Andrew: Today is July 1st, and on this day in 1973, Canada declared its indepdence from the United States after a bloody 10-year war -- one that some might say is still being fought in small border towns to this day.* In celebration of her sovereignty, Raymond Padilla has assembled a tribute to Canada's best in game development, while I -- a guy who has actually been detained by authorities at the Canadian border -- wasted yet another afternoon proving that I don't have what it takes to become a game designer. Or a comedian.

Happy Birthday, Canadian readers! 

* Needs citation.

Raymond: While everyone around the world knows Canadian treasures like Chris Jericho, Kristin Kreuk, and Diana Krall, the country has made several notable contributions to the gaming world. While the Canadian government offers some generous incentives to Canadian developers, there's just some outstanding talent in the land of Celine Dion. One of gaming's longest running television programs also comes from Canada. Here are some reasons gamers should be thankful for The Great White North.

It's Thursday...which means the long Independence Day weekend is almost here. But don't forget to with your friends up north a Happy Canada Day! Here's what happened today in video games, popular culture and technology.

• Raymond Padilla and Patrick Klepek suffer from another Morning Hangover! This time it's about video-game westerns and motion controls
• Did you know Britt Daniel, singer songwriter for the indie band Spoon, actually worked in video games? It's true!
• Wedbush Morgan Industry analyst Michael Pachter, in his company's July industry reports, opines that mobile games are a fad.
• Name of new Square Enix game revealed.
• Microsoft will soon be offering its rich media technology, Silverlight, for Xbox Live ads.
• DJ Hero is very expensive in Europe, compared to the U.S. Price.

As you probably know, the very existence of G4 correspondent Blair Herter causes strong feelings in everyone he meets. Sometimes those feelings become too much to take, and they must be expressed on the internet. I say this by way of introducing you to the We Hate Blair Herter... Get Him Off of X-Play facebook group. 

The group was started by X-Play fan Chelsea K., but was brought to the attention of G4 by Herter himself. Now all of Herter's co-workers, friends and just about everyone Blair has ever met has joined the group. I hear his own mother is the treasurer.

I tracked Blair down to get his feelings on this important development, and he said "As someone who hates myself more than anyone else possibly could, and as a man who lives his life by the rules set forth by the Constitution of this great United States of America, I think it's only fair that everyone support the beautiful freedom of expression this group represents." 

"I really do suck," he added.

Join up, and register your own contempt. Seriously, it's fun.

With gaming budgets ballooning at ridiculous speeds, the chances of making a profit on a game are becoming more tenuous than ever. And while some publishers haven’t shied away from taking risks on original IPs, the risk/reward margin is an ever-present concern. Similarly, the pressure to consistently deliver quality titles is higher than ever. As a result of these crushing realities, we could start seeing fewer titles on store shelves.

During an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Eidos life president, and general gaming giant, Ian Livingstone spoke about the financial realities surrounding modern gaming, saying:

On Monday, I reported that Hulu appeared to be disabled on the PlayStation 3 with the video-streaming site blocking the PlayStation 3's browser. Hulu still hasn't given a reason. Today, some clever users have figured out how to workaround the issue. You're going to need a computer running Linux or Windows and some third-party software, however.

The hack involves using a proxy server to trick Hulu into thinking that your PS3 is a Windows machine running Firefox. You can find the instructions here, but honestly, it's probably not worth doing all of this for Hulu on your TV.

(via Engadget)

Game publisher THQ and its joint-venture partner Jakks Pacific are in the midst of a little legal grappling at the moment that could impact the next year or so of development on future WWE games.

As Reuters reports, THQ filed a lawsuit against Jakks after the company extended its joint videogame licensing agreement with World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. without THQ’s consent. Jakks of course says it was well within its legal rights to make this decision without first consulting THQ, while THQ obviously disagrees. Jakks' new agreement would extend the licensing for another five years, and THQ apparently had not yet decided whether it wanted to extend the licensing deal at all.

The real kicker is that Jakks’ secret deal prohibits THQ from releasing a wrestling game for at least a year after the WWE license expires, should the company decide to pull out of its partnership with Jakks. However, THQ says that this restriction is unenforceable under California law, so there's that.

Yet for all the hooting and hollering, there’s a good chance the suit will be resolved without too much fanfare, considering arbitration proceedings are currently underway. Although, both companies apparently make around $20 million a year from the WWE partnership, so there’s a chance that some blood might be drawn, but don’t expect much.

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It pains me to call TheFeed writer Jake Gaskill wrong, but he is wrong, wrong, wrong--and I'm not just talking about his moral failings. Jake was wrong when he told you China had official banned gold-farming in MMOs.

In fact, according to Blues News, the new Chinese law states that it is illegal to trade virtual money for real goods. Trading fake money for real things is the exact opposite of gold farming. The law exists to keep Chinese people from using PayPal like services to gamble and/or purchase real things. You can still pay actual money for fake gold, if you're a Chinese idiot or something.

Oh, and if you're running a sweatshop filled with 12 year-old Chinese kids grinding WoW gold for 56 hours a day, your business is safe.

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Don't blink or you might miss the brief glimpse at pure in-game footage of EA Sports latest installment of their long-running soccer franchise, FIFA 10.

FIFA 10 In-Game Teaser

FIFA 10 is set for a Fall release on the DS, Wii, Xbox 360, PSP, PS2, PS3 PC... calculator, stop-watch, phone charger, probably your toaster and more!

Do you have an iPhone? Are you as obsessed with it as I am? Don't you think that the AI in the Peggle challenge mode cheats?!?!?!

Moving on, this week Adam takes a moment to discuss the gaming possibilities offered by Apple's iPhone. Do you buy fully-functional games for the iPhone? Or do you follow in Adam's footsteps and read the paper or do some crossword puzzles on your iPhone in your spare time? Either way, it's a subject begging for a debate, so check out this week's Soapbox and let us know what you think.

Subscribe to G4's Sessler's Soapbox Podcast by clicking your preferred service:

Hey, masochists, I am about the blow your mind with the awesome power of the internet. Check this out: If you download this special version of Internet Explorer 8, you not only receive the web browser, you receive a free, previously unreleased Nickelback track. That's right, you not only receive a fine Microsoft product with which to look at the web, you also can "rock out" to the music of one of the finest bands in rock and roll history.

Either that or you could sit in a parking lot and eat dirt -- your choice.

I asked Attack of the Show comedy guru Casey "Office Jesus" Shreiner about the deal, and he said, "Isn't having to use Internet Explorer enough of a punishment?"

Update: The name of this band is "Nickelback." I apologize to the band and all of their fans for misspelling the name of this fine musical combo in my original post.

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This week on our tour of the 'net, some of our favorite links include a bunch of cute critters channeling their inner jedi, a list of classic games that could be awesome with motion controls, and one of the strangest movie trailers we've ever seen. Any guesses as to which country it's coming from?

• Sure, the banks and car companies got bailouts. But is the US government prepared to let Hot Topic fail too? [CollegeHumor]

• Just when you thought Japanese cinema couldn't get any more f'd up, along comes RoboGeisha. You'll never look at shrimp tempura the same way again. [FilmDrunk]

• A recap of the good, the bad, and the ugly at the BET awards. [CraveOnline]

• 10 games that need to be remade now that we have motion controls. [Crispy Gamer]

• Hot on the heels of X-Play's best nude scenes in games, Destructoid has posted a list of videogame characters who's legs they would hump. [Destructoid]

• 15 animals armed with lightsabers. [Manofest]

• Englishman Gives Self-Circumcision Using Nail Clippers [God Bites Man]

Turn your speakers up for this one and sit back.

THQ and Vigil Games attempts to restore the delicate balance between heaven and hell with Darksiders coming to the PS3 and Xbox 360. Dated for January 1, 2010, the more I see of this action adventure the more I want it to be "Zelda meets God of War".

Darksiders Restoring the Balance Story Trailer

The Sony Walkman, the first widely popular portable music device, has officially turned 30. While it's difficult to imagine in this age of tiny electronics, the relatively bulky cassette player was once universally recognized as a cutting edge piece of electronics, fad item and status symbol. Even though it ate tapes, weighed a lot and looked sort of dorky. Before the Walkman, music lovers were forced to carry suitcase-sized boomboxes on their shoulders.

More than just a popular fad of the late 70s and 80s, the Walkman is the spiritual father of today's iPods and Zunes. In fact, Sony maintained its hold on the portable music player market well into the 90s, releasing more refined Walkmans (Walkmen?) as well as the CD-playing DiscMan, minidisc players and network Walkmen as well as other variations on the theme. That is, until the iPod came out and destroyed Sony's line.

Sony has been trying to reinvigorate the Walkman line recently, by introducing MP3 players that feature touchscreen displays, mobile TV, and the ability to surf the Internet and watch YouTube videos.

A sneaky Internet sleuth has discovered that Blizzard Entertainment has recently filed for trademarks under the name "Cataclysm" in the computer games, paper-based products, and online entertainment services. Is this an all-new game, a World of WarCraft expansion, or something else entirely?

All signs point to a new World of WarCraft expansion. WoW.com noticed that the domain name "wowcataclysm.com" has just expired from a squatter based in Australia with the URL transferring over to GoDaddy, the same service that handles all of Blizzard's domain names.

Furthermore, the filing for "paper-based products" most likely means a matching expansion to the World of WarCraft Trading Card Game is in the works. Either way, expect to hear more at this year's BlizzCon.

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Varsity football not turn out the way you hoped in high school? Regretting your decision to go to law school over your collegiate football career? Don't fret.

EA Sports previews the Road to Glory feature where you take a single player through the course of an entire college football career in NCAA Football 10. Catch all the details which will make this single player "campaign" as authentic as possible, including the lovely Erin Andrews who will chronicle, analyze and tour with you on your road to glory.

NCAA Football 10 Road To Glory Featurette