Sony Computer Entertainment has unveiled new screenshots of Media Molecule's cutesy and customizable PlayStation 3 platformer LittleBigPlanet. As reiterated today, LittleBigPlanet is slated for a Blu-ray retail release this October.

Finally we come to the end of the week, that special time when we examine the body of the industry for a few minutes before we quit out, like a Trespasser focus tester.

Microsoft
Declares worldwide victory in the current-gen console war, while somehow claiming that the Wii is not an actual console.

Rock Revolution
Plastic toy drum collection? Chick. Magnet.


4:3 Display Manufacturers
73% of Steam gamers use boxy monitors. Long live 1600x1200?

... Read more

Ahhhh yeah. Weekend! I shall play play some GTA4 this weekend for sure! I can feel it! I ran through the GRID demo a few more times and I still pretty much dont like drifting challenges. Always feels lame.

• Yet another flying dude
• Bladerunner heading to Olympics
• File sharing on your iPhone
• Godless killing machines in politics

As for the the videogame news around these parts for today:

• Console Makers: everybody wins!
• PlayStation 3 2008 game release lineup
• Ken from Street Fighter is black!
• Nintendo DS selling like crazy
• Blizzard evluating World of Warcraft overhaul
• Gears of War Co-op confirmed
• Sonic Unleashed preview
• Golden Axe: Beast Rider preview and screenshots
• Resistance 2 screenshots
• PixelJunk trailer and screenshots
• Dead Space trailer and screenshots

Lastly, challenging being fake on the internet in court.

The Entertainment Software Association today confirmed that publisher LucasArts is no longer a member of the organization, Joystiq reports.

The company joins Activision and Vivendi as the latest company to break from the ESA, a group dedicated to the business and public affairs needs of game developers and publishers.

Unlike those companies—along with id Software, NCsoft and others—LucasArts will still be participating in the coming E3 Media and Business Summit this July, where it will showcase its upcoming Star Wars: The Force Unleashed among other titles.

"We can confirm that LucasArts is no longer a member of the ESA," said LucasArts PR director Margaret Grohne. "As a company we are still committed to bringing consumers the best interactive experience possible and support the ESA's mission in the industry."

The ESA's statement on LucasArts' departure was similarly light on details. "We value each member of our association, but respect the unique factors that led to LucasArts' decision," said ESA communications VP Rich Taylor.

Sony Computer Entertainment passed along a new set of screenshots for Q-Games' PixelJunk Eden (PS3), a downloadable title slated for release this summer.

Described as an "organic platformer," PixelJunk Eden is said to feature ten unique stages with stylized graphics, as well as original music from Japanese artist Baiyon.

No price point has been disclosed, though the other downloadable PixelJunk games, Racers and Monsters, are respectively priced at $6.99 and $7.99.

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Sony Computer Entertainment America has provided us with a few new screenshots from Insomniac's PlayStation 3 shooter sequel Resistance 2.

The shots hail from the game's single-player campaign, showing off the Chicago level and a new type of enemy known as the Grim.

Along with the expected single-player campaign, Resistance 2 will pack 8-person online co-op and 60-person online multiplayer when it arrives this November.

In my younger years, I had a thing against gnomes, and I blame it on Sega's arcade classic Golden Axe. After wasting a fair portion of my youth on the title, I realized that the very sight of gnomes in any game made me want to kick the little bastards repeatedly, in the hope that I would be rewarded with restorative medicines and magic urns.

That being said, I'm pleased to report that the loot-lugging munchkins have returned in Secret Level's overhaul of the classic arcade fighter Golden Axe: Beast Rider, inspiring the same violent urges I had felt so many years ago.

But as we saw in publisher Sega's demonstration of an in-progress build of the game earlier this week, the new Golden Axe isn't just about wanton acts ... Read more

Sonic Unleashed is a return to concept for Sonic Team. The plan is to get the hedgehog back to his fast, level-based platforming roots. Less awkward adventure, more speedy action.

To that end, this is a Sonic-focused game. Other unspecified characters will be present, but you will only assume control of them for short periods of time.

Of course, after berating a Sega representative, it was revealed that there will still be a Sonic Adventure-esque town area. Players will be talking to other characters, and getting through some kind of story. Sega stressed repeatedly that this portion of the game will be entirely optional, with a portal transporting players to the stage sections.

There will also be nighttime levels, separate from the daytime excursions. These will be focused on combat over platforming, presumably where... Read more

Update:

Microsoft has told IGN that Bleszinski says "co-op's drop-in, drop-out, multiple difficulty settings for co-op players" instead of "multiple difficulty settings, four co-op players."

The Shacknews staff believes that the pause between "multiple difficulty settings" and "co-op" indicates Bleszinki meant four, not for, especially given his past teases. However, the official stance from Microsoft is that four-player co-op is unconfirmed as of this time.

Original Story: Gears of War creator Cliff "CliffyB" Bleszinski has confirmed that the much-anticipated sequel will feature four-person cooperative play.

During a video interview with GameSpot, he revealed that the game will feature "four co-op players," which he further specified to be "drop in, drop out."

The original, which hit Xbox 360 in 2006 and PC in 2007, featured local and online two-person co-op play along with an eight-player online deathmatch ... Read more

Blizzard producer J. Allen Brack has said that World of Warcraft will "probably" undergo a major graphical upgrade at some point in its lifespan.

"Will we need a graphical update from the ground up at some point? Yep, probably," said Brack to Eurogamer.

"That's actually something we talk about every expansion. I'm positive we'll talk about it next expansion."

The WoW game client has seen minor graphical changes in updates and expansions, but no major additions to the renderer have been implemented since the game's release in 2004.

Brack also noted that MMO developers which have done graphical updates in the past have not necessarily benefited from the effort.

"A lot of people continued to play with the original client, because it was faster, or they preferred it, or were just used to it or whatever," he continued. "And so for me as a game developer, the idea that we would spend so much time and energy on something and have people go, 'meh, that's not really for me,' that's not very exciting."

Next week's downloadable content for Harmonix's Rock Band will consist of the nine bonus tracks added to the UK edition of the instrument-based music game, which debuts on May 22.

Studio owner MTV Games had previously confirmed to Shacknews that the songs would hit North America, but did not provide a release date at that time.

Each will sell individually for 160 Microsoft Points ($1.99), and with the exception of Blur's "Beetlebum," all are master tracks performed by the original recording artist.

• Blur "Beetlebum" (Cover) (English)
• Oasis "Rock 'n' Roll Star" (English)
• Tokio Hotel "Monsoon" (English)
• Muse "Hysteria" (English)
• Les Wampas "Manu Chao" (French)
• Playmo "New Wave" (French)
• Die Toten Hosen "Hier Kommt Alex" (German)
• Juli "Perfekte Welle" (German)
• H-Block X "Countdown to Insanity" (German)

Per usual, the songs will be available for download within the Xbox 360 edition on May 20, followed by a PlayStation 3 release on Thursday, May 22.

Following this week's revelation of numerous hardware figures, Nintendo has added yet another to the list, detailing that the Nintendo DS has sold 19.6 million units in the United States since it launched in late 2004.

Given this new information, we can now add Nintendo DS to the Shacknews-compiled list of known United States and worldwide hardware figures.

Lifetime United States Hardware Sales as of May 14, 2008:

1. PlayStation 2 - 42 million (Sony PR)
2. Nintendo DS - 19.6 million units
3. PSP - 11.42 million
4. Xbox 360 - 10 million units
5. Wii - 9.5 million units
6. PlayStation 3 - 4.15 million units

Lifetime Worldwide Hardware Sales as of March 31, 2008... Read more

Publisher Capcom has released new screenshots from We Love Golf! (Wii), which it claims to show the "first African-American incarnation of [Street Fighter's] Ken Masters."

The outfit comes out of contest in which Capcom asked fans to pick alternate costumes for new characters in the Camelot-developed title. As a result, Mark can mirror Ken's look and Stephanie can be made up to resemble Darkstalkers' Morrigan.

"Everybody at Capcom had lots of extremely good reasons why this was a terrible idea," the company said of letting fans select alternate outfits. "But then we did it anyway!"

At a press event earlier this week, publisher Sega clarified the release plans for its stylish tactical RPG Valkyria Chronicles and Obsidian's spy-centric RPG Alpha Protocol.

Previously penciled for a vague fall arrival, Valkyria Chronicles (PS3) is now slated to debut in North America this November.

Meanwhile, Alpha Protocol (PC, PS3, 360) is projected for a February 2009 release, firming up that "early 2009" estimate.

Sony Computer Entertainment America just sent over a timeline for the next nine months of SCE-published games on PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 and PSP.

The schedule confirms that many of the dates provided by SCE Europe apply to North America, such as LittleBigPlanet (PS3) in October and Killzone 2 (PS3) next February.

Here's a summary of the notable PlayStation 3 releases:

• PlayStation Store Downloads:
  • wipEout HD - Summer 2008
  • Elefunk - Summer 2008
  • PixelJunk Eden - Summer 2008
  • SIREN: Blood Curse - Summer 2008
• SOCOM: US Navy SEALs Confrontation - September 16, 2008
• LittleBigPlanet - October 2008
• MotorStorm: Pacific Rift - Fall 2008
• Resistance 2 - Fall 2008
• Killzone 2 - February 2009

Read on for more dates, as well as official descriptions.... Read more

Publisher and PlayStation maker Sony Computer Entertainment has named Shuhei Yoshida as president of its worldwide development studios, effectively immediately.

In his 15 years thus far at SCE, Yoshida has served as a product development producer, vice president of product development at SCE America, and senior vice president of SCE worldwide studios.

Yoshida replaces former SCE studio boss Phil Harrison, who resigned in February for a presidential position at Atari owner Infogrames.

"Under the leadership of Yoshida, who has proven track record in managing creative talent, SCE WWS will accelerate the software development for the PlayStation 3 and PSP platforms and vigorously expand the gaming market," said SCE president and CEO Kazuo "Kaz" Hirai.

Everyone give a big what what for Friday. Hooray Friday! Apparently I should have never opened my mouth about having too many plastic drum sets around the house, for Konami hath spited me. Maybe it's meant primarily for the Japanese market? Here's all the other stuff Konami announced. Plus the staff actually previewed the new Silent Hill and Castlevania.

Following NPD's unveiling of April's U.S. console game and hardware sales, Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony have all checked in with their take on the data that saw Nintendo's Wii and DS top the hardware charts and the Xbox 360 outsell the PlayStation 3 by a mere 900 units.

With a whopping 1.85 million copies sold, the Xbox 360 edition of Grand Theft Auto IV was the month's top-selling console title, followed by 1.12 million units of Mario Kart Wii and 1 million copies of Grand Theft Auto IV for PlayStation 3.

Sony Computer Entertainment America president and CEO Jack Tretton claimed that "PS3 momentum is fueled by enthusiasm for Blu-ray" and "PS3 remains on pace for a breakthrough year."

"The tremendous legacy of Grand Theft Auto on PlayStation, combined... Read more

Man, thank goodness we have more music games to choose from! I was starting to feel like there was just no way my hunger for being a fake musician could be met!

• Robo suits are hot
• RIAA piracy trial do-over
• Your techy fridge is pointless
• Yahoo turmoil over MS buyout bid

As for the the videogame news around these parts for today:

• Nintendo got served, loses $21million suit
• Valve releases latest pc gamer stats
• GameSpot gets sold
• Ex-Capcom guys announce three games
• Soul Calibur XBLA screenshots
• Hellboy screenshots
• Metal Gear Online screenshots
• Rock Revolution preview and drums
• Metal Gear Solid 4 gone gold
• Fallout 3 concept art
• Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia preview and screenshots
• Silent Hill 5 preview and screenshots
• Bionic Commando Rearmed delayed
• GTA 4 sales numbers are in

Lastly, your P2P is getting hosed!

Being that today is Thursday, Sony Computer Entertainment has updated the PlayStation 3's online PlayStation Store with a few new demos and loads of downloadable content. Among today's additions are downloadable demos for Dimps' anime-inspired fighting game Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit (PS3, X360), Triumph Studios' minion-commanding title Overlord: Raising Hell (PS3), and High Impact Games' portable adventure Secret Agent Clank (PSP).

And as for all that downloadable content? ... Read more