To use the wretched “haha drugs” cliche,Vanquishdoes look likeGears of Waron acid. However, the original plans might have also had a bit of a sci-fiDynasty Warriorsslant, as the game once intended to drop players into the middle of a big battlefield with tactical objectives to meet. “Vanquishwas originally an open battlefield type of game,” says director Shinji Mikami, “where the goal was to move around crushing enemy positions; however, once we got started with development, we quickly made the decision to change to a more linear structure....

Wii-kly Update: Two New Classic Games Added to Wii Shop Channel It’s a week of fun-filled firsts at the Wii(TM) Shop Channel. Each ofthe latest gameofferings represents the first title in a memorable series that hasinfluenced manysubsequent titles over the years. Whether you prefer high-speed drivesor side-scrollingadventures, it’s clear that these classic games have lasting appeal.What’s more,Wonder Boy is the first-ever Sega Master System title to be madeavailable via Virtual Console....

American retail titan Walmart hasurged the games industryto follow its Earth-conscious ways and go green. Holding a “green gaming summit,” Walmart’s buying team spoke with the likes of Microsoft, Sony, Electronic Arts and Activision to try and convince them to be more aware of power consumption and packaging with regards to healing the world, brotha. Walmart wants game makers to develop easier ways to save one’s game and power down machines so that consoles are not constantly hogging all the juice while players go away to eat a meal or perform other non-gaming activities....

From time to time, I love to play devil’s advocate. Such an opportunity came across recently, and so I wanted to turn it into a full-fledged post. This week, I’m delving into the depths of /bridget/ itself, in an attempt to argue the heterosexuality of Bridget. Now, I know that everyone’s gay for Bridget. It’s a given fact. It’s right along there with thebombing of Hiroshimaandthe giganticnessofCheapyD. Soon, it will be incorporated into history textbooks....

So, with Nintendo of Americaclaiming it has no current plansto releaseThe Last Storyin the West and gamers concluding that we’ll never get a localized version of the game, I had to sit back and ponder a question … why is Mistwalkertweeting detailsabout the game in English? “No shaking remote control. Menu option is switched automatically by pressing classic controller. Camera operation using right analog stick is reversed by switching to reverse camera option,” said Mistwalker in a Tweet posted just today....

I don’t know how else to title this article, nor do I know what to say, really. This is a weird one, that’s for damn certain.Go Nintendoreader Tony sent an email to the aforementioned site telling the story of how his wife cheated on him while he served as a soldier in Iraq. Certainly not out of the realm of reason, however scummy the act. Where this story becomes relevant to us, however, is the method by which the final nail was delivered to poor Tony —Wii Sports....

Oh the irony … a place where you eat out, dedicated to people who don’tgoout. Despite this obvious marketing flaw, aWorld of Warcraftrestaurant has indeed opened in Beijing, China. The establishment’s interior is designed to mimic Blizzard’s world-crushing MMO, with artwork from the game surrounding diners. The restaurant’s entrance is even designed to apeWarcraft‘s opening menus. On the subject of menus, the food is all renamed to give off aWarcraftvibe, and the main dining area is known as the Hall of Snowstorms....

So you know whenAlan Wakehit store shelves— May 19. You know what’s inside theLimited Editionbox, too. But when you go to the store, what should you be looking for? This stuff, apparently. Microsoft and Remedy have released more detailed images of the game’s Limited Edition, which (as advertised) ships in a box that looks like a hardcover novel. It also comes with three discs — the game, a bonus disc, and the soundtrack....

You may have heard that the new Xbox 360 consoles make sounds when you hit the buttons. The Limited EditionHalo Reachone has custom sounds that are Halo themed. Today Major Nelson has a preview of what you can expect when you glide your fingers across the buttons for the first time. He has both thepower button and disc tray soundsrecorded in the mp3 format for your listening pleasure. And if you’re a super Halo fanboy (nothing wrong with that, mind you), there’s ....

As far as we know, the PS3 version ofDragon Age: Originswon’t have exclusive Challenge Room DLC starring the purple-clad trickster The Joker. But that could all change this mid-morning as game developer BioWare is planning to blast an “exciting” announcement about this version ofOriginsdirectly to PS3 owners. According to theofficialOriginsWeb site, BioWare’ Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk will make an “exciting announcement” in a live chat that is to be published in motion on bothofficial PlayStation blogsat 11 AM (PST)....

[For his musing, Tubatic discusses the multiple issues he had withFable III, and how they represented the problems he saw in the gaming industry as a whole. If you want to write a musing on this month’s topic too, you’re running out of time! All of you who’ve been putting it off need to get on it now — get over to the community blogs and share your thoughts. — JRo]...

I haven’t picked up 3DS gameProfessor Layton and the Miracle Maskyet, but some of my friends have and they’re all loving it. I was wondering if it would be the top-selling title, and now Famitsu has confirmed that it is.Laytonmoved 117,598 copies, which means that about one out of every four 3DS owners picked this one up. Congrats! This has to be the first time that a Layton game came out at the top of a launch line-up....

We’re guessingChampions Onlinebetaparticipants have interesting Twitter feeds. Following the latest MMO trend, Cryptic Studioshas added support for the social networking tool. According to1UP, players can type “/tweet” in-game to update their status with, uh, something and can even view their @ feed by typing “/twitter_watch.” Great. In some ways, we’re happy about this functionality. MMO players will no longer have to tweet about that burrito they ate. Instead, they can talk about saving that kitten or killing some sort of intergalactic fiend....