Ubisoft is hell-bent on putting its foot down against piracy as they are targeting this year to come out with a piracy solution for their games on the various platforms. The publisher has admitted that their products have been dealt a heavy blow because of the piracy, and they are now working on a tool that should cushion the impact of the said problem.

Nintendo's going on a swashbuckling offensive, asking the US Trade Representative for help on making pirates walk the plank. They also sent out a press release, calling out certain countries where "piracy is rampant," and China is at the top of their list.

Reports have come in that the PC version of Funcom's Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures (the Xbox 360 version is still in the works) has dethroned Grand Theft Auto 4 (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3) from the sales list in both Germany and Sweden. However, both games were not able to stand up to the might of Wii Play in Spain. Care to find out more? Check out the full article.

Vivendi Games Mobile, a division of Vivendi Games, is giving European mobile phone subscribers a chance to win a Nintendo Wii video game system in exchange for their "worst ever date" stories.

"Terrible dates are something that everyone experiences but few ever really talk about, so this is a chance to celebrate Larryness and engage in some collective laughter therapy courtesy of Nintendo and MySpace," said Paul Maglione, president of Vivendi Games Mobile.

This contest is part of Vivendi's campaign to drum up support for the recently-launched mobile game Leisure Suit Larry: Love for Sail. The game is now available on wireless networks throughout Australia, New Zealand, and across Europe. Leisure Suit Larry: Love for Sail will soon be launching on carriers in North America as well.

Those interested have until August 8 to post their worst date story to the Leisure Suit Larry: Love for Sail Myspace web page and add Larry as their "top friend." You can click on the Read link to head there. There will be five winners in all - one each from the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.

So you're planning a road trip, eh? Finally decided to get out of the house, stretch your legs, and get some well-needed R&R after that ridiculously-long all nighter fragging loud thirteen-year-old kids in the Halo 3 Beta? Spiffing! The sunshine will do you a world of good, not to mention the physical rigors of an excursion will get the juices flowing again in those game-atrophied muscles.

While there are some ideal destinations that let you lounge beside a sparkling pool while being waited on hand and foot by beautiful, scantily-clad specimens of the female persuasion, there ARE a couple of locations you might want to mark off your list, or avoid entirely. This Videogame Enthusiast Survival guide is about those locations, and if on the off-chance you find yourself in them - well, you're pretty much beyond all help.

But don't lose ALL hope, though, as this IS a survival guide, and we have a few tips to share - just in case.

The full Survival Guide after the jump!

You gotta hand it to Capcom, they may love sequels, but they do a darn good job most of the time. Resident Evil 4 has had quite a journey so far. It first appeared on the Nintendo GameCube where it got rave reviews for breathing in a lot of new life to the then-aging zombie franchise. Having totally reinvented itself, the world-famous survival horror ported to the Sony PlayStation 2 where it did just as well with some nice extras. Now we'll have a look as it heads to the Nintendo Wii.

True to the story of the game, the story takes Resident Evil 2 star Leon Kennedy, who now works as a federal agent, to Spain where he is tasked to find the American President's missing daughter. Little does he suspect that the spooky days aren't over for him even with the Umbrella Corporation supposedly buried.

As expected, the visuals have taken a slight facelift compared to its last-gen counterparts. The game will be driven by Wiimote which is expected to add a whole new dimension to the game. Walking and shooting are based on motion sensation, which can have addictive results. Enjoy the video and we'll update you on new developments soon.

The Nintendo Wii has already sold more than 150,000 units in Spain. It's been said that more would have been sold if they only had more stocks of the said console. This is not surprising news considering the way Nintendo has been dominating the marketplace in recent months.

Luciano Perania, the head of Nintendo Spain, is very pleased with the turnout. However, they are now facing a problem with their exhausted inventories. He has assured that the shortage of supply is not a marketing ploy for the company and that the expected 14 million units produced this year will hopefully be enough to satisfy the market.

The Wii shortages, it seems, aren't localized but worldwide. Nintendo could be losing out on a large chunk of potential profit by not being able to provide Wiis to more consumers. Some analysts have predicted that the Wii shortages will last until 2009 and Nintendo is doing it all it can to make sure this prediction doesn't come true.

The PS3 has been in Europe for less than a month and its titles are sitting on top of the charts. Resistance: Fall of Man took the top spot in Italy and Spain. Germany on the other hand was taken by storm by S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl (both the normal and limited editions).

The three countries definitely have different gaming tastes with the exception of Insomniac's Resistance, Evolution's MotorStorm, Formula One Championship Edition, Virtua Tennis 3, and the PS2's Final Fantasy XII. Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars are surprisingly absent from the Spain and Germany charts even though it's a definite hit in the UK. Oh well, to each their own. Here's the complete list for Italy, Spain and Germany:

Italy (for week ending on April 1)

• Resistance: Fall of Man
• Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2
• MotorStorm
• Formula One Championship Edition
• Final Fantasy XII
• Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories
• Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars
• Virtua Tennis 3
• Ridge Racer 7
• Pro Evolution Soccer 6

Check out the charts for Spain and Germany after the jump!

Majesco Entertainment is getting ready to release Office Crate's Cooking Mama: Cook Off, the Wii extension of the hugely popular DS game. Today we managed to get a few more details about this game, courtesy of IGN. Read on, folks.

• Players use the Wii remote as a cooking utensil to chop, grate, slice, stir, and roll - among other tasks. If you hold it upright, you can mash potatoes or lengthwise to simulate a frying pan.
• The all-new Cooking Challenge Mode lets you and a friend go head-to-head in the ultimate multiplayer cook off to determine who can cook the fastest with the fewest mistakes Use 250+ foods to create 55 real world dishes from 10 different nations: Japan, America, France, India, Russia, England, China, Spain, Germany and Italy. You can even make desserts
• Play against 10 unique computer controlled international characters to earn unique items for your kitchen
• Adjust your timing and make decisions about your next course of action based on what you see on screen (i.e. if food is starting to look burned, quickly remove it from the burner, etc.)
• Earn bronze, silver, and gold medals from Mama based on the quality of your cooking
• Practice mode allows you to fine tune your cooking skills without being judged
• Recipes progress from simple to complex, from small to large dishes, so do your best to meet Mama's expectations as you unlock new dishes

Cooking Mama: Cook Off for the Nintendo Wii is slated for a Q1 2007 release in the U.S. Keep checking back here on QJ for more details. In the meantime, take a gander at the screenshots below.

More images await after the jump!

The European Commission is set to introduce a list of common sanctions against retailers that sell violent video games to minors. Perhaps, what's good about this is that the Commission has decided to leave it to member states to identify which games will be considered "violent."

EUobserver reports that the EU justice and security commissioner, Franco Frattini, has told journalists last January 10 that he would file new and stricter rules governing the sale of video games to children below 16 before this year's summer break.

Reuters informs that Frattini had this to say: "I do want to harmonize rules punishing people illegally selling products, people not controlling and checking identity." Frattini does however stresses that the EU executive would abstain from suggesting which kind of material should be banned. He adds: "We cannot judge from Brussels which videogames should be prohibited. "

It can be recalled that last December, Frattini suggested that the Brussels' package could include new age restrictions on certain games as well as stronger, more effective, parental advisory warnings. The commissioner is confident with the proposal, especially since he has so far received support from eight EU countries – Germany, Britain, Greece, Italy, Hungary, Finland, France and Spain.

It has to be noted that this initiative comes after last November's incident in Germany, where Sebastian Bosse injured eleven students at his school before killing himself, and that retailers in most EU countries are not legally obliged to restrict the sale of adult classified products.

Why should we bother to know about these things? Because some people might get some bright ideas.