For Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America's executive VP of sales and marketing, July's E3 media briefing was the perfect opportunity to cast a new spell. With most of Wii's casual ownership tuned out (c'mon, you think grandpop was glued to G4?), the press conference should have marked an effort to dazzle Nintendo's wavering "core." Allow the fans a whiff of another classic sequel, and all would have been right in their hearts. Instead, well ... you know what happened.

"I would say the message is we were disappointed with our performance at E3. There were titles like Wario which we think will be really fun titles that we should have showcased," Cammie recently admitted to VGChartz, adding, "We were excited that Mr. Miyamoto made the commitment that Pikmin is coming. It would have been nice if we could have said that on stage." Points for honesty?

LucasArts has sent us a rather hefty excerpt from The Art and Making of The Force Unleashed book (itself a whopping 224 pages) that came out this week. We're guessing it doesn't end with a note on the dev team being cut.

Click above to peruse the gallery (Protip: Click on the Hi-res button on each gallery page to view a high-resolution version of the image). A demo for Star Wars: The Force Unleashed drops this Thursday, with the full game arriving mid-September.

We've already witnessed the news that made us go, "Wha?" -- Atari actually turned a profit this past financial quarter, even though it was just a measly $3.5 million smackers. GameDaily went a little more in-depth in their interview with brand-spanking new Atari CEO Jim Wilson to find out what the company's plan is for staying profitable and earning bigger margins, and we'll sum it up for you here: "We really, really, really hope Alone In The Dark continues to do well," and "Location, location, location!" Yup, it's trying like mad to establish a strong footing in the North American market.

The trouble with that scenario is that the most exciting Atari title we were shown at E3 was What's Cooking? With Jamie Oliver for the DS. Atari is relying heavily on N+ and Backyard Sports to make a splash... but will it be enough to keep its head out of the water? The publisher needs a huge smash that can potentially turn into a franchise to keep things rolling, or else release dozens of marginally successful titles for the DS and the Wii to make things stick.

Either way, the interview is an interesting read. While we don't want to see Atari fade into obscurity and bankruptcy again, the company has a hard row to hoe.

Thanksgiving this year will include both turkey and time travel, a magical cocktail made possible by Square Enix. The company said that it'll ship its DS throwback to SNES favorite Chrono Trigger in North America on November 25, just two days before families sit down for the annual feast.

Giving players plenty to keep them busy while fighting off the adverse effects of tryptophan, Chrono Trigger's DS debut promises new dungeons, touchable controls and an arena mode. Additionally, as the RPG keeps with the original's pixelated sense of style, Square Enix has all but ensured that Thanksgiving 2008 will play out much the same way as it did some thirteen years prior, as we ignore seldom seen family members in favor of the more interesting trio of Crono, Lucca and Frog.

Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure combines a block-matching, DS puzzle game--think Panel de Pon/Planet Puzzle League--with a side-scrolling platformer. This puzzling mash-up keeps the blocks on the bottom screen, Hatsworth jumping up top, and you toggling between each to maintain progress. We recently played this stylish title, due at the beginning of 2009. With so many small things to get right, we're uncertain that the puzzle-platformer will work, but we're impressed by its potential.

Wow, we can't believe we finally got to type that headline. This week, we get to welcome one of the few games that's actually older than Joystiq itself: Too Human, Denis Dyack's epic story of cybernetically enhanced, Norse-inspired technogods.

Elsewhere in the gameosphere, PS3 owners can download the new Ratchet and Clank adventure, and PC players can buy Two Worlds: Epic Edition, the title of which just ripped off our Irony Meter and kicked it down three flights of stairs.

You awaken this morning with a stabbing pain in your side, as you do nearly every morning. The straps on your ceiling-bed, while successful in keeping you tightly bound to your mattress, simply aren't comfortable. You undo the safety clasp and gently crash to the ground, taking special care to not land on the rotating floor-fan, which you paid the steep price of twelve steaks to have repaired just last Frumpday. You pull on your sandpaper pants, flannel overpants, one rollerblade, a cast iron breastplate, then place a sock puppet on each of your hands before checking yourself out in the mirror. You look good.

Gliding into the kitchen, you're pleased to find that the dictionary delivery boy (who usually runs behind on his dictionary route) arrived promptly at red o' clock to supply today's edition of the widely circulated definitorial tome. Your dog, though still incensed about last night's heated argument concerning the rapidly shrinking national bureaucracy, has made a fresh pot of coffee for you. How considerate of him. You pour some into a salad bowl, climb on top of the stove, and slowly empty the steaming brew onto your lap. "Refreshing," you exclaim! You then turn your attention to the dictionary -- skipping past the classified ads, you quickly find that week's Japanese hardware sales figures.

- DS Lite: 60,434 3,036 (5.29%)
- PSP: 58,501 2,680 (4.38%)
- Wii: 38,506 2,603 (6.33%)
- Xbox 360: 24,962 19,603 (365.80%)
- PS3: 9,673 165 (1.74%)
- PS2: 8,503 542 (5.99%)

"How entirely predictable," you remark.

You wish, more than anything, to live in a world parallel to your own -- a world where beds are placed on floors and rotating fans are attached to ceilings. A world where steaks are eaten, not spent. A world where wearing two rollerblades at a time (or none, for that matter) isn't considered an illegal activity. A world where dogs kept their acerbic, self-righteous opinions to themselves. A world where coffee could be enjoyed with one's mouth. A world where the PSP would possess an unflagging sales dominance over all other systems in Japan, while the 360 would possess a contrariwise familiarity with last place.

But such a world, such a strange and marvelous world, could not possibly exist.

[Source: Media Create]

See: The frequently emptied archives

Fans of J.K. Rowling's uber-successful series of wizardly novels received some heartbreaking news Friday -- the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has been delayed from its initial release date of November 21, 2008 to a distant July 17, 2009. Electronic Arts has yet to announce how this major delay will affect the release window of their similarly titled video game adaptation of the film/book, though many gaming industry analysts, such as Signal Hill's Todd Greenwald, are predicting that EA will follow suit, with hopes that the film will whip up a Half-Blood frenzy that will boost sales of the game.

The repercussions of a Potter game delay could be bad for Electronic Arts, as both their holiday profits and fiscal 2009 revenue could take a hit without the title -- however, it could mean good news for those waiting on a truly stellar Harry Potter video game. Greenwald claims the title is "pretty much done and ready", meaning a delay would give EA an extra eight months to perfect the movie tie-in. We'll let you know what EA decides to do once they make an official statement.

We can only imagine how dejected you must feel right now, sitting at home with a tummy full of popcorn and a heart brimming with disappointment. Your friends and family inquire about the reason for your sorrows, until they notice the tear-soaked ticket stub for Star Wars: The Clone Wars lying on your dresser. No amount of playing with your highly collectible Mego Han Solo seems to help -- your infatuation with George Lucas' epic space opera is dwindling, flickering like a candle in the unforgiving wind.

Allow us to offer you this minor consolation -- a sextuplet of videos from Lucasarts' upcoming dark side frolic, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, via GameTrailers. The trailer above is one of the best pieces of media we've seen from the title, showing some familiar faces from the series and ... what's this? A romantic sub-plot? After the break, we've got five videos which apparently highlight one of the first levels from the game. Before pawning your collection of X-wings in protest, we highly suggest checking them out -- they might just rekindle your once unflappable Lucas-love.

Tossing aside the standard temporal ocarina for something a little more complex, a "Flute Link" cosplayer performed on stage at this year's Masquerade show at the Otakon 2008 in Baltimore, bringing Navi in tow. It's a great performance, although it's hard to tell when she's playing live and when it's pre-recorded (for demonstrationg of her live performance, we also embedded a video of Flute Link performing Tetris with an Otaku band.

And for anyone who ever wished Navi would get her what for, keep watching until about the 4:25 mark. Video embedded after the break.

[Via VG Cats]

Rare has announced that the THQ-published Viva Pinata: Pocket Paradise for the DS will be proliferating retail shelves with dirty puns on September 2 in North America and September 5 in UK and EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) alongside the Xbox 360 sequel VP: Trouble in Paradise. The DS title will also "begin to filter through to the rest of the world on the 11th, with VP:TIP not far behind."

Along with the announcement, Rare also released its second Halo 3 parody, "Museum," based on the sci-fi shooters' Believe ad campaign. We've embedded the video and the previously released (and pretty funny) "Believe Pinata" video after the break.

Developer Black Box's nitro button must be worn down to a nub. The studio announced today that its upcoming Need for Speed sequel, Undercover, will ship this November, pulling up to the starting line well before the 2009 release previously mentioned by EA CEO John Riccitiello.

In development for every platform under the sun (yes, even mobile phones), Need for Speed Undercover will also sport what Black Box describes as "big-budget live-action sequences" starring Balls of Fury and Mission Impossible III actress, Maggie Q, as a federal agent who recruits drivers to take down a criminal syndicate. While recent Need for Speed racers have all but siphoned our tanks of what enthusiasm we once had for the series, those who care can look forward to race with Ms. Q in North America on November 18 and in Europe on November 21.

After everyone saw gains last month (with one devilish exception), July's NPD figures revealed North American hardware unit sales declined across all companies, but otherwise the list is the same as it was in June. What's starting to unnerve us is Nintendo's data. To be able to say a company went from 666 to 555 (a difference of 111) is a bit creepy, dontcha think?

In terms of software, the Xbox 360 version of NCAA Football 09 barely eked out Wii Fit, while Wii Play w/remote still manages to move up a slot from 5 to 4 this month. Here are this month's NPD hardware sales figures:

- DS: 608K175K (-22.35%)
- Wii: 555K111K (-16.7%)
- PS3: 224.9K 180.1K (-44.5%)
- PSP: 221.7K 115.3K (-34.21%)
- Xbox 360: 204.8K 15.2K (-6.91%)
- PS2: 155.5K 33K (-17.6%)

You'll find the top ten in software sales after the break.

Triumph Studios' excellent (but flawed) Overlord will receive a sequel on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC, along with new versions for the Wii and DS, all scheduled for 2009. IGN reports Overlord II will have smarter minions who can ride mounts, use war machines and sail ships. The scope of the game world has been broadened in the sequel and the controls for the Pikmin-style gameplay have been "greatly improved." We loved the first game, and it's great to hear about all these improvements for the sequel, but we hope "polish" is a word that Triumph doesn't forget this time around.

The Overlord franchise will also spawn Overlord Dark Legend on Wii by Climax Studios, an "all new game" penned by Rhianna Pratchett. The game seems to be set in the original Overlord's world with many of the same characters, but with the inclusion of some fractured fairy tale aspect. Finally, on DS (and also by Climax Studios), Overlord Minion will present players with a puzzle action game. OK, does that about cover all the Overlord info? Good, all hail the Overlord!

Source -- Overlord 2: Xbox 360, PS3, PC
Source -- Overlord Dark Legend: Wii
Source -- Overlord Minion: DS

We received a nice letter from Nintendo of America today, thanking us for our attendance at their E3 2008 media briefing (we think the community has already sent their messages to NoA). At first, we were excited to have authentic signature from famous Nintendo executives Reggie Fils-Aime, Cammie Dunaway and Denise Kaigler (we like to collect them like pokemon).

Our excitement then quickly turned to utter disappointment (some would call that appropriate). As it turns out, every attendee got the same letter, complete with the same signatures in the exact same spots. After we discovered the names were stamped on, their eBay value immediately dropped from US $0.01 to three pieces of hair and a first-print of Daikatana.