Concept and execution are two totally different worlds. Although the concept and initial presentation of Lionhead Studios' Milo blew everyone away at E3 2009, what does fate have in store for the little digital boy's longterm execution? IGN attempts to answer that question in a little sketch they put together. We all know Milo will lose his innocence once he's in the hands of normal people, but just how bad will it become? Check out the video after the break.

While you're patiently waiting for the end of the week so you can cash that paycheck and pick up High Voltage Software's The Conduit for your Nintendo Wii, why not take a gander at what the rest of the interweb had to say about the game? Considering the lack of correlation between Metacritic scores and the sales numbers of Wii games, though -- at least according to Peter Moore -- you probably shouldn't let these numbers get to you too much.

• GamePro (70): "The Conduit is the closest you will get to recapturing the magic of Goldeneye ... To be blunt, The Conduit is a by the numbers shooter that offers a couple of thrills but ultimately doesn't make much of an impact ... anyone who loved Goldeneye will want to give a look as well if only to get a nice dose of nostalgia, but the rest of you shouldn't feel a need to abandon your favorite next-gen shooter for this one."
• GamesRadar (80): "The Conduit is fun, controls well, and is, at times, quite beautiful ... Both humans and alien drones are animated with competent physics and personality that puts High Voltage Software's Quantum3 engine outside the realm of the "GameCube 1.5" criticisms ... The truth is you probably wouldn't bat an eye at The Conduit had it appeared on PC, PS3 or Xbox 360 ... The solid, yet unremarkable single-player won't win any awards, but The Conduit still features the most finely honed online outings available on Wii."
  
• IGN (86): "The Conduit is not a revolutionary first-person shooter, but it's a damned good one ... the title features the tightest, most comfortable control scheme of any console-based first-person shooter to date ... The Conduit features a robust list of modes and maps to play online and nearly 20 weapons to use as you rip through arenas blasting foes ... it's not revolutionary, but The Conduit is a great first-person shooter designed just for Wii owners."

So here's the thing: When you cross sharks with marines, things get hilarious and, ya know, kind of bloody. It gets even weirder when the title in question is a relic from 2006 -- a game we've only seen in trailers for three years now! -- named Interstellar Marines.

All joking aside, the game looks to be in good shape and seems to be distinctly more defined than in our last look at it. Seriously, what could be better than real landsharks? A giant robot ... maybe. And this video's got that too! Check out all the landsharkery just a couple inches up.

IGN took a microscope to yesterday's announcement and came up with some with some ideas on what to expect from Rockstar's latest GTA IV DLC episode. We already know about Tony's fall from financial grace in the main GTA IV campaign, so IGN surmises that this latest episode will focus on Tony's attempt to reclaim his lost riches through the exploits of his assistant, Luis.

When The Lost and The Damned released, it included updates to Liberty City's LCHC and Liberty Rock stations, and IGN expects the same to happen for K109, Electrochoc and The Vibe, which hold Liberty's club-dwelling populace's interest.

There's a good chance that The Ballad of Gay Tony will mostly take place in Algonquin, IGN writes. Considering that Lopez's Dominican friends operate out of Northern Algonquin, and Gay Tony's empire spanned most of the south eastern part of the island, it's a safe bet to assume Luis will be handling business in the area when the DLC releases this fall.

Analytics firm OTX Research seems to already be making a name for itself after announcing intentions last month to track game sales. Speaking at the LA Games Conference, OTX's Nick Williams explained the surprisingly weak connection between strong online awareness of a game versus actual, hard sales numbers, citing Sega's recently released MadWorld as a striking example.

Noting the game's top position among IGN.com's games with the "highest level of unique interest," MadWorld came in at a paltry number 41 using OTX's "GamePlan" metric, a system that measures "1,000 gamers on a weekly basis, tracking 400 games at any given time." This translates to a bleak eight percent of Wii owners having even heard of the title, much less purchasing it (that's .32 percent according to April's MadWorld sales data compared with the 20 million Wii owners in the US currently). Hmm, we wonder what that data would look like for Grand Theft Auto's recent foray onto Nintendo's massively popular handheld!

It took an awful lot of numbers right there to explain an idea we've all quietly agreed upon for so long now -- hype and marketing in the "hardcore" gaming world doesn't necessarily equal copies moving at retail. Now, if you'll excuse us, we'll be over here playing BlazBlue.

Just like every other year, GDC in 2009 brought with it a bevy of new information (and the ubiquitous Pat Benatar rumor). And unfortunately, during the rush to post information, it's easy for publishing outlets (including ourselves) to mishear something, misconstrue a piece of information and/or not have time to follow up with the information source. So when Jeff Haynes of IGN heard Laura Scholl of middleware developer mental mill on a Dead Rising 2 panel speaking about "6000 characters onscreen during multiplayer sessions," he reported on the piece of information just as he heard it.

Unfortunately for Mr. Haynes though, Laura Scholl apparently misspoke. We contacted mental mill this morning for comment on the quote -- a quote that would ostensibly confirm an unnannounced mode for Dead Rising 2, mind you -- and Loretta Stevens told us that she was present at the panel when Ms. Scholl misspoke, saying, "She meant multiplatform." And so we went one step further and contacted Chris Kramer at Capcom to find out what he had to say about all of this: "Here's how it is: I believe what one person says about this project, Inafune-san. I don't know anything about this middleware provider."

When we asked him straight up if the game will have multiplayer or not, he had this to say, "We have not announced much about the game at this point," remaining clandestine on the subject altogether. So while Dead Rising 2 may contain some form of multiplayer, as of right now, it's officially not confirmed.

UPDATE: Laura Scholl has contacted us with further clarification of her statement, writing, "In my 'Making of Dead Rising 2' presentation at GDC this past Friday, while I was describing how Blue Castle is using mental mill technology in character development, I mistakenly referred to the game as multiplayer instead of multiplatform. I apologize for the confusion. The game is indeed multiplatform, and Blue Castle has done an amazing job creating incredibly photorealistic characters – from their skin tone to their clothing – in heavily populated and complex levels throughout the game. Gamers are going to be thrilled with how the game feels, looks and plays."

Wow, not only did Sony take the time to deny an IGN rumor about the PSP2, but the company took the opportunity to flat out insult the site. IGN recently cited "several credible sources" in a report on Sony's next handheld, allegedly featuring a touch screen, Bluetooth support, hard drive and GPS. MCV then spoke to Sony about the rumor -- that's when the sparks flew.

"Clearly, being a quiet time of year, many, what we thought to be credible websites, are making up stories about PSP2, and how it allows you to teleport across the globe, travel through time, and will be powered by the horns of baby rhinoceroses," Sony explained. "Hopefully, you can sense a mild tone of sarcasm, which should hopefully indicate how 'on the money' IGN are. Needless to say, we don't comment on rumour or speculation, but this is nonsense."

We don't know who to feel embarrassed for right now, but it's certainly going to be awkward if IGN is right.

Source - Rumor: PSP2 coming soon. (IGN)
Source - PSP 2 Rumors are "nonsense." (MCV)

An inside source has informed IGN that Sega of America laid off 30 employees today. We've followed up with the publisher, but calls, emails and IMs for confirmation (even about unrelated stories) have been met with an eerie silence.

We'll certainly update when more information becomes available.

Slipped in among the various topics covered in IGN's latest Nintendo Voice Chat podcast was an interesting little rumor: a "major online title" coming to Wii in 2009 won't require Friend Codes. How? Evidently the developer simply realized it could pull it off -- and, like most gamers, doesn't care for the restrictive system.

Speculation as to what game IGN was referencing (which, according to the site, has already been announced) quickly brought up The Conduit, the upcoming FPS from High Voltage Software and Sega. Joystiq has confirmed via a source familiar with the title's development that it does, in fact, utilize the Friend Code system, and isn't the game in question. So, what is it then? Let the speculation commence.

[Via N-Europe]

IGN reports that "multiple sources" at LucasArts and "elsewhere" indicate that the developer's next-gen Indiana Jones game has been canceled; however, Joystiq has contacted LucasArts for an official statement and things don't appear so cut-and-dry.

According to a LucasArts representative, "LucasArts remains absolutely committed to the Indiana Jones franchise. While we are aware that fans have been eagerly awaiting additional information on the upcoming game, they can rest assured that details are forthcoming."

Well, that doesn't sound like the game is dead, although there's certainly wiggle room in that quote to speculate that the long-in-development title has been killed with another taking its place. Of course, that would just be our old friends Rumor and Speculation stopping by to say hi.

There's an interesting tidbit over at IGN. At the bottom of one of their articles on the Xbox 360 version of Guitar Hero: World Tour, you'll notice a little blurb with an asterisk. It reads: "*Online gameplay is only available for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system and Wii and may require an additional subscription." Subscription?

Part of us thinks this ties into the whole music-sharing thing that was revealed during GC 2008. Remember, there Activision commented on paying for the ability to upload more of your own custom tracks. So, is this something to do with that? Or, are Wii owners going to need to pay a bit extra? We're thinking it'll have something to do with the music creation, but until we hear definitive word, this one's going to be left open for debate.


[Thanks, Robert!]

An associate producer for Konami's Rock Revolution confirmed that the game would be delayed until early 2009 during the company's Leipzig press conference, IGN reports. We've contacted Konami to find out if the representative meant that the title will be available for Europe in 2009 (this is a European press event after all), or if the game has actually been delayed from its original Fall '08 release in North America as well. We'll update as soon as we get the official skinny from Konami.

[Via Wii Fanboy]

The original Bionic Commando ended with a battle against The Albatross warship and then Master-D. IGN tells us that Rearmed's ending is going to be a little different. The Albatross is now its own level, and apparently the longest level in the game, with challenging rooms that will require shutting down a security system to battle Master-D.

Don't worry BC fans, we've been told before the original ending is still "historically accurate." Bionic Commando Rearmed will be available on August 13 -- be sure to check out videos of the new Albatross level after the break.

After confirming Kid Icarus for the Wii, Matt Cassassminasiissanisina from IGN has made a wee comment that's sure to disappoint gamers around the globe: "Uh-oh. Looks like we're going to have to wait a little longer than E3 to see the kid fly again. Not too long, though, hopefully."

Well, at least we won't waste our time during the Nintendo press conference hoping and praying for a Kid Icarus showing. Instead, we can focus on filling up the remaining spaces on our lovely E3 Bingo cards.