It looks like those big-hearted guys and girls who helped raise close to $12,000 dollars for the Child's Play charity last month with the Ma?rio Marat?hon are at it again.

This time, they've teamed up with Cameron Banga and the Four48 Team, with 70 hours of Zelda goodness. Although the festivities officially started on Thursday night, there's plenty of live-blogging and Zelda playing to entertain yourselves with. A quick peek shows that they have raised over $1,300 so far, and are currently working their way through The Minish Cap.

Still left on the itinerary is the classic, Ocarina of Time, along with Majora's Mask, Windwaker, and the Wii favorite, Twilight Princess. If your feeling charitable (it's for the chilluns!), and want to learn more, head on over to the Zelda Mario page yourself -- a??nd prepare to drop some cash on a good cause.?

[Thanks, Puppet]

The post Zelda M?arathon in progres??s, do your part to help a good cause appeared first on Destructoid.

Recently on the Unity forums, fans inquired about Devil May Cry 4's lackluster PC sales, and how Capcom felt about it. Christian Svensson responded that while he can't speak for the entire company, he wasn't e??xactly pleased about h?is perceived reasoning behind it all: pirates.

I'm not sure about how Capcom in general feels but It's not doing as well as I would like in the US at re?tail. It's such a good version and it really deserves better sales. I know it's getting pir??ated to hell and back (it was up on torrents literally the day it shipped).

Svenson and others (such as Ben Judd) are pushing for digital distribution, but thus far Capcom Japan has been cautious to embr??ace the idea fully. That hesitancy might disappear after his next scheduled presentation on the subject goes before the powers that be, but as Svenson said, "No promises. It might not happen."

Even with a mediocre Metacritic score of 77, DMC4 is easily one of the more enjoyable games I've played this generation. Do you think that Steam is the answer to this problem, or is something else at? wor??k here?

[Via CVG]

The post PC version of Devil May Cry 4 not doing so well, so what’s the deal? appeared first on Destructoid.

Ever since we first saw our beloved hedgehog brandishing a sword on the front cover of Nintendo Power and cringed, we've had wonder if hardcore is the proper direction that Sega should be taking Sonic. That is, before we witnessed this "sonic beauty" of a guitar, wielded by Nino of the Brazilian heavy metal band, MegaDriver.

We'll let you view the videos and d?ecide for yourselves if the band is worthy ??enough to handle his might, but the guitar has us all seeing stars -- on its own merit. This custom axe sports a 24-fret maple neck with EMG 81 active pickups, a Floyd Rose Lo-Pro bridge and a Brazilian body of "Angelim Pedra" wood.

While it may not be a Gibson, Fender, or PRS, if this baby doesn't make you envious, then you obviously don't care much for Sonic and guitars in the first place.

[Thanks, Mr. Destructoid]

The post Sonic proves to the world that he is F’n Metal appeared first on Destructoid.

When Major Nelson said that the 60GB Xbox 360 was going to mysteriously show up on store ??shelves without Microsoft making a big s?pectacle out of it, he obviously meant it.

Previously, we only knew that they were expected to hit retail outlets sometime in August, but thanks to our fellow bloggers at Joystiq, we now know that the various sightings of the console are not a result of broken release dates. Too ba?d, because nothing makes us salivate like the thought of getting our hands on something special that's reserved for a future date.

If you are still wishing that MS would just release a larger hard drive (by itself) that's actually affordable, well... you wouldn't w?ant to hold your breath on that one. Still, it's good to know that the remedy to your burgeoning storage needs are now ?just a new console purchase away.

The post 60GB Xbox 360 has no street date, as Major Nelson po??ints out appeared first on Destructoid.

Friday is going to be a good day for those of you who have been patiently waiting for Gran Turismo TV to finally make its way onto the PS3. If all goes as planned, you'll be greeted with what Sony terms a "significant update" when you fire up Gran Turismo 5 Prologue.

In layman's terms, it will amount to an in-game automotive media channel that hopes to showcase an attractive offering of both free and pay-per-view programming, like Top Gear and Best Motoring. Personally, I'd settle for a complimentary subscription to MotorWeek and that highly anticipated damage modeling update they teased us with in the past, but I guess that this is still great news -- considering that we are getting updates on Prologue to begin with.

So in other words, if automotive TV on the PS3 is your thing, get ready to crack open that special bottle of champagne you've secretly had stashed away for this special day??. Or, do you plan on saving that celebration for the game's full- featured release?

[Via PlayStation blog]

The post Gran Turismo TV makes its debut with Friday’s update appeared first on Destructoid.

I suppose president Satoru Iwata already did his best to apologize to jaded gamers over Nintendo's less than impressive showing at E3, but it appears that he may want to extend those apologies even f?urthe??r.

According to several third-party developers that approached Game Informer at the recent trade show, the Wii's lack o??f storage space isn't Nintendo's only problem at the moment. Somehow, they forgot to include those outside of their inner firs??t-party circle in their plans to create the MotionPlus add-on for the Wiimote.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that this is a massive hindrance to third-party games taking advantage of the peripheral anytime soon. It's just an opinion, but Nintendo might want to stop counting their cash for a moment, and rethink the long- term plans of the Wii. MotionPlus was the only exciting news to come out of the Nintendo camp during E3, and to see its potential squandered at the onset is ?the biggest possible shame Nintendo has brought on itself in a long time.

[Nintendo Wii Fanboy, via engadget -- Thanks, Jonathan]

The post Hey Nintendo, secrecy isn’t always such a great thing appeared first on Destructoid.

We're still crossing our fingers that Sony will melt our faces off with a megaton announcement regarding Home, but something more likely to happen during Tuesday's press conference involves some fantastic games that are about to get the "greatest hits" treatment. Nothing is official yet, but have ads ever let us down before?

I'm still a little heartbroken that Heavenly Sword isn't among those pictured, but there are still at least two games on that list for new PS3 owners to get excited about. With Motorstorm being packed in with most PS3's as it is, it's hard to get all worked up ov?er its inclusion in the ad.

Without a doubt, the most striking thing about the games lifted right out of Kmart's Entertainment Guide has to be the packaging, itself -- talk about déjà vu. No doubt, someone at Sony was either sighing in relief, or laughing hysterically  -- Joker-like -- all the while des?igning something that looks too much? like an HD-DVD case.  

[Flickr, via PS3 Fanboy]

The post Kmart ad for US greatest hits is colored in irony appeared first on Destructoid.

At first glance, it would seem as if Motus Games is looking to cash in on the Wii craze with its introduction of the Darwin controller, but as Galagabug highlights in his community blog, nothing could be further from the truth. However, it's still all too easy to forget that the technology predates the Wii by more than a f?ew years, especially when the product you unveil not only looks like it was the bastard son of a lightsaber and some sort of electronic bug -- but comes with an obvious ??Xbox 360 color scheme.

However, it's not looks that are important here -- it's refinement. According to Motus Games, the controller is superior to the Wiimote in every way, and they claim to have the videos to prove it... or do they? Although the split controller idea is quite attractive, footage of LEGO Star Wars II in action -- controlled by what appears to be a PS3 version of Darwin -- shows some obvious lag time between swings and what's seen onscreen. Then again, a lot can change between now, and when the controller is finally a?vailable in stores. Perhaps this can be fixed.

Don't let my cautious tone give you the wrong idea, as this controller not only shows promise, but also fills the void that some Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 fans currently suffer through. Many of us enjoy the Wii experience, but wish that Nintendo had only put some more muscle under the hood. If Motus makes good on its? promise of producing the consummate motion-sensing controller (and developers ??line up some quality games behind it), the Wii could suddenly find itself a lot less attractive. That is, if the price is right. The question is, will it work... and is it already too late?

[Thanks, Adam]

The post Is Darwin going to shift the bal??ance of power away fro??m Nintendo? appeared first on Destructoid.

With this year's E3 being just a couple of weeks away, the rumor mill has kicked into overdrive once again -- and guess which beloved IP is mentioned? None other than the Master Chief variety. Don't expect the man in green to make an appearance this time, though, as he's still resting up from nearly biting the dust in his last gig in Halo 3.

Details are less than scarce at this point, and Microsoft is following its usual song and dance of "no comment" regarding the game's supposed development. What little we do know is that the rumor appears to have originated from talks between a "reliable anonymous source" and the folks over at Sarcastic Gamer. Will this be the prequel that some have been speculating about? Is Peter Jackson involved? CVG pondered this too, and tried to uncover more informat??ion to help validate the rumor.

Unfortunately, they were stonewalled as expected. However, they are still sticking to hope, and pointing to their own inside sources that claim that Microsoft has two more big Xbox 360 games to surprise us with at E3. As far as they can tell, something new in the vein of Halo will be among them. With plenty of untapped potential in the Halo universe, this could easily become reality. Still, it's hard to imagine the game without its star player -- the chief. Are we chasing shadows on this one, or do you think Microsoft has more Halo to surprise us with, and soon?

[Thanks, Burling]

The post Rumortoid: New unannounced Halo game in the works appeared first on Destructoid.

How many of you are guilty of starting an exercise program, only to throw it by the wayside after a couple of weeks? As statistics show, you are hardly alone in that regard. Here's another one for you: Who among you rushed to the store to pick up Wii Fit as soon as it was available, just to have it collect dust after the novelty of it wore off? Don't feel ?too bad, as you are in good company, according to Japanese website IT Media.

After polling thousands of readers as to whether or not they have been faithfully playing Wii Fit on a daily basis, a whopping 64% responded that they pretty much gave up on the "game" soon after getting it. In fact, only about 22% even claimed to record their progress every day. Somewhere in the middle, the semi-slackers could be found, accounting for the remaining 14% (using Wii Fit once a week, or every few days.

So now that we've got ??that out of the way, one question remains: How many of you were eager to join the Nintendo gym, only to drop out after you realized that it too closely resembled the real thing?

[Via Kotaku -- Thanks, Burling]

The post Japanese Web site asks if you’re still Wii Fit appeared first on Destructoid.

Wishing for a little episodic horror in your life? Come July 24th, fire up your PS3, and the wait will be over. That's the day that Siren: Blood Curse makes its debut in all its download??able goodness -- via PSN.

Although I'd like to have the option of owning the Blu-ray Disc version, like only Japan is getting, going for the episodic approach at £4.99 (about $10) per "chapter," or £19.99 (around $40) for the whole shebang doesn't sound half bad. Oh, did we mention that each chapter contains three episodes, and that there are four chapters in all? Sorry about that. One last detail thoug?h: Those prices are for our friends in Europe, and we still haven't been told what the game will cost us in the States.

If you weren't already sold on the game a??fter viewing the screenshots Dale shared with us earlier, you can always test the waters and purchase content on a trial basis of sorts. Don't care for the first chapter? You can cut your losses now -- forget about purchasing the rest -- and save yourself some coin. Will this be the game that that knocks Silent Hill off its pedestal? Maybe not, but it still sounds pr??etty freaking good to us. Any takers?

[Via CVG -- Thanks, Justin]

The post Siren: Blo??od Curse priced, nearly ready for European ??debut appeared first on Destructoid.

Sony might be still trying to figure out why their latest firmware update for the PS3 caused some (mine still works like a charm) consoles to malfunction, but that hasn't distracted them from their other big update in t?he works: Pla?yStation Home.

According to PSN director, Eric Lempel, the oft-delayed service is very much on track for a fall release, ?and won't be a gimped version of what Sony has been promising us all along:

“The reason we’ve been delaying Home is so that we can deliver a high quality service that the users will enjoy. Even though it will be in beta, it will be a fair representation of what the service can be and its potential, so it won’t be a ?0.5 release, it will be a fully robust service.”

With today being July 4th and all, that release is fast approaching. Are gamers still as jazzed to go Home as they once were? Sony is banking on it.

[Via MCV -- Thanks, Justin]

The post PS3 Home is still on target for Fall release appeared first on Destructoid.

A few weeks ago, LucasArts announced that it was laying off some internal staff as part of its restructuring plans. Yesterday, however, we were shocked to learn that those cuts included key staff that's been working on The Force Unleashed.

Most surprising of all is that some of the employees who were let go aren't exactly new to the company, and have worked on such games as Grim Fandango, X-Wing, and Full Throttle. Just why LucasArts decided to trim down this particular team remains unclear, but as on ex-employee pointed out to Joystiq, should fans of The Force Unleashed demand a sequel, there just aren't enough people left on the team to make it happen at the mo?ment.

While LucasArts could easily go on a hiring spree and make it happen, we have to wonder what it secretly says about the game. Is this a sign that George isn't feeling as psyched about The Force Unleashed as we are, or is ??this simply business as? usual in our troubled economy?

[Via NextGen]

The post What??? LucasArts lays off key members of Force Unleashed team appeared first on Destructoid.

Word on the net has it that a few reviews of Alone In The Dark are based on illegally obtained code for the game, and Atari is?? none too happy about it. They're so displeased, in fact, that their lawyers went on the offensive -- causing at least one Scandinavian site (as reported by Kotaku) to temporarily pull its lowball score within minutes of its debut on the Internet.

Fast-forward ??to the present, and German gaming site 4players comes forward with a similar story of being under Atari's glare, and accused of reviewing a (supposedly) illegally obtained copy of the game. In other words, Atari didn't send them a review copy personally, yet they were able to post a review on it. Sound suspicious? Maybe not, as the site claims that they simply walked into a local store and obtained their copy the old-fashioned way -- by purchasing it.

The common theme among all involved seems to be scores that are less than flattering. The million-dollar question remains: Is Atari doing the right thing in their attempt to preempt negative publicity surrounding reviews of unpolished versions of the game, or is something sinister going on here? Atari isn't exactly in the strongest of financial positions, and we're sure they were counting on Alone In The Dark to provide some much-needed relief. As of now, scores for the game are hovering around the 70th percentile, so there's still time to reco??ver. As someone who's been looking forward to playing this game since its inception, I hope those scores are?? indeed flaky. Who do you believe?

[Via Next-Gen and Kotaku -- Thanks, Jonathan]

The post ??Atari goes on the offensive to protect Alone In The Dark legacy appeared first on Destructoid.

Citing internal statis??tics that show the PlayStation 3's install base to be growing much faster than older brother PS2 (at a comparable snapshot in time), SCEE president David Reeves recently told those attending an undisclosed conference that Sony expects the Blu-ray beast to eclipse their previous ventures over the long haul. Not only that, but as far as he can see -- there's nothing but blue skies ahead for all:

"The next five years are going to be turbulent. But I think it is going to be t?he most exciting period that we have ever seen in? the past ten years of video games"

?In a surprise move, he even reserved ?a kind word or two for the "other guys" on the battlefield:

"We welcome all competition. Whatever happens, we are all going to do well. We shou?ld celebrate the g?rowth of the industry."

Now this is what you call subtle PR at its best. Acknowledge your competition in a positive light, all the while reminding people that your current hardware is still going to do what the previous ones did to them... just a little later than before. The only barrier to this, is that the competi?tion is a lot stiffe??r than it used to be.

[Via CVG]

The post SCEE president David?? Reeves believes in ?the power of the PS3 appeared first on Destructoid.

According to a memo forwarded? to Next-Gen editors (by a mystery publisher) you can thank the ESRB's recent policy change for putting the damper on one of your favorite hobbies -- scouring their database for clues about games that publishers don't want you to know about ye?t.

Before, publishers had to cross their fingers that the savvy Internet Matlocks among us would somehow overlook their submissions to the ratings board. Now, online forms will have an embargo option for publishers to choose the date that a particular title? is uploaded to the ESRB's website. However, failure to check that part of the form defaults in the disclosure of information that we've come to love and ex??pect:

"Unless there are specific concerns regarding premature disclosure of a title, we expect this field to be left blank...??While we recognize some publishers have concerns regarding earlier-than-desired 'announcements' of product on our website, the ESRB system will not work for consumers if publishers arbitrarily select dates bearing no reasonable relationship to consumer interest in the product."

Although marketing departments spanning the entire industry are smiling right now, we fully trust in human nature, and the power of the Internet. Something tells us that Rumortoid won't be leaving the premises anytime soon.

[Via Next-Gen -- Thanks Brad]

The post ESRB lowers the shroud o??f secrecy surrounding unannounce??d games appeared first on Destructoid.

As Dale highlighted earlier this morning, LucasArts has no intention of attending this year's muted E3 summit, but that doesn't mean that good old Georgie blew his load with The Force Unleashed,?? and has nothing left to show. In fact, depending o?n one's console(s) of choice, the best may be yet to come.

Thanks to Venture Beat, we finally know what that lightsaber battle game is that's been shrouded in secrecy for so long: Star Wars: The Clone Wars -- Lightsaber Duels, an exclusive for the Wii. If your curiosity has been piqued, and you wonder just how well the game is suited for Nintendo's fabulous Wiimote, then you are going to want to pay close attention to Ken Fox's recent interview with IGN:

 "We've tried to make the lightsaber control as intuitive and fun as possible. It's not a Lightsaber simulator, but when you swing your Wii remote left to right; your chara?cter does the same. You use the thumbstick on the nunchuck to move your character and swing the Wii remote to swing your Lightsaber. The buttons all do cool stuff like use the force, block and dodge, but the focus is really on putting the Wii remote in the players hand and saying 'This is your Lightsaber!'"

Continued after the jump:

"I wouldn't describe what we're doing as one-to-one in the way that you might picture, but we really tried to make it feel like you get to swing your Lightsaber 'manually'. In short, it feels like the most natur??al and convincing sword type experience I've had on the Wii. And on top of that, ?it not just a sword, it's a lightsaber."

Come on now, you weren't really expecting the Wiimote to be capable of completely mimicking actual (were there such a grand thing in real life!) lightsaber battles... right? Nonetheless, LucasArts promises the finished product to be the best use of the Wiimote to date. With multiplayer being a given, this might be the game that reminds fans that the Wii remains a viable source for Star Wars entertainment. Are you buying it?

[Via Venture Beat and IGN -- Thanks, Jonathan]

The post Dust off those Wiimotes, Star Wars: The Clone Wars — Lightsaber Duels confirmed appeared first on Destructoid.

Just when we thought it was game over for Final Fantasy Versus XIII, comes word that it was all just a big misunderstanding on our part. At least that's what Square-Enix is now saying about the famous words of director Tetsuya Nomura, that were lost in translation between the pages of Famitsu and ourselves:

"Reports that development for Final Fantasy Versus XIII is on hold are false. The truth of the situation is that when free, some staff from the Versus team have been helping with the XIII team on development of Final Fantasy XIII. Development for ??both titles is continuing as originally scheduled??."

Our Japanese is a a little rusty, but we're sti??ll trying to figure out how we ever came up with that silly idea in the first place. After all, Tetsuya Nomura only used the words "on hold" and said "the entire Versus team is helping to finish Final Fantasy XIII" once or twice. Whatever were we thinking? 

[Via Eurogamer -- Thanks, Burling]

The post Square-Enix clears the air around?? Final Fantasy Versus XIII, not held after all appeared first on Destructoid.

Depending on your TV viewing habits as a child, you may forever associate the letters N.O.M with the sound a certain "googly-eyed" Sesame Street character made while smashing cookies against his forehead in a fi?t of confectionery bliss.

However, if a recent trademark filing has anything to do with it, those letters will soon be the acronym for Nintendo Online Magazine. At this point, no details are known about this potential companion (or replacement) to Nintendo Power -- or if it even exists at the moment. Could this be Nintendo's answer to?? Sony's Qore service?

Better yet... should we even care?

[Via Siliconera]

The post Nintendo’s recent trademark filing in Japan raises eyebrows appeared first on Destructoid.

Lady Luck has a way of intervening at the most crucial moments, lending that extra hand that helps us through the tough times. On occasion, even developers are able to bask in her warming glow... just ask Mark Randel, president of Terminal Reality. While his team was nearly nine months into producing a licensed Ghostbusters game of their own (and looking to impress some suits with cash), along comes Zootfly to the rescue:

"What Zootfly did for us, inadvertently, is help sell the concept. When their footage came out, we were close to our green-light meeting, and when the executives saw the reaction from the fans, they immediately knew, 'Hey, Ghostbusters i??s going to be a big hit - we need to put this game into production.'"

Fortunately for the Terminal Reality team, Lady Luck took the form of Zootfly this time. As for fans who were holding their breath while the game floundered in licens??e purgatory -- they let out a collective sigh, and started breathing again. Let's just hope the finished product looks half as good as that test footage that helpe??d make the game a reality in the first place.

[OXM, via CVG -- Thanks, Burling!]

The post Terminal Real??ity has Zootfly to thank for helping to make Ghostbusters?? a reality appeared first on Destructoid.

To some, the latest entry in Denis Dyack's blog might not seem all that newsworthy: Too Human for the Xbox 360 is all but complete. Then again, we're talking about the first entry in a three-part trilogy that's been the talk of gaming circles sinc?e the PSone days. Would it or would it not see the light of day... someday? Well according to Denis, the light looks bright -- and that day is very soon:

"I have logged my last polish bug today list?ening to Machine Gun by Portishead and writing this blog. There are only two known rare crash bugs still left in the game. I personally have not seen the game crash in the last four to five weeks, and have been playing through it constantly. Onc??e we fix these rare bugs, we will start to prepare 'Release Ca??ndidate' for RTX (gold master disc) approval - this is likely just days away."

Forget about commenting on whether or not Too Human will live up to the hype that's been building for several years -- I'm more concerned (more like impressed) with Dyack's mention of the game not crashing in the last five weeks. In this day and age of endless patches for our consoles, it's sometimes questionable as to whether or not developers even care about faulty code anymore. Guess we'll have to take the "wait and see" approach, hope that all those years of polish and planning have finally paid off -- and that Too Human won't have us anticipating ?an update (like a lot of other games), rather than a planned sequel.

[Via IGN -- Thanks, Justin] 

The post Denis Dyack: Too Human?? will be ready soon, for rea??l this time appeared first on Destructoid.

While the Red Ring of Death debacle proved costly monetarily, as far as Microsoft is concerned, the image of the Xbox 360 has managed to remain relatively untarnished through it all. During a recent interview with Venture Beat, Robbie Bach echoed that sentiment: 

In the ordinary course of something like this, you would expect it to show up in the customer reaction data. We just haven’t seen that. It speaks to the fact that they love their games and Xbox Live.?????????????????????????? Does it frustrate them? Yes. On the other hand, they know we’re taking c??are of them. People have a certain amount of respect for that. If it had happened on a product that had less baseline customer satisfaction, it would have had a bigger impact. We really haven’t seen that.

Like Robbie said, even we remain somewhat stunned at how well the Xbox 360 weathered that storm -- most other products in our daily lives would have been discarded and long forgotten by now, had they a similar service record. Then again, gamers tend to be a forgiving bunch... don't we? Let's just hope that we don't end up with a repeat with the next-generation Xbox --?? even gamers have a limit on ??how much we'll endure for the sake of our hobby. Have your views of the Xbox 360 changed since you first bought one?

[Venture Beat via NextGeneration] 

The post Robbie Bach: Customers fo?rgave us for the RROD, still love their Xbox 360s appeared first on Destructoid.

If business development manager Peter Zetterberg's words aren't just empty promises, Xbox 360 owners in Europe have assurance from Microsoft that they can bank on: "Nob?ody cancels games under our watch... Punk!" Well, that's actually how I envisioned a Clint Eastwood inspired version of what transpired during the intervi??ew between Microsoft Gaming Studios and GamesIndustry.biz, but if you insist -- what he really had to say about the matter is below:

"Maybe we sometimes announce them earlier than we should, but we stick with them, we have our resources team work with them as much as we can. It's crunch time down in Guildford now and we have people working their butts off to make Fable 2 happen. We do not, we shall not cancel games."

Not bad, when you cons??ider that the team reviews over 600 concepts pitche??d to them a year. So what is their secret to making sure that the right games reach the market? According to Zetterberg, it's all in knowing your target audience:

"We need to find games that are globally accepted, that people love on a global basis, like music or sing??ing, things that we all love. Then we can nail the local values to it." 

Love the part about never surrendering, but that last quote seems to be catering solely to the casual gamers out there -- and it's certain that Europe likes the hardcore games as much?? as the rest of us. 

[Via GamesIndustry.biz -- Thanks, Jonathan!] 

The post MGS Europe gets it, decides that cancelling games isn’t a good thing appeared first on Destructoid.

Today marks the day that Nintendo proudly (and officially) announces the DS bundle that we knew was coming all along: Guitar Hero: On Tour. While not exactly the sexiest of the DS line, the silver and black handheld proudly displays the Guitar Hero logo for all the world to see. Oh yeah... it also comes with the guitar grip controller and the game you see in the ??picture. Regardless of the questionable styling, we know it's going to rock. Wouldn't you know it -- Nintendo seems pretty excited abou??t it too:

"This one-o??f-a-kind bundle makes Nintendo DS even more appealing to our ever-growing audience of players," said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. "Like Nintendo DS itself, the Guitar Hero franchise has attracted millions of new players to the world of video games." 

The press release (after the jump) makes no mention of price, but the bundle hits the stre?ets on June 22nd, along with the game itself. W?hether you choose the standalone game, or the bundle, something tells me that a trip to the store is in order.

Axe Shredd??ers Hit the Road w?ith New Nintendo DS/Guitar Hero: On Tour Bundle

First Portable Edition in the Guitar Hero Franchise Lets Players
Unleash Their Inner Roc?k Star Anytime, Anywhere

REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Most musicians dream of one day reaching platinum success. A new Nintendo DS™ bundle lets aspiring axe shredders claim that coveted status right from day one. The new Silver/Black Nintendo DS branded with the Guitar Hero(R) logo will be available exclusively as part of a limited-time bundle with Guitar Hero(R): On Tour. For the first time, this smash-hit franchise is playable on a portable video game system using the revolutionary Guitar Hero&trad??e; Guitar Grip™ peripheral and fully tapping into t?he distinctive abilities of the Nintendo DS hardware.

Available on June 22, 2008, at North American retailers nationwide,
the bundle provides a cool combo package for grads about to head of?f to college as well as summertime, road-trippi??ng rockers of all ages.

"This?? one-of-a-kind bundle makes Nintendo DS even more appealing to our ever-growing audience of players," said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. "Like Nintendo DS itself, the Guitar Hero franchise has attracted millions? of new players to the world of video games."

"We are thrilled to be the first third-party publisher to partner with
Nintendo on this unique offering," said Dusty Welch, Head of
Publishing for Re??dOctane. "With the Guitar Hero-branded Nintendo DS and our Guitar Hero: On Tour game and?? peripheral, this amazing bundle delivers gamers a complete Guitar Hero experience they can enjoy anytime, anywhere."

Using the revolutionary Guitar Hero Guitar Grip peripheral and a
custom-designed Guitar Hero pick-stylus, Guitar Hero: On Tour
leverages the unique abilities of Nintendo DS to bring a new dimension to hand-held gaming. Featuring a wide variety of music, including tracks from blink-182, No Doubt, Jet, Nirvana, Bloc Party and many others, playe?rs can rock out in career mode, join together in co-op or go head-to-head in a "Guitar Duel" using Battle Items unique to the DS platform.

For more information about Nintendo DS, visit www.NintendoDS.com. For
more information about Guitar Hero: On Tour, visit
www.GuitarHeroOnTour.com.

About Nintendo:

The worldwide innovator in the creation of interactive entertainment,
Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii™, Nintendo DS™, Game Boy(R) Advance and Nintendo GameCube™ systems. Since 1983, Nintendo has sold more than 2.7 billion video games and more than 460 million hardware units globally, and has created industry icons like Mario™, Donkey Kong(R), Metroid(R), Zelda™ and Pokémon(R). A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of America Inc., based in Redmond, Wash., serves as headquarters for Nintendo's operations in the Western Hemisphere. For more information about Nintendo, visit the company's Web site at www.nintendo.com.

About Activision:

Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision, Inc. is a
leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive
entertainment and leisure products. Founded in 1979, Activision posted net revenues of $2.9 billion for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2008. Activision maintains operations in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Spain, the Netherlands, Australia, Japan and South Korea. More information about Activision and its products can be found on the company's website, www.activision.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements: Information in this press release that involves Activision's expectations, plans, intentions or strategies?? regarding the future are forward-looking statements that are not facts and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. In this release, they are identified by references to dates after the date of this release and words such as "outlook", "will," "remains," "to be," "plans," "believes", "may", "expects," "intends," and similar expressions.

Factors that could cause Activision's actual future results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements set forth in this release include, but are not limited to, sales of Activision's titles in its fiscal year 2009, shifts in consumer spending trends, the seasonal and cyclical nature of the interactive game market, Activision's ability to predict consumer preferences among competing hardware platforms (including next-generation hardware), declines in software pricing, product returns and price protection, product delays, retail acceptance of Activision's products, adoption rate and availability of new hardware and related software, industry competition, rapid changes in technology and industry standards, protection of proprietary rights, maintenance of relationships with key personnel, customers, vendors and third-party developers, domestic and international economic, financial and political conditions, foreign exchange rates, integration of recent acquisitions and the identification of suitable future acquisition opportunities, the timing and successful completion of the combination of Activision and Vivendi Games, the combined
company's success in integrating the operations of Activision and
Vivendi Games in a timely manner, or at all, and the combined
company's ability to realize the anticipated benefits and syner??gies of the transaction to the extent, or in the timeframe, ant??icipated.

Other such factors include the further implementation, acceptance and effectiveness of the remedial measures recommended or adopted by the special sub-committee of independent directors established in July 2006 to review historical stock option granting practices by Activision and its board of directors, the finalization of the tentative settlement of the SEC's formal investigation and final court approval of the proposed settlement of the derivative litigation filed in July 2006 against certain current and former directors and officers of Activision relating to Activision's stock option granting
practices, and the possibility that additional claims and proceedings
will be commenced, including additional action by the SEC and/or other regulatory agencies, and other litigation unrelated to stock option granting practices and any additional risk factors identified in
Activision's most recent annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly
reports on Form 10-Q and the definitive proxy statement filed on June 6, 2008 in connection with the proposed transactio??n with Vivendi. The forward-looking statements in this release are based upon information available to Activision as of the date of this release, and Activision assumes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements believed to be true when made may
ultim??ately prove to be incorrect. These statements are not guarantees of the future performance of?? Activision and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond its control and may cause actual results to differ materially from currentexpectations.

Guitar Hero(R): On Tour (c) 2008 Activision Publishing, Inc. Guitar
Hero, Activision and RedOctane are registered trademarks of Activision
Publishing, Inc.

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