When LucasArts President Jim Ward announced that they were coming up with a Star Wars title for the next-generation consoles, Nintendo fans have been clamoring for one in Wii; especially since the controller will be perfect for a light saber game. However, when E3 came, no LucasArts title was revealed for Nintendo's next-gen console. Since people are just screaming for a Star Wars Wii, the rumor kept on coming back. Magazine Electronic Gaming Monthly revives the talk with it latest issue.

Their latest issue features a new Star Wars title that will be exclusive for Wii. The game is said to maximize the potential of the Wiimote's vibration modes and sounds through a light sabre-centered game.

Will the Wii be with us...or is it another disappointing rumor? Well, let's all hope for the best.

The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) has tapped the web comic Penny Arcade to handle their new ad campaign. This move aims to make gamers become more aware of the ratings and to see its importance in the gaming community. If you aren't familiar with the Penny Arcade comics, it is written by Jerry Holkins and illustrated by Mike Krahulik.

The strip regularly features Holkin and Krahulik's alter egos-- Tycho Brahe (Holkins) and Jonathan "Gabe" Gabriel (Krahulik). The two characters spend much of their time playing and commenting on computer and video games, forming the basis of the humor in the strip.

According to Krahulik, "until now (the ESRB's) advertising has been focused on trying to educate adults about the ESRB. That's obviously an important task, but they wanted this new message to be directed at gamers -- that is to say directed at us."

He also added that "they wanted a campaign that would communicate to gamers why the ESRB is important even if they don't think it directly affects them." When asked why the duo decided to accept the gig, 'Gabe' said "we much prefer the ESRB to government regulation and let's all be honest here, that's the alternative." Choosing the lesser of the two 'evils' I suppose (just kidding).

The ads were partially presented at E3 and according to Krahulik, the ad campaigns were warmly received. The ads will appear in gaming mags and websites in the near future. Let's just see if this ads seriously affects the gaming community.

The Game Critics Awards are a collaboration between many different media outlets like GameSpot, Electronics Gaming Monthly, IGN, and even places like MTV Digital. They have decided on what they thought had the best showing at E3.

Best of Show - Wii (Nintendo)
Best Original Game - Spore (Maxis/Electronic Arts for PC)
Best Hardware/Peripheral - Wii (Nintendo)
Best Console Game - Gears of War (Epic Games / Microsoft Games Studio for Xbox 360)
Best PC Game - Spore (Maxis/Electronic Arts for PC)
Best Handheld Game - The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (Nintendo for Nintendo DS)
Best Action Game - Gears of War (Epic Games / Microsoft Games Studio for Xbox 360)
Best Action/Adventure Game - Assassin's Creed (Ubisoft Montreal / UbiSoft for PlayStation 3)
Best Role-Playing Game - Mass Effect (Bioware / Microsoft Games Studio for Xbox 360)
Best Racing Game - Excite Truck (Monster Games / Nintendo for Wii)
Best Simulation Game - Spore (Maxis/Electronic Arts for PC)
Best Sports Game - Wii Sports (Nintendo for Wii)
Best Fighting Game - Heavenly Sword (Ninja Theory / Sony for PlayStation 3)
Best Strategy Game - Supreme Commander (Gas Powered Games/THQ for PC)
Best Puzzle/Trivia/Parlor Game - Guitar Hero 2 (Harmonix / Red Octane for PlayStation 2)
Best Online Multiplayer - Enemy Territory: Quake Wars (Splash Damage/id/Activision for PC)

The PC took home five awards followed by four for the Wii and 3 for the Xbox 360. The PS3 lagged behind its two competitors with 2 awards while the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo DS had to be content with one award each. It was better than the GameCube, Xbox, and PSP which, although nominated, got no awards whatsoever.

Nintendo was the winner among publishers with five of their products winning awards. Electronic Arts and Microsoft followed with 3 awards a piece. The other publishers received one each.

To read the critics' justification for these awards, click "Read."

It has been reported by MTV News today that the Nintendo Wii will have some 'face-sucking' features. If you remember back to E3, the AOL contest winner was invited to play Wii Sports with Shigeru Miyamoto, Satoru Iwata, and Reggie Fils-Aime. The three Nintendo executives had their faces drawn onto their game character's faces.

Well, it turns out the Wii will be able to do this for anyone.

"The Wii Sports series features these little models which you can put your own faces on. You may start to see those characters (with faces you've created) appearing in different games on the Wii system,' says Shigeru Miyamoto. This statement brings up a lot of questions: How will the Wii suck your face into the game? What does Miyamoto mean by having the characters appear in other games?

Hopefully these questions will be answered soon. This feature will make Wii games even more interactive!

Nintendo Wii underwent both a name and a hardware change since its first appearance at the Game Developers Conference last March. When it strutted its stuff again at the recently concluded E3, IGN noticed something that wasn't there before. The E3 version of the Wii, they noted, sported an additional dedicated port for the Wii's sensor bar. The sensor bar is the device placed near or on top of televisions to radiate an IR field that interacts with the Wii controller.

The sensor bar input is separate from the two USB 2.0 ports located at the top of the unit.  Compare the before-and-after images below. On your left is the Wii at the GDC (it was still the Revolution then) with nothing but the power plug and audio-video slot. In the E3 photos in the middle and on the right, you can see the orange plug for the sensor bar which is much smaller than the typical USB design.