Q4 release schedule ‘most sensible in 20 years’

I don’t know about the last twenty years — I haven’t been paying attention to console releases that long — but I agree that Fall 2009, while still exciting, has felt less stressful than at least the last four Falls.

Former journo tells Miyamoto that Mario is dead

This is the saddest story that I read all week. I just wonder if the moment was really as sombre as the writer conveyed it.

A Fresh Dose Of New Super Mario Bros. Wii For Your Weekend

I forgot all about New Super Mario Bros. when I wrote my plans for Fall ’09. It looks amazing; add it to the list.

EA 2D Emerges With First Flash Game, Dragon Age: Journeys

Assuming they aren’t just glorified advergames, Flash games made by a major developer could something great.

Lights Out!

Moments later, zombies burst through the window.

Monk Turner’s Calendar album has been the subject of Audiosurfing twice before — first in June, and again in August. The good times continue here with the album’s October track, Halloween Night.

[GameTap] The Pipeline 10.08.09: And We’re Back

GameTap is kicking ass lately. Heroes V Gold was added last week, Trine this week, and Trackmania is coming next week. There are about two dozen existing games being made 64-bit compatible, and just look at that list of new games being encoded. I’ll say it again: GameTap is the best value in gaming.

Verizon Makes it Personal with “There’s a Map for that” Ad

Is joke thievery illegal yet? Do I need to get a lawyer?

Ubisoft Acquires TrackMania Dev Nadeo

I suppose this means that Trackmania 2 will also be developed for consoles. Perhaps in time for Summer of Arcade 2010? That went well for RedLynx with Trials HD.

Quick Look: Saw

Watching this, I feel like Saw’s concept is a better fit for games and should have been applied to them in the first place. This doesn’t look bad — I wouldn’t be opposed to playing it in a year or so when it’s $10.

When the PC version of Assassin’s Creed 2 was pushed to 2010, I knew that my fall would not go as I had planned. And I was right — for the PC versions of multiplatform games, this fall has been, and will continue to be, an odd one. Borderlands’ PC release, for example, has been delayed one week for “optimization,” and since Gearbox has said in the past that PC is Borderlands’ lead platform, I think a more likely reason is that 2K wanted to give the console versions a week where they didn’t compete with .torrents of the PC version – a futile act. Still, the promise of add-ons would keep me from playing Borderlands on release day anyway, just as with Fallout 3. Similarly, the purported delay of Modern Warfare 2 PC (though it may only apply to the UK) doesn’t dissuade me from buying it on November 10th as much as its $60 price. There were also rumors leading up to Alpha Protocol’s delay; paying customers, including myself, were not sure of their validity until October 6th, the day it was meant to release. Even then, there was no formal announcement – the game simply didn’t launch, and Sega updated their store to say “Spring 2010.” Were I not confident in Obsidian’s ability to deliver, I’d ask for my money back.
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Stardock Interview Part 2: Brad Wardell on PC Gaming

It’s refreshing when a CEO — rather than speaking in marketing terms and generalities — speaks frankly, as a real person does. Earnestness shouldn’t be such a treat. Yet, it is, so have this bittersweet one.

Giant Bomb Mailbag: Gummy Edition

*THUMP*

Quick Look: Majesty 2

A good look at a good looking game. It even has bears.

Writer: Garth Ennis
Illustrator: Carlos Ezquerra
Genre: Historical Fiction
Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment

The Tankies is the bloodiest of Garth Ennis’ Battlefields trilogy, but it’s not without substance. Just as it’s about armored infantry and war, so is it about classism and comradery. The Tankies is the story of a novice crew of British tank operators (“tankies”) in the Battle of Normandy. They’ve been left prostrate on the battlefield as their commander, Lt. Archie Wingate, has just been relieved of his head by an artillery shell. Cpl. Stiles, an ill-tempered veteran with a Geordie accent, has been assigned to replace Lt. Wingate. To a bunch of green Londoners, he’s not the ideal leader, but he’s their only hope of navigating the Normandy woodlands and making their rendezvous. Still, worse than the unaccommodating terrain and the indecipherable speech of Cpl. Stiles, is the threat of German Tiger tanks. Cpl. Stiles himself describes them saying, “Shite, man, the armor’s foor fookin’ inches thick, an’ the goon’ll slice through ‘owt we’ve got. That eighty-eight, that’s been Jerry’s trump card since nineteen bloody forty.” Compared with a Tiger, their Churchill is just as slow and has decent armor, but it’s outmatched in terms of firepower. If they are to survive the day, the tankies must avoid these goliaths at all costs. But, really, how likely is that? Not bloody.

Ben Lerman is a singer, songwriter, comedian, and ukulele player based in New York City. He is also a frequent guest on the Keith and The Girl Show. The song featured below, Green Card, and the rest of Ben Lerman’s music is available for free at BenLerman.net.