We scored an interview with Clark Stacey, Vice President of Smart Bomb Interactive, the folks who brought us Snoopy vs. the Red Baron on PS2, PSP and PC. Clark was nice enough to answer our questions and divulge the first details of Snoopy's brand new adventure, DLC, multiplayer, gameplay mechanics, and brand spanking new screens lie just a click away!

What's a street racing movie or game without the babes? Fortunately, NFS: ProStreet won't be holding back on us. Krystal Forscutt, former Big Brother contestant and currently sizzling model, will be waving arms as a starting girl in the game.

She seems pretty excited about being one of the girls that all NFS fans around the world would see. Now joining the ranks of other celebrities immortalized in video games, our girl is the first Aussie to ever appear on an EA game.

Forscutt admits that she went through breast enlargement, but that's all there is to her smoking body. Well, if that would make someone qualify as a DOA babe, it's not too bad right?

Look forward to hitting the road with her when NFS:ProStreet comes Q4 2007 for the PS3, 360, Wii, PSP, DS, and PC.

 

Okay, this may cause some alarmists to scream "Big Brother!" so before all the speculation, here are the known details - just so all you privacy advocates can relax a bit.

Google has filed a patent that reveals that they plan to compile psychological profiles of millions of gamers by covertly monitoring the way they play online games. Now you may think that this only concerns folks who play MMOs on their PCs, however, the patent apparently says that Google can also monitor people playing on any game console that hooks up to the internet, including the Sony PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, and Microsoft Xbox 360.

What's even more hair-raising is that it says that information could be retrieved from previous game details saved on memory cards. To quote: "Such saved information may be thought of state information, and offers a valuable source of information to the advertisers." Yes, if you've played 350 hours of Oblivion, they'll know. Yep, the patent is that creepy; it even says:

In a car racing game, after a user crashes his Honda Civic, an announcer could be used to advertise by saying 'if he had a Hummer, he would have gotten the better of that altercation', etc... If the user has been playing for over two hours continuously, the system may display ads for Pizza Hut, Coke, coffee.

Now here's why we're asking all those privacy advocates to calm down and not cry foul. Google has said that they do not plan to roll out the technology in the near future. They say that it was just one of the patents that they wanted to file. The Guardian reports that a Google spokesman had this to say: "Google registers different patents irrespective of whether we actually intend to use them."

So no, Big Brother, er, I mean, Google isn't watching you. Not yet. *insert cheesy B-movie sci-fi music* It's not paranoia if they're really out to get you.

 

Nintendo Australia is kicking up its Wii console promotions further into mainstream media, as we pick up a report stating that the company is sponsoring this year's Big Brother show (Australia). For the benefit of the guys here who've never heard of Big Brother, it's a highly popular (albeit controversial) television program based on George Orwell's 1949 novel, 1984 .

In this show, 14 contestants are chosen to live in a house under the complete control of Big Brother - a disembodied voice who monitors the "housemates" 24 hours a day, gives them set tasks, punishments, and works as the group's link to the outside world. Rewards are given out to the longest remaining housemates, with recent grand prices ranging from AUS$ 836,000 (US$ 686,473) to AUS$ 1,000,000 (US$ 821,108).

Nintendo is reportedly planning to award AUS$ 2,000 (US$ 1,642) to every housemate upon eviction, with details regarding how the company plans to market their Wii console in the program still unavailable. We imagine a scenario where the  housemates will be asked to sit down to play with their Wiis (hilarity ensues)...

That's all for the moment - stick around in case we pick up any related updates, or if Nintendo will have ample console supplies to compensate for this new promotional campaign.

Electronic Arts is cooking up another new venture, and this time they've enlisted the help of TV company Endemol to develop Virtual Me, a new digital entertainment concept that "bridges the divide between traditional TV and videogames."

This online offering will let users create their own avatars - or "astonishingly lifelike cyber-clones," according to a press statement - which they can use to meet, compete, and socialize with other gamers. Users can also join virtual versions of Endemol's TV series such as Deal or No Deal and Fear Factor using their avatars.

"With Virtual Me we are at the forefront of a new, hybrid form of entertainment that takes gaming beyond the console," said EA International boss Gerhard Florin. "Endemol is a great partner to help us bring together the best of TV and video games for an offering that can appeal to mass market audiences and change the face of entertainment."

Virtual Me is slated to debut alongside the new Big Brother series which is coming to British TV screens this summer. A website is also in the works.

Nobody can deny that the Wii is gearing towards the family-friendly way, in the sense that every family member could enjoy it. Mom would probably love Cooking Mama; Dad would dig Wii Sports; Big Brother will hack his way in Red Steel; and the little ones would probably not stop playing Avatar: The Last Airbender and Super Mario Galaxy. But now, it seems that the family kids would have more games to choose from thanks to Zoo Digital.

Recently, Zoo Digital has revealed four new Wii games up its sleeve - slated for a 2007 release. The four new game titles are Toot and Puddle, Sea Monsters, Balls of Fury, and apparently a dual-game package that includes Chicken Shoot and Egg Catcher. As of reporting this news, babysitters are already looking for new means of income, but hey, we bet a lot are curious about the Balls of Fury game. Ain't that a kid-friendly line-up or what?

• Actual Pool - DS - 26 Jan 07
• Hot Wheels Ultimate Racing - PSP - 02 Feb 07
• Princess Natasha 'Student-Secret Agent-Princess' - DS - 02 Feb 07
• Uno/Skipbo/Uno Freefall Compilation - DS - 02 Feb 07
• March of the Penguins - GBA/DS - 02 Feb 07
• Chicken Shoot + Egg Catcher - DS/Wii - 04 May 07
• Harlem Globetrotters World Tour - DS - Q1 07
• Freedom Wings - DS - Q1 07
• Wiffle Ball Advance - DS - Q1 07
• Uno 52 - DS/GBA - Q1 07
• Frisbee Freestyle/Frisbee Golf - DS - Q2 07
• B-17 Fortress in the Sky - DS - Q2 07
• Toot & Puddle (Call of the North) - GBA/DS/Wii - Q3 07
• Sea Monsters (Nat Geo) - DS/PS2/Wii - Q4 07
• Balls of Fury - DS/Wii - TBC
• Lionel Trains "On Track" - DS - TBC

According to Next Generation, the Nielsen Media Research will announce plans to add videogame metrics to its line-up of entertainment offerings sometime in mid-2007.

The service, named Nielsen Gameplay Metrics, will establish new metrics for the buying and selling of advertising in videogames. The data from the service will be provided to subscribers on a weekly basis and will show gamers' activities across other media platforms like TV and the Internet. Why does George Orwell's 1984 come to mind?

Anyway, the service is set to provide advertisers, agencies, hardware manufacturers, and game developers demographic data for negotiating for in-game and around-game advertising. It's reported that the new data will allow the videogame industry to develop an "advertising business model" to offset the steep development costs of new titles for next-generation consoles.

Now the around-game advertising we can handle. We really like the Coca-cola advert that was GTA based. We also like all product ads that use WoW characters. It's just that we can't seem to wrap our heads around the possibility of seeing Ryu Hayabusa (in the game mind you, not on a TV ad) chug down a Pepsi before he (luckily) gets to fight those scantily clad Ninjas.

Now more on the creepy 1984-ness of all of this. They say that the metrics will give advertisers a greater level of precision for targeting the digital consumer. The companies will get access to comprehensive analysis on how video game play affects or complements the use of other electronic media. For example, the data will show what television programs gamers watch when they're not playing games.

It just feels wrong for all the wrong reasons. We know that this has been common practice already for TV land, but for gaming? Isn't it already obvious what shows and genres and things gamers really like? It's like having someone with the omniscience of Big Brother watch hamsters turn a hamster wheel.

Anyway, as weirded out about this as some of us here in QJ are, we can see the good things that can come from this development. For one thing we'll see more media that's tailor made for us gamers. That's always a good thing right?