Designer Jennie Maneri did what I've been secretly waiting for someone to do for ages, and made a real-deal Katamari that you can roll around in the real world. Check out the detail! In her own words:

"I've recently become obsessed with the latest installment in Keita Takahashi's brilliant Katamari Damacy series, Beautiful Katamari. I created my own real-fake Katamari from an assortment of dollhouse furnishings, hobby shop accouterments, and toy stores oddities. Additionally, I hand made Pocky and Milky packages using inkjet prints on tiny boxes. The entire replica is made from miniatures down to the hand-felted Katamari at the core, with all the items glued, pinned, and sewn. Approximately 12" high at a 1:12 scale."

Yay!

It's been a crazy month when it came to console sales. Microsoft is doing all sorts of crazy dance moves (obviously dancing with the stars match-up with Master Chief helped things along), the Wii is doing its slow-and-steady-means-I'll-still-be-unavailable-for-Xmas bit, and Sony... well, other than the PSP Sony isn't doing much of anything.

It went down like this. Pre-game, the Xbox 360 was first thought surpass, but only temporarily, the Wii for sales. Indeed, in August, the Wii was still champ (with it's little bro the DS right on its heels). However, with the nice boost it got from Master Chief's latest installment, the 360 did pull ahead right on schedule, selling well through the end of September.

Here's where it gets strange: Japan. The Xbox sales have been anemic at best, but despite Halo 3 selling out as previously noted, Nintendo was dethroned by the PSP in the same bump that saw the Xbox jump up a few spots as well. Even more crazy, the introduction of the 360 Elite in Japan saw sellouts in multiple stores, which one could almost take as a sign of the impending apocalypse.

In a similar story, there's more at work regarding the bump in 360 sales than just Halo 3. I'll use myself as a data point here - the achievement system is worse than crack. It was actually the subject of a real live scientific study recently, and it was demonstrated that these meaningless, useless GP points we get for doing tricky stunts in 360 games actually drive sales. I'll totally admit it - I'm more likely to play a cross-platform release on my 360 just to bump up my Gamerscore. It's crazy, but it taps into something deep inside and makes you go crazy trying to nail that one last 5G achievement....

Anyhow, finally, in big-number-news, the gaming industry is on-track to be a $47 billion USD industry by 2009, and since Sony can't get a foot in the door with the PS3, they're gently reminding they have other (better) wares to offer: the PS2. It's pathetic, but one of the biggest current selling points for the PS3 is the awesome PS2 library for it, and since they just eliminated backwards compatibility for some stupid, stupid reason, they're now reminding us that there are four, not three, consoles to buy this holiday season. Yeah, well, it should be three. And since the PS3 don't count, it kinda is...

Gametrailers has been doing an excellent (and totally nostalgia-inducing) retrospective on the Final Fantasy series. Here's Part I - hit the jump for all the subsequent episodes!

In short:

• iPhone plays NES games now! Hit the jump for video.
• Again, my birthday cometh: I give you the NES/Atari combo port-a-thingy
• Not just one, but TWO PS2 no-solder mod chip memory card boot thingamajigs announced?!

At long, long last. Well, almost, but close enough for me. First there was the price cut, then there was the Halo 3 tax, and then finally despite the fact that the 65nm "Falcon" chipset isn't being implemented just yet, the inclusion of HDMI and new heatsinks in Premium 360 models is what broke the camel's back. Okay, Microsoft, despite all my previous whining, I'll get one. The HDMI premium looks like the best deal, since it's possible an HDMI Core may never materialize.

Besides, it'll be way more fun to play Halo 3 the game, instead of running around looking for people to play Halo 3 Lasertag with...

Anyhoo, it's been a mixed couple of weeks for the 360 and Microsoft. Sales dropped almost 60%, which could have tied into all the issues the console was experiencing (even if some were due to clueless users and were just loose cables). Simultaneously, the Wii has been closing rapidly on the total 360 sales numbers, which must make the money-printing fiends at Nintendo giggle and Ballmer bawl or bellow with rage. Furthermore, though the 360 sales are sure to see a substantial jump this month owing to the revised hardware, I was somewhat shocked to see that most 360 users generally don't know how to use their consoles to their fullest extent, including using XBL or media playing capabilities.

To round out the current next-gen news and sales figures: Nintendo is ramping up production to (maybe) finally meet Wii demand, their stock jumps handsomely simultaneously (and they're taking along all their parts manufacturers along for the profit-ride). Shockingly, the Wii was seen slipping in the Japanese hardware charts, to a mere 60K units for last month, being beaten by the DS (who else?). On the Sony front, even though the PS3 is the least played console (beaten by it's most-played-overall cousin, the PS2), the price drop has created a minor sales surge, which must be a breath of fresh air to Sony.

But what's really making this the right time to get a 360? Halo 3? Naw. It's this. Hit the jump to watch the intro movie for what's going to be my wife's favorite game of 2007.

Lots more news lately regarding rock-based-rhythm-games (RBRG, a new genre? anyone?), including the current national obsession Guitar Hero II and the upcoming Guitar Hero III, in addition to the coming EA-backed rival Rock Band.

First off, we've got recently released Rock Band screens and an in-depth interview at IGN. Truthfully, it's hard to tell what the gameplay will be like, but it sure looks pretty.

Meanwhile, to tide us over till GH3, the official site for Guitar Hero: 80's Encore Version, has launched, and more tracks are leaking out to my delight. I personally can't wait, since I'm cracker-trash.

Meanwhile, GH3 details are emerging as well. In addition to wireless guitars, the current tracks announced thus far are:

* "Barracuda" - Heart
* "Cherub Rock" - Smashing Pumpkins
* "Cult of Personality" - Living Colour
* "Even Flow" - Pearl Jam
* "Knights of Cydonia" - Muse
* "Lay Down" - Priestess
* "The Metal" - Tenacious D
* "My Name Is Jonas" - Weezer
* "Paint It, Black" - The Rolling Stones
* "Rock and Roll All Nite" - Kiss
* "Sabotage" - Beastie Boys
* "School's Out" - Alice Cooper
* "Slow Ride" - Foghat

So, in conclusion, hairspray, big boner axe solo, and kicksplits. Clearly.

Uh....

(via Kotaku)

Well, despite some serious folly-having along the way, Kratos and the gang mopped the floor with the other releases in March.

Not that we're surprised. Despite what some ego-obsessed haterators say, it's a solid play (seriously, those guys seem to think that there needs to be an über-cynical voice for vidiot reviews a la Pitchfork Media, while even Pitchfork thinks that's a stupid and unnecessary idea).

Even though I'm nowhere near beating expert mode on GHII, it's nice to know that III is coming down the pipe, according to this snippet on Joystiq. To learn more about the emerging battle-of-the-band-sims, there's a solid interview with the Guitar Hero team here, with plenty of bits worth pondering as we wonder if EA and MTV's Rock Band will dethrone the current king and sequel-to-king.

I'm just happy I can play the bass part in John the Fisherman. Claypool, I'm comin' for ya.

Man, crazy. Check out the latest batch of sales date from NPD.

In consoles, the DS remains the insane money-printer its always been, but the PS2 is still cleaning the console house, much like they did during last holiday season. Here things are for now, but it'll be interesting to see what happens next month since folks are chomping at the bit for the 360 Elite:

1. Nintendo DS - 508,000
2. PlayStation 2 - 280,000
3. Wii - 259,000
4. Xbox 360 - 199,000
5. PSP - 180,000
6. Game Boy Advance SP - 148,000
7. PlayStation 3 - 130,000

See that waaaaay down at the bottom? Yep. That's the PS3, clocking in behind the GBA with sales. Despite ditching the console no one was buying and downsizing like crazy... they're still really, really lagging. At least they've still got some loyal retards out there that will always represent the "triple" (seriously, this kid is retarded, not to mention a suburban turd that is going to get ripped in half next time he goes downtown).

On the games front, Top 5 style:

1. (PS2) God of War 2 - 833,000
2. (Xbox 360) Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 394,000
3. (Xbox 360) Guitar Hero II - 291,000
4. (Wii) Wii Play - 273,000
5. (PS3) Motorstorm - 199,000

The PS3 barely makes the list, just eeking out Diddy Kong racing (DS) by 10,000 units. Ouch. Note that Wii software sales have slumped a bit (where them games at Reggie?), but it's still pretty silly that Wii Play, a collection of minigames with a free controller, still beats any PS3 title.

But anyhow, it confirms that God of War II is being received as the kick-ass game I found it to be, and gettin' grabbed hand over fist by the loyal PS2 ownership.

Seriously, between Guitar Hero II in HD on the PS2 and God of War II, who needs the PS3?