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Joystiq and the site ComputerandVideoGames are reporting on the first real action in the next-gen war. Sony is apparently readying a strong online service that will meet or exceed the features of Xbox Live. With no firm PS3 launch date yet released, the 360 still has the advantage, but if Sony is rolling out an online matching and media service with their (reportedly) more powerful console things could look bad for Microsoft's new system. From the article: "This story, together with the recent survey Sony conducted, should remove any doubts about Sony's online ambitions. Is it possible that Sony could create a network the size and scale of Xbox Live in such a short time. It has cost Microsoft, the world's largest software company, billions and taken years just to lay the framework for the current Live service. Sony is know for their hyperbolic marketing: the PS2's Emotion Engine, the PSP as iPod-killer; it seems unlikely they could take the crown from Microsoft on their first try, but any attempt is a huge relief. It was beginning to look like Sony didn't think the Live service was a valuable addition to console gaming, or a serious competitor to their hegemony. "

Via Joystiq, an article on Mercury News discussing the possible benefits to disabled gamers via use of Nintendo's unique Revolution control scheme. From the article: "Like many people with spinal-cord injuries that affect all four limbs, Taft retains some use of his arms and hands. But it's not enough for effectively operating the typical two-hand game device. He's confident his relatively strong right hand will be able to manipulate the new controller, which is part of the Revolution game system that's still under development by Nintendo."

Via Kotaku, a Wall Street Journal article looking at ways the Massively Multiplayer genre are opening up to new players. Besides new game genres, the article discusses changes in revenue collection schemes. From the article: "The industry's traditional business model is to charge about $50 for the game software and a monthly subscription fee of about $15 for online play. That model has proved risky: When a game is highly popular, the monthly fees yield steady revenue streams for many years. Some of the industry's earliest hits, such as EverQuest, released in 1999, still have many users. But monthly fees have been "a significant barrier" to growing the market, said John Smedley, president of Sony Online Entertainment, based in San Diego."

eldavojohn wrote to mention that, via Joystiq, he read an article over at BusinessWeek that indicates Microsoft may be working on a portable media device. The article states that, if they are, they're not just going after the iPod. The plan would include a way to leverage a powerful part of the Microsoft empire: games. From the article: "Microsoft would probably use the Xbox brand to market the gadget. 'I think the brand is an opportunity,' Moore says. True, perhaps, but also risky. If the new device comes with the Xbox brand, most consumers will view it as a game player, like Sony's PlayStation Portable. That might limit its appeal, since the portable gaming market is much smaller than the one for digital media." A funny comment, considering the success of the DS.

Conradq writes "Via Joystiq: 'Nintendo President Satoru Iwata today announced Nintendo DS Lite, a slimmer version of the best-selling Nintendo DS. Also featuring brighter screens, Nintendo DS Lite will launch in Japan on the 2nd of March. Nintendo DS Lite will be less than two-thirds the size of the original Nintendo DS and more than 20 percent lighter. Nintendo will announce more information about the availability of Nintendo DS Lite in North America and other territories in the future.'" Additional: by Z : Commentary available via Gamasutra, Next Generation, and The Game Chair. A good move, right on the heels of the news that Nintendo's profits more than doubled in Q3 as a result of the DS's sales success, and that they've hit 3 million online connections via their online component. Also, for the record, they snowed us earlier this month.

Conradq writes "Via Joystiq: 'Nintendo President Satoru Iwata today announced Nintendo DS Lite, a slimmer version of the best-selling Nintendo DS. Also featuring brighter screens, Nintendo DS Lite will launch in Japan on the 2nd of March. Nintendo DS Lite will be less than two-thirds the size of the original Nintendo DS and more than 20 percent lighter. Nintendo will announce more information about the availability of Nintendo DS Lite in North America and other territories in the future.'" Additional: by Z : Commentary available via Gamasutra, Next Generation, and The Game Chair. A good move, right on the heels of the news that Nintendo's profits more than doubled in Q3 as a result of the DS's sales success, and that they've hit 3 million online connections via their online component. Also, for the record, they snowed us earlier this month.

With many of the high profile 'launch window' titles still coming, the Xbox Live Arcade is one of the most entertaining elements to the Xbox 360. Joystiq posts about a recent Major Nelson podcast in which he interviews the general manager of the Xbox Live Arcade. Big-name publishers are jumping on board, and they plan numerous additions to the service in the coming months. From the post: "Just one important caveat: the Xbox Live Arcade party lasts only so long as Microsoft plays the gatekeeper role well. If the company softens its standards and starts to include mediocre titles for download, gamer trust and interest in the service will decline rapidly. So far, they're on the right path. Geometry Wars--that little $5.00 Xbox Live Arcade title that has surprised and delighted the majority of those who have given it a shot--still reigns as the top Xbox 360 title in our book."

Press the Buttons has the news that, thankfully, this year's E3 will attempt to return to the 'industry only' event it was always intended to be. From the post: "The first day of the show is only for authorized media (meaning no more paid-by-the-hour GameStop clerks roaming the floor just for fun and taking up a journalist's valuable time in line for the next big thing) and, as Portico points out, there's now a more dignified dress code in place for the 'booth babes'." I'm glad that PAX exists for everyone to attend, just as I'm glad there are events like E3 where game journos can do their thing. Update: 01/23 17:56 GMT by Z : Joystiq posits that these new guidelines may lead to censorship for mature games. Update: 01/23 22:16 GMT by Z : Additional opinions on this are available from Gamers with Jobs and Heroine Sheik. There's an official response to discussion of this decision from the E3 media relations team over at Gamecloud.

Via Joystiq, a review on the site X-Entertainment of the very first issue of Nintendo Power. Amusing if only for the sake of nostalgia. From the article: "There's the table of contents. The big games at the time were The Legend of Zelda and the just-released Super Mario Bros. 2. To their credit, Nintendo covered a lot of the older games kids were still into playing, mixing the stuff people wanted to see with the stuff they wanted you to see. It wasn't just one big commercial in print. While they weren't really going to come down on any of the games for their own system, all of the articles were approached honestly enough. They usually steered away from romanticizing crap - if the game sucked, they didn't say it sucked, but they didn't spend a whole lot of time talking about it."

Joystiq has a pair of interesting posts up looking at the future of print gaming publications. Besides positing on the future of the print media, they discuss subscription and reach rates for some of the major U.S. magazines. From that piece: "Game Informer really is several times larger than their nearest competitor. How did they manage that? And why the heck is the Official U.S. Playstation Magazine passed around so much than all the other publications?" I wonder what the differences are between here and abroad? In the UK, for example, there are a large number of publications, all of which seem to have avid readerships. (Though, with magazines like Edge and PC Gamer UK, it's hard not to see why.)

Joystiq has a pair of interesting posts up looking at the future of print gaming publications. Besides positing on the future of the print media, they discuss subscription and reach rates for some of the major U.S. magazines. From that piece: "Game Informer really is several times larger than their nearest competitor. How did they manage that? And why the heck is the Official U.S. Playstation Magazine passed around so much than all the other publications?" I wonder what the differences are between here and abroad? In the UK, for example, there are a large number of publications, all of which seem to have avid readerships. (Though, with magazines like Edge and PC Gamer UK, it's hard not to see why.)

Joystiq reports on the continued success of the DS in Japan, where the two-screened console is not only outselling the 360, but topping the charts as well. They're also showing off mock-ups of what the Revolution virtual console service might work like. As Doc Brown said, "Please excuse the crudity of this model." The virtual console will allow Revolution owners to buy and play classic Nintendo games. Includes a list of possible launch titles.

Joystiq reports on the continued success of the DS in Japan, where the two-screened console is not only outselling the 360, but topping the charts as well. They're also showing off mock-ups of what the Revolution virtual console service might work like. As Doc Brown said, "Please excuse the crudity of this model." The virtual console will allow Revolution owners to buy and play classic Nintendo games. Includes a list of possible launch titles.

Joystiq reports on new details on using the Revolution's controller from an unlikely source. National Geographic Kids Magazine has a spread on a trip they took to Nintendo's HQ, and what they saw when they were there. From the article: "Backwards compatibility is of course something we've known about for awhile; however, the "old favorites" mention is so provocatively vague! They list The Legend of Zelda, Super Smash Brothers, and Donkey Konga. Question is, are they listing games or franchises? If they are listing games, does this mean the "old favorite" versions of these games (Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, Melee) will use the Revolution controller to slash a sword or work as a shield?" Update: 01/10 05:35 GMT by Z : Yeah. It's a fake. Sorry about that, but I thought you could trust National Geographic. Points to Press the Buttons for the DS9 reference in mentioning the fakery.

CivilianHero writes "The New York Post is reporting that a carry-on case, with an Xbox 360 inside, sparked a terror alert to go off at MacArthur Airport after several x-ray screenings revealed the case to be containing suspicious wires. That section of the airport was cleared and the bomb squad was deployed to investigate. That's one more reason why Xbox 360 is the bomb for Games.net and Joystiq."

Joystiq reports that, from the makers of Darwinia and Uplink comes DEFCON, what appears to be a global nuclear war strategy title. Looks positively Wargames-tastic. From the EvilAvatar post they reference: "The new game, titled DEFCON, is a multiplayer strategy which pitches two players against one another in a game of Global Thermonuclear War. In DEFCON a player must manage their launch silos in an attempt to defend their major cities against nuclear attack while simultaneously launching their own attacks against the other player."

omega9 writes "You're not reading it wrong. From an artice posted as Joystiq, "Jack Thompson has purchased shares in Take-Two interactive - otherwise known as the publisher behind the Grand Theft Auto series of games. So has JT suddenly become a financial supporter of the company he's long campaigned against? Not a chance. JT has purchased stock in the company in order that he might attend Take-Two's shareholder meetings and face up to the company's CEO, Paul Eibeler.""

Saturday night Spike aired the 2005 SpikeTV Video Game Awards show, showing us via imagery what we already knew from press releases about a month ago. If you want some snarky blow-by-blow netjak has some liveblogging for you to enjoy. It's still sitting on my Tivo, but from all accounts it was marginally better than last year, but still not very good. Both Kotaku and Joystiq have comments on the 'Best Game Blog' category. From the netjak commentary: "It's apparently been too many awards at once - I mean, one before the first ten minutes? We obviously need a 50 Cent song right now. Personally, I like how they find the least ghetto people in the audience to show them barely nodding to the beat. Come on, in the pan-outs, I can see people actually getting into the music. Maybe the cameraman might want to focus on them? It's nice to know, though, that Spike doesn't just get incompetent people in supervisory positions, but in every place of their network."

Via Joystiq, a look at MCV into the increasing frustration publishers have with second-hand game sales. From the article: "As pressure has increased this year on sell-through and pricing of new releases, so games publishers have become more sensitive about the size of the pre-owned market - which is believed to be worth as much as £50m a year to leading chain GAME and possibly £100m across the market as a whole. Publishers have agreed to discuss privately what action may be possible to stop the trend, either under the auspices of trade body ELSPA or simply via legal protection." We've already reported on Epic VP Mark Rein's opinion on reselling games.

MBCook writes "A Joystiq post says that certain 'highly anticipated' Xbox 360 titles will fill four discs-worth of content. From the post: 'From the high-res textures fit for an HDTV to the higher polygon counts befitting a next-gen console, the space available on standard DVDs is suddenly in increasingly short supply. [...] According to Game Informer, nearly every developer they talked to at X05 expressed difficulties fitting their launch titles onto a single disc. One unnamed yet highly anticipated game in particular is said to currently occupy a full four 9Gb DVDs.'" Relatedly, Microsoft has announced that mainland Asia should expect a March 2006 launch date for the 360 console.

MBCook writes "A Joystiq post says that certain 'highly anticipated' Xbox 360 titles will fill four discs-worth of content. From the post: 'From the high-res textures fit for an HDTV to the higher polygon counts befitting a next-gen console, the space available on standard DVDs is suddenly in increasingly short supply. [...] According to Game Informer, nearly every developer they talked to at X05 expressed difficulties fitting their launch titles onto a single disc. One unnamed yet highly anticipated game in particular is said to currently occupy a full four 9Gb DVDs.'" Relatedly, Microsoft has announced that mainland Asia should expect a March 2006 launch date for the 360 console.

Gamasutra reports that Vivendi Universal Games posted strong revenues for the third quarter, largely thanks to some MMOG. From the article: "The previously troubled game division, which the company had earlier been attempting to sell off, saw revenues increase by 88 percent to 158 million ($189m), thanks to the global success of Blizzard's massively multiplayer role-playing game World of WarCraft. The game's success has also had a positive effect on operating profits, which rose to 7 million ($8 million), from a loss of 32 million ($37m) at the same time last year." Unrelatedly, but humorously, Joystiq reports that WoW showed up as a Jeopardy! question recently.

Via Joystiq, the news that the 2005 Inductees to the Walk of Game have been announced. From the post: "It came down to John Carmack against Will Wright and Sid Meier against Toru Iwatani in the creators category with Carmack and Meier winning out in the end. Also honored are Sony's own EverQuest, Final Fantasy, StarCraft, and Lara Croft herself. "

Via Joystiq, some beautiful maps of old school game worlds as displayed on a wall-mounted series of displays. From the article: "The HEyeWall is a modular large-scale screen consisting of several rear-projection units for creating enormous high-resolution displays. The total resolution shown here is about 6000x3000 pixels (18 Mpixels). Alexander stands next to the display in these photos to give you an idea of the scale."

xtracto writes "The Inquirer has an interesting piece about a new Sony Patent on a technology that may possible prevent DVD disc media users from using their purchased disks in other machines after they have used them on a specific reader. Commentary also available on Joystiq. From the Article: 'While many are aware of the double profit companies make on pre-owned games, this would ensure the death of trading games between friends and even going to a friend's house to play a little multiplayer.'"

Scott Gualco wrote to mention a report at The Inquirer indicating that, despite the 360 itself being capable of multi-threading, first generation 360 titles will be single-threaded. From the article: "Every new machine has a nasty first set of games as the programmers work up to speed on the hardware. In this case, the up side is that there is about 6x the CPU power available and coming to a console near you in the second generation of games. The scary part is that everyone tells me that the PS3 is harder to program for than the Xbox360, and the tools are nowhere near the quality of Microsoft's. That means that even with an extra six months of design time, the initial PS3 games may be worse." Commentary available at Joystiq.

nb caffeine writes "Spike TV has announced the nominees for this year's VG awards. Oddly enough, there are several nominations for games that are not even out yet." From the article: "The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Vin Diesel, The Rock, Missy Elliot, Snoop Dogg, Carmen Electra, Xzibit and Ozzy Osbourne are also set to appear at the third annual awards event. Casey Patterson, Executive Producer of the awards, commented: 'Video games have taken over the world as the most creative, cutting edge platform for major names in entertainment to showcase their talent and reach a massive audience. Sam Jackson is one of the coolest guys on the planet; we're thrilled to have him hosting this year's show which promises more stars, more rock and more games than ever before.'" Sounds like it's just as much about the games as it was last year. Interestingly, Games.slashdot.org was tapped, along with Joystiq and Kotaku, to be nominated for Best Blog. Guess they don't hold grudges.

vladcole writes "Xbox 360 kiosks are getting shut down by some Wal-Mart employees sick of having their handheld inventory devices and printers malfunction, according to this compilation of Joystiq reader reports." From the article: "There's no reason to get worried about the Xbox 360 launch date (there, we recognized the elephant in the room), but the breadth and frequency of these reports point to a compatibility issue between the Xbox 360 and Wal-Mart, at least." Next Generation confirms that Wal-Mart is having issues with the 360 pods.

vladcole writes "Xbox 360 kiosks are getting shut down by some Wal-Mart employees sick of having their handheld inventory devices and printers malfunction, according to this compilation of Joystiq reader reports." From the article: "There's no reason to get worried about the Xbox 360 launch date (there, we recognized the elephant in the room), but the breadth and frequency of these reports point to a compatibility issue between the Xbox 360 and Wal-Mart, at least." Next Generation confirms that Wal-Mart is having issues with the 360 pods.

I was waiting for more news on it before posting, so I imagine some of you are already aware of the screenshots and news of the first World of Warcraft expansion out there in the wild. Voodoo Extreme has the highlights, and Joystiq is carrying some beautiful screenshots. So far the three features that have my eyebrows raised are: Blood Elves as a new playable Horde race, a high level Flying Mount for the Outlands, and (most exciting) cross-server Battlegrounds. This last would be a huge boon for the currently questionable organized PvP play, and I really hope they swing it.

hattan writes "Wal-Mart has playable Xbox 360s on display with demos of Call of Duty 2, Kameo, and King Kong. Joystiq has a look at what the setup looks like, with a rundown on locations where you can play." Gamespot provides more details on the setup, including the news that you'll be able to download content from these kiosks once the systems are on the shelves. Unrelatedly, but interestingly, Xbox.com has revealed a deep level of interconnection with the new gamer card system between the 360, Xbox Live, and Xbox.com. You'll apparently be able to look at your gamer card on the web, because Microsoft likes value adding stuff.

hattan writes "Wal-Mart has playable Xbox 360s on display with demos of Call of Duty 2, Kameo, and King Kong. Joystiq has a look at what the setup looks like, with a rundown on locations where you can play." Gamespot provides more details on the setup, including the news that you'll be able to download content from these kiosks once the systems are on the shelves. Unrelatedly, but interestingly, Xbox.com has revealed a deep level of interconnection with the new gamer card system between the 360, Xbox Live, and Xbox.com. You'll apparently be able to look at your gamer card on the web, because Microsoft likes value adding stuff.

Joystiq wonders out loud if the shortage rumours going around about the Xbox 360 may not just be a marketing ploy on Microsoft's part. From the article: "The bottom line: in all likelihood, you'll be able to walk into just about any store on November 22nd and obtain an Xbox 360. But all it takes is a little, good, old-fashioned FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) to drive sales through the roof and make this rumor a self-fulfilling prophecy." If this is in fact a ploy, it may be backfiring on them. Gamasutra is reporting that an analyst is downgrading his opinion of how the launch will go based on these hardware shortage rumours.

Goalmaster3000 writes to tell us Joystiq.com is reporting that Jack Thompson has rescinded his offer of a $10,000 donation to charity if a video game were made to fit his model. Recently a group of GTA modders cooked up a scenario to fit the bill but apparently Thompson is claiming that his piece 'A Modest Video Game Proposal' was intended as satire that the video game community was not bright enough to grasp. Perhaps Thompson was just afraid he was going to have to sue himself? Update: 10/17 20:02 GMT by SM: It appears that the Penny Arcade crew has taken the next step by donating the promised $10,000... in Jack Thompson's name.

BlueStar writes "Ten Xbox 360 Development Kits have been stolen from a storehouse in Düren, Germany. They were being transported from HongKong for game developers in Europe together with other Microsoft products and wrapped in neutral packaging. 3 of the 10 XeDKs have been found after searches in Germany and Austria ... probably in the homes of the people that leaked out those (now deleted) Xbox 360 motherboard pictures not so long ago."

Via Joystiq, a report that in-game advertising works quite well. From the article: "A new study released on Monday found that in-game ad campaigns resulted in a 60 percent increase in awareness of new brands. The study, commissioned by in-game ad creators Double Fusion and carried out by Nielsen Interactive Entertainment, tested various forms of ads in the PC game 'Metro3D.' And while the study reported some differences in the effectiveness of animated and static ads, Double Fusion's co-founder, Guy Bendov, said the results weren't what he had expected."

Next Generation is reporting that Chinese Massive title Yulgang has hit 9 Million subscribers, just two months after the game's launch. Joystiq has commentary, and clarifications: " First, Yulgang does not require a registration or a subscription fee - and as many of you have pointed out in regards to Guild War's recent milestone, without subscription fees that number can seem quite inflated from the actual number of players. In fact, the maximum number of people playing Yulgang at any one time has been only 215,000. Which is still a high number, but less than one-thirtieth of its registered database."

The big secret that everyone's been curious about, the Xbox Origen puzzle, has been revealed. From the article: "The Origen Xbox 360 site has counted down, and it appears to be promoting a contest for European gamers to win a trip to an Xbox 360 launch party in the U.S. As for the updated site, it went live at approximately 7:00 AM ET. The tree is now covered with flags from all over Europe instead of fruit, as well as a link to xbox360.com in the lower left-hand corner. A Harry Potter movie-soundtrack-like toy piano is also playing a loop of a short musical progression in the background. Rolling over clickable objects on the tree produces a disappearing fairy-dust-like effect which follows the cursor."

This past weekend Shigeru Miyamoto visited Nintendo World in New York City. Hundreds of people stood in line for hours to get a few moments with the man behind some of Nintendo's most well known games. The Game Chair has a look at what it felt like to be on the ground at the event, while Joystiq has a more information based writeup of the event. From Joystiq's post: "While there, we learned that Miyamoto is left-handed. That had to have been tough for him growing up, because in Japanese culture left-handedness is loaded with negative meaning and experiences. It's considered rude to hold your chopsticks in your left hand in Japan and China, for instance. It's also a helluva lot more difficult to write classic kanji with the left hand. Top calligraphers are never left-handed, as brush strokes look wrong when pushed across a page rather than pulled across the page with the right hand. It's also considered a sure sign of creativity and artistry, according to some."

Very few things surprise me about videogames anymore. I won't claim to be all-knowing by any means, but there are very few genuine surprises these days. Release dates are known well in advance, endless features and interviews are conducted with developers during the course of a game's creation, and what few elements that publishers try to keep under wraps get leaked to the media by individuals wanting their moment in the sun. Even the big gaming news stories of this past year (Hot Coffee, the PS3 PreRendered Movie Debate) were more frustrating than surprising. Happily, Nintendo managed to pull a rabbit out of their hat. Today's announcement of exactly what the revolution behind the Revolution will be is nothing short of a showstopper. Read on for my reaction to Nintendo's new bid for the brass ring. I know it's already been discussed, but I'll go ahead and say it here for the record. The GameCube failed as a console. Despite the excellent first party games that have been released for it, and the occasional exclusive (Resident Evil 4), Nintendo has definitely stumbled it's way through this generation of consoles. The failure of the GameCube makes this the second generation of console systems where Nintendo has been left essentially sitting on the sidelines. Every time I post a story about someone editorializing Nintendo's death, or how Nintendo will never die, it saddens me a great deal. Nintendo is the company that brought a lot of the people of my generation into gaming in the first place. The Christmas morning I sat down for the first time with a NES controller in my hand was a life-changing moment. If not for smashing evil mushroom people and searching for Triforce pieces in my youth, my life would be very different today. Every flashy Xbox commercial, PS2 exclusive, or can of crap with Mario's mug stamped on it has made the little kid inside me become more and more jaded about the possibilities this industry can offer.

Today, that little kid is beaming. The company that introduced me to gaming so long ago has picked itself up off the mat and looks ready to come out swinging this time around. We've already linked to 1up's coverage of the announcement, but if you haven't read it yet there are plenty of other places to get the specifics. Gamespot, Gamespy, IGN, and Game Informer all have photo spreads, video, and first hand impressions from their experiences with Nintendo's next venture. Commentary is available from CNN Money, Wonderland, Jeremy Parish, The Game Chair, Joystiq, and Next Generation. An interview with Nintendo's Senior EU Marketing director is available on Eurogamer, and if you want to see the announcement firsthand a webcast of the presentation is available.

All of these pieces spend at least a paragraph or two wondering about the future, and with good reason. Within half an hour of the story being posted to the internet there were already lamentations about "the end of an era" and blistering condemnations of the controller as a lark that will fail as badly as the Virtual Boy. Specifically, both the professional media and fan commentaries seemed to center around the reaction that third party developers may or may not have to this extremely intriguing idea. The combination of this new controller style and the mentality that "Nintendo is for kids" may cause the company some problems down the line. They're almost certainly right.

That said, if you've read the description of the Metroid Prime demo you can't help but pause. The mental gymnastics required to use a mouse and keyboard in a First Person Shooter have confounded non-gamers since the genre began. As anyone who's played an FPS on a console can tell you, the two joystick approach gets the job done but is far from intuitive. Attempting such a title on the console is basically out of the question unless you can work at the interface, something a non-gamer is rarely willing to do. Nintendo deftly sidesteps this with an interface that has ties directly into what we do in our everyday lives. Turning your head to observe your environment is already an instinct we posses, so not only will it be easy to explain it will be trivial to do. The natural flow of such an interface opens up many horizons. Shooters are well and good, but the immediacy of the first person perspective is a tempting way to just tell a story. Divorced of its more violent aspects and with an interface that doesn't require years of practice to use, who is to say that our mothers won't be playing something built in the Unreal Engine a year from now?

The FPS is just one example of a genre that we traditionally think of as "hardcore" which could be opened up to non-gamers by an interface that allows the user to interact with a gameworld in a less artificial manner . Real Time Strategy games would be a snap, as you wave your hand and the map moves effortlessly along beneath your outstretched hand. Driving games where you could actually apply your real life driving reflexes. Puzzle games where manipulating pieces is second nature. Sports games that require you to actually swing the bat or catch the football. Fighting games where you can feel a guy get punched in the face. At the end of the day, games are about having fun. Say what you will about their business acumen, Nintendo has always understood that. With the Revolution interface, the company is reaching out to the millions of people who have yet to pick up a controller. Why should those of us who have been playing since that first grey box reached our shores be the only ones who have access to the fun?

This is a risky venture, no doubt about it. If third party developers don't catch on to the possibilities here, if the EAs of the world don't take a chance with the new interface, then Nintendo will be looking at a big problem. This may be the last console larger than the DS we see out of the company for quite a while. If that's the way it's going to be, then I say so be it. Finally, at least, Nintendo isn't just going to sit there and try to imitate the other consoles poorly. Sony and Microsoft are very, very good at what they do. Instead of keeping up with the Jonses, Nintendo is striking out on its own. For better or worse, they've taken steps to expand the field of game players and change the nature of game playing.

The number of games at launch, third party commitment to the console, and the commercial reaction to this departure from the norm will be the only way to determine if Nintendo has made the right call. Either way we can look forward to a generation of consoles that will not only be graphically more impressive, but fundamentally different from the gaming systems we've played in the past. For me, at least, when I pick up the remote for the first time it will be like sitting down again on Christmas morning. I can't wait.

I've had my say ... what do you think? The controller announcement was put up early this morning. Now that you've had the chance to look at it more carefully, is your opinion any different? Most importantly, are you planning on buying one?

Joystiq has commentary on a Gamespot article which goes into detail on the Korean Government's response to the country's growing online addiction problem. From the Gamespot article: "When asked why South Korean society has had a more prevalent occurrence of online gaming addiction, Grace offered her own observation, 'There is a lot of stress in Korean society. Going to PC bangs is one way to relieve stress and disconnect themselves from the real world. It's mainly the stress-relieving factor.'"

As the launch for the Xbox 360 approaches, with incredibly expensive bundles up for offer, Joystiq takes a look back at expensive system launches of the past. From the article: "Commodore 64 - $1207.04 (originally valued at $595 in 1982) Despite being the most popular computer model of all time, selling between 17 and 25 million units, the Commodore 64 was a relatively expensive games machine by today's standards. However, it offered extremely good value for money by offering unprecedented sound and graphics quality."

Via Joystiq, N-Philes has an article delving deep into the secrets of Super Smash Bros. Melee for the Gamecube. A Developer Mode is accessible within the game which allows for battle tweaking, setting changes, and access to dozens of otherwise inaccessible battle maps. From the article: "Notice the stage is completely horizontal. Not only that, it's easily the longest fighting arena in Super Smash Bros. history (with the exception of the Home-Run Contest stage). Along the stage lie several moving platforms and multicolored grounds with different amounts of traction when walked across. It's clear that HAL used this area as a virtual playground to experiment with several different aspects of gameplay. Did you take note of the background? Confused? So is everyone else. The background is a giant picture of a pub. If you look closely you can spot several people enjoying tall glasses of beer atop the bar and tables. Despite the fact that it seems a little strange, it somehow adds to the illustrious prestige of Super Smash Bros. We wouldn't have it any other way."

Spaceman40 wrote to mention a post up on Joystiq about a beautiful next-gen FPS called Project Offset. From the article: "Doom 3 engine? Was nice knowing you. UT? Old news. Source? Over there. We'll call you if we need you. You can all stand back, though. There's a new king on the way to town. Project Offset is a new first person shooter, and the developer is showing off what their new graphics engine can do. The movies are not pre-rendered. The developer says they're all real time...The demo looks amazing! Videos are available at the official site.'"

Joystiq has two posts up linking to sources of free games. Liberated Games offers up single player experiences, while GameOgre's list of free MMOGs will ensure you can get together with other people on the cheap. From the post: "Liberated Games is an online catalog of games that have been released for free in one way or another. This may be the full game, like Grand Theft Auto. Or it might just be the sourcecode, like Doom. Either way, this is a huge list of games that can, in some way, be had for the grand price of zero dollars and zero cents."

Joystiq has two posts up linking to sources of free games. Liberated Games offers up single player experiences, while GameOgre's list of free MMOGs will ensure you can get together with other people on the cheap. From the post: "Liberated Games is an online catalog of games that have been released for free in one way or another. This may be the full game, like Grand Theft Auto. Or it might just be the sourcecode, like Doom. Either way, this is a huge list of games that can, in some way, be had for the grand price of zero dollars and zero cents."

Ant writes "Joystiq mentioned a short Slate story on how the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) reviews and rates games. (Seen on Blue's News.)"

At first, it was nothing more than a rumour. A "sex mini-game" in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, left in the code for the PC version and unlocked by inquisitive players. Then, as more and more information became available it seemed as though the sex game might be real. This revelation has lead to California Speaker pro-tem Yee blasting the ESRB for their apparent slip-up in examining all the content in the game. The ESRB has responded by pledging a "thorough and objective investigation" of the claims to get to the bottom of the situation. Commentary is available from Joystiq, GamesAreFun, and Buttonmashing.

Joystiq has the link to an update on a previous story we ran covering the efforts of a gentleman to add video games to library circulation stock. Since then, the program has really taken off, and Gaming Target has an update on how the project is going. From the article: "Circulation numbers have been brisk. With two week loan periods and late charges of only 25 cents a day, people are jumping at the chance to check out games, any game. I don't know why it's surprising, but people (adults and children, but mostly children) will pull stuff off the shelf and check it out without even looking at what game it is they're getting out."

Joystiq brought to my attention the enormous collection of NES games currently up for bid on eBay. From the auction: "First off 776 nintendo nes games.. THAT is only 10 games from having the complete set of usa released nes games...I quit collecting six or seven months ago, but i'm sure the last ten games are on ebay right now.. this list is far to long for a two finger typer like myself to type so I'll try to make this as easy as possible.. First thing you need to do is google search MIKE ETLER'S RARITY LIST.. Print this list out... You need the first 17 pages.." Amazingly, Tycho Brahe (of PA) wrote in to mention that "We just picked this up to be the Omegathon Prize at PAX." Quite an incentive, eh?