Game News: November 29, 2006

IBM Uses Video Games To Spur Student Interest In Math, Science (TechWeb)
   TechWeb - IBM volunteers show students what's under the hood of popular games like World of Warcraft and Doom -- and how that technology can be applied to loftier environments like health care research and space exploration.

Group cites video games for violence (AP)
   AP - A chainsaw-wielding killer and blood-splattered shooting rampages are featured in some of the 10 video games that a media watchdog group says should be avoided by kids and teens.

Who's Winning the Game Console Wars? (NewsFactor)
   NewsFactor - "Feeding frenzy." That's how one report described the latest battle in the gaming wars, in which shoppers braved day-long lines or camped out in cold weather for new consoles from Nintendo and Sony. Their mood, often within minutes, went from anticipation to excitation to flat-out desperation, as many were turned away empty-handed.

Review: Wii console fun for novice gamer (AP)
   AP - I'm not so good with buttons, especially those that control video games. When I play, it's a full-body experience with a lot of arm movement as I try to move my little guy on the screen. The physical activity does nothing to influence the game, but it's good exercise and provides plenty of amusement to my brothers, significant others and anyone else watching.

Mad Catz Arcade Joystick Ready to Ship for Holiday Season
   

Mad Catz Interactive, Inc. A leading third party video game accessory provider, announced that its Arcade GameStick for Xbox Live Arcade, Xbox 360 and PC will ship to major US retailers for availability this holiday season. Through collaboration with Konami Digital Entertainment, Inc. and PopCap Games, Mad Catz has introduced a joystick controller bundled with three full Xbox Live Arcade games Frogger, Time Pilot and Astropop.

Scareface The World is Yours Sells 1 Million Copies
   

Vivendi Games Sierra Entertainment division is proud to announce that Scarface The World Is Yours, the blockbuster video game based on the 1983 classic film from Universal Pictures, has sold more than 1 million copies worldwide at retail stores.

This Week in Xbox: Nov. 22-28, 2006
   Games Editor Denny Atkin brings you up to date on all the latest in this week on xbox.com.

Game With Fame Event Take on BMX Rider TJ Lavin
   

Pro BMX rider and host of MTV?s Real World Road World Challenge, TJ Lavin, will shuffle the deck to duel his fans on Xbox Live as part of the latest Xbox Live Game with Fame session. Xbox Live Gold members interested in going all in with Lavin in Activision?s World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions for Xbox 360 should be on the lookout for the Xbox Live gamertag LavinGWF on Wednesday, November 29 from 4:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. PST 7:00 p.m. 8:00 p.m. EST.

Virtual Console beefed up
   Hudson and Sega dip in with their back catalogue of classics.
Wii's Virtual Console has accepted more games into its ranks this week in the US, Hudson and Sega delivering the retro action.

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Nintendo sees at least one more Game Boy holiday (Reuters)
   

Reuters - Nintendo Co. Ltd.'s long-running Game Boy Advance console has at least one more holiday sales season left in its life cycle, Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime said on Wednesday.

Nintendo says Wii on track to meet targets (Reuters)
   

Reuters - Nintendo Co. Ltd. is on track to meet its target of selling 4 million units of its Wii game console globally by the end of the year, with the potential for exceeding that goal limited only by manufacturing constraints, Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime said on Wednesday.

Lara Croft goes mobile
   Tomb Raider: Legend, um, raids mobile phone. Screens inside.
A mobile phone version of Tomb Raider: Legend is releasing for compatible handsets next month.



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Celebs roll out for UK Wii launch
   Ian Wright, Jodie Kidd and Pat Cash to be part of HMV's Oxford Street midnight Wii launch.
Troop down to HMV at 150 Oxford Street, London, at 11pm on December 7 and you can take part in the UK Wii launch celebration occurring at the store as the console readies for its midnight strike.

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30 new Metal Gear PSP screens
   30 (count 'em, 30) new shots of Snake's first 'proper' PSP stealth mission, MGS: Portable Ops.
Fresh from Konami's gentle loins we've got 30 new stealthy screenshots of Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, which hits PSP next year.



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Vancouver Film School To Host Inaugural Game Design Expo
   

Vancouver Film School (VFS), a private post-secondary entertainments arts institution in Canada, has announced the launch of the inaugural Game Design Expo on January 13-14, 2007, in Vancouver, B.C.

DS touches 2 million UK gamers
   Handheld to continue being the main "driving force behind the expansion of the video game market" says Nintendo.
Five months since the launch of DS Lite, combined weekly sales of the DS and DS Lite in the UK are outsell handheld rivals by a rate of over 2.5:1. Brain Training, Animal Crossing and New Super Mario Bros. are among the biggest sellers.

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No Mario Galaxy until Christmas 2007?
   It could be as long as next Christmas before we get our hands on Mario Galaxy, says Nintendo's Reggie.
Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime has said that North American gamers can expect Mario's first Wii adventure, Super Mario Galaxy in shops between the end of March and next Christmas, in an interview with MTV.com.

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Nintendo wants Goldeneye on Virtual Console
   "We would love to see it, so we're exploring all the rights issues," says Nintendo boss.
Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime has revealed Nintendo's efforts to bring N64 classic Goldeneye 007 to the Wii Virtual Console, in an interview with MTV.com.

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Thank the lord for web monkeys
   Downtime: CVG is taking a short transmission break while we move the site to faster servers.
While our web monkeys shuffle things around behind the scenes we've had to stop posting updates and take the forums, competitions and user profiles offline.

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Red Steel sequel underway
   According to a Ubisoft job advert anyway...
Red Steel is probably the Wii launch game you'll pick up after Twilight Princess on December 8, if you've got enough cash left over.

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Relic taps into MMOG and RPG games
   Has the Company of Heroes crew turned its back on the RTS genre?.
Relic, the developer responsible for critically acclaimed RTS game Company of Heroes (and Homeworld - Ed), is reportedly seeking to fill job positions connected to an RPG project and an MMOG.

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Capcom fixes Lost Planet
   Retail version to have standard definition TV option to fix unreadable text.
It looks like all the complaining over the Lost Planet multiplayer demo's dingy text has paid off, as Capcom has promised the final game will automatically detect standard definition televisions and bump the text up a few font sizes.



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