It looks like gamers just aren't ready for mature content on the DS.

Despite stellar reviews, a major marketing campaign and one of the biggest brand name in video games, "Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars" bombed last week. According to new data from the NPD Group, the DS-only version of "GTA" sold a pathetic 89,000 units in its first two weeks on sale.

It was the first effort by any publisher to bring a huge, M-rated franchise that has previously existed solely on living room consoles to Nintendo's portable device. It seemed hard to argue with the logic: The DS is the most popular console in the country and the world by far, with 26.3 million sold in the U.S. The conventional wisdom was that only kids' games and casual titles, as well as ones made by Nintendo, sold well. "GTA" publisher Rockstar decided to challenge that wisdom with "Chinatown Wars." Bad decision.

By contrast, last April's "Grand Theft Auto IV" sold 2.85 million units in just its first few days to a combined Xbox 360 / Playstation 3 install base of 14.4 million. Rockstar's previous two efforts to move "GTA" to a portable device: 2005's "Liberty City Stories" and 2006's "Vice City Stories," sold 158,000 and 108,000 units, respectively, during their first month on sale. And those were both for the PSP, which had (and continues to have) a much lower install base than the DS.

Even the Xbox 360 exclusive downloadable "Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned" has, I'm told, sold about 1 million units to that console's 13.5 million owners.

Rockstar has to be devastated by those numbers. And any third party publisher thinking about taking an M-rated franchise to the DS has to be paying attention and thinking twice.

Other important points from NPD video game sales data for March:

-Nintendo's actually sees a... DECLINE. Yes, sales for the Wii and DS both fell in March. It's the first time that has happened since, well, as long as I can find. Given that "Super Smash Bros. Brawl" came out last year, it's understandable on the Wii count. And DS sales have been pretty much flat for a while.

Combine that with the Wii's already infamous slip to second place in Japan last month behind the PS3, thanks mainly to "Resident Evil 5," and it's easy to see why investors have become concerned and Nintendo shares fell 17% on Friday.

But let's keep it all in perspective. Nintendo's sales are still extraordinary. The Wii and DS sold over 1 million units combined last month with no holidays, not even Easter, to boost them, and only one major DS release, "Pokemon Platinum" (which sold a very healthy 805,000 units). And library titles like "Wii Fit," "Wii Play," and "Mario Kart Wii" continue to sell extraordinarily well. Nintendo is like a team that has gone undefeated for several seasons and finally loses a game or two. It's not exactly time to become a Sony Cubs fan. I would have to agree with Barrons that at this point, Nintendo stock is being oversold.

-Industry revenue was down a whopping 17% for the month. But again, that's overblown. As NPD fairly pointed, Easter wasn't in March this year and there was nothing remotely on the scale of "Smash Bros.," which sold 2.7 million units last year.

Still, hardware sales were soft across the board. Every single console except the Xbox 360, which was supply constrained last year, saw a sales drop. So while things aren't -17% bad, they're not good.

The more notable figure may be that for the first quarter, industry revenue grew 0%. As in it was flat. That may be the kind of year 2009 is going to be: low or no growth. Not bad in a recession, but pretty amazing after 19% growth last year.

-"Resident Evil 5" launched big. No surprise there. Over 1.5 million units on PS3 and 360. The only other solid debut was "Halo Wars," which started off with 639,000 units. "Killzone 2," which launched at the very end of February, falls in that category as well. For Feb. and March combined, it sold 592,000 units.

-Sony won the baseball battle. "MLB '09: The Show" sold 305,000 units on Playstation 3, easily beating 2K's "Major League Baseball 2K9" on either console (the 360 version sold 205,000 and the PS3 sold less than that).

-Though they launched in the last week of the month, making it a little tougher to hit the top 10, neither Universal's "Wanted" nor Midway and Ubisoft's "Wheelman," starring Vin Diesel, tore up the charts enough to sell over 200,000 units. It's safe to say neither one will be a major hit.

The latest mini-controversy over downloadable content involves "Resident Evil 5's" online"versus" mode. The actual amount of content downloaded for players' $5, 1.8 MB on 360 and 351 KB on PS3, is so small that it has many wondering if it's just a key to unlock content already on the disc.

Capcom's answer is that it's new code, though it does reuse assets on the disc.

But the real answer is: Who cares?

I mean, sure, we all want the best possible value for our $60. But game publishers don't owe us anything. If the DLC is already on the disc and unlockable via a code -- as happened with the costumes in "Street Fighter IV," for instance -- it just means it got made before the game was released and the publisher wants to avoid bandwidth costs to deliver it (especially if they have to pay Sony for that bandwidth).

Why is it less offensive if that content is finished a month or two later and delivered via download at the same price? There's no rational answer to that question, of course.

AsI've written before, DLC is a way for publishers to increase their margins and defray the high costs of development for the PS3 and 360 and their relatively small install base compared to the PS2,Xbox, and GameCube base last generation (the Wii, of course, requires separate development from 360 and PS3 and isn't too supportive of DLC).

It seems particularly fair in the case of online multiplayer. It's easy for those of who play games a lot and use Xbox Live or PSN to forget that millions of people own a 360 or PS3 and never connect it to the Internet. Why does Capcom, or any publisher, have to eat the cost of delivering all those potential customers a feature that they'll never use? At least if they're delivering a good enough value for the initial $60 (which, based on the game's 4 million initial shipments, many people seem to think Capcom is).

With DLC, publishers are extracting dollars out of the minority of a game's intial audience for whom more content is worth more money. That's capitalism and there's nothing wrong with it. It's called price discrimination -- trying to segment products as much as possible to get more money out of people willing to pay more. It's why you can buy half price tickets to a Broadway show if you're willing to wait on line the day of the performance and get the least desirable seats in the house.

If customers don't like the practice, they can and should complain about overall game costs. Or, better yet, just don't buy the DLC. But nitpicking about whether DLC is truly all downloaded avoids the real issue and displays a rather ridiculous attitude of entitlement that gamers need to lose.

February video game sales data was just released today and all the data, including the top 10 titles, console sales, and industry growth, are below. But here are your key points:

The industry is slowing, but still growing despite the recession

It's nothing close to the phenomenal 34% growth of the U.S. video game business last year. But 10% when the rest of the economy is contracting is still quite impressive. And software and hardware are contributing virtually evenly to the mix -- a good sign that the hardware cycle isn't slowing and that current gamers aren't cutting back disproportionately on buying new titles.

Microsoft had a good comparison, Sony had a bad one

The 54% jump in Xbox 360 sales is impressive. But you have to remember that last February Xbox 360 sales were dismal, due largely to supply constraints post-holiday and in anticipation of "Grand Theft Auto IV." This past Fall's price cut helped too of course. But nothing as amazing as that 54% number would indicate actually happened for Microsoft. It's just back to where it should be.

Sony, meanwhile, had a decent month, given its recent problems. Sales were almost flat, despite the fact that the PS3 sold unusually well last February (thanks in part to the then-recent victory of Blu-ray, as well as the 360's supply problems). Still, I'm sure Sony would love to see PS3 sales actually grow for a change. The PSP, meanwhile, continues to suffer. No wonder Sony's pushing aggressively for big new titles like "Hannah Montana," "Assassin's Creed," and "LittleBigPlanet" on the device.

 Killzone 2, Street Fighter IV both had solid launches

323,000 units in fifth place isn't bad for a PS3 exclusive that launched on the last Friday of the month. Quite good, in fact.

And Capcom kicked ass, at least as far as February releases go, with "Street Fighter IV," selling 849,000 units across the two high-end consoles. By contrast, Capcom's big sequel last February, "Devil May Cry 4," sold 528,700 on the same platforms.

FEAR 2 and 50 Cent, not so much

Warner Bros.' heavily hyped "FEAR 2: Project Origin," it's first stab at a non-licensed title for the  hard-core market, flopped. Despite launching early in the month, both the PS3 nor 360 versions sold less than 136,000 units. There are all sorts of possible reasons, most notably that in the current economy mid-level hard core titles simply aren't selling. But it's still a bad sign for the studios' ambitions to compete with major publishers that a sequel with relatively good reviews couldn't do better.

"50 Cent: Blood on the Sand," had the same problem, though it did launch late in the month. Still, THQ's expectations may have been more modest, since it bought the former Sierra title from Activision at what was likely a sizable discount off the full development cost.

Remember Nintendo? They're still dominating

There were no major new Nintendo releases, but that didn't slow the House of Mario down too much. It still claimed five of the top 10 games, with another, "Guitar Hero: World Tour" breaking into the top 10 only with its Wii version. Notably, the newest Nintendo game on the top 10, was at #1, "Wii Fit." It's "only" nine months old. "Mario Kart DS," meanwhile, is on the top 10 over three years after its debut.

And the Wii, once again, topped the market, growing 74% -- helped, of course, by easing supply. DS sales were flat, but still well ahead of every other console except the Wii.

Tons of people have said that "Resident Evil 5" is not racist, from the New York Times to Destructoid to commenters on pretty much every video game site on the planet.

But here's a question: How many quasi-respected writers have said the game -- not the 2007 trailer, but the game itself -- is racist? Plenty of writers, including yours truly, have said it has some disturbing racial overtones or images that conjure a racist past. And some have started an essay or review by asking whether "Resident Evil 5" is racist. But who has actually accused the game of being "racist," as in promoting or exhibiting the belief that one race is superior to another? I can find exactly one example: Earl Ofari Hutchinson in the Huffington Post. Everyone else, it seems to me, is asserting that the game is to some degree ignorant of the meaning of some of its images given the history of colonialism.

Am I wrong? Are there examples of quasi-respected writers saying "Resident Evil 5" is a racist game?

If I'm not, then aren't all the reviewers and bloggers and commenters screaming "Resident Evil 5 is not racist!" attacking a straw man? And if that's true, then don't these people owe it to those of us who have critiques of the game's racial imagery to either engage our arguments directly (as, I should grant, some have) or else shut the hell up?

"Resident Evil 4" was one of, if not the, first games I played when I was getting back into gaming in 2004 and 2005 (after a late high school-through-early-20s hiatus) that utterly blew me away and demonstrated how far the medium had progressed since I last saw it. So I was super excited about "Resident Evil 5," if a bit wary based on what I initially saw.

And now that I've played it? The phrase that comes to mind is "How the mighty have fallen." Or, as I put it in my Variety review that recently posted:

Sometimes a revered veteran falls behind the times. The highly anticipated "Resident Evil 5" offers few terrifying moments or new ideas, mixing tired features from the series' previous incarnations with poorly implemented ones borrowed from modern games, all set against a backdrop with disturbing racial overtones.

It's certainly not a disaster. The production values are excellent and there are a few unique touches, most notably the use of the bright African sun in the early levels to amplify the horror in a way I've never seen. Instead of feeling anxious in the dark, I felt exposed in the light (At least until the game abandoned that idea and moved into a bunch of generic caves and sci-fi backdrops).

I'll be honest: Overall, I wasn't just disappointed in "Resident Evil 5." I actively disliked it. If I hadn't been reviewing it, I would have stopped playing after a few hours. I think my review lays out my reasons pretty well. But for those who like lists, here they are one by one:

 -"Resident Evil 5" is not scary. At all. I know that the series moved away from the horror and towards action with "RE 4," but there's still a pretense of horror here. The first header in the briefing book Capcom provided is "The horror continues" and the back of the box screams "You don't have to face the fear alone." Most notably, the game keeps many of the allegedly scary tropes from past incarnations: Tentacles exploding out of infected natives' heads; blood dripping from the ceiling; boss battles with giant slimy monsters. And in case you can't tell it's supposed to be scary, you can push a button to "investigate" and get eerie observations from Chris Redfield like "Looks like it was torn apart by animals. Not a good way to go." (That's my snarky way of saying that Capcom needs to show and not tell.)

It's 2009. Horror today is defined by the psycho-sexual gore of "Saw" and the unpredictable terror of "Left 4 Dead." The "Resident Evil" series either needs to catch up with some new scary ideas or just give up on the horror concept entirely.

2. It's is a mediocre, derivative action game. The lack of scares would be somewhat acceptable if "Resident Evil 5" were a great action game. But it's not. Playing "RE 5" is, in many ways, a montage of action video game cliches from the past few years:

It's not that uncommon for console makers to team with third party publishers on big titles for joint marketing efforts. If Sony can get you to buy, say, "Grand Theft Auto IV" with ads that emphasize it's on Playstation 3, or Microsoft the same for a game on 360, it's worth the money in a fierce console war.

"Resident Evil 5" is the first major game in 2009 to test the 360 vs the PS3. And Microsoft is investing a lot in the fight, including a special edition of its console.

The really surprising detail came in the mailing I got from Capcom today with a retail copy of "Resident Evil 5." The game was for 360 -- a little unusual in that nobody asked my console preference, but hardly a big deal. What I've never seen before, however, is a letter enclosed with the game, directly from Microsoft, touting the advantages of its console.

Since the two versions of the game are identical, Microsoft really has to stretch to make its case. Amongst its claims:

With "Halo Wars" out of the way and no major first party titles on the horizon save for "Halo: ODST" in the fall, it's no surprise Microsoft is looking to ride the year's big third party games. Will it be able to sell fans, and the press, on the idea that "Resident Evil 5" is better on 360? It seems like a stretch, but it's sure going to try.

It's official: "Street Fighter: the Legend of Chun-Li" is a flop. Even given a perfunctory release on 1,136 theaters, its estimated weekend gross of $4.65 million and per screen average of $4,093 is lame, albeit not disastrous.

Box Office Mojo has a useful chart of video game-to-movie adaptations, on which "Chun-Li" comes in no. 23 of 28. Amongst the movies that beat it: Uwe Boll's "In the Name of the King," "Alone in the Dark," and "House of the Dead"; "Wing Commander" in 1999; and "The Wizard" in 1989 (yes, folks, that's in non-inflation adjusted dollars).

And, yes indeed, it came in well behind the 1994 Jean Claude Van Damme "Street Fighter" classic, which bowed to $6.6 million.

Keep in mind, however, that a weak performance in the U.S. doesn't necessarily mean "Legend of Chun-Li" is a big money loser for financiers Capcom and Hyde Park. For a movie like this, domestic release is basically a tool to support the places where it really makes money: Overseas (especially Asia) and DVD. With a budget I've heard estimated at around $30 million, the movie could still end up doing OK, even if not many people in the U.S. actually want to go to a movie theater and pay $10 to see it.

Given the bad reviews, soft opening, and the genre, it's pretty reasonable to expect this movie to take a giant drop next weekend. But it may have a trick up its sleeve in the form of "Watchmen." Yes, logic would tell us that the young male audience that might be interested in a "Street Fighter" movie is a lot more likely to see "Watchmen." However, the latter movie is rated R, while the former is PG-13, unlikely to sell out, and unlikely to raise eyebrows if, say, a 15 year-old boy buys tickets (as opposed to, say, "Madea Goes to Jail." So if teenagers are looking to buy tickets and sneak into "Watchmen," "Street Fighter" could benefit.

As for our contest, we currently have an exact tie between PhilVillarreal, who guessed $4.5 million, and DJ, who said $4.8 million. We'll have to wait for the final weekend box office number tomorrow to declare the winner

Update: The final total is $4.72 million. Congrats to DJ.

Fox's decision to not show "Street Fighter: the Legend of Chun-Li" to critics was the first sign it's not too hot on the movie's box office prospects. Now comes another: It's only opening at 1,136 theaters.

I covered box office at Variety for a while, so I have a decent sense of how studios open movies. 1,136 barely counts as a wide release. Typically you'd expect a movie that a studio, and exhibitors, think has any decent box office prospects to open at over 2,000 theaters (unless it's an indie film that slowly grows on the strength of buzz and reviews, which "Street Fighter" obviously isn't).

With that few theaters, an opening in the single digit millions is pretty much a certainty, which is certainly not what financiers Capcom and Hyde Park were hoping when they started production, even if the budget is relatively small.

But how low will the opening weekend box office be? Initial buzz amongst gamers is pretty bad and the first review out there, from IGN, is devastating ("Chris Klein delivers one of the most laughably bad screen performances of the decade" is being a favorite line), so it's hard to be optimistic. I took a bet with an industry friend last night with an over/under of $5 million. I was willing to bet $20 it will exceed $5 million, although I don't think it'll be by much.

Anyone else want in on that action? Here's an incentive: Whoever comes closest to guessing the actual opening weekend box office of "Chun-Li" will win a copy of "Street Fighter IV" (for Xbox 360). Guesses must be in the hundreds of thousands (so "7.6 million" is an acceptable estimate; "$4,423,583" is not) and you must be within at least $500,000 to win. Also, you must post your estimate by midnight, pacific time, tonight. I don't want anybody who gets access to the opening day gross cheating.

(The winner will be based on the final gross reported on Monday, not the Sunday morning estimate)

Update: Variety has a somewhat kinder review, calling the film "Neither the best nor the worst of movies derived from videogames" and noting that the "Well-adorned production... looks sharper and more colorful than the rudimentary revenge plot demands." Read the whole thing here.

Update 2: The final gross is $4.72 million. Congrats to DJ.

“Resident Evil” is the biggest horror video game franchise out there and 2005's "Resident Evil 4" was the most successful installment yet, selling over six million units and earning critical acclaim. So the release of “Resident Evil 5” on March 13 will be a major event, probably the biggest in the industry so far this year (matched only, perhaps, by “Street Fighter IV,” also from Capcom).

It also could be the most controversial, given the decision to set the game in Africa and some of the racially charged images that already have some of us who haven’t played the game – and some who have – wondering how aware of and sensitive to the history of race in the West the developers were.

Which is why, although media tours are usually not my thing, I was psyched to sit down with Jun Takeuchi, producer of “Resident Evil 5,” who also worked on the first two games in the series and other Capcom titles.

I’ve transcribed most of the interview below (performed, of course, with the help of a translator). Read on to find out why Takeuchi-san thinks nobody should take offense at the game’s racial dynamics, why it’s important that the characters in the game can’t move while they shoot, what he thought of “Left 4 Dead,” how the bright African sun and co-op gameplay change horror, how he wants to approach bring “Resident Evil” to the Wii, and what he thinks is the most important element of a “Resident Evil” game.

Ben Fritz: I played "Resident Evil 5" for a few hours and there’s a lot of obvious similarities to "Resident Evil 4." Do you think it’s more similar to Resident Evil 4 than past Resident Evil’s have been to each other? And if so, why did you stick to that formula?

Jun Takeuchi: They are similar in a way. The one example we would give is "Resident Evil 5" is similar to "Resident Evil 4" the same way "Resident Evil 2" is similar to "Resident Evil 1." It’s the same kind of basic game content but there’s much more going on in the game.

BF: And is that because "Resident Evil 4" was so successful you wanted to do more of that? Or was it more of an artistic reason?

JT: Our intention in creating the game was that – From our perspective we really enjoyed playing “Resident Evil 4” and thought it was a great game and a great system it was based around. But we thought there was still a lot more that could be done with that system. So what we’ve tried to do with this game is using that same basic system add many basic elements to it. Obviously the biggest element is the co-op. But to add a lot into the game and create ultimately a more interesting and fun experience than “Resident Evil 4” was. I think we’ve succeeded in that.

BF: One thing I noticed in the beginning is because it’s Africa and it’s daytime it’s very warm and bright. It’s a hot African sun. Usually horror is dark and night. That’s what most of “Resident Evil 4” was. I don’t know if it gets darker later on, but is it more difficult to do horror in the daylight or can you do it in a different way?

JT: Certainly it is more difficult to create horror for the player in the daytime in a bright setting. But that was one of the things we wanted to do with this game – Creating a game on next-gen consoles obviously affords us more power. So we wanted to try something new and even if it was difficult create a new challenge for ourselves introducing horror in the daylight. It is difficult but there have been other horror in movies that have taken place in the daytime. For example “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.” It does make things more difficult but gives us the chance to try something new and give a new experience to the player as well.

BF: When you made the decision to add co-op to the game was it more because it's an interesting gameplay element or do you think it actually helps with the horror experience?

 For those of you holding out hope that "Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li" might turn out to be good, here's a not-too-promising development: Fox won't be screening the movie for critics before it's released next Friday, the 27th.

Which means those who want to see it opening night will have to brave those treacherous waters review-free. Of course, in 95% of cases, not screening a movie is the studio's way of admitting critics are sure to hate it -- usually because it's bad, occassionally because it's a genre, like horror, that critics rarely appreciate.

(Full disclosure: I have seen "Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li," at a private screening. But because the writer is a good friend, I can't objectively write about the actual content. I will write about the box office performance and reviews as soon as the film is released, though.

Update: On a related note, Leigh Alexander has an interesting column at Kotaku about why video game movies never quite work. I'm not sure if I agree 100%, but she makes a really good case.

In the past week I've been to two events surrounding a big month for "Street Fighter." Sunday was a low key screening of the "Street Fighter: Legend of Chun-Li" movie that was co-financed by Capcom and Hyde Park and will be released by Fox next Friday. (It's not getting the red carpet premiere treatment in the U.S.)

But last Thursday was a blow-out party by Capcom for the release of "Street Fighter IV." Fans were lined up around the block to get in, where there were dozens (maybe over 100?) stations with the game, along with lots of cool "Street Fighter" inspired art. I could describe it, but better yet, awesome photographer and friend of the Cut Scene Charlie Chu was on hand and took some great pictures.

If you like his work, check out Charlie's full portfolio and get in touch with him via flickr.

The scene when you walk in the door.

 
Yes, this game looks this photorealistic

Some of the Street Fighter-inspired art on display

And more of it

It was inevitable. The only question was, who would it be, and how soon before the game's released? The answer is, the Atlantic and more than a month.

Ta-Nehisi Coates, a blogger for the venerable magazine of ideas, politics and culture, picks up on this Eurogamer preview that noted the game includes bloodthirsty Black Africans (not zombies) beating something in a sack, a white woman being dragged off by Black men, and "even more outrageous and outdated images to be found later in the game" that are under embargo.

Coates clearly has some knowledge of and respect for videogames, which makes it all the more meaningful when he says "I have no idea what the frack Capcom was thinking" and "if we're going to allow video games to enter into the world of adults, if we don't want to be looked upon as boys in the bodies of men, then we have to be serious."

A lot of even more popular journalists who don't read Eurogamer do read the Atlantic, so I'm willing to bet this is just the beginning of a "RE 5 is racist" meme that's going to spread through the media and the culture very fast.

And if you think the above description is bad, wait until more people get a look at this clip, which may show some of the "even more outrageous and outdated images" Eurogamer mentioned. Starting at 2:30, there's genuine, barely clothed, scary Black men carrying painted shields and chucking spears:

Of course, I haven't played the game myself yet, so I'm not in a position to pass judgment. But I can say that I think this issue is on the verge of blowing up. I hope it will be an opportunity to show that we can debate the content of a video game responsibly as art with a cultural impact. I fear it will turn into another opportunity for out of touch moral scolds to decry videogames and drive another wedge between gamers and mainstream culture.

(In good news, I just discovered there's a very healthy and respectful discussion about race in "RE 5" going on in comments of the Brainy Gamer blog. Even if that's not what happens everywhere, I'm glad it's happening somewhere.)

(Part of our series counting down the top ten videogames of 2008 -- with interruptions for the most disappointing and most overrated -- according to Variety critics Leigh Alexander, Tom Chick, Chris Dahlen and Ben Fritz. Full details are here. To check out the rest of the list, click here. Most importantly, vote for your favorite games of 2008 in the Cut Scene reader awards here.)

Leigh Alexander

Mega Man 9 (Capcom / Inti Creates)

In today's era of blisteringly sharp next-gen, why on earth would Capcom ape the NES era -- staticky scan lines, brutal difficulty and all? Because, given that today's audience endlessly compares new franchise installments to their rosy memories of ancient predecessors, it's a damn great idea to just give them what they want. "Mega Man 9" reminded most players what a feat it was that they fell in love with such a punishing medium, re-instilled the youthful love of frustration -- and beyond nostalgia, actually managed to show off some of the best level design the series has ever seen.

Tom Chick

Patapon (Sony / Pyramid)

No game this year that had me grinning as consistently as I grin when I play "Patapon." I love these little guys, and in return, they love me. They dance and sing for me. They talk to me. As I drum them their rhythm, which is really all the gameplay there is here, their little eyes roll around. They jump and sway. They charge forward. The colorful sky fills with their arrows. I feel terrible as they're stamped into the ground or stabbed by evil patapons. I consider which one gets which hat and which sword. I dole out horses carefully. Did I mention that I love these little guys? The simple fact about "Patapon" is that it makes me happy. Not since "Katamari Damacy" has a game been so purely and simply joyous.

Chris Dahlen

Rock Band 2 (MTV and EA / Harmonix)

A strong platform saw key improvements. The single-player band mode made it easier for me to play alone; the no-fail mode and freestyle drum trainer made the game accessible to my three-year-old. (Who doesn’t dream that their kid will grow up to be a drummer?) And the addition of hipster essentials like "Mission of Burma" to the music store proves yet again that Harmonix is staffed by genuine, signed-in-blood rock snobs – just the way I like ‘em.

Ben Fritz

World of Goo (Various / 2D Boy)

Plenty of games nailed “cute” this year, but “World of Goo” dismisses that for something much harder to achieve: atmosphere. A simple building mechanic is tied to an impressively diverse set of puzzles, making this a game worth playing even if it was set against a blank white wall. But its the sinister music, the off kilter designs and those disturbing notes from “the sign painter” that bring to mind the delectably unlikely influence of “Edward Scissorhands.” Who knew little green balls of goo could be so creepy?

Coming Friday: The most disappointing videogames of 2008

Coming Monday morning: The fifth best videogame(s) of 2008

Coming tomorrow: Christmas.

Running in tomorrow's Daily Variety but online now:

Capcom is making a "Lost Planet" movie. The publisher is teaming up with producer Avi Arad, who used to run Marvel Pictures, and has a distribution deal with Warner Bros.

David Hayter, who wrote two "X-Men" movies and the upcoming adaptation of "Watchmen," and who of course we gamers know as the voice of Solid Snake in "Metal Gear Solid," is writing the script.

Arad is producing with his son Ari and partner Steven Paul through Seaside Entertainment, a production company they formed to make fantasy and sci-fi fare.

Capcom has been the busiest vidgame publisher in terms of adapting movies. It's got a fourth "Resident Evil" in the works with Sony, "Onimusha" with Paramount, and the new "Street Fighter" with Hyde Park (Fox is distributing). As with "Street Fighter," Capcom is expected to co-finance the "Lost Planet" movie. It's not clear yet if Warner Bros. will be kicking in the rest of the money or someone else.

Though the story was pretty cliched in the game, "Lost Planet" at least has one, as well as a cool visual setting (shades of Hoth), so there's no reason it couldn't be a good movie. On its face it certainly is a much more obvious adaptation than "Street Fighter."

No word on when the movie's coming out, though whenever it is, I'd say it's a safe bet it'll be along with the inevitable "Lost Planet 2." (Just as "Street Fighter IV" is probably coming out with the movie next winter)

Not to ruin any surprises, but for anyone wondering what's going to be the big announcement at Capcom's E3 press conference on Tuesday... now you know.

Everybody's excited at the official word today that Capcom will release "Street FIghter IV" for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. But when, oh when, is it coming out? Capcom hasn't said.

Here's a wild guess: Variety recently reported that Fox will release the "Street Fighter" movie in the U.S. on Feb. 27, 2009. I'd say right around then makes a lot of sense.

Not only is that a big promotional event for the franchise, but Capcom is an investor in the movie. While I'm sure it hopes to make money on the film, it's obviously investing those millions in part to try and revive public interest in "Street Fighter." As such, Capcom would be crazy to not take advantage of the big (by videogame standards) promotional push Fox will be putting behind the release of "Street Fighter: the Legend of Chun-Li" and have its game on store shelves at the same time.

If by some chance Capcom just can't get the game out by then, around the movie's DVD release (probably in late spring) would be the next logical time to expect it.

Looking through my ever-growing pile of recent games, it occurs to me that the two best games of 2006 -- in this much maligned reviewer's opinion -- have both been released in the past month. So if you never played "Okami" or "Bully" and you have  Wii or Xbox 360, I highly highly recommend picking them both up. I can say without reservation that they are both better than anything that has come out so far in 2008.

Even back in the day when I haunted arcades, I wasn't much of a "Street Fighter" fan. I wasn't smart enough or coordinated enough to memorize and implement all the crazy combo's, which resulted in me getting my ass kicked repeatedly.

Visiting Capom's suite at GDC was a nice flashback to those days. Not only did I not really know what I was doing as I sat down to play "Street Fighter IV," but I was visiting the suite at the same time as some folks from Destructoid. Really nice guys but, as anyone who has visited the site knows, it's for hard core gamers. Which means it's by hard core gamers. Which means I got a nice flashback to the '80s as my ass was handed to me repeatedly, in the form of E. Honda or Guile falling on his ass.

(There's a photo on the left of two people playing against each other.)

I should have known I would be in trouble when I admitted to the guy sitting next to me I wasn't sure of all the controls (there were some on the machine, but they were in Japanese) and his response was "Guile controls the same." My seemingly logical response was "The same as what?" And the exasperated enthusiast game journalist replied "as in 'Street Fighter 2.'" As in "Duh." As in "How could anyone come to the Capcom booth and not remember how the controls worked in "Street Figher 2?!"

The game comes out this summer at arcades in Japan. It hasn't yet been announced on consoles but, you know... it'll probably hit 360 and PS3 by the holidays or sometime in 2009. Possibly in conjunction with the new "Street Fighter" movie.

So what was "Street Fighter IV" actually like? Pretty much the same as the "Street Fighter" I remember as a kid, except awesome hi-def graphics and more stuff going on in the background. To be honest, I'm probably not the best person to critique the game, as you may have picked up, so since I've picked on them a bit, I'll refer you to Destructoid for a more in-depth analysis.

Also on display was the new "Bionic Commando" game. Actually the two new "Bionic Commando" games -- the XBLA and PSN game "Bionic Commando Rearmed," which is essentially a tweaked version of the classic, and the new 3-D version for next-gen consoles.

I only got hands on "Rearmed," which certainly looks good and will be a fun throwback for those who loved the old version. I didn't get to play the 3-D game, but it looked in many ways like your standard abandoned city / jungle shooter. But with the big addition of an extendable bionic arm, of course. I was definitely impressed at how much work the developers put into making it work. There's a great mix of auto-aim, to make sure players don't miss the thing they're trying to latch onto, with manual adjustment to get an object right where you want it. Physics make objects, or the hero, move faster or slower based on the weight of the object he's holding onto. And there are some great fighting combos based on latching onto an enemy and pulling yourself towards him, or him towards you.

In other words, it's the standard game industry thing -- the same old shooter we're used to but with one big new feature. However, it looks like that feature might work extraordinarily well, which is certainly more than you can say for a lot of other action games.

(I should note that my "Bionic Commando" demo was, perhaps inevitably, repeatedly interrupted by screams and yells from the Destructoid guys' "SF IV" matches.)

Today we're welcoming a new writer to Variety's stable of freelance videogame reviewers: Leigh Alexander. She writes for GamaSutra, WorldsinMotion, and GameSetWatch, and also runs her own highly enjoyable blog called Sexy Videogameland. Leigh's review of "Devil May Cry 4" just went online and, though I'm biased, I'd say it's totally worth checking out. Also check out Leigh's post on SVG about the women's fashion on display in DMC4, aptly titled "Ain't It Cold Down There?"

Excerpt from her review:

The next-gen debut of Capcom's successful punk-devil fighting franchise leaves every thread in place: stylish action flick aesthetic, cool-as-hell heroes, creepy Gothic vibe and adrenaline-rush destruction. "Devil May Cry 4" isn't too welcoming to rookies, but should more than satisfy the hardcore crowd by returning the series to its roots while also changing things up a bit with the addition of a new character, and his cool new abilities, against the backdrop of gorgeous, stunningly detailed environments. Solid sales amongst action game devotees seem assured.

Read the whole thing here.