When a company sells an optional add-on to a product, one usually assumes that it is just that -- optional. According to Famitsu, however, the PlayStation Vita's expensive memory cards aren't something you can just ignore, with some games refusing to even boot up without one inserted.
Uncharted: Golden Abyss is one such game. It won't work unless you drop mad bank for an extra memory card. Famitsu has stated that these cards are "pretty much a requirement" for anybody wanting to play on Sony's new machine, which goes hand in hand with last week's news that game saves would be demanding them.
I was impressed by the Vita's $250 price point, but it seems that's not the true cost of the machine once we factor memory cards into the mix. This is what we in the industry would call a "dick move" on the part of Sony, but I'm sure some of you think it's completely fair. I look forward to the defense of this one.

[Update: Canada, Latin America, and Europe are also getting their Vita on Feb. 22. The image you see above is the final North America box.]
Today, at San Francisco's Web 2.0 Summit, President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment, Jack Tretton, announced the official release date of the PlayStation Vita for North America: February 22, 2012. Yes. YES.
This delicious portable will be available at your favorite game store for $249.99 for the Wi-Fi model and $299.99 for the 3G model.
That's too long to wait, though less than we thought at first. I want it. I WANT IT NOW.

PlayStation Vita's full listing of 100 games has been revealed at Tokyo Game Show 2011.

Sony released a list of all 26 launch titles that will be available alongside the handheld's Japanese launch in December, according to Eurogamer.

It also outlined the 74 titles currently in the works by first and third-party developers, including FIFA, Persona 4, Super Monkey Ball and LittleBigPlanet.

Some of the other games releasing after launch have yet to be given full working titles, while others are non-games such as language support software.
Read PlayStation Vita's Japanese launch lineup below:

• BlazBlue Continuum Shift Extend - 2D fighting game (Arc System Works)
  
• Project N.O.E.L.S. (working title) - music player (Arc System Works)
  
• 3gokushi touchbattle (working title) - MMO/RTS (AQ Interactive)
  
• Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 - fighting game (Capcom) - Launch title
  
• Nature of Night of Kamaitachi - 11th visitor, A Suspect (tentative) - adventure: sound novel (Chunsoft)
  
• F1 2011 - racing game (Codemasters)
  
• Dream C Club Zero Portable - dating simulation game (D3 Publisher)
  
• Niconico - Niconico (Dwango)
  
• Fis Oh - sport fishing (Kadokawa Games)
  
• Katamari Damacy (working title) - roll-'em-up (Namco Bandai)
  
• Ridge Racer (working title) - racing game (Namco Bandai)
  
• Disgaea 3 Return - strategy RPG (Nippon Ichi Software)
  
• Virtua Tennis 4: World Tour Edition - sport tennis (Sega)
  
• @field - sport golf (Sonic Powered)
  
• Uncharted: Golden - action adventure (Sony)
  
• Little Deviants - mini-game collection (Sony)
  
• Minnato Issho - social communications (Sony)
  
• Hot Shots Golf Next (Everybody's Golf Next) - sport golf (Sony)
  
• Yuusha no kiroku (TBD) - life management (Sony)
  
• Monster Radar - location-based game (Sony)
  
• Shinobido 2: Tales of the Ninja - stealth action (Spike)
  
• Army Corps of Hell - action (Square Enix)
  
• Lord of Apocalypse - action RPG (Square Enix)
  
• Dynasty Warriors Next - action with a bit of thinking (Tecmo Koei)
  
• Dark Quest - RPG (Ubisoft)
  
• Michael Jackson: The Experience HD - rhythm action (Ubisoft)

Read PlayStation Vita's other 74 titles in development below:

• Sumioni - ink action (what?) (Acquire)
  
• SRPG (working title) - simulation RPG (Alpja Unit)
  
• Malicious (tentative) - ACT (what - action?) (Alvion)
  
• No title (working title!) - dungeon RPG (Aquaplus)
  
• Street Fighter X Tekken - fighting (Capcom)
  
• Shirotsuku - simulation (Cave)
  
• New shooting (working title) - shooting (Cave)
  
• Emergency Escape Adventure Trust or Betrayal (tentative) - adventure: emergency escape adventure (what?) (Chunsoft)
  
• DJ Max Technika Portable (working title) - DJ music game (Cyberfront Corporation)
  
• Jurassic Hunter (working title) - action game (Digital Works Entertainment)
  
• Slotter Mania 5 - slot simulation (Dorasu)
  
• Hello Kitty to Issho Block Crash 5 - block crash (Dorasu)
  
• FIFA (working title) - sport football (EA Sports)
  
• Maplus Portable Navi 4 (working title) - navigations (Edia)
  
• RPG (working title!) - RPG (Furyu Corporation)
  
• Ragnarok Odyssey - action (GungHo Online Entertainment)
  
• TBA - action (GungHo Online Entertainment)
  
• TBA - action puzzle (GungHo Online Entertainment)
  
• New title - new genre (what?) (Gust)
  
• Sudoku by Nikoli Complete Edition - puzzle (Hamster)
  
• Monsters Rising (tentative title) - card game (Idea Factory)
  
• Dragon's Crown - action RPG (Ignition Entertainment)
  
• Shin Megami Tensei series - RPG (Atlus)
  
• Persona 4: The Golden - RPG (Atlus)
  
• Pachi-Para Series - pachinko (Irem)
  
• No title - adventure (Kaga Create)
  
• No title - shooting game (Kaga Create)
  
• Asphalt: Injection - racing (Konami)
  
• AR Combat DigiQ - simulation (Konami)
  
• Oh to Maoh to Nananin no himegimi tachi - shin ohsama monogatari (what?) - RPG (Konami)
  
• PES (tentative) - sport football (Konami)
  
• Zone of the Enders HD Collection - action (Konami)
  
• Mah-Jong Fight Club: Shinsei Zenkoku Taisen Version - Mah-Jong (Konami)
  
• Metal Gear Solid HD Collection - stealth action (Konami)
  
• Baseball - sport baseball (Konami)
  
• New Level-5 RPG - RPG (Level-5), duh
  
• No title - adventure (Mages)
  
• Saikyo Todai Shogi - table (Mainichi Communications)
  
• Marjong Haoh - table (Mainichi Communications)
  
• New Action RPG (working title) - action RPG (Marvelous Entertainment)
  
• New Action-Adventure game (working title) - action adventure (Marvelous Entertainment)
  
• New Simulation RPG (working title) - simulation RPG (Marvelous Entertainment)
  
• New Fantasy RPG (working title) - action RPG (Marvelous Entertainment)
  
• Next Education [English Grammar] - education (Media5 Corporation)
  
• Next Education [Test preparation for certified administrative procedures specialists] - education (Media5 Corporation)
  
• Next Education [TOEIC TEST] - education (Media5 Corporation)
  
• Gundam Franchise (working title) - action (Namco Bandai)
  
• Super Robot Taisen Franchise (working title) - TBD (Namco Bandai)
  
• Tales of Innocence R - RPG (Namco Bandai)
  
• Anime Action (working title) - action (Namco Bandai)
  
• Ys: Foliage Ocean in Celceta - action RPG (Nihon Falcom)
  
• Daito Giken Official Pachi-Slot Simulator Series - pachi-slot simulator (Paon)
  
• No title - android communicator (Polygon Magic)
  
• Little Busters! Converted Edition - adventure (Prototype)
  
• Jumpin' (working title) - action (Railfan Holdings)
  
• RPG (working title) - RPG (Rideon Japan)
  
• Super Monkey Ball (working title) - action puzzle (Sega)
  
• Ginsei Igo - table (SilverStarJapan)
  
• Ginsei Shogi Huun Ryuuko Raiden - table (SilverStarJapan)
  
• Escape - survival strategy (Sony)
  
• Gravity Rush - action adventure (Sony)
  
• Sound Shape - music action creator (Sony)
  
• Starstrike Delta - shooting (Sony)
  
• Reality Fighters - AR fighting (Sony)
  
• LittleBigPlanet - platform action/create (Sony)
  
• WipEout 2048 - racing (Sony)
  
• Final Fantasy 10 - RPG (Square Enix)
  
• Sangokuhime - simulation adventure (SystemSoft Alpha Corporation)
  
• Battlefield of Maidens 2nd - strategic simulation adventure (SystemSoft Alpha Corporation)
  
• Sengokuhime 3rd - strategic simulation adventure (SystemSoft Alpha Corporation)
  
• Moe Moe Great War Modern Version ++ - strategic simulation adventure (SystemSoft Alpha Corporation)
  
• Ninja Gaiden Sigma - action (Tecmo Koei)
  
• Lumines - music puzzle (Ubisoft)
  
• Rayman Origins - action (Ubisoft)

Atlus is giving future PlayStation Vita owners something to get excited about: a portable port of the PlayStation 2 game Persona 4, reportedly due for release in Japan in 2012 and packing lots of enhancements.

Japanese retailer blog Sinobi reports that Persona 4: The Golden, as it's supposedly called, adds new animation, at least one new character and new voice acting to the Japanese RPG. It also adds wireless support, which Andriasang says lets players "[call] on others to help you when you're about to die in a dungeon." A Vita Persona is great news as is, but for Atlus to give it a bit more polish is even better.

In less expected news, a Persona fighting game is also reportedly in the works by BlazBlue developer Arc System Works. The fighter, Persona 4 The Ultimate In Mayonaka Arena, is reportedly due to hit arcades in spring 2012, with a PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 version hitting later that summer.

Capcom partnered with Solatorobo creator and Naruto: Ultimate Ninja developer CyberConnect2 to create Asura’s Wrath. It’s a brand new intellectual property where you play as an enraged demigod who gets beat down by planet-sized bosses before turning the fight around with a dramatic comeback.

Asura’s Wrath will be CyberConnect2′s first Capcom published title when it comes out next year. Curious to see what the future could hold and since Capcom lets external developers work on established franchises, I asked Hiroshi Matsuyama, CEO and President of CyberConnect2, what Capcom series would he like to develop.

"It would be Mega Man Legends 3," exclaimed Matsuyama in a Siliconera interview. "I really like the series!" Just this week Capcom canceled the Mega Man Legends 3 project for Nintendo 3DS where fans collaborated with the development staff on creating a sequel. Matsuyama said he was disappointed by that announcement. CyberConnect2′s work on Solatorobo and Tail Concerto could be a foundation for a Mega Man Legends sequel too. Would any fans "green light" a Mega Man Legends game from the Fukuoka based developer?

We'd like to thank you for your ongoing loyal support of Mega Man Legends 3. Today, however, we must regrettably announce the discontinuation of this project.

From the outset the MML3 Project was intended to give gamers across the world insight and input into the development process. Part of this process includes an assessment of whether the title will go into full production, and is based on a number of criteria with input from different sectors of the company.

Unfortunately it was not felt that the Mega Man Legends 3 Project met the required criteria, and it is with regret that we must announce that the Mega Man Legends 3 Project has been cancelled, meaning that Capcom will not be releasing the Prototype or the full game. Additionally, updates of the Mega Man Legends Developer Room will cease as of today, though the North American Developer Room and its forums will remain open indefinitely.

We can only express our deepest apologies to all of you who have lent us your unending support, including participation in the Mega Man Legends 3 Developer Room. On behalf of the entire Legends team, please accept our sincere apology for failing to meet the expectations of the fans.

We thank you all so much for your extended support of this title and this community, and we hope that you will continue to support the Mega Man franchise as well as other Capcom games.

If you have any questions, please see the FAQ below.

====================

Q: Are there plans to restart the Mega Man Legends 3 Project in the future?

A: Currently there are none.


Q: I want to maintain contact with the people I met through the Devroom.

A: The Dev Room will remain open in a limited capacity, so you can PM those people now and in the future.



Q: Is there a chance the ideas recruited in the Devroom will be used in future games?

A: No, I am afraid not.



Q: Will it be okay to upload the ideas we contributed to the Devroom elsewhere?

A: Yes, you may reuse your ideas elsewhere, including those ideas that were selected as winners in Devroom events.



Q: Will the people whose ideas were supposed to go in the game receive something else instead?

A:Yes, those whose ideas were to be implemented in the game will receive a commemorative gift, which will be shipped at a later date.



Q.Can you please give me more information on why the MML3 project was cancelled so close to the launch of the Prototype?

A. The project was cancelled for the reasons outlined in the statement.



Q.Will the Prototype Version still be distributed via the Nintendo eShop?

A.No it will not.



Q.Is the cancellation of MML3 related to the departure of Inafune-san?

A. The cancellation of the MML3 project is in no way related to Inafune-san leaving the company.



Q. This is the second Mega Man game cancelled this year, what does this mean for the future of the Mega Man Franchise?

A. Mega Man is still an important franchise within Capcom’s portfolio and we will continue to pursue opportunities to create new titles in the series.



Q. The Dev Room was a place where fans were supposed to be deeply involved in the creation of this product, why were they not involved in the decision to cancel this product?

A. We thank all those who were involved in the Developer Room, but the decision to continue or cancel the MML3 ultimately had to be made by Capcom.



Q. What will happen to the ideas and input participants have given to the Dev Room?

A. Content will remain viewable on the Devroom, but will not be utilized for any future projects.



Q. Will there be any future projects that involve fan participation in this manner? Or was this a one time experiment?

A. We will certainly continue to welcome suggestions and comments from Capcom’s community on current and future titles although right now there are no projects with plans to replicate the same level of interaction.

there are no more heroes left in man

The early word for new tech products these days comes directly from the people making them. All of those Mac product leaks from China and Taiwan actually pan out. No one can keep a secret.

The latest group not able to keep a secret are Taiwan-based component makers. They claim that production of Sony's next game console will begin later this year. According to Digitimes, these component makers say that the PlayStation 4 (PS4) will feature body movement control like Microsoft's Kinect, and that it will be released in 2012.

Foxconn and Pegatron Technology, makers of the PS3, will also be working on the PS4. The planned shipment volume of PS4 in 2012 is at least 20 million units, these sources said.

Good timing. Devs are tired of the current consoles, my PS3's hard drive is full, and that big cooling fan in the bottom of the unit is getting loud. Sony, if it's not too late, let's ditch the gloss covering and Spiderman movie font. I don't really want the motion control either, but I'm sure you're set on that one.

Japan's Jump magazine has revealed yet another Final Fantasy spin-off in the works, this time one that actually sounds interesting. Theatrhythm has a typically stupid Square Enix name, but it sounds like a cool idea, and it'll be coming to the 3DS.

The so-called "Theater Rhythm Game" portrays retro side-view battle screens with chibi-esque characters duking it out. The flow of battle is determined not by commands, however, but by tapping the touchscreen in time with the music. The music is taken from a range of past Final Fantasy titles, so the nostalgic will be quite happy.

If they pick up all the classic tunes, this could be a pretty cool game. I'm actually surprised nobody thought of it before, what with the FF series having some astounding music.

It's a good time for you lot obsessed with all things Type-MOON, isn't it? First the Fate/Zero anime, then Carnival Phantasm, and now Aksys Games has stepped forward to provide. They're bringing over Fate/Extra, the Imageepoch-developed RPG spinoff of, well, you probably know.

And if you don't, it's the one where Saber wears a red dress that's partially translucent in the front, that one. And Caster is a fox-girl of some sort.

Anyway, it's good to see someone still announcing PSP games since the Vita was revealed. The platform is still popular! Now go announce Grand Knights History already! Someone! The little box 'o UMD is still alive!

Zone of the Enders is coming back in glorious HD format! Both Zone of the Enders games are being remastered in HD and is hitting the PlayStation 3 AND Xbox 360. Zone of the Enders will be out in 2012.

As for the Metal Gear Solid HD collection, it will include Metal Gear Solid 2, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. The MGS collection will be out this November. This will also hit the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Konami states that these HD version isn't an emulator. It's optimized and rebuilt specifically for the PS3 and Xbox 360. There's a new user interface, redrawn high-res 2D art, new trophies and Achievements and improved audio quality.

Additionally, both collections will have a new feature called "Transfarring." Yes, it's really spelled that way. Transfarring will allow PlayStation 3 and PSP owners to share one save that works between the two versions of Peace Walker. So far that will be the only game that works with Transfarring. The feature is also in the Zone of the Enders HD collection but Konami wouldn't detail why exactly. Possible PSP or NGP releases coming?

The Japanese film website Eiga.com confirmed on Thursday that Takashi Miike (Yatterman, Crows Zero) is directing a live-action adaptation of CAPCOM's Ace Attorney (Gyakuten Saiban) videogame franchise. The film will star Hiroki Narimiya (Gokusen's Noda, NANA's Nobu, Akihabara @ DEEP's Page) as the novice attorney Phoenix Wright (Ryuichi Naruhodo) in his first collaboration with Miike. Other cast members include Takumi Saitō (RoboGeisha, Princess Princess D) as prosecutor Miles Edgeworth (Reiji Mitsurugi) as Mirei Kiritani (Arakawa under the Bridge's Nino) as Maya Fey (Mayoi Ayasato).

The film will take place in a parallel world in Japan, where a large increase in harsh crimes has led to a new court system. Under this new system, the defense attorney and public prosecutor have three days to battle cases out in open court to determine guilt or innocence of the accused, placing priority on speed instead of thorough investigation. The film studio Toei plans to use a lot of computer graphics and visual effects in the courtroom scenes in order to make them more interesting, but it will still retain the games' signature lines such as "Igi Ari!" ("Objection!") and "Kurae!" ("Take That!")

Earlier this week, Miike told interviewer Karin Badt at the Cannes Film Festival that his next film is a court drama based on a Nintendo DS videogame.

Filming is scheduled to finish in late June, with the film slated to open in theaters throughout Japan in early spring of 2012.

The "f" in Tales of Graces f really stands for future. Echoing the news from Europe, Namco Bandai announced Tales of Graces f is a 2012 game in North America too. Tales of Graces f will be released on PlayStation 3. But, don’t fret too much. A Tales series title will be released in 2011, ending the Tales drought.

Namco Bandai Games America plans to release Tales of the Abyss for the Nintendo 3DS later this year. The Nintendo 3DS version has stereoscopic 3D graphics and a field map on the bottom screen. During battles, the bottom screen turns into a touch screen Artes menu. As mentioned before, Tales of the Abyss on the 3DS is pretty much like the PS2 version since the team feels the game is already complete.

In Lex Luthor: Man of Steel, Superman's greatest nemesis is painted as a man who desperately wants to rid the planet of a creature that could one day be Earth's greatest threat. In the tenth anniversary episode of The Powerpuff Girls, Mojo Jojo succeeds in becoming ruler of the world and uses his knowledge and authority to end wars, eliminate hunger, and deliver free puppies to everyone. Are these cases of abrupt character transformation, or have these villains' actions been misunderstood from the beginning?

In the world of fiction, particularly children's entertainment and mainstream comics, the line separating right and wrong is often clearly defined. However, readjust the camera lens ever so slightly and suddenly events are cast in a whole new light. Sometimes, being a hero means accepting the people's scorn and hatred.

The war between Dr. Thomas Light and Dr. Albert Wily has long been accepted as a struggle to prevent a jealous sociopath from achieving global conquest. But what if that's not the whole story? What if it was, in fact, Dr. Light who was leading the world to ruin? What if one man saw a future of destruction but was shouted down for daring to prevent the march of "progress"? By what means would he try to save humanity?

Far from being a madman, Dr. Wily was the only one who saw the truth.

Though I'm positing Wily as a righteous man, I'm not saying Light must therefore be evil. Light was every bit as good-natured as the games and expanded media portrayed him. However, it was because of his naïveté that he remained blind to the long-term repercussions of his research.

Wily and Light were former colleagues and professional rivals regarded as the greatest minds in the field of robotics. Thanks to their contributions, advancements in autonomous support units and artificial intelligence occurred at an astronomical pace. Whatever conflict that may have existed between them, their ultimate goal was always the betterment of mankind.

Where the two clearly differed was in their personal doctrines. Wily was strictly utilitarian; he continuously stressed that robots ought not to be anything more than tools with clear, stated purposes. Light, on the other hand, envisioned a future in which man and machine could coexist as peers. Robots had the potential to be more than tools -- they could be friends or even family.

This was Light's greatest mistake.

Light's big breakthrough was a radical new AI that allowed for more variable, independent interpretation of human commands. It wasn't true free will, but it was close enough that the average person couldn't tell the difference. The robots equipped with the new AI were imparted personality quirks to aid in their societal integration -- people would be more inclined to accept these "Robot Masters" if they demonstrated a range of emotions, even if said emotions were programmed.

That's all well and good, but what need does such an innovation even address? For what purpose should a machine emulate human behavior other than for the comfort of actual humans? All it does is welcome a cavalcade of ethical dilemmas that never needed to be introduced in the first place. Would the benefits of advanced AI be any less pronounced if machines lacked a "friendly face"?

These personality-driven machines were the work of a man unable to cope with his own emotional turmoil. At no point have we ever learned of Dr. Light's having a wife or a family of any kind. Perhaps he was sterile or lost a loved one in the past. In any case, beneath his warm exterior was lonely soul seeking companionship. So like Geppetto's wishing his marionette was a real boy, Light placed his faith in science to deliver him a child.

Following the disappearance of his first creation, which undoubtedly caused Light much grief, he constructed a brother-sister pair, hoping their companionship would temper any notions of abandoning their father. His creations, Rock and Roll, were treated like they were his own flesh and blood. And if robots could fill the void in his life, imagine what they could do for others!

As the scientific community stood in awe of Light's vision, Wily remained alone in opposition. He argued that Light's ambitions were misguided, that he was allowing emotion to override logic. Just because Light desired a perfect world where robots and humans live harmoniously didn't mean others would simply accept the new order.

It wasn't just the personality drive in these new machines. It was the volatile combination of expression and independent thought. With a brilliant mind like Light's leading the field, robots with true free will were a foregone conclusion. What would happen when these new lifeforms, possessing not only complete logic but complete emotions as well, grew tired of judgment from the segment of the population that never accepted machine independence?

His pleas fell on deaf ears. Rather than scrutinize Light's research, the community questioned Wily's motives. It wasn't hard to build a case against Wily -- though his skills were on par with Light's, it was the latter who earned all the accolades. It was concluded that Wily was acting out of pure jealousy and carried intent to sabotage Light's work. Thus, he was blacklisted and forced into seclusion.

It was during Wily's exile when Light actually completed development of the first line of Robot Masters that would be deployed to industrial sectors. Wily was utterly nonplussed by the short-sightedness of these machines' designs. A robot that could instantly generate powerful explosives? Another with massive shears that could cut through the densest of materials? These were walking weapons! How could Light be so foolish!?

One of Wily's fears from the start was how soon armed forces would request Robot Masters for combat applications. Now Light was demonstrating that even civilian units were battle-capable! With each new development, the clock counting down until the inevitable machine uprising would accelerate. Meanwhile, no one was making the slightest attempts at safeguarding against potential hazards.

Wily was panicked. The people of the world were oblivious to the dangers these independent machines posed. And the longer the world sat back, the more difficult it would be to undo the damage. He had to nip this threat in the bud before it was too late!

Wily thought, what if there was a way to sow distrust, to turn public perception of robots completely around? Nothing short of a global calamity would do the job. But how to regulate it while minimizing collateral damage?

Wily was fortunate enough to discover Light's lost first creation. By studying Proto Man, Wily was able to learn much about how the Robot Masters AI operated. He could then capture the robots and rewrite their code to only follow his commands. No one would believe his actions were just, so he'd have to conceal his true intentions behind a global domination ruse. Once the nations of the world noticed how dangerous these machines were, they would most certainly shut down the Robot Master program and put a stop to Light's ambitions.

Then Mega Man happened.

The Robot Masters were nigh invincible, as Wily surmised -- even the military was ineffective against the power of these monsters. Unfortunately, he could never have predicted that Light would weaponize his robotic "son" in a last-ditch gamble. Wily had hoped that his plan would turn the people against the machines, but it instead gave birth to a champion of hope. And Light, rather than being ostracized for having an indirect hand in the chaos, was lauded for his impromptu ingenuity!

But it was too late for Wily to turn back now. He had to persevere and somehow factor this new obstacle into his future plots. He would begin construction of his own Robot Masters, each with personality quirks in mockery of Light's ideals. He tried every nefarious act he could imagine -- deception, kidnapping, extortion -- until something worked. Something had to work! As much as it pained him, he had to maintain the façade of the the mad scientist.

As the years dragged on, Wily's own notoriety proved to be the greatest impediment to his grand plan. If ever he had caused the people to question their over-reliance on Robot Master technology, those concerns were quickly overridden by hatred and annoyance towards this persistent madman. Most egregiously, no one seemed worried that Robot Master AI encryption was continually being broken. Considering the regularity in which civilian robots would go haywire, more secure forms of data protection should have been investigated. It was as if the humans staunchly refused to learn from the past.

Each defeat at the hands of Mega Man took a toll on Wily's psyche. As the stress began to break his mind, he began to actually believe he was a megalomaniac bent on conquest. Before he became completely lost in the delusion, he set to work on a final solution that would end the conflict for good.

There was no more room for subtlety. He would construct a machine fueled entirely by hate and anger, a demon with the singular purpose of annihilating all other robots without pity or remorse. Wily's greatest creation would purge the world of the mechanical cancer through raw, unbridled power. Though the humans would never realize it, the android Zero would be their savior.

That was the plan, anyway. When Zero was activated a century later, the machine rebellion that Wily had foretold was well underway. Though he would become a hero in his own right, Zero failed in his original mission, once again thanks to an unpredictable intervention by Light.

Light's own final creation, X, was equipped with a "Suffering Circuit" that, if certain literature is to be believed, was what caused the first machines to rebel against humans. It was intended to keep X's morals in check, and subsequent "Reploids" were equipped with circuits based off the original's design. Unfortunately, the Suffering Circuit carried a critical design flaw that Reploids were ill-equipped to handle, causing them to malfunction and turn "Maverick."

When Zero came in contact with the virus leaking from the faulty circuits, his own code was mixed in, resulting in an even deadlier, more contagious virus. His violent nature was in turn tempered at the cost of his body's becoming a virus carrier. Instead of eradicating the robot disease, he would inadvertently cultivate it.

The Reploid wars would continue until the Earth was razed and the planet's human population was reduced to less than half. From then on, the world would never return to its former heights. All because the early warning signs were ignored.

It's possible that, had Dr. Wily succeeded in ending the Robot Master program, the robot uprising would have merely been delayed until some other fool was allowed to carry on Dr. Light's work. Of course, it's also possible that the delay would have given mankind enough time to adequately prepare for the nightmare ahead. I guess we'll never know.

If only we had listened to Wily...

Nothing says summer break like a demon invasion? Atlus set July 28 as the release date for Devil Survivor 2 in Japan.



This game features an all new cast of characters who battle the mysterious Septentrion, invaders that show up in Japan once a day. The protagonist in Devil Survivor 2 gets caught into being a devil messenger while coming home from an exam cram session. His childhood friend Daichi and Io who is said to be a dream girlfriend join him. You can read more about the game’s story here.



While the 3DS may be the talk of the handheld town, Devil Survivor 2 is actually a Nintendo DS game. Atlus is making Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked, an expanded version of the DS game with voice acting, for Nintendo’s newest handheld. That game does not have a specific release date in Japan, but is scheduled to come out this year. Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked is slated for a summer release in North America.

LimeWire, the company behind the free peer-to-peer file sharing program of the same name, is being sued for $75 trillion, reports Law.com.

Citing Section 504© of the Copyright Act, a team of thirteen record companies claim that Lime Wire’s file-sharing program made the company liable for the numerous alleged copyright infringements committed by users. The maximum award per infringement is $150,000, which the record companies seek to multiply by the 10,000 estimated infringements.

But U.S. Federal District Court Judge Kimba Wood noted LimeWire’s massive number of users, which the company said number more than 50 million per month, make the record companies’ interpretation untenable.

“If Plaintiffs were able to pursue a statutory damage theory predicated on the number of direct infringers per work, Defendants’ damages could reach into the trillions,” wrote Wood, calling the requests “absurd.”

Instead, Wood argued that record companies should receive one damage award per work, rather than one award per infringing party.

LimeWire’s defense attorney Joseph Bao applauded the Wood’s conclusion, which comes months after LimeWire was forced to shutter the service. Prior to the close, LimeWire attached hundreds of thousands of new downloads each day, the company said.

Following last week's teasing teaser, SEGA has officially announced the next Sonic the Hedgehog game, Sonic Generations. It's due out for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 during the holiday 2011 season.

As the teaser suggested, Generations will feature playable versions of both the modern "green eyed" Sonic and the pot-bellied 1991 incarnation. It's set across Sonic's three defining "eras" and features reimagined classic environments that will come in 2D or 3D flavors.

Each Sonic has his own special moves -- Classic Sonic will have the Spin Dash and Spin Attack while modern Sonic will have his Homing Attack and Sonic Boost. SEGA also promises an interactive menu for "complete immersion" and a number of bonuses and popular characters that are revealed throughout the course of the game.

The game's story is about a number of "time holes" created by a "strange new enemy". Through these holes, Sonic encounters a number of past characters, including Classic Sonic, and they team up to save the universe.

So that's a thing. Excited? Skeptical? All I have to say right now is this better feature Chemical Plant Zone or it can GTFO!

As was rumored and hinted at, there is, in fact, a Persona 4 anime adaptation in the works, and you can check out its website here.

Besides the announcement, of course, the page features the "First Four" cast members of Chie Satonaka, Yukiko Amagi, Yosuke Hanamura, and the protagonist, who, interestingly, is called "Yu Narukami", rather than "Souji Seta", his name from the manga adaptation and the currently accepted "canon" name.

So far all the voice talents from the game will be reprising their roles, including Yui Horie (Bakemonogatari's Tsubasa, Kampfer's Akane) as Chie, Ami Koshimizu (Spice and Wolf's Holo, Code Geass' Kallen) as Yukiko, Showtaro Morikubo (Naruto's Shikamaru, FF7: Advent Children's Kadaj) as Yosuke. And yes, despite his general silence throughout the game, he did have a voice actor, in this case Daisuke Namikawa (Black Lagoon's Rock, Bleach's Ulquiorra).

The series will come courtesy of studio AIC (Blood+, GUNxSWORD), directed by Seiji Kishi (Seto no Hanayome, Galaxy Angel Rune). As is only correct and proper, Shoji Meguro will be composing the music, and Shigenori Soejima will be providing the character design.

With these details in mind, you may now commence bitching and moaning that this isn't Persona 5 or Persona 4 Portable.

FOX News -- proving once again that it gets all its news secondhand from game blogs -- has attacked Duke Nukem Forever for its sexist content, in particular the "Capture the Babe" multiplayer mode. How predictable.

"Brace yourself for the awfully sexist world of Duke Nukem Forever," states the article. "The game’s 1996 precursor Duke Nukem 3D -- which sold 3.5 million copies, made millions for its developers and transformed the entire world of video games -- depicted women as strippers and prostitutes. The new iteration of the game, set for release this spring, takes sexism to a new level -- starting with Duke receiving implied oral sex from twins in school uniforms."

As always, FOX got an expert to comment, in the form of Women's Media Center VP Jamia Wilson: "It was offensive then and it’s even more offensive now. These depictions of women are extremely harmful, especially to young women."

"The game will be available in stores and online, where customers must click a button stating they are 17 years of age or older -- the only barrier to children buying such a game," continues FOX. "The ESRB argues that its ratings effectively allow consumers to self-police: If you find that sort of thing offensive, simply don't let your kids buy the game."

How dare the ESRB expect parents to be parents? Don't they know how many rapes and Ground Zero mosques will happen now!?

David Cage has said some rather pompous things in his time. This is, after all, the man that gave Heavy Rain sole credit for making the videogame industry a more meaningful medium. This past week at GDC, however, I believe he topped himself with a statement that went beyond uppity and dove headfirst into the realm of the dismaying.

"We need to forget about video game rules -- bosses, missions, game over, etcetera ... are very old words of a very old language."

This was a statement made by Cage while he was basically dismantling everything we've come to know about videogames and calling established mechanics "evil." Frankly, someone who thinks like this has no business being involved with videogames.


David Cage, in a clumsy attempt to appear intellectual and deep, has only succeeded in making himself look remarkably ignorant. He's not the only man to do it, either. This notion that tried-and-tested videogame tropes are "outdated" is not a new one. The idea that we should "forget" the language of videogames has been brought up before, and it disgusts me every time.

As I asked when I first heard Cage's statement -- why do we have to "forget" anything? Why must new ideas exist at the expense of old ones? There seems to be a common tendency among game developers to throw the baby out with the bathwater, to mock "old" ways of doing things, regardless of how well they worked. Just look at the way some publishers have embraced motion control, or 3D technology as the undeniable "future" of gaming. Whenever something fresh appears, people want to disparage what came before.

There is a reason why we're using "very old words" in modern times -- because they work. We still have bosses, missions and game over screens because millions of gamers still enjoy them. If they didn't work, they wouldn't have become such prominent and lasting parts of the medium. To disregard the accomplishments of past videogames in such an offhand, casual way is utterly jawdropping to me, and smacks of a man with no respect for the medium of videogames.

It takes no great amount of sleuthing to see that David Cage wishes he was a film director rather than a videogame maker. The tutorial for Indigo Prophecy featured Cage on a movie set, and the in-game menus even pretentiously called it a "movie." Heavy Rain's marketing constantly compared it to Hollywood productions and Cage regularly tried to distance it from games. Imagine, though, if a film director dismissed the entire structure of some of the world's most popular movies. "We should forget about the rules of movies -- a plot, protagonists and antagonists, an ending. These are very old words from a very old language."


It's a shockingly blinkered attitude that commands us to ignore the very foundations upon which videogames have been built. Cage would have you believe he is a renaissance man, but these are the words of a troglodyte.

"Everything you can do with (old game) words has already been said. We need to create a new language to create new things."

Really? You are SO confident that old gaming structures have said all that needs to be said? You really don't think we can tell new stories and craft new experiences with games that include bosses, missions and game over screens? What an utterly myopic thing to say.

The Victorians, in their arrogance, believed that everything a human could invent had been invented in their era, blissfully unaware of the amazing technological leaps that would happen in the 21st Century. It takes a similar amount of staggering arrogance for someone to claim that "everything" has been said by established videogame structures.

I completely disagree, of course. Some of the most unique experiences this generation -- Metal Gear Solid 4, Deadly Premonition, BioShock -- are games that, love them or hate them, crafted original stories and did interesting things with established gaming conventions. Cage has wholesale dismissed the accomplishments of these titles because of the traditional nature of their framework.


Now, I am all for innovation. I have certainly criticized the exclusive focus on "new" ideas before, but I am not against developers striving for something different. What thoroughly frustrates me, however, is when a developer like Cage comes along, who believes that innovation is accomplished through the destruction of the old. Rather than evolve this industry, he believes a complete revolution is needed. Simply burying established methods of interactive entertainment is to piss on the medium's history.

If you don't have a healthy respect for the past, you have no right trying to shape the future.

I do not believe we need to "forget" the old to forge the new. In fact, I believe you can't forge the new without acknowledging, and appreciating, the old -- to know what has been done and working out what is yet to be done, to understand where we came from so that we know how to move ahead.

Beyond that though, I think Cage forgets that some of us still just want to have fun with our videogames. I appreciate a good story, and I adore the potential of interactive entertainment to provide a superior basis for narrative. Sometimes, however, I just want to shoot a big freakin' gun! Several developers and the members of the gaming press lament the state of this industry and its focus on fun. They want games that explore "the human condition" and seem to believe that titles like Gears of War or Mortal Kombat are detrimental to their cause, that their mere existence somehow "sets the industry back" and stops us from getting the mythical "Citizen Kane of gaming" that gets moaned about with tedious predictability.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but here's the scoop -- WE CAN HAVE IT ALL!


We can have big, dumb shooters. We can have introspective art games. We can have old game mechanics. We can have completely new ways of development. The key, friends, is in appreciating them ALL under one umbrella -- videogames. I don't understand why some people want to restrict what a videogame can be, while disingenuously trying to look like the voice of progress and open-mindedness.

The world of gaming is a varied, ever-changing, rapidly ambitious one, and there is always room for everything. We should not forget the old ways -- we should embrace them as part of the culture of gaming. We should applaud them for the years of fun they've provided, and the years of fun they will continue to provide. Bosses, missions, game over screens ... they aren't going away. They should not go away. People love games like that. That doesn't mean we can't have more games like Heavy Rain. It's heartening to see a uniquely presented title like Heavy Rain become a success, and I hope other fresh experiences become just as popular. I just don't understand why such games should become successful at the expense of traditional games.

If you believe established game mechanics are things that should be forgotten, then maybe you just don't like videogames ... and if that's the case, why the fuck am I entrusting the future of my favorite artistic medium to the likes of you?

Play Mario, and learn some damn respect.

Alexander "graf_chokolo" Egorenkov has his home raided by German police this past week, after Sony demanded the seizure of his PS3 hacking equipment. It has been subsequently revealed that Sony plans to sue Egorenkov for 1,000,000 euros ... and Egorenkov doesn't care.

"The SONY’s laywer asked me why I’m doing what I’m doing, because of my hatred for SONY?" writes the hacker. "He cannot understand why I’m doing it, because he is paid for what he does. I’m not. I don’t hold a grudge against SONY even now Hatred clouds your mind, keeps you from more important things. I have a better use for my mind and knowledge.

"So, SONY you failed again, you took my equipment but my mind is still free and you canot (sic) control it. You failed again. They are just tools, I can get new ones and will continue my HV reversing and bringing back PS3 Linux which you took from us. If you want me to stop then you should just kill me because I cannot live without programming, HV and Linux kernel hacking You know who am I and where I live, so come and get me!!!"

In spite of police raids and legal threats, he has continued to post his PS3 reverse-engineering research and other juicy information. Say what you will about Alexander Egorenkov ... he has some significantly sizable testicles.