News from the virtual world:
— TRICKS AND TREATS: Nintendo celebrated Halloween this year by treating fans to the list of games that will be available for the new Wii console between its Nov. 19 launch and the end of the year. Leading the pack is "The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess," one of three Nintendo-published games (the others are "Wii Sports," which will come with the system, and "Excite Truck") that will be available on the first day. The 29 "launch-window" Wii titles that will be published by other companies include plenty of the usual suspects, such as John Madden, Tony Hawk, "Splinter Cell" and "Super Monkey Ball." But there are a few intriguing Wii-only offerings that take advantage of its unique, wand-like controller: swordplay adventure "Red Steel," surgical simulator "Trauma Center: Second Opinion" and a freaky hide-and-seek game called "Elebits."
— CLASSICS ONLINE: The Big N also announced the 30 games that will be available through its online "Virtual Console" by the end of December. The heavy hitters here are "Super Mario 64" and the original "Legend of Zelda," although if you've been jonesing for classic Nintendo Entertainment System sports titles like "Ice Hockey" and "Tennis," you're in the right place. Virtual Console will also features games from the much lamented Sega Genesis ("Sonic the Hedgehog") and NEC TurboGrafx-16 ("Bonk's Adventure"). Downloads will cost between $5 and $10.
— ERIC'S TRIP: Who needs a Wii more than you can imagine? Who else but "South Park" misanthrope Eric Cartman, fresh off his heroic fight to save "World of Warcraft." On the Comedy Central cartoon's Nov. 1 episode, Cartman froze himself with the intention of reawakening on Nov. 19, the Wii's launch date. Of course, the suspended animation instead lasted 500 years — into a bleak future where there are no video games at all. Oddly enough, the entire Wii-centric episode was sponsored by Square Enix's "Final Fantasy XII," a game that's exclusive to Sony's PlayStation 2.
— FANTASY ISLAND: Thousands of gamers got their first look at the PlayStation 3 at the 2007 Sony Expo in Honolulu last weekend. "The graphics are crazy, way better than the second one," said 20-year-old University of Hawaii student Doug Morrison. "I'm going to get one no matter what." Good luck with that, Doug. Even as fans oohed and aahed over games like "Resistance: Fall of Man," Kazuo Hirai, chief executive of Sony Computer Entertainment America, acknowledged it's going to be hard to find a PS3 before Christmas. "We are pedal to the metal in terms of trying to get as many units as possible into both the Japanese and American market," Hirai said. Meanwhile, Sony warned buyers that some Web sites are falsely promoting pre-orders on discounted or bulk shipments of the PS3. Sony didn't name the bad sites, but advised buyers to stick with well-known stores like GameStop, Best Buy and Wal-Mart.
— LINK'S ADVENTURE: The space that your typical GameStop devotes to PC software is shrinking every week, so publishers are trying to sell more product online. Electronic Arts has really gotten serious about digital distribution, launching a new portal called EA Link that replaces its clunky old EA Downloader. EA Link launched with 16 PC games available for download, including "Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07" and "FIFA 07." Future EA PC games will be released in retail stores and at EA Link at the same price and on the same day, the company said. "The business has gone beyond a static model of 'I've bought the game and I'm done,"' said Chip Lange, vice president of EA's online division, promising a boom in downloadable bonus content on EA Link. "This keeps the games dynamic."
— MASTER CHIEF WEEPS: When Universal and Fox pulled out of the "Halo" movie a few weeks ago, Microsoft said producers Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh were continuing with preproduction anyway. Now, alas, the project is on hold "until we can fulfill the promise we made to millions of 'Halo' fans throughout the world that we would settle for no less than bringing a first-class film to the big screen," Microsoft said. Millions of fans shrugged their shoulders and said they'd much rather know when "Halo 3" is coming out for the Xbox 360.