Square Enix announced yesterday that more adventures in the World of Mana were on the way this summer. We already kinda knew that but a date has been given to Dawn of Mana for the PS2. The direct sequel to Secret of Mana (one of my all-time faves) will hit on May 22nd.

But that's not all! No no! Heroes of Mana will be hitting the Nintendo DS sometime later this summer as well. No date was given but the game sounds to be similar to Final Fantasy Tactics. Which is OK by us

Looks as though Gears of War will take the giant sucking hole left by the absence of a Halo movie and stuff it full of gun powder and alien guts. Huzzah!

From Variety:

New Line has won feature rights to Microsoft's hugely popular vidgame "Gears of War" with Stuart Beattie writing and Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey producing via their Temple Hill banner.

CAA conducted the auction, which featured a 21 page treatment by Beattie, who wrote "Collateral" and "Derailed."

Check out the whole story HERE

OK I've been away all week rocking in SXSW but now let's get back to bidniss! 

In what should come as a shock to nobody, Devil May Cry 4, once seemingly a much-needed PS3 exclusive, will now also officially be appearing on the Xbox 360 and PC at the same time as well. Bring on…Nero…eh, doesnt sound as good as Dante. He looks EXACTLY the same! Why bother?! Oh well, it's bound to rule. regardless.

“Capcom is committed to making its titles available to as wide an audience as possible, and has been building its technology base to meet that goal,” said Mark Beaumont, executive vice president, officer and head of Capcom consumer software publishing in the Americas and Europe.  “This announcement means that PS3, Xbox 360 and PC owners worldwide will be able to experience the latest installment of one of Capcom’s pillar franchises.”

Various reports state that at GDC today Shigeru Miyamoto showed some footage of Super Mario Galaxy and said it was coming this year.

I have not given a rat's ass about Mario since Mario 64 but this game looks to be beyond charming.

It will be a one-two Mario/Metroid punch this Christmas for the Wii. Awesome.  

In a move to make games more "organic" with user-created content, like MySpace and YouTube, Sony has unveiled their much rumored PlayStation Home service for the PS3.

According to the New York Times:

"PlayStation Home is meant to build on and surpass somewhat similar offerings from Sony’s competitors Microsoft and Nintendo by allowing users to create persisting online identities that record players’ achievements in different games. As players progress through a game, they will unlock various virtual prizes that they can then show off to friends and rivals…"

And speaking to Phil Harrison, Prez of Sony's game studios:

“The packaged media approach on its own offers a closed experience,” he said. “You can only enjoy the game experience that the game developer put on that disc. But with the increase in adoption for the Internet and also the increased bandwidth, the Internet has democratized the audience to become content creators, as well as content consumers, and create what I call emergent entertainment. We’ve seen that with things like MySpace and YouTube and Flickr. Now we want to take those kinds of collaborative experiences and make them more central to the gameplay experience."

Also unveiled was the "community-based" game LittleBigPlanet that makes use of Home's user-created content to introduce new characters, levels, etc. into the über-cute title which was developed by Media Molecule, the same dukes behind Ragdoll Kung Fu.

I can't imagine you'll be seeing very much at all in this trailer besides a few beauty shots. But I could be mistaken. Get stoked, jerks!

OK so that headline is a little sensational. But of course that's how all the news outlets are spinning this. And as a legitimate news source, I'm going join in!

But yeah, some poor Chinese guy died after playing online games for almost seven days straight over the Chinese New Year holiday.

And he was really really fat. which I'm sure had nothing to do with it.

If he died mowing the lawn would anyone give a shit? Though if he did more things outside he probably wouldn't have had a problem…

From MSNBC:

BEIJING - An obese 26-year-old man in northeastern China died after a "marathon" online gaming session over the Lunar New Year holiday, state media said on Wednesday.

The 330-pound man from Jinzhou, in Liaoning province, collapsed on Saturday, the last day of the holiday, after spending "almost all" of the seven-day break playing online games, the China Daily said, citing his parents.

Xu Yan, a local teacher, said the "dull life" during the holiday prompted many people to turn to computer games for entertainment.

"There are only two options. TV or computer. What else can I do in the holiday as all markets, KTV and cafeterias are shut down?" the paper quoted Xu as saying.

China has seen an alarming rise in the number of teenage and young adult Internet addicts in recent years, despite attempts to restrict minors from cybercafes and limit online game playing times.

About 2.6 million — or 13 percent — of China's 20 million Internet users under 18 are classed as addicts, state media have reported. 

I've uh…have never played any Monster Hunter game. And have not paid much attention until today. Apparently it's the biggest PSP game in Japan. I always confused it with Monster Rancher, actually, and thought it was like Pokémon thing . Am an idiot?…Nope! Not according to the IQ test I took today, suckas!

THE INTERNATIONAL PHENOMENON CONTINUES AS CAPCOM ANNOUNCES MONSTER HUNTER FREEDOM 2 FOR THE PSP® (PLAYSTATION®PORTABLE) SYSTEM

Sequel to the Most Popular PSP Game in Japan Comes to North America

SUNNYVALE, Calif — Feb. 28, 2007 Capcom®, a leading worldwide developer and publisher of video games, today announced Monster Hunter Freedom 2 for the PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) system.  Monster Hunter has quickly become one of the most remarkable and successful series for Capcom, with sales in excess of 2.4 million units worldwide.  Capcom’s  previously released Monster Hunter Portable was a runaway hit, becoming Japan’s top selling title for the PSP system, with an attach rate of about one game sold for every five systems in the country.  Monster Hunter Portable 2nd has just released in Japan and is already well on its way to surpassing the previous title with remarkable initial shipment numbers.  Capcom plans to release this game as Monster Hunter Freedom 2 in North America in September 2007.

“Monster Hunter Freedom’s incredible graphics, deep gameplay and addictive multiplayer quests represent the very best that the PSP system has to offer,” said Charles Bellfield, vice president, marketing, Capcom Entertainment, Inc.  “In Japan, we’ve seen the Monster Hunter phenomenon take off based on players coming together for face-to-face multiplayer ‘hunting parties,’ which we will foster with our own community here in North America.

”The non-stop epic hunt-or-be-hunted adventure continues with more content and options than ever before.  Monster Hunter Freedom 2 builds on Monster Hunter2 (Dos) for the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system (previously released in Japan only) and contains 50% more content than the original Monster Hunter Freedom.  In this unique action-adventure game, gamers increase their play skills as they battle through breath-taking environments while defeating bloodthirsty creatures.

As mighty hunters, players can face a variety of quests alone, but the true spirit of the game comes from playing with others.  Multiplayer cooperative battles for up to four friends via wireless ad hoc mode foster team building and strategy for the ultimate battle of man vs. beast.  Players can fully customize their characters, building up their abilities with armor and weaponry as they make their way through hundreds of quests.  With the addition of infrastructure functionality, players will now be able to download even more content and quests. 

This is nothing but good news as Sim City is not only (usually) a fun, engrossing experience on any system but it perfectly complements the Nintendo DS/stylus gameplay style.

Japan already has the game but it's bound to be another smash when the rest of the world gets it this summer.

EA BRINGS SIMCITY TO Nintendo DS PLATFORM
SIMCITY DS OFFERS CITY BUILDING EXPERIENCE ON THE GO TO FANS AROUND THE WORLD

CHERTSEY, Surrey, - February 28, 2007 - Electronic Arts (Nasdaq: ERTS) announced today that the SimCity™ franchise is returning with SimCity™ DS, developed especially for the Nintendo DS™ platform. In addition to creating and growing their very own pocket sized city while being on-the-go, players will be able to leverage the unique action features of the Nintendo DS system, discovering an entirely new way to play this internationally acclaimed franchise. The product will make its debut to consumers worldwide in summer of this year.

True to the SimCity series, players will be able to create and control their city in the palm of their hands…and much more. Maximizing the stylus and built-in microphone controls of the Nintendo DS, SimCity DS brings to the franchise like never before the feeling of personal involvement with your city–from blowing into the microphone to put out fires in the city to signing off on mayoral proclamations with your stylus. By enabling the players to communicate with each other, the "wireless data exchange" feature brings additional interactivity into the game. As an added bonus to SimCity fans around the world, the game also offers a wide array of recognizable international landmarks to spice up your city.

"We are very excited to bring the SimCity experience to the Nintendo DS platform," said Takahiro Murakami, Producer of SimCity DS. "The unique Nintendo DS functionalities inspired us to incorporate many new features to delight the most dedicated SimCity fans. The game is filled with fun surprises that will appeal to new and existing fans of the franchise."

About Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is the world's leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, the company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for videogame systems, personal computers, cellular handsets and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under four brand names: EA SPORTSTM, EATM, EA SPORTS BIGTM and POGOTM. In fiscal 2006, EA posted revenue of $2.95 billion and had 27 titles that sold more than one million copies. EA's homepage and online game site is www.ea.com. More information about EA's products and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com.

WE ARE GIVING AWAY A FREEEEE NINTENDO DS! AND ELITE BEAT AGENTS! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!

OK so we gave away a Nintendo DS and Children of Mana a couple of months ago and you kids went mental.

Lets give it another go shall we?

Yes that's right, we are going to give away ANOTHER Nintendo DS Lite (Sorry, no picking the color - it's white) with a copy of Elite Beat Agents!

All you have to do is answer these few questions about…dancing. Yes. Dancing. Or dancers.

1. Paula Abdul was once a choreographer - name 3 videos she did choreography for

2. What dancer played Sarah Jessica Parker's boyfriend in the final season of Sex in the City?

3. What was the name of Chunk's dance in Goonies?

4. Which dance entails limping to the side like your leg was broken? Shaking and twitching, kinda like you were smoking?

5. Finally, which Street Fighter 2 character mimics a move from Michael Jackson's Thriller video?

OK that's it! Send entries to: ryan@phuze.com

The winner will be chosen at random from all correct entries received. All entries must be completed by Feb. 23rd and we will announce the winner on Feb. 26th. You MUST live in the US to win!

Good luck! 

*Special Thanks to Nintendo and GolinHarris PR