Demos

• A new demo lifts off for the combat space simulator, Heresy War.  (That first one's at AtomicGamer; this one's over at Strategy Informer.)
• A block-tastic demo of LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures is mirrored over at AtomicGamer.  (Or you can grab it at Strategy Informer; your choice.)

Articles

• Xbox America conference called Anthony Deluca, producer of Top Spin 3.
• The Cooler Master Centurion 590 is a "new release for under $70 that looks to be jam packed with the features you are looking for."
• "Obviously, it's not the first choice for enthusiasts..."  TheTechLounge reviews the ATI Radeon HD 3850 256MB Video Card.
• Cryptic Studios has added concept art origin pages for Defender, Doctor Destroyer, Menton, and Ironclad in Champions Online.
• "This motherboard might offer something extraordinary."  Here's Digit-Life's review of the Sapphire PURE CrossFireX 790FX Motherboard on AMD 790FX Chipset (Socket AM2+).
• Techgage looks at the punch-packing Hypersonic Avenger AG12" Notebook.
• AtomicGamer reports on some more time spent int the just-finished open beta of Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures.

Videos

• Age of Conan Femme Fatale Video (WMV HD, WMV SD, WMV Web); Alone in the Dark Facade Sequence Trailer (QT HD, WMV HD); Skate It Wii Controls, Nintendo DS Controls (QT); Sins of a Solar Empire UK Teaser Trailer (WMV); Gears of War 2 Gamers Day 2008 Trailer (WMV HD); Fable 2 Gamers Day 2008 Video (WMV HD); FaceBreaker Steve Trailer; Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts Trailer (WMV HD); The Incredible Hulk 2008 Trailer; Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise Trailer; Penny Arcade Adventures Episode One Trailer (WMV HD); Exteel Game Mode Video; Line Rider 2: Unbound TechDawg Trailer (QT); Ninja Gaiden 2 Gamers Day 2008 (WMV), Leap (WMV High, WMV SD); Too Human Co-op Video, Gamers Day 2008 Video (WMV HD).

Screenshots

• Gears of War 2 (X360); Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (Next gen, Wii, and cinematic shots); Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts (X360); Velvet Assassin; Alone in the Dark; Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness (X360); FlatOut Ultimate Carnage (PC); Nikopol: Secrets of the Immortals (PC); Fatal Fury: Battle Archives Volume 1 (PS2) [European release]; Falling Stars (PS2); PixelJunk Monsters (PS3) ["Encore" expansion]; Numen: Contest of Heroes (PC) [monsters]; Heresy Wars (PC) [demo shots].

Thanks to Xbox America, Techgage, TheTechLounge, Cryptic Studios, Digit-Life, and Strategy Informer for today's news roundup.

Blockbuster is hosting a 24 hour Guitar Hero 3 tournament at one of their Dallas, Texas stores.  It goes from Friday the 16th to Saturday the 17th, with Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert starting the ceremonies.  A donation of $5 will get you unlimited playtime, and even better, your donations go to improve children's education in Dallas.  Oh, and there are some cool prizes for the winners too.  I wish they were doing one of these in Columbus, although I probably wouldn't make it out of the medium bracket. [READ MORE]

Traveller's Tales has released a demo of the PC version of LEGO Indiana Jones.  Since LucasArts's Indiana Jones game has been delayed this will be serving as your quasi-movie tie in game for the upcoming film.  I'm interested to see how this one plays as Traveler's Tales did such a good job with the LEGO Star Wars games.

Sorry about missing yesterday's Gibs but real life intervened.  That said here are a few things I missed while rocking out to a song composed of nothing but gun sounds from Call of Duty 4:

• Gamerscore whores will be happy to know that their gamerscores will probably carry over to the next-gen Xbox 360
• Destrucoid comes up with three reasons to care about the well being of the ESA
• Joystiq talks to GameTrailers about their GRiD Snafu
• I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who doesn't really care about Doom 4
• Is it time to wonder why Ubisoft de-featured the PC version of Assassin's Creed in the last patch?
• RockStar big wig is cool with an EA takeover, maybe the only one in the Take Two empire
• Getting old sucks, getting old and being a gamer...still sucks

Getting the jump on advertising for Wii holiday season releases, Cake Mania: In the Mix! is putting more icing on its layered PC/Nintendo DS series.  Take Jill through nine new bakeries filled with baking and frosting "mania" with 10 new customer-friendly bakery add-ons (fish tank, bench, table, table game, promotional decorations, and more); a phone system -- to rival GTA IV's, no doubt -- in order to accept catering orders; all while serving customers ranging from preggo mothers, to (apparently) cake-hungry ninjas, to leprechauns. [READ MORE]

Nintendo has finally pushed WiiWare out of dry dock and you'll now be able to download new games directly to your Wii assuming you have an internet connection and room left on your Wii/Storage card.  I'm interested to see how WiiWare pans out as it's a direct shot at Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network.  Can smaller developers figure out how to use the Wii remote better than the larger devs?  Will we continue to get more crap shovelware games shoved down our throat?  Time will tell.

Here's the launch list for this week:
FINAL FANTASY® CRYSTAL CHRONICLES: My Life as a King (1500 Wii points)
Lostwinds (1000 Wii points)
Defend your Castle (500 Wii points)
Pop (700 Wii poins)
V.I.P. Casino: Blackjack (1000 Wii points)
TV Show King (1000 Wii points) [READ MORE]

Atari has launched a new website for Alone in the Dark which allows you to explore the world of the game before it hits shelves.  With the company being delisted this from the NASDAQ this week it's hard to underestimate how important this game is to the company.  What I've seen looks really good but it remains to be seen if the final product will be enough to help turn the company around.

2K Sports is continuing with their light-hearted tribute to America's favorite pastime, MLB Power Pros 2008.  In addition to the series' traditional Practice, Exhibition, League, and Home Run Challenge modes, this year gets even more up-close and personal as players act as general manager in Season mode, and engage in the Success and MLB Life roleplaying modes.  MLB Power Pros 2008 is coming to the Wii and PS2 this July, and to Nintendo DS later this fall. [READ MORE]

The Wii Fit Balance Board is coming to the US soon and like the WiiMote, it takes batteries to operate. Nyko's got a solution for you if you don't want to buy batteries. The Energy Pak for the Wii Balance Board installs on the underside of the board and will let you play and charge at the same time. They claim you can play for 20 hours on one charge and is expected in stores on May 19th for $20. I'm surprised Nintendo doesn't just create these products with rechargeable options in mind but hey, it's nice that Nyko's around to help out. [READ MORE]

If you live in Columbus and can pry yourself away from Grand Theft Auto IV for 90 minutes you might want to head down to Columbus State's Nestor Hall Auditorium from 6-7:30 to listen to a panel talking about video games as the Convergence of Art and Technology.  The Q&A panel will feature several smart people as well as one idiot from a local video game website (me).  The topics will range from the morals and ethics of video games to ARG's and more.  The panel will open up to the public at some point so you can ask me fun pointed questions that I will answer with vague yet satisfying answers.

There's also the Downtown Digital Arts festival going on which will be open before and during the panel.  Thanks to the Fuse Factory for inviting me to participate.