It looks like those big-hearted guys and girls who helped raise close to $12,000 dollars for the Child's Play charity last month with the Mario Marathon are at it again.

This time, they've teamed up with Cameron Banga and the Four48 Team, with 70 hours of Zelda goodness. Although the festivities officially started on Thursday night, there's plenty of live-blogging and Zelda playing to entertain yourselves with. A quick peek shows that they have raised over $1,300 so far, and are currently working their way through The Minish Cap.

Still left on the itinerary is the classic, Ocarina of Time, along with Majora's Mask, Windwaker, and the Wii favorite, Twilight Princess. If your feeling charitable (it's for the chilluns!), and want to learn more, head on over to the Zelda Mario page yourself -- and prepare to drop some cash on a good cause.

[Thanks, Puppet]

Recently on the Unity forums, fans inquired about Devil May Cry 4's lackluster PC sales, and how Capcom felt about it. Christian Svensson responded that while he can't speak for the entire company, he wasn't exactly pleased about his perceived reasoning behind it all: pirates.

I'm not sure about how Capcom in general feels but It's not doing as well as I would like in the US at retail. It's such a good version and it really deserves better sales. I know it's getting pirated to hell and back (it was up on torrents literally the day it shipped).

Svenson and others (such as Ben Judd) are pushing for digital distribution, but thus far Capcom Japan has been cautious to embrace the idea fully. That hesitancy might disappear after his next scheduled presentation on the subject goes before the powers that be, but as Svenson said, "No promises. It might not happen."

Even with a mediocre Metacritic score of 77, DMC4 is easily one of the more enjoyable games I've played this generation. Do you think that Steam is the answer to this problem, or is something else at work here?

[Via CVG]

Ever since we first saw our beloved hedgehog brandishing a sword on the front cover of Nintendo Power and cringed, we've had wonder if hardcore is the proper direction that Sega should be taking Sonic. That is, before we witnessed this "sonic beauty" of a guitar, wielded by Nino of the Brazilian heavy metal band, MegaDriver.

We'll let you view the videos and decide for yourselves if the band is worthy enough to handle his might, but the guitar has us all seeing stars -- on its own merit. This custom axe sports a 24-fret maple neck with EMG 81 active pickups, a Floyd Rose Lo-Pro bridge and a Brazilian body of "Angelim Pedra" wood.

While it may not be a Gibson, Fender, or PRS, if this baby doesn't make you envious, then you obviously don't care much for Sonic and guitars in the first place.

[Thanks, Mr. Destructoid]

When Major Nelson said that the 60GB Xbox 360 was going to mysteriously show up on store shelves without Microsoft making a big spectacle out of it, he obviously meant it.

Previously, we only knew that they were expected to hit retail outlets sometime in August, but thanks to our fellow bloggers at Joystiq, we now know that the various sightings of the console are not a result of broken release dates. Too bad, because nothing makes us salivate like the thought of getting our hands on something special that's reserved for a future date.

If you are still wishing that MS would just release a larger hard drive (by itself) that's actually affordable, well... you wouldn't want to hold your breath on that one. Still, it's good to know that the remedy to your burgeoning storage needs are now just a new console purchase away.

Friday is going to be a good day for those of you who have been patiently waiting for Gran Turismo TV to finally make its way onto the PS3. If all goes as planned, you'll be greeted with what Sony terms a "significant update" when you fire up Gran Turismo 5 Prologue.

In layman's terms, it will amount to an in-game automotive media channel that hopes to showcase an attractive offering of both free and pay-per-view programming, like Top Gear and Best Motoring. Personally, I'd settle for a complimentary subscription to MotorWeek and that highly anticipated damage modeling update they teased us with in the past, but I guess that this is still great news -- considering that we are getting updates on Prologue to begin with.

So in other words, if automotive TV on the PS3 is your thing, get ready to crack open that special bottle of champagne you've secretly had stashed away for this special day. Or, do you plan on saving that celebration for the game's full- featured release?

[Via PlayStation blog]

We're utterly amazed that the game wasn't timed to match the Dark Knight's theatrical release, but we're guessing that the developers had to save something to go along with the movie's eventual DVD debut. What new Batman game, you ask? The one Gary Oldman let out of the bag while being interviewed by the unusually restrained Kristin Holt of G4, of course. She must be as starstruck as the rest of us, because she normally seems to have tapped the energy of a small sun during her bits on Cheat!

Nonetheless, if you were looking for some validation from Commissioner Gordon himself, then you came to the right place. After musing about his supposed "small role" in the game, Oldman talked about how developers were looking to make sure Batman's gliding sequences were as smooth as butter -- or as you techy types like to say, seamless.

While we can't comment on his role in the game, we can gush about how great the movie turned out. If EA (or whoever does this one) can manage to translate that masterpiece into something that works with a controller -- we'll have a slew of other words to describe the experience. Hopefully, it will start with Holy Sh*t, this is the one Batman game to rule them all!

[Via bit-tech.net -- Thanks, Jonathan]

Even the blurriness and brevity of this video has little impact on awesomeness of what transpires onscreen. Though only 10 seconds in length, we finally get a peek at what Criterion was talking about when they mentioned adding not only bikes, but planes in a future update to Burnout Paradise.

The jury is still out on how well the whole biplane thing is going to fit into the overall scheme of the game (Imagine the joy of swooping down on cars speeding towards the finish, and witnessing the spectacular crashes that result from it!), but it's hard to imagine the Burnout team cranking out anything less than stellar downloadable content. These guys sure know how to rock out a racing game. At this rate, we may never need to buy another one again!

[Thanks, Gantz]

According to several third-party developers that approached Game Informer at the recent trade show, the Wii's lack of storage space isn't Nintendo's only problem at the moment. Somehow, they forgot to include those outside of their inner first-party circle in their plans to create the MotionPlus add-on for the Wiimote.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that this is a massive hindrance to third-party games taking advantage of the peripheral anytime soon. It's just an opinion, but Nintendo might want to stop counting their cash for a moment, and rethink the long- term plans of the Wii. MotionPlus was the only exciting news to come out of the Nintendo camp during E3, and to see its potential squandered at the onset is the biggest possible shame Nintendo has brought on itself in a long time.

[Nintendo Wii Fanboy, via engadget -- Thanks, Jonathan]

We're still crossing our fingers that Sony will melt our faces off with a megaton announcement regarding Home, but something more likely to happen during Tuesday's press conference involves some fantastic games that are about to get the "greatest hits" treatment. Nothing is official yet, but have ads ever let us down before?

I'm still a little heartbroken that Heavenly Sword isn't among those pictured, but there are still at least two games on that list for new PS3 owners to get excited about. With Motorstorm being packed in with most PS3's as it is, it's hard to get all worked up over its inclusion in the ad.

Without a doubt, the most striking thing about the games lifted right out of Kmart's Entertainment Guide has to be the packaging, itself -- talk about déjà vu. No doubt, someone at Sony was either sighing in relief, or laughing hysterically  -- Joker-like -- all the while designing something that looks too much like an HD-DVD case.  

[Flickr, via PS3 Fanboy]

At first glance, it would seem as if Motus Games is looking to cash in on the Wii craze with its introduction of the Darwin controller, but as Galagabug highlights in his community blog, nothing could be further from the truth. However, it's still all too easy to forget that the technology predates the Wii by more than a few years, especially when the product you unveil not only looks like it was the bastard son of a lightsaber and some sort of electronic bug -- but comes with an obvious Xbox 360 color scheme.

However, it's not looks that are important here -- it's refinement. According to Motus Games, the controller is superior to the Wiimote in every way, and they claim to have the videos to prove it... or do they? Although the split controller idea is quite attractive, footage of LEGO Star Wars II in action -- controlled by what appears to be a PS3 version of Darwin -- shows some obvious lag time between swings and what's seen onscreen. Then again, a lot can change between now, and when the controller is finally available in stores. Perhaps this can be fixed.

Don't let my cautious tone give you the wrong idea, as this controller not only shows promise, but also fills the void that some Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 fans currently suffer through. Many of us enjoy the Wii experience, but wish that Nintendo had only put some more muscle under the hood. If Motus makes good on its promise of producing the consummate motion-sensing controller (and developers line up some quality games behind it), the Wii could suddenly find itself a lot less attractive. That is, if the price is right. The question is, will it work... and is it already too late?

[Thanks, Adam]

With this year's E3 being just a couple of weeks away, the rumor mill has kicked into overdrive once again -- and guess which beloved IP is mentioned? None other than the Master Chief variety. Don't expect the man in green to make an appearance this time, though, as he's still resting up from nearly biting the dust in his last gig in Halo 3.

Details are less than scarce at this point, and Microsoft is following its usual song and dance of "no comment" regarding the game's supposed development. What little we do know is that the rumor appears to have originated from talks between a "reliable anonymous source" and the folks over at Sarcastic Gamer. Will this be the prequel that some have been speculating about? Is Peter Jackson involved? CVG pondered this too, and tried to uncover more information to help validate the rumor.

Unfortunately, they were stonewalled as expected. However, they are still sticking to hope, and pointing to their own inside sources that claim that Microsoft has two more big Xbox 360 games to surprise us with at E3. As far as they can tell, something new in the vein of Halo will be among them. With plenty of untapped potential in the Halo universe, this could easily become reality. Still, it's hard to imagine the game without its star player -- the chief. Are we chasing shadows on this one, or do you think Microsoft has more Halo to surprise us with, and soon?

[Thanks, Burling]

How many of you are guilty of starting an exercise program, only to throw it by the wayside after a couple of weeks? As statistics show, you are hardly alone in that regard. Here's another one for you: Who among you rushed to the store to pick up Wii Fit as soon as it was available, just to have it collect dust after the novelty of it wore off? Don't feel too bad, as you are in good company, according to Japanese website IT Media.

After polling thousands of readers as to whether or not they have been faithfully playing Wii Fit on a daily basis, a whopping 64% responded that they pretty much gave up on the "game" soon after getting it. In fact, only about 22% even claimed to record their progress every day. Somewhere in the middle, the semi-slackers could be found, accounting for the remaining 14% (using Wii Fit once a week, or every few days.

So now that we've got that out of the way, one question remains: How many of you were eager to join the Nintendo gym, only to drop out after you realized that it too closely resembled the real thing?

[Via Kotaku -- Thanks, Burling]

Wishing for a little episodic horror in your life? Come July 24th, fire up your PS3, and the wait will be over. That's the day that Siren: Blood Curse makes its debut in all its downloadable goodness -- via PSN.

Although I'd like to have the option of owning the Blu-ray Disc version, like only Japan is getting, going for the episodic approach at £4.99 (about $10) per "chapter," or £19.99 (around $40) for the whole shebang doesn't sound half bad. Oh, did we mention that each chapter contains three episodes, and that there are four chapters in all? Sorry about that. One last detail though: Those prices are for our friends in Europe, and we still haven't been told what the game will cost us in the States.

If you weren't already sold on the game after viewing the screenshots Dale shared with us earlier, you can always test the waters and purchase content on a trial basis of sorts. Don't care for the first chapter? You can cut your losses now -- forget about purchasing the rest -- and save yourself some coin. Will this be the game that that knocks Silent Hill off its pedestal? Maybe not, but it still sounds pretty freaking good to us. Any takers?

[Via CVG -- Thanks, Justin]

Sony might be still trying to figure out why their latest firmware update for the PS3 caused some (mine still works like a charm) consoles to malfunction, but that hasn't distracted them from their other big update in the works: PlayStation Home.

According to PSN director, Eric Lempel, the oft-delayed service is very much on track for a fall release, and won't be a gimped version of what Sony has been promising us all along:

“The reason we’ve been delaying Home is so that we can deliver a high quality service that the users will enjoy. Even though it will be in beta, it will be a fair representation of what the service can be and its potential, so it won’t be a 0.5 release, it will be a fully robust service.”

With today being July 4th and all, that release is fast approaching. Are gamers still as jazzed to go Home as they once were? Sony is banking on it.

[Via MCV -- Thanks, Justin]