Video Games Daily News Digest

Is that enough acronyms for one headline? A rating has appeared on the ESRB website confirming that Final Fantasy VII on the PSP and PS3 in coming to North America. The fact that it is for both platforms indicates that this is the original PlayStation title in a new shiny downloadable package (it’ll be interesting to see how the games three CDs translate into a specific filesize).

Its always a little tragic to see games announced like this. Ever since the first PS classics landed on the PlaySation Store, fans have clamored for this title (and the Japanese release only exacerbated this), and rather than being announced formally in a way that could perhaps drum up a little more hype and get the word out a little faster and wider just lazily letting it slip it out like this is a bit of an anticlimax - not to mention the teeniest bit of a disservice to fans who have been patiently waiting.

During an E3 remarks event moments ago, Activision Blizzard said the November launch of Infinity Ward’s Modern Warfare 2 will be the largest entertainment launch of any kind when it launches this November. Prior to that remark, the company also made clear it will be more aggressive on downloadable content in the future. No details were given but it’s safe to say with the massive success the recent World at War DLC, we can expect those maps to keep rolling in.

Though some may view the offerings on PlayStation Network as inferior to what is available on Xbox Live, the network continues to show signs of improvement, at one point claiming a significant amount of users.

Popularity aside, the network still has difficulty improving to a point that will achieve profitability. In an attempt to address this problem, Kaz Hirai of Sony has said that he plans to think beyond the reaches of PlayStation hardware.

According to Gamasutra, Hirai mentioned in an interview on Japan Today that he plans to “expand the PlayStation Network to mainstay products other than the PlayStation 3 console like televisions and digital cameras.” Hirai’s rationale for this decision, besides hoping to achieve profitability, was the realization that they “needed a strategy where buying a hardware is not the endpoint but instead a starting point that can offer new experiences to our customers.”

Not sure what this announcement means specifically, but I am hoping that sometime in the future, I can access the PlayStation Network simply by turning on the television, switching to a PlayStation channel, and making my purchases via my remote control. If Sony were to do this, it just might provide them with an edge in the console wars.

How would you feel if whenever you went in to trade in your games you needed to hand over your fingerprints to the authorities? That’s the predicament facing  gamers in Broward County, Florida where retailers are now required by law to collect the thumbprints of anyone trading in used videogames.

According to the Brownward Palm-Beach New Times: “Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Kayla Concepcion said the new requirement comes straight from the Florida Legislature, which enacted a law on October 1 of last year that treated video games like second-hand goods sold at pawn shops. Now any store buying used video games has to collect the thumb prints, along with a bunch of other personal info about the seller.”

Videogame retailers have had it easy with regards to how freely second hand videogames, which could quite easily be stolen, change hands. If these sort of legal measures replicate themselves in other states then that could deter gamers trading in used titles - and while that would be a bad thing in terms of feet on retailers floors - critics of the second hand videogame industry will likely be happy that it seems to be nipping itself in the bud.

We have to make a confession, today is a slow news day. What with our contingent of brave souls landed in L.A. for E3, along with all the other videogame news outlets, there is not much coming out during the calm before the storm. Thankfully, it gives us a chance to talk about things that would otherwise be swept under the rug. Enter the official Red Steel 2 box art, which is technically a “work-in-progress,” but Ubisoft sent it over to Kotaku, so it must be almost done progressing. And it’s looking eye catching indeed (full image after the break).

Now, if it will only play as good as it looks.

Oh yea, it’s true. That VideoGame Blog is at E3 or to be more precise we’re in the city where E3 is! We don’t have proof yet, but soon there will be photographs and videogame wonders flooding these pages. We’ll be bringing you live blogs from all the best press conference, news that’s more up to date than any other news ever and of course hands-on with every game we can get our hands onto.

Tommy Lawler, Dennis Lesica, Butner Brimbery, myself and our intrepid photographer Charlie Suh are going to absolutely destroy E3 for you the good reader. It’s going to rock and we’re going to rock it. We’ve got interviews, gaming news and tons of stuff to show off. Come back starting tomorrow morning when we’ll be live blogging Microsoft’s press conference and stick around until the end of the week when we wrap our coverage up. Epicness is about to ensue.

Are we witnessing the beginning of a new way EA will handle titles on the PC? It may seem that way as they have announced that Tiger Woods PGA TOUR Online will launching this fall. Essentially Tiger Woods PGA for your browser, the game is said to be streamed directly to your browser with no game installation required.

Compatible with PC and Mac browsers, PGA TOUR Online will come complete with famous courses with more being made as the game progresses. One of the notables of the online title will be the community features such as new course additions, pro shop items, and tournament conditions. Specifics on the pricing hasn’t been announced yet but it will be a multi-tiered subscription-based model. Sign-ups for the beta are currently being accepted on the PGA TOUR Online website.

When Gearbox showed us its new visual direction for their upcoming game Borderlands we definitely liked what we saw. The comic book, concept art style of the graphics looks sharp and full of rich visuals that marches to a beat of its own. While screenshots were nice and all, we were holding our judgments until we finally got to see the game in action.

Now that we’ve seen Borderlands in action we can safely say that we’re excited to see much more of it next week during E3. We only got a tiny taste of the new look in motion, but what we do see looks pretty damn good. They style is working thus far and needless to say if your interest wasn’t piqued before, we sure hope it is now. Stay tuned to us next week and hopefully we’ll have much more Borderlands to share among many other stories.

We know Guitar Hero 5 is coming this year, and now Activision has revealed the full list of artists that’ll be included in the latest installment of the music game franchise. The enormous list comes by way of their official Guitar Hero 5 website (via VG247), and although it doesn’t offer any specific songs from each artist, it does offer an idea of the amount of variety to expect.

A lot of the names will be familiar to anyone who has played any kind of version of Guitar Hero or Rock Band before, but there's also a pleasantly large inclusion of fresh artists who've never been featured in a Guitar Hero game. A couple of these have been revealed before, but Elton John, Gorrilaz, Iggy Pop, Johnny Cash, Public Enemy, Stevie Wonder, The White Stripes (along with Jack White's other group, The Raconteurs), and Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers all particularly stand out. (But what, still no Eric Clapton?)

Check out the full list of all 84 artists below (85 were previously promised, so we suppose they count Zakk Wylde being featured with Public Enemy as two?).

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete hits stores this Tuesday, and if you also happen to be interested in purchasing an 80GB PlayStation 3, it looks like you’ll be able to get the movie thrown in for free. Kotaku reports that GameStop stores have been receiving copies of the movie to pack into PS3 boxes, with orders to begin selling them on Tuesday, June 2.

Evidently the offer will only apply to 80GB PS3s, and not the 160GB model. The deal hasn’t officially been announced by Sony yet, but GameStop employees have been told that “There are no hard bundles coming at a later date. This is a one-time only pack-in-by-stores offer to boost sales.” That makes it seem as if this may be a GameStop-only promotion, although that’s not yet clear.

Whether this deal will be part of Sony’s E3 announcements remains to be seen (their press conference takes place on Tuesday, as well), but in any case, know that if you’re planning on buying a PS3, you can get a free Blu-ray movie with it starting Tuesday.

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