Things are looking up today or down depending on where you live. GI has confirmed with Nintendo that the Wii will see an increase in price in the UK from 180 GBP to about 200 GBP. Why is this happening to our brethren across the pond you might ask? It’s simple, really. The state of the economy worldwide is pretty rank and the pound is depreciating at a rate, which Nintendo does not feel comfortable with.
“Due to the severe and continuing depreciation of the pound, we are, unfortunately, having to raise our trade price to UK retailers of Wii hardware,” said the company. “The price that they then offer to consumers is, of course, up to the retailers.”
“We are only – reluctantly – raising our trade price now to retailers due to unprecedented and sustained depreciation of the pound. This is a problem brought about by extreme currency fluctuations that are a symptom of the global economic situation,” said Nintendo.
So, it’s up to the retailers to pass on the price increase to consumers. No word on when the price increase to retailers will occur so, you might want to pick up a Wii now.
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and Monolith announced today that the first round of DLC for F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin will drop sometime next month. Specifics on the DLC pack are limited, but there will be a new map pack called “Toy Soldiers” that throws a new spin on the multiplayer experience. Also included in the DLC will be a premium theme and picture pack.
Sometime last week Rockstar Games announced that the South Central DLC for Midnight Club: LA would be available on March 12, tomorrow, but it’s been pushed back a week and won’t be coming out till March 19th. Other than availability nothing else has changed.
Atari released the first in a series of developer diary videos yesterday for Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena and I have to admit the game looks fairly enticing. I was a fan of the first movie, but not so much the sequel. I hear there’s another movie in the works, too. Anyway, Lead Designer Jerk Gustafsson and Art Director Jens Matthies are the talking heads for this video.
If you’re a fan of Activision and Infinity Ward’s Call of Duty series…oh, who am I kidding, everyone loves that damn series. Activision’s CFO Thomas Tippl proclaimed that COD: Modern Warfare 2 is “looking incredible” and that it will hit retailers just in time for the holiday rush. Tippl is so hyped on the game that he declares it the game of 2009 despite its launch date. Did the rest of you pubs hear that? Game. Of. The. Year. You better recognize, fool!
And like the redheaded stepchild that is the PS3, Capcom is showing it some love, unlike us, with leaked info on the upcoming DLC. Some new trophies showed up that reveal some nuggets about online modes that include Slayers, Survivors, Team Slayers, Team Survivors and Versus.
Here’s a sampling, but the rest can be found over at Joystiq.
