In an earnings call yesterday, Electronic Arts revealed that Burnout Paradise had been downloaded over 20,000 times in the first three weeks of launch on the PlayStation Store. "In the future we see slower growth in the basic packaged goods business, and higher margins, greater growth and reduced cyclicality [sic] with these new direct-to-consumer businesses," said CEO John Riccitiello, who added that the company is investing $150 million in digital distribution.

At $30 per download, that amounts to $600,000 for the publisher (and Sony, who undoubtedly gets a share of that). Riccitiello also said that on average, $14.50 has been spent per user in The Sims 2 online store. For this fiscal year, EA expects $185 million in online revenue. Burnout Paradise "Party" DLC and Ultimate Box set are coming February 2009.

News

• Spoiler: Angrathar, the Wrath Gate
  Don't click that link if you don't want the story ruined, but s. is about to hit the f. in Northrend. if you know what we mean.
• Ask a Beta Tester: Multi-passenger mounts and Enchanting
  Our beta tester (one of them) answers your questions about what's going on in the Wrath of the Lich King beta.
• New items for old Honor
  Blizzard's about to wipe all Honor and marks off the map, so here's what they're offering to let you buy before everything goes bye-bye.
• Shaman changes in Wrath beta build 8982
  Class tweaks are coming faster than ever near the end of the beta, and our class columnists are keeping you updated on what's going on.
• Boss models updated in Wrath beta
  Finally, Sylvanas looks like the badass Blood Elf Banshee Queen she's supposed to be.

Features

• First Impressions: 5-man healing in the beta
  What it's like to keep a group up in Northrend.
• Skill Mastery: Mind Sear
  A look at an Area of Effect ability coming to Shadow Priests,
• Breakfast Topic: The last week of Brewfest
  The in-game holiday of drunken Dwarves is almost over -- did you get your Brew of the Month membership yet?
• WoW Insider's preview of PopCap Games' Bejeweled addon
  Here's a first look at PopCap's official Bejeweled addon -- one addictive game inside another.
• Will Wrath really be ready by November 13th?
  Blizzard, a company known for polish, is still not done with some of Wrath. Will the game come out unfinished?

PS3's much-anticipated LittleBigPlanet will not ship with the online co-op create mode, according to Sony's official US forums. The feature will be added with the "first major update" of the game after launch, but no indication was given as to when we can expect said update.

The four-player co-op will still be online and four-player level creation will still be possible -- as long as everyone is sitting in the same room. LBP is slated for release globally at the end of October.

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

Unfortunately, we're starting Monday morning off with some slightly disheartening news. It has been revealed by the LittleBigPlanet community manager on the official US forums that four-player online co-op in the Create will not be available at the launch of the game. Instead it will be added in the "first major update after the game is released. Obviously there's no indication of when we'll be seeing that first update, but apparently Media Molecule is now hard at work on post-launch content, with emphasis squarely on four-player online creation.

You'll still be able to create levels with three of your buddies at launch, they just have to be in the same room as you. Four-player online co-op will obviously be available out of the box too. There's still plenty to do (and be excited for) in the game, which should keep us busy until Media Molecule release the online Create patch.

Our faces lit up this morning after seeing this image on Famitsu's site. Surely, this was it: Nintendo's long-awaited solution to the storage woes of every Wii-owning geek and otaku on the planet. Alas, no. After scrambling for a machine translation of the accompanying kanji, our hopes were emphatically mangled. This is no HDD unit, but a portable air conditioner the "Nintendo WiFi Network Adapter." Once again, life had thrown us a cruel curveball. Happy Monday morning, us.

Anyway, if you struggle to get your Wii or DS online (and we know from experience that it can be fiddly), then this dinky wireless LAN router is for you. It can be used with the Wii, the DS, your PC, and other devices, and will be available on Nintendo's Japanese homepage from September 18th, priced at ¥5,800 (US$53). There's no news yet on a launch outside Japan, though as the Nintendo WiFi USB Connector was discontinued late last year, a western release would be a safe bet.

Hit the break for three more images, one of which depicts the adapter's three modes: "Router," "Bridge" (for connecting to your Wii or DS via another router), and "Auto" (which automatically switches your network). As for our ongoing storage issues, we're still waiting, Shiggy/Reggie/Satoru ...

If Nintendo's got a weak point, it's the online capabilities of Wii games. Compared to other services, online gaming for Nintendo fans is definitely lacking, but at least these days, we actually have a few games that are online. It's an improvement! Which Wii game do you think has the best online mode, though, and why? Is that good enough?

For gamers, there's usually a push-and-pull battle involved in deciding to order a new game from an online retailer. On the plus side, ordering online means not having to deal with clueless game store employees, not fighting off the harsh rays of the sun and, most importantly, not leaving the comfort of the couch! On the downside, though, those online delivery people will sometimes arrive days after a game is available in stores, losing you precious time you could be spending pwning n00bs.

Amazon is looking to get rid of that major online ordering negative with their Release Date Delivery program for some of the season's biggest games. Shoppers that pay an extra $5.98 can get Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Fable 2 and Gears of War 2 delivered to their doors the same day they're available in stores (you may remember Amazon tested the program last month with Soul Calibur IV). Amazon Prime members can get this service for free, but it's only currently available in the continental U.S., so residents of foreign lands (not to mention the freak states) should be prepared to hoof it to their nearest brick and mortar game retailers.

Source - Press Release
Source - More Details

Aside from learning about Balance Board support and when the game would be releasing on WiiWare, we haven't heard much about what's in the Tetris Party game. Well, other than Tetris. We all pretty much know what's going on with that.

We now have some idea as to what gamers should expect from the title's many modes of play, though. There will be 18 different modes of play, with 10 of them supposedly being never-before-seen variations of single and multiplayer Tetris. Online modes will be titled World Battle and Friend Battle, where up to six players can take part in play simultaneously.

Aside from all of that, other modes were mentioned, including Stage Racer, Wii Balance Board Tetris Marathon, Field Climber, and Duel Space modes. We don't have any specific info on those, though, so we'll just have to wait until the game releases to spend some quality time with those modes.

Gallery: Tetris Party

In spite of its untimely demise, the Dreamcast still lives on in gamers' hearts due to a small library of now-classic titles, ranging from the grandiose, such as Shenmue, to the bizarre, like Space Channel 5. Falling closer to the latter on the weirdness scale is ChuChu Rocket!, a unique Dreamcast puzzler that's noteworthy for being one of the last great games to come out of Sega's Sonic Team (I mean, really -- Shadow the Hedgehog?), and for taking the Dreamcast online with four-player multiplayer -- no small feat in 2000. Just like Katamari Damacy, ChuChu Rocket! succeeds on the strengths of simple-but-addictive gameplay and irresistible charm.

ChuChu Rocket! makes no attempt to hide what it is -- a pure puzzler, free of all frivolities and unnecessary dead weight like a story. The concept is quite straightforward -- your only goal is to guide a group of mice (or, in some levels, just one mouse) into a rocket. In many cases, this involves avoiding cats who are roaming the puzzle terrain, waiting to make a mouse sandwich out of your little ChuChus. Both the mice and the cats move in the exact same fashion -- they head in a straight line until they hit a wall, which will cause them to turn right. It's a little like watching a group of lemmings, but, thankfully, the mice move just a bit faster.

After showing considerable interest in conquering Asia, Electronic Arts has been noticeably mum of late regarding its plans for the region, lurking like a rogue in the shadows, as if waiting to club the market on the back of the head with a fat bag of cash. Now EA has admitted as much, with EA Asia's vice president Chris Thompson telling Reuters that the company looks for the region to comprise some 15 to 20 percent of its total business by 2012. Compare this to the meager 5 percent of EA's wallet it's responsible for today.

Key to this expected growth is the Asian market's love affair with playing games online. According to Thompson, while online gaming represents a respectable 10-15 percent of the company's Asian footprint today, "five years from now, that the online portion of our business could be representing somewhere plus or minus around 60 pct of our business." Mama always said if you're gonna set a goal, make it lofty, though with Hellgate: London finding some rare success in Korea and Warhammer Online waiting in the wings, maybe there's method to EA's infatuation with Asia after all.

Nintendo is taking the whole portable connectivity concept one step further in the UK, with 33 brand-spankin' new DS Centers installed at various retailers. There used to be a bunch of creaky old "Download Stations" dotted about the place, but these latest models outstript the dated machines with their sleek superiority and high levels of rad.

The official website has launched, where you can learn what these white towers of fun can do for you and your DS. We love making generalizations around here, so we'll assume every UK citizen lives in a quaint little cottage in the countryside, always having scones and raspberry jam for tea. If you want to try one of these DS Centers, you'll need to crank up your old Reliant Robin and pop down to the local big-shot retailer to bust out some Wi-Fi fun.

These centers are a pretty good way to physically show UK gamers that their DS can do more than sit unloved at the bottom of a bag while waiting around for the next Coronation Street house party. You can download the latest demos, try a game you may have missed, and even get global with a worldwide network of DS players. It'll be just as fun as downing a pint at the Rub-A-Dub, right lads?

As you can see in the helpful video above, sharing your own stuff in Blast Works is likely going to be a ... well, uh ... a blast. It looks fun, doesn't it? Of course, the main issue is will anyone actually take the time to share? We hope so!

The stuff that folks can share ranges from something as small as a ship to something as big as an entire stage. It really looks like it'll offer Wii owners some solid online content. And, as you all know, the Wii is in need of some online functionality.

Those of you who booted up the Wii this morning and checked out the Mario Kart Channel may have noticed that the first competition has finally been opened for entry! The process is simple: complete three laps of Mario Circuit as quickly as possible, upload your time to Nintendo's big list 'o times, wait until the deadline (May 9th or May 10th, depending on your timezone), and get ready to bask in internet glory. Hurray, right?

Wrong.

When we think of Mario Kart time trials, we think of gradually shaving milliseconds off of our best times, of taking every corner as finely as possible, of finding the best way to utilize our three mushrooms, of locating the perfect racing line, and of keeping our noses just ahead of the time trial ghosts. Yet this first Mario Kart Wii competition totally misses the point.

For instance, it's not a time trial at all, but a fully fledged race, complete with eleven opponents and all the usual items. In other words, you can take every corner as flawlessly as possible, only to get blue-shelled on the final straight. Which doesn't strike us as a terribly fair contest. We guess this is meant to level the playing field for newer players, but shouldn't more skillful players be justly rewarded?

Anyway, if you do want to try your hand at being robbed of a deserved victory, this blogger's best time so far is a quite appalling 2:03.325.