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Anyone down for a Bitmob Warioware D.I.Y. microgame challenge/showcase?

Video Blips:

• If you expected Nintendo's Masahiro Sakurai to whip up a microgame based on Super Smash Bros. or Kirby, you may be a bit disappointed. Nevertheless, slicing up watermelons and tengu masks can still be quite fun in its own way. Probably. [GameTrailers]

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For better or worse, bonus stages are becoming a lost art. They once helped to add a little variety to games, not to mention provide the player with much needed 1UPs and other goodies. But when even the latest Final Fantasy has no bonus games to speak of, you know they're going the way of the dodo.

This video is a fun and loving tribute to those lost, glitzy, and colorful stages of old [via Rinry Game Game]:

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Editor's note: Andrew takes a look at the desire gamers have to, if not play everything, play as many different (good) games as possible. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to start Resident Evil 5. -Demian

Good or bad, as gamers, a constant stream of new titles vie for our attention -- whether due to lack of time, money, or interest in a particular game, most enthusiasts could not hope to consume all of these experiences. However, I believe this desire to try is fairly unique to our industry.

When you compare gaming enthusiasts with fans of other forms of entertainment, I think you'll see what I mean. It's entirely possible to watch every blockbuster movie in a year. In fact, you could probably watch every blockbuster and every critically acclaimed film for a given year and still have plenty of time on your hands for the more important things in life.

Pretty sure you saw this movie.

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Activision should cut their losses, amend their relationship with EA, and release Call of Honor: Duty Medal.

News Blips:

Infinity Ward's bad luck streak continues with the departure of Lead Designer Todd Alderman and Lead Software Engineer Francesco Gigliotti. Both men played a pivotal role in the development of Modern Warfare 2, such as Alderman's critical input into the multiplayer and story elements of the game. The respective Linkedin profiles of both individuals were updated to reflect the changes. With a name like that, Gigliotti could serve as an extra in the inevitable Assassin's Creed 2 film. [Kotaku]

A study by the Electronic Software Association of Canada (ESAC) reveals that the country is the world's third-largest residence for video game companies. Over 14,000 workers are involved within the industry, a number that managed to boost Canada over the United Kingdom, while falling behind the United States and Japan. With the hefty presence of EA and Ubisoft contributing greatly to Canada's appeal as a gaming hub, London (Ontario) Economic Development Corporation President Peter White stresses the government's focus "on digital media as being a core area." I expect all games that come from Canada to be stamped with a maple leaf seal of approval. [GamePolitics]

The latest Xbox 360 system update released today contains the previously reported USB storage support, along with a lesser-known file-transfer feature. Gamers are able to store profiles, game saves, and other data on a suitable storage device after a short compatibility check. A new mass-file transfer option allows multiple batches of data to be moved at once, instead of the previously tedious single-file system. Good news for me -- I was growing vexed with transferring my Rock Band 2 songs one by one. [TheLostGamer]

After a 28-year standing, the world record for the highest Asteroids score fell in the late hours of Monday, April 5. John McAllister, a locksmith living in Seattle, spent nearly 60 hours of gametime to amass a staggering final score of 41,338,740, which tops the previous record of 41,336,440, established by Scott Safran in 1982. Expect to see an official posting of the record on tracking website Twin Galaxies in the near future. Not only does McAllister hold the world-record high score, he must also have the record for sore thumbs. [1UP]

Got any hot news tips? Send 'em over to tips@bitmob.com.

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Editor's note: Chris received some really creative submissions for last month's writing challenge, which he's conveniently collected below. If you want to participate in this month's challenge, check out the prompt here. -Brett

Last month, I took the reins of Michael Rousseau's Bitmob Writing Challenge series with a prompt called “First-Person Writer." The challenge was to write about the act of playing a video game, mixing real life with the virtual world to create an entertaining narrative. 

And you did just that. Some of you immersed yourselves in a video game's world, while others took a more detached approach. I loved seeing the range and creativity the Bitmob community possesses, and I encourage others to explore this approach to games writing in the future.

Here are the entries:

Mass Effect 2
by Suriel Vazquez

Suriel jumps right into Mass Effect 2 with a Shepard who’s as much concerned with nabbing an Achievement as he is fighting the Collectors. The combination of near-total immersion with strategic thinking makes this a great read.

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Another fine month is in the rearview mirror, and that means it's time to take a look at Bitmob's 10 most-read community stories for the month of March. This time around we've got multiple open letters, several authors named Michael, and of course, a few "Top X" lists.

10) An Open Letter to Bad Company 2 Snipers -- Gabriel Shelnutt

9) An Open Letter to Gearbox Software, Re: Borderlands DLC --        Michael Rousseau

8) Gamer Pride: Dos and Don'ts -- Michael Rousseau

7) In Defense of Final Fantasy 13 -- Michael Edwards

6) Let's Review Something Without Playing it -- Chris Charlton

Did you make the top five? Hit the jump to find out!

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Luckily Mass Effect 2's Commander Shepard possesses enough of that roguish charm to make an excellent spy, since the more savvy Garrus keeps working on those infernal calibrations...

Video Blips:

• The vivacious Kasumi Goto joins the crew of the Normandy in this character trailer for upcoming Mass Effect 2 DLC. Walkthrough writers around the world will spend the rest of the day imagining the steps required to bed her. [GameTrailers]

Continue after the break for a disturbing description of Modern Warfare 2's multiplayer, the joys of owning a canine menace in Dead to Rights: Retribution, and a shop owner outlines his stock of items available in 3D Dot Game Heroes.

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Beer pong is a disgusting game played by college students with undecided majors. Now, I don't drink myself -- being as cool as I am -- but I did play the game once. It involved throwing ping-pong balls -- often crusted with dust and human hair -- into cups filled with lukewarm beer, which must then be consumed. The only thing that can make this not suck is Mario [via Kotaku]:

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The stars hold all of your answers. No, this is not an astrology session. It's another puzzle.

Each answer is a five-letter word. Arrange the letters of the answer on the five corners, one at a time, in the order you would get if you were drawing a star. Each clue has a matching number that shows the starting point and first direction of travel.

Note that, in the finished puzzle, numerous letters will be shared between stars.

Here's an example, with the solution to the right:

1) Brother with a green hat

If you get stuck, here is the solution. You may also click the image below for a larger view. Good luck!

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If you thought Aerosmith was the first band to attempt capitalizing on video games and fans that play them, think again. Way back in 1982, Journey had the idea to tie their album, Journey Escape, with an Atari 2600 release of the same name. Here's the video evidence [via The Retroist]:

I apologize for the quality of the commercial -- a better recording apparently does not exist. If the gameplay is what interests you the most, I've included a five minute sample after the cut. 

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Yesterday, WonderCon 2010 (San Francisco's "Comic-Con Lite") wrapped up, and approximately 5,000 nerds went home more broke than when they showed up.

My pictures from the expo aren't nearly as nice as the ones Demian took (he has a real camera, while I was using my iPhone). And I'm not nearly as sharp a caption writer as he is. Regardless...here are some photos for you, of WonderCon toys, Pikachu boys, and more wonderfully geeky stuff.

I didn't escape unscathed either. I didn't buy much in terms of gaming gear, but I did fill up some of my other dork meters at the show. I included a picture of my own haul at the end of this picture gallery.

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In this episode, former Crispy Gamer editor Kyle Orland and ex-Blizzard tastemaker/game entrepreneur Keith Lee join Bitmob co-founders Demian Linn and Dan Hsu.

The eclectic group discusses augmented reality games, Xbox Live achievements, Blizzard’s formula for constant success, the future prospects of rhythm games, and more.

Have a community topic that you want to hear us discuss? E-mail the crew at letters@bitmob.com, subject: Mobcast.

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