When Blizzard Entertainment’s not counting itsWorld of Warcraftmoney and making great turn-based strategy games, it’s apparently feeling philanthropic. Make-A-Wish has announced today that the House of Warcraft has donated $800,000 to the organization, which helps make dreams a reality for kids diagnosed with life-threatening medical conditions. Blizzard also celebrated World Wish Day, April 29, by letting two boys visit the Irvine, California studio to get a look at how its games are created....

Nintendo and London’s Science Museum are teaming up to ask the question: Could videogames make you healthier? WithWii Fithitting Europe in April, Play Away the Calories aims to find out, by inviting both gamers and slimmers to the Dana Center to discuss attitudes to losing weight and gaming, play some Wii titles, and generally have a laugh (there’s also a bar there, I am promised). Could video games make you healthier?...

Apparently the excitement of being old, fragile, and incontinent just isn’t enough for the senior citizens in Hamilton, Ontario. Lifecare Long Term Care Homes seems especially proud of itself with their senior-only tournament in progress this week. They droppedthis flyerin one of our fine reader’s mailboxes hoping that he would join in on the fun. The competition is for $1,000 dollars in prizes. The prizes are not specified, but one can imagine that there will be an exceptionally large amount of Vaseline, diapers, syringes, and applesauce involved....

After outsourcing a number of new titles to overseas developers, Japan-based Capcom is thinking about keeping it closer to home in the future. In a recentfinancial conference call, company reps pointed to theBionic Commando(developed by the now defunct Sweden-based GRIN) as a demonstration of the “difficulty of outsourcing” new title development. While Capcom realizes it can’t flesh out its portfolio without overseas help, it does plan to change how these developers are used....

Capcom has something else lined up for us on the Nintendo 3DS already. Nice! This new title is calledNazo Waku Yakata, and Famitsu says that you won’t use your hands to play it. Control will come through voice commands, gyro movements and touch. Wait, wouldn’t touch be with your hands? There’s double the 3D in this game, as the sound will also support 3D through headphones. We dont’ know what kind of gameNazo Waku Yakatawill be, but we may have hints through the staff involved....

In the most obvious story since the invention of the word obvious, Sony announced today that their operating profits have fell a shareholder-jumping 68% for the financial year. But, we all knew that would happen. Sony already said they’d take a loss with each PlayStation 3 sold and hell, when you take a chance and release the most expensive and technically advanced machine on the market, it’s gonna happen. Sonyhad this to sayabout the sour low profits:...

It looks like theCastlevaniaarcade gamewe showed you awhile backhas finally hit Japanese arcades this week. Castlevania: The Arcadeuses a “whip/sword controller,” that (as you can see above) looks like a stumpy light saber. By waving this flash-light in front of the screen, you can snap at and slice up enemies. Each controller has a tiny red button on it, and when pressed activates different in-game items that you’ll pick up throughout the game....

Our friend Alex from Mad Catz was kind enough to show us around their newest controller, the new Street Fighter IV Arcade Tournament FightStick. It’s got a new body, a new look, and new parts and functionality that make it even more drool-worthy than the original. Hopefully it will be easier to find on release than the original was. Do want, naturally. I tried to stick one under my shirt, but there were too many watchful eyes there....

Yesterday Sony announced that, finally, North American PSN users would be able to get their paws on bothFinal Fantasy VIandChrono Trigger, two of Square-Enix’s most requested titles. There was much rejoicing. However, they’ve just admittedvia Twitterthat this announcement was a mistake and that neither game is coming to PSN this week. “Yesterday, we incorrectly reported Final Fantasy VI & Chrono Trigger were coming to PSN on Tuesday. They are not. We apologize for the error”...

[Update:It’s over! All codes have been given out!] Journeyis the next exclusive PlayStation 3 title from the talented folks over at thatgamecompany. WithJourney, they’re trying something different with the online component as there is no way to chat, no matchmaking and you won’t even see PSN IDs. You are limited in the way you can communicate with other players you come across in your adventure and it’s totally up to you if you even want to work with others....

How do you all feel about the newClash of the Titansfilm? I couldn’t really say either way. I’m excited, sure, but that’s mostly due to my love of Greek mythology, not the quality of the film. Liam Neeson as Zeus? Yeah, that’ll be hard to screw up. Count me in, I suppose. TheClash of the Titansgame, however … I have my mind made up on that one already. Movie tie-ins, no matter how good they may appear to be initially, are going to get the pessimistic treatment from me until release....

Even though a sequel is on the horizon, 2007 monster hitCall ofGrenadeDuty 4: Modern Warfare’splayer base has expanded. According to Infinity Ward’s community manager Robert Bowling, there are currently 13 million unique users playingModern Warfareon Xbox LIVE. “Call of Duty 4 on Xbox Live just exploded,” Bowling told Major Nelson on his podcast. “I mean right now we’re at 13 million unique users on 360 and that’s insane.” Bowling said a mere 10,006,606 unique users were around in January....

Our brains are now jammed with thoughts of big October games likeUncharted 2orBorderlands. And it doesn’t look like November will be easier on ye’ old big pile of pink mush withLeft 4 Dead 2andCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 2sitting in disc trays, demanding to be spun in circles. Early December offers a bit of a respite, as we’ll turn our attention to a lone title — Pandemic Studios’The Saboteur, an open-world action title about racing, Nazis, and killing said Nazis....