The Last Word: October 9-13

Before Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace came out in theaters, fans terrified of waiting in line only to be turned away on opening night camped out months early to wait in line to buy advance tickets that would then let them wait in line again when the movie released. That phenomenon was mirrored in the gaming world this week as retailer GameStop opened up preorders for the Wii and PlayStation 3 at its retail GameStop and EB Games locations.

Both preorder campaigns were announced the day before reservations opened up--the PS3 preorders happening Tuesday and the Wii ones on Friday--and both saw gamers camped out in advance for a spot in line on launch day. Even though gamers were putting down $50 reservations for the Wii and $100 for the PS3, nobody was guaranteed a system on launch day. Online auctions for the PS3--expected to be the scarcer of the two systems after launch thanks to a US allocation of only 400,000 units--were averaging $1,500 a pop following the beginning of GameStop's preorder campaign.

While gamers around the country looked forward to those next-generation systems, one of the more beloved developers of the current generation had its fate sealed this week. Capcom on Thursday announced that it was closing the doors on Clover Studio, the developer of critically acclaimed titles like Viewtiful Joe and Okami. While the news came as a surprise to most, it turned out that some of the studio's bigger names had already left to pursue other opportunities months earlier.

Also this week, Florida lawyer Jack Thompson once again had Take-Two in court, this time asking a judge to stop the release of the publisher's upcoming game, Bully. After reviewing the game behind closed doors on Thursday, the judge ruled that there was nothing in the game markedly worse than what could be seen on TV each night. He added that while he wouldn't let his own children play it, there was no reason to prevent Take-Two from releasing the game.

Finally, the Entertainment Software Association revealed a few more details about the new-look Electronic Entertainment Expo. For 2007, the convention will be moving from downtown Los Angeles to nearby Santa Monica, and it will be held a little later in the year than usual, from July 11 to 13. A significantly smaller venue will house the event, as E3 will take place in the 40,000-square-foot Barker Hangar, a far cry from the 720,000-square-feet of exhibit-hall space found at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Bookings for the event, now officially named the E3 Business and Media Summit, are expected to begin within the next 30 days.

MONDAY
GameStop details PS3 preorders
Analyst sees solid September stats
Conferences get consolidated
Blue Byte set on Settlers VI
LGF: Game tourney closes festival

TUESDAY
PS3 preorders sold out at GameStop, EB
Final Guitar Hero II tracklist confirmed
2K Sports tilts PS3 NBA 2K7
Sega fires up PSP After Burner
Q&A: Tim Schafer psychs out digital distribution

WEDNESDAY
PS3 preorders lead to eBay avalanche
Bully's judgment day is nigh
Japanese GameCube Zelda to be sold online only
Untold Legends gets Xfired
Level 5 travels to Wonder Town

THURSDAY
Capcom to dissolve Clover Studio
Beta begins for Burning Crusade
GameStop, EB Wii preorders detailed
OK game law sidelined
Q&A: From Sun Tzu to Xbox author Ed Halter

FRIDAY
E3 07 dated, detailed
Report: Judge OKs Bully
NPD: September game sales spike 38 percent
Clover stars had split Capcom
Sony shares rebound

NEW RELEASES
Shippin' Out 10/8-10/13: Scarface, God Hand, MK: Armageddon

RUMORS
THQ pounding out two Warhammer 40K sequels in 2007?
Lumines Live to be free?

CHARTS
Aussie game charts: Sept. 25-Oct. 1
UK game charts: October 1-7
US PC game charts: September 24-30
Bestbuy.com best sellers: October 1-7