Worried about Resident Evil 5’s new save system? Well, fret no more. 1UP headed to Japan to discuss the game with producer Jun Takeuchi. Aside from a brief joke snippet about another EGM April Fools joke involving Akuma making an appearance, the best news comes in the form of typewriter saves no longer being a part of the game.

“Actually, I really like typewriters; they’re really typical of the Resident Evil series. But this time, the save system will be a combination of checkpoints and chapters.”

Jun, I didn’t like the typewriters. Having to quit a game because you were being pulled away only to realize you were out of ink that only managed to last one save was nothing short of ridiculous.

Resident Evil 5 Dumps the Typewriter Saving System - [1UP.com]

So, did you buy Puzzle Quest on the PSP, PS2, Wii, DS, PC, or 360? Ha! Should have waited.

The upcoming PS3 downloadable version of the game will come with the expansion Plague Lord. Also, a stack if new character classes will be available, further increasing the value. While no price was announced, the Xbox 360 version was $15 and the expansion was around $9. Anything less than that can only be considered a bargain, plus it’s Puzzle Quest. It’s a bargain at $40.

Puzzle Quest plus expansion for PS3 - [Eurogamer]

After the debacle that was Spore’s DRM, Bethesda has decided to ease fears about what will happed with the PC version of Fallout 3. Basically, there won’t be any. The DRM will be “… similar to what we did for Oblivion” stated Pete Hines. He also makes an interesting point about another way PC pirates cost the company money and make it harder on legitimate users:

“… you will never win the argument that I’m not having to provide tech support for those folks. Because I know for a fact that we are. We catch those folks all the time, where we’re providing support for somebody who turns out didn’t actually pay for the game and just downloaded a copy.”

The interview also delves into other areas of Fallout 3, including the Australian rating requirements, patches post-launch, and digital delivery via Steam.

The Fallout 3 PC Interview: Bethesda on DRM, Censorship and Consolification - [Shacknews]

Some people really like Mega Man. In fact, maybe they like the character enough to deal with the ridiculous difficulty of Mega Man 9. Others, well, they really like Mega Man. Take for instance Kid Overdrive, a Mega Man music remixer (and does a fine job of it). However, that’s not all he does.

He took the time to re-do his entire bedroom to look exactly like Bubble Man’s stage from Mega Man 2. By exactly, I mean exactly. From individual pixels to the oh-so-hated death spikes, it’s all there. Toss in some extra lighting for the final touch, and you have one of the coolest rooms you’ll ever see.

Take-Two Interactive has announced their intentions to remain an independent company, according to a Reuters report this morning.

“Take-Two’s Board of Directors has determined that it is in the best interests of stockholders to conclude its review of strategic alternatives and to continue operating and building Take-Two as an independent company,” the company said.

Electronic Arts recently stopped their pursuit of trying to acquire the company after many months of attempts. The article also mentions that “various interested parties” had discussions with them regarding an acquisition.

Take-Two Interactive to remain independent - [Reuters]

Nintendo wrapped up their special press conference in Japan a few hours ago, making a number of announcements for both the DS and Wii in the process.

Most notably, the company confirmed the rumors of a new DS model. Dubbed the Nintendo DSi, the upgraded portable will have a 3.25 inch screen, an inside/outside 0.3 megapixel camera, and a SD card slot as well as onboard memory. The new model will also come with a web browser and feature an app store similar to Apple’s iPod, aptly named DSi Ware. The DSi will go on sale in Japan next month for 18900 yen, and follow in other territories next year.

In addition, Nintendo also revealed their storage solution for gamers looking for more memory on their Wiis, saying that they will support WiiWare and software downloads to SD cards sometime next year. Alongside this news, other games and the Japanese release schedule was announced as well. All of that, in addition to video footage of the event, can be found below.

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Remember Klonoa? Oh, you don’t? Well, that’s okay. Not many people do. The PlayStation 1 release was hard to find then, and even harder to find now. It’s one of the lost gems on the hardware. The game would spawn a few sequels, including two Game Boy Advance titles and one on the PS2. The goofy whats-it character was in true retro platforming style with 3-D backgrounds, and in full 2-D on the GBA.

The game is now set for an update on the Wii, 11 years after it originally appeared. The only real announcement, aside from the fact that the game is being made, is the graphics will be enhanced and it will be coming out in Japan. No release date or even a possibility yet for US gamers.

Klonoa Gets Wii Remake - [1UP.com]

Note to self: Don’t create a program that lets you run bots inside World of Warcraft. Not that I would ever know how to do it, but it’s one of those just in case scenarios.

The MMOGlider program was a simple one. It lets players set their characters to do the monotonous stuff, such as finding gold and killing low level critters inside Warcraft. Unfortunately, someone didn’t contact their lawyer when they created it to determine whether or not the $25 program broke the terms of service. This wouldn’t be much of a story if they didn’t.

As such, a US District Court Judge had ruled in favor of Blizzard, and Warcraft is now safe from bots, assuming all previous copies of the program are wiped out.

Blizzard wins Warcraft bot payout - [BBC]

Metal Slug, in almost all forms (sans that terrible Japan-only 3-D clunker) is awesome. However, when it’s on the DS complete with Bonnie Taylor’s classic song from Footlose, you have what can only be described as the most epic trailer in the history of trailers. It’s actually rather odd how the music just seems to fit to the game as well. Oh, and Metal Slug 7 looks to be shaping up exactly how we like Metal Slug: bloody and 2-D. Kudos SNK/Playmore. Check the trailer out below.

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The concept of a high-definition version of Nintendo’s Wii has been a hot button topic among gamers ever since the system launched in 2006. For the most part it’s been speculation, but if a recent report by What They Play’s John Davison is true, Nintendo is set to release a “Wii HD” by the year 2011.

“While our sources are reluctant to be too specific about “Wii HD,” they have been able to divulge some (albeit predictable) generalizations. High definition visuals are assured, as is a greater emphasis on digitally distributed and backwardly compatible content, indicating that the new system will feature some form of local storage medium such as a hard drive or large flash memory solution. It has also been indicated that Nintendo’s emphasis is again on what the consumer will hold in their hands and interact with, rather than the “console” itself.”

In addition, Eurogamer is also reporting that an announcement on this could come as early as tomorrow. The article also states that Nintendo places this as a true successor to the Wii in the same way the Game Boy Advance was the original Game Boy. Considering the Wii’s massive success with its current model right now, I can’t stress enough that this is strictly a rumor at this point. Stay tuned for more.

Nintendo to reveal Wii HD tomorrow? - [Eurogamer]

Capcom is gearing up to debut their new Resident Evil film, Resident Evil: Degeneration, at a number of outlets around the world in the coming weeks.

Starting next week on October 10, Capcom will premiere the movie to the world at the 2008 Tokyo Game Show. Following that, the film will make its North American premiere at the New York City Horror Film Festival on November 13, and conclude with a November 18 showing at a Fangoria-Sponsored event in Los Angeles.

Resident Evil: Degeneration is a CGI film that looks to take place following the destruction of Raccoon City (seven years according to Capcom) in Resident Evil 3: Nemesis and before the events of Resident Evil 4. It’s set to be released for DVD and Blu-ray in the U.S. on December 30.

GameStop announced this morning that they have reached an agreement to acquire Micromania, France’s leading video game retailer. In the deal, GameStop will acquire the chain’s 332 stores in the country, giving the company a presence in France they didn’t have before.

“As we have accelerated our growth in Europe over the years, we have kept a close eye on the European retailers whose passion for the business is reflected in the quality of their stores and evident knowledge of their staff,” said R. Richard Fontaine, GameStop Executive Chairman. “Micromania has been that type of retailer.”

This is GameStop’s second international gaming chain acquisition since July, when they acquired New Zealand’s Gamesman chain. What’s next for GameStop? The same thing they do every night readers, try to take over the world!

Microsoft released a limited edition Zune last year with Halo 3, and Microsoft’s doing it again with the upcoming release of Gears of War 2. The 120GB media players will feature the game’s Crimson Omen on a gloss black enclosure, and come with other bonus materials, including behind the scenes videos, trailers and the game’s soundtrack.

“Our history of creating special edition Zune devices for our customers helps them stand out from the masses,” said Chris Stephenson, general manager of Global Marketing for Zune at Microsoft. “With the huge success of ‘Gears of War’ and the high anticipation for the sequel, the special edition Zune is a must-have for fans of the game.”

The Gears of War 2 Zunes will hit stores on November 7, but gamers looking to preorder one can do so from Amazon and Walmart.com.

Electronic Arts has canceled production on their upcoming Command & Conquer spinoff title, Tiberium, according to an internal company memo obtained by Kotaku. Written by EA LA’s Mike Verdu, the memo mentions that the game wouldn’t be able to meet a certain level of quality with the resources left in the game’s production cycle. He also says that they will try to move members to other studios at EA, but several had to be let go.

“We will make every effort to place affected individuals on projects within the studio – and where that isn’t possible, to connect them with opportunities in other teams at EA,” says Verdu. “The quality bar has been raised. Now we need to step up our focus on great design and execution, catching any problems early and correcting them quickly.”

When contacted, representatives from EA had no comment on the memo, but did confirm the game’s cancellation.

EA Axes Tiberium For Not Meeting Quality Standards - [Kotaku]

Former EA Chicago employees Joshua Tsui, David Michicich, and Peter Sauerbrei announced today with industry vets Nick Ehrlich and Richard Ho the launch of their new game development studio, Robomodo. In addition, they also unveiled that they will be working on a new multiplatform title that will be published by Activision.

“At Robomodo we are dedicated to ‘doing it right,’ from the way we approach game design and art, to the methods we use to manage our projects,” said Josh Tsui, Director of Robomodo. “Our culture is focused on enabling game designers and artists to innovate, while providing them with proper management oversight and technology support. Activision has embraced our vision and agreed to give us a shot with one of their IPs. We are fortunate to be working with the largest publisher worldwide, and we are looking forward to collaborating with their team on one of their upcoming games.”

Robomodo is based in Chicago, and was officially formed this past January.

Would you kindly download the demo for the PlayStation 3 version of BioShock on October 2? Better yet, would you kindly purchase the PS3 version of BioShock on October 21?

The PS3 version will include loads of new features, included a heftier difficulty mode, trophies, and add-on content. What that actually is though isn’t being specified. Oh, and for those not satisfied with the ending to BioShock, keep in mind you’ll still be dissatisfied in the end. Nothing’s changing, including the overdone boss fight.

As if people didn’t have enough to worry about, Peggle is now available on for your phone… well, at least if you have one that supports it. A quick check of Verizon’s network on the Env was a no go (and a purchase would have been purely for research, I swear). Regardless, the mobile version has the same appeal: slamming a ball into orange pegs. That’s it, although it is more complicated.

PopCap states the game was downloaded 20 million times from web, so it’s a given a mobile version was in the works. If it plays as well as Chuzzle and Bookworm, we’re all in trouble.

Fans of the decent (if heavily flawed) Stars Wars: The Force Unleashed have something to look forward too… at some point. The downloadable content, for PS3 and Xbox 360 only, is supposed to rather loaded according to executive producer Haden Blackman. Four new Jedi will be playable in the game, and include Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi (Alec Guiness or Ewan McGregor not specified), Ki-Adi-Mundi, and Kit Fisto.

On top of that, a new “beefy” level as it was decribed by Kotaku in their exclusive will dig deeper into the story of the game. The level was originally part of the script, but cut for unspecified reasons:

“That was a scene we had written into the script to suggest that the apprentice was getting more into his background and in touch with his childhood,” Blackman said. “It’s in there to remind the player that the apprentice had come from a jedi father that he wasn’t always evil.”

New Campaign, Characters Coming to The Force Unleashed - [Kotaku]

Harmonix and MTV Games unveiled this morning that they have entered an exclusive deal with Columbia Records for the use of AC/DC and their songs. Following that reveal, they announced the AC/DC LIVE: Rock Band Track Pack, which will be a standalone game and feature 18 songs from the band’s live performances.

“AC/DC fans can now experience performing live, on stage with the band,” said Columbia Records co-Chairman Steve Barnett. “An unforgettable concert is now an ultimate at-home entertainment experience with the AC/DC Live: Rock Band Track Pack.”

The game will be available on November 2 and retail for $39.98 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii. The PlayStation 2 version will sell for $29.98. To see which tracks will make the game’s setlist, see below.

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The video game industry has been dubbed “recession proof” from a number of analysts, but even they felt the blows of yesterday’s huge market losses. With the Dow Jones average dropping 777 points (the largest one-point drop in history), a number of publishing heavyweights were affected as well.

Share prices of Activision Blizzard fell 13.8 percent ($2.26) to finish the day at $14.12. Electronic Arts concluded the day down 9.16 percent ($3.63) at $36 even. THQ lost seven percent ($.87) to wrap the day at $11.48, and Take-Two lost 4.52 percent ($0.73) to finish at $15.43. For Take-Two, that also winds up being $10 less than their asking price during their dealings with Electronic Arts.

The impact of this was felt globally as well, with Ubisoft taking a big hit losing 12.47 euros per share closing at 45.50 euros. Eidos parent company SCi Entertainment was right behind them, losing 3.75 euros and closing the day at 26.75 euros. All of these losses came shortly after the US House of Representatives voted down the $700 billion bailout bill.

Market freefall drags down game stocks - [GameSpot]