a game of sorts out there for the gals to squeal and swoon over.

Via MCV.

Switzerland’s National Council has passed a resolution proposed by the Social Democrat party calling for a complete ban of violent and adult-themed videogames.

This will start the process of designing the actual law surrounding the measure, which passed with a 19-12 vote.

Here is a snippet from the proposal:

The Federal Council is asked to submit to Parliament a statutory basis, which allows the manufacture, touting, importation, sale and distribution of game programs, to prohibit, in which cruel acts of violence against humans and humanlike creatures for the game success.

Another measure, proposed from the Christian Democratic Party and National Councillor Norbert Hochreutener, was passed making it illegal to sell PEGI 16 or 18-rated games to minors. It garnered 27 votes.

Maybe Switzerland is too close to Germany.

Via GamePolitics.

SEGA has updated the Sonic 4 site website to include new media and a free MP3 download.

Oh yeah, and it shows Eggman flying around and the Splash Hill zone.

It’s looks pretty swank, and should get you pretty pumped for the first episode.

Check it all out through here.

The game’s slated for summer on PSN, WiiWare, and XBL.

Square Enix has announced that Final Fantasy XIII has become the fastest-selling title in the series in the UK since its release last week.

No official figures were given by the firm, but it had already become the fastest selling title released this year.

It’s shipped 5 million units worldwide, with the series as a whole shipping 96 million since its first game over 20 years ago.

“It’s great to see FINAL FANTASY XIII hitting the top of the UK charts and setting the pace as the fastest selling game of the year,” said UK Marketing Director, Jon Brooke.

“With high profile TV spots playing out beyond Easter and branded buses still travelling the country I’m positive this title is only going to get bigger and bigger.”

The RPG released last week on PS3 and 360.

PR below.

FINAL FANTASY XIII

Fastest selling title in the franchise history in the UK

London (19 March 2010) – Square Enix Europe are pleased to announce that FINAL FANTASY® XIII has become the fastest selling title in the FINAL FANTASY franchise history in the UK and also the fastest selling UK game of 2010 so far*.

The news comes on the heels of the announcement last week that the sell-in shipment of the game has exceeded the five million unit milestone worldwide. Cumulative global shipments of the FINAL FANTASY series have now reached 96 million units since the first game was launched over two decades ago.

The latest part in the multi-award winning FINAL FANTASY series was released on 9 March 2010 in the UK for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system as well as the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system by Microsoft.

“It’s great to see FINAL FANTASY XIII hitting the top of the UK charts and setting the pace as the fastest selling game of the year,” said Jon Brooke, UK Marketing Director. “With high profile TV spots playing out beyond Easter and branded buses still travelling the country I’m positive this title is only going to get bigger and bigger.”

The FINAL FANTASY series stands out thanks to its ongoing evolution. Only the best creative ideas, the best graphics standards and the best gameplay systems, which are available at the time when a new part in the series is developed, are included in the game. This tradition has been continued in FINAL FANTASY XIII.

FINAL FANTASY XIII is also the fastest and biggest selling console game in Germany in 2010 (source: Media Control GFK International) and the best selling console game in France in 2010 so far (source: GFK France).

For more information on FINAL FANTASY XIII, visit the official website at www.finalfantasy13game.com.

* Fastest selling UK All Formats game in 2010 source: GFK Chart-track

BioWare’s Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk revealed to UGO at GDC that due to the universe, lore, and narrative in Dragon Age, there are “infinite” possibilities for expansions and DLC.

Speaking with Tracy John, the doctors explained how the development team is exploring things that will be “fun and different” for fans.

“We have some cool stuff for both [ME and DAO] that we’re exploring that’ll be fun and different for the fans, and yet in a familiar setting at the same time,” said Muzyka.

“Both Dragon Age and Mass Effect are franchises so they have different strategies and different kinds of story arcs but we plan on continuing to make games and worlds and expanding on those worlds in both franchises.

“Both in different ways, but we want to continue to provide content to fans, whether that be separate games or new adventures that have very different kinds of gameplay. So we have some cool stuff for both of them that we’re exploring that’ll be fun and different for the fans, and yet in a familiar setting at the same time”.

“In the case of Dragon Age, it’s exciting because there’s this whole timeline and geography,” added Zeschuk. “So with Mass Effect, we’re constantly thinking about the trilogy. But with Dragon Age, it’s more open and you can put more all over the place. Seventeen… Sixty-six? Infinite! Infinite games for the Dragon Age universe!”

Awakening hit Xbox Live this week, and the doctors told us at GDC that more DLC was on the way for it as well as Mass Effect 2.

The Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA) has announced that it’s to change its name to UK Interactive Entertainment Association.

The change was approved at a meeting today, and while the ELSPA will keep the old name for the time being, the change will come sometime this summer to better reflect the industry it represents.

“The ELSPA Board proposed the change to the organization’s name to reflect the evolving and expanding nature of the industry,” read a statement, “which the association exists to represent, and to encompass the new areas of activity that will be undertaken.

“ELSPA will be engaging regularly with its members during the process to learn their views and wishes for the new organization.”

Via MCV

The good doctors at BioWare, Greg Zeschuk and Ray Muzyka, sat down with UGO at GDC and chatted a bit about what gamers can expect in the third-installment of Mass Effect.

According to what they told Tracy John, the developers may have a few trick up their sleeves.

“We’ve got some tricks up our sleeves,” said Muzyka. “We have new tricks”.

“It’s also flexible, too,” added Zeschuk. “A lot of the features in Mass Effect 2 came directly from player feedback, and we totally changed what we were planning to build because of that feedback. So we knew we had to make it awesome, and we’re going to change some of the features and some of the approaches we thought we were going to take from ME1 to ME2.

“We focused a lot more on action, and it really amped the shooter aspects of this game. It’s a stand-alone experience, so you don’t have to play Mass Effect 1. It’s a great shooter. You can play it as a shooter. It’s a deep, rich shooter with a lot of customization options, exploration and story that just make the experience that much richer. But it’s a shooter at its core, and that’s the way the combat unfolds”.

“There will definitely be things that we tweak and modify but in some ways, I think Mass 2 was closer to the original vision we had anyway,” said Muzyka. “Mass 1 was more in the traditional BioWare game sense where Mass 2 was a bit more evolved game.

“I don’t think Mass 3 will be as revolutionary when we really streamlined the experience, but what we’re going to do is refine it and make it even better.

“We are just trying to make our games better. We are humble as a group, and we are still going to refine and endure. It’s going to be highly refined. When you think of it, I think the shooting experience is better. I think we could actually take it from that same difference of improvement in the next one. That’s actually one of the really exciting things. Creating a shooting game is actually a craft like creating an RPG game. That’s now our second shooter so Mass 2 will be like our third. So every time we do that we get better and better, so I think that’s going to be one of the really exciting stuff.

“I think people are going to be really surprised at how slick it is”.

The Firewalker DLC will be released next week on March 23, and Kasumi’s Stolen Memory is slated for April 6.

BioWare has just tweeted that the Firewalker DLC for Mass Effect 2 will land next Tuesday, March 23.

Previously slated for sometime “this month” via a previous announcement, the Firewalker DLC includes the Hammerhead tank along with five missions based on it.

Here’s the tweet

Mass Effect 2 Firewalker DLC featuring the Hammerhead coming Tuesday March 23rd!

The Twitter post links to a picture of the tank, which you can see in the header image as well as through here.

Looks rather neat.

The next bit of DLC, Kasumi’s Stolen Memory is slated for April 6.

More through the lovely links.

God of War III released in the UK today after launching in the US and mainland Europe earlier this week. All you’ll find below the break is 15 minutes of direct-feed video from the start of the game. There’s no point in putting words: you’ll be looking at the most attractive action game ever developed.

Just. Buy. It.

You probably can’t remember things too well. Good thing we can, otherwise we wouldn’t have remembered to remember to tell you that the Gaming BAFTAs take place later tonight.

Uncharted 2 is up for a proper shitload of awards as the biggest leader in nominations, going up for nine awards, including Game Award of 2009.

That’s being contested by Assassin’s Creed II, The Beatles: Rock Band, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Modern Warfare 2 and a fair bit more.

As well as that, Shigeru Miyamoto is to be presented with a prestigious BAFTA Fellowship by Ant and Dec.

The event is being hosted by Mock the Week presenter Dara O’Briain. You can watch a live stream here.

IO Interactive’s Karsten Lund has told D’toid that rough textures were e all part of the plan when making Kane & Lynch 2 a more gritty experience.

Mirroring the same conversation Lund had with VG247 back in January, the game’s director said that while the new visuals compliment what the developers were aiming for, Lund is a bit worried that graphics obsessed gamers won’t “get” what the team’s trying to accomplish.

“The way we tell the story is from a POV perspective at all times, so you don’t get to like cross reference how the bad guys are thinking, you’re staying with those two guys the entire duration of the game,” Lund explained. “So that kind of dictated the way we tell the story, because we need that feel of the documentary, of something that is made on the spot. Not really staged for an audience in that sense. So you can that is one way the style affected the story.

“It needs to feel like this is happening in real life. So location is a little bit off, and everything’s a little big skewed compared to your basic dramatic.

“This doesn’t come across as actually low-res when you play it, I think that it comes across as very modern. The way we actually show each other what happens in the world, whether we choose reality television or social stuff. We tried to polish all of the visuals like that. It’s not like this game’s not polished, we spent a lot of resources into creating this feel and look, but I think it makes. Sometimes it makes the Hollywood style if you know what i mean?

“In my view, I think it’s a modern take on realism and looks. I also think it’s proves the point that believable isn’t always about texture resolution, actually it never is.”

Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days received a date for August 24 and 27 in the US and UK, respectively, this week.

F1 2010 producer Paul Jeal has revealed the first details for the online multiplayer for the racer.

It’ll have three gameplay modes for the racer like Quick Race, where you can have a couple of quick laps, as well as an “endurance mode” type, which has eight laps and “mandatory pit-stops”.

The final mode is a custom type racer, so you can can create your own race. Want a monsoon-like race similar to Malaysia last season? Have an enduring race for Brazil at full-race distance? It’s all yours.

Jeal added that some modes in the multiplayer will be objective-based, with some things possibly carried over to the Single Player. He also confirmed the amount of players for its online is being aimed at 12, although that hasn’t been “locked down” yet.

Some new shots and a developer diary got out earlier this week. It’s looking very good so far.

F1 2010 is due out in September for PS3, 360 and PC.

Thanks, CVG.

During GDC, Crystal Dynamics’ brand director Karl Stewart and producer Forest Large showed us a bit of Lara Croft, which does not take place in any time line contained within the Tomb Raider series.

In fact, it doesn’t even contain that moniker, because according to Stewart, the developers wanted to give Lara a new coat of paint and freshen her up a bit.

“We decided to make Lara Croft after we finished up with Anniversary,” said Stewart. “We wanted to take a step back an evaluate who we are as a studio and Lara as an IP – where she was going.

“Ultimately, we decided we wanted to try new things so we starting looking at the gaming space to see what could be done with Lara, and this is what we came up with.

“The reason Tomb Raider is missing from the title, is because this is not a Tomb Raider title. That part is saved for full game releases and we didn’t want this game to affect the other titles.”

Stewart would not go into any further detail on that, and instead changed the subject to talk about the game’s engine, which just so happens to be the same CDC Engine used to create the core Tomb Raider games.

You can really tell too. When playing, you can see several levels down into the dungeons easily, the vistas in the game are crystal clear, and the depth is rather impressive for a game with isomeric views.

It reminded us a lot of Baldur’s Gate on PS2 and Diablo II – which is a good thing.

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light is slated for summer on PC, PSN, and XBL.

Crystal Dynamics told us at GDC that it would not see a WiiWare release.

The Major has posted the top titles on Xbox Live for the week of March 1, and unsurprisingly, Modern Warfare 2 is tops once again.

Halo 3 came in second, and actually the top four are the same was last week.

Here’s the full bit:

Xbox 360 Titles

1. Modern Warfare 2
2. Halo 3
3. Call of Duty: WaW
4. FIFA 10
5. Battlefield Bad Co. 2
6. Call of Duty 4
7. GTA IV
8. Toy Soldiers
9. Gears of War 2
10. Left 4 Dead 2
11. Borderlands
12. Just Cause 2 Demo
13. Madden NFL 10
14. Forza Motorsport 3
15. Mass Effect 2
16. Halo 3: ODST
17. NBA 2K10
18. BioShock 2
19. Assassin’s Creed II
20. NHL 10

Top Arcade Titles

1. Toy Soldiers
2. Trials HD
3. Castle Crashers
4. Battlefield 1943
5. UNO
6. Hasbro Family Game Night
7. Marvel vs. Capcom 2
8. Magic: The Gathering
9. Worms 2: Armageddon
10. Duke Nukem 3D
11. The Misadventures of PB Winterbottom
12. Zombie Apocalypse
13. Marble Blast Ultra
14. Worms
15. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1989 Classic Arcade
16. Peggle
17. DOOM
18. A Kingdom for Keflings
19. Shadow Complex
20. Turtles in Time Re-Shelled

Top Indie Games

1. Avatar Showdown
2. The Impossible Game
3. I MAED A GAM3 W1TH Z0MB1ES!!!1
4. Avatar Drop
5. Shoot 1UP
6. Yet Another Zombie Defense
7. Curling 2010
8. Miner Dig Deep
9. Head Shot 2
10. Anger Management
11. Avatar Meet Up Live!
12. MotorHEAT
13. Avatar Golf
14. Avatar Boogie
15. Inside Lacrosse’s CL2010
16. Soulcaster
17. ZP2K9
18. Soul
19. Beat Hazard
20. Dont B Nervous Talking 2 Girls

Original Xbox Live Titles

1. Halo 2
2. Star Wars: Battlefront 2
3. Xbox Dashboard
4. Counter-Strike
5. Fable
6. Splinter Cell Chaos
7. Conker: Live Reloaded
8. Doom 3
9. Star Wars: Battlefront
10. SW: Republic Commando

Ubisoft just slipped the PC version of Splinter Cell: Conviction from April 16 to April 30.

The 360 version remains unaffected at April 16.

The news comes after another turbulent day for Ubi’s PC games, with Assassin’s Creed II and Silent Hunter V being removed from Steam in the UK as the result of a “business discussion” between the publisher and Valve.

Ubisoft has been well-reported recently in relation to DRM on its PC titles, which now need a constant internet connection to be played. EA decided to follow the model this week with C&C4.

We’re asked for a comment on the slip.

Sony’s announced the first episode of the Chronicles DLC series for Heavy Rain, known as “The Taxidermist”, will release on April 1 on the PS Store.

The DLC, which is the same level shown at its re-reveal at Games Convention in Leipzig in August 2008, sees one of the main characters, Madison Paige, enter take on a very shady looking taxidermist: one who’s holding a very shady secret.

The episode was previously available to those who had bought the Collector’s Edition of the Quantic Dream thriller.

More episodes are on the way, according to QD boss David Cage, set in the stories of Ethan Mars, Scott Shelby and Norman Jayden.

A trailer for the DLC is below.

Sony has explained why it chose to call its motion controller Move instead of the rumored Arc or Gem.

Apparently, there’s a rumor going ’round that Microsoft had already trademarked the name Arc – for something – and Move was a last minute change. However, Sony, says Move was chosen because it “conveyed” what the controller stood for – moving.

“It’s great – everyone’s so interested in how our company names products,” Sony VP Scott Rohde told IndustryGamers. “It’s like at any other company, everyone dumps in their ideas and you’ve got agencies out there coming up with names.

“At the end of the day, we really felt that Move conveyed what the controller is all about. It’s a word that the smallest kid understands, and it’s a really good name. I’m happy with it.”

Guess that means they didn’t just throw ideas into a hand and reach in and pick one.

Move was revealed as the controllers name at GDC last week, and it’s slated for release in the fall.

There will be 20 first-party games released for it this year and 36 third-parties are on board.

Thanks, VideoGamer.

Ubisoft’s just sent VG247 a statement on the report from this morning that Assassin’s Creed II and Silent Hunter V were withdrawn from Steam by Valve over its DRM issues.

The statement says the withdrawal has “nothing to do” with anything from both games DRM software, but more of a business decision. It also says the move only affects the UK portal.

Full statement below.

“The games listed are available for sale in all other countries on STEAM. The fact it is not available on STEAM UK has nothing to do with the DRM but is linked to a local business discussion between Ubisoft and Steam in UK.”

Already, it’s angered quite a lot of people, including some attacking the DRM servers on aforementioned titles. Valve’s Gabe Newell has said he’s not a big fan of what DRM is doing in games.

Peter Molyneux has tweeted that he is a bit worried over Fable III’s first half-hour.

Apparently, there isn’t any combat in the game for the first bit, and this has him wondering if that is too long.

Here’s the tweet:

Been playing the opening of Fable III. I am slightly worried that there is no combat for the first 30 mins. Is this too long? Thoughts.

The first two Fables gave you time in the beginning to get used to the controls, but since no one knows – except Lionhead, of course – how Fable III will begin, what happens is anyone’s guess. ‘

However, like Eurogamer mentioned, the first-half it will have you trying to thwart the king and take his seat as the ruler of Albion.

Oh, and there will be loads of touching, apparently. That should be interesting, and possibly provide a bunch of randy-fun.

Fable III will land in stores in time for the holiday season.