The horribleNick Chesterinformed us yesterday that Nintendo is giving away free protection covers for Wii owners (thanks to all of theWiitards, no doubt). Well itapparentlyis going to cost Nintendoover $17 million to do this. Nintendo is expecting to send out at least 20 million of the Jackets in the US, Europe and Japan. People will be able to order up to four Jackets per Wii unit as well. Nintendo also said that this “will not have any significant effect on them financially”....

While we’ve receiveda fewphysicalholidaycards, we’ve also gotten our fair share of digital cards in our email inbox. Today, wereceived holiday wishesfrom Radical Entertainment, the folks behind the upcoming third-person open-world destroy-a-thon,Prototype. We appreciate the sentiments, but there’s nothing particularly exciting about the card. It’s just thePrototypelogo, some teasing words, a link to the official Web site, and animated snow. Still, it’s enough to remind us that we wantPrototype, and we want it now....

Gears of War 2launched worldwide on November 7 in a whirlwind of critical acclaim and impressive sales figures. As one of the premier titles on Xbox Live, it naturally boasts a huge and healthy online following, with eager gamers chainsawing and skull popping their way through fifteen maps of carefully controlled carnage. With such a focus on tightly restricted team play, there is a greater than average chance that your online actions will come under close scrutiny....

A girl gamer’s rant Today there was apopular articlebeing shared about a female gamer with problems fitting into the online community and after reading her article, I feel that she doesn’t understand how the online world works. Every female gamer can tell you at one time or another they have been insulted or hit on by another male gamer during an online game session or on a Web site in the comments or forums....

Luminous ArcandLast Rankerdeveloper Imageepooch has officially stepped into the arena of publishing with the goal of bringing prestige back to Japanese roleplaying games. With that in mind, it has officially unveiled three full JRPGs and promised much more. The first big reveal isFinal Promise Story. It’s a PSP game that claims to be a a “juvenile fantasy” (aren’t all JRPGs that?). The big draw is that if characters die in battle, they will remain dead during the course of the story....

That’s the claim, at least. Apparently, the import process forDragon Age IIwill be akin to “importing the world” fromDragon Age: Origins, says lead designer Mike Laidlaw in an interview with NowGamer. “The decisions your Warden made and the person they were all affectsDragon Age II. You know, who’s in charge of Ferelden, what happened with the Dwarves, who’s running Orzammar? All of these things are reflected and accounted for inDragon Age II....

Prepare yourself, readers: Your belly laugh of the day has just arrived. A Japanese sixteen year old was arrested today by the Tokyo Metropolitan police for hacking into the South Korean game company Nexon and stealing the $35k equivalent of currency for a popular MMO calledNabongi. When asked about motivation, the teen voiced his reasoning for the theft: “I originally wanted the dress worn by the princess,” he was quoted as saying, “but I just ended up racking up a bunch of game points....

WHA Entertainment’s PlayStation Network-exclusiveKick Assgame is getting some improvements, and thank goodness… I suredidn’t like itall that much. ButKick Ass New and Improvedlooks to add new features to the game, including new missions and enemies. The new mission, “Frank’s Night Club,” will have you fighting new enemies, which is a welcome addition — there were maybe four of them in the original game! Also added to the mix will be a new fight against Red Mist, where you’ll be able to use new moves like a double hit spin attack and a toss attack team-based move....

WhenKillzone 2was first released, many players bitched about the control system, complaining that they weren’t responsive enough for their twitchy fingers. Those players can rejoice with the arrival ofPatch 1.27, and the new “High Precision” control option that should satisfy their demands. “When this option is switched on, it makes the analog sticks more responsive to small movements,” explains multiplayer lead designer Eric Boltjes. “Turned off, the controls behave exactly as they did before the patch....

I don’t know what I was expecting when I heard that the folks at ifixit tore open a Microsoft Kinect to see its insides. I was expecting magical artifact shards and eye of newt or something. What are all these electronics? The teardown gives you a part-by-part look at the tech that went into Microsoft’s motion sensing device. You get to see the cameras and microphones and circuit boards that make it tick....

I may be in the minority here, but I’m not a huge fan of the summer. For some, the hot sun and the sandy beaches are where it’s at, but not for me. Sand in my toes, sweat in my eyes. Plus, there’s no way I’ll have time to get my body swimsuit-ready this year, what with me being busy prepping for GDC and the world of other excuses I have for not going to the gym....

The Majin and I are in something of an abusive relationship. I tell him what to do all of the time, make fun of him whenever he trips and mercilessly taunt him when he fails to do something quickly enough to suit me. And he just takes it because he knows that there’s nobody in the world who is going to love him like I do. That, and if he tried to leave I’d hunt his ass down and drag him home....

If you heard Rev Anthony’s RevRant fromthis week’s RetroForceGo!you’ve already heard a little about the amazing indie showing atGDC. It’s truly one of the richest gatherings of indie work you’re likely to see, and if you love that as much as I do, you find it always leaves you salivating for more. Eskil Steenberg’s mini-MMOLove(better known as For The Love Of Game Development) was shown among that very group, andclearly has affected some of the people who saw it already....