News Blips:

• Kojima Productions prescribe fanboys three day case of blue balls. The folks over at 1UP apparently received a cryptic e-mail from the Metal Gear Solid makers teasing the reveal of their new game. Considering the subject line of the mysterious message reads "T-3 Days," along with a link to a not-yet-working site, one would assume we'll know in a few days. But that's only if you trust this "one." We don't -- that guy is always wrong. [1UP]

• 4 Million people eat up Cooking Mama, feel bloated. Publisher Majesco are boasting about all the delicious dough they've made off of the Cooking Mama series. Between five games, the series has sold over 4 million copies. Just think, if only PETA bought a copy, they could have made that number 4 million and one. Party poopers. [GameSpot]

• EA hates boards, but likes games; announces Hasbro Family Game Night 2 for the Wii. Just like the last game, Hasbro Family Game Night 2 is a compilation of classic Hasbro board games, perfect for those who are too lazy to grab their own boxed copies out of the closet. Our favorite inclusion is definitely Operation. Though we're curious if Hasbro ever listened to Ned's suggestions for Cavity Sam's new ailments. [Kotaku]

• Atari feels fat; decides against showing off its goods at E3. For some reason the fledgling publisher isn't presenting any games at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) this year. Well, there goes our chances of snapping a sexy shot of Atari bigwig Phil Harrison. [Kotaku]

Click the jump for some video blips, including code-free footage of the new WiiWare Contra game, a White Knight Chronicles trailer, $2,500 Xbox shoes, and...more.

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Denise Kaigler showed up to our interview barefoot and...well, otherwise, professionally dressed from head to right above the ankles. And it's not just her lack of footwear that gave Nintendo of America's Vice President, Corporate Affairs her laid-back vibe: She small talked, she smiled and chuckled a lot, and she made us feel at ease.

She's almost like the Wii itself: something more casual for Nintendo's new place in this industry. But push her too hard, and her tough, former-reporter self will come out and try to put you back in your place. OK, so she wouldn't bite when asked if the iPhone is a threat to the DS platform, but we did get a chance to discuss plenty more. Where are the hardcore games? Why don't third-party title sell? And what the hell is Rock 'N' Roll Climber?

A short video of our interview is here, but read on for all the extra stuff that was left out.

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This was supposed to be a weekly column wrapping up some of our favorite posts that didn't end up on the front page. That's not going to work out, but for a best-case scenario reason -- we've already got too much good stuff. If we wait a whole week we'll be up to our surgically modified elf ears in interesting and creative articles by you guys (and the occasional gal), so we're digging out now.

In case you weren't sitting around frantically pressing F5 on the Mobfeed recently (Takahashi Meijin style), you may have missed...

Game Reviews from a 13-Year-Old 
I love this post from Dan Kercher about the notebook he recently found, which was filled with game-related ranting and raving from his 13-year-old self. "Mario talks like a 5-year-old girl, but it's still fun to jump around and stuff." Indeed. I hope he's got more where that came from, as long as it's not Luigi/Peach fanfic. Actually, I take it back, I would still read that. (Image courtesy of tolemach.)

Exclusive: Zork HD
The prolific Brett Bates submitted what may be Bitmob's first humor article, although we're pretty sure not everyone actually realized it was a joke. Those people need to play Zork more (or at least once).

Within Canon: Creating a Believable Fangame
James Murff is a bigtime Ecco the Dolphin fan. No, I mean really big. Like thinking about making a prequel big.

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He was no slouch in our company soccer games, either, but on the field he went by the substantially less awesome name Scott Augustyn.

The difference here, of course, is that the name Scott came from his parents; the name Ace came from his brain.

Augustyn was a videogame-strategy editor for the late EGM2, sister magazine to the more recently late Electronic Gaming Monthly, my ol' gig. He, like me, is part of the first generation that has grown up with a privilege previously reserved for amnesiacs, fugitives, and folks in witness-protection programs: We can rename ourselves. And while Augustyn could--and did--write books about how to whiz through role-playing games and unleash Killer Instinct combos that would last 15 minutes, I was more interested in gleaning a different kind of gaming knowledge when I first saw him input a character name 13 years ago.

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We know some language-loving fanboys will be sad about the Final Fantasy XIII news below, but it's nothing to cry about. In fact, it's something to laugh about.

News Blips:

• 360 version of Final Fantasy XIII too stupid to learn Japanese. Or, we should say, not intellectually capable enough, as Square Enix has confirmed that it's not possible to include multiple languages of its upcoming role-playing game because of the space limitations of the 360's DVD disc. PS3 users, however, will get to listen to characters yap it up in both languages due to the bloated belly of Blu-ray. Personally, we're waiting for the PS4 version so we can cast Knights of the Round in Klingon. [Kotaku]

• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 cover story makes trees cry. The new issue of Game Informer has a big feature on the new Call of Duty game for those who still enjoy reading words on paper. Craziest piece of info? You shoot things. Mind = blown! [Joystiq]

• Jerry Bruckheimer knows nothing about games, so hires people who do. The man responsible for Pirates of Caribbean hired former Microsoft and Ubisoft executives to help him create games for the production company he announced way back in 2007. Jake Gyllenhaal has also been hired to exclusively walk around the office with his shirt off for some odd reason. [Joystiq]

• Tough decision: Buy a real guitar or buy a fake one for the same amount of money. Peripheral-maker Logitech revealed a $200 Rock Band/Guitar Hero guitar for those who want to rock out like an idiot in style. To anyone who buys this, South Park has a message for you. [Kotaku]

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Editor's Note: A really fascinating read about how a former bully channeled his energies into videogaming instead of his victims' faces. Take that, Jack Thompson. -Shoe

There is something extremely satisfying about a well-thrown punch. The feeling of contact between your fist and bone. The sharp snap it makes. The tinge of pain in your forearm from the shock of the impact.

I'm not talking about just hitting something. I'm describing what happens when you use everything your body has, directed through your fist, in an attempt to destroy what's on the other end. It's addictive and dangerous. Most people never really experience that. But those who do know exactly what I mean.

When I was younger, I was very familiar with that feeling. Growing up in the projects meant that when someone pushes you, you push back harder. It's a simple rule that worked amazingly well. I didn't get pushed that often, and when I did, I made sure it didn't happen again.

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Seems like casual games are getting hardcore respect nowadays. 'Bout time people realized how much fun it is to bake cakes, cook food, and, uh, shoot balls at rectangles.

News Blips:

• Blizzard equips former PopCap vice president for +50 casual damage. The makers of World of Warcraft hired casual bigwig Greg Canessa to, well, we're not sure yet, actually. But it will probably involve getting your mom to play WoW. Oh, wait -- your mom already plays it. Haha -- our bad! [Kotaku]

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During my time with EGM, it was my job to destroy but sometimes love terrible games. And I'm happy to say that after several years and five PlayStation suicides...Mission Accomplished. They have stopped making bad games.

This won me the Congressional Nintendo Seal of Official Nintendo Sealing, and impressed the founders of Bitmob so much that they put me in charge of something even more important: fixing the lives of its readers and contributors.

Do you have a problem you can't solve? Do you have a question you can't answer? Send it to letters@bitmob.com with the subject "Seanbaby."

You might ask, "Mr. Baby, how will your experience with Jenga on the Nintendo Wii help me?" Stop making your problems about me. My Nintendo Wii and I have looked into the eyes of the Devil. There is bacteria living in a fat person's septic tank that wouldn't touch some of the games I've played. So unless you want to drag your thumbs through hell like I have, I'm the only chance you've got....

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Lot of sequel talk this morning. One officially announced, the other not. To keep with the theme, we'll be doing a sequel to this post later today. It'll be like Teen Wolf Too. Without the stupid punctuation.

News Blips:

• Eidos steals number 4, attaches it to Thief. The publisher (who recently got sntached up by Japanese role-playing game giant Square Enix) officially announced Thief 4. Good news for gamers, bad news for number 5. [Shacknews]

• EA developer unofficially announces Dead Space 2; PR feel neglected. A technical director over at EA foolishly listed Dead Space 2 on his LinkedIn account not knowing job-searching nerds would apply his mistake to the web. Well, he is a "technical" director -- what did you expect? [Eurogamer]

• Weekly Nintendo download titles feel naked without box. Three choices this week: Real Soccer 2009 (as opposed to "fake" soccer?) for DSiWare, Family Pirate Party for WiiWare, and Galaxy Force II for the Virtual Console. Do us a favor, give these guys some clothes -- it's embarrassing. [Joystiq]

• Brutal Legend concept art shows us different concept of main character. It appears main character Eddie used to look like Motorhead's lead singer Lemmy. Behind the scenes stuff is always cool, just ask fellow Bitmobber Brett Bates. [1UP]

Click the jump for some video blips, including some Duke Nukem Forever footage, a funny Punch-Out!! ad, a Game & Watch TV, and...more.

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Ok ya’ll- will post more next week but you know, at least for now, I’ve been thinking more and more about turning this blog into more of a ‘behind the scenes’/’making of’ style blog and doing less personal rants and stuff. So I may start posting a bit less (until we have stuff to reveal about our game…then I’ll post like a madman!) but the stuff I do post will be more related to our game and our company, and less about me personally. But I will also start Twittering more about the day to day workings on my end of making our game. Once we get our company website rolling (soon, I hope) ideally we can wrangle in a coder, artist, producer,etc to do some blogging and twittering on the official site. It would be great to give ya'll a good idea of what those crazy talented folks do all day.

Of course, the Internet being what it is, some intrepid but misguided soul immediately defogged the images, and they ended up on the major gaming blogs. Stung by how his openness was treated, Jaffe has since removed the post and threatened to stop blogging altogether. He recanted on that, but I do think he's now going to think twice about his "behind the scenes" idea. And that's a shame, because the videogame industry could definitely benefit from pulling back the curtain a little bit and revealing the creative process.

Think about the film industry: How many movies made in the last 30 years had separate crews documenting the filmmaking process? Sometimes, these "behind the scenes" documentaries even outshine the movies they're documenting (see Lost in La Mancha). Even when they don't, the documentaries provide an essential look at how a film gets made, useful for future film scholars. And they're often entertaining to boot.

If film can be so open, why is the videogame industry so buttoned up? What do we have to hide? It's a sad fact that we know more about how The Hottie and the Nottie got made than Ico. One could argue that a filmed documentary makes sense for a filmed movie, and not as much sense for, say, a brainstorming session at Insomniac. But there are a myriad of different ways to document the game-making process: concept art, early renders, email exchanges, design documents, and so on. One might also say that we need to protect intellectual properties. But how important is that after a game is on store shelves?

Some producers and developers are opening up, and I applaud them for that. Occasionally the supplementary material for the "special edition" version of a game contains insightful information. 2K Boston released to the Web an excellent book of concept art for BioShock. Valve even offered a "commentary" playthrough for the Orange Box. More significantly, indie developer Introversion has revealed a wealth of "behind the scenes" documents for their upcoming Xbox Live Arcade title, Darwinia+.

Unfortunately, most "extra" content found in games is nothing more than marketing material. Which is what makes the controversy around David Jaffe's post so sad. Whether he likes it or not, Jaffe has the clout in the industry to cause a sea change, and I feel that his "behind the scenes" blog would be just that. David, if you're reading: I hope that you do pull back the curtain on your creative process. Not only because I'm curious, but also so that future generations can understand how your latest classic came to be.

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Letterrrrrr Num-berrrr 1:

It's good to see the core EGM guys back in the saddle. I hated to see you guys go. Enough of that...now it's time to make you do your jobs!

Is there ANY word at all about L.A. Noire? Last I'd heard they were going to make it for both the 360 and the PS3. Then...zilch. Are there any new developments at all with this one or has it been scrapped?

-Derrol F.

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Looking for a trite top ten list? Too bad; this is another article on videogame preservation. (Read my first post on why game preservation matters here.) But don't worry, fanboys, there will still plenty for you to argue about in the comments, because we're going to take a look at the creation of the Digital Game Canon.

Way back at the Game Developers Conference of 2007, the Game Preservation special interest group of the IGDA convened a panel -- consisting of Henry Lowood (Stanford University), Steve Meretzky (ex-Infocom), Warren Spector (Deus Ex, Thief), Christopher Grant (Joystiq), and Matteo Bittanti -- to discuss their choices for a digital game canon that would provide a starting point for preservation work. (Read more about the Digital Game Canon here, and listen to audio and view slides from the panel here.) Each panelist chose two games, breaking down as follows:

* Henry Lowood (Spacewar!, Warcraft I/II/III)

* Steve Meretzky (Zork I, Civilization I/II)

* Christopher Grant (Super Mario Brothers 3, Doom)

* Matteo Bittanti (SimCity, Sensible World of Soccer)

* Warren Spector (Star Raiders, Tetris)

The panelists picked their games on a variety of grounds. Perhaps the gameplay was pitch-perfect, or the game provided a technological breakthrough. Maybe the title was emblematic of a genre or just fun to play. Throughout, one common thread emerged: Each panelist felt a personal connection to their games. For these reasons and others, they felt their choices represented a significant addition both to gaming and to the culture at large.

Archivists are now working to preserve some of these games and the creative processes that formed them. It's a tricky task -- what exactly should be included in preserving a game is still up for debate -- but lucky for most of us, we can simply shout from the sidelines.

So my question for you is: What two games would you add to the Digital Game Canon and why?

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Editor's Note: I have to admit I'm not a huge fan of the JRPG genre myself, but Sarah's point about the Catch-22 developers face, especially when creating new IPs, is interesting. - DemianÂ

Now is not a good time to be a developer of Japanese role-playing games. JRPGs face an increasingly bewildering double standard: If a game sticks too closely to the norms established by series like Final Fantasy, it's labeled as derivative and uninspired. However, if a game ventures outside those boundaries, then it's criticized for straying too far from what games like Final Fantasy have conditioned us to expect from "good" RPGs. So, even if you're a reasonably established Japanese developer trying to create an original IP in the current console generation, you just can't win. Case in point: Infinite Undiscovery.

My experience playing this game strongly reinforced the fact that game criticism, in its current incarnation, should largely be ignored. Or taken with a grain of salt, at least. A quick search of Metacritic or Gamerankings reveals that Infinite Undiscovery's average review score is 68%. While the law of averages dictates that there are some positive reviews, the majority fell into the abyss of mediocrity. While I don't trust individual scores too much, seeing a trend can be more telling. Since so many reviews labeled it as formulaic and unoriginal, I resigned myself to the idea that there must be at least some grain of truth to their criticisms. Being a fan of developer Tri-Ace's earlier works, such as Valkyrie Profile, I wanted to give Infinite Undiscovery a shot. It was one of the reasons I wanted a 360, actually. I managed to get a brand new copy from Amazon Marketplace for $20, figuring that was a fair price to pay for a game that the majority had dubbed mediocre. Turns out that the majority can be totally, totally wrong.

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I can't decide if I love or hate Twitter, or if I love to hate it. But I definitely hate people who can't stop talking about it. Which is why Rick Sanchez is my most-hated person in the world right now. That's also why I want to concentrate all Twitter references of my own to this semi-regular Game Twits series.

(Note: I'm 'borrowing' this whole concept from Valleywag. I don't know of any other site that does this for game industry people though, so it's open season as far as I'm concerned.)

EA's Jeff Green links to an IGN article and subconsciously forgets how to spell. Coincidence?

 Q Games boss Dylan Cuthbert and his team apparently has five non-PixelJunk projects in the works!

Area 5's Jason Bertrand preps for a delicious heart attack.

Booyah, the iPhone games developer started by a bunch of ex-Blizzard folks, moves in on Facebook's territory.

Insomniac reminds the world why it was ranked among California's best places to work for like the last ten years or something. 

Game Informer's Andy MacNamara had his year defined twice in one magical day. That he can't tell you about. But he can tell you that he can't tell you.

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Howdy, folks! Below you'll find the first episode of my new weekly series. Hope you enjoy it. And mad props to Jason Bertrand and the Area 5 (creators of the CO-OP show) folks for helping to make this possible. You guys kinda rock. A lot.

Aight -- hope y'all enjoy it.

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Hey, so it turns out game developers are...like, normal people. They like to drink and party and...well, that's where most of the similarities end, but throughout the week of the 2009 Game Developers Conference, I got to witness them in shaggy-hair-down mode, away from the hypnotic glow of their work computer monitors.

And just why was I allowed to mingle freely with these creatures, who are normally well-protected by their overprotective public-relations handlers? It seems GDC -- although still filled with mind-numbing tech-speak seminars -- is becoming more and more consumer focused, probably picking up the fun slack that previous Electronic Entertainment Expos (E3) have left behind. Each year, we see more and more game announcements, game demos, and game parties at this show...ironically, all stuff geared more toward consumers and gamers than your typical developer.

Cool by me -- I like fun. And to show you how mind-numbing-tech-speak-free this GDC was for me, here is my behind-the-scenes diary of the week, which was unfortunately cut short due to last-minute surgery. Sure, this story's a bit late, but, hey, better late than...well, never mind that. How about if I just bribe you (free games!) into reading this post? (Read on for details....)

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Editor's Note: I was a fan of the show when it was on the air, so I've secretly been looking forward to this game. Thomas' live-diary-style coverage of the Canadian beta does a nice job of explaining how the game works while getting his opinions and concerns across. -Greg

I'm playing 1 vs 100 right now. Well...that is to say, I'm watching 1 vs 100 right now.

Let me start again.

The Canadian beta of Microsoft's new Xbox Live "Primetime" program, 1 vs. 100, is presently ongoing, and I am...participating, after a fashion.

What is 1 vs 100, and why should you care? Read on to find out.

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Well, this is odd -- someone besides BioShock 2 developer 2K Marin is working on the multiplayer for the game. Odd, but good -- more time for 2K Marin to keep the single-player from sinking. Because, honestly, does BioShock 2 really need multiplayer? Would you kindly agree with us? Thanks!

News Blips:

• Developer Digital Extremes fishes up BioShock 2 multiplayer duties. The developer of Dark Sector is bringing gamers back to Rapture so they can kill each other repeatedly. Sounds fun. Except for the part where we'll be muting our headset after hearing, "Who's your big daddy?" for the umpteenth time. [Eurogamer]

• Obvious news blip of the day: Nintendo-published games sell well. The unstoppable company recently released all their million-unit sells figures for fanboys to awe at. And third-party publishers to cry at. And us to link to. Top of the list: Wii Sports with 45.7 million sold. Now if only Nintendo made us pay for it. Think of how much money they'd have right now. Actually, let's not -- we're broke. [GameSpot]

• Duke Nukem Forver will forever be remembered by leaked screenshots and concept art. Or at least until next week when it will be forever forgotten. But until that time comes, take a peek at what the game would have looked like if it actually came out. [Shacknews]

• Star Wars game has troopers in it, really. Lots of them, actually. And you can play as them, too. Amazing. BioWare, makers of the upcoming massively multiplayer online role-playing game Star Wars: The Old Republic, released some details about the class today. Will these troopers ever find the droids they're looking for? It's the question we ask ourselves everyday. [Kotaku]

Hit the jump for some video blips, including a trailer that may or may not be Beyond Good & Evil 2, Prototype's bloody opening cinematic, what Star Trek thinks about the future of videogames, and...more.

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