(Posted by: Kyle)

In a recent interview with the associated press, Shigeru Miyamoto said that Nintendo was very interested in pursuing opportunities which involved using their handheld console (DS) for educational and teaching purposes. He commented that the DS was already used in many museums, galleries and aquariums and starting next year, they would start to roll out a plan to put DS consoles in junior high and elementary schools in Japan. 

Leave it to Shigeru Miyamoto to figure out a way to make it mandatory for school children to purchase game consoles from Nintendo. 

(Posted by: Kyle)

Can you believe it's been 15 years since the debut of the 32X? I know what you're thinking: who cares? And that's a completely valid point. This year however, Sega decided to remember the "console" by putting out a CD full of "classic" 32X game music. The CD will include music from the games Stellar Assault, Virtua Racing Deluxe, Parasauad, Metal Head, and Virtua Fighter exactly as they sounded in the game. 

The CD will be available March 31 for $40!? That's a hefty amount of dough for a CD full of music that almost no one remembers and even fewer remember fondly. 

Oh, so that's how one of Ryu's moves is pronounced. 

(Posted by: Harrison)

Now, I'll admit, the PS3 Slim is a slick piece of machinery. The sleek design and Sony's revamped advertising campaign helped dig the console out of a huge hole. But, is Microsoft thinking about doing the same thing? According to Kotaku, an image of a 360 motherboard surfaced. The image itself shows the motherboard of a 360 slim, but it combines the GPU and the CPU together. This, in return, shows that it's a total redesign and not just a slight modification to fix 360s from the red rings of death (well, we can dream, I guess).

The idea of a 360 slim could be possible, considering that Project Natal is set to release in the Fall. This release alone would be beneficial to Microsoft's holiday push, but we'll believe when see a prototype. 

(Posted by: Harrison)

Shinji Mikami, creator of franchises like Resident Evil and Viewtiful Joe for Capcom, is currently working with Hideki Kamiya's Platinum Games on Vanquish, a shooter due out by the end of 2010. Although, the father of all things survival-horror has more things up his sleeve. Mikami sated in a interview with Famitsu magazine that he would be creating a brand-new development studio. 

"One of the reasons I'm building a company is to raise the game makers of the future, people who haven't gone pro yet," Mikami told Famitsu. "Game development is often overseen from a pure business perspective here, which is unique to Japan, and I have the impression that environment tends to prune away young talent."

Mikami left Capcom in 2005 in order to pursue future projects independently. His new studio currently holds 13 employees, including one art director from Final Fantasy XI. With his sudden announcement of creating a new studio, Mikami said he would also like to make a true-3D horror game. Sounds intriguing, we must say. But, Mikami mentioned that there needed to be a "large 3D television-owning userbase" before they can start on the project. 

(Written by: Kyle Boedeker)

I have to say, I love this campaign! These ads are some of my favorite on TV right now. It's extremely well written, visually stimulating, smart and hilarious to boot.

As far as the Playstation 3 goes, this has been a stellar year for Sony. Sales of its gaming console have skyrocketed due to a price drop, as well as strong first and third party software support.  As 2010 begins, Sony is striving to position the PS3 as not only a gaming device, but as a fully functional multimedia entertainment system. In doing so, they are hoping to differentiate themselves from their most direct competitor: Microsoft and the Xbox 360 console. The PS3’s new ad campaign, “It only does everything,” aims to do exactly that.

More after the jump.

(Posted by: Harrison)

According to a reliable source from Edge, there are rumblings from around the world of Microsoft that they may release Gears of War 3 in April 2011. This would seem to be plausible as as the company would like to give some breathing room for their huge Christmas lineup.

"Microsoft's keen to avoid a clash with Halo: Reach and wants Natal to own Christmas. That's why we won't be seeing Gears of War 3 until next year, but expect a major marketing push ahead of its release," said Edge's source.

Epic Games has not said anything in relation to this comment, but it seems logical for Microsoft to hold back one of their best-selling games. But, Epic president Mike Capps hinted at a major announcement from Microsoft at E3 2010. Let's hope Epic is on tap to deliver another great sequel, because many of us are jonesin' for some chainsaw brutality. 

More from Gameshoe as this story develops. 

(Posted by: Alex)

Microsoft announces a release date for Crackdown: 2, and it’s still too far away.  Slated for a July 6th release date, the greatly anticipated sequel has fans drooling.  When it was demoed at X10 in San Francisco last month, Microsoft’s statement amounted to “meh, we’ll get it out this year sometime”.  Now, with a concrete release date from the big M, it looks like gamers will be jumping and climbing and throwing things at petty criminals again this summer.  Keep a look out for an inevitable E3 demo.

(Posted by: Alex)

A piece of legislation has reached the highest legislature in Rhode Island, and it’s causing a bit of a stir.  It makes it illegal to sell Mature rated games to minors, punishable by jailtime or fines.  Now, by itself, this is not a story.  However, one of the dissenting voices is notorious disbarred lawyer and former Batman Jack Thompson.  Famous for his campaigns against violent and “obscene” video games, as well as his exploits as Batman while fighting the evil villain “Rap Music”, Thompson has stated that this legislation would not stand up to a legal appeal, nor should it.  However, it’s not all smiles and sunshine.  While it may appear that he’s turned over a new leaf, rest assured that Jackie Boy is still completely insane.  Apparently, his problem is that the ratings for the games are done by the private sector, and that if a government review board were set up to rate these games, that THAT would be perfectly acceptable.  At least he can still tell the difference between “legal” and “not legal”.  Now if only he could learn the difference between “protecting American children” and “making an ass of yourself until you get disbarred”.