The recently retired, record-holding Green Bay Packer quarterback will be on the cover in all versions of the game.

On CBS’ ''The Late Show with David Letterman'', it was revealed that the recently retired Brett Favre will grace the cover of EA’s forthcoming Wii and DS incarnations of Madden NFL ’09. This year’s version is the 20th anniversary of the franchise and Favre will be the first retired player to appear on a cover.

Interplay to use revenue from Virtual Console sales to bankroll future projects.

Interplay recently announced that they will be bringing some of their classic titles to the Virtual Console. These titles include Earthworm Jim, Earthworm Jim 2, Boogerman and Clayfighter. Rather than the SNES versions of the games, the Genesis versions will be made available.

After the recent... Read more...

Q2 release schedule finally sets a date for the most anticipated game on Wii; WiiWare and Nintendo Channel launch at the end of May.

Nintendo has announced its European release schedule for the rest of the second quarter of 2008, revealing that the hugely anticipated Super Smash Bros. Brawl will finally launch in PAL territory on June 27.

Brawl is expected to be another big hit in Q2 for Nintendo in Europe, following the... Read more...

The European Union is demanding the video game industry of Europe better protect children from violent images.

On Tuesday, the European Union warned video game makers and retailers they have two years to come up with a widely accepted industry code of conduct to better protect children from violent images. PEGI, an age rating system remarkably similar to the American ESRB ratings, is already in place in Great Britain and most of Europe.

NOA’s vice president of sales and marketing talks the Wii Fit ad campaign.

Wii Fit is almost here. Its stateside release date is May 19, but you’d hardly know it. NOA has done little to promote the game, despite its obvious marketability. How are people going to know the game exists if they don’t hear about it? Addressing this concern is Cammie Dunaway, NOA’s vice... Read more...

Follow-up comment from Nintendo alleviates worries of the studio’s closing.

Shack News recently reported that three integral members of Retro Studios, the company responsible for the Metroid Prime trilogy, were escorted off the studio’s premises. The three members - design director Mark Pacini, art director Todd Keller, and principal technology engineer Jack Matthews - left the studio for unknown reasons, but the popular assumption is that the trio will form a new development studio together.

The question is no longer whether or not Nintendo outsold everybody else, but rather by how much. Find out here.

During the fiscal year ending March 31, 2008, Nintendo had net sales of 1.672 trillion yen, with a net income of 257 billion yen. That's net sales of $16.6 billion US, and a net income of $2.5 billion US. In the previous fiscal year, Nintendo only earned $1.47 billion. By the time the next fiscal year is over, they hope to have increased the figure to $3.25 billion US.

Despite record March sales, a Goldman Sachs analyst believes that a dearth of big releases for the rest of the year will result in slower growth through 2009.

According to Goldman Sachs analyst Robert Higginbotham, last March's excellent sales figures could be mark a turning point in the game industry's momentum.

"Industry growth remains on a path toward deceleration from its current peak," predicted Higginbotham, downgrading the stock of game retailer... Read more...

In light of the recent discovery that the game's box art has the IGN watermark on it, Capcom is offering replacement art for those who have already purchased the game.

As of last week, it was discovered that the recent release of Capcom’s PS2 port Okami had the IGN watermark on the cover of the box. It is not clear as to how the cover art error came about, but Capcom is seeking to amend the situation with replacement box art regardless.

Rather than just... Read more...

Known as Everybody's Nintendo Channel in Japan, it features videos, player reviews, and DS demos.

When WiiWare launches in North America on May 12th it will be joined by the release of the Nintendo Channel. The service launched in Japan in November of last year, under the title "Everybody's Nintendo Channel."

The new channel will feature video features, user recommendations, images, release... Read more...

Hasbro’s famous board game gets updated for video game consoles courtesy of EA Casual.

EA announced that they will bring the popular board game Monopoly to the Wii and other next-gen consoles this fall. The game will use the basic foundations set by the original Monopoly but will be more inspired by the upcoming Monopoly Here & Now: The World Edition board game, which will be released at the same time as the video game.

Fully-licensed Little League baseball title set for August release on the Wii and DS.

Today Activision announced Little League World Series 2008 for the Wii and DS. The game, developed exclusively for Nintendo systems, allows players to bat, pitch, and field with the Wii Remote. It features 16 different teams from the U.S. and across the world, as well as character customization and a World Series Mode. Activision hopes to appeal to families and fans of Little League baseball. The game is set for release on August 5, 2008.

Coinciding with the release of the sixth movie in the Harry Potter series, the Half-Blood Prince will be available this holiday season.

EA revealed today that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince will be seeing release later this year on the Wii and DS, as well as a number of other platforms. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the sixth entry in the book, movie and game series. The game will follow the basic storyline provided by the book, offering Harry and crew the chance to engage in a number of extra-curricular activities including Potion Making and Quidditch.

Square Enix also announced future downloadable content for Final Fantasy: My Life as a King.

Square Enix announced the availability of a new piece of downloadable content for their Japanese WiiWare title, Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King. The new content, which costs 300 Wii Points ($3), contains 11 new locations which amount to 20 new dungeons. Completing these dungeons unlocks new shops, parks, and other locations. This content marks the second batch of downloadable content for the game.

The wireless DS service that made its debut last season is now free and has plans for expansion.

Nintendo announced that their Nintendo Fan Network that made its debut in 2007 is now free at every Seattle Mariners home game. The service involves a DS connecting wirelessly to any one of the numerous download stations in the stadium. Once connected, you can check various things, like player statistics,... Read more...

High Voltage has plans to release five Wii projects in the future using their Wii specific engine.

High Voltage Software has officially announced their Quantum3 Engine for the Wii, hoping "to raise a new bar" in graphical performance. Notes CEO Kerry Ganofsky, "we think it's a real shame that publishers and developers aren't taking advantage of the technical possibilities of the Wii platform."... Read more...

The run-and-gun game will release in Europe on May 30.

Lexicon Entertainment announced that Commando: Steel Disaster will be seeing a slight delay and will release in Europe on May 30 instead of May 9. The publisher announced the cause of the delay as longer-than-anticipated lead times due to a busy period in DS game manufacturing. The side-scrolling... Read more...

In an effort to match the Rock Band experience, Activision CEO reveals that new iterations of Guitar Hero will feature more than just guitars.

Activision CEO Bobby Kotick revealed that the developers of Guitar Hero, NeverSoft, are working on bringing new instruments and vocals to future iterations of the Guitar Hero franchise. The revelation came in an interview with the business magazine Conde Nast Portfolio. It is currently unclear as to whether or not this will include the soon to be released Guitar Hero: Aerosmith.

The arcade light gun shooter is now available in stores featuring the brand new Justice Mode.

Target: Terror, Konami's new Wii light gun shooter has shipped to retail outlets. It is now available now in North American stores.

The game is a rerelease of its classic arcade counterpart, featuring the new Justice Mode. In Justice Mode players get to dual-wield weapons. Target: Terror also features unlockable mini-games and updated controls optimized for the Wii Remote.

Each song in THQ's exclusive rhythm game is available in each of the game's five styles.

THQ's unique take on Rhythm gaming has shipped to American retailers. Each of the songs in Battle of the Band are recorded in all five of the game's styles: rock, funk/hip-hop, country, marching band, and latin. As players compete, the music being played will switch back and forth in style depending on the player currently winning. All-in-all, the game features 150 unique tracks.