This is a truly neat mashup. Mario Crossover re-creates the original Mario in Flash with the ability to play as not only Mario but as a bunch of other classic NES characters. This killer list of NES heroes includes, Simon (Castlevania), Samus (Metroid), Megaman (Megaman), Bill R (Contra), and Link (Best game series ever). It is some serious fun and lovely re-created. It even has the hidden warp tubes at the end of level 1-2. As some cheesy waitress at Applebees would say, enjoy!

If we actually read all the terms of service, terms and conditions, and all those other words written in lawyer-speak then we wouldn’t have any time to do anything else; nevermind actually interacting with anything we’re reading the terms for.

As a fantastic April Fool’s prank, UK retailer GameStation took advantage of this fact to collect gamer’s souls. Yes, you read that correctly. They inserted an “Immortal Soul Clause” into their terms of its online game sales. More soul stealing details after the break.

“By placing an order via this web site on the first day of the fourth month of the year 2010 Anno Domini, you agree to grant Us a non transferable option to claim, for now and for ever more, your immortal soul,” the terms and conditions read. “Should We wish to exercise this option, you agree to surrender your immortal soul, and any claim you may have on it, within 5 (five) working days of receiving written notification from gamesation.co.uk or one of its duly authorized minions. We reserve the right to serve such notice in 6 (six) foot high letters of fire, however we can accept no liability for any loss or damage caused by such an act.”

88 percent of customers didn’t read these terms and conditions and therefore forfeited their souls. Only 12 percent actually noticed and saw the opt-out option, which included a voucher for £5 – roughly $7.75 – off the price of their purchase. More than 7500 customers missed out on the offer and are now beholden to GameStation for all eternity.

Management claims they aren’t actually interested in the gamers souls so they’ll be issuing an email to customers nullifying that part of the contract.

via the escapist

The much anticipated God of War III took the top sales spot last month according to recent NPD numbers. In close second was Pokemon Soul Silver, followed by Final Fantasy XIII for the PS3. That said, if you tabulate the numbers of both Pokemon titles sold in March you’ll get a combined total of 1.78 million units. Meaning, the true winner of March was actually the Pokemon franchise. However, individually (which is what the NPD tracks) Kratos takes it. Speaking of Final Fantasy, the 360 version of FFXIII sold only half as well as its PS3 counterpart – no doubt due to reports of a less-than-stellar port.

On the hardware side of things, the DS remained on top – despite the forced announcement of the 3DS. No doubt these numbers were also helped by the launch of the DSiXL. The Wii followed in second, with the Xbox 360 coming in third. As for the PS3, despite heavy sales of both GoW3 and FFXIII, the console saw a decline in sales primarily due to hardware shortages.

Full software and hardware numbers after the break.

Hardware:
DS: 701,000 (+14%)
Wii: 558,000 (+40%)
360: 338,000 (-20%)
PS3: 314,000 (-13%)
PSP: 120,000 (-10%)
PS2: 118,000 (+16%)

Software:
01. God of War 3 (PS3) – 1.10 million
02. Pokemon Soul Silver (DS) – 1.02 million
03. Final Fantasy XIII (PS3) – 828,200
04. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (360) – 825,500
05. Pokemon Heart Gold (DS) – 761,200
06. Final Fantasy XIII (360) – 493,900
07. New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii) – 457,400
08. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (PS3) – 451,200
09. Wii Fit Plus (Wii) – 429,600
10. MLB 10: The Show (PS3) – 349,200

via Joystiq

As great as Gameloft’s upcoming Earthworm Jim HD looks, I’d much rather have the ‘ I ♥ Jim’ t-shirt they’re all sporting in the above trailer. Does that make me weird?

Either way, the trailer looks just like I expected it to – the original Earthworm Jim redone in high definition. Would be kind of hard to screw that up.

The trailer also announces a contest to profess your love for Jim on Gameloft’s Facebook page. The winner will receive a trip to New York City and some other neat stuff. So what’s holdin’ ya back? Don’t you ♥ Jim? Check out the trailer for full contest details.

via Joystiq

Seems like 2010 is the year of the leaks. iPhones, Nintendo handhelds and today – upcoming Xbox Live Arcade titles. Thanks to a poster over at the Digiex forums we have an early look at a slew of unannounced Live titles. These include the Dreamcast classics Crazy Taxi and Sonic Adventures, Metal Slug XX, Doom II, Quake Arcade Arena and more. Some of them, including Sonic and Metal Slug, have already leaked onto the net in their entirety, while the others have been confirmed through screenshots. Obviously no official announcements have been made from Microsoft. So we have no idea when these will be released or for how much. Frankly the sooner Quake Arena hits Live, the better. Screenshots after the break.

Digiex via Destructoid

Everyone knows a Dan the Man… Some deserve the name, some get it only because it rhymes. In this story, Dan shows us what life is like after the princess is rescued. Morals of the story include, ‘its hard to get a one-up on life’ and ‘don’t waste your extra life’. Please, watch and you will enjoy.

Fans of the long forgotten X-COM franchise may have reason to celebrate this morning. 2K Games has announced that their Marin-based studio, who recently completely the truly horrible BioShock 2, are bringing back X-COM – as a first-person shooter. I would imagine this might cause some groans from fans as X-COM was originally a tactical-based strategy game. Although, its last sequel was a space combat simulator of all things.

2K’s President Christoph Hartmann seems excited: “Players will explore the world of XCOM from an immersive new perspective and experience firsthand the fear and tension of this gripping narrative ride.” He then added “Worked for Fallout 3, am i rite?” and promptly threw his hand in the air looking for a high five.

XCOM is currently in development for the Xbox 360 and PC. No word on a release window, however, you can register for updates at the newly launched XCOM.com.

via Joystiq

Microsoft has just released more information about the recently announced Gears of War 3. Expect the game to drop on April 5th, 2011 in North America (Japan will see release on the 7th and Europe on the 8th). The title will conclude the Gears “trilogy” – however, I wouldn’t worry about the franchise ending anytime soon. Also Gears content will be hitting the Avatar Marketplace on the 20th of this month (We’ve got screenshots after the break).

Likewise, Dude Huge has notified his twitter followers that Gears 3 will include 4 player co-op. Kotaku is adding that at least one player will have to play as the new female character Anya during this mode.

Finally, hit the break for box art, high res screenshots from the teaser and other goodies.

via Joystiq

With no Justin Bieber to stop him this time, Cliff “Don’t Call Me Cliffy B, or Dude Huge for that matter” Blezinski unveiled Gears of War 3 on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon not more than an hour ago. Late Night has already posted the interview and subsequent teaser (dubbed ‘Ashes to Ashes’) on their blog – head on over there to check it out.

Japanese gaming magazine CoroCoro is giving gamers their first look at the upcoming Pokemon Black and White. As promised by the Pokemon Company, the games seem to be getting quite the overhaul – at least graphically, anyways. The magazine provides few new details. What we can see is a more realized 3-D game world, and a revamped battle screen. Apart from this breif look, we’ll have to wait until the 15th for more information about these titles. Serebii.net has scanned all the screenshots for your viewing pleasure, head on over there for the full scoop.

via Serebii.net