If you didn’t pre-order So the NES Classic Edition, as it turns out, isas rare as we thought. It’s currently going for $200-$1000 on Ebay (as always the upper limit is an outlier, withactualsold listings around the lower end of those figures), and based on my findings at various retail locations this morning, it’s all gone. After visiting and calling multiple GameStops, the median allotment for consoles waseight(which were sold out immediately after the store opened), and the allotment for additional controllers wasoneortwo....

Can’t say that I will miss ya So the first half of the new season ofDr. Whohas wrapped. After many hints and and insinuations, the Pond family has finally left the building. I’m afraid to say that I just won’t miss them. Sure, Karen Gillian was always a pleasure to behold, but their duo’s chemistry on the show just never clicked for me. Actually, I was let down by this whole season....

It’s back! It started and ended in 2008.The Sound Card, I mean. Dale North started the series many years ago, and while it had a very short run, I was always a fan of the column which featured zany lists that included “the 8 most f*cked up vocal remixes” and “the top ten most obnoxious game songs.” I wanted to bring the series back, and while I just noted that it focused on a lot of lists, the introductory post was an excellentprimer to game music, most of which is still applicable today....

I’d buy it Nintendo is jumping into the wide world of mobile, which is something I never would have predicted some time ago. While we speculate on the look and pricepoint of the NX, artist Pierre Cerveau has cooked up a cool looking mockup of what a Nintendo smart phone might be. I really dig this, and would easily get a standalone device based on the design. With the attachable “Game Bat” device, It basicallylooks like were smart phones are atwith controller tech anyway....

It’s time for another super entertaining weekend onDestructoid’s Twitch TV channel. It’s going to be a bit unusual this time around. King Foom is taking it easy onMash Tacticswith some “A.D.D. Friday”, to round out this week of relaxation. Crux has achieved retro Sega console streaming, which means he is about to unleash the horror of Sega CD on us all onRetroactive. Also, Caitlin seems to be missing fromWeekend Escape, leaving Brett to playPsychonautsall by his lonesome and ask, “where has all the good ‘donk’ gone?...

Activision has revealed a brand new trailer forTransformers: War for Cybetron, and it looks bloody awesome. Despite the worrying lack of Frank Welker, this video should be an awesome treat for fans of the properTransformers— the ones that existed before Michael Bay had inappropriate sexual conduct with our childhood memories. Whether or not the game itself is any good remains to be seen, but for right now I am excited by this video....

Skeleton warriors and swashbucklers, that’s pretty much all you need for agood pirate adventure, right? Well, it looks like there’s more than just that on the horizon forTrident’s Tale, a newly-revealed single-player outing from Italian studio 3DClouds. While the announcement trailer below is mostly focused on cinematics, you’ll get a quick peek at how it plays near the end. There’s naval combat — for which you’re able to customize and upgrade your ship — with cannon duels and sea monster battles, as well as island exploration....

SmartGlass for Ryse and video editing showcased Microsoft demonstrated the “next-generation” SmartGlass during its E3 2013 press conference. The tech allows plays to start a single-player game, set up multiplayer, look at Achievements, and more from their mobile device. Ryse‘s Timeline feature was shown, providing an all-encompassing glimpse of a level. SmartGlass lets users see real-time stat comparisons with leaderboards, Achievements, and DVR game clip recording that’s been made public....

Troubled retailer’s 67 shops did not open today Independent UK gaming chain Grainger Games appears to have reached the end of the line. Just yesterday, the company contacted a selection of its stores and told them not to open. This morning, the same message was relayed to the rest of its outlets, which are spread across the UK. Although there has beenopen murmursrecently about the company being in financial distress, there has been no publicly acknowledged signs of actual closure, either through in-store POS or sales etc....

Aftera praise-worthy launch,Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2shows no signs of slowing down. The game already teased anew PvE Operation for October, and now players can get their first glimpse at what the Space Marines will be facing down on Kadaku: a fearsome Hierophant Bio Titan. But alongside a preview of theUltramarine’snext outing, Focus Entertainment and Saber Interactive reaffirmed plans for the year ahead. Space Marine 2offers a cooperative PvE mode called Operations....

Timberborncomes packed with quite a few maps. Beyond that, there’s also a map editor if none of them suit your taste. I’m working off the assumption that, if you’re starting out withTimberborn, you’re not going to be in a hurry to dive into the editor. So, which of the included maps is the best? That all depends on your preference. The Plains The Plains is the map that the developer, Mechanistry, suggests you start with....

The Writers Guild of America, the organization for all those people who attempt to write movies (myself included),has announcedthat they will be presenting a video game writing award at the 2008 Writers Guild Awards. The ceremony, to be held on February 9th, is meant to “encourage storytelling excellence in videogames, to improve the status of writers, and to begin to encourage uniform standards.” “Videogames are written and many are written very well....

[Insert RoboCop meme here] The Haunted Island, a Frog Detective Gameis goofy and delightful in all the right ways. It’s a short experience, at just about an hour long, but the length is perfect for the story it’s trying to tell. I loved it at release, but I’ve found myself growing more and more fond of it over time. I miss its wholesome jokes and references to the ever-impressive Lobster Cop, who I am one-hundred percent down to see receive his own spinoff series....