The Last Word: December 11-15

With the week almost over, there are a number of news stories worth recapping, but the one prevalent theme is that they're all a little strange.

The week started off ordinarily enough with Sega's announcement that it had picked up the rights to make multiple games based on the classic Alien series of sci-fi horror films. While Sega didn't say how many games it would make based on the franchise, it did confirm at least two: a first-person shooter and a role-playing game. The publisher followed that up on Tuesday with news that it was preparing a new version of its arcade hit Alien Syndrome for the PlayStation Portable.

On Wednesday, it was officially a theme week for Sega because the company confirmed that the Alien-based role-playing game would be developed by Obsidian Entertainment, whose past credits include Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II and Neverwinter Nights 2. Sega then took a break from the alien news for a day, but returned on Friday with word that Brothers in Arms developer Gearbox Software was handling the Alien first-person shooter.

"Alien" could also be used to describe much of the language on the "All I Want for X-mas is a PSP" Web site, which supposedly documented the efforts of two friends trying to get a PSP from relatives for Christmas. The site included PSP-centric greeting cards, T-shirt iron-on patterns to print out, YouTube videos featuring songs about the system, and an abundance of Internet and street slang, some of it improperly used.

Gamers on the Something Awful message boards smelled something fishy and discovered that the site's address had been registered by Zipatoni, a Sony-employed ad agency specializing in "interruptive buzz marketing." After much mocking and indignation from all corners of the gaming community, the site was updated with a confession from Sony and a pledge that "from this point forward, we will just stick to making cool products, and use this site to give you nothing but the facts on the PSP." GameSpot checked the site throughout the day on Friday, only to find that it had apparently been pulled and replaced with a blank page.

Not everything that happened this week was bizarre. Some of it was merely unusual. For instance, Microsoft released another update to the Xbox 360's backward compatibility list. The publisher added more than three dozen new titles to the list, including cult favorites Psychonauts and Indigo Prophecy. Also, on Friday Nintendo launched a voluntary replacement program for its lightweight Wii straps, which some users have found not up to the task of restraining the controller should they let go of it in mid-swing.

Perhaps the strangest news of all from the week was one of the last bits to surface. An executive with a member company of the Entertainment Software Association told GameSpot that the trade group's president, Douglas Lowenstein, was planning to leave the organization next year. The change comes as something of a surprise, as the ESA is juggling a number of concerns, including multiple lawsuits over gaming legislation and the overhauling of the Electronic Entertainment Expo from a grand spectacle attended by more than 60,000 to a more-intimate, smaller-scale show where about 5,000 specially selected industry representatives get together to do business.

MONDAY
Microsoft releases XNA Studio Express
Aliens to spawn on next-gen systems
Brits buy 50,000 Wiis in 12 hours
Take-Two feels heat in $$ scandal
Quartet of titles hit Wii's Virtual Console

TUESDAY
Cop not charged in PS3 shooting
Age of Conan dawning on 360
German gov't considers jail time for gamers
Sega sets Virtual Console release dates
Study: Lefties better at gaming

WEDNESDAY
Obsidian developing Sega's Alien RPG
Euro Wii sales hit 325,000 in two days
Microsoft acknowledges issues with wireless 360 headset
Dragon Quest IX exclusive to DS
PSP hype site draws backlash

THURSDAY
Sony sticks to PS3 targets
Dozens added to 360 backward-compatibility list
Gears of War DLC to be free
Investigation still open in PS3-related police shooting
Interplay planning Fallout MMO game

FRIDAY
Nintendo replaces weak Wii straps
Gearbox enlisted for Alien FPS
SCi, Eidos bolstered by WB
Lowenstein stepping down as ESA pres
Gears of War hits 2 million mark

RUMORS OF THE WEEK
Brutes playable in Halo 3?
Best Buy not selling Wiis until December 17?

RELEASES
Shippin' Out: December 11-15: Zelda GC, lots of Wii

CHARTS
PC game charts: November 26-December 2
Aussie game charts: December 4-10
UK Game Charts: December 3-9