Sometimes, it really pays to be an executive. Take GameStop execs and managers, for example. They got to see a number of upcoming titles behind closed doors at the GameStop eXpo. One of the games shown to the GameStoppers was Electronic Arts' Fight Night: Round 4 (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360). For a Fight Night fan, that's a pretty good perk. More in the full article.

Resident Evil 5 (PS3, Xbox 360) producer Jun Takeuchi was recently interviewed about the big game on various topics. Among the things discussed were chainsaws, racism, controls, and horror elements. We've got some of the juiciest excerpts in the full article up ahead.

It seems that God of War 2 director Cory Barlog has finally let us in on some of the details of the new project he'll be working on with film director George Miller. Suffice to say, they will be resurfacing a classic 1980's movie title and adapting it to the video game platform. To find out what this new project is all about, click on the "read more" link below for more information.

Even if the Halo movie project can be considered dropped at this point, it's still pleasant to know that there are still some details left to know about the much-awaited film. And according to this new tidbit, Master Chief will play a supporting role in the movie adaptation of Halo. Details in the full article!

It's a little surprising to hear that Jack Thompson ordered his own copy of Manhunt 2 but maybe you'll want to hear it for yourselves. In this latest video, Jack Thompson and a number of other guests from the Moral Kombat debate express their views on Rockstar Games in Game Head. Watch the video in the full article.

Moral Kombat, Spencer Halpin's controversial feature-length documentary about video game violence, will be premiering at the VideoGame Expo in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on November 3. If you're in the area on that date, check it out. It should be a pretty interesting and thought-provoking experience.

In case you haven't heard about Moral Kombat yet, here's a backgrounder. According to a press release announcing the documentary's premiere, Moral Kombat is "a probative work that examines interactive entertainment as a medium and seeks to objectively portray the debate in a fair and poignant fashion". It's also the first high-def documentary shot entirely in HD three years ago.

The film includes testimonies from a few leading figures in the video game violence issue, some of whom will be present at the premiere for a panel discussion moderated by Newsweek's N'Gai Croal. Among those who will grace the Moral Kombat premiere are prominent anti-games advocate Jack Thompson and Lorne Lanning, video game developer and co-founder of Oddworld Inhabitants.

Microsoft and Newsweek are it again, this time wagering on the future of the PS3. Last time, Microsoft's J. Allard bet that Sony wouldn't reach its target goal of sales for the PSP.

This time around it's Xbox Live's director of technical strategy Andre Vrignaud who is making the wager against the same Newsweek reporter N'Gai Croal. Croal describes how Vrignaud wanted to wager with the same stakes - targetting Croal's dreadlocks - but instead they settled for a steak dinner in Gotham steakhouse. In Vancouver, no less.

Vrignaud predicts that Sony will be releasing a low-end PS3 with a 40GB hard drive on the holidays. It will not have WiFi or a memory card reader and will not be backward compatible. An external WiFi device will be available separately to accommodate those who still want the function. This low-end PS3 will be available for US$ 399 while the 80GB version will drop to US$ 499 as the 60GB version drops out of the market.

So in quick summary, here's the wager:

• Vrignaud's predicts a low-end PS3 worth US$ 399 will be out by November 23, Black Friday of 2007.
  
• Croal's side of the bet is that Sony will stick to only one PS3 type for the rest of the year.

Last time, J. Allard had to wear dreadlocks to make good on the wager when the PSP exceeded sales expectations. Croal has been known to give predictions in the past, but we'll have to wait to see who'll pay for that steak dinner.

Will Xbox 360 have the Royal Rainbow all to itself? At least, that's what Newsweek's N'Gai Croal is speculating. He points out the trend that's been happening recently in Namco Bandai. Cases in point:

Ridge Racer 6 was released as a 360-exclusive launch title for the 360. It should be noted that the Ridge Racer franchise has always been associated with the PlayStation consoles. However, Ridge Racer 7 became a PlayStation 3 exclusive.

Also, Ace Combat 6, the latest addition to the previously Sony PlayStation-only franchise, was introduced as a timed Xbox exclusive game - with a PS3 version to be released after some time.

See any patterns? Croal supposes that Namco is in the process of "flirting" with Microsoft, though it could not let go of its long-time relationship with Sony. Well, whatever drama there may be, it's not impossible that the same thing will happen with the quirky little favorite that is the Katamari franchise.

Croal's source did mention that Beautiful Katamari, the upcoming sequel to the PlayStation 2 hit, We Love Katamari, will roll into the batch of video games that will be released as Xbox 360 exclusives, and will most probably be announced at the upcoming E3 event.

PS3 owners need not be alarmed, however. The Newsweek blogger did note that none of the games were entirely lost to Sony; they eventually made their way back into the PlayStation 3 console.

But he emphasizes that Sony's currently weak PS3 sales are what may be causing the problem. Sony is not strong enough to hold on to its supposedly exclusive games and franchises. Microsoft's aggressive courting of Japanese game publishers are also to be taken into account as well, and if the current trend goes on, everything that previously belonged to Sony may eventually be found alongside Microsoft.

The UK game developer studio Rare Ltd. took some flak following its surprisingly lacking launch titles Perfect Dark Zero and Kameo: Elements of Power. Prior to Microsoft's acquisition of Rare, founders Chris and Tim Stamper and their battalion of developers were on a winning streak with GoldenEye 007 and the earlier Perfect Dark installments.

But recently, that just wasn't the case. Microsoft's Peter Moore stood up in defense of the Stampers and the studio as a whole. In a recently transcripted interview with N'Gai Croal dating back to January, Moore mentioned that Rare wasn't exactly lacking on anything.

"I certainly think people underestimate the platform-driving presence that Perfect Dark Zero and Kameo had," said Moore, stressing more on Kameo. He added that the precedence of the original Xbox as a shooter platform skewed people's view of the Xbox 360.

He insisted instead that Rare helped Microsoft Game Studios create a new level for the Xbox 360, differentiating it from the "Halo box" mindset. Games on the Xbox 360 will definitely deliver the same type of games, but Moore stressed that both Rare launch titles "signaled that [the Xbox 360] wasn't going to be the same as Xbox 1."

Chris and Tim Stamper both left Rare after four years of service to Microsoft, followed by the general speculation of Viva Piñata's sluggish sales. But according to Moore, Microsoft doesn't see the sales as lackluster as other third party onlookers do. He said:

Viva Piñata, sales have been...fine. I think that the thing that people underestimate is the power of Viva Piñata to continue to sell on an annualized basis, as well as the ability to build intellectual property that's very unique and different.

N'Gai Croal is a writer for magazine Newsweek. J. Allard is a Microsoft executive, and him being bald-headed is important in this one. Because you see, the two made a bet last year that the PlayStation Portable (PSP) wouldn't reach the 10 million units shipped within 12 months like the PlayStation 2 (PS2).

Here's the gist of their bet: If Croal loses, Allard gets to cut off Croal's dreadlocks live on stage. If Allard loses, he would have to wear a dread lock for one whole month. As you all know, Sony made their target two months earlier and Allard, being a good sport, has done good on his wager.

"Admittedly, the PSP was a beautiful device with incredible specs. it had a fantastic screen and I knew that they'd sell millions of them, but I just didn't think that demand could be higher than for the PS2. Hats off to Sony for outpacing the PS2 velocity with their PSP. Dreads on for N’Gai for calling it," posted J Allard on his official blog.

If you want to read J Allard's whole blog entry, refer to the Read link below.