No surprises here, but I must relay the information that THQ have revealed the first information on WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2009. This is the part where those of you who have nasty things to say about wrestling games go take a nap, because we get it — you don’t like them. Well, guess what? I do. So quiet down for a second.

As expected, WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2009 will feature wrestling, and will be available for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, Wii, Nintendo DS, and mobile devices this fall. Along with the expected roster updates this new iteration will be the first to feature downloadable content (Xbox 360 and PS3 only, presumably), a new emphasis on the tag-team experience, and a new "Create-A-Finisher" feature. The emphasis on tag-team ties right into the game’s new cooperative career mode, another first for the series.

The press release can be found after jump, and THQ have released some screenshots of the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game to whet your appetites. I don’t mean to start anything, but am I the only one who can see a significant visual difference between the 360 and PS3 screens? Ouch.

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 Fresh on the heels of Sony’s surprise announcement that Warhawk would be offered with a limited-time discount ($29 until 4/15), comes the official release date for the game’s latest expansion pack, Operation: Broken Mirror. 

 According to Sony’s blog, the pack will be available for purchase on the PlayStation Store on April 17th, and will set you back $7.99. You can watch the video and see for yourself, but here’s what parting with that hard-earned cash entitles you to:  

• -10 bonus layouts for battlefields from the original game, so you can play with APCs.
• -10 layouts on Vaporfield Glacier, a new Winter battlefield.
• -2 new Armored Personnel Carriers (Chernovan and Eucadian styles).

The expansion definitely looks inviting, but I guess we’re still feeling spoiled by Epic’s freebie map pack announced on yesterday. Free is free, and that’s a hard act to follow. Do you guys plan on buying this?

[Thanks, Justin!] 

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Zasalamel! Say it out loud. I don’t care if you’re in your cubicle or reading this from your local Starbucks, I want you to shout "Zasalamel." Isn’t that fun? See, you shouldn’t listen to me more often.

Having kind of slept through Soulcalibur III, I had nearly forgot about this guy. But now that Namco Bandai have released a fresh new set of screenshots with old baldy in them, my memory has been refreshed. I wonder how I could ever forget him and his fancy little scythe, the Kafziel. Also fun to say, by the way.

Along with Amy and Cervantes (also seen in these screenshots), Zasalamel will make his triumphant return when Soulcaibur IV ships for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 this Summer. 

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Since time machines don’t exist yet, and you didn’t get to play the game early with us at GDC (we only hit you because we love you!), you are just going to have to settle for the fresh screenshots that Vivendi just sent us. "Settle" might be a little weaksauce because  Prototype looks hot! These pictures are as hot as Paris Hilton is dumb worthless a very talented actress. Yes I know, I went there… again.

As of right now, the release date is still Q3 2008 but September 15 is rumored to be the exact date. Until that day you are just going to have to pretend that you are the game’s protagonist Alex Mercer, and destroying New York City is your passion.

[Warning: Destructoid is not responsible for pregnancies or sunburns that may occur when viewing these pictures.]

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The DOJO week started off with the Stadium: Boss mode. In this mode, you will fight every boss from the Subspace Emissary one after the other. The bosses will appear in random order and the difficulty increases with each boss. You’ll have access to Heart Containers after each battle, but only a limited supply throughout the challenge. Tuesday brought the return of Jigglypuff. He (she?) is the same as in previous Smash games with only some small changes. One new change is with Jigglypuff’s Rest attack. Now when Rest is used on someone, they get a flower on their head that slowly increases damage. For Jigglypuff’s Final Smash, Jiggly becomes a giant and one hit will take you out.

Wednesday revealed the Electroplankton stage called Hanenbow. I played on it, it sucks. Thursday was a double update starting off with Character Roll Call. In Roll Call, you get to shoot the credits that appear at the end of the Classic mode. The more stuff you unlock, the more credits you get and the more money you make by shooting them. The second update was for my beloved Sheik and her Special Moves. Her attacks are more or less the same with some tweaks here and there. Her needle storm can be thrown down diagonally now (such as her Down A move God damn it) and she can avoid some Final Smashes by timing it right with her transformation. 

Hit the jump for Friday’s update introducing the newest addition to Brawl after the jump. 

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I think I need to sit down. You see, I am absolutely obsessed with the pinball “Crush” games on the TurboGrafx-16. In fact, I play them each and every night before I go to bed. They are kind of like my nerdy versions of cookies and warm milk.

So you can imagine my excitement when Hudson announced this morning that it would be releasing a brand new version of Alien Crush for Nintendo’s WiiWare download service, complete with Wii-style controls and a five player Wi-Fi score challenge.

Since I am still running around the office with my arms flailing (only taking a quick break to type this) I haven’t really been able to let the other big news sink in: Not only is Hudson releasing Alien Crush, the company announced a planned 10 game lineup for the download service. That’s a lot of support! While Star Soldier R has already been released and Tetris and Bomberman have already been announced, Hudson also revealed an original title called Blue Oasis that let’s you build an aquarium and raise fish. Damn, Hudson, you are ready to Friday, aren’t you?

All of this great news only concerns Japan for now, but global releases seem likely once WiiWare is available for everyone.

What do you think? Are you impressed or surprised by Hudson’s early faith in WiiWare? Will you actually fall on the ground dead like me if the superior Devil’s Crush is every updated with pretty new graphics?

[Via IGN]

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Filed under: Arcade, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action

The Japanese version of Xbox.com apparently posted the release date for the long-awaited XBLA version of Ikaruga. Xblah reports a Japanese website caught the alleged premature posting showing the game had an April 9 date attached to it.

Although the game still has no official release, UK OXM had a review of the game in its April issue with an image saying the game was “out now.” Ikaruga has been on PartnerNet since January, so it’d be nice if it could make its polarity flipping public appearance sometime in the near future.

[Via Xblah]

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

One tiny little detail about NFL Head Coach ‘09 seems to have been buried at the bottom of EA’s announcement yesterday regarding the “Collector’s Edition” of Madden NFL ‘09. Turns out that Head Coach ‘09 is only available by purchasing the $90 special edition. Just to be clear: It won’t be sold separately.

Madden’s Marketing Director, Christopher Erb, says the decision was not made out of fear that the game couldn’t stand on its own, and explains it’s a way for the company to “reduce the price and make it a bonus to our fans.” He’s got a point, if it was at retail the two games separated would cost $120, but given the tepid response of the original Head Coach and its niche factor, this may be the best way to move units. Erb believes those who play Head Coach are hardcore Madden fans anyway and the company may consider releasing it as a separate title if there’s enough outcry.

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Filed under: Culture, Hacks, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360

Call it a hunch, but we’re not convinced that UK television presenter, Anne Diamond, is an ideal choice to “review” games which she says make her “hair stand on end.” Though she brushes off several titles which are “so mindless it would be hard to see them as a destructive influence,” the ones with “gratuitous use of violence and bloodthirsty imagery” really draw her ire. Honestly, we’d be bitter too if we had copies of Dead Rising LODGED IN OUR SHOULDERS.

In a response to Thursday’s publication of a Dr. Tanya Byron-led review of video game violence, the UK’s Daily Mail has delivered a one-two punch of sensationalist misinterpretation (”allowing children to play on computers unsupervised is as dangerous as letting them play outside on their own”) and misguided scaremongering, offering the task of analyzing and rating already-rated violent video games to Diamond. Her “chilling” verdicts are all neatly assembled below a snap of kids playing the infinitely sinister Mario Kart 64.

After glossing over Dead or Alive 4 (she wasn’t keen on playing as “a martial artist in the fantasy Ninja-style mode”), she becomes truly horrified by a game that “wallows in violence for violence’s sake.” This dubious honor goes to Resident Evil 4 which, in case you forgot, is about “a cataclysmic chemical attack” spawning legions of zombies which “don’t stop until you shoot them in the face or slash their arms off.”

“This game shouldn’t be allowed to be sold, even adults,” says a Diamond in the rush to pass judgment. After being “stabbed to death with pitchforks amid fountains of [her] own blood,” she calls it quits and declares, “This kind of violence can only be bad for you.” Well, that’s what the healing herbs are for, Anne.

[Thanks, Duncan]

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Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Fighting

While Soul Calibur IV‘s trio of Amy, Cervantes and Zasalamel were first revealed this week in the pages of Famitsu, we find that we’re often far too busy to be bothered with flipping through a magazine looking at pictures, let alone one we can’t even read. That’s why we’re thrilled that Namco Bandai has sent out some screens showing off the characters as they make the high-def leap from the PS2-exclusive Soul Calibur III to this summer’s sequel. Still, as fearsome as Cervantes is (just look at that pirate scowl, you know he means business), we still wonder how even he will handle dealing with Jedi.

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