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The British Gaming Blog has links to articles on the official UK Wii site exploring the title Mario Galaxy . The first explores the game's origins and gives us a peek behind the scenes of the game's voice acting. The second looks at Mario's essence, and the benefits of the 'planetary gameplay'. The last is all about the sound of Mario: "This time, we recorded with an orchestra of about 50 or so members. Of course, they were not very good at first because they were playing music they'd never heard before, and they are also seeing the score for the first time. But as the day went on, their performance improved dramatically, and the process of recording each track in its final form was actually a very fast one. This surprised Miyamoto-san, who was glued to the glass wall looking at them from the other side. He was saying 'So, sound is something that really changes too!'"

The British Gaming Blog notes that the Orange Box (Half-Life 2, Half-Life 2: Episode 1, Half-Life 2: Episode 2, Portal, and Team Fortress 2) will be available for pre-order via Steam starting next week. What's more, ordering the games via Steam will give you access to an advance Beta test of Team Fortress 2. "The Orange Box contains Half Life 2, Episodes 1 and 2, Portal and Team Fortress 2; you'll have to purchase the entire package to receive the Beta. Valve recommends giving the extra codes for Half Life 2 and Episode 1 (if you already own them) to someone who's been missing out. Not explained on the actual pre-purchase page is an added bonus for early adopters, Peggle Extreme; a special edition of Popcap's Peggle featuring new challenges and Orange Box related artwork." Apparently current HL2 fans will miss out on the Beta ... because we've already paid them money.

The British Gaming Blog is reporting that id Software has successfully resolved the minor issue it had with DOSBox, regarding older PC games being sold on Valve's Steam network. "The problem is all fixed up now with the proper licensing text in the game's readme. Developers working hand in hand with smaller application authors is not all that uncommon; SCUMM has worked closely with point and click masters Revolution and LucasArts to improve compatibility with their games, and hopefully this trend will continue so we can experience more old classics in the future."

Nintendo's success has marked a refocus on games for the sake of fun, and nothing exemplifies this trend better than the Lego Star Wars series. Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga will be the first game to offer the functionality gamers have wanted since they first saw a wiimote: motion-controlled lightsaber battles. It's not dueling, but it is a lot of fun. In the same vein, with even more creativity added in, is Sony's imaginative LittleBigPlanet . With Media Molecule finally opening up a bit of the user based content-creation process to journalists, 1up offers one of the first hands-on with the game's core mechanic: "Fusing various pieces together can forge entirely new objects. Place hinges and wheels on a pile of wooden blocks and suddenly you have a makeshift jalopy rolling through the stage. With a tad more work, you can transform that car into a massive (yet ridiculous) rolling wooden dragon. We didn't have quite enough time (or experience) to bust out a run-and-jump rally to put Super Mario Bros. World 8-2 to shame, but we can't wait to get our hands on the open beta due out later this year."

The British Gaming Blog dispels a rumour floating through the internets this week. The site Rumor Reporter is claiming knowledge of a new Monkey Island game in the works at LucasArts. Coincidentally, Steve Purcell (creator of the Sam and Max series) sends some concept art to the Monkey Island fansite The World of Monkey Island. As McBacon, at the BGB says, this is probably just interesting timing. "As much as we'd all love to believe a new Monkey Island is in the works (even after Escape from MI), and as great as the coincidence is, Steve doesn't even work at Lucas Arts anymore, so the dots just don't join up. Don't hold your breath for E3, but enjoy the concept art." Update: 06/13 19:12 GMT by Z : Added the crucial but missing words 'Sam and Max' to the article.

The next issue of Game Informer magazine has been scanned and submitted to the legions of eager GTA fans out there. Right there on the cover is the mook from the GTA IV trailer, and the British Gaming Blog has a synopsis of the information passed around in the scans. "The game will only take place in a single city, so Rockstar has taken out aircraft to give the city a more realistic feel. Motorbikes however, are firmly engraved in the Grand Theft Auto formula, and will be present in IV. With the 2007, present day time scale, the radio station will have a lot in common with GTA 3 or Saints Row; not so much bands and songs you know well, but with modern music conventions that give an air of authenticity. Also like THQ's Saints Row, the game will load when you power up the game, and then never again; even breaks from internal to external locations are gone." Though I'm sure it's less interesting to you than the Game Informer information, GameDaily has comments from Take-Two as the company tries to shake off its recent problems. The money phrase from new chairman Strauss Zelnick: 'GTA is Our James Bond'.

The much requested addition of backwards compatability for Psychonauts has reached the Xbox 360, reports the British Gaming Blog. The list also adds support for titles like Ultimate Spider-Man, Buffy, Shenmue II and ... Aquaman. The list was dropped early, so don't put the discs in quite yet and expect them to work. Still ... yay Psychonauts.

Some interesting news for a few upcoming game titles. Firstly (to no one's surprise), Assassin's Creed is coming to the 360. It will also be available for the PC. Secondly, Valve and Ubisoft have announced that Dark Messiah is coming to Steam when it releases in October. Chris Grant's commentary: "Ubisoft is acknowledging the demand for digitally distributed AAA content and using the largest platform they can find to promote it. We're still waiting on government-distributed protein pills and personal submarines, but the third pillar of our future vision is now realized." Finally, Rockstar appears to have partially bowed to public pressure over their 'Bully' title. In Europe, at least, Bully is now known as Canis Canem Edit, which means 'Dog Eat Dog' in Latin. To which I respond: Semper Ubi Sub Ubi.

The Leipzig Game Convention continues in Germany. Folks looking forward to the Wii should be happy to hear Nintendo has announced some new games. They announced the new titles at their press conference, an event which both Kotaku and 1up were on-hand for. Sony hasn't had a lot to say in the last few days. As promised, there are no playable PS3 games available; just the same, gamers can look forward to 27 playable PS3 titles at the Tokyo Game Show. Microsoft, meanwhile, spent time at the convention talking about Xbox Live, and showing off their new peripherals. 1up up was there for the Microsoft press conference as well.

Via a Joystiq post, the British Gaming Blog has videos of Tetris on the DS. The short movies include the standard mode, and the 'push mode' that will be playable over Nintendo's wifi service. From the Joystiq post: "As for the ingenious Donkey Kong-themed Push mode, it seems ideally suited for Wi-Fi multiplayer battles. Each player is relegated to one of the DS screens, with the opponent being mirrored in the bottom screen (i.e. his blocks move upwards). Each player slots Tetrominoes into a cluster of blocks that's initially right in the middle of the two playing fields. Performing well and racking up combos pushes the block cluster away and into your opponent's screen, lessening his maneuvering space and chances of survival. "