Joystiq at E3

While we already knew a level editor was on the way for the PC version of Super Meat Boy, news that it will also add an online portal for the custom levels is, um, news! Additionally, both the PC and Xbox Live Arcade versions will soon be updated with a new hub-world chapter, which will be home to new levels uploaded by Team Meat. All the new content is expected to be released mid-January, according to the developer. The PC-only online portal will catalog all user-created maps (created with the level editor, of course) and allow players to rate them and sort them based on a variety of criteria, says Team Meat. As for the new hub-world chapter, dubbed "Super Meat World," it will unlock as a destination prior to the first chapter (The Forest) on the chapter select screen once the player has collected 20 bandages. "Super Meat World" will behave a bit differently on each platform. On both XBLA and PC, this world will become the default destination for all new levels uploaded to the game by Team Meat (but ...

It's summer, and that means a wasteland of retail releases, but never fear, there are plenty of great smaller titles on the way. XBLA has turned the Summer drought into a veritable smorgasbord of great downloadable releases, and the indie scene is looking to bring their goods as well. Twisted Pixel delivered Ms. Splosion Man last week, and Richard talks with Twisted Pixel's Frank Wilson about the follow-up to 2009's XBLA hit. Indie games are also getting their due with an interview about the Indie Games Summer Uprising on XBL. Supergiant Games's freshman effort and Summer of Arcade 2011 opener, Bastion, gets an audio review from Ludwig and a review roundtable featuring MTV Games's Russ Frushtick. Part 1 (1:27) - Twisted Pixel interview Part 2 (10:56) - XBLA Indie Games Summer Uprising interview Part 3 (30:58) - Bastion audio review and roundtable Thanks to Chris for the hot new Joystiq Show artwork. Get the podcast: [iTunes] Subscribe to the Joystiq Podcast in iTunes [Zune] Subscribe ...

This Kratos figurine is one helluva cool addition to this God of War press kit (Via Geekpulp; thanks, Brian). If anyone has a screencap from last night's episode of South Park (you know which one), send us a link in the comments. Check out the highlights for today: EIEIO 08 EIEIO 08: Hail to the Chimp impressions EIEIO 08: Hands-on with Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball EIEIO 08: Dungeon Hero inverts the dungeon genre Capcom Day Joystiq impressions: 1942: Joint Strike (XBLA/PSN) Joystiq hands-on: Plunder (XBLA/PSN/PC) Joystiq hands-on: Street Fighter II HD (XBLA/PSN) Joystiq hands-on: Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3 (XBLA/PSN) Joystiquery Joystiq interview: NIS America talks Disgaea 3's PS3 move Off the Grid: Gygaxian game design X3F Week in Review: March 7, 2008 - March 13, 2008 News GameTap Thursday: Sam & Max mush the Chariot of the Dogs EA makes all cash tender offer to purchase Take-Two Cory Barlog working on 'Mad Max' game with George Miller Dropkick Murphys pack now available, free in Guitar Hero ...

We can't be gaming all the time, despite our best efforts, and from time to time we'll actually take advantage of the movie-playing abilities on our gaming systems. JBO features our top picks for XBL, PSN, Netflix's Watch Instantly and Blu-ray each week. Happy New Year, and welcome to the Future! This is the last Joystiq Box Office (for now) where we're going to be giving away ... wait for it ... MOVIES! To enter, simply leave a comment below telling us what you'll be watching on your Xbox, PS3, PC, PSP, DS, OMG or whatever, and we'll pick two winners at random each week to receive a nifty prize. This week we'll be giving away one copy of The Warriors on DVD, along with a Marc Ecko Warriors shirt (size XL), and a code for the game The Warriors: Street Brawl on XBLA, and one copy of Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian on Blu-ray. Read the complete rules at the end of this post, and good luck! Recommendation of the Week: 2010: The Year We Make Contact ($28.99 suggested retail, lower ...

While not necessarily a 'mod' (more so just a paint job), we applaud Yuki Niwa's new Asus homage to Pit. In honor of Smash Bros. Brawl's sales announcement today, this seems fitting. Check out the highlights for today: Joystiquery Joystiq hands-on: Haze PS Fanboy now recruiting You could win a Mass Effect 360 from X3F News New games this week: Rainbow Six Vegas 2 edition Spelunker and Super R-Type added to Virtual Console EA names new president of global publishing, COO Puzzle Quest getting XBLA expansion, fans asked to name it New Forza 2 DLC live on March 19 The Darkness gets new, free multiplayer map THQ stays on the off-road racing bandwagon with Baja Call of Duty 4 gets 'Game of the Year' edition next month GT5 Prologue hits 1 million Euro pre-orders Mass. legislators considering 'games-as-porn' bill Ubisoft reps: Haze is staying on PS3 Capcom explains lack of SF2HD beta on PSN Survey favors Persian prince for Prince of Persia role Doom, Assault Heroes become $5 XBLA Hits Smash Bros. Brawl sells ...

While looking through contemporary graphic designer Scott Hansen's online portfolio with Joystiq's occasional Photoshop consultant Chelsea, we stumbled upon this banner he made for an MMO piece in Computer Gaming World (second row of icons, fourth from the right). Too bad we can't get a larger print. Check out the highlights for today: Joystiquery The best of WoW Insider: May 20-27, 2008 Meet the Team: Randy Nelson Metareview -- Ninja Gaiden II (Xbox 360) Penny Arcade Adventures: XBLA, PC versions go head-to-head News Delisted XBLA titles can be redownloaded ESA stingy with campaign money early Start your browsers: GT Academy now live Brett Ratner to make game-based movies Europeans barred from Afrika PSN reaches a million accounts in Japan New York Times talks Miyamoto, Wii Music Meet PlayStation Home's 'Media & Events Space' Gamespot compares 360, PS3 graphics; calls it a tie Square Enix sees gil revenue decline in FY07 Rez, Ikaruga hold record for best XBLA launches Bionic Commando Rearmed's May ...

Like Dan Forden (pictured) before it, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 showed up on Xbox Live and promptly disappeared. Since XBLA games are historically released on Wednesdays, we're betting an (now possibly unemployed) Xbox Live employee hit the wrong key. We now know that UMK3 will be 43.62 MB in size, cost 800 MS points, and feature 2-4 player multiplayer. A few lucky gamers (not us) managed to purchase and download the full game, and show off their gamertags as proof. Something tells us, regardless of earlier plans, that next Wednesday will be rather fatalistic. Not to be confused with fatality-istic, that's just lame. [Update 1: UMK3 is now available on Xbox Live.] ...

Speaking with FiringSquad, SCE Santa Monica's director of external development John Hight offered up an arbitrary size limit for PlayStation 3 downloadable games: 500MB. That number is ten times larger than the size limit that Microsoft imposes on its Xbox Live Arcade game developers. But bigger don't always mean better. Leniency could lead to sloppy development, leaving games unnecessarily large, in turn, increasing download times. But if Sony dedicates itself to a strict certification process -- and keeps prices competitive -- than this generous allotment of space could give PS3 developers a significant advantage; and help the service avoid XBLA's pitfalls (e.g., Lumines being split into multiple downloads). So when will Microsoft amend its policy? (Hint: when the 256MB mem unit drops.) ...

Ever since we told you that the GRAW 2 demo would arrive on the Xbox Live Marketplace "possibly by the end of the month," we have been shivering with anticipation, hoping our conjecture might side with truthiness. With over 12 hours left, we're happy to tell you that you can now enjoy Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter -- but only if you're an Xbox Live Gold member. The Silver member version, presumably, will arrive in a little while. The 650 MB download may not make up for XBLA's vacation, but we do have Frank Black asking for us to give him danger, little stranger. Let us know what you think of the demo. [Thanks, Jonah Falcon and Stephen W.] ...

GameStop has quietly removed the "Microsoft Xbox 360 Memory Card 512 MB" item from its website, after offering up the upgraded Memory Unit for pre-order yesterday. With news that Xbox Live Arcade titles will soon exceed the prior 50MB limit, come expectations for a new Memory Unit model -- an upgrade from 64MB to 256MB was seemingly confirmed last spring. Either GameStop was acting on a whim, or Microsoft now plans to bump the new MU up to 512MB which, according to the retailer's initial listing could be released as early as March 1 andlikely priced at $49.99. Could that date (early March) also be a clue as to when we can expect Symphony of the Night on XBLA? Don't count on it. But the throwback Castlevania is "approaching." ...

Speaking with Bizarre Creations' Ben Ward, 1UP has stirred up new Boom Boom Rocket details. The developer hopes to follow-up Geometry Wars with another broadly appealing Xbox Live Arcade title (the team has a 3-year-old tester) that's built on deceptively simple gameplay. BBR isn't gonna reinvent the rhythm genre, but it might win over some new fans. Purdy particles, Ian Livingstone's 'classical' soundtrack, and a trippy bonus mode add up to XBLA gold. Let's just hope the price doesn't reflect the quality... (but with EA publishing, don't expect another $5 gem). ...

Some of you have been working very hard. You've been blasting FBI and KGB agents in XBLA's Alien Hominid HD like you were born to do it, and why? All to earn the loving praise (and promised prize) from creator, The Behemoth. The indie-developer has documented, in excruciating detail, the laborious process they undertook to hand craft each trophy, which will be sent out to the winners as determined every Saturday afternoon. But this ain't no t-shirt you can buy in a store, or win on a gaming blog. These are for champions only! So get practicing ... you've got a ways to go before you'll trump the likes of Bilgewater or Eric The Duke. ...

Sony's trying to make their PlayStation Network all it can be by shifting their San Diego studio into full PSN development. According to Gamamsutra the San Diego studio has "shifted focus" to three different PSN games. The studio has approximately 30 people in development, however it also houses various facilities like a motion capture studio which will still be used for large-scale games. Each of the three games will be composed of a ten person team. No word yet on what any of the games are. Sony's PSN tactic seems to be taking the first-party approach compared to Microsoft's XBLA, which utilizes many third-party developers. A break-out hit on PSN would help Sony maybe sell a few more PS3 units until they get their software act together. ...

If you've caught yourself staring, mouth agape, at UDON's gorgeous re-imaginings of classic Street Fighter II characters, being prepared for the XBLA and PSN release of Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, know that you're not alone. Our buds at PS3 Fanboy spoke with Jim Zubkavich, Artist and Project Manager at UDON, about their pixelicious collaboration with Capcom. A snippet: "The game is an exact port of SSF2T, so the hit boxes and poses must be identical, even while the detail and resolution are increased to approximately 4.5 times the original. Along with character sprite designs, we're redrawing and painting each stage background to match the enhanced resolution." ...

The first list allegedly detailing the feature set of the Xbox 360 Fall Dashboard Update has landed on Xbox Forums, and promises some wonderful possibilities. None more so than Xvid codec support. But opening up the console's media player to this popular video format would almost certainly take away from the blossoming success of Video Marketplace; an apparent contradiction that makes this rumored feature list both suspect and deliciously compelling. Also included in the supposed leak are plans for a new XBLA blade, IPTV support, integrated clan functionality, a PIP setting, and improved slideshow effects. But it's not all good, as the list also anticipates the emergence of Flash-based advergames -- yuck! If it's true, let's hope the following Spring Update includes a pop-up blocker. [Via X3F] ...