As Dilbert taught me, it’s very important that to be a good weasel you make it appear as if you’re the hardest working employee in the office as a way to actually avoid having to do any real work. You do this by getting upset over the smallest thing you possibly can and let everyone know about it, giving your co-workers the impression that you’re so passionate about your job that it stresses you out beyond belief. I’ve experienced many weasels over my working lifetime and let me tell you, it works and works quite well, especially when your managers are themselves weasels. Now, I’ve discovered the greatest way of having a great AND irritating time at the office thanks to the Irritating Games collection from Zanorg. A collection of great web-based games which are enjoyable to the point of obsession, most of these games are meant to boggle the mind while testing dexterity and reaction times. Some of these games are addicting (play “Double Game”) and perfect for wasting time at work while looking like the efficient little weasel that you are.

Play more: Irritating web games portal

Whoa man. My mellow is being harshed really badly. Really things are getting out of control with these PS3 bad trip commercials. In this recent commercial advertising the upcoming PS3 launch, an animated baby doll is excited by a floating PS3 console on the other side of the room from it. It makes some freaky noises, creeps me out, then it starts crying…..in reverse……..ooooookaaayyyyy.

Flashback to your bad trips after the jump..

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Garage Games recently announced the new 1.5 release of the Torque Game Engine, every indie game hacker’s dream engine come true. TGE 1.5′s major new features include the popular Torque Lighting Kit integrated into the package, oodles of updates and optimizations for the MAC OS X platform and the inclusion of the handy 3D visualization tool, ShowTool Pro. The lighting kit is an exciting addition, as it was previously a third-party add on, the lighting kit as been re-factored and updated to better integrate into TGE and gives users a quick and easy way to integrate more complex lighting into their projects. Dynamic lighting, dynamic light blending on terrains and major updates to the TGE waterblock system are a good good thing. The upgrade isn’t free unfortunately, but, hey, it’s the first time Garage Games has asked owners to pay for an upgrade in 6 years, so, cut ‘em some slack. They are offering current customers a good upgrade deal, so there’s no reason NOT to upgrade developers!

Read more: Torque Game Engine 1.5 available now

Microsoft announced their quarterly results recently, with some very good news for their Interactive Gaming division (Xbox, Xbox 360). Their gaming division were happy to see their results more than double thanks to the Xbox 360 momentum, inferring that Microsoft’s head start this generation is helping them create a solid customer base in anticipation of the PS3.

Some finer of the finer points from Microsoft’s Gamerscore blog after the jump..

· Xbox 360 will be available in 36 countries for the holiday and our installed base through September is 6 million consoles worldwide (3.6 million in North America, 1.7 million in Europe and approximately 700,000 in the rest of the world.)

· As such, Xbox 360 is in an excellent position for the second quarter. By holiday 2006, we expect to have sold more than 10 million Xbox 360 consoles worldwide and have a catalog of 160 high-definition games. Our yearly guidance still implies that by the end of the fiscal year we expect to have sold 13 to 15 million Xbox 360 consoles since launch.

· Key profit drivers for the platform include Xbox 360 software and accessory attach rates, which remain very strong relative to previous console launches. The Xbox 360 accessory attach rate remains the highest ever for the first ten months after a console launch in the US, holding at 2.9 accessory units sold per console (Source: NPD). Software attach rates rose to a record 5.1 units per console (Source: NPD).

· With the impending releases of the Xbox 360 HD DVD Player, the Xbox 360 Wireless Headset, and the Xbox 360 Wireless Racing wheel accessory attach rates are expected to continue their momentum into the second quarter and beyond.

· Xbox Live now boasts a community of more than 4 million members worldwide, with more than 6 million expected by June 2007. Xbox Live Marketplace, the one-stop digital download center, has seen more than 70 million downloads since launch including Xbox Live Arcade games, content packs, demos, and other media. To date, there have been a staggering 12 million Xbox Live Arcade downloads. All told, more than 2 billion Microsoft points have been sold to date.

Read more: Microsoft results at Gamerscore blog

Funcom, developers of the long-running Anarchy Online, a science-fiction online massive multiplayer, have announced that the game will remain free to play until 2008. Continuing with their model of offering free subscription accounts for older expansions, but charging $9.99 monthly for the latest version of the game, Anarchy Online will now include the Notim expansion pack within their free subscriptions.

Read more: Anarchy Online remains free throughout 2007

Green Monster Games, a new startup game developer from famous Everquest player and Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, comic icon Todd McFarlane and best-selling author R.A. Salvatore are currently hiring a lead programmer with Gamebryo experience to join in developing a massive multiplayer title. With a powerhouse art and creative team like Salvatore and Todd McFarlane as directors this is kind of exciting, with both having vast experience in creating extremely stylish, in-depth worlds. More information as it becomes available.

Official quote from Green Monster Games after the jump..

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Tasty Planet, a new release from indie developer Dingo Games, certainly wears it’s influences on it’s sleeve. In Tasty Planet, you play as a happy little ball of microscopic nanotechnology which is becoming aware of it’s surroundings and begins to devour the planet, starting with the body it’s implanted in all the way to devouring the entire galaxy. Not quite as cheery as Katamari I must say, but for what it is, an enjoyable indie developed casual game, it looks pretty interesting to me, especially since I can play it on my Mac (a rare treat).

Watch gameplay footage of Tasty Planet after the jump..

Read more of “Tasty Planet gameplay trailer – Katamari indie-style“

Another reason Target is SO much cooler than Wal-Mart. At the moment, nothing can be cooler than the Nintendo Wii, but, damn close are Target’s Wii-branded gift cards, complete with little blue LEDs that are activated upon opening. Credit for the photos are due to Go Nintendo.

Line Rider is a brilliant little flash application which was actually a project for a student’s illustration class, thus not officially a ‘game’ so to say. Though it’s not meant to be a game, users are getting hours of fun out this intuitive and beautifully simple physics, illustration, cartoon, project whatever-simulator. The user simply draws a series of lines, in any form, direction and angle, then clicks play and a little tobogganing cartoon dude goes nuts, shredding the lines which are now rendered as gnarly slopes. After about my 30th track, I had to sit back and take a break in order to actually finish writing this post.

Watch the ultimate Line Rider flip course after the jump..

Read more of “Line Rider – Physics and tobogganing cartoon characters make for lots of fun“

Wow. My distaste for Sony has hit an all-time high with the announcement that Lik-Sang, the best one stop nerd shop for all things games importing, are shutting their doors due to Sony’s multiple lawsuits “protecting” European consumers from the dangers of importing. My poor Wii pre-order, why Sony, WHY!!!???!?!

Official statement from Lik-Sang below..

Hong Kong, October 24th of 2006 – Lik-Sang.com, the popular gaming retailer from Hong Kong, has today announced that it is forced to close down due to multiple legal actions brought against it by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Limited and Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Sony claimed that Lik-Sang infringed its trade marks, copyright and registered design rights by selling Sony PSP consoles from Asia to European customers, and have recently obtained a judgment in the High Court of London (England) rendering Lik-Sang’s sales of PSP consoles unlawful.

As of today, Lik-Sang.com will not be in the position to accept any new orders and will cancel and refund all existing orders that have already been placed. Furthermore, Lik-Sang is working closely with banks and PayPal to refund any store credits held by the company, and the customer support department is taking care of any open transactions such as pending RMAs or repairs and shipping related matters. The staff of Lik-Sang will make sure that nobody will get hurt in the crossfire of this ordeal.

A Sony spokesperson declined to comment directly on the lawsuit against Lik-Sang, but recently went on to tell Gamesindustry.biz that “ultimately, we’re trying to protect consumers from being sold hardware that does not conform to strict EU or UK consumer safety standards, due to voltage supply differences et cetera; is not – in PS3′s case – backwards compatible with either PS1 or PS2 software; will not play European Blu-Ray movies or DVDs; and will not be covered by warranty”.

Lik Sang strongly disagrees with Sony’s opinion that their customers need this kind of protection and pointed out that PSP consoles shipped from Lik-Sang contained genuine Sony 100V-240V AC Adapters that carry CE and other safety marks and are compatible world wide. All PSP consoles were in conformity with all EU and UK consumer safety regulations.

Furthermore, Sony have failed to disclose to the London High Court that not only the world wide gaming community in more than 100 countries relied on Lik-Sang for their gaming needs, but also Sony Europe’s very own top directors repeatedly got their Sony PSP hard or software imports in nicely packed Lik-Sang parcels with free Lik-Sang Mugs or Lik-Sang Badge Holders, starting just two days after Japan’s official release, as early as 14th of December 2004 (more than nine months earlier than the legal action). The list of PSP related Sony Europe orders reads like the who’s who of the videogames industry, and includes Ray Maguire (Managing Director, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd), Alan Duncan (UK Marketing Director, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd), Chris Sorrell (Creative Director, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd), Rob Parkin (Development Director, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Limited), just to name a few.

“Today is Sony Europe victory about PSP, tomorrow is Sony Europe’s ongoing pressure about PlayStation 3. With this precedent set, next week could already be the stage for complaints from Sony America about the same thing, or from other console manufacturers about other consoles to other regions, or even from any publisher about any specific software title to any country they don’t see fit. It’s the beginning of the end… of the World as we know it”, stated Pascal Clarysse, formerly known as the Marketing Manager of Lik-Sang.com.

“Blame it on Sony. That’s the latest dark spot in their shameful track record as gaming industry leader. The Empire finally ‘won’, few dominating retailers from the UK probably will rejoice the news, but everybody else in the gaming world lost something today.”