This is going to be hard to top. Japanese website Akiba Blog has run a post saying that Dragon Quest IX went on sale last night.

According to Akiba Blog, over two-thousand people lined up at midnight today for DQIX. Midnight. Today. Today is April 1, and Dragon Quest IX is slated for release this July. This is according to the website. Note: people did not actually line up for it last night! The website merely has faked the launch.

Still, very cruel for those who woke up today and checked Akiba Blog website and thought they’d missed the game’s launch — especially considering the number of times Dragon Quest IX has been delayed and how many Japanese gamers are impatiently waiting for it.

Still, don’t be surprised if frazzled individuals are running around Akihabara, frantically looking for DQIX after reading this Akiba Blog post. If you happen to see any, be sure to let them know the game is sold out and new shipments are expected shortly.

This is just one of many April Fools jokes circulating on the Japanese internet. Website Canned Dogs has a great round-up of today’s pranks. Stand outs include a Queen’s Blade live action flick, SNK announcing Star Radish and a retro version iDOLM@STER.

Wii Height is pretty great, too.

ドラゴンクエスト９本日発売！秋葉原で2000人以上の行列が [Akiba Blog]

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Introversion - developers of Defcon and Darwinia - have a treat in store for us. Following “unprecedented approval” from Microsoft, they’ve uploaded a paper trail documenting the journey a game takes from pitch to release.

And it is fascinating. Provided you find this kind of backroom stuff interesting, anyway. Available for perusal are bug reports, milestone reports and, most interesting of all, a log of some of the project emails between Introversion and Microsoft, including how the developer reacted to the ESRB leaking the game announcement and how Introversion flirted with the idea of releasing two Darwinia titles for Xbox Live Arcade before Microsoft said “no, thanks”.

Darwinia + [Introversion, via Offworld]

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Back in January, Tecmo and Koei officially merged. The merger created a joint holding company called Koei Tecmo Holdings as of April 1, when the new financial year starts.

In Japan, it’s April 1, and Koei Tecmo Holdings has unveiled its new corporate logo. The logo not only combines the aesthetics of standard Koei logo with the Tecmo “T” and corporate red color. It also appears to be inspired by some of the more well known features of Tecmo’s Dead or Alive franchise.

Last fall, Tecmo turned down Square Enix’s offer of a friendly takeover. Instead, Tecmo commenced merger talks with Koei, stating that both “companies have excellent financial positions, strengths and the ability to take advantage of each other in order to improve profitability and solidified the foundation of a worldwide leader.”

Square Enix has since purchased UK company Eidos, which is best known for the Tomb Raider. Perhaps they will also unveil a new logo as voluptuous as this one.

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Picture the scene: your mum walks into GameStop. She walks to the PlayStation 3 section, and picks out a game for your birthday. At random. What are the odds she picks a good one?

Let’s find out! Just like they did for Xbox 360 games, market research firm EEDAR have tracked every PS3 game’s Metacritic score and found how much of the system’s catalogue has been a hit with critics, and how much of it hasn’t.

While 13% of 360 games earned review averages of 85 or higher, 17% of PS3 games achieved the same feat. At the other end of the scale, 30% of PS3 games scored 65 or lower, leaving 53% of PS3 games in that fuzzy, “kinda OK” average review score range of 66-84.

So! Just like the 360, then, the odds are good she’ll get you something…decent.

Games At-a-Glance: PS3 Quality [Edge]

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Japanese developer tri-Ace (Star Ocean, Infinite Undiscovery) has launched a website with a countdown clock for a “new RPG project”. The only catch?

Tri-Ace launched it today on April 1 in Japan — you know, the day when the internet turns to crapola. The countdown website features logos for the PS3 and Xbox 360 — typically, Japanese gag sites for April Fools day do not feature real product names. Check out the PrayStation 4table for reference.

Previously, Tri-Ace has developed titles for a myriad of platforms including the Super Famicom, the Game Boy, the PlayStation, the PlayStation 2, the Nintendo DS and most recently the Xbox 360 with role-playing-game Star Ocean 4.

Giving validity to the chances of this not being an April Fools Day joke, the reveal for the new RPG is next Friday when the countdown clock ends. Japanese magazine Famitsu goes on sale on Friday, so often new titles are announced them.

Granted, we’re not ruling anything out. This is April Fools day, the day that the internet turns largely into crap. Though, creating a phony countdown clock only to announced a fake multi-platform tri-Ace game? If that’s a prank, it’s not funny.

If it’s a game, then hey, we’re all ears.

The NEW RPG PROJECT [tri-Ace]

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Namco Bandai’s Keita Takahashi (pictured) worked on the first Katamari Damacy game and its sequel We Love Katamari.

Those games were great.

However, Takahashi did not work on Me & My Katamari, Beautiful Katamari, I Love Katamari. Those games were less great, but whaddayagonnado.

What about the forthcoming Katamari Damacy Tribute? Is Takahashi involved in the game?

Namco Bandai told game site Eurogamer that the designer is “not involved”, but that the game is “in good hands.” Yeah, it’s not like these game developers make these games by themselves!

Takahashi not involved in PS3 Katamari [Eurogamer] [Pic]

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Probably. It’s on GameStop’s website, after all, and last I checked big corporations aren’t as prone to throwing up April Fool’s jokes as common folk.

As you can see from the image below, there are 15 artists/songs specifically named, out of a promised 40+. And if most of them look familiar, that’s because they are, as they’re already available on the home console versions.

Shame. On the bright side, the PSP version will have its own in-game store where you can purchase downloadable content, which is something we figured Harmonix wouldn’t bother with.

You can see the partial tracklist (taken from the back of the game’s box art) below.

Rock Band: Unplugged [GameStop, via IGN]

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Malcolm Palmer stabbed the mother of his three children and partner of 30 years after having to sleep on the sofa so she could play Grand Theft Auto on a plasma TV in their bedroom.

That, and the 62-year-old Palmer, who is a retired Heathrow airport employee, had become convinced his 46-year-old partner Carol Cannom was having an affair.

The two had purchased a PlayStation (doesn’t specify which one — ditto for GTA) for their 10-year-old son, but Cannom apparently started regular gaming marathons. According to prosecutor John Pini QC, “Carol quickly became hooked. He was very unhappy about the amount of time she was playing on the PlayStation.”

He wielded two knives during the attack, stabbing her in the chest 20 times. Their son James called the authorities, and Palmer snatched the phone, saying, “I’m sorry. I think I’ve killed her.”

Defence lawyer Timothy Spencer QC stated to the court, “The genesis of this tragedy bizarrely lies with the purchase of the PlayStation.”

No, the genesis did not lie in the purchase of the PlayStation — otherwise, we’d have millions of PlayStation domestic murders. More relevant to the motive, Palmer went berserk last November when Cannom threatened to move out, telling him he’d never see his children again.

Father killed partner who became hooked on Sony PlayStation [Telegraph via OneLastContinue]

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Your “New Xbox Experience” avatar has just gotten some grown up clothes, eight new pieces of formal and business casual articles that will be a hit at your next Xbox Live con call.

New shirts, slacks, waistcoats and skirts are yours for the virtual closet raiding, provided you want your Avatar to look nice, but not too nice. For the new additions, read on.

Male
Blue Formal Shirt
Moleskin Pants
Waistcoat and Shirt
Suit and Tie

Female
Pencil Skirt
Slacks
Pinstripe Blazer
Twin Set

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I can’t say anything about the game, yet. But this swag should tell you all you need to know for now about 2K’s second mobster game coming out this fall.

Note the Italian restaurant-style takeout container. That ain’t pasta sauce splattered on the edge, there… Open it up and you’ll find — not a severed hand — but an ashtray, which I totally can’t use being that I don’t smoke (now I know how my parents felt when I gave them all those clay-made ones from art class…) plus some nifty matchboxes.

Check back here Monday April 20 for an actual first look of the game.

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