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.

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Thrilling acrobatics and tandem beatdowns are the name of the game in this latest Prince of Persia trailer. Oh, there are also sweeping vistas to remind you that, yeah, this game looks great. The holiday season is already getting expensive.

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The staff has been hard at work preparing to start recording what we like to call “The Mushroom Cloud,” MEGATONik’s new podcast dedicated to serious and not-so-serious discussion on facts that are important to gamers. We’re not talking about the latest sales figures or boring things that people in suits care about. The Mushroom Cloud will go that extra mile to give you the latest gaming news, thoughts, and enough not-safe-for-work jokes to land you in your office’s gender-sensitivity training for the rest of the week. We’re doing this for you, our readers, because we care.

We’re finishing up the details and preparing to record our first episode next week. Prepare yourself for a show that will take your questions and discuss with us live. Expect reviews, live games, and plenty of ridiculous humor that will leave you rofl-ing all over yourself. Nasty, huh?

We’ll be posting show notes and much more for the first episode in the middle of next week. Until then, let us know if you’ve got any ideas for topics, features, or live games. I promise that this podcast will be worth your time, or I’ll post embarrassing pictures of Cortez. You’ll be entertained either way.

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Part of this week’s DLC might be free for those of us who pre-ordered the new Disturbed album from Best Buy. The rest of us will just have to get the tracks at the discounted price!

The following tracks will be available on Xbox Live’s Marketplace beginning June 3rd:

• “Margaritaville” by Jimmy Buffett
• “Cheeseburger in Paradise” by Jimmy Buffett
• “Volcano” by Jimmy Buffett
• “Indestructible” by Disturbed
• “Inside the Fire” by Disturbed
• “Perfect Insanity” by Disturbed

All of the tracks are original master tracks. Jimmy Buffett recorded new tracks just for use in Rock Band. The Jimmy Buffett tracks will cost 440 Microsoft Points for all three songs or 160 Microsoft Points for individual tracks. The Disturbed pack will be available for 240 Microsoft Points or 80 Microsoft Points for individual songs, but this price is only available for a limited-time! The video for “Inside the Fire” is above. Hit the jump for previews of the other five tracks.

I’m happy to see the Disturbed tracks available. I’ve felt that the hard rock/metal scene has been neglected, so I’m happy to see these tracks. How do you guys like the new DLC?

[via Harmonix]

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As more details about Epic Games’ Gears of War 2 hit the internet I’m finding it more difficult not to salivate at the mere thought of playing this game. In this interview, Epic’s Cliff Bleszinski talks more about the plot, chainsaw duels, and plenty more. Hit the jump for a summary of the video.
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We’ve already seen impressive tech demos demonstrating the item mechanics as well as the physics in Atari’s Alone In The Dark, but these demos were vague on the action in the game. Fear not! New trailers for Alone In The Dark have emerged and showcases the driving mechanic and an action scene. Hit the jump for more banter as well as the driving and original game trailers.
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Microsoft has released four high resolution (2935 x 1684) screenshots of Gears of War 2, from the level Assault, the same one featured in the previous gameplay video. It’s from Act One, Chapter Three, so it’s pretty early in the game.

It’s really looking amazing though, and the resolution on these screenshots really shows off the graphics and the same attention to details the first game had. From the explosion to the picture of the girl on the vehicle, everything looks beautiful.

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Neversoft is out to prove once and for all that they aren’t going to take all of their ideas from a certain other rhythm game. The fact that Guitar Hero 4 will support drums, guitar, bass, and vocals is old news. In a shocking turn of events, Guitar Hero 4 will support a new feature that is ridiculously awesome. What will this feature be? Learn all of this and more after the jump!
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GameTrailers.com recently posted a video comparing GRID on the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360. The only problem - according to the above video (the original has been removed from GameTrailers), not only was the “PlayStation 3″ gameplay from a PS3, so was the “Xbox 360″ gameplay. Instead of comparing the visuals of the two consoles like a so-called comparison video is intended to do, they just took gameplay from one console and by their choice of settings and what they showed made it seem like two.

While it certainly makes you wonder about GameTrailer’s integrity and bias, it also puts the validity of their numerous other comparisons into question. People have always argued over console comparison videos, sometimes doubting them (usually when their console of choice didn’t come out on top), but that didn’t stop people from trusting that the footage was at least from the console it was labeled as.

We now have one instance where that wasn’t the case, so how many others were not what they claimed to be, or were doctored or arranged to make one console seem superior? GameTrailer’s comparisons have been used by so many to fuel the fires of fanboydom, and we may never know which ones were valid comparisons and which ones were fake or at least influenced. This could have been a one time lapse of judgement (or an unusually unrestrained exclamation of console preference), but whatever credibility these comparisons had in the first place, it’s been lost.

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Wow, did you guys see all those Locusts on the screen at one point? This game is going to be amazing when it releases in November.

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Do you like to save money? Do you think the prices of Xbox 360 games are just too damn high? Do you shop at Target? If you answered yes to these questions… well, just keep reading.

How would you like to get 10 dollars off any 360 game at Target? All you need to do is print out a coupon! Click here to download the PDF.

Keep in mind that at most Target stores, you can find a ton of clearance games at really, really good prices (for example, I’ve seen PGR4 for 14.98 (or 4.98 with coupon) recently).

[Via CheapAssGamer. Big thanks to members skube and grap3fruitman (for cleaning it up into a PDF)]

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New Ninja Gaiden II screenshots were released today - but not just a few. No, Microsoft went all out and released more than 40 new screenshots to prepare you for the game’s release on June 3 (June 6 for you European folk).

These screenshots show plenty, from various creatures, enemies and werewolves (and flaming werewolves) to different environment and even boobs. And blood. Lots of blood. If there’s one thing almost all these screenshots have in common, besides featuring Ryu Hayabusa, it’s the extravagant and over-the-top blood spraying and spattering from every slice on every thing that can bleed. It’s surprising some of theses things even have that much blood in them - I would imagine by the time they’d lost as much blood as is seen leaving their bodies, they would be paper-white and entirely lifeless.

But this game obviously isn’t about realism - what would be the fun in that? Extravagant blood and gore has its place, and it seems to fit quite nicely in Ninja Gaiden II.
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This trailer from SCEE’s Gamer Day shows us what happens when DICE cheats on the Battlefield series and gets knocked up by Prince of Persia or Assassin’s Creed, only to later give birth to this gem.
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…I’d say Fox News is going to have a fit, wouldn’t you?

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Activision has been getting its ass kicked lately, thanks to brand new EA games such as Skate and Rock Band dominating the Tony Hawk Pro Skater and Guitar Hero series. Activision isn’t giving up though…least not without several upgrades and innovations.

IGN has reported that in the May issue of Conde Nast Portfolio, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick revealed that more instruments will be included in Guitar Hero IV.

“It’s not just about guitars. We’ll include a lot of other instruments, vocals. It will help us expand internationally.”

In addition to new instruments, Kotick also said that GH IV will be the first game in which the company will use “local content and local bands.” Players will be able to play along with their local bands in-game.

I don’t think Rock Band can get away with just DLC when this game comes around…

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