Nintendo Slashes Wii to $149.99Nintendo Slashes Wii to $149.99

Nintendo has announced that the Wii will receive a price drop from $199.99 to $149.99, in effect on May 15, while a new Wii bundle for $199.99 will feature a colored Wii, Mario Kart Wii and a Wii Wheel accessory of matching color.

Nintendo is also launching its own version of the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 bestselling line with its “Select” value line retailing at $19.99 each. The first games to be released under the budget line includes The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Animal Crossing: City Folk, and Mario Super Sluggers.

The PSN FiascoThe PSN Fiasco

It’s now the US government’s turn to question Sony about its online security, which follows the UK government’s scrutiny into the company’s affairs.

In a letter addressed to PlayStation executive deputy Kaz Hirai, the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade has prepared a list of questions related to the intrusion; the list can be downloaded from the New York Times here. The letter asks several questions that Sony has not disclosed to the public, such as:

  • How many PSN users had a credit card on file
  • Why Sony cannot determine if credit card was stolen.
  • What are Sony’s plans towards increasing its security in the future.

The Subcommittee’s press release states:

“Given the amount and nature of personal information known to have been taken, the potential harm that could be caused if credit card information was also taken would be quite significant. The Subcommittee on Manufacturing, and Trade has a longstanding interest in consumer privacy, identity theft, and industry efforts to address threats posed by unauthorized access to consumers’ personal information resulting from a data breach.”

The Subcommittee is requiring a reply by no later than May 6, as part of a privacy driven effort “to protect consumer information.”

Meanwhile, Kaz Hirai will be holding a press conference tomorrow from Sony Japan, to address the PlayStation Network hacking crisis.

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Wii HD Image Surfaces?Wii HD Image Surfaces?

Gamertag has posted what they claim is a flyer sent to developers advertising the “Project Cafe” (the alleged placeholder name for the next-gen Nintendo console) SDK, with some interesting claims:

Project Café is simply the most developed friendly SDK the industry has ever seen. Deliver unparalleled next generation performance at current generation cos…it doesn’t get any easier than this.

Easy portability from PC, Xbox 360.

Anytime live update past release.

Integrated M-Live framework.

Let us know if you think this is real, and if so, what you think about the console.

Gaming Podcast 215: HiatusGaming Podcast 215: Hiatus

Due to a familial emergency, TD Gaming Podcast is on temporary hiatus. This week is basically an outtake episode, though a bit short because for the last three months or so, the podcast has been pretty clean. However, there are some interesting conversations that you never got to hear.

There’s even an entire news item back from CES that was completely cut, and now you get to hear ten weeks later. Old news is so much fun!

Thanks for your patience, and we’ll have some new podcasts in a few weeks, we promise.

Gaming Podcast 214: A Fully PAXed EpisodeGaming Podcast 214: A Fully PAXed Episode

We review our experiences of PAX East in this podcast and the second half is full of gaming news and community comments. Derrick reflects at his fun experience of Orcs Must Die while Jonah spent some time with LA Noire and Star Wars: The Old Republic. The news highlights include:

  • PSP Go Price Goes Back to $200 After 3 Days
  • Phil Harrison Sez Industry Struggling With Casual and Mobile Game Market
  • Angry Birds Hits 100 Million Downloads
  • Bioware Talks Jade Empire Again
  • Gamer Loses $1800 In Games from Steam

This week’s question of the week: Which convention would you want to attend most: E3, PAX or Comic Con?

Gaming Podcast 213: Pith HelmetsGaming Podcast 213: Pith Helmets

It’s time to use your meat, you gotta work at it! Yeah, this weeks gaming podcast talks a bit about moma’s meat on her Pooyan, this is your gaming flashback for the week! We’ve also got some news bulletins including:

This weeks question of the week, sorta off the cuff random: What’s your favorite old school game, and how long do you believe it took to make it? (and, do you really know how long–do the research and let us know!)

Gaming Podcast 212: Watermelon JuiceGaming Podcast 212: Watermelon Juice

The gaming podcast is back for the full edition, this week we’ve got a preview look at the title Orcs Must Die! developed by Robot Entertainment. Besides our awesome community comments we’ve got some news coverage including:

This week, we’ve got a question for you: What is your favorite gaming food? And, if you want to see the Orcs Must Die! youtube trailer, check it out after the break.

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Gaming Podcast 211: Short and SweetGaming Podcast 211: Short and Sweet

This week we had to cut some segments short due to some work we’re doing on our house that had us tied up. We’re just doing up some news this week and community feedback. This weeks news includes:

And, here is the story about The Boy Who Stole Half-Life II. Here is our Question of the Week: Will all MMOs eventually follow a free-to-play model?

Gaming Podcast 210: Meretzky Ruined Our LivesGaming Podcast 210: Meretzky Ruined Our Lives

This week we’re flashing back to Grim Fandango and looking back at developer Steve Meretzky and his destruction of our lives in the social gaming space.

We’ve got other news this week which includes:

  • Activision Kills Guitar Hero
  • Blizzard Wants to Release Diablo III This Year
  • Crysis 2 and Killzone 3 Leaked On BitTorrent
  • CliffyB On Why Gears Is Still a 360 Exclusive
  • Ensemble Studios Founder: Age of Empires III a “Huge Mistake

The question of the week is: How many hours do you devote to video games, including social networking games?

Gaming Podcast 209: Subpoenaing ZeldaGaming Podcast 209: Subpoenaing Zelda

This weeks gaming podcast covers the top game news of the week, a flashback on the video game Gorf and some feedback from the listeners. This weeks news includes:

  • Reggie Fils-Aime Calls Low Priced Apps a “Threat” to the Industry
  • Verizon Stops Taking iPhone Preorders After 17 Hours
  • Harmonix Confirms Layoffs
  • Parent Group Attacks “Your Mom Will Hate Dead Space 2” Ad
  • Halo 1 Being Remade for 360?
  • Sony Wants More Defendants In Rootkey Case

This weeks question of the week: What older game do you want to see a modern remake of most?