Let's make a HUGE sad face... :(

Two EA games I was REALLY looking forward too have been delayed, probably, until next year.

According to EA's Third Quarter Fiscal 2008 Results (READ THE SAD NEWS HERE):

The Company expects Battlefield: Bad Company(TM) and Mercenaries 2: World in Flames(TM) to ship in fiscal 2009.

Therapy to start immediately!

On the UK site, The Sunday Post, the manager of ELSPA's (the Entertainment & Leisure Software Publishers Association) Intellectual Property Crime Unit , John Hiller, is quoted saying that 90% of U.S Nintendo DS gamers download their games illegally.

Are you serious, John? I don't even think 9% of U.S. DS owners would know how to do that. I don't think 90% of U.S. DS owners are over the age of 8.... but I don't have those facts.

If it wasn't for an evil friend of mine, I wouldn't even know how to do that (oh, and I NEVER have).

Read this mis-information here

'Rez HD,' the brilliant Dreamcast/PS2 shooting-music game, is finally out for the Xbox 360... download it on the Xbox Live Arcade menu.

The game is now in glorious HD. Even better, it includes the original Dreamcast "Trance Vibrations" scheme with groovy buzzing from up to 4 controllers! This means you can place controller(s) on or near various parts of your "person" and they will vibrate according to what is occurring in the game... but they all don't vibrate in the same pattern. I'm told it's very weird. Much better than having to buy the Dreamcast-only "Trance Vibrator."

I'm SO trying this tonight!

The official 'Rez HD' site

According to 1up.com and Jeff Bell, Microsoft’s head of marketing, Blu-Ray might be coming to the 360.

Jeff says:

"We've been talking to Blu-ray all along because we have the best piece of software in the business, called HDi. It is the backbone that powers interactivity in HD-DVD and we have that available to potentially partner with others."

That doesn't sound like a "no." I'm sure Microsoft is panicking at the comment and there will probably be a retraction soon.

Read it here on 1up.com

SCEE president and CEO says the PlayStation 3 will overtake the Xbox 360 in Europe by the Summer.

I don't know about you, but after feeling kind of "blah" by the Fall releases and cancelations, I'm starting to really love my PS3 again. New content for 'MotorStorm,' some decent downloadables, Blu-Ray movies and 'Ratchet and Clank' have lured me back.

Will the same love occur with gamers in the U.S.? Time will tell.

Read about it here

Desktop Tower Defense is elegant, simple and incredibly addictive.

Read my review here, and go play the game for free here.

Microsoft just announced its second quarter financial results, and there are lots of interesting tidbits to comb over in the report from what's still probably the most influential technology company in the world.

But let's focus on the Xbox stuff.

For example:

Exiting the calendar year, the life to date sales of Xbox 360 consoles reached 17.7 million units, representing a 70% increase from the prior year.

As near as I can figure, the original Xbox sold about 24 million units over a four-year lifespan. Since that 17.7 million Xbox 360 sales figure is essentially over two years (end of 2005 to the end of 2007), you double that number and get 35 million or so over a four-year period.

So the 360 is definitely selling better than the original Xbox, and Microsoft has to be happy about that (even if the Wii is eating the 360's lunch).

Also, Microsoft reports that its Entertainment and Devices division (which is mostly the 360, but also includes the Zune and other assorted misfit gadgets) had sales of nearly $3.1 billion in the second quarter, up from $2.97 billion a year ago.

But the unit also reported operating income of $357 million, compared to a $302 million loss in the same quarter last year.

What happened in the second quarter (actually, the last three calendar months of 2007) to boost revenue and income? Halo 3, of course.

In fact, the quarter after a Halo release has generally been the only time the Xbox division could count on a profit since the original box's release in 2001.

Microsoft obviously wants to see more consistency out of the Entertainment and Devices division. But the company can afford to shovel money into the segment for as long as it wishes.

After all, Microsoft's overall quarterly profit was $4.71 billion.

That pays for a lot of RRoD repairs.

I just received an email from Rockstar, looks like 'Grand Theft Auto' IV is set to release on April 29, 2008.

I had originally heard, March, so I guess this is the definitive date.

Pre-Order now... I don't want to hear and whining about not getting your copy!

My game column this week looked at the fact that while the PS3 is still struggling in the U.S. in the sales race with the Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii, there are reasons to think Sony's system should start doing well soon.

Incidentally, a reader hopped on to the blog to comment about the column before I could post this, so you can read his intelligent counterpoints here about how the PS3 is selling pretty well outside the U.S.

If you were bummed by the Xbox Live outages over the holidays, get ready to stop the bummin'.

This appeared today on xbox.com:

We’re pleased to announce that from 2:00 a.m. PST Wednesday, January 23, 2008 through 11:59 p.m. PST, Sunday, January 27, 2008 you can download the full version of the recent Xbox LIVE Arcade game, Undertow free of charge.

Hooray, right? NO! I already purchased 'Undertow!'

I called into the Xbox support line... got connected to another country... and after an hour of complaining, and confusion, got my 800 points refunded.

Hooray for me!

I never got my 500 points for "Live is Five," though.

Read the support document

It's frustrating to hear people still discount video games as toys.

It's a huge industry... but, you already know that, right?

In 2007, the U.S. gaming industry saw sales increase to $17.9 billion, up from $12.53 billion in '06.

With the fall-out from the current Hollywood writers' strike, games are poised to have a break-out year in 2008.

Read Kotaku's story

Kotaku posted this clip today and I nearly choked to death from laughter.

I thought this game was a joke... a clever machinima movie.

Then, I found out it's an actual game, called 'Zoo Race,' made by actual good-guy developers whose purpose is to make fun games free of violence and nastiness. The game's inventiveness should become legendary.

From what I can tell, you play a human that turns into an animal and challenges other morphed humans to a race. The race begins normal enough... the animals race though a dirt course then strangely jump into a lake... they swim into what looks like a a theme park log ride... eventually the animals leave the water and climb ladders into waiting cannons (!!!??)... the animals are launched from the cannons and into a building with a skull capped doorway... the animals descend through an amusement park type haunted house ride complete with fire, balloons, a playground merry-go-round and signs warning of dangerous hydrogen... ultimately, everyone ends up in a subterranean disco. I'm serious, it's a disco. And the animals dance with each other.

Then, the animals make their way out of this weird underworld by hopping on board a freight train which busts through some rocks and takes the racers to a launch pad with multiple intercontinental ballistic missiles... each animal hops on their designated rocket and flies to the finish line.

I'm mad that I don't have an imagination like this. Watch the video. You can't even begin to comprehend this:

There is a site for the game... visit it here.

I told you all about my 2nd incident with the Red Ring of Death about a month ago. I have to give Microsoft credit for being faster than I expected them to be, because I received the replacement machine before Xmas (a little over 1.5 weeks turnaround time). Just two weeks after receiving the refurbished machine, can you guess what happened? Yup..RROD!!!

I screamed at the customer rep and emphasized that this was the 3rd time I was going through this. He mentioned that he doesn’t believe it will happen to me again and asked that I return the power supply along with the console this time around. I'm expecting my replacement machine to come in sometime next week. *fingers crossed for a brand new console with HDMI*

What pushed me over the edge to whine about this again is that I just got a call from my little brother. His Xbox 360 just died.

I posted this earlier, but it mysteriously vanished.

Major Nelson, the official Microsoft Xbox blogger, was updating the gamer public on recent Xbox Live outages via his blog and podcasts.

Well, the Major is also suffering from an outage of sorts... an outage of information.

It seems that a lawsuit over the Xbox Live problem has prompted Mr. Nelson to remain silent with any future updates.

Weird.

Read about it here.

...because Microsoft won't replace it if you scratch the numbers off!

Rumor or truth? The sad story here.

I can't believe IGN.com is 10 years old. It's still one of my favorite gaming/dork/geek sites out there; and I think I'm still paying for a subscription. I think.

Over the last decade, more than any other gaming site, IGN has been a huge influence on what I'm hyped about, what I'm "tired of" and how I spend my gaming dollars. And, while I don't always agree with the editors' points of view, I find the entire site ultimately entertaining and worthy my subscription moolah.

Oh yeah, it's also the most over-designed site in the history of the internet(s). But that's one of the reasons why I still love it.

Visit it now, won't you? CLICK

My column today is on the latest instance of game publishers and developers trying to lean on the magazines and Web sites that cover the industry.

This time, the editor of Electronic Gaming Monthly is calling out Midway, Ubisoft and Sony for blackballing the magazine for too-tough previews and reviews.

Sigh.

I actually doubt that this misbehavior is any worse than it was in years past. In fact, I'm hopeful that all the controversy now is because the gaming media is starting to stand up for its editorial integrity, rather than just rolling over for the companies they're supposed to cover.

Kudos to EGM.

I've nearly died from the shin-splinting pain that the 'Rock Band' drum set has caused my legs. I even got a real drum throne to help with this... it helps, but not completely. I've been sore for days after a few hours of playing.

Wired magazine has some fantastic hints, directly from developer Harmonix, on how to alleviate the pain and ultimately make you a better 'Rock Band' drummer.

Thank you Wired!

Check out the hints here!

Having a lock on gaming retail CAN be profitable!

GameStop saw a 20% jump in holiday same-store sales.

Read all about it here.

The tall one is aPS3 exclusive; the short one, only on the 360. Watch this:

'LittleBigPlanet,' when first announced, seemed like it would be a fun little title amongst the PS3's 2008 offerings.

With all the attention 'LBP' has had in the last six months and at CES, it seems like this game is going to be the industry's 800-pound gorilla of the year.

Watch this amazing example of the 'LittleBigPlanet' level-creator:

Kotaku is re-rumoring a claim that Xbox Live's recent hic-ups have been erasing gamers' achievement points.

This had better not wipe out my 1000-point 'Avatar' haul!

Enjoy the rumor here.

At this year's CES Sony demoed the PlayStation 3's ability to transfer Blu-Ray movies to PSP (storing them on a memory stick).

PC World doesn't mention if this is more than a tech-demo showing the possibility of portable movies, but I'm impressed that it's at least an official application from Sony.

Read about it here

First Warner Brothers jumps ship and goes all Blu-Ray.

Then we learn that Paramount has an opt-out with their HD-DVD commitment (based on what Warner Bros. does)... HERE.

Now, PC World claims there will be no Xbox 360 with a built-in player (HERE).

Why do I have a feeling that PS3's are going to get progressively harder to find in the next few weeks?

So for my column this past weekend, I wrote about when we're likely to see the next Xbox (presumably dubbed the Xbox 720) hit store shelves.

My guess? Possibly at the end of 2009, but more likely 2010. Well, lo and behold, EGM reports that Microsoft is already working on a new game for the next Xbox.

The fact that Microsoft is already thinking about software makes me think that the basic hardware design of the next Xbox is already pretty well mapped out, even if I doubt any working prototypes exist yet.

Like I said, 2010 seems the most likely release date, but given the report from EGM, I'm not willing to rule out 2009, either.

• Recent Xbox Live downtimes were NOT due to malicious attacks and Microsoft is giving Live users a free Arcade game (here and here)
• The Nintendo DS will not be able to download FULL games from the Wii. Instead gamers will only be able to download demos from the Wii to the DS. Does that make sense? (here)
• Hope you got a PS3 for Christmas (or holidays)... Warner Bros. goes exclusively Blu-Ray (here)

Most news sites have been all over this, but it was just so weird, I thought I should mention it. 'WolfQuest' is available now as a free download, HERE. It's an RPG-like, pseudo-educational, wolf simulator.

Here's what the site says:

Learn about wolf ecology by living the life of a wild wolf in Yellowstone National Park. Play alone or with friends in on-line multiplayer missions, explore the wilderness, hunt elk, and encounter stranger wolves in your quest to find a mate. Ultimately, your success will depend on forming a family pack, raising pups, and ensuring the survival of your pack.

The WolfQuest experience goes beyond the game with an active online community where you can discuss the game with other players, chat with wolf biologists, and share artwork and stories about wolves.

I can't wait for the mods... I want a 'WerewolfQuest!' PRONTO!