Sure enough, Nintendo was among those who tried to leave their mark on this week's GDC 2008 event in San Francisco. That's not to say they actually succeeded, but at least they announced / confirmed a new round of release dates for some of their upcoming products - namely WiiWare, Wii Fit and Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

First come, first served is Super Smash Bros. Brawl, set to kick into retail action on March 9. I don't think this Wii fighting game needs any more introduction, but just in case I'm wrong, these few trailers should enlighten you in no time.

Next, on May 12, comes WiiWare - the new game download service that got us (or at least myself) marginally excited. One of the early games developed for WiiWare we already mentioned in our previous news about LostWinds; another notable one will be Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King by Square Enix; and a new episodic game series from Telltale is also on its way.

Finally, Wii Fit will be released on May 19, complete with a "weight-and-motion-sensing Wii Balance Board" which may or may not prove useful for other kinds of games. Like... skiing? Just a thought.


Wii jokes just ain't what they used to be...

- The world of Fallout 3 will be much smaller than Oblivion, Bethesda's Pete Hines told some aussies, "but packed with stuff to do". Stuff to do is good, mkay.

- "For Sims 3 there will be new information soon", Sims Studio head Rod Humble let slip in a forum posting. And guess what: they are "actually launching less [Sims games] this year than last". Oh, and "the Sims Label was created to innovate, make original games and take creative risks". I loled.

- Aion: The Tower of Eternity is coming in 2008. How exactly is that a novelty, beats me!

- Naruto: Ninja Destiny went gold, and is now destined to launch on February 26 for the Nintendo DS. Naruto sucks dragon balls.

- April 22 was announced as the day Square Enix will release its new DS action-RPG set in modern-day Tokyo, The World Ends With You. No U.

- Unreal Engine 3 got licensed by yet another Korean developer - Dragonfly (Karma Online, Special Force), who will be using it to make a new... something, whatever.

For every guitar that Fender throws on the market, there is an idiot thinking he’s the next Yngwie Malmsteen. And it seems that, from now on, for every fucking Guitar Hero game released, there will be a band that will take advantage of it. Rumor has it that there will be no less than four Guitar Hero titles emerging in 2008, the first being dedicated to all-time favorite (not mine, but hey, I don’t hate them or anything) rock band, Aerosmith.

The game will be released this summer, more exactly in June, and will give the fans a chance to follow in the footsteps of their beloved idols, from the time they were a bunch of kiddies dreaming of greater glory, right until they got showered in cash and began to afford about any hooker they could lay their eyes upon. It seems that only Joe Perry, Brad Whitford and Tom Hamilton will be “playable” characters here, with Stevie-boy and Kramer-kun deciding to pass this one out.

To start all things straight (not that we would ever question their sexual orientation in any way), the ladies at Activision will be providing Guitar Hero III owners with Aerosmith’s hit “Dream On”, starting today, with the possibility of download being available until February 18. That means you have just about two days to get your hands on it.

So, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith will be available in June for all the platforms, developed by Neversoft (PS3, X360), Vicarious Visions (Wii), and Budcat Creations (PS2). Rock on, or something.

1UP scoop.

The rumour of Ace Combat 6 getting a PS3 version pales in significance, compared to the initial betrayal of the series' decade-old PlayStation legacy, by fraternizing with the Xbox 360. Nevertheless, less exciting topics are making the "news" these days, so I might as well fake some interest. So, as the story goes, the British PSM3 magazine published a feature titled "2008 Year of the PS3", which - as shown below - also happens to include Ace Combat 6. An honest mistake? I doubt it. A hazardous speculation? Could be. Anything official? Nope, not yet.

September 7, 2008, to be more precise. This is now the official new (tentative) release date for Spore, as announced in the game's first newsletter, signed by Will Wright, that popped into my inbox just now. Ironically enough, Maxis and Electronic Arts even felt the need to make a special teaser trailer for this "joyous" moment. You can watch it right here on Playkon, but there's absolutely no in-game footage, just the above release date. "Thanks again. You'll hear from us soon", he says. The nerve...


Will Wright's message: "check out our launch date teaser".
(Because it's too fucking infuriating when written down!)

X³: Terran Conflict was announced with a small bang by the self-centred devs from Egosoft, along with their partners from Koch Media. Ze Germans enjoy deluding themselves into thinking that the game will be ready to launch in Q3 2008, but by that time they'll probably decide they want to do another "full blown sequel" again (remember X²: The Threat X³: Reunion?), and go straight for X4.

The only conceivable logical reason why they would stop at X³ is that there is no special superscript character for the number 4, like there is for 2 and 3. Pretty clever, huh? And with that imba argument, I rest my case. Now let's see what they have to say:

"X³: Terran Conflict is a brand new, stand-alone game set in the universe of X³. It is the culmination of the X trilogy, with a grand finale that takes us all the way back to Earth's own solar system. Gamers can take on the roles of different characters in the X universe, or of a Terran military pilot, and experience a multitude of stories in the largest X universe ever featured - for X³: Terran Conflict will offer more missions than any other X game before. Meanwhile, X³: Terran Conflict will pose questions such as: How has Earth changed in all these years? And how will relations between Earth and its counterparts in the X universe develop?"

In space, no one can hear you snore.