Fans of Electronic Arts' Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (PS3, PSP, Xbox 360, DS, Wii, GBA, PC, Mac) should know that the video game version of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince has been officially announced. For more information on this game, check out the full article.

Looking for some videogame action, but want to save a buck or two on the side? Then you'd better head on over to your local Target or Circuit City this week, as they've got quite the deals lined up for the budget-conscious gamer. From today's latest releases to the classics of your childhood, look no further than this article to get the full info on what you can buy with the money in your wallet. Click on the read more button for more info.

E3. The legendary convention where the biggest names in the videogame industry come together to show off their latest creations, and for gamers all around the world to get a sneak peek on what's hot and what's not in today's generation of digital entertainment. To give us an idea on just what could go down in E3, however, here's a somewhat-complete list of those titles scheduled to make their appearances come the convention's dates.

Please note that everything on this list is subject to change at any time. With that in mind, here's the list in full:

Activision

• Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PS3, Xbox 360)
• Enemy Territory: Quake Wars (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
• Guitar Hero III (PS2, Xbox 360, Wii, DS)
• Tony Hawk's Proving Ground (PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, PS2, DS)

Atari

• Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 (Wii, PS2)
• Godzilla: Unleashed (Wii, DS, PSP)
• Jenga (Wii)
• The Witcher (PC)

Bethesda Softworks

• To be announced (Fallout 3, presumably)

Capcom

• MotoGP 2007 (PS2)
• Devil May Cry 4 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
• Rocketmen: Axis of Evil (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
• Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
• Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
• Talisman (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
• More to be confirmed

The entire list after the jump - just click on the Full Article link below.

Seems like female gamers have a lot to look forward to this year. It was just yesterday when we mentioned that Disney Interactive Studios will be coming up with a couple of titles to be released on Nintendo consoles, Wii and DS. Today, we just learned that the Bratz will be making an appearance as well.

According to publisher THQ, there are a total of three new titles currently in development based on the popular doll line. The first two video games Bratz: 4 Real and Bratz Super Babyz will be both released on DS and Games for Windows platforms this Fall.

4 Real was actually based from the upcoming Bratz theatrical release. Furthermore, the other title will be known as Bratz: The Movie and will make an outing on Wii, PlayStation 2 (PS2), and even on GameBoy Advance (GBA).

In this game, players will be able to follow the adventures of all four Bratz as they become real movie stars. Other features include a Pet System as well as utilization of the Wiimote. Bratz: The Movie will also be released alongside the above mentioned other two video game titles.

Open the doors to Hogwarts once again; you'd surely want to revisit the place before you watch the fifth Harry Potter movie and read the last book, right? Regardless, Electronic Arts' Harry Potter Order of the Phoenix is here to give you an interactive refresher course in the form of a video game. Especially since it's available across all major console and handheld platforms, there isn't any reason for you to miss out.

In line with the game, EA has launched a new website for the fans. Stroll around the campus to view screenshots and videos. You've probably even seen some of those media content before here on QJ. There's also a section where you can read up on the specific features of each platform version of the game (PS3, 360, Wii, PS2, PSP, NDS, GBA, and PC).

What caught our attention though were the two coming soon sections of the site: "Mini-games" and "Wizarding Widgets." Wonder when those things will unlock themselves. Too bad Alohomora spells don't come cheap these days.

You can click the Read link below to head over to the site.

 

France-based publishing giant Ubisoft has just announced that Surf's Up (for the Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, NDS, PSP, PS2, GameCube, GBA and PC) has been shipped to stores today. The game, based on Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animations' upcoming animated film of the same title, will allow gamers to become surf legends just like Cody Maverick.

Surf's Up has been rated E10+ by the ESRB and should be available at a US$ 49.99 price tag for copies on the next-gen consoles, a US$ 39.99 price tag on the Sony PS2, PSP and GameCube, a US$ 29.99 for the DS and the Game Boy Advance, and a lowly US$ 19.99 for the PC.

Surf's Up will introduce gamers to the competitive sport of extreme surfing, packed with arcade goodness as only this game can. The game will also bring the player to various surf locales in the island of Pen Gu, where our penguin hero begins his adventure toward being a world-class surfer.

The game will be officially available on June 8, 2007 for North America, starting August 2007 for gamers in Europe (August 10, 2007 for the UK), and starting June 2007 for gamers in the Asia Pacific region (although Australia will get it on September 13, 2007).

As of the other day, Activision had already released Shrek the Third for the Wii, 360, PC, PS2, DS, and GBA. Now if you're not yet sure whether to get the video game, you have two options right now. Option #1 being that you watch the movie first when it comes out in the theaters (May 18 in the U.S.), and, based on your silver screen experience, decide whether you want to further immerse yourself in Far Far Away right at your living room. Or...

Option #2 being that you take a good look at the video we've got below. Like we always say, screenshots can only go so far (far away - teehee). Videos, now that's something else entirely. In this gameplay montage, we see two of the many playable characters in action: Shrek himself and Puss in Boots. Putting the "Arrrr" in "pirates," the two protagonists show these hooligans who's boss.

Now is it just me, or did Puss drink some enlargement potion or something? He's looking twice - maybe even thrice - the size that he really is...

If the video game hypes are to be believed, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix for Xbox 360, Wii, PlayStation 3, DS and PlayStation Portable will be "the most immersive" game of the series yet. To give proof to this claim, Electronic Arts' (EA) Harvey Elliot - the game's executive producer - recently graced the IGN news room with an interview. Here's a rundown of what he revealed:

For starters, a lot of people are wondering how faithful the game will be to its source material. Elliot has thankfully assured fans that the game will be completely accurate with regards to the movie. He spoke about the effort they have made along with the difficulties involved in pulling this off:

Because such a large part of the movie is set in Hogwarts, we have gone to extreme lengths to recreate the locations from the movie in the game - perhaps more than any movie game ever. It started with us working with the movie team to construct a 3D virtual Hogwarts - getting their blue prints of the movie sets, going to the exterior locations with tape measurers and high-end digital cameras, and reviewing how these locations have been translated into the movies, poring over every detail.

In keeping with the movie, he noted that they have also been constantly rechecking the movie sets and productions. This was done so that they could "ensure that [they] captured the elements in every room, courtyard and corridor."

The full article awaits after the jump!

Okay, here's the latest stats on the Japanese gaming market. For the week ending 1 April 2007, the stats didn't really show significant changes. Nintendo still leads the hardware sales with a total of 16,073,997 units sold and dominating 38.4 percent of the console market. The Wii, still from Nintendo, comes next at a sales figure of 2,052,397 units while composing 24.2 percent of the market.

Next in the console sales count are PSP, PS2, PS3, Xbox 360, GBA and Gamecube composing 19 percent, 8.1 percent, 8 percent, 1.5 percent, 0.6 and 0.1 percent respectively.

When it comes to software sales, meanwhile, DS software sold the most, representing 51.7 percent software sales. The rest of the software sales stats are as follows:

• PS2: 33 percent
• Wii: 8.8 percent
• PSP: 3.3 percent
• PS3: 2.8 percent
• Xbox 360: 0.4 percent

We might say that the changes occurred in the game title sales count. The top 10 games sold in Japan for the week ending April 1 are as follows:

1. Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix by Square Enix (PS2)
2. Musou Orochi by Koei (PS2)
3. Digimon Story Sunburst / Moonlight by Bandai (DS)
4. More English Training for Adults by Nintendo (DS)
5. World Puzzle Mojipittan DS by Namco (DS)
6. Pro Baseball Spirits 4 by Konami (PS2)
   
7. Yoshi Island DS by Nintendo (DS)
   
8. Prof. Layton and the Mysterious Village by Level 5 (DS)
   
9. Tamagotchi Splendid Rainbow Venture by Bandai (DS)
   
10. Monster Hunter Freedom 2nd by Capcom (PSP)
    

'Course we love surfers. They have this cool accent, a smooth swagger when they walk, and those very attractive - uhh, beaks. And feathers. And real live webbed feet for padding through blue ocean waters - not the sort of flippers that humans attach to their gawky feet to help them swim.

We're talking about the surfers of Ubisoft's Surf's Up, an upcoming game on the PC, Playstation 3, PSP, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS and Wii. It's based on a movie to be released by Columbia Pictures, a comedy based on a teenager, Cody Maverick, leaving his home in Shiverpool, Antartica to travel to Pen Gu Island to fulfill his dreams of becoming a pro surfer.

Along the way he meets interesting characters such as Chicken Joe, Reggie Belafonte, Mikey Abromowitz, Lani Aliikai, and Geek. And did we ever tell you that the characters are penguins and a chicken? The game comes on May 22 for all of the above-mentioned platforms, as well as for the PS2, Gamecube and the GBA.

Look at these first screen shots from the upcoming game.