So happy to hear that Fez has found a home!

Congratulations, Phil and Jason! Let's party!

Okay, I know it's not *really* funny, but this headline is a *little* funny. Pirate Attacks Up Worldwide. Ninjas, you slackers!

Unreal Engine 3, Half-Baked, Broken and Late?

Related: Silicon Knights: Epic Sabotaged Us How scandalous!

Xfire's Chat with Harmonix re: Rock Band (When did Xfire become involved in music, btw?)(via Slashdot Games)

Roger Ebert sez: Games Still Not Art

Angry Gamer on Where the Wii Fits In

Viral Game Designing for Dummies

Why WoW is Good for MMOGs.

Chore Wars!

David Sirlin's Book Playing to Win is Now FREE Online (via Derek's blog)

Speaking of books, still been meaning to get Ian's book Persuasive Games, which I hear is quite good.

Apparently Nintendo is hinting that they might enhance the Nintendo classics to be downloadable on the Revolution (link, thanks Kotaku). Of course, it's too early in the game to accurately guess what Nintendo has planned. This is a company that shrouds itself in an almost mystical secrecy over its projects. For all I know, Nintendo will implement some way in which your very thoughts will move Mario across a holographic landscape in which you distinguish between good and poison mushrooms through a smell simulator.

But most people are guessing that Nintendo’s going the more likely route of applying newer graphics to their older games. And while I wouldn't mind if Nintendo made two downloads of their games, an original and an enhanced, I'm not sure if that's how the Big N rolls, son.

Personally, I find there's some charm to the graphics of older games. Especially the early NES games; there's almost something minimalist in the sprites of games such as Super Mario Bros. and Kid Icarus. The simple graphics work well with the simple games. Not that I'd be against some sort of cool three-dimensional realization of those simple sprites, ala the World 1-1 stage in Super Smash Bros. Melee.

But as far as I'm concerned, I'd prefer to have my classic NES games in perfect emulation rather than a prettier version that plays the same. I think that the game industry should actively celebrate both the history of games and the amazing technological progression of the medium by retaining the look and feel of older, classic titles in retro-releases. Remakes are cool and certainly have their place, but I’m just the type of pretentious dork who would rather have Han Solo shoot first.

Posted purely as a public service for the safety of GGA readers worldwide. New, safer cords for the asking. Get 'em while they're... um... not hot.

Money Magazine Online story.

Xbox power cord recall procedure from Microsoft.

So the gaming corners of the internet have been all a-twitter with the news of EA signing deal with the NFL Players' Association granting EA exclusive rights to use the actual players and teams of the US National Football League for the next 5 years. I find it interesting that the same people who like to complain about how every videogame that comes out these days is either a license a sequel are up in arms over the idea that any developer other than Electronic Arts wanting to make a football game is now bestowed with a mandate to come up with something original. Not only that, but these other developers would have all the more reason to innovate in tech, art, and design, just to overcome the licensed product they were competing against.

Isn't this what we all want? More innovation? More originality?

Or do sports games fill a special category. The play is not the thing, rather sports videogamers are looking for fantasy simulators. Are sports games more about the branding than about the love of the naked game?

I don't play sports videogames, so I wouldn't know. Enlighten me.

UPDATE Midway Games throws their hat in the ring as only they can.

news.com.au is reporting that a couple of bozos from Sydney reportedly dressed up as characters from Counterstrike snuck into a house and shot a man and his wife. The 21-year-old accused has plead not-guilty.

I wonder how it came about that they were described as dressing like characters from Counterstrike. Doesn't that really just mean ski masks and fatigues?

Quick note that may be of general interest: GameSpot are currently running a feature on this year's Independent Games Festival covering all the finalists who will be up for awards at the culmination of the IGF on March 24 at the Game Developer's Conference.

If any of y'all are interested in the state of indie gaming, it's worth a read. Then go check out Game Tunnel for some more IGF coverage, indie game reviews, and downloads.

No, not Kevin Costner. This has nothing much to do with the typical G+G=A fare, so I'll keep it brief:

The Department of Homeland (In)Security is considering a plan to have postal route carriers deliver antibiotics to residences and workplaces in the event of a "catastrophic biological event" (I think we can take this to mean a successful bio-terror incident). What does this mean? This means there is at least one smart individual with one good idea -- awash in a sea of dullards floating miserable strategies -- in the American terror-response bureaucracy. The US Postal Service is, and has been, a shining beacon of efficient execution in American federal institutions. Way back when, "back in the day" as you kids say, when Ross Perot offered to, for a fee, overhaul the US Postal Service, I declared, Good God! Don't let that man anywhere near the post office. There's nothing wrong with the Postal Service.

What I want to know is who this son of a bitch is. Let's make him, or her, president. Hell, let's make him God.

Just wanted to point you all to an entry at MSN today that states that Women purchased more technology in 2003 than men.

I found the numbers staggering myself, but more importantly, I'm hoping that news like this means that at least some of the technology purchased last year was for gaming.

But there's no money involved, so I don't feel bad about it.

... and it's none other than Jason Della Rocca, the IDGA program director. The blog is called Reality Panic, and it should be very interesting. Jason's one of the hardest working, most actively involved people in the gameworld, and his writings will surely be a rich addition to the culture of gaming.

As authorizes struggle to put together a profile of the mass murder/sniper terrorizing Montgomery County, a suburb of Washington DC, they grope for clues and possible theories behind the sniper who has killed six people and wounded two others by firing a high-powered weapon at long range.

Early reports are favorable for Sony's online venture.

Enthusiasm in spite of reports that Sony will not support third party ethernet adapters (which apparently work just fine right now), and that there will be a number of PS2 units that may have problems connecting.

I hope mine isn't one of of them.

Nokia announced a partnership with The Korea Game Development and Promotion Institute. Nokia will get content for their mobile service, while KGDI will get "matchless technical resources and aid in entering European and American markets".

Nokia press release
Asia.Internet.Com

Her Interactive signed a deal with Infogrames to distribute two Nancy Drew games this winter.

From Digital Game Developer.