Bringing a home console racing franchise to a portable platform can be a difficult task to accomplish -- just take a look at our review of Gran Turismo.  Ravenous race fans have a built in set of expectations, and those expectations can be ludicrously high.  Developers have to somehow find a way to cram all of those expectations into a much smaller framework without losing any of what made the game great in the first place.  Motorstorm Arctic Edge does this in every way possible.

Seems there's just a bumper crop of Nintendo news stories today, and while the web is in a tizzy about the new DSi LL (XL, to us Yanks) there's another tidbit that will be heating up soon. A Nintendo of France employee has leaked some details about the upcoming Wii 2 (due out third quarter next year). Apparently, Wii 2.0 will feature a blu-ray drive, support 1080P for movies and games, and have a trade-in option on your old Wii. Nintendo of course will probably disavow all knowledge of the leak, but if I hear anything along these lines from another faceless employee, I might be tempted to think they're accurate.

What do you think? Is it too soon for the Wii 2, or are you ready for it? If they make it easy on me to tranfer my games and files, and the trade-in scheme IS indeed fact, I can see myself backing off on the "too soon" assessment.

[MaxConsole]

Every Saturday morning, I head down to the local Brooklyn Flea market in Fort Greene.  Each weekend, the high school athletic "field" on Lafayette and Vanderbilt becomes covered in tents full of local vendors and residents selling their used goods, crafts, and original foods (including 2 pickle makers!)  One such vendor is Gnome Enterprises, who make some pretty cool t-shirts.  Businessmen-eating whales and Michael Jackson homages aside, they've got quite the selection of retro video game shirts.  Pac-Man (and the Ms.,) Arkanoid, Q*Bert, and Space Invaders have all been spotted one Saturday or another.

Obviously, we can't all make it out to Brooklyn each weekend, so here's a link to Gnome's online site.  Shirts run $25 in various sizes for guys and gals.  Enjoy.

Not satisfied with those miniature buttons on your DSi?  Squinting to see what your Pokemon are doing on your tiny handheld?  Keep losing that toothpick of a stylus?  Thankfully, Nintendo has solved all your problems with the Japanese release of the DSi LL (or XL in Europe.)  The DSi LL (does anyone else keep saying Nintendo window sill when they see that?) rocks dual 4.25 inch screens, a thicker pen-like stylus, and new colors (dark brown, white, wine red.)  It releases in Japan on November 21 and in Europe early 2010.  No plans yet on it coming to the Americas.

Is this a necessary update to the handheld line?  Is there really a big enough market of people, perhaps children or elders, who would benefit from a bigger screen and stylus?  The device seems to have no new features other than size, and while priced at around $220 US, it's more than a Wii.  I suppose time will tell if Nintendo is justified yet again in their craziness and the thing prints money.  One thing's for sure though, that dark brown is sexy.  Do want.

Hit the jump to see a comparison shot of the DSi being towered by the new DSi LL. (via Cnet)

Over the years I've had a wax and wane attitude towards racing games. I went though quite a Gran Turismo phase back during GT2, but almost without fail I've been an arcade racer fan rather than a simulation guy. So when I first heard about Fuel and what it was promising to do, I'll admit I was quite intrigued. While they seemed stuck on talking about the "largest game ever made," I was interested in the story vibe of Mad Max-esque battle though racing.

So, was my curiousity warranted.... or does this game run out of gas before the finish?

OK, only Halloweenies stay home and play video games on a night like October 31st, but as long as you've got a bag of candy corn and a mug of cider, the Halloween vibe can last for quite a while.  So in honor of the most sugar-laden holiday around, let's take a look at the best video games to play on Halloween.

[Author's note: Survival horror games have been excluded from this article since they're too obvious of choices.]

So I'm still hung up on Fallout 3.  Apparently, investing 100+ hours (and counting!) and reviewing the Game of the Year edition has not dampened my enthusiasm one iota.  And amidst my prolonged hours of setting Ghouls on fire and taking down the Enclave, it occurred to me that I hadn't been playing the game as it would have played out in life.

Many of you are already familiar the varied interactions and missions in Fallout 3 that are contingent upon your player's "karma", i.e. the summation of the moral decisions they've made throughout the course of the game.  While early on I'd made the decision to act "good" so as to reap the benefits and rewards contained therein, in many cases I was acting in direct opposition to my own instinct.  Not only did this strike me as hypocritical (a character only acting good for their own benefit can hardly be considered sincere) but it also didn't align with who I am personally.  In fact, as far as choosing my personal alignment (a staple of any good D&D based game) I realized that I'm really more on the "chaotic neutral" side of things.  It got me to wondering and I want to hear from you--

What's your "alignment" in real life?  And when it comes to gaming, do you deny or indulge it?

Gran Turismo for the PSP was announced right around the time the original PSP was, so to say this game was a long time coming would be a severe understatement. Polyphony Digital has always taken it's sweet ass time putting out Gran Turismo games though.... so are any of us really surprised? Well, it's finally out now just in time to celebrate the 4th version of the PSP, the GO. So that means it's available on UMD and as a digital download. But is it worth the entrance fee, or is this a race you'd be better off not lining up for?

When Forza 2 hit store shelves back in early 2007, it was a surprise success.  No one had ever taken on Gran Tursimo before and held their own, but the developers at Turn 10 had clearly pulled it off.  Combining great simulation gameplay with a selection of more than 300 cars and some insanely detailed custom design options, Forza 2 was the talk of the season.  It was even enough to push Microsoft's other racing franchise, PGR, out of the limelight later that year.

But I was a PGR fan through and through.  The endless hours of tweaks and customization and unforgiving controls of games like Forza had never really appealed to me.  That's why I was so surprised -- and delighted -- to discover Forza Motorsport 3 has taken a decidedly casual turn.

The MIDI protocol was designed to allow for two-way communication between devices.  Thanks to this forward thinking (the protocol was designed in '82), musicians can now daisy chain an ass-ton of devices and have them all communicate with each other.  But what does this have to do with chiptunes?  The Game Boy only has a standard audio output (or a patch cable output if you get a Pro Sound mod), so it can't communicate with MIDI instruments, right?  Actually, with the use of a converter box, it can.  Hit the link for some videos demonstrating a Game Boy loaded with LSDJ being controlled via MIDI.