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In a post on the XNA Game Studio Team blog, Microsoft has announced steps it is taking to deal with rating abuse on Xbox Live Indie Games.The issue, which came to light late last month, revolves around 5-star rating scale used by the service being manipulated by some parties to improve visibility in the marketplace. To help combat this, Microsoft has limited the ability give ratings to games on Xbox.com to users who have Xbox Live Gold memberships....

Available today onForzamotorsport.netis a downloadable kit that supplies gearheads out there with all the tools necessary to build their very ownForza 2fan site. I’m guessing that means we can stop carving R390 sculptures out of butter and building popsicle stick shrines in our basements and move that party to another location. Those of us who’ve beencountingdownthesecondsuntil the game’s May 29th release date are encouraged to use the the screenshots, art, wallpapers and web interface components included in the kit to create a more socially acceptable, possibly less creepy monument of love and register it in the official site’sforums....

Last time, Snake and Ghost defeated the two of the top men in the Modern Gear operation. Now the only one left to take on is Bobby Kotickovich. Unfortunately for our heroes, Bobby Kotickovich is already making full use of the Modern Gear and Snake and Ghost don’t stand a ghost of a chance. That was a horrible joke. As always, the gang behind this series did an outstanding job. Hopefully the wait for part four won’t be as long....

InvenSense, the people responsible for creating the MotionPlus sensor that will soon make the Wii a complete product,have statedthat as delighted as they are with the new relationship, it is not an exclusive deal. “Of course we’re incredibly pleased – delighted would probably be a better adjective – that Nintendo approached us… but it’s not an exclusive relationship,” stated InvenSense’s Joe Virginia. “I can’t get into details about other folks that are interested in this technology, but as you might imagine of course there is more interest out there....

Speaking with digital gaming magazineD+Pad,MotorStorm 2‘s game director Nigel Kershaw has revealed that the upcoming PlayStation 3 exclusive will feature 16 tracks, and will feature full integration with Sony’s yet-to-be-launched Home. “Home is a really exciting area for all PlayStation 3 developers,” Kershaw toldD+Pad, “it’s going to have a huge impact upon the gaming public when it comes out. I think it’s going to really start binding the PS3 online community together....

Yes, you are all well aware of theDonkey Kong“rivalry” between Billy Mitchell and Steve Wiebe. If for whatever reason you’re not, go watchThe King of Kongand come back right fast. We’ll wait. Okay, you done? Pretty fun, entertaining movie, no? I’m glad you liked it, but really, none of that matters right now — neither Mitchell nor Wiebe set the new high score. Nope, it was actually newcomer Hank Chien of New York....

The threenew Nintendo DSi colorslaunched in Japan today. We’d love to tell you that there was a big rush and long lines for the new systems in Pink, Lime Green, and Metallic Blue, but there really wasn’t. Sure, there were a few pre-opening lines at gaming stores in Akihabara, but they looked small and totally unnecessary. I think Japanese people wait in line for fun. I was able to have a cup of coffee and a scone and then mosey on over a few hours later and pick one up, no problem....

Dementium: The Ward(DS) is easily a game I’ll be getting this week. I’ve played through parts of it already and I know I’ll really enjoy the game. Check out the interview I did with the developers Renegade Kid in case youmissed it the first time. I’m going to try and getManhunt 2, maybeTimeShift, I may at least giveThe Simpsons Gamea whirl. What’s looking sw33t to you? Also, notice all of the links?...

According to Kaufman Bros. Analyst Todd Mitchel, Nintendo’s success with the Wii and DS might come at the expense of third-party publishers who hope to gain traction on the these platforms. Inhis own words: The DS and the Wii are taking the video game industry by storm. Both appear to be bringing new gamers into the market. However, this may not be a positive dynamic for the major video game publishers....

Speaking with websiteNintendoGalat E3 earlier this year, Nintendo of America’s Director of Entertainment & Trend Marketing Amber McCollom dropped an interesting nugget of info on the Wii U. “Actually the GameCube discs will not be compatible with Wii U,” she told the site, “but a number of the games that were playable on GameCube can be downloaded from WiiWare.” Wait, what… ? Select GameCube games can be purchased and downloaded directly to the console?...

Lots of Wii systems means lots of games sold, right? But it’s not all crapware, despite what you see on the shelves of your local department store. No, there are some really good games in there. Yeah. I’d like to say that this list of million sellers for the system in the United States is made up of excellent games, but some junk made it on there. The top-selling title isWii Play, for example....

I don’t know what’s more absurd, yesterday’s news that Telltale is creating episodicJurassic Parkgames, or this latest announcement in which the company reveals its other new project:Back to the Future. How do you even go about starting this conversation? “Guys, guys! Let’s turnBack to the Futureepisodic!” I guess that’d work. This series of games will be appearing on all of the usual suspects — Xbox 360, Wii, PlayStation 3, PC, and Mac — sometime this winter....

Last year, a demo ofTenchuSenranappeared on the Japanese XBox Live Marketplace, and I quickly snatched it up. While I’ve never been a fan of the series (or any other stealth-based title, actually), I was eager to see what a next-generationTenchutitle would look and play like. Visually, the game was pretty bland — high-res textures and fancy lighting effects do not make a next-gen game. After making my way through the quick ninja creation mode, I found that,gameplay-wise, it played like all of the previousTenchugames....