Charity's great, but we've always said that the best kind of giving is where you also get something in return. That's what makes A Gamer's Alphabet such a great purchase. Not only will you be helping to raise money for Marisa's Bunny, which raises awareness of Infantile Spasms, but, more importantly, you'll get something out of the deal, a lovely book that gives every letter a gamer slant.

Ahh, giving with the anticipation of getting. It's kind of amazing that some 2010 years after Jesus came to Earth from space, we still remember his teachings so well.

[Via Hawty McBloggy]

Forget about your Samuel L. Jacksons and your Jack Blacks -- this year, the Spike Video Game Awards is totally going commando (if you're an awards show, "going commando" means without a host). Our sister site Big Download got worried recently when no host had yet been announced (the whole Joystiq Network was holding out for Shia LeBeouf), and got in contact with Spike TV to find out what was up.

"As of right now, we are going without a host, similarly to what we did for this year's Scream Awards," a representative said. A mess of presenters -- from Tony "I promise I won't talk about Ride" Hawk, to Mike "We're terrified and not making any more jokes" Tyson -- have been confirmed for the show, though it seems that none would step up to the host position.

You can catch us, like every year, liveblogging the event and cracking jokes from the comfort of our couches. It's almost like you're in our living room with us, except you don't have to wonder where that smell is coming from. Hooray!

Square Enix has created a thrilling, cinematic trailer for Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers -- and it didn't even have to lean on the Bon Jovi crutch! The latest trailer for the Wii action title makes it look kind of like a Final Fantasy take on the Indiana Jones style of adventure story -- complete with the hero being a total jerk. Instead of a whip and years of archaeological study, however, Layle has the ability to lift stuff with his mind.

We always feel compelled to remind everyone about this game, especially since it's tucked away the day after Christmas. So here it is. Once again, that's Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers.

Much like the dreaded Kobayashi Maru, there really is no right answer to the question, "Where should I pre-order Star Trek Online?" In its ongoing mission to make games as hard to purchase as possible, Starfleet has issued different pre-order bonuses to each major American retailer. Want to pilot the Enterprise? You'll have to order from GameStop. Need a pet Tribble? Best Buy. How about a gun that beams projectiles directly to their intended target? Target. That "Liberated Borg" bridge officer you always wanted? Amazon.

And here we thought all we had to do to get the full enjoyment out of our games was buy them. Those days are over, friend. Check out the full list of pre-order bonuses -- and where to find them -- after the break.

Continued →

The third edition of the Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition hits store shelves January 4 and 21 in the US and UK, respectively. The edition likely contains some of this year's more profound records, including:

• Batman's most ridiculous world record in the history of world record keeping.
• The f*ckinest f*cktastic f*ckin' game with the most f*ck ever.
• The only world records book with its own video game.

Also, this post marks the Guinness World Record for the most times the word Guinness appeared in a video game blog post without it being in reference to beer. It also marks the record for the most times we've shamelessly made up a statistic just to get in the Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition.

Though it's always risky to call a winner before the race is over, EEDAR analyst Jesse Divnich figures there's basically no chance that the best-selling home console of this generation will be anything but the Nintendo Wii -- even if Nintendo were to suffer an unusually bad few years, and its competitors were to enjoy unusually good years.

Here's Divnich's "worst-case scenario": "For the Wii, let us assume a 25% decline in sales next year," he postulates, "followed by two years of 30% declines, and a 50% decline in 2013. For the Xbox 360, we'll assume a 10% increase through 2012, and a 30% decline in 2013. For the PlayStation 3, a 25% increase next year, followed by two years of 10% increases and a 30% decline in 2013."

Even with those unlikely numbers, Divnich says, the Wii comes out selling about as much as the PS2 has, and claims victory over the Xbox 360 and PS3. The reality will, of course, be much more complicated than the projection. Divnich notes that Nintendo is likely to release some kind of new hardware, either in the form of a bundle or an upgraded system, that will affect sales; "Additionally, we know that Sony plans to support the PS3 through 2016, which means there are three additional years where Sony could gain a tremendous amount of ground on the Wii and Xbox 360 by being able to offer an affordable Blu-ray player to consumers (very similar to the late success the PS2 had by being able to offer consumers an incredibly cheap video game system/DVD player)."

Still, it seems that the only chance for a second-place Wii is for the DS to eventually become large enough to count as a home console.

Click to download in Santa-sizeWe thought the Scribblenauts Halloween wallpaper was a one-off, an excuse to promote the game a bit more in the period immediately following its release. But, to our delight, 5TH Cell has delivered the Christmas present we didn't dare hope for: new Scribblenauts artwork by character designer Edison Yan. It's a Christmas miracle! Well, okay, it may not be miraculous, but it's really nice! We don't even care if it is a promotional effort to remind people to put Scribblenauts on their holiday shopping lists.

There are also two new Christmas-themed screenshots in our gallery. In retrospect, it was a pretty clever idea to make a game that includes multiple holiday-themed items as part of its nature.

Havok, developer and distributor of the powerful middleware engine of the same name, recently announced a new, altruistic initiative that should fill indie devs with gallons of holiday cheer. The aptly named Independent Developer Program offers the engine's entire software suite (Havok Physics, Havok AI, Havok Cloth, etc.) to developers at a "flexible and affordable" rate. Rather than licensing the tools directly, these developers sign up for an annual agreement with Havok, which allows them to prototype the tools, picking and choosing which ones they want to leverage for the creation of their latest opus.

The recently downsized Krome Studios is the first outfit to benefit from the program. We really hope Sony Santa Monica is the next team to utilize the software, if only so we can make the following joke: "Sony tried Havok, and let slip the God of War." We're not certain it qualifies as "independent," unfortunately. Shucks.

Best known for her work on Joystiq's 2007 Game of the Year, Portal, Valve's Kim Swift is reportedly leaving her current position for Dark Void developer Airtight Games. According to Develop, she'll be heading up a team of developers working on a "new, unnamed project" for the US-based company. Airtight prez Jim Deal says that he's "thrilled to work with Kim," and that "her addition to the team represents a strategic move ... into new and broader gaming markets."

Swift's team will be tasked with creating "games aimed at a more diverse audience" -- a challenge Swift appears ready to handle. "I've learned so much and had some amazing experiences at Valve, but when I heard I had the opportunity to work on innovative titles with my friends over at Airtight, I couldn't pass it up." And now we wait (and hope) for the puzzle-based air combat game that's sure to come of this partnership.

Amateur songwriters and frequent impromptu freestyle rap battlers take note: the iPhone version of Rockstar's Timbaland-ized beat creation software, Beaterator, is now available from the iTunes App Store for $4.99. The iPhone release features a redesigned interface, of course, since the PSP version relied on futuristic "button" technology.

Other than that, it sounds similar to the original, though we don't know if it features everything from the PSP title: the press release announcing the product mentions that it features the ability to alter and add effects to sounds, as well as transposition and layering of loops. You can also upload your composition to the Rockstar Social Club!

What seemed like an interesting curiosity as a full-priced PSP game sounds a lot more impressive as a five-dollar download, doesn't it?

Beaterator ($4.99):

No More Heroes' girl-crazy otaku protagonist, Travis Touchdown, must have found the Cosmic Key, because he's crossed over into the world of Valve games -- specifically Left 4 Dead and Team Fortress 2.

The L4D mod uses Travis to meet the game's quota for one leather-clad survivor, putting him, in his usual red jacket and Pure White Lover Bizarre Jelly T-shirt (but no beam katana), in the place of ultra-pessimist Francis. While an L4D2 mod could address the lack of stabbing and cutting, it would seem mod creator ash_link isn't a fan of Valve's sequel, so, yeah ... that's probably not happening.

The Team Fortress 2 mod does about the same thing, replacing that game's Scout with a pint-sized, katana-wielding Touchdown. Head past the break to see for yourself. Seriously, go watch the video now.

[Via Destructoid]

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Though Assassin's Creed 2 has been enjoying near-universal praise from critics, apparently some folks have taken umbrage with the game's intro as it pertains to Ezio before he becomes a calculated killing machine. When VG247 recently asked the game's writer, Corey May, how he felt about that complaint, he told them that "it was necessary to spend time with Ezio as a carefree adolescent."

While he admitted that the development team could have "refined the sequence so that it either moved faster or provided the player with more action-oriented activities," he remained steadfast that "it needed to be more than a token five minutes." May said the developers will try to "sharpen" the experience next time around, but even if the execution may have been perceived by some as less than perfect, "the idea of the beginning of the game" is what mattered most to him.

We're behind you, Mr. May. Stabbing dudes sure is a ton of fun, but a little bit of context goes a long way.

Old-school Mario is news again as New Super Mario Bros. Wii sold at Sonic-speed throughout its Japanese launch last week. Andriasang reports that the platformer sold 422,000 copies in its first day (December 3), with Famitsu following up that NSMB Wii moved 936,734 units by Sunday, December 6, its "first week" at retail, stomping the previous week-one sales record held by Super Smash Bros. Brawl (816k).

And with that, Mario has pulled off his hat trick, scoring in Japan's top three first-week bestsellers, which also includes Mario Kart Wii (608k). Monster Hunter 3 (583k) follows in fourth place.

In other news, Joystiq Publishing, in collaboration with acclaimed developer Nincom, is pleased to announce "Mushroom Hunter Wii," the VIDEO GAME EVENT OF THE NEXT GENERATION -- for Wii -- exclusively in Japan (while supplies last). Pre-order today!

[Via GamesIndustry.biz]

Source – Big Start for December Wii titles [Andriasang]
Source – ミリオン目前、『New スーパーマリオブラザーズ Wii』の初週販売本数が発表 [Famitsu]

If amazingly fast and explosive men have been the bane of your existence in Modern Warfare 2 as of late, then know that Activision's go-to guy, Robert "fourzerotwo" Bowling, has got the hot scoops on a patch in the works to address the despised Javelin glitch. Version 1.06 of the game will not only do away with that awful bit of frustration, but will also address two other notable exploits in the multiplayer experience:

• Fixes the Javelin glitch (thank the Flying Spaghetti Monster!)
• Fixes unlimited care packages glitch
• Fixes areas where players could exploit geography (e.g. hide inside rocks in Afghan)

Bowling says the patch is currently in the hands of Microsoft for certification on Xbox 360 and presumably in Sony's for PS3 certification. We've contacted Bowling for more info and will update the post when we hear back.

Source - 1.06 in Microsoft cert
Source - 1.06 patch notes