A new product called the Wii Clip aims to make modding Wii-D2A and D2C consoles something of a 2 minute plug and play job. The Clip has one major advantage of not ruining the motherboard but there is still some handy work required and there is absolutely no guarantee of how effective this method is or will be.

Warranty firm SquareTrade has revealed more details on its widely reported 16.4% failure rate for Xbox 360 systems. They had 171 breakdowns out of a sample size of 1040 purchased warranties, which mostly consisted of Premium 360's. Sixty percent of the failures were down to RROD, but other problems included disc read errors, video card failures, hard drive freezes, power issues, and disc tray malfunctions.

The new report does note that this only tracks up to 10 months after the warranty purchase, and once a longer period of time is given, the failure rate is likely to increase. It's also worth pointing out that since Microsoft's Red Ring of Death warranty extension was introduced last July, some users may be going directly to the parent company instead.

"Our data shows that failures spike in the third month after warranty purchase but remain fairly steady after that, with only incremental drop-off until the eight month," the SquareTrade Analytics Team wrote on the blog. "This pattern is fairly consistent with all electronics failures."

SquareTrade also said its numbers don't take into account those Xbox 360 owners who bypass it altogether and take their claims directly to Microsoft, which could mean the failure rate is even higher still.

For its study, SquareTrade tracked 27 Xbox 360 Elites, 57 Cores and 956 Premiums. Out of the 171 claims reported (60 percent), 102 were general hardware failures (Red Ring of Death). Of the other 69 claims:

- 18% were disc read errors.
- 13% were video card failures.
- 13% were hard drive freezes.
- 10% were power issues.
- 7% were disc tray malfunctions.

SquareTrade said that, because the above issues are not covered under the extended Microsoft warranty, which only covers RROD, they are the more reliable figures.

Darren Waters of the BBC has confirmed that Motorstorm 2 will feature a four player split screen option, thus fixing one of the key missing features in the first game. Waters goes on to mention the game is months away from completion, but the engine looks superb and the graphics as you'd expect were very impressive.

Motorstorm 2 is due out in time for Christmas and moves the action away from the desert locale of the original. Gamers will be able to race around a lush island environment, full of interactive vegetation.

The game will feature four-player split-screen action, righting one of the obvious failings of the first game.

The title is some months away from completion but the game's engine looked rock solid and the graphics were as impressive as one would expect from one of the best-looking racing franchises.

British tabloid The Telegraph have interviewed the man behind Ninja Gaiden II, designer Tomonobu Itagaki, about the violence in Ninja Gaiden. They questioned the violent content on the game, which is yet to be rated by the BBFC, and compare it to Manhunt 2. However Itagaki has stood up for the game saying that "Violence is not about cutting an enemy into pieces or seeing a lot of blood." He believes "real violence" is about inflicting "dishonoring wounds" and that "you would really have to hate your opponent and this is not what this game or this character is about."

"Violence is not about cutting an enemy into pieces or seeing a lot of blood," he says. "That's not what real violence is." To emphasise his point, Itagaki reaches for a sheathed samurai sword mounted in his office, and holds it out in front of me.

"In the Japanese warrior tradition you would shame an opponent. A real sword expert would aim his slice at the first four fingers of his opponent's sword hand. This would cost a warrior his livelihood and someone suffering this wound would normally commit suicide rather than live without their sword hand.

"That's what I consider to be real violence," he says, replacing the sword in its mount. "It's not about lopping off limbs. It is about the relationship between you and your opponent. In order to inflict these dishonouring wounds you would really have to hate your opponent and this is not what this game or this character is about."

According to Xbox marketeer John Porcaro's gamerscore blog, Microsoft is planing to withdraw from HD DVD following recent decisions made by Toshiba, Hollywood studios and retailers. "Xbox will no longer manufacture new HD DVD players for the Xbox 360, but we will continue to provide standard product and warranty support for all Xbox 360 HD DVD Players in the market." said Porcaro. Microsoft have stated that they do not believe this decision will have any material impact on the Xbox 360 platform.

Xbox 360 HD DVD Support Statement Updated

We just issued an updated statement regarding HD DVD support for Xbox 360.

As a result of recent decisions made by Toshiba, Hollywood studios, and retailers, Microsoft plans to withdraw from HD DVD. Xbox will no longer manufacture new HD DVD players for the Xbox 360, but we will continue to provide standard product and warranty support for all Xbox 360 HD DVD Players in the market. As we stated earlier, we do not believe this decision will have any material impact on the Xbox 360 platform or our position in the marketplace. HD DVD is one of the several ways we offer a high definition experience to consumers and we will continue to give consumers the choice to enjoy digital distribution of high definition movies and TV shows directly to their living room, along with playback of the DVD movies they already own.

The creative director of Sony's Home project has said that they have made it the best-looking multiplayer world and the most user-friendly. He said he is aware of the comparisons people make between Second Life and Home, but looking at Second Life, he is amazed at how many people go on it. He said the Home virtual world doesn't "have anything in there that's appealing to that kind of geeky audience that you might find in Second Life."

And Venables, who's worked on the Home project since its first concept on the PlayStation 2, agreed that it's important for Sony's virtual world experience to keep a high "quality bar", but pointed out that the Second Life creators, Linden Lab, had a more difficult proposition in terms of PC compatibility.

"Essentially, with the Second Life example - and partly the disparity of the graphics, because you have to cater for the lowest-end PC whereas on the PlayStation 3 it's a level playing-field - with something so organic as Home, with features being added, it's difficult to set that benchmark of how many polygons to throw around, and how many to save for future things that we may or may not want to do," he said.

"I think the PS3 platform has given us an advantage in terms of keeping a polished look, and it not to look like Second Life. I don't want to dis Second Life, obviously they've been successful and they have to cater for people with old Pentium IIs and whatever, so I can understand why it looks the way it does.

"So it's not to criticise them, it's just that as a PlayStation 3 online space it was very important that there is a quality bar that we want to hit."

Nintendo has announced that it plans to introduce a pay to play service some games despite Nintendo'S WiFi connection service being free of charge in the past. The scheme will allow users to subscribe on a game by game basis for certain titles and these games will have a red icon on the box instead of a blue one.

Nintendo's Wi-Fi Connection service has always been entirely free of charge, but the company will soon introduce a pay-to-play service for some games, it announced at Game Developers Conference.

"Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection Pay And Play" will let users subscribe on a game-by-game basis to certain titles. Nintendo project leader Takashi Aoyama announced the service at GDC, but did not say what upcoming games would require payment for the service, or how much they would cost.

To avoid customer confusion, Pay-And-Play games will have a red icon on the game's box that reads Pay And Play, in place of the traditional blue Wi-Fi Connection icon, which will only be used for games that are free to play.

The director of Brawl Masahiro Sakurai has confirmed that there will be no voice chat for Super smash Bros. Brawl on the Wii due to all sorts of rules and regulations on the Wii platform that meant it wasn't a viable option. He went on to say if gamers are really desperate for chat, then maybe they could set up Skype and talk to their friends as they please by their game station.

IGN: Brawl seems like the perfect game to introduce a Wii headset for voice chat. Why have you avoided this?

Masahiro Sakurai: Well, when I first started making Smash Bros. Brawl, I thought it would be wonderful if online battles between friends had voice chat and potentially keyboard based chat as well. But there are all sorts of rules and regulations regarding communication on the Wii platform and so it was apparent to me that it just wouldn't come together, we weren't going to be able to do it, so we decided to cancel that feature. I'm very sorry about that. But if you're really desperate for it, you could set up Skype by your game station and go at it with a friend if you like.


IGN: Why can't players in random online matches communicate or even see each other's names? What's the philosophy behind that?

Masahiro Sakurai: When thinking about this game and when realizing that we were going to do Wi-Fi, we had to think a lot about the whole idea of communication over the Internet. When we were doing this, one of the things that we paid a lot of attention to is the fact that there are a lot of unpleasant experiences to be had out there, be that being insulted over the Internet or that sort of thing. You know, it's one thing if you're used to it and you're playing a first-person shooter online with 16 people and you know these guys and you're trading insults back and forth and yelling at each other, that's all well and good. But when you've got new players, and one thing I've aimed to do is to really bring new players into the fold, if this is their first online experience I want it to be a pleasant one. I want to dodge and avoid those kinds of situations that could make the whole experience online psychologically damaging or unpleasant, so that's one of the reasons we've decided not to include that feature.

Sonu unveiled PhyreEngine at the GDC yesterday, a new "free to use graphics engine" from Sony Computer Entertainment. It seems as though the engine is cross platform as out of flOw, GripShift and DiRT that were developed using the engine, only flOw is exclusive to PlayStation. Sony say a simple recompile is all that is needed on make games run on the PS3 and they promised ongoing development and support for PhyreEngine.

But why make it potentially easier to make games on a competing console? Well, it's undeniable that developers are increasingly focused on multiplatform development. It's been rather commonplace for developers to neglect PS3 with inferior and oftentimes delayed versions of multiplatform games. With PhyreEngine, Sony is making a much more attractive plea: make games on PS3 first, guaranteeing high quality games that will not only match their 360 counterparts, but in many cases can exceed them. Sony's message is clear: start games on the PS3, and they will be better for both PS3 and 360 owners. It appears to us that PhyreEngine is a crucial part of that plan.

It was revealed today that later this year Commodore 64 games will be available to download on the Virtual Console. The first two games to be released will be International Karate and Uridium. C64 games will be available on the Wii Shop channel for 500 Wii points but they are currently only scheduled for a European release. Nintendo said that these titles “will be bolstered by regular updates to the line-up from the Commodore 64 back catalogue”.

“By working with Nintendo of Europe, we are ensuring that future generations of gamers can play some of the best and most popular titles that kick-started the computer games revolution and so keep the C64 legacy in gamers hearts,” said Bala Keilman, CEO of Commodore Gaming.

Laurent Fischer, Nintendo Europe’s MD of marketing and PR added, “With over 184 classic titles now available to enjoy, Virtual Console on Wii is a great way for users to access a breadth of classic retro games. We hope that this great choice of games will bring nostalgia to our gaming fans, while an entirely new generation of video game players can experience a host of classic games for the very first time.”

A slide from Sony Computer Entertainment's Chris Eden at GDC 2008 outlined the Playstation store on PSP. The slide states that with the Playstation store on PSP you can "Access native PLAYSTATION Store on PSP via wireless hotspot" and "Purchase and download content direct to PSP (no USB cable)" The launch is currently TBA and Sony are promising more details in the future.

Chris Eden from Sony Computer Entertainment made mention of PLAYSTATION Store on PSP in his Game Developers Conference session. Currently, players must use a PC in order to download content and transfer it to the PSP.

Nintendo America president Reggie Fils-Aime said today that Wii Fit will be launching on May 19 and the price including the Wii Fit Board would be under $100. He said they still working to finalize the price given currency exchanges but it could be close to the $83 it costs in Japan. In terms of marketing, Reggie said Wii Fit is likely be Nintendo's largest launch of the year from a total dollar spend standpoint. Reggie said that there were 10 games in development that take advantage of the Balance Bord, so you won't be paying all that money for a peripheral that will only be used on one game. Reggie seemed to contradicted Nintendo Japan president Saturo Iwata by saying that he believes Wii Fit combines fun and fitness, Iwata had previously said the game is not meant to make you fit, just aware of your body.

IGN: What're the chances of a Wii Fit console bundle and how soon might such a package come to fruition?

Reggie Fils-Aime: In terms of Wii hardware bundled with Wii Fit? As you know, Matt, we continue to sell out of Wii consoles as soon as we put them into the market and until we've gotten to a point of stable demand and supply, I don't see any different package configurations hitting the market. While a Wii Fit plus Wii console would be a fantastic idea, until we've got much more product into the marketplace, it just doesn't make sense to even contemplate it right now.

Microsoft announced a dynamic co-op mode today for Fable 2 that allows a friend to join your experience at any time. The 'dog mechanic', however, will not be available for player two. Also announced was an arcade preview of Fable 2 which will allow users to get a taste of the game and earn money to be used in the retail version of the game. The preview will allow players to experience the universe by participating in mini-games and it will allow players to earn money that can be transfered to your character when the retail game ships.

During their conference at GDC08, Microsoft announced new and exciting details for its upcoming role-playing game Fable 2. Firstly, Lionhead boss Peter Molyneux detailed plans to bring the Fable 2 experience to Xbox Live Arcade. Developer Carbonated Games will be working with Lionhead to release an Arcade preview of Fable 2 which will allow players to dive into the world, pre-release, and earn money to be used in the retail version of the game. Earning money, a very important element of Fable 2, will the the essence of the Fable 2 XBLA release. The XBLA title will allow players to experience the universe by participating in mini-games, like a cross between Roulette and Craps shown at the conference, that will allow players to earn money that can be transfered to your character when the retail game ships.

Toshiba announced today that it was joining forces with Sony and has agreed to pay $835 million for Sony's semiconductor operations. Toshiba will now own operations in the western Nagasaki prefecture that makes advanced semiconductors such as the Cell processor for the PS3. Toshiba will apparently loan out chip lines to Sony in the joint venture. The sale of the chip lines should help reduce production costs for the PS3.

Sony first announced in October a basic agreement to sell the chip facilities to Toshiba as part of efforts to streamline its operations.

Under its first foreign boss Howard Stringer, Sony is seeking to shed non-core assets and revive its mainstay electronics business amid brisk sales of flat-panel televisions and digital cameras.

The sale of the chip lines also aims to reduce the cost of producing the PS3 as Sony struggles to recoup its huge investment in the console, which is facing fierce competition from Nintendo's Wii.

Toshiba meanwhile is looking to increase its focus on other growth areas such as production of semiconductors, including memory chips used in portable music players.

According to a seattlepi Xbox insider, MS only opposed Blu-ray because Sony supported it and they hedged their bets by making the HD DVD add on. He believes if Sony cooperate, MS could have an external Blu-ray drive for the Xbox 360 very quickly, however he thinks it will be difficult as Sony wants to control their technology. He concluded that over the next few months Microsoft will come out with a Blu-Ray player, or they will file suit to force Sony to share their technology.

"Spooling bits to the hard drive at first boot is an intentional thing when the game knows that a HD is always in the system. Xbox 1 did it. The reason is to decrease the load time for some of the game content. That's the main advantage of having a HD in every console, and a gameplay optimization that all devs use. Regardless of how long that takes at first boot. If you all go back and read Xbox 1 blogs, you'll see the same types of comments against Xbox 1 too. They don't need the space per se, they have it to use and would be foolish not to. Hard disk spool time is so much less than optical disc drive spool time, resulting in better games."

"On to HD-DVD v Blu-ray. MS opposed Blue Ray because Sony supported it, plain and simple. I was in the room when the decision was made. But they hedged their bets by making the Media player a plug in. They could very quickly have a Blue Ray external plug in just like the HD, if Sony will cooperate."

"Therein lays the rub. MS, one of the worst co's to get info out of to make products compatible, needs Sony to help a competitor do just that - compete with a compatible product that depends on the competitor's intellectual protocol. Sony knows that they cannot justify charging MS a fee that is larger than any other customer. Sony wants to make Blu-Ray ubiquitous so they have shaved down fees as much as possible. So MS must get the same deal as everyone else."

"But Sony wants to control this technology in the gaming space, and prevent success by a competitor in the expansive entertainment markets of this space. Where much of the cash flow for these kinds of products will lie in the coming years from also using gaming consoles as home entertainment media extenders, central to the digital entertainment lifestyle."

"What would you do now if you were Sony? The same thing MS has done over the years. Make the technology intentionally incompatible, withhold information, withhold support for design input to make it compatible, etc."

"We'll see over the next few months. Either MS will come out with a Blu-Ray player, or they will file suit to force Sony to share, in much the same way many others sue MS for the same reasons on Windows compatibility. It will be interesting to watch this unfold."

"Once again, users are caught watching the battle from the sidelines. Unless you make sure you vote with your dollars and put an end to this nonsense by insisting on unified standards across vendors. Kinda like the Blu-Ray fight..."">Xboxfounder has chimed in the comments on Digital Joystick on the developments of HD-DVD/Blu-ray for game systems.

The Chairman of the Blu-ray Disc Association in the US has commented that the Blu-ray camp is happy that the format war is officially over, now the focus is for member companies to promote the format as the best way to bring premier high quality definition content into consumers' lives.

The Blu-ray Disc Association has made an official statement regarding Toshiba's announcement that they would no longer be supporting the HD DVD format. Andy Parsons, Chairman, Blu-ray Disc Association U.S. Promotions Committee commented, "We in the Blu-ray Disc Association are very happy that this long format war is officially over. Now the task ahead for our member companies is to promote the Blu-ray Disc format as the best way to bring premier quality high definition content into consumers' lives."

As the main supporter of the HD DVD format, Toshiba's announcement that they no longer would be supporting the format effectively ends the format war and Blu-ray has been proclaimed the victor. As the only high definition format viable for consumer adoption, the BDA's focus will now be shifted towards ensuring consumers understand the advantages of Blu-ray and the superior movie experience it offers.

According to reports, the Blu-Ray Disc Association has released a statement which praises Wal-Mart's decision to go Blu-ray exclusive. The statement denotes that this move denotes that Blu-ray has emerged as the desired format of choice for high definition home entertainment.

According to Blu-Ray.com, the Blu-ray Disc Association released a statement, praising Wal-Mart On Blu-ray Exclusivity.

"Retailers have a tremendous impact on consumer preferences, and as the world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart's reach and leadership are unparalleled. Their decision to support only Blu-ray, particularly in light of the string of similar announcements from the content and retail communities over the last six weeks, seems to us to be a very clear statement that Blu-ray Disc has emerged as the format of choice for high definition home entertainment," said the BDA US Promotions Committee chairman Andy Parson.

The Wal-Mart’s announcement marks the end of a two-year war between Blu Ray and HD DVD for the dominance in the high definition entertainment market.

In addition, as the war is over, it is interesting to see if Microsoft, one of the main HD DVD promoters, will replace the external HD DVD unit for its Xbox 360 with a Blu Ray drive.

During CES, when asked about this issue, a Microsoft official did not ruled out the possibility of unveiling a Blu Ray drive.

"It should be consumer choice; and if that's the way they vote, that's something we'll have to consider," Albert Penello, group marketing manager for Xbox hardware said when asked whether Microsoft would support a Blu-ray DVD accessory in the event that HD-DVD failed.

Microsoft's Xbox 360 may have fallen behind the PS3 and Wii during the month of January, but MS have put on a happy face and emphasized two points. The first is that Xbox 360 owners spend more on games and drive the ecosystem, and also games play and sell better on the Xbox 360 as supported by facts such as CoD 4 on the Xbox 360 outsold the PS3 equivalent by 2:1.

Xbox 360 Owners Spend More on Games; Drives Industry Ecosystem

In January, $297 million was spent on the Xbox 360 platform (hardware, software and accessories combined), compared to $244 million on Wii and $219 million on PS3. (U.S. NPD, January)
$159 million was spent on Xbox 360 games alone in January compared to $131 million on Wii and $80 million for PS3. (U.S. NPD, January)
Total customer spending on Xbox 360 life-to-date now reaches nearly $8.6 billion; this is more than double PS3 and Wii combined. (U.S. NPD, January)
Six of the top 10 best selling games in January are on Xbox 360’s platform. (U.S. NPD, January)
After five months on the market, “Halo 3” continues to make the top 10 best selling games list according to NPD with 127,000 additional units sold in January. (U.S. NPD, January)
Games Play Better, Sell Better on Xbox 360

“Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare” on Xbox 360 was the number one selling game across all platforms for the third month in a row. In January, the fourth edition of Activision's acclaimed war game sold more than 331,000 copies on Xbox 360 and outsold the PS3 version by more than 2:1. (U.S. NPD, January)
Music fans love to jam on “Rock Band” and “Guitar Hero III” on Xbox 360! The Xbox 360 version of “Rock Band” sold more than 172,000 units in January and ranked fifth on the top 10 best selling games according to NPD. “Rock Band” on PS3 failed make it into the top 25 list for January. (U.S. NPD, January)
Third party publishers made 61 percent of their retail revenue, this generation, on Xbox 360 compared to 20 percent on Wii and 18 percent on PS3. (U.S. NPD, January)
Xbox 360 has 83 titles with a Metacritic review score of 80 or higher compared to just 42 for PS3 and 14 for Wii.
Looking forward, Xbox 360 will continue to be the destination for the best games with powerhouse franchises such as “BioShock,” “Call of Duty,” “Guitar Hero,” “Halo,” “Madden,” “Mass Effect,” and coming in April, “Grand Theft Auto IV.” Whether you are an experienced gamer or a family looking for a night of fun, Xbox 360 is today’s preferred gaming experience, where everyone is invited to play.

Warranty issuer SquareTrade said that they had found 16.4% failure rate for Xbox 360's from a sample of 1000. Microsoft has responded saying it does not comment on hardware failure rates. However, they did say they were unfamiliar with SquareTrade and the methodology of their report was suspect.

Warranty issuer SquareTrade revealed the results of its recent examination of Xbox 360 failure rates. The company said that, based on a sample group of 1,000 warrantees it had issued, 16.4 percent had service calls -- more than half for general hardware failures (a.k.a. Three Red Lights) and the rest for disk drive problems, hardware freezes and other issues.

"Microsoft does not comment on hardware failure rates [emphasis by Microsoft], nor do we comment on speculation," Microsoft spokesman Joe DiMiero told IGN in an e-mail message today. "We have not seen the report, and are unfamiliar with the agency that filed it. Based on the enthusiast community's feedback yesterday, the methodology of this report is suspect."

Sony has revealed that Playstation Network downloads surpassed 7.9 million in January 2008 and that in North America there are over 2.9 million registered PSN accounts and over 52 million downloads in total. Tretton rounded off the facts by stating that 2008 is shaping up to be the breakthrough year for the PS3.

Additional color and detail was brought via a Sony announcement following the NPD results, in which the firm revealed that PlayStation Network downloads exceeded 7.9 million in January 2008, well above the 6.6 million in December 2007.

In addition, it was noted that currently in North America there are more than 2.9 million registered PlayStation Network accounts and more than 52M total downloads life-to-date from PlayStation Store.

Jack Tretton, CEO of SCEA, commented of the results: "Coming off a great holiday sales season we see strong momentum behind PS3 in 2008, and feel confident about the year ahead... we have Blu-ray emerging as the de facto high def standard, the developer community is hitting their stride, consumers are recognizing the tremendous value and innovative services such as PlayStation Home are all in the works, so this is definitely shaping up to be a breakthrough year for us."

In a recent interview on Wii.com, Shigeru Miyamoto told Nintendo president Satoru Iwata that Wii Fit is not actually meant to make you fit. "I forgot to mention something important earlier: I don’t think Wii Fit’s purpose is to make you fit; what it’s actually aiming to do is make you aware of your body." Miyamoto said. So does that mean Wii Fit is actually only reminding you that your out of shape and should do some real exercise?

Iwata: Now that you mention standing on one leg, one of the things that Wii Fit made me realize was how different people can be between when they’re standing only on their dominant leg and when they’re standing on the other. It was quite a discovery.

Miyamoto: I think it’s important to make discoveries like this about yourself. I forgot to mention something important earlier: I don’t think Wii Fit’s purpose is to make you fit; what it’s actually aiming to do is make you aware of your body. That’s why we wanted people to talk with their families about Wii Fit, and become aware of these things together as a group. If you’re standing still, and it tells you "Your body is swaying", you can see on the training results screen that your body has been shaking. But I think you’d never realize that your body is shaking in day-to-day life. I think becoming aware of things like this about yourself is quite interesting.

PRESS RELEASE: Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. Brawl Tournaments Storm the Country

Nintendo and Best Buy Team Up to Crown a National Champion

Attention all Smash fans: Put up your dukes! Just before the launch of the much-anticipated Super Smash Bros.(R) Brawl, Mario(TM) and friends are hosting four regional Wii(TM) tournaments. The competitions will visit Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston and finally New York for a Midnight Madness Launch event at the Best Buy store at 622 Broadway in New York. All of the 256 participants at each location will receive a $10 Best Buy gift card. One lucky grand prize winner will receive a custom-designed, crystal-covered Wii, a home theater system from Best Buy and other prizes.

"Super Smash Bros. is one of the world's most popular game franchises
because it draws in characters from across the Nintendo universe and beyond for some all-out fighting fun," said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of sales & marketing. "Super Smash Bros. Brawl has extreme appeal among our core audience, but these tournaments are a great way to get new fans involved as well -- before the game is even available in
stores."

Each regional tournament will provide the first 256 people in attendance the chance to "brawl" one-on-one with other contestants in asingle-elimination tournament to determine a winner in each market. Regional winners will face off in a final multiplayer "brawl" at the New York City tournament.

The grand prize winner will receive a crystal-coated Wii with a design from Super Smash Bros. Brawl, a home theater system from Best Buy and a copy of the game. The second-place finisher will receive one Wii system and Wii Remote, one copy of Super Smash Bros. Brawl and a $1,000 Best Buy gift card. The third-place finisher will receive a Wii and Wii Remote, a copy of the game and a $500 Best Buy gift card. The fourth-place finisher will receive a Wii, an extra Wii Remote, a copy of the game and a $250 Best Buy gift card. For more information about the tournaments, visit Nintendo.com.

The tournaments will take place at the following times and locations:

Feb. 16
Doors open at 3 p.m.
Orpheum Theater
842 S. Broadway
Los Angeles, CA 90014

Feb. 23
Doors open at 2 p.m.
Ten15 Folsom
1015 Folsom St.
San Francisco, CA 94103

March 1
Doors open at 3 p.m.
Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Olden Hall
100 Institute Road
Worcester, MA 01609

March 8
Doors open at 5 p.m.
Best Buy (NOHO)
622 Broadway
New York, NY 10012

Super Smash Bros. Brawl features dozens of Nintendo characters, from Mario to Link(TM) to Pikachu(R), as well as new characters like Solid Snake, a gritty soldier from Konami's hugely popular Metal Gear series, and Sonic The Hedgehog. The combat-filled game lets characters of all kinds brawl until only one is left standing. Its predecessor, Super Smash Bros.(R) Melee, was the best-selling game of all time for Nintendo GameCube(TM). Super Smash Bros. Brawl has more characters, more features and more action-packed fun. What's
more, Super Smash Bros. Brawl uses Nintendo(R) Wi-Fi Connection, which allows up to four players to simultaneously brawl no matter where they are based. For a complete list of characters and features, visit http://www.SmashBros.com.

Warranty firm SquareTrade has amassed over 1000 warranty claims for the Xbox 360 and come up with some interesting findings. They have found that the failure rate of Xbox 360 systems is at 16.4%, compared to a 3% rate for the PS3 or the Wii with sample sizes in the high hundreds. The Red ring of Death accounted for 60% of their Xbox 360 failures. The CEO for SquareTade said that in the future we may see an even higher percentage due to prolonged use.

SquareTrade CEO Steve Abernethy speculated that the future may see an even higher percentage. "It is reasonable to believe these failure rates will increase over time, since the Xbox 360 failure issues tend to increase with prolonged use where overheating appears the main culprit," he said. Abernethy went on to note that while the company didn't track the different variations of the 360, he "would estimate most if not all were the original motherboard."

In taking statistics, the two most important factors are sample size and randomness. By using a pool of over 1000 redeemed warranties, the report's sample size is sufficient. On the other hand, since the sampling was taken from people who have to seek SquareTrade's warranty service out, the possibility exists that the randomness factor could be skewed, leaning towards heavy system users who are more likely to overheat their 360s. This doesn't invalidate the report by any means, but it is worth keeping mind.

Microsoft's senior VP of Interactive Entertainment, Don Mattrick, has said that Grand Theft Auto IV will have downloadable content and online multiplayer support that's unique to the Xbox 360. If true, the news of exclusive Xbox 360 multiplayer elements would be quite a blow to PS3 owners.

"It's an amazing piece of software, and I'm really excited with its downloadable content and online multiplayer support - again, that's something that's unique to 360," he said.

"We think consumers are going to love that, and it's going to create what I would describe, again, as the premium experience on our platform."

Journalist Matt Matthews done a bit of digging on Game Rankings and found that reviews of Wii games are severely lagging behind the Xbox 360 and PS3. The average of all reviews for the Xbox 360 is about 70 percent, while for the PS3 it is over 73 percent. However, the Wii puts in a very poor average performance with 64 percent.

While doing some data trawling through GameRankings recently, I ran across a phenomenon on the Wii that I hadn't really seen quantified before.

The average of all Xbox 360 reviews cataloged on GameRankings turns out to be almost 70%. The same number for the PlayStation 3 is over 73% and for the Nintendo Wii ... a dismal 64%. A picture says it best.

Sony's official Playstation blog has confirmed that the Lost Planet demo was pulled from the Playstation Network in order to resolve issues which have arised. They are working overtime to resolve the issue and a new fixed version of the demo will hit the Playstation Network as soon as possible.

The multiplayer demo for Lost Planet: Extreme Condition is temporarily being removed from the PlayStation Network in order to address issues that have come to light. We will be working overtime to correct the issue and expect to upload a new version to the PlayStation Network as soon as possible that accurately reflects the incredible online features of the game. For those of you who have already downloaded the demo, the servers are being taken down until the new version is ready to go. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience and your interest in Lost Planet!

Earlier on it was revealed that Echochrome for the PSP would cost twice as much as the PS3 version. However, it has finally been revealed why there is such a price difference. The PS3 version only provides a sample by giving a taster of 50 puzzles, while the PSP version includes 100 puzzles and multiple modes.

Yes, the PSP version of Echochrome costs twice as much, but there is reason for the extra cash. Walaber’s comment (thanks!) prompted immediate research and all of the answers are found over at Impress Watch. The PlayStation 3 version is actually Echochrome: Jokyoku or Echochrome: Prelude in English. For 1,800 yen ($17) you get a get a sample of Echochrome by tasting 50 puzzles. The 3,980 yen ($37) PSP version contains 100 puzzles and multiple modes including a variation where you have to avoid walking dark echoes. Fortunately, both versions come with canvas mode, which lets players create and upload puzzles on the PlayStation Network or transfer data via the PSP's Ad-Hoc mode.

With this new information the PSP version is more tantalizing. However, the cheaper PlayStation 3 version supports users created content, which devalues the addition of the extra 50 puzzles.

Patrick Seybold, Playstation's Director of Corporate Communications & Social Media has pointed gaming folk to the latest issue of EGM which gives 8 reasons as to why the PS3 will rock in 2008. Seybold insists that the article is definitely worth a read and supports Sony's view that it is the best value gaming console you can buy.

We spend a lot of our time (well, nearly all of it really) explaining why the PlayStation 3 is the most powerful, best value video gaming console you can buy. Well, the March issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly helps further the cause and explain what’s in store this year, with a cover story on why “2008 will rock” for the PS3 and its owners and fans. We, of course, agree. Covering off on subjects such as the amazing software line-up this year including LttleBigPlanet and MGS4, Blu-ray, PlayStation Network, and PSP cross-functionality, this is a pretty comprehensive article that is definitely worth a read. Subscribers should have it already, the rest can pick it up when it hits shelves next week.

A post on Capcom's blog confirms that Devil May Cry 4 does take around 20 minutes to install, but they claim the Future Publishing journalist who claims it loads just as slow as the Xbox 360 version is talking shit. They state that the PS3 version has near Super Nintendo speed load times and we'll be amazed how fast the levels load.

Once installed — once, mind, not every time you play, as I’ve seen “reported” on certain web sites less interested in facts than in OMG histrionics — the PS3 version of the game has near-Super Nintendo speed load times. You’ll be amazed how fast levels load, the virtually instantaneous transition from cut scenes to action and that you’re continuously playing the game, as opposed to staring at loading screens of a door opening every time you move from one room to the next.

Latest pictures have been posted of the new improved Playstation Home. Feedback from users who were testing the Playstation Home beta has led to key changes. It is currently on track for a spring 2008 launch.