This week, the full list of nominations for the always high quality Game Developers Choice Awards, hosted every year during Game Developers Conference by the International Game Developers Association, was revealed. Dominating the list of nominees with four nods each were Clover Studio's Okami (PS2) and Bethesda Softworks' The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (X360, PC). The former was commended for Character Design, Game Design, and Visual Arts, and the latter for Game Design, Visual Arts, and Writing, while both games took nods for Best Game.

Strikingly unlike the AIAS Interactive Achievement Awards, which perennially snub titles from non-member publishers, the GDCA honors any game that receives enough nominations from its voting body, which includes professionals from throughout the games industry. Notably, Capcom, whose games have been absent from the AIAS awards for several years, tied with Nintendo for second most total GDCA nominations; each publisher garnered five. Capcom's non-Okami nod was in Technology for Dead Rising (X360). Nintendo's five were split between Wii Sports (Wii) and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (GCN, Wii), each of which is up for Best Game, making Nintendo the only publisher to have two titles in the running for the show's top honor. The top performing publisher was Microsoft, which saw developers Rare and Epic take three nods each for Viva Pinata (X360) and Gears of War (X360); the latter title is up for Best Game.

The other games to receive multiple nods were Relic Entertainment's Company of Heroes (PC), Sony Computer Entertainment's LocoRoco (PSP), Rockstar Vancouver's Bully (PS2), and Square Enix's Final Fantasy XII (PS2), each with two nominations. Despite strong critical and commercial success in the portable segment last year, LocoRoco was the only portable game to make the list, though Daxter (PSP) developer Ready at Dawn was recognized in the New Studio category alongside fellow newcomers such as Iron Lore Entertainment for Titan Quest (PC) and Naked Sky Entertainment for RoboBlitz (X360, PC).

The Game Developers Choice Awards will be presented during this year's Game Developers Conference at San Francisco's Moscone Center on March 7 at 6:30pm. Hosting the ceremony will be Double Fine Productions founder Tim Schafer, whose studio last year achieved four nominations and two wins for its excellent game Psychonauts (PS2, Xbox, PC). Mega64 and DJ Chris (by whom the IGDA likely means MC Chris) will be providing entertainment.

Last year, Rockster Leeds' Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories was released a PSP exclusive, following up on the studio's prior PSP game Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories. Liberty City Stories was eventually released on PlayStation 2 as well, though shortly before its release Rockstar representatives indicated that there were no such plans in the works for the second game in the spinoff series.

Today, the publisher officially confirmed via a very brief press release that, as many have suspected, Vice City Stories is indeed coming to PlayStation 2 after all--and soon. The game will be on North American store shelves on March 6, 2007, to follow in Europe three days later.

After announcing record financial results today, publisher Activision held a followup conference call during which company executives discussed the announced figures as well as spoke on the company's plans for the near future. Chairman and CEO Bobby Kotick congratulated the company on its performance on next-gen (ie, current-gen) platforms, noting that Activision was the only company to be within the top three publishers on all three current home consoles. Kotick went on to speak more specifically on Wii, noting that the company plans to strengthen its output on that platform as well as on Nintendo DS. "Activision recognized the Wii opportunity on, and we had one of the largest lineups at launch. In fiscal 08, we will double our product offerings on Wii and DS as we plan to be even more successful on these platforms," he said, adding, "To date, there has been strong consumer response to all three next-generation consoles, which truly are delivering new gaming experiences to broader, more diverse audiences than ever before."

Despite Activision's overall Wii performance, coming in at number two on the platform, Toys for Bob's Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam sold notably below Neversoft's main franchise entry Tony Hawk's Project 8 on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Perhaps partially as a result, the company revealed that Downhill Jam will be released on PlayStation 2 in calendar Q2 2007. Also likely contributing to the decision was Activision's strong success on PlayStation 2, most significantly by way of the company's star performer, Harmonix's Guitar Hero II on PS2.

Activision noted that it expects PS2 sales to stay strong through 2007, matching calendar year sales for Wii and PS3 and coming in close to sales for Xbox 360. It also projects continued strong sales in the handheld sector.

Some users on the official Xbox forums uncovered likely details about the next Xbox 360 Dashboard update, by way of Microsoft's own Knowledge Base website, which explains and troubleshoots features and problems with Microsoft products. These features include active download (the much requested ability to download files while performing other tasks on the 360), and an option to boot to the Dashboard rather than straight to the game inserted into the DVD-ROM drive, among others. Neither link is currently active, likely having been removed by Microsoft after the news started to spread. Interestingly, the target date for these features was yesterday, May 23, suggesting that they are complete or nearly complete and should be headed to Xbox 360 consoles soon.

In a Shacknews interview conducted during this year's GDC, Microsoft's Scott Henson mentioned a few Dashboard improvements in the pipeline, including active download as well as unspecified organizational revisions to Marketplace. Presumably, these will be included in an upcoming patch as well.

At its pre-E3 press conference this year, Square Enix announced a multiplatform project called Fabula Nova Crystallis. Much like the pantheon of games that has sprung up around Final Fantasy VII and turned that game into a franchise in its own right, Square Enix is already developing several games bearing the name "Final Fantasy XIII," in addition to the main game headed to PlayStation 3. These games along with XIII itself will be collectively referred to as Fabula Nova Crystallis. They do not share a specific setting, story, or set of characters, but rather are influenced by similar mythology. Currently announced are Final Fantasy Versus XIII, an action game for PS3, and Final Fantasy Agito XIII, an online RPG for mobile phones.

At a Japanese press conference yesterday, Square Enix president Yoichi Wada noted that there will be further games falling under Fabula Nova Crystallis. Six projects are currently in the works, including those already announced.

In Chris Morris' latest Game Over column on CNN/Money, Nintendo designer Shigeru Miyamoto speaks on the new "Wii" name, potential unrevealed features for the machine, and the competition. Miyamoto admits that, at first, even he preferred the name "Revolution" to "Wii," but acknowledged that it is "almost threatening" and unacceptable for Nintendo's goals with the device. He also expressed that despite his expectation that Sony's PS3 would be expensive, the final price was "a bit of a shock." In regards to the motion sensing capability in PS3's controller, Miyamoto said, "We've gotten used to others copying what we do – and we're having a lot of fun with it."

During Nintendo's pre-E3 press conference, the company showed off the tennis game from its Wii Sports compilation, and several player models in the game had customized cartoon faces representing their real life players--company president Satoru Iwata, marketing VP Reggie Fils-Aime, and Miyamoto. In today's interview Miyamoto revealed that this personalization functionality may be something that is extended beyond Wii sports to other first- and third-party games. He did not go into details as to how this would be achieved, though it may work by way of a camera peripheral or by allowing players to "draw" faces with the Wii remote.

Though we've seen a few third party Xbox 360 games ship at a price point below $59.99, the vast majority of titles so far have come in at that widely accepted standard. Inevitably, however, prices will fall, and some games that launched at $59.99 have now been marked down to $39.99 by their publishers in the last few weeks. Most retailers should reflect these updated prices soon, or should already have done so. These games include:

- Burnout Revenge (Criterion Games)
- FIFA Soccer 06: Road to FIFA World Cup (EA Canada)
- Madden NFL 06 (EA Tiburon)
- NBA Live 06 (EA Canada)
- The Outfit (Relic Entertainment)
- Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie (Ubisoft Montpellier)
- Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06 (EA Sports)

This week has seen a bevy of new content make its way to Xbox 360 consoles via Xbox Live. Here's the rundown so far:

- Eidos has released a playable demo of Io Interactive's upcoming Hitman: Blood Money on Xbox Live. The PC version of the demo is also available from FileShack.
- Bethesda's latest content pack for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (X360, PC) is now available for both the PC and Xbox 360 versions of the game. Entitled "The Thieves Den," it includes a lost pirate ship and is intended for stealth-based characters. The Thieves Den is available for 150 Microsoft Points ($1.88).
- Three new cars for Bizarre Creations' Project Gotham Racing 3 are now available as part of a free downloadable "Cadillac Pack." The pack includes Cadillac models CTS-V, STS-V, and XLR-V.

Over on FileShack we've got an Ubisoft-produced video interview with Michel Ancel and Xavier Poix, creative director and studio director on the upcoming Rayman: Raving Rabbids (Wii, also PS2, Xbox, GCN, PS3, X360), speaking on the Wii version of the game.

Game Informer has a chat with Team NINJA's outspoken leader Tomonobu Itagaki (and here's part two).

You can win a copy of Jesper Kyd's Hitman: Blood Money (PS2, Xbox, X360, PC) original soundtrack or a game poster, both signed by Kyd. Head over to Music4Games for details.

For several days now, there have been contradictory reports and pieces of evidence over whether or not Ubisoft Montreal's Assassin's Creed is a PS3-exclusive title. Currently, the game has only been officially announced by Ubisoft to be in development for PlayStation 3. However, back at Microsoft's X05 event last October, when the game was still unrevealed and known as the mysterious "Project Assassin's," exec Peter Moore listed the game as coming to Xbox 360. In the game's official reveal, it was listed only as coming to PS3--though the press released noted it had not yet been concept approved by Sony Computer Entertainment America.

To complicate matters further, at E3 last week, several show attendees claimed that in the game's closed doors demos, it was not being shown on PlayStation 3 hardware, unlike other PS3 titles at the show. Rather, it was running from an unidentified concealed machine and played with a PS2 controller rather than a PS3 controller. Some speculated that the game was in fact on Xbox 360 and being controlled by a third party USB controller. There has been little evidence to back this particular assertion up. Ubisoft responded that the box was in fact a PC emulating the PS3 environment.

It's hard to say whether the game is in fact exclusive to PlayStation 3, though it seems a very unlikely scenario. Ubisoft is known as a very multiplatform-oriented developer rarely putting out console-exclusive franchises, and to this day there has been no verbage from Ubi explicitly stating that the game is "exclusive" to PS3. Rather, the official company line is currently that PS3 is the only announced platform for the game. Don't be surprised if this one turns out to be a timed exclusive with the possibility of jumping to Xbox 360 and even PC later on.

After yesterday's news from The Hollywood Reporter that Eidos will be licensing the rights to a Fear Effect movie and developing a new Fear Effect game, the publisher has officially commented on the situation. An Eidos representative stated that while the game is not currently in development, such a project is currently under discussion. The news may be just PR speak, with development already progressing, but it's just as likely The Hollywood Reporter jumped the gun.

Relic Entertainment has release a new map pack for its WWII squad-based game The Outfit (X360). Entitled "Collateral Damage," the pack includes three new maps: Luftwaffe Finale, Bleak Mile, and Eagle's Nest. Collateral Damage is available from Xbox Live for 500 Microsoft Points ($6.25).

What is it about Nintendo hardware and weird little ports and flaps that nobody can ever identify? Remember the "secret port" on the DS that turned out to be nothing more than a microphone headset input? Anyway, that's been happening again with Wii. There's a small rectangular compartment to the left of the system's slot-loading disc drive (visible in this shot), and the internets have been rife with speculation over its function. Speculate no further. It's the system's SD card slot.

Xbox.com has an interview with Rockstar San Diego's Benjamin Johnson regarding Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis (X360). (Thanks Carnivac!)

IGN has translated details of a new journal entry by Masahiro Sakurai on his upcoming Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii).

E3 previews are still winding down. If you're interested, check that out at Game Informer, GameSpot, Eurogamer, IGN, GameSpy, and surely others. And hey, if you missed ours, here it is.