Only by one week, though. Still, the promise of battling some of the coolest AI ever seen makes the push all the sweeter. The new release date is October 14th, and for those of you who, like me, are planning on just going without food for the month of October, this is both exciting and depressing news. The friendly PR fellas at EA would also like you guys to check out this kick-ass website, too. No, really, it’s awesome. EA didn’t even pay me to say that.

All I can say is that it’s about damn time.

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The PlayStation family got a little bigger today as Sony announced the PSP 3000 and a 160gig PS3 bundle.

The PSP 3000 features an improved screen and a built-in microphone for Skype and Go Messenger. The screen is said to reduce glare when outside and display colors more vibrantly. The PSP 3000 will be included in two different packages:

Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters Entertainment Pack
Updated Mystic Silver PSP 3000
Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters
National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets UMD
Echochrome PSN download voucher
1GT Memory Stick PRO Duo
Available Oct 14 ($199.99)

PSP 4GB Memory Entertainment Pack
Updated Piano Black PSP 3000
4GB Memory Stick PRO Duo
Everyday Shooter PSN download voucher
Available November ($199.99)

Of course, the system will also be available in a core package which just includes a Piano Black system for $169.99

Also announced today was an Uncharted entertainment pack, which includes a 160gig PS3 system, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune and a PSN voucher for Pain, all for the reasonable price of $499.99.

How ironic! Since demand has suddenly raced beyond supply, Microsoft Japan has been forced to put out an official statement:

お客様各位

平素より Xbox 360® をご愛顧いただきまして、誠にありがとうございます。

現在、Xbox 360 本体の品切れにより、多くのお取扱店で Xbox 360 本体をご購入いただけない状況が発生しております。これは、弊社の販売予測を超えた多くのお客様に Xbox 360 本体をお買い求めいただいた結果発生したもので、ご購入を検討いただいておりますお客様ならびに販売店の皆様、パートナーの皆様には多大なご迷惑をおかけしておりますことを深くお詫び申し上げます。

只今マイクロソフトでは、 Xbox 360 本体の生産を鋭意行っており、スタンダードモデルにつきましては次回 9 月の出荷を予定しております。なお、エリートおよびアーケードモデルにつきましては順次出荷を行ってまいります。商品の入荷まで、今しばらくお待ちいただきますようお願い申し上げます。
今後とも Xbox 360 製品およびサービスをご愛顧いただけますようよろしくお願い申し上げます。

マイクロソフト株式会社
ホーム&エンターテイメント事業本部

You heard it straight from the horse’s mouth, people: Microsoft rove you rong time, one dorrar.

Seriously, though. Apparently Bandai Namco’s Tales of Vesperia is to the 360 as Monster Hunter Freedom 2 is to the PSP. I have to admit, I did not see this one coming. What the statement really says is that MS Japan apologizes for not meeting demand and that they’ll be shipping out more as soon as they can.

Note to self: use above image as often as possible.

As a gamer, my mind often trails off into a dream world populated with my favorite video game characters. Sometimes I’m brushing blades against Ganondorf on the fields of Hyrule; sometimes I’m barreling through loop-the-loops in pursuit of Dr. Robotnik; sometimes I’m just spending some quality time with Sheena from Tales of Symphonia (and who could blame me?)

There are times, though, that my fantasies become more elaborate. Any time that I’m forced to spend several hours in a car, or when I have to mow the lawn, or if I had to perform open-heart surgery. It’s times like these that have made me speculate on many occasions, “if aliens were to attack my beloved Earth, what video game characters would I assemble to combat them?” These are the musings that bring you this article. Hit the jump to find out which characters made the cut and what weapons they’ll be issued in the battle against the extra-terrestrial menace!
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Yep, it’s that time again! As you can probably tell by my header image, the Blue Bomber is amongst those being slapped onto Nintendo’s download service today. Who’s joined him, though? Hit the jump to see!
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Have you ever noticed something new about a thing you’ve looked at a thousand times before? In my 20 years of gaming, I’ve encountered a few such items that I’d like to share with you, my adoring fans.
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Mondays are always good days for Wii owners. That is, those of us that still have room on the measly half-gig of storage space. Anyway, today brings 3 new games available for download. Hit the jump to find out what they are.
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What the hell, Activision? According to IGN, you’ve gone and dropped several really promising Vivendi titles. Not cool, you guys.

Amongst those on the guillotine were Ghostbusters: The Video Game, Brütal Legend, WET, 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand, Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena and World in Conflict: Soviet Assault. While it’s still entirely possible that another publisher will swoop in and pick these games up, we’re looking at an uncertain future for all of these. Dammit, I was really looking forward to Brütal Legend, too.

[UPDATE: Fortunately, it looks like both Brütal Legend and Ghostbusters: The Video Game are going to be fine. Hopefully the others are similarly lucky, because some of them actually looked pretty sweet. -zizzy]

Dear Japan,

I just don’t understand your lack of interest in the Xbox 360. No, really, I don’t see how you can deny a console that offers exactly the kinds of games that have classically piqued the interest of Japanese gamers. Just off the top of my head I can think of Eternal Sonata, Blue Dragon, and Lost Odyssey, not to mention Tales of Vesperia, which is coming to the 360 in a few months, too. That’s four solid JRPG titles that are currently exclusive to Microsoft’s system. Of course, Square Enix is releasing Final Fantasy XIII everywhere except the glorious nation of Nippon, but that’s only because you guys hate is so much.
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Looking for some games to waste your Wii Points on that you might play for an hour and then never click on again? Well, this week just might be for you! Hit the jump to find out what was added to Nintendo’s online catalog.
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My cautious optimism continues to grow. Gameplay looks like a nice mix between old-school and new-school, and the werehog gameplay doesn’t look completely awful.

Sony just wrapped up their show and I have to say, it was pretty impressive. Hit the jump for a declicious, bite-sized recap of what went down!
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Nintendo’s press conference just wrapped up. It was just terrible. How terrible? I’ll break it down in a few easy-to-digest paragraphs and even boldify all the important bits.

First, Cammie Dunnaway came on stage and regaled us with her life story and how she went snowboarding once, which was an excellent segway for the introduction of Shaun White Snowboarding, which uses the Wii Balance Board. It looks like a generic snowboarding game and should be completely overlookable.

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Horray! AC/DC! It’s about damn time! And a pretty solid set overall, really. Hit the jump for the full list of 84 songs.
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