Late Night Consoling

Eurogamer is reporting, based on "highly-placed UK sources", that it is likely that Xbox 360 will have a European release on November 25, a few days after it is released in North America. Lending credence to this report is the claim by "several key sources" that the release date's official announcement will by made by Microsoft at Leipzig's Game Convention after the company has confirmed the date to its partners.

Equally interesting are the news report's speculations on the 360's price point: a source suggested that UKP 299 might be Microsoft's goal. This translates to about US$530, but it is worth noting that manufacturers frequently use a rather suspicious US-to-UK price conversion method of simply switching the currency symbol without switching the numbers, so the often-hypothesized $299 US price point does not necessarily seem unlikely.

The article also notes consistent agreement among the sources that prices for games themselves will be on the rise. Speaking from the position of a soon-to-be-ex-games-retailer, I can confirm that Microsoft representatives have retailers preparing for a standard price point of $59.99 on triple-A titles.

Midway is getting in on the "alternate reality game" trend in an attempt to generate hype for its upcoming non-NFL football game Blitz: The League (PS2, Xbox). The publisher has set up at least three sites supposedly existing in the world of the fictional Blitz League, created in response to EA's monopolistic exclusive acquisition of the NFL license for video games. The sites include blitzleague.com, the official site of the apparently corrupt league (charities sponsored by the league include "Reach For the Sky" and "Make Your Peace", and official league tactics include leg whips and face mask grabs); blitznewz.com, an unofficial site covering league news with a critical eye; and reddogdown.com, from a clue on Blitz Newz. The latter contains a puzzle that is fairly simple by the standards of projects such as Halo 2's I Love Bees.

Whois searches on the domains reveal that all three sites are in fact registered by Midway.

Jack Thompson is back again, and this time he's taking aim at Killer 7 (GCN, PS2). The increasingly unhinged attorney has sent an email to the ESRB, which by now probably has a special inbox just for him that filters directly into the Recycle Bin. In the e-mail, Thompson demands that Killer 7 be re-rated as Adults Only, due to "full-blown sex sequences" (an incredibly misleading description since the scenes to which he refers contain only fully-clothed adults). Maddeningly, he goes on to accuse the ESRB of "criminal conspiracy to distribute sexual material harmful to minors in violation of criminal statutes". Yeah, I bet, Jack. I mean, I'm really enjoying Killer 7, but the thought of any impressionable kid putting up with the game's wacky controls long enough to get to the hot clothed-wheelchair-guy-on-clothed-woman action is as laughable as Thompson's nonstop crusades.

When publisher Hip Interactive dissolved several weeks ago, a few titles were left dead in the water, notably George Romero's City of the Dead (PS2, Xbox), under development by Kuju Entertainment. Kuju, currently also finishing up the anticipated Advance Wars spinoff Battalion Wars (GCN), is now looking for a new publisher for City of the Dead. The title was being both funded and published by Hip. Kuju managing director Jonathan Newth noted that there are "several interested parties", but the wording of his hope that "some elements of the project will continue" (emphasis added) is somewhat worrying.

And by Bush I mean Florida governor Jeb Bush, and by "in cahoots with" I mean "giving a Madden 2006 demo to". The motive behind this particular promotional stunt is not entirely clear, but Madden 2006 was made in Florida and I guess that's good enough.

Namco has confirmed specuation that Ridge Racer 6 would be a launch title for Xbox 360. The publisher/developer also confirmed that the game will be the first online Ridge Racer, with players not only being able to race against live opponents but also against ghost racers based on the best times of top-ranked players. New content will also be available via Xbox Live Marketplace.

The latest week of Japanese console sales data was released today, with the hardware market share rankings unchanged from last week: DS (39%), PS2 (29%), PSP (17%), GBA (11%), GCN (3%), Xbox (.17%). However, PS2 games dominated the software charts, with two GBA games and a DS game also making an appearance.

GameSpot brings us a Q&A with Michel Ancel, creator of Rayman and the stunningly gorgeous Beyond Good & Evil. Ancel is currently directing the game adaptation of Peter Jackson's King Kong.

1UP interviews Yusuke Naora, creator of the multi-media narrative Code Age Commanders (PS2, manga, mobile).

Gamasutra has a feature highlighting readers' all-time favorite arcade games, with many responses from well-known industry professionals.