Usually, the tips we get at Ripten HQ have headlines crazy enough (like “Duke Nukem Forever to be released this decade”) that we have to take them with a grain of salt, but with two of the games in the above image already being rumored to arrive on Xbox Live Arcade, and one of them actually being on Xbox Live Arcade already, we can probably take this rumor with the whole can of Morton’s.

In Late March, the Pan European Game Information board listed Call of Duty for Xbox Live Arcade and the Playstation Network, but that information has since been delisted. Last week, the ESRB listed Shinobi for the Xbox 360 as well, even though SEGA hadn’t mentioned anything about the game. No one has said anything about Transformers: Origins, and according to the internet, the game doesn’t even exist. It’s not listed anywhere, and not even rumored to exist. Come on, tri-dub- you can do better than that.

If these games do exist, I bet that they’ll concur with the releases of other games in their franchises. Transformers will probably come out when Revenge of the Fallen does, Call of Duty will probably re-release when Modern Warfare 2 comes out. And Shinobi’s advent will probably coincide with the Ninja Insurrection of 2011.

It’s coming.

The ESRB has never been an impenetrable fortress of information, and the fact that they have a search function on their website doesn’t really help them keep things secret. Destructoid pointed our earlier today that the ESRB is now listing three Max Payne games, one being the poorly-recieved Max Payne Advance, and the other two being Max Payne 1 and 2, which are listed for the Xbox 360.

Since Rockstar announced Max Payne 3 a short time ago, they may be looking to release the previous games on Xbox Live in the same time frame as the third’s release in retail. Destructoid also pointed out that the games weren’t listed for the PS3, which could signal another exclusive for Microsoft. For now, we’ll just have to wait and see what Rockstar says on the matter.

Source; ESRB (via Destructoid)

Uhhh, the quirky headline and image should pretty much say it all, but if you need a little extra explaining, I’ll do my best. Midway has revealed three new MK vs. DC Universe Fatalities that I thought needed a little side by side comparison to their breakfast cereal mascot counterparts — Snap, Crackle, and Pop.

That’s right, Sonya snaps a neck, Catwoman cracks a whip, and Sub-Zero makes a frozen body go pop. I’m going to eat some Rice Krispies while I try my best to hold back tears of disappointment. ESRB for me to poop on.

Hit the jump and watch the video.

In the midst of all the Metacrtic user score bashing, you may have missed out on some fairly important Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe news. The Joker’s Gag Gun fatality that took the internet by storm has been reworked due to ESRB Teen rating scrutiny.

If you have been following our coverage of the game here at Ripten, you already know that we had a chance to sit down with Hector Sanchez (the game’s producer) at E3. He walked us through the latest MK installment, and we spent some hands-on time with it as well.

Overall, my impression was positive, and I was looking forward to the game’s release. That excitement escalated further when I saw Hector unveil the Joker’s Gag Gun fatality in late August on GameTrailers TV. He wrapped up the segment by addressing skeptics.

“So for all the people that thought that this was going to be Mortal Kombat light, you’ve seen it here first on GameTrailers TV, the Joker actually blows Katana’s head off.”

The concept was vicious and yet the blood wasn’t persistent — something Hector explained to be a key requirement in order to achieve a Teen rating. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to be enough to convince the ESRB powers at be.

The Joker’s Gag Gun fatality that I fell in love with just two short months ago has been further “teen-a-fied”. Kotaku describes the new version after experiencing it first hand:

Joker still whips out his prank gun, a “BANG!” flag unfurling. Unfortunately, you won’t see the follow up of Joker shooting someone in the face; that actually happens off screen now, the headshot safely out of sight.

Meh. I’m disappointed. Personally, I find those damn Highschool Musical films more disturbing than a little non-persistent blood. It’s too bad. I’m holding out hope for Hector and the crew at Midway, but it appears that the ESRB has them right where they want them — drained, dazed, and ready for a finishing move of their own.

The ESRB are at it again! If you do a quick search for “Marvel vs. Capcom 2″ on the Entertainment Software Rating Board website, you’ll get some shocking results. Apparently, the game is slated to be available on “PlayStation 2, Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3″.

While we know it is already available on the PlayStation 2 and Xbox, what’s new is the additions of the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. So we know it’s coming to our next-gen platforms, but we just need to know a time now. Don’t get your hopes up for a disc-based release though, it will probably be downloadable.

Source

Sega reps won’t be showing the extreme gore-fest MadWorld at this year’s Tokyo Game Show, mostly due to the fact that it may be too extremely gore-festy for Japanese audiences.  The game is being developed with a western audience in mind and will only be evaluated for a release elsewhere if it becomes a hit.

Japan-based Platinum Games, developer of MadWorld, is said to be be working closely with the ESRB.  They want to make the ESRB feel like “part of the process” and they “don’t want to surprise them”.  Basically, they want the game to be as violent as possible and are pushing to see where the ESRB draws the line.

This level of violence obviously doesn’t go over well with those pussy censors in places like Australia and Germany, so those countries are not currently in the running to receive a localized retail release.  Oddly, even Japan is not being targeted for some MadWorld action.

Platinum Games and Sega are mainly focused on making MadWorld a huge, bloody hit for the Wii when it releases in North America in March ‘09 and, depending on how successful it is, will consider releases in other countries sometime down the road.

Tough call on this one.  Most Wii owners are the proverbial “casual gamers” like my sister and her 7-year-old, and I don’t see either one of them being a likely fan of the game.  Sure, there are plenty of parent gamers out there that used their kids as a cover for buying a Wii, and maybe they would appreciate some intestine-ripping action, but people like me who think the game looks awesome, well… I don’t own a Wii.

What do you think?  Even if MadWorld were a good game, would that be enough to get the numbers given it’s violent nature?

Source: MTV Multiplayer

But what about us kiddos that are under 17? Those of us that would have to hop on our bikes, see if the cashier forgets to ID us, complete the transaction, and then pedal like the devil was chasing us home?

What They Play and the MTV Multiplayer blog have spoken to several minors (anonymous and otherwise) who plan to get their hands on a copy Grand Theft Auto 4. Read on for some of their best schemes to beat the ESRB.

As humans, we can’t help but want what is seemingly unattainable– it acts as motivation, especially when it smells of forbidden fruit (or at least that’s what news channels, activists, and overzealous parents make it out to be).

However, I’ll admit that I may be a little biased as I’ve played through all 3 recent GTAs and shot many a pixel-based fool in the face, and have yet to go on a murderous rampage. Although I am clearly preaching to the choir and straying way off point.

As kids we’re industrious; if we want something, we’re gonna get it! And it holds true for video games as well as anything. A few choice quotes that are up at What They Play vary from nice, clean, and semi-wholesome – although, keep in mind that age and identity both remain anonymous for fear of these brave young upstanding may get busted.

“I am mature and my parents know that I know that this is just a video game. I know not to follow any of the actions in the game. They’ll buy it for me.” It then transitions to, “My dad will get me M-rated games, but my mom won’t.”

Then it quickly degenerates into something along the lines of, “My mom has 1-click ordering enabled on Amazon, so I’ll use that.” From there the attitude becomes something much more sinister, such as, “Since my mom and dad divorced, it’s pretty easy to convince one of them to buy whatever we want.” I feel bad for that particular young soul.

There are many more quotes to be had at What They Play, all anonymous as opposed the examination that the MTV Multiplayer did, in which they picked 3 individuals within the age range of 15-17 and did a more thorough examination of all their cases. The first one is a schmuck that no longer even picks up a controller. What a loser.

Source: MTV Multiplayer and What They Play

Unlike the vast majority of politicians, Pennsylvania State Governor Ed Rendell is not a self-righteous prick when it comes to videogames. In fact, he supports the ESRB’s rating system, and he’ll even go on TV to prove it.

Governor Rendell recently teamed up with the ESRB to create a public service announcement educating parents on the ESRB’s rating system and how it can benefit their families. The PSA will run on both television and radio.

The Video Game Voters Network has a page in which you can submit a pre-written letter to thank the good statesman. Of course, you can edit the text if you really want, so you can thoroughly express your gratitude for his coolness.

It’s great to see a politician not be a total asshole, so I really think we should try to show Governor Rendell that we greatly support him in his efforts to support us.

You can visit the “Thank You” page made for Governor Rendell and submit your letters to him here.

Thanks also go out to Krispy Demon for pointing out the Governor’s majesty.

Nathaniel Edwards over at The Wii Playbox 360.3 (hey, that name’s too long) wrote up a nice little summary of what various candidates plan to do about mature gaming. Here are the highlights.

Hillary Clinton – Clinton was a big player in the infamous Hot Coffee scandal of 2005. She spearheaded the Family Entertainment Protection Act, an act which charges fines against any store managers that sells mature games to minors. She’s made it clear that she’s not done with the issue.

Mitt Romney – The current frontrunner for the Republican Party is more or less on the same page as Senator Clinton, looking to ban the sale of mature games to minors.

John Edwards – Edwards praised the ESRB, but still favors government involvement in the matter.

Barack Obama – Obama is in favor of the ESRB monitoring video games, but isn’t opposed to the idea of the government keeping them in line when need be. He’s also in favor of federally funding experiments to study the effect of video games on minors.

Bill Richardson – Richardson briefly mentioned educating parents, but then went off about general education.

So there you have it, gamers. There are plenty more candidates, but here we’ve covered the top Democratic nominees and the current Republican frontrunner. Hopefully we’ll hear more about this issue before the November elections. Check out Nathaniel’s writeup here.

With the US Playstation Store update, which can be found here, came the 1995 original and classic Warhawk. Nice to see it joining the Warhawk Omega Dawn Booster pack that some of us can’t yet download sadly.

The original game has a Gamesranking.com average of 88%, which is a tad spectacular considering it was born in an era when games weren’t given out 10’s left, right and centre. It can now be yours to play upscaled on your PS3 and on your PSP for $5.99

Unsure of whether you want to fly back to the past? Have a look at the trailer:

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When you’re a Democrat running for President in a time of war, what’s the best way to score points with conservative Middle America? How about sniping at the videogame industry?

If that sounds crazy to you, maybe videogames haven’t fully rotted away your brain. Banking on the fact that ignorant, reactive parents are going to pay more attention to her moral crusade than voting-age gamers, prospective Democratic Presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) has come out swinging her Wii-mote of righteous rage at the ESRB.

Along with Senators Joe Lieberman, Evan Bayh, and Sam Brownback, Clinton signed a letter to the ESRB taking it to task for not sticking Manhunt 2 with an AO rating, even after Rockstar made significant (and in some ways, fatal) changes to the game’s gore factor. And Clinton used to be so friendly with Gore!

Recycling the same junk science that put Jack Thompson in the Fox News rolodex, Clinton and company are also afraid that the Nintendo Wii will allow children to become intimately familiar with the downward stabbing motion. As if the shower scene from Psycho 48 years ago didn’t teach everyone that already.

Not to get too political here, but if you don’t want your rights as a thinking person to be trampled, or you want to see the ESRB treated with at least the same tolerance of free speech as the MPAA or other self-regulating industry organizations, better let the candidates know where you stand. To see the gaming business thrive, people need to stand up for the ESRB, or the next time Ripten writes a Top Ten Badass Weapons list, it’ll only include Nerf guns and Wiffle bats.

Source: GamePolitics