Joystiq

The standard "snooze button" is for the lazy. You're not lazy, are you? You want to work for those extra seven minutes of rest in the morning. Well, with the DDR Alarm Clock Finger Dance Alarm Clock you can honorably earn the extra sleep: just turn on your brain when the alarm chimes, key in the lit panels in order and you may go back to sleep.

Though it highlights the £9.99 ($16) cost, the product description doesn't detail if the pattern is randomly generated every morning. If it's a set pattern, your hand's muscle memory will eventually key it in faster than the frantic feet of that little boy playing DDR on ludicrous difficulty down at the cineplex.

[Via Engadget]

When it comes to location-based services for guilds and players of World of Warcraft, Israel might just have what it takes to be the best. A new company there called WoWPals does just that, offering players and guilds tools to locate players around them ... in the real world. We know that's a scary concept, but, trust us, the outside world has some neat stuff in it. Like flowers, clouds, and interpretive dance. Just try to avoid the bears.

The latest post on the Platinum Games blog comes from an employee named Kudo, who is currently working on effects for Bayonetta. To explain what that means, he demonstrated what Bayonetta looks like both with and without effects in two video clips, embedded after the break. The fog, flashes of gunfire, and ... ethereal purple mist are all surprisingly important to the look of the game!

Discussing another effect, Kudo recounts a rather amusing encounter with producer Hideki Kamiya. Kamiya decided that he wanted Bayonetta's blood following an attack to appear as a rose, because, " If it isn't pretty, then it isn't Bayonetta!!" He then went on to physically, and vocally, demonstrate Bayonetta's damage animation. "She just goes, 'Wuhhh!!'" Kamiya said. "You know... 'Wuhhh!!'"

You can see footage of the results of that meeting after the break as well.

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In 19 days, it'll be two years since we last heard anything about Call of Juarez developer Techland's "open ended FPS," Warhound. So, when we heard last week that the developer was still working on its zombie-infused Dead Island, we shot Techland an email and asked about the game once intended to rival Crysis' graphics.

Blazej Krakowiak, the company's international brand manager, told us, "We reached a certain development stage and had to postpone it because of Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood." He continued, "A release of an ambitious and well-received title is always a good moment to unwind a little bit and reevaluate all the options," speaking to the recent release of Bound in Blood. "It wouldn't be a good idea for us to discuss them right now." Though Krakowiak doesn't exactly confirm our suspicions on the fate of Warhound, his caginess on the game's fate speaks volumes.

If Mega Man 9 isn't retro enough for you, you might enjoy the enormous, jagged pixels found in the Atari 2600 demo version of Mega Man created for 2007's I Am 8-Bit show. David Galloway has finally released the demo on Atari Age's forum, which means that you can download the game and play it on an Atari 2600 emulator right now.

The brief demo is an impressively faithful translation of the NES game's mechanics, with Mega Man running, jumping and shooting just as you'd expect (though shooting is mapped to down on the joystick, because the 2600 only has one button). The demake ends at the Elec Man fight, which is even harder in this version than it is in the original. A playthrough of the entire demo follows after the break.

[Via GameSetWatch]

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Take that, crumbling economy! In a recently released report (PDF), Nielsen Media Research claims that, despite poor economic conditions, gamers are actually spending more time playing games in 2009 than they have in previous years. In fact, the number of hours spent per week playing games is at an all-time high. Nielsen attributes this rise to "mainstream gamers" spending more time with "broadly appealing" titles like Rock Band, Guitar Hero and Wii Fit. Playing these games for all they're worth can help gamers "stretch their entertainment dollar," according to Nielsen's Michael Flamberg, director of client consulting,

Furthermore, used game sales are also higher than ever before. Since January, the average number of used games purchased in a six-month period has risen from 3.01 to 3.51, accounting for 36 percent of all games purchased. The firm also reports that subscription to game rental services like GameFly is on the rise, stating that some gamers may use such services as a substitution for purchasing new games.

What say you, Joystiq readers? Has the economy driven you to purchase more used games?

Earlier today, Ubisoft announced its continuing Canadian expansion, with a new studio being established in the province of Ontario's capital city of Toronto. In a joint announcement with the Premier (his actual title) of Ontario, Ubi revealed the studio will have about 800 employees, while the government is committing $263 million in funding over the next decade. We spoke with Ubisoft Montreal CEO -- and newly formed Ubisoft Toronto boss --, Yannis Mallat, about his plans for the company why Toronto was "culturally" the right place for Ubisoft to expand its development reach.

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Is the drum kit above (to the right) what Guitar Hero 5 will be shipping with when it hits this September? We're not 100% sure, but a trusted source at our sister site Engadget sent in the blurry shot, leading us to believe it could very well be.

The new set bears a strong resemblance to that other full band music/rhythm game -- hey, there's even a lower bar support where the kick pedal could possibly hook on! Additionally, as Engadget rightly points out, the system controls have been moved in front of the pads. The back of the set allegedly features two kick pedal jacks and a "mysterious black mini jack" as well. We've asked for comment from Activision for confirmation of the set and have yet to hear back.

Microsoft has confirmed the news from Friday that the 1 vs 100 beta marches on; meanwhile, skill-based prizes for the mob and "The One" (up to 10,000 / $125) will begin this Friday, July 10, in the US and Canada. There is also a second sweepstakes going on for an HDTV and Zune, where players win an entry for "every question they answer" in the Live show and during Extended play.

A company rep also informed us that the beta season is "scheduled to run for 13 weeks and began on June 1." By our Roman calendar calculations, that means the "real" season begins in September.

Addendum: Once again, prizes aren't available for residents of Connecticut, Iowa, Maryland, Vermont, and the great province of Quebec.

The purists amongst you might be curious to learn precisely which versions of LucasArts' classic adventure games are making their way to Steam this Wednesday ... after all, LOOM was released in both a 16-color EGA floppy disk version, as well as a 256-color CD-ROM version with full voiceover (so-called "talkie" support); Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis was released on both floppy disk and then CD-ROM a year later; and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Graphic Adventure was released on both floppy and CD as well ...

... but the Steam version of The Last Crusade isn't the CD-ROM version that was released in 1992! LucasArts tells us that the version of The Last Crusade that will be put on Steam is a "previously unreleased version" with "even more bugfixes" than the original CD-ROM re-release, along with a "Tandy 1000 sound engine." As for LOOM and Atlantis, you'll be seeing the CD-ROM "talkie" versions for both on Steam.

The Dig was CD-ROM only, and the other six titles being released on Wednesday only had one version. The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition is a special case – the remastered version is obviously new, but you can switch back and forth between the "Special Edition" and the original. That "original" release is in fact the CD-ROM version of the game, not the floppy disk version, in case you were wondering.

Also of note: the copy protection system for both LOOM and The Last Crusade was to include an add-in – the "Book of Patterns" and "Grail Diary" respectively – that would have to be referenced while playing the game (take that, pirates!). LucasArts tells us they'll have PDF versions of both, so fret not, Adventure Gamer. It's your week!

Skimming through the Interweb this morning, we stumbled upon statements made by BioWare's Greg Zeschuk and Ray Muzyka, spelling out their interest in creating games more reliant on story than combat. Well no duh, guys. However, digging deeper, we found that the BioWare docs aren't just talking about the usual marriage of story and gameplay that their studio focuses on, but removing combat nearly entirely from games in the future.

"We talk a certain amount internally about whether you need to have combat as part of the experience ... are there possibilities to actually start separating pieces of the game and actually tailor it to the audience," Zeschuk said to GamesIndustry.biz. "There are different audiences that would maybe just enjoy the story," he continued, hinting at the possibility of future BioWare games without any violent actions whatsoever. Though we're inclined to point to the plethora of adventure games out there, we're more hopeful for a Jade Empire sequel with extra spoonfuls of violence rather than too much reliance on story. We can hope, can't we?

After finishing and loving Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood, I was so smitten that I went back and dug out the original, which I had never played. After a couple of hours, I switched it off, fueled by a gross combination of frustration and boredom. It's then that it occurred to me that BiB, while not perfect, is a great example of how best to make a sequel to a flawed product.

1. Ditch what doesn't work: In Bound in Blood -- a prequel to the original cowboy FPS -- what's most notable is perhaps what hasn't made the journey from the original game. There's no more crummy fisticuffs, no more holstering your irons to do a special move, no using a whip for frustrating platforming and no weapons that fall apart after use.

Developer Techland has, as William Faulkner suggested, killed their little darlings, and the Juarez followup is so much the better for it. If something you treasure was left by the wayside, I apologize. I can, however, assure that it was, in fact, terrible, and you were wrong to like it. Wrong.

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Thanks to the recent shift in video games towards introducing more movement in control, our favorite pastime has just gotten the thumbs up from the Joan Ganz Clooney Center at Sesame Workshop, which wrote, "Well-designed digital games show significant potential to promote children's growth and healthy development. They can foster skills and knowledge that help children with academic learning, as well as habits which contribute to better health."

We're happy that The House That Big Bird Built approves. In turn, we'd like to remind everyone that reading is totally horse apples and completely F.P.O. (that's "For Poindexters Only"). So there.

He actually said that out loud. When asked whether LucasArts' classic lineup -- recently unearthed for Steam release -- could wind up on portable platforms such as the iPhone, DS or PSP Go, company CEO Darrell Rodriguez told Joystiq, "On iPhone, you know Apple's policy that we can't talk about a release until it's ready to release. But it would make sense that we would do something like that if we were to go in that direction ... wink wink, nod nod."

Wink wink, nod nod. Thanks to our remarkable journalistic acumen, we can only conclude that he's attempting to convey relevant information by verbally describing physical body language. Other drifts tossed into our cupped hands: Rodriguez has deemed LucasArts' new endeavor to release old, beloved titles a "passion project" -- and it's "just the beginning." He also said that out loud.

As for iPhone ports of point-and-poke classics (or even remakes like The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition), well, we think we would quite like that. If you know what we mean.

If you were planning on using your Compy 386 to tap into the rally-racing action contained within Codemasters' upcoming release, DiRT 2, you're going to have to wait a bit longer than your console-toting brethren. Though the game is leaping onto PS3 and Xbox 360 in September, it's not going to pull into the PC parking lot until December.

The delay can be attributed to the developers' desire to implement the brand new DirectX 11 tool set in order to improve the game's graphical fidelity. Such areas of improvement include the "appearance of water and other surfaces as well as crowd animations," not to mention "depth of field, ambient occlusion and shadows." Also, we hear the game's titular dirt will be 300 percent dirtier. Thanks, technology!