Link: http://neosteam.atlusonline.com/

Altus Online today announced Neo Steam: The Shattered Continent as the first game to kickoff its portal. A Steampunk MMOG. Mmmm... that would be something I'd like to play... lots and lots and lots of tinkering. I only hope the get the ART correct!

Two Kingdoms... Magic against Technology. The Technology guys have the hallmarks of Steampunk clothing. Leather... wraps... aviator goggles. The Magic guys have... fancy articulated steel armor!

Well, it's only just been announced. We'll see how it develops.

Link: http://www.nintendodsi.com/

Ooh... a new DS! Well, I have the DS Lite - the second iteration which was slimmer, lighter and had a brighter screen (more levels) than the original DS. Now, the launch of the DSi has been announced.

Nintendo DSi launches in the United States on April 5, 2009, at an MSRP of $169.99. The colors available at launch will be Blue and Black.

Black and blue eh? Wonder what they mean? The hit to our pocket books? What's new is the camera. The TWO cameras. One on the external body and one that points at you when you flip the thing open.

Another improvement is the sound application which serves as both an interactive voice recorder and music player. Users can access different audio filters or control the pitch and speed of recorded voice or music files to alter voices or change the tempo of a song. Even with the screenshut, we can access music files saved on an SD card. With SDHC cards containing upwards of 8G of space... that's a lot of music.

Backward compatible? Yes... mostly... anyone want to buy a much loved, gently used 2nd iteration DS? I want this baby.

Link: http://www.blizzcon.com

Why do I feel like this might be old news to most readers? Maybe because it seems to me that Blizzard fans personify "fanatics" more than others. But down to the news.

Blizzard announced that the fourth Blizzcon gaming convention, Blizzcon 2009 will be held at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California on Friday, August 21 and Saturday, August 22. The convention will be expanded from three convention halls to four.

The website http://www.blizzcon.com hasn't been updated yet, but fans will be able to find out more about ticket pricing and availability as the event draws near.

Link: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-midway13-2009feb13,0,4781703.story

Down but not out, Midway Games filed for Chapter 11 protection which allows them to re-organize and gives them some breathing room from their creditors. The filing follows the successful release of its game Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, which sold about 2 million copies.

Why Down but not Out? That's because it's a Chapter 11 and creditors know that they will get pennies to the dollar if they force a Chapter 7 liquidation. The company is worth more to them alive and kicking (or at least crawling painfully). So I'm sure we shall see more games out of Midway yet.