Siren

This Fail of the Day is being brought to you by Konami. Last week, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow DLC Reverie found it's way onto the PSN in North America to the surprise of fans considering that no release date was announced concerning the PS3 version of Reverie. Turns out Konami made an error and the content was never suppose to be released in North America which is why there is now a delay with the European version which should have hit their PSN on March 30. To make matters even more embarrassing, Konami cannot take it down. Producer David Cox stated over Twitter in response to an angry European gamer, "put up there in error and it's too late to take it down. I sympathise it's not the best situation." Cox later said, "....it's a clusterf**k". While it is nice to see a big name in the industry like Konami saying they messed up, it's still embarrassing and full of fail. That is why you Konami, are the Fail of the Day. via Game Informer http://www.joystiq.com/2011/03/31/castlevania-lords-of-shadow-reverie-dlc-released-in-error-o/ Click here to view the article

Fanboys get ready to give your favorite console a hug, because GameStop released their annual report regarding who is coming out on top in console sales in the United States and Europe since December 2010. In the US, Nintendo takes the top two spots with the DS selling 47.3 million and the Wii selling 34.2 million units. The number three spot goes to the Xbox 360 which moved 25.4 million consoles. Rounding out fourth and fifth place is the PSP selling 19 million and the PS3 selling 15.4 million units. On the Europe side of things, Nintendo came out on top again with 46 million DS's and 24.9 million Wii's being sold. PSP takes third place 14.8 million sales, the PS3 sold 14.7 million consoles, and coming in at the fifth spot is the Xbox 360 who sold 13.7 million consoles. Nintendo must be pretty happy today with those reported numbers from the video game retailing giant, GameStop. via Gamasutra Click here to view the article

If you have experienced the underrated and very innovative first person shooter meets portal and gravity manipulator then you know that the gameplay from Prey rests heavily on making portals to transport the main character Tommy to and from areas in the game. Human Head Studios has announced that the portals and gravity manipulation will not be making their return in Prey 2. The announcement came from lead designer Chris Reinhart as he spoke to PSM3. "We explored a lot of the ways you could use portals and gravity in combat, and I really wanted to shift away from making it too much of a puzzle game. Portals and gravity were the functions of The Sphere [the mothership in the original game]. And The Sphere’s gone.” Unfortunately for Human Head Studios their decision to remove a core part of the Prey series might not sit so well with fans of the series who are waiting to get their hands on Prey 2 next year and have praised Human Head Studios for taking a step out of the norm. via Beef Jack Click here to view the article

Slant Six, the developer behind SOCOM: Confrontation is working on a new game in the survival horror series Resident Evil that is being titled Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City for the 360, PS3, and PC. While no date has been set other than Winter 2011, Slant Six has released a teaser trailer that showcases actual zombies like in early Resident Evil titles and what appears to be the return of a fan favorite. via Playstation Lifestyle Click here to view the article

Today's Fail of the Day is being brought to you by previous Fail of the Week winner, Fox News. Every now and then Fox News decides to take step out of the daily national and worldwide news and try something different, like writing about video games that are considered "controversial". Take Bulletstorm for example. Fox News claimed that playing Bulletstorm will make you rape women and that the "possibly worst video game ever" is a bad influence on today's youthful fragile minds. What could be more fail-tacular than their ground breaking study on Bulletstorm? According Fox News, Duke Nukem is taking "sexism" to a whole new level in Duke Nukem Forever and that we should "brace ourselves" for the sexist world of Duke. Fox News spoke with Jamia Wilson, the Vice President of Women's Media Center to get her opinion on long running franchise and according to this rocket scientist the Duke series is offensive. "It was offensive then and it's even more offensive now. "These depictions of women are extremely harmful, especially to young women." Fox News then spoke to a spokesman for the ESRB Eliot Mizrachi, about the rating which apparently Fox News did not do enough of research on, because they forgot to mention the "M" rating and instead only mentioned a "E" and "T" rating. Gamers beware, because a big shocker is about be told. Duke Nukem Forever is rated M for Mature! "Our job is to provide consumers with information and guidance that helps them choose games they deem suitable for themselves and their families. This game carries a Mature rating indicating that it’s intended for ages 17 and up, and retailers overwhelmingly enforce their store policies requiring that M-rated games not be sold to a customer under that age without a parent’s consent.” Fox News goes futher to discuss the the "Capture the Babe" mode and says that gamers and women's groups are up in arms about the "reassuring slap" that you give women when they get excited while you are attempting to capture them. Yes, Fox News did include gamers in that sentence, because after all we as gamers do not know what video games are about even though we follow a game that is in development for months and in this case years. "A new videogame that requires you to abduct women and give them a "reassuring slap" if they freak out has gamers and women's rights-groups crying foul. Brace yourself for the awfully sexist world of Duke Nukem Forever." Fox News, you mention that these groups are crying foul about Duke, well guess what? We as gamers are calling foul on you. You only write about video games when they are deemed "controversial" by people like you and then you can't even do that right. You get these opinions from people who have no clue what video games are about, conduct "studies", and instead of causing an uprising or make parents aware about the "evil" world of video games you do the complete opposite and cause games to sell even more, because some people will now just buy the game to see what all the fuss is about. Not to mention your earth shattering information about Duke Nukem Forever could have been taken off the wiki page for the game or is already known thanks to the countless number of news stories in video game magazines. Fox News, because of your repeated lack of knowledge for anything in the video game industry and only focusing on the "bad", you have received the Fail of the Day award. Please stick with your day job of writing about news, not video games. via Fox News Click here to view the article

This Dumbass of the Day is being brought to you by Bastal, a user on the Bioware's Dragon Age 2 boards who thought he was speaking for "straight males" everywhere when he complained that Dragon Age 2 is geared more to gays, females don't play games like Dragon Age, and to top this asinine rant off, Bioware needs to stick with making straight males happy, because that is their main demographic. Unfortunately for Basalt, David Gaider the Senior Writer for Bioware was around and turned his moment of dumbass-ness into one of the best pieces of verbal beatdown that one has every seen. Let's take a look at what led to this moment when the a know it all gamer gets his diapers changed by Bioware. From the beginning of Basalt's post, you know this is going to end brutal. "I don't think many would argue with the fact that the overwhelming majority of RPG gamers are indeed straight and male. Sure, there are a substantial amount of women who play video games, but they're usually gamers who play games like The Sims, rather than games like Dragon Age. That's not to say there isn't a significant number of women who play Dragon Age and that BioWare should forego the option of playing as a women altogether, but there should have been much more focus in on making sure us male gamers were happy. ..." Then this Einstein goes on to explain the term "Straight Male Gamer". "....the Straight Male Gamer, cannot be just lumped into a single category. Its ridiculous that I even have to use a term like Straight Male Gamer, when in the past I would only have to say fans, but it is as if when the designers were deciding on how to use their limited resources, instead of thinking "We have fans who loved Alistair and we have fans who thought Alistair was annoying. We have fans that thought Morrigan was great and we have fans that thought that she was a ****. And we have fans who liked the combat and we have fans who hated the combat but liked the story. How do we make make all these groups happy?" Instead, it is as if they went "We have straight males, straight females, gays and lesbians. How do we make all these groups happy?" He later goes on to say that there should be a "No Homosexuality" option and ended up contradicting his whole post by adding that only 5% of Dragon Age gamers are "probably" homosexuals and that over 80% of the players are males. By the end of this genius's topic, he calls out David Gaider who had previously spoke on this subject and said that he hopes that "the next game BioWare will get its priorities right or spend more time making the game." Enter David Gaider who put this Dumbass of the Day in his place. "To the OP: doing the same act repeatedly and expecting different results is the definition of insanity. What you hope to achieve by posting the same thread over and over again I can't honestly say. To some of the others on this thread: While an ignorant opinion politely expressed doesn't make it less ignorant, I will say that the behavior of some of you is far worse. Calling someone a "troll" who expressed his thoughts in an intelligent manner and acting like hooligans suggesting if you just throw enough dirt that eventually that person will either go away or the thread will get locked will earn you a ban. No matter the opinion, I think how it's expressed deserves the same in kind. If you can't do that, refrain. To the issue: I've said it before and I'll say it again-- perhaps a bit more eloquently, since it's apparently of dire concern to some. The romances in the game are not for "the straight male gamer". They're for everyone. We have a lot of fans, many of whom are neither straight nor male, and they deserve no less attention. We have good numbers, after all, on the number of people who actually used similar sorts of content in DAO and thus don't need to resort to anecdotal evidence to support our idea that their numbers are not insignificant... and that's ignoring the idea that they don't have just as much right to play the kind of game they wish as anyone else. The "rights" of anyone with regards to a game are murky at best, but anyone who takes that stance must apply it equally to both the minority as well as the majority. The majority has no inherent "right" to get more options than anyone else. More than that, I would question anyone deciding they speak for "the straight male gamer" just as much as someone claiming they speak for "all RPG fans", "all female fans" or even "all gay fans". You don't. If you wish to express your personal desires, then do so. I have no doubt that any opinion expressed on these forums is shared by many others, but since none of them have elected a spokesperson you're better off not trying to be one. If your attempt is to convince BioWare developers, I can tell you that you do in fact make your opinion less convincing by doing so...." To read the rest of the exchange between Basalt and Gaider, head on over to Dragon Age 2's boards. We here at Gamercide would like to thank Basalt for his rather trolling remarks and reminding us all why we have Dumbass of the Day. via Joystiq Click here to view the article

With data using the NPD Group that dates back to 1995, CNBC has made a list of the top ten games of this generation. The list that will probably surprise you left out fan favorite series Halo and GTA and instead includes a couple Guitar Hero's, Wii games,and Call of Duty. Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock Call of Duty: Black Ops Wii Fit Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Rock Band Wii Play (with Wii Remote) Guitar Hero: World Tour Wii Fit Plus Mario Kart (with wheel) Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Agree or disagree with the list that is surprisingly missing a few main stream titles? Head on over to the forum to discuss. via CNBC Click here to view the article

A small group of members from the now defunct developer Bizarre Creations have joined together to form a new studio, Hogrocket. Peter Collier, Ben Ward, and Stephen Cakebread along with two BAFTA award winning animators formed the studio and are focusing their efforts for the time being to the iPhone/iPad, Mac, and PC. Ben Ward from Hogrocket has announced that their first game is currently under development. Click here to view the article

Recently PopCap and The Red Cross teamed up for 48 hours to help raise money for the people of Japan who's lives were changed after the earthquake struck the region on Friday March 11 causing a Tsunami, several aftershocks, and partial nuclear meltdowns. During the 48 hour markdown of all of PopCap games that are available on the Apple App Store, PopCap raised more than $200,000 with 100% of revenue made from the fundraiser being donated to the International Red Cross in hopes of providing aid to those in Japan who desperately need it right now. Click here to view the article

Microsoft, one of the titan's in the busniess world has brought down the world's largest spam network, Rustock. Rustock which was formed around 2006, ran from computers running Microsoft Windows and was capable of sending out 25,000 spam messages an hour from an infected PC according to the wiki for the spambot. While working with federal agents, Microsoft's Digital Crimes Unit was able to attain some of the machines that were running the virus spreader and were able to work with different countries like China and Netherlands to begin the process of disabling the program that was out of the United States. Microsoft later joined forces with Pfizer, FireEye, and the University of Washington to fully put an end to Rustock and they are now working on cleaning machines that were affected by Rustock's malware. via DownloadSquad (thanks PK) Click here to view the article

The rumor mill is running rampant today after an interview between Italy's Xbox 360 Magazine and Silent Hill: Downpour developer Vatra Games' Radek Marek over whether or not the survival horror game that is due to hit shelves sometime in Fall 2011 will have mulitplayer. During the interview that explores the environment and enemies within Silent Hill: Downpour, Italy's Xbox 360 Magazine asked Marek about the possibility of mulitplayer being included in Downpour. The answer the magazine received is interesting, but also a little confusing. "At the moment there will be no multiplayer modes in Silent Hill: Downpour, but Konami are investigating a separate chapter devoted entirely to the Multiplayer. We do not know the details but it should be an XBLA title that most players have to survive in the town of Silent Hill." The concept sounds interesting, but if this turns out to be true why can this feature not be included in the retail version of the game instead of making gamers pay for something else? For now we will chalk this up to rumor until Konami makes an official statement regarding an XBLA mulitplayer version of Silent Hill. via Hell Descent (Translated Interview) Click here to view the article

On Friday March 11, many of us awoke from our peaceful slumber to find out that Japan has been changed forever. Since the massive 9.0 earthquake, Tsunami, and aftershocks that rocked the world, heart breaking news has been coming about 30 young children still waiting in a classroom for parents that will never pick them up again, civilians becoming everyday heroes by making rescue attempts, and proof that even dogs can be heroes as well. As money pours in to help those that lost everything, PopCap has come forward and announced that they are partnering with the Red Cross to help raise money. Beginning on Saturday, March 19 all of PopCap's games that are available on the iPad/iPhone are being discounted for 48 hours and 100% of the revenue made during this time will be donated to the Red Cross to help those that so desperately need it right now. If you would like to help Popcap raise money for Japan, please go to PopCap's iPad downloads, PopCap's iPhone downloads, or Apple's App store. iPad downloads are being reduced to $1.99 and iPhone/iPod downloads are at $.99. We as gamers can not only make a difference, but we can be the difference. Help PopCap and the Red Cross aid Japan during this time. Click here to view the article

The disaster that seems to be swirling around THQ's day old release Homefront keeps getting worse. Walmart and Amazon have both already discounted the price of the much hyped first person shooter PS3 and 360 versions to $41.96. For Walmart that includes in store and online purchases. No news on whether this is permanent or just for the time being. via Thrifty Nerd Click here to view the article

THQ is dealing with a rather large headache this morning as news surfaces that their shares dropped 21% yesterday as mediocre reviews rolled in regarding their newly released future based game, Homefront. The first person shooter received an average 72 out of 100 for the Xbox 360 version from Metacritic and reviews that are pouring in from websites such as IGN, GameSpot, and Digital Trends are centering around a mediocre score of 7 out of 10 with suggestions that the campaign is too short and the content in Homefront has already been done by other games. Fans are expressing their outrage on Homefront's Forum over players that have already begun using cheats in the mulitplayer and that the 360 and PS3 versions both need patches to fix mulitplayer issues such as freezing and as some are describing as "unplayable" mulitplayer. Kaos's Studios response to the issues was the usual "did not expect it to do this well" reaction that many developers use to try to cover up more pressing issues at hand such as why the mulitplayer part of the game was not "prepared better". "Homefront’s dedicated servers are currently at capacity, and this is causing some matchmaking issues for players attempting to join an online match. The demand for the servers has outstripped our expectations – so although we’re thrilled that Homefront is proving to be so popular, we’re doing all we can to bring more servers online to cope with this demand ASAP. Please bear with us – as more servers come online, you should find you’re able to join matches easily and play Homefront the way it’s meant to be played – with 32 players on dedicated servers." ~ KAOS CHEFS THQ does not seem to be bothered by the reviews that are coming in and believes that the players will speak for the game according to THQ Chief Executive Brian Farrel. "The game seems to resonate with consumers. It's a mass-market title. Let's see what players think." Unfortunately for THQ, it appears Homefront might not have been so much of a "mass market title". via Digital Spy Click here to view the article

Nintendo's Game Boy Advance which has seen three different designs since it's release in 2001 is officially on it's way out as Gamestop announces that they will no longer be accepting Game Boy Advance handheld devices or games. According to Joystiq, on April 2 the gaming retail giant will no longer be taking anything that has to do with the 11 year old handheld. Whether or not this will change prices of the handheld remains to be seen as Gamestop's current prices for a Game Boy Advance are ranging from $44.99 to $24.99 and have not adjusted yet. via Joystiq Click here to view the article

Bit Barons is celebrating the release of their easy going puzzle game for gamers of all ages and experience, Astroslugs on the Mac App Store by offering the game for free on the Mac App Store from now until Sunday March 13. If you download Astroslugs during this time make sure to send in proof of your receipt to info@bitbarons.com and Bit Barons will give you a free copy of Astroslugs for Windows and a free copy of the Astroslugs soundtrack as a thank you. Talk about free gaming goodness overload! For more information on Astroslugs please check out our review or the official Astroslugs website. Click here to view the article

Imagine running down the street, pulling out a brightly colored vibrator, and smacking random strangers with it. You will be able to do this in Saint's Row: The Third. Now imagine running down that same street and taking a jar that you previously farted in to and tossing it like a grenade at some unsuspecting stranger. This you will not be able to do. Make sense? Didn't think so. The team behind Grand Theft Auto's worst nightmare, THQ''s Voilition talked to Game Informer about the not allowed "Farts in a Jar" idea and described censoring the latest installment of the franchise to porn. "It's like defining porn. I can't define it, but I know when I see it," stated Senior Producer Greg Donovan. "Not every crazy weapon idea that gets thrown out at meetings ends up getting used. With some ideas, we're like 'that's not over the top... even we know that's distasteful' to the point where I don't even want to tell you what the ideas were. Put it that way,". He then spoke of the "Farts in a Jar" weapon that did not go over well with some members of the Saint's Row group despite that fact that the sex toy idea did. For more details regarding the upcoming Saint's Row: The Third including the "San Andreas style" leveling up system, details on playing as the same custom character from the previous games, no online multiplayer except for co-op, and mission details check out the April edition of Game Informer. via CVG Click here to view the article

It might be a little early for April Fool's day jokes, but Sony has already pulled a fast one on gamers looking to pick up the PSP Go. On Thursday, Sony dropped the price of their PSP Go from $199.99 to $149.99. Today in a rather strange move, Sony took the price cut back and has returned the price of the PSP Go back to $199.99. Sony has not released any statements regarding the price cut and the price jump. (Thanks Chris!) via Gizomodo and Slash Gear Click here to view the article

For those of you looking to purchase the first set of Mass Effect 2 detailed little miniatures, you will be waiting a bit longer. The first series of Mass Effect 2 look alikes that are being made by DC Direct were originally suppose to be delivered to stores in August 2010. That shipment was delayed and the figures were then given a new date of February 2011. Now it does not look like that is not going to be happening and Mass Effect 2 creator Bioware is not happy with how DC Direct is handling the situation and it appears that the second series of figures that DC Direct were also suppose to create has disappeared off of their website. "On the ME2 Action Figures it looks like the first series is again delayed. We are all, including Treehouse, BioWare, and yourselves extremely frustrated with DC Direct. Their handling of this issue has been extremely unprofessional and disrespectful to fans. Once we get the ME2 Action Figure shipped we will not be working with DC Direct again. I’ll update again if we have more news, but it looks like April is correct." This statement was made by a Bioware store spokesperson on Bioware's forum and has since been deleted. via: Bleeding Cool Click here to view the article

Resident Evil will be getting yet another movie added to the list, bringing the total of movies that have nothing to do with series except for the name up to five. Sony Pictures announced today that a fifth movie has been ordered and should be in theaters on September 14, 2012. No details have emerged about the plot of the movie or cast members, however Sony Pictures did say the movie will be shot in 3D. via Box Office Mojo Click here to view the article

For those of you who cannot get enough of your Xbox Live representation of yourself via your XBL avatar, Microsoft has made it possible for you to never have to lose sight of your little mini me. Available for purchase is an avatar Fathead. Fathead is a popular poster brand that focuses on making otherwise boring wall posters come to life and appear to pop off your wall. Fathead sells numerous sports atheletes and other wall decals including video game themed Fatheads from Halo and more. Now your avatar can add their name to that list. An avatar Fathead that you can pose in various positions will set you back $79.99 - $149.99 depending on the size you choose. Also available is a 3D FigurePrint model replica. These miniature model replicas will cost you $49.95 plus shipping. The replicas can all be posed in various predetermined positions. Lastly you can bring your avatar to a Zune. Pick which Zune you would like to purchase and choose between the 10 avatar poses and your avatar will be etched onto the back of your Zune. Prices range from $169.99 - $349.99 depending on the HD space you pick. via Unleash Your Avatar and Major Nelson Click here to view the article

Major Nelson has released details involving Xbox's latest promotion, "Xbox 360 Gearfest 2011" as well an upcoming sneak peak at Deal of the Week and all things Xbox Live Marketplace. Xbox 360 Gearfest 2011 Running now until the end of April, save up to 40% on select Xbox 360 accessories. Wireless Controller - Glossy Black $39.99 (was $49.99) Wireless Controller with Play and Charge Kit - Silver $44.99 (was $64.99) 250GB HDD - Xbox 360 Slim Only $93.27 (was $129.99) Quick Charger Kit $19.99 (was $29.99) Wireless Headset $24.95 Xbox 360 Black Wireless Controller Play and Charge Kit $54.99 (was $64.99 Deal of the Week Week of March 7 - Lara Croft Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light - 600 MS points Raizel and Kane Character Pack - 200 MS points A Hazardous Reunion Challenge Pack 3 - 200 MS points All the Trappings Challenge Pack 1 - 200 MS points T-Rex Avatar Pet - 123 MS points Week of March 14 - Celebrate Saint Patrick's Day! Clover: A Curious Tale - 200 MS points Rock Bank "Bad Luck" - 80 MS points Rock Bank Green Day Pack 01 - 220 MS points Lips "Some Guys Have All The Luck" - 80 MS points Lips "Chasing Cars" - 80 MS points Green Avatar Tuxedo - 120 MS points Leprechaun Avatar Prop - 120 MS points Green Shamrock Avatar Tee - 40 MS points Red Dead Redemption Irish T-Shirt - 40 MS points NBA211 Celtics Jersey - 120 MS points Marketplace March 3: Robots March 10: Update for Halo: Reach Add Ons March 8 Dragon Age 2 Exiled Prince - 560 MS points Dragon Age 2 The Black Emporium - 800 MS points Need for Speed Hot Pursuit Porsche Unleashed - 560 MS points Your Shape: Fitness Evolved Add Ons Sale - 50%-60% Off (running from March 8- March 14) March 15 Halo: Reach Defiant Map Pack - 800 MS points Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Jill character - 400 MS points Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Shuma character - 400 MS points XBLA March 9 - Torchlight - 1200 MS points March 16 - Full House Poker - 800 MS points Games on Demand Kane and Lynch 2 - March 8 Halo: Reach - March 15 via Major Nelson Click here to view the article

The beautiful Hikari Yamaguchi who started her career as a bikini model and turned into a Japanese spokesperson for Xbox has been paralyzed in an accident at her home. The 19 year old from Japan slipped on a balcony at her residence and suffered a cervical spine fracture that has left her paralyzed. At the tender age of 12, Hikari began her career as a model and since then has appeared in DVD's, photobooks, and television shows. She was offered a host for Japan Inside Xbox in 2009 and has been there since. via Feed the Gamer Click here to view the article

Gamertags that are in use and have been considered abandoned are now being resurrected so that gamers who want a gamertag change can now use them. According to Major Nelson the process will take some time and that gamers should check back regularly to see if a name that they would like is now available, because they are adding newly revived gamertags daily. via Major Nelson Click here to view the article

The half live action trailer for Homefront that made it's appearance at GDC 2011 is full of explosions, bullets, and a creepy baby nursery rhyme. via Click here to view the article