Ever since the first ever Mario game was released, Japan has been the center of the video gaming world. Heck, two of this gen's consoles are based in Japan. However, Ryan Payton, (former) Assistant Producer at Kojima productions, believes that times have changed, and Japan no longer seems to be the center of video game development. Details in the full article.

The allegations on Fox News that Mass Effect for the Xbox 360 had pornography in it sparked a lot violent reactions from gamers. Interestingly enough, Jack Thompson has let the issue slide saying that he has no problem with the game and that the comments made about it were uninformed. Head on over to the full article for the complete story.

Following through the night event held by Electronic Arts after their announcement of a new Simpsons game (still a working title), we were treated earlier to a little verbal illustration of what we could expect from the game. While this title has been announced for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, PSP, PS2 and DS, it seems IGN pegs this game to be also coming to Simpsons fans on the PC.

Now we've got a very short visual snippet of what's coming for the game, straight from the writing staff, including The Simpsons' creator Matt Groening. In the game development team's bet to make this new title "not just another Simpsons game, but 'The Simpsons game,'" they have put a lot of work into making sure the game will entice new and old Simpsons fans alike.

With just a few short seconds of gameplay coverage in the video, at least we can put some pictures to words that Kotaku's Brian Crecente has penned. Spoofs of games (see if you can spot and name a few shown in the video immediately below) are just a few of the laughs we're expecting from this new installment.

Click on Full Article for an extra video interview by GameTrailers.

Actually, just a little bit more of the game, than what was revealed in Electronic Arts' rocking announcement covered yesterday. In fact according to Kotaku's Brian Crecente, who attended the Electronic Arts night gathering, the little previews and information that was spilled at the event sounds like this Simpsons title might just be the type of game we've been expecting from the franchise.

Electronic Arts, avid fans of the series, had thought about bringing the series back into a game for years.

Coupled with an original story - driven by the writers behind the popular cartoon series - around 8,000 lines of dialogue and 60 minutes worth of full motion video, the game is set to give gamers a more comical look at the game industry, while presenting the best of gameplay fans could expect of a Simpsons game.

The premise of the game, where the entire Simpsons family suddenly finds themselves inside video games, leaves Homer, Marge, Lisa and Bart into a series of different games and situations, poking satirical fun at the game genres and issues the world game community sees today.

The game will be sporting "drop in, drop out" cooperative play, although it is pretty certain that the game will not sport that feature with online aspects than the proposed hotseat aspect. The original cast of the show have joined in to do the voice work, reassuring you get the authentic atmosphere and comedy the series brought to your living room.

Crecente gives a few verbal snippets of what you can expect from the Simpsons game, as demonstrated through the early levels shown at the event. We wouldn't want to spoil the mood and get it all here, so we'll lead you to that particular coverage via the "Read" link below.

Last week, Jack Thompson had spoken on FOXNews about the Virginia Tech shooting, saying that video games were somehow linked to the worst shootout in U.S. history. Later on, upon catching a video of ace attorney's said stint on the new channel, Brian Crecente of Kotaku did a bit of analysis and dissected Jack Thompson's statements on TV.

And with that article, Crecente seemed to have gotten the attention of Jack Thompson himself. It goes that Thompson asked Kotaku to pull down Crecente's "dissection" article, but Kotaku declined to do so. The following note was then faxed by Thompson to the FBI in Colorado:

Dear FBI:

This web site at the below url is targeting me:

http://kotaku.com/gaming/virginia-tech/

breaking-idiot-thompson-blames-va-shooting-on-games-252702.php

I ask that something be done by the FBI to stop this or prosecute it:

Kyle81 says: Actually the VT shootings are now the biggest mass shooting in US history with 31 dead, not just school shooting. Jack should be shot for taking the opportunity to leech off a tragedy to push his own agenda 04/16/07 03:25 PM

Regards, Jack Thompson

Crecente has contacted the said agency and was told that "it was unlikely they would handle such an investigation, if one was even needed, but that the local police might look into it."

Photo from Kotaku reader Torokun.

Microsoft has released an official response to earlier reports of the rumors that Bungie.Net was hacked and that a portion of Xbox Live was taken over. Supposedly the hack enabled gamer tags to be controlled and points can be acquired (stolen) via the hack or purchased through the controlled accounts.

A Microsoft representative said to Kotaku's Brian Crecente that they are currently investigating concerns and that no security breach of Bungie.net or Xbox Live accounts has been found. The official response is as such:

Recently, there have been reports of fraudulent activity and account theft taking place on the Xbox LIVE network. Security is a top priority for Xbox LIVE, and we are actively investigating all reports of fraudulent behavior and theft. Any customer with a question about the security of their Xbox LIVE account should contact 1-800-4-MY-Xbox, and an Xbox Customer Service Representative will help them understand our security policies and procedures.

It can be recalled that a few days ago, Kevin Finisterre, a security researcher at Digital Munition, has claimed that from his experience with Microsoft customer support, they were "more than negligent in dealing with this issue," and that he was on the phone with a supposed Microsoft Tech and he claims that the tech confirmed with him that "Hackers have control of Xbox live and there is nothing we can do about it."

ZDnet's Ryan Naraine has noted that according to Finisterre, a group called Infamous Clan is offering to hijack Xbox Live accounts and have been boasting about successful account theft. He claims that several Xbox Live users have confirmed with him that stolen accounts have been used for underhanded purposes.

Major Nelson says in his blog that despite the reports and the speculation, he would like to reassure that they have found no evidence of any compromise of the security of the Xbox Live Network or Bungie.net. He notes that there have been a few isolated incidents where malicious users have attempted to acquire the personal information of unsuspecting users and use it to gain access to their LIVE account. He says that it's mostly been cases of identity theft, and not outright overtaking of the Xbox Live network.

Not a good rumor to spread, especially now that the Sony PS3 EU launch is looming. It's not the hacking that hurts Microsoft here really, it's word that their customer support has been sub-par and negligent. The good thing here is that they've got Major Nelson to reassure their community.

We'll update you if more information on the matter is made available. Stay tuned.

Kotaku's Brian Crecente brought up a good point, and thus we ask: how in the Forerunner's name could this have slipped under the radar? He asked Microsoft game development manager Chris Satchell about backwards compatibility, and the reply was that Microsoft's team was still on it, but:

"At some point we're going to focus less on it... When you get to the end of this year there will be a reduced focus on backwards compatibility. There are so many 360 games out there. I don't know if it's important anymore."

Did back-compat drop in Microsoft's priority To-Do list? The justification that there are so many 360 games out there has to sit with another statement Chris made earlier: 50% of 360 owners don't own the original Xbox. From that perspective, it's like saying that as the market composition changes, the original Xbox segment becomes a smaller minority, and sooner or later, it'll probably be more effective to redirect resources on back-compats to other endeavors.

But then that brings up one question legacy Xbox gamers will ask: so, when or how many of our favorite games will be back-compatted before the axe falls (specific games dependent on each gamer's preferences)?

Oh well. Chris also said that XNA Studio Express is getting wide usage - we won't be surprised if, after Microsoft dims the lights on official backwards compatibility, and people still clamor for it, someone starts working on a homebrew Xbox emulator for the rest of the library. Unless that takes an exploit for it to work, or something, which starts raising some very uncomfortable questions... Just wondering.

And if you want to start the countdown now, well, start with January's back-compat update.

Yeah, we basically agree with Brian Crecente that when you look at the NPD figures from a certain point of view, it is safe to say that all three of them won last holiday season. Of course, that's something you wouldn't hear from each of the three console makers. It's expected that each will declare themselves a big winner last holiday season 1UP has a feature detailing how each company spun the NPD figures to make itself look really, really good.

Nintendo focused on the combined numbers that their units sold. In their press release titled "Nintendo Records Best Holiday Selling Season in U.S. Video Game History" they champion the cumulative sales that their GBA, Wii, and DS did. And they rightfully should; as that photoshop-spoof said: "Look! It prints money." Of course, one has to question the inclusion of the GBA figures. But still, with Nintendo, it was all about numbers.

Sony on the other hand focused on revenue. Moreover due to the dominant sales of the DS and the GBA, their press release included a few bits of dexterous wordplay. This allowed for the insertion of terms like "top-selling home system" to describe the old-but-still-kicking (and more importantly, still dominant) PS2. They point out that the sell-through during the first two months of the PS3 was higher than either of its predecessors. They also said that they sold slightly more PS3 units (687k) last holiday season compared to the Xbox 360's holiday season (634k). 1UP also notes that Sony seems to be having more success manufacturing and shipping hardware now, than Microsoft did during the 2005 holiday season.

The full article awaits after the jump!

The numbers from the NPD group are in, and it reveals that Nintendo sold 1.1 million Wiis from launch through till the end of the year. Sony came in at a distant second selling 687,300 PS3s. Microsoft comes in at a close third, selling 607,343 from their launch date in Nov 2005 through until the end of 2005.

So, just counting North American launch numbers, Nintendo comes in first, Sony second, and Microsoft third, with Nintendo nearly tying the second and third place combined.

Of course, while the launch-to-launch figures favor Nintendo and doesn't really paint a good picture for the X360, the December-to-December numbers are amazing. Looking at the December-to-December figures, the Xbox 360 comes out on top selling 1.1 million units (obviously, given the head start), compared to Wii's 604,200 and the PS3's 490,700

The across-the-board winner for the month was Nintendo's DS, which sold 1.6 million units, followed by the PS2, which sold a whopping 1.4 million (and here we are saying its so last-gen). The PSP came in at fourth with a surprising 953,200 units sold.

So who won launch wise? Nintendo. Who won during the holiday season? If each company counts all the consoles they're selling, handheld or otherwise, we'd have say...They all won.

Brian Crecente of Kotaku is apparently quite amused with what Microsoft has sent him. Along with the retail version of Vista, they also sent him a PC dongle that allows you to connect your wireless Xbox 360 controllers to your computer.

It would be remembered that this product's been announced almost a year ago. For some reason, we haven't heard much about it. The last time we checked, it wouldn't come out until next month. Let's hope it does finally see the light or market the next few weeks. It certainly makes one wish that a PC version of Gears would arrive posthaste.