Nintendo has had to hike up the price of the Wii in Europe. While the retail price is still£179.99,MCVsays that the Wii will cost retailersaround £16.50, or around £19 including VAT. I don’t know what the margins are for European retailers, but I’d guess that they’re pretty tight. This may have retailers raising the price of the Wii a bit. “Due to the severe and continuing depreciation of the pound, we are, unfortunately, having to raise our trade price to UK retailers of Wii hardware,” a Nintendo UK spokesperson said....

God-fearing Web siteEvery Day Christianhas today published a handy little guide for idiotic parents, giving family-focused videogame critic Bob Waliszewski’s thumbs-up and thumbs-down on a variety of videogames. Now parents will be able to know which games are suitable for their little cherubs, because Lord knows they can’t be expected to think for themselves. Let’s take a look at what Bob had to say! Strangely enough, war-themed videogames are A-OK by Waliszewski’s standards, endorsing bothEmpire: Total WarandTom Clancy’s H....

You might be wondering what you’re looking at: this game,Aquaria,is one of my most anticipated games of 2007. The devs at Bit-Blot, after some post-trailer radio silence, have uploaded a video detailing some of what we can expect fromAquaria‘s level editor, some new music, and those same gorgeous visuals that have become the hallmark of this forthcoming indie title. Aquarialooks to have it all: intriguing play mechanics, old-school sensibility, and a stunning aesthetic....

As part of our rigorous contract negotiations, Eliza and I made an unorthodox proviso: on our first day at Destructoid HQ — a gigantic robot head perched atop a volcano — we expected to be introduced to our fellow editors withthe scrotum-glowing glory of Electric Six. Seated upon burnished thrones in an opulent Edwardian parlor, the staff — one by one — would be ushered in, to quake in our bizarre and profane presence....

GAME, the U.K. and Ireland’srecently stock-troubledleader in high street games sales, has bought out biggest rivalGamestation. The smaller chain was purchased from previous owner Blockbuster for £74 million ($148 million) and will continue to be operated as a separate brand. It’s a surprise move, given that both chains have co-existed for a number of years now, andspeculationis that the purchase is a pre-emptive strike on behalf of GAME, intended to close the window of opportunity for other video game retail groups such as GameStop to buy into the U....

Microsoft’s neat little virtual arcade space, “Game Room,” has hit Xbox LIVE and Games for Windows today. That’s the good news, I guess. Here’s the bad news: Users are reporting that it just doesn’t work. Reports are coming in from all over the Internet (and verified by me) that you simply can’t load the damned thing on the Xbox 360; the progress bar gets stuck. So right now, I guess it’s just “Room,” right?...

If you’re sharing games on a P2P network, then I wouldadvise extreme caution, unless you have over £16,000 to spare. London’s Patents County Court recently ordered an unnamed British woman to hand over £16,086.56 to game developer Topware Interactive. She was illegally sharing their game,Dream Pinball 3D, over a network but has been thoroughly hung out to dry by law firm Davenport Lyons. Prosecutor David Gore of Davenport Lyons had this to say: Illegal filesharing is a very serious issue resulting in millions of pounds of losses to copyright owners… As downloading speeds and internet penetration increase, this continues to be a worldwide problem across the media industry which increasingly relies on digital revenues…The damages and costs ordered by the court are significant and should act as a deterrent....

I can’t be bothered to get a video this week because I am lazy. Instead, you’re able to close your eyes and imagine you are watching something funny. Try pressing your fingers against your eyes until those funny colors start appearing. It’ll be like doing drugs, without the inevitible feeling that you’re skeleton is dying inside of your skin. In other news, videogames happened. If you would like to see what videogames happened, you may hit the jump and read about it....

We already love their games, and they’ve shown themselves as capable Rock Stars, but nowInsomniacis looking to add the word “mentor” to their developer’s resume. Their ambitious new Nocturnal site plans to be a Brain Trust of sorts, where as engine director Mike Acton puts it, is a winning combination for all: “We see Nocturnal as a long-term project that may be valuable for those who want to develop similar technology as us, but without the same effort we needed....

Space Invaders Extremefor the DS is, to borrow a phrase from Dale North, my jam. It’s gotten me through many a long airplane ride or sitting in airports waiting to be on a long airplane ride (and as RetroforceGo! listeners know, that tends to happen kind of often). The Xbox Live version of the game is being shown off at GDC this year, and while I’m not there to get hands on with it now, I can tell you it’s loads of fun....

Gearbox boss Randy Pitchfordhas been talking abouttwo of the most well-respect FPS developers in the business, Bungie and Infinity Ward, claiming that while he has big respect for what they do, he’s waiting for a brand new idea from the teams known almost exclusively for theHaloandCall of Dutyfranchises. “I keep waiting to hear what Bungie is going to do that’s notHalo,” explains the man whose studio is currently makingBorderlands. “Those guys are amazing, right?...

Hey guys, I heardGears of War 2was popular. Can we get a confirmation on this? Yeswe can, as the newGearssequel has sold over 2 million copies worldwide during its launch weekend. In addition, 1.5 million Xbox Live members are recorded as having played the game, logging in a record 15 million gameplay hours between them.Gears 2players may also be interested to know they helped contribute to over 19 million achievements being unlocked since the game was released....

Thiis wonderful bit of holiday cheer was made by an Epic employee back in 2005 and I guess that it’s just now surfacing. God I love machinima, and it’s nice to see the hard-workin’ folks behindGears of War(my secret lover from another mother that I cover) don’t take things too seriously and can relax a bit. Happy holidays everybody![ViaKotaku]