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Uh oh, sounds like somebody brewed up a PR nightmare. Yesterday, we ran a story on Capcom’s Antoine Seux, who said that hardcore gamers had essentially abandoned the Wii and that the future of Capcom was in the PS3 and Xbox 360. The obvious sh*tstorm this caused was noticed by the rest of Capcom Europe, who are now scrambling for a U-turn. 

“Further to comments made in a recent article on French website Gamekult, Capcom would like to confirm its commitment as a multi-platform developer and publisher of interactive software,” states the publisher, with perfect diplomacy. 

One can imagine that Seux was none too popular when he got into the office this morning. Still, regardless of how much trouble Seux may have gotten into, his comments regarding the poor performance of key titles still holds true. Like it or not, the Wii’s reputation as a shovelware platform will be hard to shake, and that’s nobody’s fault … except for all the arseholes who refuses to buy MadWorld. 

Capcom (Try To) Back Away From Anti-Wii Comments [Kotaku]

How can television manufacturer LG Electronics make its latest batch of big black rectangles stand apart from the crowd? While CES is full of bigger-than-last-year TVs and high-def 3D displays, it’s LG’s new “Magic Wand” that intrigues us.

The TV maker says that its new LE9500 and PK950 sets “incorporate a unique ‘Magic Wand’ remote system that provides an immersive interaction with the set.” The interface “brings together menus, component controls and even embedded games, which can be accessed using a simple remote that combines minimal buttons and gestures to control the on-screen activity, mirroring a ‘Wii-like’ experience.”

That would mean the circle is now complete, is it not? The Wii Remote, inspired by the television remote, has become the inspiration for a new way to control our high-def displays.

We’ve seen more than our share of motion control attempts at CES, few of them something we’d prefer to use outside of a convention center. But we’ll be hitting up LG’s booth to see if we can experience the “magic” of controlling a television this way later this week.

Today’s Microsoft CES keynote is likely to make mention of the arrival of the Xbox Game Room, a retro-themed game space, at least according to a video interview with Microsoft’s Robbie Bach, president of the company’s Entertainment and Devices Division.

More specifically, that’s from the quickly pulled video, originally posted on Microsoft’s On10.net and Channel 9 video blogs. In that video, Bach is said to have discussed a “one stop shop for retro games,” according to a tipster who saw the video before it was pulled.

If true, that sure sounds a lot like the Atari and Intellivision game-filled arcade populated with Xbox Live Avatars that leaked in a survey late last year. At the time, the names RetroCade, RetroGame, Game Preserve, Game Gallery, Tower of ROM, Tower of Game(s), Classics and Classics LIVE were all competing against what sounds like the final winner, Game Room.

Microsoft’s CES keynote is scheduled to kick off at 6:30 PM PST. We’ll be liveblogging the event from the show, so check back to see just how much of a rumor this really is.

Thanks to Ian for the heads up!

Update: Looks like the video interview wasn’t fully removed. Bach does confirm the Game Room addition to Xbox 360.

“It’s sort of a retro approach. It’s interesting, there’s a generation… who grew up with a set of games like Centipede,” Bach says of Xbox Game Room. “They look almost like casual, fun games today, at the time, they were high-end, edgy games. So Game Room is the idea of bringing that back to the market.”

He also describes the Xbox Game Room as “like my daughter going to watch Journey.” Hopefully that actually means Journey the video game will be playable.

Earlier in the day, Xbox Game Room was revealed to be a real thing. Microsoft’s Robbie Bach did a video interview with On10.net that was accidentally put up a little too soon. The video was taken down, but nothing ever really disappears from the grasp of the Internet!

So what is this all about? Game Room will have over 1000 old school classic games such as Centipede, Adventure and more being released over the next three years. You’ll be able to create a custom arcade rooms and challenge your friends in a number of games.

It’s odd that Microsoft is creating another channel for retro games when we already have Xbox Live Arcade. Perhaps Microsoft thinks the new channel will be more appealing to casual players. Game Room will be out this Spring for both the Xbox 360 and Games for Windows Live.

[Update: Game Room will launch this Spring with 30 arcade classics. Kotaku says games will range from 240 to 400 Microsoft points. Or, you can pretend it's the '80s all over again and buy the arcade games for just 40 Microsoft Points. And just like the '80s, once you die, you'll have to insert another 40 Points to play the game again.]

Maybe, “if you love intense close-range combat,” you should be looking elsewhere to release your pent-up rage. However, if you love intense close-range combat using an extremely tactical power — and don’t mind taking breaks for drawn-out conversation — then perhaps Mass Effect 2’s Vanguard combat class fits well with your particular proclivities.

Still not clicking? Have you tried the Engineer? He, uh, fixes stuff … with his killer robots.

Meet Mass Effect 2’s Vanguard class: for those who love to rush ‘n attack originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 06 Jan 2010 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney is ready to head into the WiiWare courtroom this Monday, Capcom reveals. You’ll be able to relive the classic lawyer-em-up for 1,000 Wii Points ($10), where your Hamilton will net you the first four episodes from the original GBA game — Capcom says the final fifth episode will be available later as DLC for 100 Wii Points ($1).

And if you’re scratching your noggin, wondering what the big deal is, feel free to check out some recent videos from the game.

Hold it! Phoenix Wright available on WiiWare this Monday originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 06 Jan 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We, as members of the video game blogging community, would like to take a moment to thank Blizzard for creating World of Warcraft. Not for making the world’s most popular MMO, as you may imagine; rather, for making possible bizarre stories like this one, which could only exist in a post-WoW world:

When a 16-year-old boy, of Ontario, Canada, asked his parents to drive him to a hotel to meet the 42-year-old mother of four he’d developed a relationship with inside WoW, they understandably balked. The kid nevertheless absconded in the middle of the night, prompting his parents to discover a wealth of chat logs that detailed the nature of the relationship. “He said she was his soulmate,” his mother told The Globe and Mail.

Now, before you worry about the outcome of the young lad’s safety, know that he was found two days later in a Future Shop with Ms. Price — the cougar in this sordid tale — who “will not face criminal charges,” thanks to Canada’s age of consent: 16. “Neither the teen or Ms. Price expressed any remorse,” said a local police sergeant.

Unsurprisingly, the boy has had problems with computer addiction (specifically WoW), while Price’s Facebook page “reveals a middle-aged woman with a large collection of friends — many made online,” the Globe and Mail notes. And while this situation ended safely (albeit, not happily ever after for the soulmates), we’ll take this opportunity to remind everyone to be cautious when talking with strangers online. Especially if they graduated college before you were born.

Update: Well, scratch that whole “not face criminal charges” thing. The CBC reports that Price was arrested upon her return to Texas, where the age of consent is 17. She’s being charged with “two counts of online solicitation of a minor and one count of child enticement.” Bail is set at $310,000.

[Via WoW.com]

16-year-old World of Warcraft youth absconds with cougar ’soulmate’ originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 06 Jan 2010 12:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Cracked takes a thoughtful look at what five iconic v8-bit video game characters would look like if their sprites were magically granted life. The results are just a wee bit disturbing.

If archeologists in the far future unearthed a blocky, sprite image of Mega Man, what would they think? How would they translate the 8-bit into a real-life creature? Cracked’s Robert Brockway uses deductive reasoning to determine just that, with often hilarious results.

Its facial features are roughly 70 percent eyes. Being a visually oriented hunter, this is clearly a valuable asset. We can also see the relative size of the mouth is greatly exaggerated. This suggests the Mega Man robot was likely powered on some sort of bioreactor, where the gaping mouth would allow the maximum flexibility in consuming energy sources. Look at the size of the energy containers, for example: They are roughly the width of his entire body. In order to consume power-ups like these, the Mega Man must have had the ability to unhinge its jaw, much like a snake, to accommodate the largest possible energy refills.

See? It makes perfect sense, sort of. Robert also takes on Q-Bert, a Space Invader, Pac-Man, and Link. Let’s see how Link turned out.

Well now I’m terrified.

Video Game Zoology: How 5 8-Bit Characters Would Really Look [Cracked - Thanks Irixyu!]

Some of you might recall an unannounced “Xbox Game Room” from a survey back in October. The basic idea behind the supposed virtual space is that it would allow Xbox 360 owners to access a bunch of retro games presumably varied enough to make it worthwhile with Xbox LIVE Arcade still — you know — existing.

There’s been a lot of speculation as to whether or not this thing will be blatantly similar to PlayStation Home in terms of walking around with your Avatar and choosing old-school games rather than picking them from a basic menu.

Based on a video interview with Microsoft’s Robbie Bach that was quickly pulled from On10.net, we’re relatively sure this so-called “Game Room” will be announced at the company’s CES keynote which just so happens to be going down at 6:30 PST tonight.

Rest assured, we will be “happily” waiting at our computers for any and all news to come out of the presentation so that you can go off and do fun things instead.

Microsoft To Announce “Xbox Game Room” At CES [Kotaku]