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I knew they were announcing a new PlayStation Home space today, but I didn’t see this one coming. Today at Game Developers Conference, Sony and Activision revealed the new space, “Backstage With Guitar Hero.” Available tomorrow, the new space lets players engage an in interactive rock-off mini-game. Based on button-presses, it plays out somewhere like a game of Simon, with increasing difficulty as each turn passes. The space also maintains a local leaderboard, so there will be no doubt about who’s rocking out the hardest....

Gamasutra’srecent interview withSilent Hillsound directorAkira Yamaokaraised many an eyebrow when Yamaoka described the state of Japanese game development as “in trouble” when comparing theSilent Hill 5team to previous development teams. Perhaps the skepticism that has surrounded the American-developed horror game is unfounded, if we are to hear it from Yamaoka’s point of view. Here is the complete quote: “It’s completely different working with an American team. There are of course advantages and disadvantages, but overall, I’m really impressed with the American staff and their technology....

Square Enix has confirmed the first details on the upcomingBatman: Arkham AsylumGame of the Year Edition, which is set for a European release on March 26. The package will come with six extra challenge maps on the disc, which is set to hit Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC. The maps will have players facing off against Arkham’s inmates in locales such as Crime Alley and Scarecrow’s Nightmare. But beyond that, the game will also support 3D onall threeplatforms....

Forza Motorsport 3 shipped with two discs.Gran Turismo 5may ship with three. In a recent video spotted byGT Planet, game creative director and speed enthusiast Kazunori Yamauchi talks a bit the Mercedes’ 2011 SLS AMG in relation to the game. It’s a natural thing to talk about — the sleek carmightgrace the cover of the packaging. But when he whipped the game out during the video, it wasn’t just a lone box — there were three different cases, none of which we’re familiar with....

I love Atlus. They just seem to know what I want to play, and that’s probably why my gaming shelf is packed with their titles. Somehow they knew I wanted to play Japanese brawlerArcana Heart, too, and now they’ve announced that the title is coming to the US.The 2D all-female fighting title was an arcade-only affair until late last year when it hit Japanese PS2s. Although interested, I wrote it off as a title I’d never get my hands on outside of importing....

Atlus brings back their annual Halloween-timed costume contest this year. Those that dress up as Atlus characters and submit will have a chance to win prizes including Atlus games, swag, and even the coveted Atlus-O-Weenie plaque. Both the Atlus staff and fans will vote on the best costume entries. Submissions will be accepted until noon, Pacific time, July 19, 2025, on theAtlus Page on Facebook. You’ll be able to see the entries there....

It’s been awfully quiet on theFallout: New Vegasfront for way too long.Last we heard, Obsidian Entertainment’s not-a-sequel-to-Fallout 3was on track for a release this year. If that’s still the case, Bethesda will likely want to start up the marketing cycle soonish. How’s today sound? The company’sTwitter accountsays to “keep your eyes peeled for new stuff,” while Bethesda community manager Nick Breckonmarks today as“a big day” forNew Vegas. Yes, this is the obligatory non-news story of the day....

[When we’re looking for blogs on a specific topic, we’ll put out a Bloggers Wanted call. Check out the blog prompt, write your own response in the Community Blogs and tag it with the “Bloggers Wanted Essay Response” tag, and you may see your blog promoted to the front page.] Thanks to everyone for their participation in last week’s topic! As you work on your blogs for our new topic for this week, the Freedom blogs will be promoted all throughout this week....

At a recent London event, Atari toldMCVthat “retail is still a priority,” thus the company will continue shipping their games to stores in an attempt to get them in consumers’ hands. Awhile back, the publisher was singing a different tune — one of digital distribution. This has all changed and probably has resulted in Atari’s hot new lineup of games. At the event,Ghostbusters,The Witcher: Rise of the White Wolf, andThe Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athenawere announced for next year....

Good news for fans of Miley Cyrus and Dr. McDreamy. During tonight’s Microsoft CES 2008 press conference, President of Entertainment & Devices Division Robbie Bach announced some new Xbox LIVE Video Marketplace partnerships that I’m sure will make your jaws drop. The first two partnerships bring television content in the form of Disney and ABC programming. This includes shows like Disney’sHannah Montanaand the ridiculously popularHigh School Musical, and NBC’sLost,Grey’s Anatomy, andDeseperate Housewives....

As I watched on at Panasonic’s press conference today in Las Vegas, I saw an app icon on one of the images of a new television that had me scratching my head. Alongside Hulu Plus, Netflix and others was one that readAsphalt 5, and had a picture of a car on it. That’s not an app; it’s a racing game! Actually, as of today, it’s both. Gameloft boss Michel Guillemot took the stage to announce a partnership with Panasonic to make games for the Viera line of television sets....

Not that I don’t love chainsaw massacres — really now, I do — but the real reason you’re reading this post stems from the video up there. To coincide with with last week’s “Last Man on Earth” mutation, Valve asked players to send in 60-second clips of them running around inside the mode. The winning entry, shown above, is about as badass as aLeft 4 Dead 2clip can get, I imagine....

Nintendo has seen fit to grace us with a bunch ofOcarina of Time 3Dcharacter art (which Tony Ponce reminds me is re-released art from ye olde days). There’s some gorgeous stuff here, so I highly recommend you check it out. I want the Po image framed on my office wall. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3Dis due out June 19 in North America, June 17 in Europe.