Several weeks ago, fellow Briton Davebroke the newsthat UK retail chain GAME had bought their biggest rivals Gamestation in a move that disgusted many gamers in this fair nation, myself included. Game is a horrendous chain that has a clueless and inept staff, no quality control or testing of secondhand games and a sickeningly unreasonable part exchange rate. The threat of a GAME controlled monopoly on the UK’s games retail industry is a terrible thing, but the Office of Fair Trading is currentlyinvestigatingthe takeover to assess the true ramifications....

It can take years for studios to create a Wii remote responsive game. It took Zipper Interactive around six weeks of serious development to drop in fluid PS Move controls in their simulation shooterSOCOM 4: US Navy SEALS. “I would say that there was obviously more time here and there, but the core work was done in 6-8 weeks,” game creative director Ed Byrne told me at GDC. “We had one engineer and he, Mike, implemented all of the basic technology to get it running and then exposed the tool to the design team....

Fire Hose Games is following up its puzzle/brawler hybridSlam Bolt ScrapperswithGo Home Dinosaurs!Even though it’s in a different genre (tower defense … er, barbeque defense), this is a logical transition. Once again, being able to fit together puzzle-piece shapes is crucial to winning. As small mammals, you must defend your BBQ from dastardly dinosaurs who may or may not be made of bacon. One weapon, funny enough, even has you calling down meteors....

Sega and The Creative Assembly have ranged pretty far in developing theTotal Warfranchise. They’ve gone from the battlefields of ancient Rome to the Medieval period to the beginnings of the Industrial Revolution in covering how both never and always changes. This time though, they’re returning to their roots, to the period that theyfirstvisited inShogun: Total War: TheSengoku Jidai, Japan’s “Warring States” era. What sorts of lessons have The Creative Assembly brought on their return to the Land of the Rising Sun?...

Here’s a brand newHey Ash, Whatcha Playin’?that was revealed during PAX. It’s aboutNBA Jam, and… …

There’s two types of Wii owners. The ones like yours truly head to Sam’s Club to buy an obscenely large package of AA batteries to support your multiple gaming devices (it usually breaks down to $.30 or so per battery). The rest use some kind of rechargeable solution, and many Wii owners have opted to use a charge base. If you’re one of those that happens to own thePsyclone Wii Recharge Station, you may appreciate this heads up....

With its complex narrative and serial killer storyline, there’s no denying that PS3-exclusiveHeavy Rainwill be a thoroughly adult affair. Developer Quantic Dream has no intention of marketing this game to kids, and boss David Cage wishes more studios would do the same, as well as provide experiences that aren’t clear-cut “good vs. evil” scenarios. “As an industry we make games for teenagers and kids,” Cage tellsNowGamer. “So we try to make things very casual and as clear as possible....

Does Global Thermonuclear War ring any bells? It was one of the hidden multiplayer modes inModern Warfare 2that Joshtold us aboutjust the other day. Having opened up the developer console, which, by default is blocked, players were able to gain access to otherwise unplayable modes. GTW was one such mode, tasking players with “capturing” a nuke for 90 seconds to detonate it. Now, thanks to the persistent bunch atModernWarfail2, everyone has the opportunity to witness the mayhem....

According to Spanish gaming site,Revogamers, (thank GodI learned how toread Spanish with my DS)House of the Dead 2and3iscoming out forthe Wii early next year.Kotakubacks this up with the official press release they got from Sega too (which is after the jump). The game is officially going to be calledHouse of the Dead 2 & 3 Return, will use the Wii Zapper and you can check out some of the screens at Revogamers....

Late last week,Red Steel 2’screative director Jason Vandenberghe spoke to members of press — by way of satellite, all the way from France — in Ubisoft San Francisco last week. He gave a little run down on all thingsRed Steel 2, and had some really interesting things to say about the development on game. For instance, we found out thatRed Steel 2was in development since the endRed Steel 1: The game has actually been worked on in one way or another pretty much since the end of Red Steel 1....

Wolfenstein, like all good PC games, has been leaked onto the Internet for the freeloading enjoyment of dirty pirates. The Multiplayer portion of the game has been distributed online at the usual places, and Texas-based studio id is well aware of it. The developer hasmade it perfectly clearthat evil publisher Activision is looking into the leakage, and there will stern retribution for those who dare cross them. “I must warn anyone involved that Activision’s legal department is taking this matter very seriously,” states id community manager Pete Sokal....

As the years go on I’d like to think we’ve been so exposed to horrible cliche that we don’t really notice it anymore, but as the intrepidinnanet detectivesover atNeoGAFfound, it’s starting to become quite absurd. See that there newCrysistrailer hovering like an angry, ancient god above this block of text? Watch it. Then hit the jump and watch theTuroktrailer from this year’s E3.You’ll notice a few similarities.It’s one thing for games to be altogether similar, address the same themes or employ tired and clichéd plot devices, but this is just… silly....

Last month, Maurice Tanbrought us a previewof the co-op campaign that can be found inInversion. Generally speaking, he summed up the gameplay to be a sort ofGears of Warclone with light gravity manipulation. One really cannot argue against these points as in my multiplayer preview, I definitely saw the strongGears of Warinfluence (bulky men tromping around environments with big guns, enemies that drill out of the ground, etc.) and a lot of the actual gravity shifting that took place bordered on linear....