According to PS3 Fanboy, National Geographic will be publishing Sony’ PS3 exclusive Afrika in the U.S.

As you may recall, earlier this week it was announced that National Geographic was getting into the gaming business, and even released a schedule of upcoming games. One of the games listed to launch this month is National Geographic: Africa–which you will forgive me for not putting two and two together because: a) the spelling change in the word Afrika, and b) the addition of National Geographic to the title.

So I guess this means that the U.S. will be getting this game after all, although I cannot for the life of me–no matter how pretty it is–expect it to be much of a hit here in the States. Unless you can watch a pride of lions wreak havoc upon a herd of poor, unsuspecting wildebeests and the end result being nothing short of bloody carnage, most 13-year old males will not be interested.

(Thanks VG247)

This cycled through the internet a bit yesterday when most people believed these transparent PSP billboards were real (via Toxel). Sadly they’re not; just concepts for an ad campaign from an artist called “Skizo.” There’s no doubt however that this is one damn creative idea. I’m not sure quite how well those ads would work after some exposure to the elements though (plus that one with the sniper would probably result in a few calls to the cops). Still, I sure wouldn’t mind looking out my window every morning to see Spider-man outside.

The rest of the concept images can be seen after the break.

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Talk about a case of bad timing. On the eve of the big launch for the New Xbox Experience — which, remember, marks “a new dawn in home entertainment” — we’ve learned that Netflix streaming won’t have quite as many films available as we had been hoping. Joystiq learned earlier this evening that a number of films — including both Ghostbusters and Bad Boys — are now unavailable to be streamed to the Xbox 360. The common link between the suddenly unavailable flicks is that they are all from Columbia Pictures, which is owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment. The films haven’t disappeared from Netflix altogether; they are still available to be played on PCs and on TVs through other devices, making this seem like a petty move on Sony’s part to try and take the wind out of Microsoft’s sails.

As it turns out, it seems like this is simply a matter of licensing. Given that Sony BMG music is available through the Zune Marketplace and other Sony Pictures Entertainment movies are still available for streaming through Netflix to the 360, this might not be the proverbial middle finger that some assume it is.

MTV Multiplayer contacted Netflix and received a reply from their VP of corporate communications, Steve Swasey. He confirmed that these movies “are still available to be watched on subscribers’ computers and on TVs via other partner devices, and we hope they?ll be licensed for Xbox 360 shortly.” While he wouldn’t comment on whether the timing is pure coincidence or if Sony put in a request to put this in motion, but he did say:

As watching instantly becomes a more prominent part of the Netflix service, our goal is to have all of our streaming content licensed for all of our partner devices. We’re doing well in this area, but it will take some time before we fully achieve that goal. Today, titles regularly come in and out of license and there is a natural ebb and flow to what we have on license at any given point in time.

We contacted Microsoft to see what their take was on the situation and, as you’d expect, they declined to provide any comment, saying that it wasn’t their comment to make.

What this all seems to comes down to are the intricacies of the licensing process to distribute streamable video.

What would be interesting to find out is what take those involved in the affected movies have on the situation. If this really is a simple petty quarrel between Sony and Microsoft, you can bet the cast and crews would be none too pleased. Should it really be a licensing problem, it’s nothing short of one hell of a big coincidence. Without any proof, we can’t go around pointing any fingers just yet. But if Sony happens to release PlayStation Home to the masses tomorrow, we might just have our answer.

Looks like National Geographic is getting into the gaming business, and have launched their own gaming company, National Geographic Games (NGG), which will publish and develop games across major gaming console, handheld, online and mobile platforms. The purpose of these games is to not only extend the National Geographic Society’s mission but to also reach out to people in a different way to get them interested in caring for the planet and its inhabitants.

Working with publishers such as Namco Bandai, Sony and Merscom, their goal is to create fun, high-quality games based on National Geographic’s core themes and media properties. The team they have assembled so far includes Chris Mate, former Take2 Interactive and Bethesda Softworks executive, who will from here on out be known as vice president and general manager for NGG and will oversee and manage the group’s daily global operations.

To kick things off, NGG along with Merscom have launched their first in-house produced game, Herod’s Lost Tomb which is based upon and highlights content from the upcoming December 2008 issue of National Geographic Magazine as well as the broadcast special on the biblical figure King Herod which airs November 23. This hidden-object game takes you on an archeological dig to which promises to give you a the experience of a real-life archaeological adventure. The game features photography from National Geographic, a story following  the life and death of one of the most famous rulers of the ancient Middle East, King Herod of Judea, and consists of over one thousand objects to discover, six different environment, and five mini-games with footage, scenes and highlights from the show.

The game will be available online in a flash version for free via the National Geographic Channel and for the PC, Mac and iPhone which includes full features and high production content.

National Geographic Games Release Schedule:

November

• National Geographic – “Herod’s Lost Tomb”
• Namco Bandai – “National Geographic: Panda”
• Sony – “National Geographic: Africa”

December 2008

• National Geographic – “Sudoku Traveler: China”

2009

• National Geographic – “Rain Forests”
• National Geographic – “Greencity”

I wonder if my magazine and channel subscription would give me a discount? Probably not.

EverQuest II: The Shadow Odyssey is officially live. The fifth expansion for SOE’s EQ2 brings in the Moors of Ykesha, a massive overland zone once known as Innothule Swamp and the legendary dungeon the Ruins of Guk as part of 20 new zones for players to conquer.

Here’s the game trailer to get you in the mood.

You can pick up the at retail stores or grab it by digital download at www.station.com. The full features list for EQ2: The Shadow Odyssey follows the break.

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Little Big Planet was heralded as the PlayStation 3 game that would appeal to all demographics and divert some of the mainstream attention towards the PS3 that’s currently focused squarely on the Wii. It seemed like it was on track to do just that and be a huge seller in October. Then came the controversy surrounding lyrics in the game’s soundtrack that included quotes from the Quran which resulted in a recall and subsequent delay, pushing the game back from its October 21 release date in the U.S. to October 27. While that might have not been a big deal in and of itself, the recall most certainly cost Sony a fair amount of money and also likely hurt the game’s October sales.

Only two PlayStation 3 games made the top ten sales chart for October: SOCOM: Confrontation and Little Big Planet. The two games were neck and neck in sales, with SOCOM getting the edge, 231,000 to 215,000. That’s despite SOCOM coming out nearly two weeks sooner than LBP, but it’s important to keep in mind the fact that SOCOM is also available through the PlayStation Store — sales of which the NPD Group does not track.

For such a big release, selling just over 200,000 units — even for a game releasing at the end of the month — seems like a disappointment. So does Sony have reason to be alarmed?

More than likely not. While the October sales figures aren’t going to blow anyone away, Little Big Planet is a solid candidate to sell in the six digits month after month, much like many of Nintendo’s first party releases on Wii. And, of course, November will be a huge month for games, and the release of Resistance 2 so close to LBP might be enough to motivate gamers who may have been on the fence to finally go out and pick up a PS3 — thereby increasing the pool of people who could potentially buy LBP. As if our review wasn’t clear enough, it’s a game that simply must be played. With LBP, the more players the game has, the better it will become. So if for no other reason than to see what kind of creations the masses can conjure up, we hope sales for the game explode next month.

What is perhaps the most basic concept of something to drop into your Little Big Planet creation — a spinning wheel — can spell complete and utter doom for any Sackboy that dares go near it. Well, any wheel that’s been set to spin at the maximum possible speed, at least.

The video above (via PS3 Fanboy) demonstrates this glitch, which apparently occurs when a player makes contact with a large wheel that’s spinning as quickly as possible. Your character will then immediately die on a continuous loop, even if you exit the level and return to the pod or restart your PS3. The only solution, according to the video, is to delete your save file and never again wander near these death traps.

If you’re aware of any other solutions or serious glitches in LBP, be sure and let us know in the comments below, and save your fellow Sackboy bretheren from experiencing the same unfortunate problems you may have run into.

Struggling electronics retailer Circuit City today filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection (yes, Chapter 11, like 1UP parent company Ziff Davis Media filed for earlier this year), according to Reuters. The announcements comes just a week after the company announced it would be closing 155 stores due to the economic downturn, among other factors.

In the filing, Circuit City CFO Bruce Besanko explained the move: “In large part, a Chapter 11 filing is due to three factors, all of which contributed to a liquidity crisis that prevented the company from completing its turnaround goals outside of formal proceedings: erosion of vendor confidence, decreased liquidity and a global economic crisis.”

It’s been an absolute whirlwind of bad news recently — Gizmodo recently reported that Sony stopped shipments of their products while they were in transit to distribution centers and had them returned “among worries that Circuit City couldn’t pay for the shipments.” That remains an unconfirmed rumor, but it wouldn’t seem out of place among the rest of the bad news that’s gone on. Hopefully they pull through this; besides, where else will you go to pay to have free updates installed? Not to mention the fact that it would, y’know, put people out of work.

Anyway you look at it, the PlayStation 3 is a pricey piece of hardware. Yes, it’s got a Blu-ray player, integrated wi-fi, and all that good stuff, but $400 is a lot of cash — especially compared with Nintendo and Microsoft’s cheapest offerings being at $250 and $200, respectively.

Even with that in mind, Sony Computer Entertainment’s UK managing director Ray Maguire doesn’t feel like price will be an issue for the company’s flagship game system this holiday season. At the Gamer 3.0 conference, he spoke with VideoGamer.com, telling them that pressure from gamers isn’t enough to warrant a price drop. “[W]e have a business to run, and we have to make sure we’re doing the right thing for the shareholders as well,” he explained.

Maguire claims that sales of the system in the UK are “absolutely on target,” and cited the quality of games coming out in the coming months as why the PS3’s price won’t present “an issue at all.”

I know a fair number of people who would beg to disagree, but we’ll have to wait and take a look at the sales figures for the last quarter of 2008 before we’re able to draw any conclusions. While you wouldn’t expect Maguire to come out and say it, there’s no doubt that Sony would have liked for the price to be lower in order to more directly compete with Microsoft and Nintendo for gamers in the market for a game console this holiday season who don’t have the deepest of pockets.

With the PlayStation Store now (finally) accessible directly from your PSP, the PlayStation Store for PC has become largely superfluous for many. But those with a PSP who don’t have wireless internet or can’t get online their PSP for whatever reason still have need for it. Sony has been busy reworking the store recently, which has been unavailable since the most recent PSP firmware update was released. It’s finally back and in a completely new form; rather than working through your browser, you’ll now have to download Media Manager 3.0 (available here), which will allow you to directly access the store without your browser.

Media Manager is only compatible with Windows XP and Vista and, according to the system requirements, will not function with the 64-bit version of either operating system. I did manage to get it working on Vista 64-bit without any hassle, but your miles may vary when it comes to achieving the same result.

The store now looks a lot like the version PlayStation 3 owners use, which is a major thing. But I’m not sure that requiring you to have a standalone program is really a good move — while you did have to install a small program with the previous version of the PlayStation Store for PC, it was extremely basic and easy to use. You clicked download and the file was automatically downloaded to your PSP, provided it was connected via USB. Media Manager is fairly simple, but there’s certainly some more work involved when using it. I guess I just have another reason to be happy with the direct access on PSP.