ARE YOU RELATIVELY READY TO ROCK!? If you are, indeed, adequately prepared to indulge in some rocked rolling, then you might beinterested to knowthat the Wii version ofGuitar Hero: World Rock Band CopyPastawill include a console-specific mode known as Mii Freestyle. Mii Freestyle is exactly what you’d expect — it’s the entire advertised premise ofWii Music, but represented within the fraction of one full, probably better, game. It’s designed with thatoh-so precious “casual gamer” in mind, the one apparently too afraid of buttons and complicated Simon Says-style color matching to tackle the full game without being “eased in” by this new mode, where players have “the freedom to play what they want, when they want....

Well, so far Hamza is still alive. In fact, he’s more alive than ever. Without any of Chester’s involvement, as far as I can tell, he’s taken to whipping the Japanator staff when he’s not busy driving everyone on the site. At least he takes his shirt off when he uses the whip, and doesn’t coat the whip in chili powder. So, besides all the E3 buzz — and by buzz, I mean the sleep-inducing episode that was Sony’s press conference — there were some stories that we happened to miss....

It looks like 5th Cell’sScribblenautsfor the Nintendo DS isn’t just entertaining us media types and “core” crowd on the toilet. Earlier this afternoon, publisher Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announced that the colorful, uh, “word” game has sold over one million units and “became on of the hottest games of the holiday season.” Speaking via the press release, WBIE present Martin Tremblay calledScribblenautsa “strong original brand,” and added that WBIE looks “forward to bringing consumers more quality gaming experiences as part of our portfolio game strategy....

Scores of PlayStation 2 owners will vouch for how much joy theSOCOMgames have brought to their console over the years (present company included), so it’s not exactly surprising that interest in the next game,SOCOM Confrontation, has been relatively high. One thing that has eluded us all so far, is a solid release date. Thanks to the guys over at1UP, we now know that we can expect to see the game in stores on September 16th....

Former head of Sonic Team Yuji Naka and his new studio,Prope, have opened up a teaser Web site for an untitled upcoming game. The site doesn’t offer much information on the title, but does promise a “World first, a game that even penguins can play.” While we have no idea what in the hellthatmeans, it may not be long until we find out. The Web site promises that the game will be revealed in 17 days, which just happens to be the first day of Tokyo Game Show....

Siliconera is reporting that Sony recently made a trademark filing of the phrase, “move into the action.” Now, this is totally speculation but I can totally see where someone might get the idea that this could be a slogan for the PlayStation Move controller. All the elements are there. It’s simple to remember, contains the name of the product and defines the function of that product. By jove, it’s almost brilliant....

Over at the official EA website, the publishing juggernaut has a new list of games for which they will no longer provide servers for online play. While some of the games are surprisingly old, such asNHL 07, there are a couple which may have an impact on SPORTS! gamers who may not feel the need to update to the most recent version. If you’re still playing last year’s edition of theMaddenfranchise online, you’re going to want to pick upMadden 10sometime in the next month, as the servers are shutting down across all platforms on February 2nd....

Ok, it doesn’t, really. But if it had, wouldn’t it have been some crazy gossip to tell your friends? “So, I was up trying to finish this paper, and I only had 6 hours left before class, so I slammed a few Power Ups and finished that sh*t an hour early!!!” They’d probably laugh. Or if you have any uptight friends, they might call the police and report you. Maybe it’s best to forget that little fantasy altogether....

Surprise number one: Microsoft’s Xbox 360 booth at Tokyo Game Show this year ishopping. No, I didn’t count heads; but by the looks of things, Microsoft seems to be attracting as many people, if not more, than Sony. Surprise number two: outside of the huge area for Square Enix’sThe Last Remnant, Ubisoft’s upcomingPrince of Persiahad one of the longer waits before you could get your hands on the controller. Standing in line waiting to play, I struck up a conversation with a Japanese citizen, a producer at Sandlot, the folks behind the B-movie-excellentEarth Defense Force 2010....

If there is one upcoming game that I’ve been using to justify my perpetual love of the PSP, it’sDissidia: Final Fantasy. A title that brings together all the heroes and villains from the coreFinal Fantasyfranchise, it’s a fan service orgasm and makes no apologies. Dissidiais on show at TGS and you damn right we were there to play it. I may not understand Japanese, or even have a clue exactlywhatwas going on, but I playedDissidiaand I played it with gusto....

When I was getting ready for the Tokyo Game Show, I had no clue about the types of games I wanted to cover. There really is so much here and you can’t get your hands on it all. I did know, however, thatSonic Unleashedwas going to get played at some point. I grew up with that tragic blue sod, it’s only natural. I tried to keep my hope for this one rather quiet, as the consistent disappointment thatSonicgames bring to the fans has become something of a self parody....

The guys over at Kotaku were lucky enough to nabKeiji Inafune for a quick interview outside of the Tokyo Game Show, and what he had to say regarding the sequel toDead Risingjust might surprise you. Are you ready for this? The original sold welloutsideof Japan, and he’d like nothing more than to give us some zombie love all over again. The problem? Well… it’s complicated. Just check out the following exchangeBrian had with him....

Last month, we brought you avery early lookat theDante’s Infernoaction figure. Now,NECA Onlineshows us exactly what the figure will look like. Dante has 30 points of articulation and a interchangeable right hand that lets him hold his Cross weapon or his eight inch tall scythe. The Dante figure will be available in North America for those that pre-orderDante’s Infernofrom select retailers in February. Check out more images of theDante’s Infernofigureover on Tomopop....