Newsdump

Supreme Editor-in-Chief

Maybe it's the "world's best selling PC games magazine" thing, but our comrades-in-arms down the hall at PC Gamer scored early access (way early) to the mega-RTS Supreme Commander beta. Greg "The Vede" Vederman has a quick-and-dirty"10 things I love about the Supreme Commander Beta"up on the PCGamer.com site. It's well worth a read - especially if you don't have to deal with listening to whooping, hollering and cheering all the damn day while trying to work - like we do.

Obliviated

Next Generationis back, as it is every week, with a podcast - and this time the guys tackle Oblivion and more, thanks to an interview with Pete Hines from Bethesda software. The intensely popular game's about due on the PS3, after tearing things up on PC and 360. The company also just announced realistic next-gen military shooter Rogue Warrior, so he should have plenty to talk about. Get todownloading.

Stuffed death

Tales of the Abyss is one of the most entertaining and likable RPGs to hit the PS2 in a good while. One of the most memorable characters in the game is the adorable / sly / irritating soldier Anise, who fights using a giant charmed stuffed... something... called Tokunaga. Well,you can win your own replica- including a variety of replacement heads (modeled on characters such as Xenosaga's KOS-MOS, Tekken's Heihachi, and Katamari Damacy's prince.) If you're worried that you won't win, you can also snag one for five dollars (with one spare head... here's to hoping you get what you want.) Yeah, the thing is a bit creepy-looking, but you won't find better RPG schwag this year.

Voting for more Freedom

We really enjoyed Monster Hunter Freedom, the PSP action RPG that has you hunting giant dinosaurs in beautiful landscapes... and then cooking their flesh over an open fire. There was one serious (and totally obvious) problem, though: no online play. Capcom obviously wants to get that fixed for the next edition, but it seems they need some evidence before they can light a fire under the asses of their lazy programmers. That's where you come in. Interested parties should head over to Capcom's site and fill out thissurvey. Ignore the sketchy grasp of grammar - just make sure you ask for online play.

Wii hype! We love it!

Next Generationreports that while the company is prepping four million Wii consoles this year (twice Sony's promised two million PS3s, which we're beginning to seriously doubt we'll see) there's still intense demand for the system. Capitalizing on the sketchy PS3 scenario without directly mentioning it, Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime slyly urged shoppers to get excited for the console - presumably because he wants retailers to order lots of them. Whether you want to do that after reading thesystem's launch game listis entirely up to you.

New screens

Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii)
Neverwinter Nights 2 (PC)
Rainbow Six Vegas (PC,PS3,360)
EverQuest II: Echoes of Faydwer (PC)
Flight Simulator X (PC)
Shadowrun (360)
1701 AD (PC)
EA Replay (PSP)

New videos

Rainbow Six Vegas (PC,PS3,360)
Naruto: Uzumaki Chronicles (PS2)

November 1, 2006