On Amazon.com’s listing of the product, a note on the Xbox 360 version reads, “Due to high demand (and possibly the imminent Reaper invasion), we have unfortunately run out of our pre-order allocation for Mass Effect 3 – Collector’s Edition for Xbox 360.

“We are looking to secure additional allocation from the publisher and will update this page if that occurs. Please note – if you have already pre-ordered this edition – do not cancel as you may not be able to re-order.”

Even though warned back in November that CE versions of the game would probably run out, that didn’t stop some fans from replying angrily on BioWare’s forums. Priestly responded, saying that the items included in the Collector’s Edition simply can’t be made in time for the launch. “The items included in the physical edition cannot be made in time for launch,” he said.

Priestly then suggested that those who were unable to get the physical Collector’s Edition in time may want to purchase the digital version. Procrastination never was a good idea, but in this case, it’s your mortal enemy.

Via BioWare, Eurogamer.

Initially hinted at back in September 2011, there have been little information since then. Now, Square-Enix has revealed that Final Fantasy X HD will be arriving for both the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita. According to a translation by Andriasang, Square-Enix producer Shinji Hashimoto said that Final Fantasy X HD will be more of a “remastering” as opposed to a straight up remake. Questions had been swirling around what exactly the difference was at the recent Taipei Game Show.

In this case, “remastering” would be much like Team ICO’s Shadow of the Colossus HD Collection, or the upcoming Silent Hill HD Collection. Remakes would mean a complete facelift and additional content, although the latter doesn’t sound too bad either.

With this project under Hashimoto’s supervision, there’s no reason to fret. This man’s impressive resume includes Final Fantasy IX, Kingdom Hearts, Einhander, and The World Ends With You.

Well now, Final Fantasy IX HD does have a rather nice ring to it. Hmm…

Via IGN, Andriasang.

“To be honest, I think that the HD images which have become mainstream in the TV industry are, for me personally, still rather over the top for the world of video games,” said Sakaguchi during a recent episode of Iwata Asks. “There’s a tendency for developers to allow all their energy to be diverted into maintaining the high quality of the graphics.”

His latest creation, The Last Story, is set to release on the Nintendo Wii which is notably less powerful than other consoles of this current generation. While he could arguably be trying to tell us that he was trying to work with what he had, Sakaguchi says that he had the option of making graphics a secondary concern. “I was really averse to allowing the quality of the graphics to drop just because we were working on Wii, which doesn’t have HD graphics,” said Sakaguchi. “I do really think that, in the end, what we’ve created can hold its own against other hardware.”

As someone known as a superb storyteller rather than an artist dead-focused on the most cutting-edge graphics, Sakaguchi said that his most favorite feature of his upcoming title is the fast forward feature. No, it wasn’t the story. In fact, the fast forward feature lets you skip dialog and cut scenes. Yeah, it sounds a little weird coming from someone who has earned a reputation as being a superb tale-weaver. “What I really want the player to look out for is this fast forward function,” he said. “It’s my favorite feature. It’s amazing. It’s true, you can fast forward [dialog and cut] scenes. It’s different from just being able to skip the whole scene and interrupt the flow of the story.

“What I like about fast forward is that you can still see the subtitles and follow the story. It was something I was determined to do.”

Sakaguchi is also quite happy with the way the world itself came out. The Last Story is set wholly in one city (or rather, an island) called Lazluis Island (or Ruli Island in the Japanese iteration). Because you’re going to spending all your time in this place, Sakaguchi wanted a unique appeal, so as gamers wouldn’t get bored with it. “The player is going to spend a lot of time in this city, so I wanted them to like it,” he said. “Even with just a single city, there is a world with its own feel.

“With a location that’s familiar to the player, they can pick up on even the slightest difference. It has the advantage of making it possible to communicate even very subtle nuances. For example, early on one of the passers-by will barge into you with their shoulder and say: ‘Hey! What are you doing?’ But then when the hero has become a little more established, they’ll say: ‘Oh, I’m terribly sorry!’ That’s a really nice feeling. But it’s such a huge place, with so much going on, that even I still find myself getting lost down some out-of-the-way backstreet.”

The dev team filled in the blanks on their own. Players willing to pick up the title will see the most minute of details — people doing their laundry, buskers, and even drunk people sitting on a fountain. Sakaguchi said that it almost became a competition between team members to see if they could one-up each other. “I’m sure that if the staff are trying to impress and surprise each other, and just having fun with it, the city will be much better for it,” he said.

The Last Story is set to launch in Europe on February 23rd. No North American release has been planned, but if it’s commercially successful in Europe, then perhaps we might just see it across the ocean.

Via VG 24/7.

Ever played a game where it was all cut scene, and barely any play time? That’s exactly what Sakurai is referring to. At that point, you might as well make it a movie instead of a game. “…while there is a story, we don’t advance it by forcing players to sit and watch some tedious briefing scene or anything,” said Sakurai in the latest issue of Nintendo Power.

Sakurai continued that the newest installation in the Kid Icarus series does have a “ton of talking,” but it’s not to tell a story at all. “…movies and such are much better at telling stories in an effective and enjoyable way than games are,” he said.

Would you rather sit through some lengthy cut scenes, then proceed to dismember a couple of guys? Or would you rather sit and watch it with a bag of popcorn in your hands? Whatever path you choose, just know that Kid Icarus: Uprising is going to have a lot of chatting.

Kid Icarus: Uprising launches for the Nintendo 3DS on March 23rd in North America and Europe.

Via Destructoid.

Hilariously, while this will catch known offenders such as GTA and Call of Duty, this also catches all kinds of other not-so-violent titles. While the latest Leisure Suit Larry title may send one into a fit of rage, one could hardly consider it to be a violent title.

I won’t rehash Fourkiller’s anti-violent game rhetoric here. If you are unfortunate enough to remember what Jack Thompson was like, then Fourkiller literally has nothing new for you to hear. He touts the same weakly-sourced studies and platitudes as every other anti-game activist looking for some media exposure.

It just goes to show how weak politicians are when it comes to understanding anything tangentially related to our esteemed hobby. Internet? Video games as free speech? Jailbreaking? Whaaaa???

Fourkiller. Actually sounds like a Final Fight boss. Yeah, I’m pretty sure you fight him after the car breaking bonus stage.

3DS title Resident Evil: Revelations has taken a big hit, having dropped from sixth place to nineteenth. Need for Speed: The Run on the other hand rejoins the Top 20 in fifteenth place, up from twenty-fifth.

As always brackets denote the previous week’s position.

1. (-) Final Fantasy XIII-2
2. (-) Metal Gear Solid HD Collection
3. (5) Battlefield 3
4. (1) FIFA 12
5. (-) SoulCalibur V
6. (9) Assassin’s Creed: Revelations
7. (2) Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
8. (3) The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
9. (4) Just Dance 3
10. (8) Saints Row: The Third
11. (7) Zumba Fitness
12. (11) Rage
13. (10) Zumba Fitness 2
14. (14) Football Manager 2012
15. (25) Need for Speed: The Run
16. (16) Super Mario 3D Land
17. (13) Mario Kart 7
18. (12) Rayman Origins
19. (6) Resident Evil: Revelations
20. (19) Cars 2

Charts provided by Gfk Chart-Track.

Featuring a range of new interactive features, the site will give exclusive insights into the game including videos, interviews and artwork. This week, we have a featurette on the 608 Bull revolver, a “large frame handgun packing eight rounds of staggering firepower that can be shot very accurately over short distances”. Apparently.

With “a ton” of never-before-seen content including a new video, screens and 360-degree renders, this should keep even the most ardent fan sated as we wait for the game’s May release. Here’s a snippet of what you might expect . . .

Finally, here’s some screencap goodness. Don’t say we don’t spoil you.

Check out often for a fully-loaded barrage of new videos, screens, game details and much much more as we head towards Max Payne 3′s release on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC this May.

In the interview Wells talks about how they wanted to apply the new techniques and narrative styles they built into Uncharted to the hypothetical Jak & Daxter game. Ultimately he goes on to talk about how he felt that “we would end up limiting the direction that the company had this passion for, while simultaneously not creating the game that fans wanted.”

Nearing the end of the interview he delivers a bit of hope to fans of of the adventuring duo, saying how he believes Naughty Dog as a company have a lot of life left in them. Wells also said: “I guess there’s a possibility that the Uncharted Team could move on to Jak & Daxter.”

Obviously, Naughty Dog have other projects on the horizon – mainly The Last of Us – and Jak & Daxter will be getting a polish from Mass Media Inc for a HD collection of the first three games. This trio of games will be available on 7th February in the US and 24th February in Europe.

Does this news give you some relief that, for now at least, Naughty Dog will continue to work on their big blockbuster franchises – or are you filled with blinding rage that it could be a long time before you see a Jak & Daxter sequel? Either way make your voice heard in the comments below.

Via CVG

We’ll have to wait until the actual release to see for sure but perhaps this is the surprise hinted at in the kit. Check out previous coverage of the creation kit here, and all the other ways to make your game more beautiful here.

Personally I’m really hoping this is true, don’t get me wrong, Skyrim is already a beautiful game, but there’s no denying that the sheer size of the map can hamper some of the more detailed graphics. While graphics aren’t everything, given that Skyrim pretty much scores top marks in most categories, it would be nice to see it top this one too.

Via [StickTwiddlers]

The Master Assassin made a surprise comeback in the last week as well, having crawled back from oblivion to take the #16 spot in the Top 20. The Dragonborn continues to hold his ground against the market as well, still placing within the Top 10 positions at #6. C’mon, you really can’t pass up a chance to tell your friends to get a game that will literally take 300 hours of your life away, right? Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure, Battlefield 3, and Madden NFL ’12 round out the Top 20 spots.

Brackets denote the previous week’s position.

1. (1) Just Dance 3 (Wii)
2. (4) Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (X360)
3. (3) Zumba Fitness (Wii)
4. (2) Kinect Adventures! (X360)
5. (5) Mario Kart 7 (3DS)
6. (6) The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (X360)
7. (8) NBA 2K12 (X360)
8. (7) Super Mario 3D Land (3DS)
9. (9) Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (PS3)
10. (12) Zumba Fitness 2 (Wii)
11. (16) The Biggest Loser: Ultimate Workout (X360)
12. (32) Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure (Wii)
13. (13) Your Shape featuring Jenny McCarthy (Wii)
14. (19) Battlefield 3 (X360)
15. (10) UFC Personal Trainer: The Ultimate Fitness System (X360)
16. (-) Assassin’s Creed: Revelations (X360)
17. (29) Just Dance (Wii)
18. (22) The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (PS3)
19. (14) Dance Central 2 (X360)
20. (25) Madden NFL ’12 (X360)

Charts are provided by VG Chartz.