If you’ve been lusting after that black Wii console that was launched in Japan but made no appearance whatsoever in North America, then you’ll be glad to know that your fantasies may just be coming true.

Rumor has it that the black version of Wii will finally be sold in the US this May, giving gamers a chance to finally buy a match for their black remotes and controllers. The sleek black console was released in Japan in the summer of last year, followed by a release in Europe. Needless to say, numerous North American gamers were protesting over being “ignored” as a market.

Recently, sources from GameStop, Target and Future Shop are claiming that the new Wii will soon be heading for both the United States and Canada next month. Aside from the black console, the new Wii package will also include an add-on of Wii MotionPlus and a Wii Sports Resort copy. The whole package will run you about 200 bucks.

Naturally, techie journalists and gaming aficionados contacted Nintendo to confirm the rumors. Unsurprisingly, Nintendo offered no comment and reiterated that the company does not entertain speculations. However, for those of you who are keeping their fingers crossed, the rumored dates of release will be the 9th of May for the US and the 23rd of May for Canada.

It’s now been a year since the Western world expressed its outrage over the controversial Japanese game entitled RapelLay. If you are familiar with this game (even though you haven’t played it since it’s basically obscure even in Japan), you will know how its plot goes. Basically, you (the player) come across a girl in a subway station and proceed to play the game by sexually assaulting her and her relatives, even managing to get her pregnant in the end.

Recently, a 14-year old girl named Elena Lyons took the latest shot at the videogame. Apparently, Lyons was a victim of sexual assault at the tender age of eight so it’s no wonder that a game like RapeLay can affect her in a traumatic manner. However, some people are saying that although Lyons’ case should not be taken lightly in any way, speaking about the game may further increase its popularity and encourage more people to look for the game.

Lyons goes on to say that rape is not an issue that should be joked about and the videogame should be stopped.

However, RapeLay was already banned from Japan and is not allowed to be officially sold in the US. This is the reason why some may think that Lyon’s statements actually provide more publicity for the game.

If you’ve been keeping updated with your videogame news then you’ve probably heard about the controversial conflict between videogame company Activision and its former employees Jason West and Vince Zampella who used to run the very successful Infinity Ward department. The behavior of Activision throughout the whole ordeal has been quite embarrassing but it seems the giant publishing company has gone on a new low.

The company recently announced that instead of giving West and Zampella the money the company owes them, Activision will instead distribute it among its employees as a bonus.

Activision’s Dam Amrich made a statement about the announcement that will certainly make the company less popular than it already is since the controversy broke out. Amrich says that the bonuses that should have went to West and Zampella are going to loyal Activision employees who did not try to steal and company the firm’s secrets. He also says that this is a way to show the public that the company will not be keeping the bonus money for themselves.

With statements such as these, many are wondering if Activision is run by a team of delusional individuals. In an attempt to show the gaming community that the company will remain fair and even values its employees, Activision just managed to make the gamers despise them even more.

What started out as a rumor is now actually happening—7-Eleven is now set to sell used games along with its brand new titles. The popular store chain has recently partnered with Game Trading Technologies in order to launch their project of selling used videogames in their convenience stores for under 20 bucks.

According to Tod Hays who is the CEO of Game Trading Technologies, this project will make it possible for consumers to purchase bargain-priced video games any time of any day thanks to 7-Eleven’s 24/7 policy. This program will involve all franchises of 7-Eleven in the US and Hays is expecting that all US 7-Eleven stores will be involved by September this year.

Michael Jester who is in charge of the gaming and electronics department of 7-Elven talked about the program. He says that the store’s partnership with Game Trading Technologies was a great idea because GTT was an experienced videogame provider and can offer a good selection to 7-eleven customers. He also says that selling the games at an affordable price is helpful especially during this time of economic hardships.

Videogames started making their way to 7-Eleven shelves in 2008 when the convenience store started selling big titles such as World of Warcraft.

One of the things that videogame fanatics look forward to on the release of new games is the free demo. However, Cevat Yerli who is known as the CEO of Crytek is offering his views on these traditional free game demos. He says that he admires popular videogame company EA for charging consumers for pre-released games.

According to Yerli, the videogame industry is perhaps the only industry that offers the luxury of a free demo—a luxury that cannot be found in other fields, such as film. He says that the tradition of free demos has been around for so long and this is why people are protesting when game developers plan to scrap it.

Yerli admits that this plan to do without game demos has to have a better explanation if companies do not wish to meet protesting gamers. For instance, a lot of gamers have already expressed their belief that EA is only out to make profits off gamers with their paid demos. Yerli says that with the ceasing of free demos, companies will have a better chance of getting back their investment without taking advantage of gamers.

These statements by Yerli are leaving many people wondering whether we will be seeing a free demo of Crysis 2, an issue to which Yerli replies that the team has yet to make this decision.

South Korea is a country known for its intense gaming industry. This is why when news leaked out about a possible E-sports scandal, you can bet that many of the citizens took serious notice. A report is surfacing about how certain gamers are involved in illegal betting and that some gaming competitions are being rigged.

The suspected gamers are yet to be named but A-list gamers such as Ma Jae Yoon, more popularly known as sAviOr, is expressing his disappointment with the scandal.

According to the reports, some of the competitors have been losing their matches on purpose and also leaking their own team’s strategies to various gambling organizations. Those who have been confirmed to have committed serious gaming crimes are being banned from the industry while those under investigation are undergoing intense investigation.

Apparently, the shenanigans began in 2006 when game players started being contacted and asked about rigging their matches. The perpetrators behind the cheating are none other than employees from the industry—players, coaches, match announcers—most of them already retired.

The organizers of the E-sports attempted to solve the problem but this only led to the illegal operations thriving underground. There are even reports that claim how the official organizers considered working side by side with these illegal gamblers.

Currently, a list of popular gamers continues to be investigated.

The Nintendo DS game Mean Girls was recently released but gamers, among many audiences, noticed something missing in the cover of the Lindsay Lohan-starrer movie. And that is the absence of, well, Lindsay Lohan herself.

The game box only featured the three other mean girls which were Rachel McAdams, Amanda Seyfried and Lacey Chabert. According to Samit who is part of the team behind the Mean Girls videogame, Lohan was not technically one of the Mean Girls, or The Plastics as they were called in the movie. Samit apparently did not give a hoot whatsoever if Lohan was the movie’s main character or biggest name for that matter.

Some are seeing Lohan’s elimination from the game as another bump in her already very bumpy career. As of late, the actress has been garnering fame for her hard-partying ways rather than her acting skills. In fact, it seems to be ages since Lohan was even in a movie that didn’t go straight to DVD—or anything at all for that matter. The downfall of Lohan’s acting career has been quite public around Hollywood. Very few producers and directors are still willing to work with the former child star now that she has a reputation of extreme tardiness and overall rep of being unprofessional.

But enough about Lindsay, why is there even Mean Girls Nintendo game in the first place?

Those of you who have been eagerly awaiting the release of The Last Story now have plenty of reason to get excited. An illustration was recently released featuring what the director confirms as the game’s main characters: a man, a woman—and a tiger!

Wii’s latest RPG game from Mistwalker has pretty much been shrouded with a lot of mystery. In fact, even the director who talked about the illustration is yet to be identified. Although it’s not yet clear whether the tiger will be playing a major role in the game, many fans are already excited to know if they will be able to use the tiger as a character to fight in the game’s battles.

The director also dropped some clues about the plot of the game. He says that the main story will revolve around the conflicts that stand between the two main characters. Aside from this main plot, the story will also have several sub-plots that will include a father who went out on a boat and was never seen again, an accomplice who betrayed his or her friends, a leader making critical decisions and the escape of an archaeologist from prison.

The director claims that all these stories will be sewn together in the gameplay in order to create a powerful narrative. Sounds brilliant.

The videogame MadWorld is one that has garnered opposing views. Some players love the old school, brutal brawls while some believe that the game did not realize its potential. Sega, who published the game, deduced a reason for the game’s disappointing sales. The company claims that it might have been a mistake to put MadWorld on Wii.
Mike Hayes from Sega talks about the report. He says that although the game was a critical success, its commercial performance was much less than the team was expecting. He feels that the game was a bad match for the audience of Wii. Hayes feels that since MadWorld was an M-rated game, it should have been designed for PC, PS3 or 360. Yet the team doesn’t regret taking the risk.
He also praises Platinum Games for being one of the cutting-edge developers in the industry today. He also talks about how Platinum has been designing for its usual consoles like the 360 and PS3. The successful games Vanquish and Bayonetta were examples of its successes. Hayes was thrilled when the developer wanted to extend their reach with Nintendo, even though the plan did not quite pan out.
So why are Wii players not digging M-rated titles anyway? This could be a crying shame especially now that there are some awesome games in the works.

BioWare is not one to shy away from some lesbian action in their games. Not only are female players given the chance to frolic with their fellow women but also with their fellow women from another species. However, players and critics alike have perhaps noticed that despite the abundance of girl-on-girl action, the game is lacking in boy-on-boy shenanigans.
Casey Hudson, the developer behind the game, was asked about this issue. She explained how Mass Effect 2 was still considered somewhat of a PG-13 movie and that acknowledging homosexual behavior may take away from this image. Hudson also says that they had to take a moment to evaluate the game’s content and draw the line somewhere. She related how the love interests are an integral part of the story that can help players care about their characters more deeply. But the team still had to keep the love interest parts light.
But seriously, how light and PG-13 are you really when the game is already popular for its interspecies lesbianism?
So those who are doubting Commander Shepherd’s sexuality until now—yes, he is completely straight. Ray Muzyka insisted that this decision to exclude male homosexuality does not take away from BioWare’s commitment to providing players as much choice as possible.