Square has announced thatChocobo to Maho no Ehonfor the Nintendo DS will come to the US under the new moniker ofFinal Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales. There is an officialwebsite(although all you really do is listen to the chocobo theme and watch yellow feathers fall) that shows the game is slated for release in April 2007. I wasn’t so sure this one would make it over to US shores, so I’m pleased to see it....

Square Enix has sent over some new screens forFinal Fantasy XIII-2, which is the sequel toFinal Fantasy XIII, which is aFinal Fantasygame, which is on a system designed for playing videogames. Also, Square Enix developed it. You can see the pictures with your eyes and then tell us what you thought of the pictures by writing word using a keyboard on the Internet.

In a move that could very likely be a glimpse of things to come for this industry, Splash Damage and Bethesda are going to put out the firstBrinkdownloadable content for free. This is their way of showing “appreciation for your support” of the game despite arough launch. A number of users have been experiencing pesky lag, so here’s an update on that front. A full patch is in the works, but for now, a “configuration change” on Xbox 360 (and on PlayStation 3 once PSN is up) has been made which limits the number of human players to eight in Campaign and most Freeplay modes....

GameStop has revealed their first-week sales numbers forGrand Theft Auto IVexclusively to Level Up, and they’re certainly not too surprising. According to the specialty retail giant, roughly 64 percent of the copies sold were on the Xbox 360, with the other 36 percent (obviously) for the PlayStation 3. Microsoft FTW? According to Level Up’s number-crunching, an Xbox 360 victory is not quite so clear. Comparing the NPD group numbers that indicate a 9....

See that picture? You’re probably wondering why I posted it, right? Why would I bother making my headline photo nothing more than a collection of static? I’m posting it becauseit’s a goddamn screenshot. The above photo was taken fromLost in the Static, an indie game which is entirely built around the idea of obfuscation. It was highlighted in the “Experimental Gameplay Sessions” lecture today alongside several other games which, regardless of how fun or good they are, attempted risky and unusual and balls-out experimental things....

Prince of Persiaproducer Ben Mattes hastaken responsibilityfor the “no death” aspect of last year’s game. Defending the franchise reboot against complaints that the game was too easy thanks to Elika being able to save you from any sort of death, Mattes did concede that he might have swung the pendulum a bit too far into “casual” territory. “I guess I made the mistake of projecting my own attitudes,” claimed Mattes. “I believed that, as a consumer base, the gaming industry had evolved to the point where they were punishing themselves for their failures… The idea with the Elika mechanic was [that] if you were a really good player, a single fall — when she had to pull you up — would be devastating thing because it ruined your perfect run....

Think the Wii’s controller is silly now? Prepare to squeal in horror and wet your pants laughing at the same time. This short video shows a few early prototypes for what you could have beenchucking through your expensive television screeninstead of the little whitemisslewe’ve come to know as the Wiimote. The designs range anywhere from an inconspicuous, plain Jane black remote to a red drink coaster that resemblesNex’sold avatar. What if Nintendo had actually used one of these things?...

I’ve been almost done with a preview ofRetro City Rampagefor a while now. I’m waiting until a little bit closer to the game’s release to post it because I want you to read it a little closer to when you’re able to actually play the game yourself, and because I’m swamped with deadlines-related stuff that just can’t wait. In the meantime, I’ll just tell you a little bit about the game’s controls....

THQ has made it rain with a selection of character art, concept art, and screenshots for the upcoming groin-kicker,Saints Row: The Third. They show off the new city of Steelport, as well as some of the nefarious cats who you’ll be doing business with: Phillipe Loren:the cold, calculating leader of the Syndicate.Zimos:an old-school pimp who hates Morningstar and what they’ve done to pimping, mostly because they ran him out of business and pimping ain’t easy....

In a way, this post is shameless because the game I’m plugging has been made by an acquaintance of mine. In another, more important way, people are always complaining that we don’t cover enough Android games, so you can justshut up. Beetlenaut(which was featured onsome weird show) is a cool little game in which you control a giant mechanized stag beetle and eat people. You have to initiate quick maneuvers in order to avoid the guided missiles sent by attack plans, and you can gain bonus points for specific carnage, as well as acquire upgrades....

This week’s setup belongs to shipero. Pictured above is what his set up used to look back in 2005 when he was stuck in a small place. Now, he has his own apartment all to himself with a setup that’s not too shabby.Check out shipero’s C Blogfor more pictures of his room and collection. Several Dtoiders celebrate their birthdays, Mr Sadistic is the comment king, STUVNING made an awesome Samus mural, a couple of more PAX related blogs went up, blehman is trying to setup a Dallas NARP, and plenty more happened in the Community this past week....

[Ever wanted to own a really awesome arcade cabinet? Caiters did, and she made that dream a reality by picking up an X-men cab. Want to see your own writing on the front page? Write something awesome andput it in the C Blogs. — Kauza] A few weekends back I decided to indulge in a childhood dream of mine: I bought a six playerX-mencab off of craigslist.The guy was selling it for $750 and lived 5 minutes away from me – and I am certainly not one to pass up a fantastic deal....

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walkeris out in Japan and this is a thing that you can do in the game. Yup. For more onPeace Walker, check out all my previews that went up today. Find out about theoverall game,the RPG elementandthe multiplayer experience.