According to their press material, the famous Roxy nightclub on Los Angeles' Sunset Strip has more Twitter followers than any other nightclub. There are currently more than 10,000 people subscribed to The Roxy's tweets, where they're rewarded with free tickets, drink discounts and other good things.

Sure, 10,000 followers isn't that many -- my friend Jason's cat has 623,017 followers and counting -- but still, Sockington doesn't ever serve me Jack and Cokes, and didn't help launch the careers of music icons Jane's Addiction and The Red Hot Chil Peppers... at least, I don't think Socks had anything to do with the popularity of those bands. You never know.

Anyway, check out The Roxy's twitter feed, join the cool twits there, and see what's up.

I’ve been a Splinter Cell fan from the beginning. While a lot of people found the earlier installments frustrating and slow, I loved (and still love, as I’m playing through Double Agent again to gear up for the next installment) the game’s pace and design. That being said, my jaw was solidly embedded on the floor when I finally saw the new Sam Fisher in action during the Splinter Cell: Conviction demo on the E3 show floor.

Well, it turns out that Conviction won’t just feature a mind-blowing single-player adventure either. Ubisoft producer Alexandre Parizeau told Joystiq that, as with the previous three SC installments, Conviction will include multiplayer. Parizeau didn’t drop any more details other than to expect more info sometime over the summer.

Looking beyond Conviction’s release, Parizeau confirmed that the developers are planning to release downloadable content as well, but we’ll obviously have to wait until the game finally launches this fall sometime to find out more about what that DLC will include (Could episodic content be in Sam Fisher's future?)

Many fans have noted that Double Agent’s multiplayer was noticeably more accessible than it was in previous installments, but the game’s co-op mode wasn’t as robust as Chaos Theory’s. Well, with Ubisoft Montreal once again at the helms, here's hoping the team can build on what it started in Chaos Theory, and make the multiplayer portion of Conviction as new and exciting as the single-player mode.

Source

Criterion Games working on a Need For Speed game wasn't the only surprising bit of news that Electronic Arts chief operating office John Pleasants tucked into his presentation at the William Blair Growth Stock Conference I listened to today. Pleasants confirmed he's seen DICE's work on Battlefield 3.

"I've had the luxury of looking at Battlefield 3 over at DICE in Sweden and was highly impressed by the way the team is working on that product," he said. "Of course, that's not [coming out] in the fiscal year, but that is a product that is looking very good."

Gamers worried that Battlefield: Bad Company, Battlefield Heroes and Battlefield 1943 were a three-pronged answer to fans demanding a third Battlefield don't have to worry. Battlefield 3 is coming!

We haven't heard much about what Criterion Games is working on, outside of new downloadable content for Burnout Paradise. Now we do. During the William Blair Growth Stock Conference this morning, which I managed to listen to via webcast, EA chief operating officer John Pleasants confirmed Criterion has been assigned to an unannounced Need For Speed game.

"We've taken the Burnout team and combined it with our Need For Speed franchise," he said, speaking on EA's efforts to reboot the lagging racing franchise. "So we now have that in our favor because that Burnout team is probably one of the more online-centric and notably high-quality game developers that we have out at Criterion."

I didn't hear any other details on the game during the webcast, but confirmation that Criterion is taking a crack at Need For Speed is enough. Sounds like win to me.

 You're in luck! Today, you can look forward to laughing at videos featuring unlucky skydivers, heartbroken dinosaurs, a clumsy Bret Michaels and more on today's very funny ATN. It's good to be alive.

Read on for the direct links for the Around the Net videos from Attack of the Show.

Later this summer, Turbine will be making Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach free with the new "Unlimited" moniker. That isn't all! New features will be added to the newly free-to-play MMO:

• Level cap raised to the natural limit of 20
• New class, and new high and low level adventures
• Play without subscription – no purse strings attached
• Feel every blow with DDO's awesome action combat
• Alone or with friends, slay your way – solo, raids, guilds...
• Premium features for free – hirelings, crafting, auctions...
• Shop 'till they drop at the new DDO Store

It isn't all fun and games, though. First off, European players won't be able to try out the free version. Beyond that, many features will be reserved for DDO VIP's, which will continue to pay $14.99 a month (or less in larger chunks of time). What's the breakdown of these features?

EA Sports' Fight Night Round 4 is one of the highly anticipated sports games of 2009. Loads of G4 staffers are amped for the game and all signs point to it being a knockout. As the biggest boxing fan on the staff, as well as someone that has trained in the sport, I'm super excited for this title. My expectations are quite different from my coworkers' and I wanted to see what other hardcore boxing fans think of Fight Night. This was an excellent excuse to ping MaxBoxing.com's Gabriel Montoya. In addition to being one of my favorite boxing writers, I've spent hours mixing it up with Gabe in Doghouse Boxing's forums. He's one of the sharpest guys in the business, brilliant to talk boxing with, and an avid gamer. If you're a Fight Night fan and/or a boxing fan, you definitely want hear what Gabriel Montoya has to say.

G4: For boxing fans, how has EA's Fight Night series been a success?

Gabriel Montoya: I think for one thing, it has treated fight fans with respect. It has attempted to do for us what Madden did for football. Now while I would consider it a kid compared to Madden’s adult, it really is the closest thing we have to the complete package in terms of gameplay, realism, and its rosters that ranges from prospects to hall of fame fighters. We could have easily gotten digital Rock ‘em Sock ‘Em Robots, but the progression from Knockout Kings to Fight Night has been a pleasure to play. One thing I think it’s really gotten right is the movement. I’ve gotten by for years against my casual boxing fan friends who don’t understand that moving left or right is a helluva lot better than moving forward or back. This ain’t Double Dragon in the arcade. This is the sweet science.

G4: What are some of the things it can do better to appeal to hardcore boxing fans?

Montoya: For one, it needs to find a way that it can’t be gamed unlike Rounds 2 and 3 where guys could live on haymakers. Now I love untangling a tough style, but that in-and-out, hit you only with the haymaker just didn’t feel like boxing. This was a problem, particularly online.

It seems that the yet-to-be-named next installment of the Terminator franchise may be heading to London. (Which, from what I hear, is in England.) More sources seem to be validating the week-old rumor in which unnamed industry sources have described the (likely) upcoming fifth film in the Terminator series to be set in London in the year 2011 with a "time-travelling John Connor." (Possibly a clue about the projected release date?)

How did you feel about Terminator Salvation? Does this fly with you?

Personally, I liked the film more than I thought I would. The action was satisfying, it was paced well, and the "digital Governator" cameo was an excellent touch. That being said, I think that it would be difficult to move forward from here without throwing down a game-changing film sequel. Is having the film being set in London, possibly giving us a peak at the post-Apocalyptic version of the city, (somewhat bringing Christian Bale back to his Reign of Fire roots), enough to make this one work? It depends on what they do with it. 

I've commented that the Terminator franchise (while still keeping things somewhat cerebral) needs to make sure the storyline does not become too convoluted. As popular as it may be, the fact remains that most people are not as committed to it in a "fanboy" kind of way as one would think of with something like Star Wars. (Although the prequels gave in to that same mistake.) So when we hear that John Connor goes back in time in this film, let's hope we don't get too deep into "temporal paradoxes" and events that either undo or taint events from the previous films. I'll tune into Lost when I want my fix of that stuff. Don't get me wrong, I want to have something that makes me think, but going too far in that direction may alienate the average moviegoer.

Source

Regardless of your feelings towards the dollhouse of gaming that is The Sims, you have to tip your hat to Will Wright and EA for producing the best-selling PC game of all time (I certainly do, because I’m actually a big fan of the series). Well, the franchise has helped EA make even more history this past week, thanks to the release of the highly anticipated The Sims 3.

EA reports that the third official installment (not counting add-ons and expansion packs) produced the best-selling PC launch in EA’s history by selling over 1.4 million PC/Mac units in its first week of release. And if that wasn’t enough Sims domination for you, EA also touted the iPhone version of The Sims 3 for being the top paid app on the Apple’s App Store since it was launched two weeks ago. EA Mobile’s vice president of worldwide publishing, Adam Sussman, also pointed out that The Sims 3 is EA's third $10 (at launch) app to reach number one on the Top Paid app list.

It seems that it's a good time to be a Sims fan, but an especially terrible time to be a Sim. With so many people playing the new game on multiple platforms, that means more and more Sims being tortured and humiliated by their cruel human creators. Poor little fellas.
 
 

EA Sports Active was a big product for both Nintendo and Electronic Arts. Everything about the product was poised for success, especially since Nintendo will not be delivering Wii Fit Plus until later this year, and was seen by many as a litmus test for third-party potential on Wii. Fortunately for both companies, EA Sports Active was a massive success, selling more than 600,000 copies in its first two weeks.

Speaking at the William Blair Growth Stock Conference this morning (which I was listening to via webcast), EA chief operating officer John Pleasants told the audience the success of EA Sports Active now means EA has redefined their positioning for the game and now considers it a "platform." Nintendo has used similar terminology for their Wii Fit balance board.

The company has said over and over that 2009 will be their breakout year on Wii. EA's new slogan for Wii marketing, Pleasants revealed, is "EA plus Wii brings you more." EA's marketing research -- aka commonsense -- has shown that consumers immediately look towards Nintendo for guidance on new games to purchase for their Wii, but if there's nothing new from Nintendo, they become lost.

Pleasants said EA isn't really interested in overtaking Nintendo, but are committed to becoming the number two creative force on the Wii.

Can they do it? Well, I've gotta admit, the sales for EA Sports Active certainly sets a promising tone for the rest of the year and I've heard nothing but good things about Dead Space: Extraction and their new MotionPlus-supporting sports games. Maybe they're onto something.

The Sims series has left me a little cold since I played the first game. Where the social-sim aspects of The Sims 1 were intriguing, my interest didn't last long -- you can't punch anyone. I quickly found myself creating a sim who would befriend others, invite them to his home home, then find interesting ways of murdering them. (Pro-Tip: Invite other sims into your pool, delete the ladder, then sit back and watch the amusing drowning.) But even serial murder became dull before long, and I abandoned the series. The customizing characters feature in The Sims 3 may cause me to re-join the fold and the legion of electronic dollhouse fans who have set sales records already for this game.

When I first got my Wii, my very favorite thing to do with it was make likenesses of ridiculous celebrities. If I remembered my Nintendo friend code, I'd invite you to check out the menagerie of B-level celebrities that inhabit my Wii. Highlights include Italian cult director Jesus Franco, Arthur "Killer" Kane (bass player of the New York Dolls), lunatic fitness guru Susan Powter and the entire U.S. Supreme Court. Judging from the characters Sims 3 fans are already creating and sharing, making celebrity avatars is the new Sims 3 hotness, and the tools are much more in-depth than simple Mii creation. Check out fake Stephen Colbert above for proof!

Authorities in Jackson, Mississippi have reported that an 11-year-old boy accidentally killed his 9-year-old brother with a shotgun after the two argued about a video game.

Apparently, Darrious Finley, the younger boy ,beat his brother De-Andre at a game. De-Andre got angry enough to grab a shotgun. The two struggled, and a single blast to the chest ended the life of the 9 year-old. If  you're wondering where the parents were while all this was going on: Dad was outside mowing the grass. If that's not tragedy, I don't know what is.

The Finley parents kept the unloaded shotgun in an unlocked closet, but, according to their father, the boys knew how to load and shoot the firearm. The local district attorney is looking into the case, but it's unlikely that charges will be filed. For now, the police are regarding the incident as an accident, and the charges aren't likely to be filed, as De-Andre Finley is too young to be charged with a crime anyway.

This is definitely a tragedy, but video games are only a tangential part of the story. I sincerely hope no anti-game activists will use this as a way of furthering their political goals. It seems to me that keeping a shotgun and ammunition around your house is a bad idea if you have children, and if you're going to draw any conclusions from this incident, it shouldn't be that video games caused a needless death. How about: We should require gun owners with children to install trigger locks on their firearms. That works for me. Guns and kids shouldn't mix.

Source

(Thanks to TheFeed tipster J. Wang for the tip.)

The PlayStation 3 version of Prototype has a nasty little bug that may affect some users as they try to install the game. The PS3 may claim it does not have enough free space on the hard drive even if it does, but it can be solved by a goofy workaround.

By changing the amount of free space on your hard drive by at least 700MB, the game will complete its mandatory install and you can begin slicing people open on the streets of NYC. Want a suggestion on how to do this? Delete or download a game demo.

Activision has stated that a patch will be released over PSN shortly. Unfortunately, this workaround is necessary until then if you experience the bug because the installation is mandatory. PS3 owners might recall the same bug with Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction.

In other news, I conducted the optional install of Prototype on the Xbox 360 last night and was playing it so much that I forgot to eat dinner. True story.

Source

While much of the mainstream press at E3 2009 were surprised by Microsoft's Project Natal and Sony's unnamed motion controller (that totally looks like a sex toy), it was no surprise to Nintendo. In fact, the company was wondering what took its competitors so long. In an interview with Gamasutra, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said:

"I'd like to say to them, 'Welcome to the motion-control world!' To tell the truth, I expected them to come up with stuff like this last year. So in my mind they’re later than expected. We are happy that it is now becoming an industry standard. However, we still have no idea about when their products will be available, or how much they will cost, or what sort of software they will be used with."

I heard rumblings that Microsoft and Sony were considering motion controls two years ago. I heard a bunch of rumors that Microsoft was planning to show something at E3 2008. So like Iwata, I was surprised that it took this long.

While both control schemes are aimed at reaching a broader audience -- similar to how the Nintendo Wii snagged so many mainstream consumers -- I doubt either will make the impact of the Wii. While both are technically impressive, they're also coming late to the dance. The cost of and marketing behind these new control schemes will also be critical. Even if both devices had mainstream-friendly prices (which I doubt) and were backed by brilliant marketing (which I also doubt), I'd bet that the numbers they bring to the installed bases of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 will be a fraction of the Wii's.

The first image of Mickey Rourke's "Whiplash/Crimson Dynamo" in Iron Man 2 has hit the web today, courtesy of Paramount. 

He seems to look like an escaped mental patient with two broken arms who spends his free time sneaking on to the track in the middle of car races to pay homage to the movie, Gladiator. (So you can guess how those arms got broken.)

Kidding aside, I'm not sure if what we're seeing is the final product. For all we know, we could just be seeing the framework for the completed costume, which would be filled in with CGI. (Although it would seem odd that Paramount would release it in this form, if that were the case.) At least, that's what I'm hoping, anyway. We can see that the costume seems to have the whips attached to his arms in a similar way to some of the concept art we've seen for this hybrid character. Obviously, CGI will be playing a huge part in how those turn out, as well.

Hey, I'm TRYING to give the benefit of the doubt, here.

Source