Late Night Consoling

A few weeks ago, Microsoft briefly updated Xbox.com with notice of a free weekend of Xbox Live for all Xbox 360 owners. It was only up for a few hours before the company removed it from the Xbox Live calendar and firmly denied its existence. Well, now the Verizon-sponsored event is back, and this time it starts on March 31 instead of April 1, so it's probably legit this time. The promotion will last for the 72 hours comprising March 31, April 1, and April 2, Pacific Standard Time.

Xbox.com has a calendar of events containing times when the Xbox Live team will be playing specific games. Ubisoft's Frag Dolls competitive gaming team will also be playing Ubisoft's Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter on Sunday, in an event inexplicably called Frag Doll Friday. No, really.

Visit the official site for more details, or check out Microsoft's press release.

Though the Crystal White model DS Lite was released in Japan last week, the Enamel Navy and Ice Blue versions were delayed due to production issues. Nintendo released those colors today, and by all accounts the "launch day" rush was even crazier than it was the first time around. Once again, the machine was sold out hours before shops opened their doors, and according to coverage on various sites, people standing in lines at some locations numbered in the thousands. We've got photos and descriptions from Kotaku, IGN, and GameSpot.

Codemasters has officially announced a new game in its Micro Machines series. Micro Machines V4, the latest in the accessible racing franchise, will be heading to PS2, DS, PSP, and PC. Codemasters has regained the video game rights to the license after brief ownership by Infogrames. In the 90s, Codemasters released a string of Micro Machines titles. The first two in the "current" series were co-developed by Supersonic Software and are generally fondly remembered. Supersonic took a break from the series with 1998's Micro Machines V3 on the PlayStation, but the company is back in the developer's seat for V4.

The press release promises the return of classic racing gameplay, powerups, and arenas in V4 along with new additions such as a significantly larger game world. Micro Machines V4 will ship this summer. - Press release.

IGN reported yesterday that Underworld director Len Wiseman helmed a TV spot for Nintendo Software Technology's upcoming Metroid Prime Hunters (DS). Today, IGN actually put the video up, so if you'd like to check that out, go right ahead. Metroid Prime Hunters is scheduled for release March 20.

Crave Entertainment has announced a third entry in its World Championship Poker series (which has featured the suffix "Featuring Howard Lederer" since its second installment), entitled World Championship Poker: Featuring Howard Lederer "All In." Helpfully, Crave president and CEO Rob Dyer pointed out, "Our World Championship Poker franchise has quickly gained a reputation as the game for people who like to 'play' poker, rather than just watch it." The game includes poker stars such as Annie Duke, Grey Raymer, Amir Vahidi, Paul Darden, Robert Williamson III, and of course Howard Lederer. The Xbox 360 version of the game will feature Live support.

World Championship Poker: Featuring Howard Lederer "All In" will ship for PS2, Xbox 360, and PSP. - Press release.

The latest development diary on Human Head's Prey (X360, PC) is up over at the 3D Realms site, written by Peter Johnson of Venom Games. Venom is handling Prey's Xbox 360 version.

GameSpot has a video interview with Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter, who covers the games industry. Yeah, yeah, you guys hate analysts, but this is a good interview.