Sony sends details on and a picture of (above) the upcoming PS3 PlayStation Store remodel.  They tell us to expect a mid-April launch of their new online storefront, which will sport a "more dynamic look and improved navigation." This revamp is supposed to enable quicker and easier access to demos, games, videos, and trailers.

Due to some behind-the-scenes tinkering, no additional content will be posted on the store starting April 3rd. Don’t worry though, everything already up will still be accessable. They say that things will eventually resume as normal, and Gran Turismo 5 Prologue will be coming along for the ride.

Be on the lookout for that mid-April firmware update. This will enable the new, revamped store. There’s no word on if it will also enable the in-game XMB feature we’ve all been waiting on. 

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As early as last year, Midway has gone as far as to admit a new, Unreal Engine 3.0-powered Mortal Kombat title is in the works. While details have been scarce, that soon may be coming to an end. A countdown has appeared on Noob.com, a Web site registered to Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon — so what’s next?

There’s not much to go on, other than the fact that the Web site’s logo bears the iconic Mortal Kombat logo. Coincidentally, the countdown ties in nicely with Midway’s upcoming Gamer’s Day, which takes place in Las Vegas on April 17. I’ve never claimed to be smart, but it does seem like a safe bet that we’ll see some information on the next iteration of the Mortal Kombat franchise in the coming month. I’m also going to say that it will be a fighting game — you heard it here first, folks.

I’ll be sure to pass along any updates from Midway’s Las Vegas event as soon as I can shake the resulting hangover. Midway might not be able to spell "combat" correctly, but they sure know how to party.

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Filed under: Nintendo DS, PC, Sony PlayStation 2, Sony PSP, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360

Ahh, can you smell that? That’s the smell of a new quarter, when companies realize they have three whole months before they have to report their profits again and so, like a lackluster Econ major, they decide not to worry about money until the last week. To that end, we’ve got almost nothing to report in the way of releases this week.

It’s so bad that our featured game, Call of Duty 4, actually came out in 2007, but we figured that the devil we knew was better than the Monkey King: The Legend Begins we didn’t. (Note: We confirmed with Activision and Infinity Ward that Call of Duty 4: Game of the Year Edition will be released for PlayStation 3 at a later date.) Check the full list after the break.

Continue reading New games this week: Call of Duty 4 Game of the Year Edition … edition

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Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360, Online

Microsoft has announced that Hollywood producer/talent producer Peter Safran has signed a deal with the company to produce original content for Xbox Live (via The New York Times). The first shows will scripted (i.e. not reality shows), run under 10 minutes in length and are expected to come out in the Fall.

Said Scott Nocas, Xbox Live’s global marketing manager for programming: “We definitely look at this as the first of many.” The shows, according to Safran, will be exclusive to the service for a time and might then appear elsewhere. Safran also said that some of the content would be supported by advertising.

As noted by the NYT, Safran represents Sean “P. Diddy” Combs, Nia Vardolos (My Big Fat Greek Wedding) and the directors of Epic Movie. Safran said he expects to recruit “established filmmakers” but was not planning to seek out major movie stars.

[Via Engadget]

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SPONSORED BY: Age of Empires III - Real-Time Strategy Game Control a European power on a quest to colonize and conquer the New World. AOE3 introduces new gameplay elements, as well as new civilizations, units, and technologies. http://www.ageofempires3.com/

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Filed under: PC, Sony PlayStation 2, Sony PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360, Driving, Business, Mobile

With some 15 different titles in the works, we’d assumed that the forces of Capcom had enough on their hands to not go looking for other things to keep them busy. That’s what we get for assuming, as the company has announced that it’s secured the exclusive rights to publish games and peripherals based on the MotoGP license.

The winds of change began to blow last year, as Capcom sewed up Sony platform rights to the motorcycle sport in 2007. However, this new deal does everything but say ‘yoink!’ to longtime series publisher THQ, pulling rights to all things MotoGP beneath the Capcom umbrella for the next five years, with this year’s annual update already planned for release on the Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, Wii, PC, and mobile phones.

Now all that remains to be seen is who will handle development — franchise vet Climax Group or series newcomers Milestone, who helmed last year’s PS2 version for Capcom. There’s really only one way to settle this…Thunderdome!

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SPONSORED BY: Age of Empires III - Real-Time Strategy Game Control a European power on a quest to colonize and conquer the New World. AOE3 introduces new gameplay elements, as well as new civilizations, units, and technologies. http://www.ageofempires3.com/

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Filed under: Nintendo DS, Sony PlayStation 2, Sony PlayStation 3, Sony PSP, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360, Business

BEGIN TRANSMISSION

It’s been six days since our departure on our trusty oil tanker, the S.S. Ivan Drago, for the first annual (and last annual, presumably) Joystiq Spring Break Retreat STOP In a Paskowitzian show of patronly affection, our fearless leader opted out of the traditional beach-bound vacation, deciding it would be better a life experience for us to set out on the Big Blue in search of Black Gold STOP It’s a decision we’re sure he started to regret around the time a pod of enraged narwhals (with incredibly poor navigation skills) began repeatedly impaling our proud vessel with their unforgiving tusks STOP

We managed to make it to the shore of a long-deserted isle with only a few bags of Pretzel Flipz and an old-timey Telex machine, which Ross managed to modify using sand, coconut husks, and supplies from a nearby RadioShack so that we may carry out our daily posting duties STOP It’s the only thing that’s keeping us from turning on one another — that, and the hope that one day, we will exact our revenge on those loathsome, mutant devil whales STOP

In topics not relating to sea mammal vengeance, this week saw the DS Lite reclaiming the throne it became so familiar with throughout most of last year, and the Wii picking up the slack it seemed to have dropped in recent weeks — though the PSP’s continued sales growth shows no signs of STOP ping STOP Wait, dammit STOP Can I start over STOP

- DS Lite: 65,055 11,789 (22.13%)
- Wii: 62,404 6,559 (11.75%)
- PSP: 59,833 2,182 (3.78%)
- PS3: 12,874 2,060 (13.79%)
- PS2: 9,930 60 (0.60%)
- Xbox 360: 1,744 337 (19.32%)

[Source: Media Create]

See: The shipwrecked archives

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Filed under: PC, Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, First Person Shooters

Those who played through Call of Duty 4’s somewhat punishing campaign will probably recognize the locale featured in the newest downloadable multiplayer map, “Broadcast”, as the theater of operations for the single-player level “Charlie Don’t Surf”. While we wonder how the stage’s apparent indoor focus will affect the usefulness of helicopters and airstrikes, we definitely dig the idea of having a stage dedicated to more intense close-quarters encounters.

If you haven’t played the game, and all this photorealistic gunplay bothers you, just imagine that the bullet-riddled station featured in Broadcast has a programming schedule composed only of “The Nanny” reruns and the few episodes of the short-lived prime time trainwreck, “Viva Laughlin”. It makes all the violence a tad more justifiable.

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SPONSORED BY: Age of Empires III - Real-Time Strategy Game Control a European power on a quest to colonize and conquer the New World. AOE3 introduces new gameplay elements, as well as new civilizations, units, and technologies. http://www.ageofempires3.com/

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Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360, Action

We know that there are those of you who would rather remain in the dark about the pseudo-spoiler-laden list of supposed achievements for Grand Theft Auto IV that has been circulating message boards and gaming news sites as of late, so we’ll considerately throw it behind the jump and avoid discussing any major bombshells which the list may or may not reveal.

But that would make for a boring news post, so let’s just say this — we love the edginess in Rockstar’s seminal crime series, but we think the “Gettin’ Too Old For This S***” achievement, which rewards 50G for shooting a cop who’s just two days from retirement, may stir up an amount of controversy that even Rockstar’s razor-sharp legal team isn’t ready to deal with.

Continue reading Rumor: Complete list of GTA IV achievements leaked

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Earlier today, participating Best Buy stores held a nationwide event claiming to celebrate women and (Nintendo) gaming. I threw on my best blond wig, shaved my face with a five blade razor, strapped on a padded bra, and headed out to my local participating store to get a hands on feel of the event. After registering, I was half expecting to get a "hands on feel" right back at me, as everything about this promotion screamed "bad first date".

Hit the jump for this lady’s first hand account of Nintendo/Best Buy’s tribute to womanhood.

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Filed under: Arcade, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action

Recently Xbox Live Arcade has shown considerable potential as a home for shoot ‘em ups, from the Forgotten Worlds-channeling Omega Five to monochrome shooter Ikaruga’s looming release. However, to hear talk from 5pb, the devs charged with bringing Cave’s nefarious DoDonPachi series as well as its latest shooter Ketsui to XBLA’s digital frontier, the platform still has a few nagging hang ups keeping it from becoming a beacon for shmups.

Echoing N+ developer Metanet’s recent comments concerning what does and does not make it to the service, 5pb spoke out about similar frustrations in the latest issue of Famitsu, revealing that both of its ports of DoDonPachi Dai Ou Jou Black Label X and Ketsui X had been summarily rejected for release over XBLA, with Microsoft claiming that it’s “going to cut down on faithful arcade ports.” Only faithful ones?

We agree that there is certainly a glut of arcade nonsense on XBLA, but this is equivalent to throwing the baby out with the bathwater. 5pb and Cave are reportedly now working to bring both games to market through traditional retail channels in a defiant effort to show Microsoft “that their decision was wrong.” Now all we need is a publisher with an eye for niche Japanese releases to pick the games up for release outside of Japan. Altus, are you listening?

[Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]

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