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Metroid: Other M's latest Japanese trailer beams in

We can't tell you everything that's being said in this newest trailer for Metroid: Other M -- not because we're jerks and don't want to, but because it's in another language. Japanese, to be specific. Thankfully, the characters introduced during this montage of CGI and in-game footage have their names kindly provided in English. Names like Lyle Smithsonian, Adam Malkovich and Brad "U.S." Treasury. (Only one of those is made up.)

There's also a look at some good old fashioned gameplay, from Other M's first 45 minutes or so, but also in later, more planet-y environments. The purpose of most of it is to show Samus using the various beams at her disposal -- plasma, grappling and the like. If you're more of a still-image person, Nintendo has also released some new shots from the game, which lands on August 31, including the really cool box art we won't be seeing in the States. Check 'em out below, and watch the trailer beyond the break.

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Woohoo! Vanquish has 'Casual Auto' and 'God Hard' modes

Vanquish is following in the stiletto-heel footsteps of Platinum's last action game, Bayonetta, in a couple of interesting ways. First, the Shinji Mikami-designed shooter is being outfitted with an optional "Casual Auto" difficulty level, much like Bayonetta's "Easy Automatic" mode, designed to allow even those new to action games have a good time.

"Once you get your target on the enemy, the rest is easy as pie," Mikami said in the blog post announcing the mode. "I'm sure saying it that way makes it sound totally uninteresting, but when you actually give it a shot, the tempo it gives the game play will make you jump up and say, 'Woohoo!'" That's the other way in which Vanquish echoes Bayonetta: exclamations. It's "Woohoo!" from the player, versus "Wuhhh!!" from Bayonetta. "You know ... 'Wuhhh!!'"

Vanquish also includes an unlockable "God Hard" difficulty. "I think our fans will get where this one is going," Mikami teased. We suspect apocalyptic beatdowns are to be found within this mode.

Earthworm Jim HD wriggles onto PSN August 3

PS3 owners who've been jealous of nearly every other platform's chance to get their hands on the unbridled power of "puh-laaazmuh" will be pleased to learn Gameloft's HD remake of Earthworm Jim, appropriately titled Earthworm Jim HD, will hit the PlayStation Store next Tuesday, August 3.

So, what bonus features has Gameloft injected into this version of the game as an apology for its tardiness? Well, it's available for $9.99, which is ... the exact same price as the Xbox 360 version. However, you don't have to do any conversions to arbitrary "Microbucks" -- it's just ten dollars, plain and simple. That's what the PS3 version offers: Convenience.

Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition vs. Street Fighter IV on iPhone: FIGHT!

Capcom opened a site for Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition, its upcoming 3DS Street Fighter game, featuring several new screenshots. We thought we'd take the opportunity to compare the graphics in this handheld version to the existing Street Fighter IV on iPhone.

However, there's not much of a comparison. The iPhone Street Fighter uses pre-rendered 2D sprites based on the console/arcade game's 3D models, for a look reminiscent of Killer Instinct. The 3DS game, on the other hand, appears to use lower-detail versions of the actual 3D models, judging by the dynamic camera angles. That's why you get to see the extreme close-up of Ken's goofy punch face up there.

Of course, it's worth noting that these are early screenshots, and the final game may come out looking different. Given the relatively low texture detail, though, this looks like something that could be possible on a handheld system. Compare the two games yourself in our galleries.

Preview: Guitar Hero Warriors of Rock

It seems silly to describe the "new features" that have been added to Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock without acknowledging the basic stuff the franchise still doesn't get right. For example, do you want to see the difficulty of a song before jumping into it in campaign mode? Nope, you can't do that. Want to filter and sort songs by multiple criteria? Forget about it. Compared to Rock Band 3's feature set -- keyboard, vocal harmonies, "Pro" mode -- it's clear that Activision has been surpassed. But maybe all you want from Guitar Hero is a "story" and the ability to bust through the five-star ranking system. 32x multiplier and 60 stars, YEAH!!!

You could argue that Warriors of Rock isn't regressive; it's an homage to the franchise's origins, a celebration of hardcore guitar music. The 90 songs included on the disc support drums and vocals, but it's clear what the focus of the game is: being a guitar hero. If the franchise's penchant for crazy note maps hasn't satiated your strumming skills, you'll be glad to know that Warriors of Rock ups the ante by including the entirety of Rush's "2112" -- as a final boss, of course.

Final boss? Yes, Warriors of Rock's big new feature is a Quest Mode, narrated by KISS' Gene Simmons. While I could rant about how it feels like it was written by (and for) twelve year old boys, I'll let Activision do the work. The fact sheet describes it as a "journey from the infamous stage of CBGBs to the molten lava fields of rock treachery ... to help the Demi-God of Rock take down 'The Beast' and save rock 'n roll." Tim Schafer would be rolling in his grave (if he were dead).

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Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock's song list (so far)

Formerly known as Guitar Hero 6, Warriors of Rock promises the largest on-disc set list so far, with over 90 songs. Here's a look at the list of songs that have been announced to date. ... continue reading.

Review: Clash of the Titans

I played the video game version of Clash of the Titans for around seven hours and, according to the game, have finished 31 percent of it.

This would usually be unsatisfactory for a review, but in much the same way you'd only need to poll a small percentage of the population before you could confidently say that no one likes seeing immediate family members hit in the face with a ball-peen hammer, I feel like I've pretty much got the lay of the land here.

This is a very bad game.

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Nintendo quarterly earnings down; 3DS launch date to be announced Sept. 29

Nintendo has announced it financial earnings for the second quarter in its Fiscal 2011, running from April 1, 2010 through June 30, 2010. Net sales, operating income and net income all saw declines compared to the same time last year. Net sales were down to 188 billion yen ($2.16 billion) from 253 billion yen ($2.9 billion), while operating income and net income saw less dramatic shifts, down to 23 billion yen ($264 million) and 25 billion yen ($287 million) from 40 billion yen ($460 million) and 42 billion yen ($483 million) last year, respectively. Nintendo attributes these losses to the appreciation of the yen and a lower DS price point.

3.15 million DS units and 22.42 million units of DS software were sold worldwide during this quarter. On the Wii side, Super Mario Galaxy 2 managed to be the big performer, selling 4.09 million units worldwide since its launch in late May. 3.04 million Wii consoles were sold, backed by 28.17 million units of Wii software worldwide. As far as forecasted earnings go, Nintendo anticipates net sales of 550 billion yen ($6.3 billion) by the end of September 2010 and 1.4 trillion yen ($16 billion) by the end of its Fiscal 2011, March 2011.

It'll be interesting to see how those earnings are affected by Nintendo's upcoming 3DS hardware launch. The company has revealed (via Bloomberg) that it'll finally announce the launch date and price for its latest piece of tech in Japan on September 29.

Amazon discounts Crystal Bearers, other Square Enix oddities

At a $20 price point, we'd have no problem recommending Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers to any Wii owner looking for a totally unique new experience. Luckily, Amazon has dropped Square Enix's telekinetic adventure to just that price as part of its Deal of the Day.

In addition, Amazon is selling another starkly non-traditional Final Fantasy game, the PSP's Dissidia: Final Fantasy, at a special one-day price of $14.99. It's normally $20 in stores and on PSN -- which means that you should probably buy it along with something else to qualify for free shipping, or you're not really saving anything.

Also, Nier for PS3 is on sale.

Sony's PlayStation division sees sales increase, still operating at a loss

As analysts predicted, Sony finished the first quarter of its fiscal year (ending June 30, 2010) with a net income of ¥25.7 billion ($295M), a significant increase from the ¥37.1 billion ($426M) loss during the same quarter last year. Overall, sales were up 3.8 percent year-over-year to ¥1.7 trillion ($18.7B).

Compared to the same time last year, the division that houses the PlayStation brand is in a much better place, even though it still operates at a loss. While sales increased 32 percent this year to ¥326 billion ($3.7B), bumped up by PC and PlayStation 3 hardware and software, the division had an operating loss of ¥3.8 billion ($43 million) -- a vast improvement from the ¥36.7 billion ($422M) loss last year. The company expects hardware sales of the PS3 to continue increasing this year and software sales to remain flat.

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