Ok, so I know that December 1 was yesterday, but I am off on Mondays therefore we will just pretend it never happened and list the games that came out yesterday anyway, ok?. There are loads of games being released this week (schedule subject to change) which is all leading up to the grand finale of the holiday shopping extravaganza.

Most games are hitting today, especially the more hyped ones like Prince of Persia, Mushroom Men: Rise of the Fungi, Grand Theft Auto IV for the PC, and SingStar ABBA (god no!). Tomorrow, those who have not gotten Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts yet, can play  the original via the Xbox Live Marketplace until Santa puts it in their stocking.

Without further ado, here is the list:

Nintendo DS

Animal Boxing – December 2
Burger Island -December 2
Cate West: The Vanishing Files – December 2
Dreamer: Puppy Trainer – December 2
Emma at the Farm – December 1
Happy Cooking – December 2
Heavy Armor Brigade – December 2
Mushroom Men: Rise of the Fungi – December 2
My Fun Facts Coach – December 2
Prince of Persia: The Fallen King – December 2
Slingo Quest – December 2
The Tale of Despereaux – December 2
Winter Sports 2: The Next Challenge – December 2

Nintendo Wii

Bigfoot (Racing) – December 3
Family Party: 30 Great Games – December 2
King of Fighters Collection: The Orochi Saga – December 2
Metal Slug 2 – December 1
Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars – December 2
My Fitness Coach – December 2
Nancy Drew: The White Wolf of Icicle Creek – December 2
Pit Crew Panic (WiiWare) – December 1
Safecracker: The Ultimate Puzzle Adventure – December 2
Ski and Shoot – December 2
Space Invaders Get Even (WiiWare) – December 1
Summer Sports 2: Island Sports Party – December 2
The Tale of Despereaux – December 2
Wordfish – December 2

PC, PS2, PS3 and Xbox 360 are listed after the jump.
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Rockstar has released this video for two reason: 1) to demonstrate the new video editing tool in the PC version of GTA IV and 2) to show the hazards of littering. The video shows Niko walking up to a soda machine, drinking a can of “Sprunk,” and then tossing the can aside (cause nothing say “badass” like a blatant disregard for the cleanliness of your city). And then he gets blown up for it in what can only be described as “karma finally just loses it.” But the point of the whole thing is that it was made using only the video editing tools that will be included in the PC version of GTA IV. In other words, expect to see a whole lot of videos of Niko doing the “Soulja Boy” in the near future.

Gamers who preorder Grand Theft Auto IV through Steam for $49.99 will get a very nice present in the form of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City for free.

If you order between now and the December 2 release, once you hit the submit button you automatically get Vice City and can play it while you wait for the PC version of GTA IV.

System requirements are:

It’s about time we heard something about the upcoming GTA IV DLC. Now Rockstar has finally revealed a few screens along with a release date of February 17, 2009 for it. Judging from the screens — and the title of this first episode — I’d wager the new content will bring up a storyline involving two rival biker gangs called “The Lost” and “The Damned.” Either that, or Hell has a different “Lost and Found” counter from what we’re used to.

More screens below.

Games for Windows has hardly been the de facto PC branding it once upon a time hoped to be, but Microsoft is still making strides towards achieving that goal. The GFW initiative turns two this month, cuing Microsoft to announce that Grand Theft Auto IV — releasing on PC in November as a GFW-branded game — will bring with it “a revitalized Games for Windows Live experience” including an out-of-game client and marketplace — two features that will be much-welcomed and spur more than a few questions asking, “Why wasn’t this included in the first place?”

Over the paste few years, Steam and Steam Community have managed to gobble up much of the marketplace, becoming for many the standard, go-to service for buying games and maintaining a friends list. Microsoft’s going to have its work cut out for it going up against Steam and now Stardock’s Impulse. Of course, GFW does have the benefit of being plugged into Xbox Live, Achievements and, don’t forget, it’s now free. In addition to GTA IV, several other big name games will fall under the GFW umbrella, including Fallout 3, Dawn of War II, and Quantum of Solace.

What do you think? Will the new promised features of an actual GFW Live client and marketplace be enough to bring you back or has the service truly become irrelevant to the PC gaming space?

Banner day for Take-Two and GTA IV fans. Lots of news so I will just state the facts.

• Eurogamer has reported that exclusive DLC for GTA IV should be hitting the Xbox 360 sometime in November.
• Take-Two is reporting that the DLC will hit during the Q4 of their fiscal year 2009 (Nov 08-Jan 09)- so we will keep you posted on that
• The DLC will consist of two 10-hour episodes
• GTA IV had now sold over 10 million units

All of this comes on the heals of Take-Two’s financial report which was released this morning, full of bragging rights. For example,  Q3 revenues are up from $206.4 million to $433.8 million with net income for Q3 totaling at $51.8 million or $0.67 per share. If you pull up numbers for the same time last year, you will notice that they reported a net loss of $58.5 million or $0.81per share.

For the nine months ended July 31, 2008, net revenues were $1,214.1 million, compared to $689.2 million for the same period a year ago. Net income for the first nine months of fiscal 2008 was $112.1 million or $1.48 per share, compared to a loss of ($131.3) million or ($1.83) for the 2007 period.

No wonder they are not ready to hand the reins over to EA just yet.

For the full press release which includes a slew of boring numbers, hit the jump.

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The latest rumor concerning GTA IV’s upcoming DLC says that the first batch of new content will add 15 hours of extra gameplay to the hit title. The news apparently stems from web comic, RPG-TV, though the author has since removed this information. This is kind of disappointing, considering initial rumors on the DLC indicated they would be adding whole new cities comparable to San Andreas. Now it sounds more like they’re just adding some extra missions. Hopefully we’ll actually hear some official news on the additional content soon.

Via ShackNews

CNet’s Digital Home asks a compelling question, “Does it matter who buys video games?” In this recent article, the author sites a survey that finds 17% of the GTAIV videogames sold were bought by or for kids ages 6-17. Given that 80% of the kids of the kids that didn’t buy it themselves got it from their parents or older siblings the author takes a stance against regulating the sale of M rated games. His point is that these kids’ parents are likely to go get it for them anyway.

The original intent of not allowing underage kids to buy video games was to stop them from picking up a violent title that their parents didn’t want them to play and bring it to a friend’s house where they wouldn’t know. And while that is an admirable idea, it simply doesn’t hold up.

To think that ID’ing kids for a video game will somehow stop violence and the proliferation of violent video games is extremely foolhardy. If they’re turned down, they’ll simply go to the next place and see if they can win someone over there. And if all else fails, they can enlist the help of an older person.

Stopping underage children from buying video games may be a great PR stunt, but that’s all it is. Children are getting their hands on M-rated games and there’s no changing it. So we have one of two options: ignore it or just forget about age limits altogether. I vote for the latter.

I have to say that I’m going to have to agree to disagree. As a father, I feel it’s important to have those ratings and prohibitions in place. I reserve the right to decide which mature rated videogames… if any my children can play. I also should have the right to purchase those titles which I approve of for my children.

Many parents seem not to be as involved with their children or aware of their activities as they should be. Having an age limit in place serves as a protection to children who might not be able to handle a mature title when parents fail to do their job.

It’s a well know fact that videogames are a recent favorite scapegoat for the media and politics. Videogames are the latest bad influence on today’s youth like comic books, rock and roll and so many other controversial forms of media and art that have been targeted over the years. Unfortunately, it seems these talking heads are doing their job well.

According to a recent survey by parental advisory website What They Play, parents are more worried about their kids being exposed to Grand Theft Auto than beer or pornography.

The poll, which ran August 1-6, 2008, queried parents on what they’d be most concerned about their 17-year-old child indulging in while at a sleepover. More than 1,600 respondents revealed they’re more apprehensive about their child smoking marijuana (49 percent) and playing the video game Grand Theft Auto (19 percent), than watching pornography (16 percent) and drinking beer (14 percent).

The poll is a follow up to a survey seeking to find out whether sex or violence triggers parents’ anxieties more:

The results of the initial What They Play online poll, conducted April 4-10, 2008, found that the 1,266 participants were most offended by the following in a video game: a man and woman having sex (37 percent); two men kissing (27 percent); a graphically severed head (25 percent); and multiple use of the F-word (9 percent).

No one should really be surprised at these results. It’s pretty obvious that games including adult sexual situations will earn a mature rating more often than one featuring graphic violence. While we’ve become placidly inured to gore and violence, our nation holds true to its Puritan roots remaining squeamish over sex and nudity.

The latest Question of the Day survey in progress is based on Gears of War 2 which will offer parental controls to turn off blood and foul language. Personally I don’t understand why a mature rated game should offer these features at all. The Gears of War series and many others like it were never intended for children.

*Sigh* Another day, another story of criminals taking the “GTA Defense.”

In Milton, Georgia, three teenagers were arrested after several cars were firebombed with Molotov cocktails on the evening of July 24th. The teens were caught when police pulled receipts from a local Wal-mart and found one listing Sprite bottles, red rags, and lighter fluid. From there, they looked at the store surveillance tapes and were able to identify the ones involved. When confronted, what explanation did the teenagers give for their actions? Why, that “Grand Theft Auto” taught them “how to do it” of course. Each teen is now being charged with 19 felony counts, including arson, criminal damage to property, and possession of explosive devices.

What happened to the good old days when teenagers would blame The Anarchist Cookbook or Che Guevara’s Guerrilla Warfare on these sorts of things. Kids just don’t read enough it seems.

Via WSBTV