Weekly News Wrap-Up: Countdown to Gay Tony Hero

This week Hideo Kojima toys with fans using an erratic countdown clock, Xbox 360 attempts living room dominance with Sky Player support and Rockstar continues to court controversy with “Gay Tony” download pack. Read on for the most significant news stories from Monday, May 25th to Friday, May 29th.

Kojima Countdown Absurdity
Further proof that Hideo Kojima treats everything as a bizarre mind-game; the reveal of his new game has been more baffling than revealing. The production studio’s mysterious countdown had an anti-climatic end as the zero hour reset the clock, but the new timer has art of Big Boss and Raiden. Metal Gear Solid fans are, of course, flipping their collective lid.

Wolfenstein 3D Hits for XBLA and PSN Next Week
Following in the footsteps of Duke Nukem 3D, Doom and Marathon, classic FPS Wolfenstein will hit Xbox Live Arcade next week, as well as the Playstation Network. The Xbox product page doesn’t mention price or release date, but Joystiq confirms that the ports are “in fact coming to Xbox Live and PSN on June 4 and June 5, respectively”.

LEGO Indiana Jones 2 coming this Winter
With two Star Wars packs, an Indy adventure and a Batman game under their belt, Traveller’s Tales plans to create more Indiana Jones scenarios for a release later this year. Coming to 360, PS3, Wii, PC, PSP and DS, the game will rehash some content from last year’s release as it lampoons “all four cinematic adventures of pop culture’s most iconic archaeologist”. Lego fridges confirmed.

Trauma Team announced for Wii
Atlus plans to spin-off the Trauma Centre games with new Wii adventure, Trauma Team. Unlike the previous surgery sims, you’ll play as numerous hospital personalities from diagnostician to endoscope technician. Game’s out next year.

DJ Hero Footage and Peripheral Revealed
Activison has revealed the peripheral for upcoming record scratcher DJ Hero, as well as videos of gameplay. It features a rotating turntable and a crossfader, effects dial, and Euphoria button. Jay-Z and Eminem have taken consultant positions on the game and will be contributing tracks on the disc, and as DLC.

Sky Player coming to UK Xbox 360s
While Playstation 3 supports Freeview with its PlayTV dongle, Microsoft has signed a deal to bring Sky to Xbox 360. The Sky Player channel on the dashboard features live streaming, on-demand movies and sports programming, with support for Xbox Live Party viewing. The selected content, (including Sky Box Office) is streamed via the internet, and will only be available in Standard Definition at launch.

The Ballad of Gay Tony is GTA IV’s Second DLC
Grand Theft Auto IV will receive its second Downloadable Expansion later this year, exclusive to Xbox 360. Titled “The Ballad of Gay Tony”, you play as Hispanic henchman Luis Lopez as you compete for the loyalty of Liberty City’s gangs and sample the high-end nightlife. Rockstar will drop both The Lost and Damned and Gay Tony onto a stand-alone retail disc after release.

Noby Noby Boy reaches Mars
Thanks to Keita Takahashi’s “Lucky Week” where Noby Noby Boy updates were massively multiplied, Girl has stretched her way to Mars and unlocked a third playground for players. Jupiter is, of course, up next. EA has the community cooperation bug as the 43 millionth kill in upcoming downloadable title, Battlefield: 1943, will unlock a new map for all players.

GameStop lists Tony Hawk: Ride at $120
American retailer giant GameStop has listed Tony Hawk: Ride, which ships with a custom skateboard peripheral, at $120. While the current exchange rate spits out a digestible £75, Rock Band showed us to take American pricing with a massive boulder of salt.

Modern Warfare 2 Trailer, Screens, Website
Call of Duty 4’s sequel, Modern Warfare 2, had an explosive debut as the first trailer showed off snowy battlefields, riot shields and promises of an exciting military story. The official website was also updated, and features a slew of new screenshots.

Notable Releases This Week – inFamous (Playstation 3)
Sucker Punch’s sandbox superhero-em-up, inFamous, plugs decades of comic book influences into the mains with a stunning shooter / platformer hybrid. Read our review here. Also:

- Virtua Tennis 2009 (Xbox 360, PS3)
- Terminator Salvation (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)
- Boom Blox Bash Party (Wii)
- Guitar Hero: Metallica (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii)