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This is an article I found about American giant games retailers:

We really hope that if you were one of the bazillions who threw down a tenner on a reserved copy of Grand Theft Auto IV at your local GameStop or EBGames, that you’ve already acquired your prize. If not, we wish you good luck and godspeed! An employee writes to us today about what he calls “some disturbing marching orders from corporate” that basically say that your pre-order doesn’t guarantee your copy won’t be sold to the next walk-in customer. In fact, “we are being told to specifically disregard our reservation customers, who have payed a deposit on this game in exchange for a guarantee of availability, for walk-in customers.”

The reason I’m posting it is that I’ve heard very disturbing rumours that the big boys over here (I’m not gonna name them cos I like them) are doing the same thing. All I can say is Holy Fuck that is some really bad shit guys. I’ve got customers here who still haven’t collected some of the GTA’s but I know they’re gonna and if I sold them I’m sure they would be absolutely gutted. Its a tight-rope you’re walking – don’t do it guys.

PlayTV, Sony’s digital television tuner/recording device for the PS3, has finally been given a release window. Speaking with Sony Australia during a techy meeting this morning, Gizmodo AU were told that the system would launch in Australia during Q4 2008, “roughly a month” after it’s released in Europe. They were also told that it would retail “for less than AUD$200″ (£95). Any Americans not already aware, now’s a good time to remind you that, sorry, thanks to the way your TV is broadcast, you will never ever see this in the US.

I know I shouldn’t but I just want to laugh… hahaha stupid Americans have some of what we’ve had for the last million years.

Over the weekend, Famitsu held its Famitsu Award 2007 ceremony, Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto got the MVP award.

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you. Getting something like this really makes the last thirty years worth it. It’s somewhat unreal, somewhat of a dream. Five years ago, I never thought I’d be making something like Wii Fit. I thought I’d be making more Mario and Zelda.

Well I’d be as happy as that if we got more than 10 poxy copies to sell in our store and he wouldn’t get any awards for ensuring equal distribution of his product to suppliers. While we got one poxy delivery of 10 Wii Fits I’m pretty sure the big boys will get as many as they want – yey go Nintendo!  breath, breath… and relax.

Stereotypes, stereotypes, stereotypes. That’s what the UK’s Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants thinks! Even worse, the JCWI thinks that GTA IV could make life hard for Eastern European immigrants. Says a JCWI spokesperson:
The figures show that East European immigrants are not proportionately responsible for any increase in crime. This plays on untrue stereotypes.

Aahhhh, so GTAIV is claiming that immigrants are responsible for an increase in crime now. I see……

Take-Two interactive have had some good news to deliver to gamers lately, as had been rumored for months, 2K Marin is now officially developing a sequel to BioShock, the award winning action adventure title from the studios collectively known Irrational games.

Inventively titled ‘BioShock 2′, the game will be released during the fourth quarter of Take-Two’s 2009 financial year. That means the game will arrive sometime between August 1 and October 31, 2009, on unspecified platforms (Xbox 360 and PC is almost guaranteed wit the origional only being on those two platforms). The first BioShock was released on Xbox 360 and PC in August 25 2007, and has gone on to sell over 2 million copys. The origional BioShock was also the most played ‘Xbox Live’ demo of 2007.

Gears of War 2 is the eagerly anticipated sequel to the 4.5 million selling blockbuster third-person tactical action game Gears of War, which became one of the most popular Xbox 360 games in history, is set to be released 1 November 2008. In GoW2, Marcus Fenix and Delta squad are poised to deliver a bigger and more intense experiance than ever before!

GoW2 continues the story of Marcus and Delta squad, locked in an increasingly desperate battle against the nightmarish locust horde for the survival of humanity.

GoW2 is exclusive to 360, it is developed by E.P.I.C games for Microsoft game studios and joins a growing list of must have Xbox 360 exclusives

The Casual entertainment label of Electronic arts Inc. have released additional detail on MONOPOLY (working title), the first hasbro-branded game set to launch on next-gen consoles including Wii and Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system

The MONOPOLY video games promise a fresh take on the timeless classic with accessible gameplay for players of all ages and skill levels. The all-new digital gaming eddition brings a party twist and features 4-player simultaneous play, ensuring that everyone is engaged and the whole family can join in the fun and play together. Faster gameplay eliminates downtime freeing up players to wheel and deal their way through some of the most recognizable cities and landmarks from around the world. Families can fill up their passports as they try to unlock new and never before seen game boards or challenge each other to fun interactive mini-games like breaking out of the jail cell and running away with the loot. PLay in offline single or multi-player mode and compete to own it all and win!

Some friends of ours over at Unico Comics have some funny as shit cartoons that are console related – we’ll be posting one every Friday once we’ve settled rights issues and ponied up some license money. If you wanna check them out in the meantime click the link above.

There have been numerous complaints about some problems with vegas 2, these problems were;

• people who played the first Rainbow Six Vegas game would start at the rank of sergeant and were unable to get the private first class achievement.
• Many people haven’t been getting the Freedom Shall Prevail achievement (mainly people who JOINED co-op matches)
• Many people have had their ranks reset for no apparent reason

Thankfully there is now an update you can install; you will get the private first class achievement if you didn’t already have it, you will get the freedom shall prevail achievement (you may have to play an act either in single player or as the host) and your ranks should stop reseting.

Rock band finally has a release date, it will be coming out for Xbox 360, PS3 and PS2 on 23 May, and unfortunately all you Wii owners will have to wait just that little bit longer.

The European version of ‘Rock Band’ is going to have more songs that the US version, we will be getting;

· Hier Kommt Alex by Die Totten Hosen (German)
· Perfekte Welle by Juli (German)
· Countdown To Insanity by H-Block X (German)
· Beetlebum by Blur (English)
· Rock ‘N’ Roll Star by Oasis (English)
· Monsoon by Tokio Hotel (English)
· Hysteria by Muse (English)
· Manu Chao by Les Wampas (French)
· New Wave by Playmo (French)

In addition to the new songs added into the game there will be new songs available to download every week and sometimes albums.

Since its release in 2007 Rock Band has already won over 40 awards including Game Critics Award: Best of Show E3 2007 and three awards at The 11th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards including Outstanding Innovation in Gaming, Family Game of the Year, and Outstanding Achievement in Soundtrack.

The game is rated 12+ by PEGI: sex, bad language, PEGI online.