Mario more recognizable than Prime Minister

In a sad-but-true turns of events, a survey commissioned by Nintendo of Canada found that more people in Calgary, Toronto and Halifax were able to identify a photo of Nintendo's iconic video game plumber, Mario, than were able to identify a photo of Canada's current Prime Minister, Stephen Harper. The survey, taken by Harris/Decima, also found that less than half (48%) of the Canadians surveyed were able to identify opposition leader Stephane Dion. The survey itself was conducted between October 11 and October 16 via mall intercepts with randomly selected Canadians in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto GTA, Montreal and Halifax, in both English and French.

While the complete statistics for the survey were not announced, Nintendo did say that more women identified Mario than the Prime Minister (66% vs. 63%), that both were recognized by 70 percent of the respondents in five major centres when asked to identify the people/character in the photographs by name and that in each politicians own riding Mario was recognized more (47% vs. 41% in Harper's riding and 78% vs. 71% in Dion's riding). The survey was done in preparation and promotion for today's release of Super Mario Galaxy for Wii, and appears to be yet another sign of just how disinterested people have become in politics. Super Mario Galaxy is available now for $49.99 USD and CAD and is rated E for Everyone.

Lights, Camera, Action now on Xbox 360

The number one selling DVD board game in the U.S. made its video game premiere today, as Microsoft Game Studios, Screenlife Games and WXP released Scene It? Lights, Camera, Action for exclusively on Xbox 360. Instead of coming packaged in a board game format, the Lights, Camera, Action package comes complete with for new wireless Big Button Pads with four selection buttons and and large, coloure d buzzer button, which give the game a feeling equivalent to that of a game show. The Big Button Pad actually takes its inspiration from the buzzers used by contestants in countless game shows throughout the years, but uses the latest infrared technology to minimize the chances of an argument over who answered first.

“ We’re taking party gaming to the next level on Xbox 360 with Scene It? Lights, Camera, Action ,” said Stuart Moulder, executive producer at Screenlife Games. “It’s the first trivia franchise available for Xbox 360.We’ve brought Scene It? ’s award-winning interactive experience to this next generation platform with HD movie clips, photo stills, audio clips and more.” Scene It? Lights, Camera, Action is available now for Xbox 360 for $59.99 USD and CAD and is rated T for Teen. If you are wondering how a family oriented game like Scene It? could be rated T, the answer is actually quite simple. The game includes movie clips and images which have content which the ESRB would normally consider as being part of the T rating for other video games, so the same content ratings apply for this game as well.

DivX to be added to PS3

DivX Inc. announced today that its self-titled video technology will be integrated into Playstation 3. “We are excited to work with Sony Computer Entertainment to bring DivX to PS3,” said Kevin Hell, CEO of DivX Inc. “Our technology will expand the multimedia functionality of PS3 by enabling users to enjoy access to the broad library of content in the DivX digital media format.” DivX is currently working on certifying Playstation 3 for proper video playback and visual quality. The company also says that current Playstation 3 users will be able to add DivX functionality to their console by downloading a future software update. Also, Playstation 3 game developers will be able to utilize DivX's decoder technology by updating the system software of the Playstation 3's Software Development Kit to version 2.00, so players may also start seeing games which use DivX in the future as well.

Xbox Live celebrates 5 ^th anniversary with big news

Microsoft will be celebrating the fifth anniversary of Xbox Live this Thursday, November 15 ^th . As as gesture of thanks for making Xbox Live the most popular social gaming network on the planet, with more than 8 million members, Microsoft will be giving all 8 million Xbox Live members the opportunity to download a free Xbox Live Arcade game (we believe that means “a selected Xbox Live Arcade game”), which will be available for download between 12:01am PST on November 15 ^th and 11:59pm PST on November 16 ^th . In addition to this, every active member who joined Xbox Live in 2002 will receive 500 free Microsoft Points.

On December 4 ^th , Microsoft will be updating Xbox Live with a host of new features and enhancements. This update will also include the ability to download original Xbox games to the Xbox 360. Games like Halo, Psychonauts, Fable and more will be available to be downloaded directly to the Xbox 360 hard drive. Titles will be 1,200 Microsoft Points per game, and the current lineup of titles is only the beginning according to Microsoft, which says that Xbox 360 owners can expect to see a growing catalogue of original Xbox games available for download over the coming year. More information can be found online about the downloadable games available on Xbox LIVE, the evolution of Xbox LIVE or the Xbox LIVE is 5IVE member rewards at http://www.xbox.com.

Today's game releases

Disney's Enchanted for Nintendo DS - $29.99 USD/$34.99 CAD

Electronic Arts Orcs & Elves for Nintendo DS - $29.99 USD and CAD

Electronic Arts Smarty Pants for Wii - $49.99 USD and CAD

Electronic Arts SimCity Societies for PC - $49.99 USD and CAD

Electronic Arts Crysis for PC – Price varies by version

THQ's Smackdown vs. Raw 2008 for Nintendo DS, Wii, Playstation 2, Playstation 3, PSP and Xbox 360 – Price varies by system

THQ's Warhammer: 40,000: Squad Command for Nintendo DS and PSP - $29.99 USD/$39.99 CAD

D3 Publisher of America's Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords for Playstation 2 - $19.99 USD

Majesco's Cooking Mama 2: Dinner with Friends for Nintendo DS - $29.99 USD

Midway's Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends: Imagination Invaders for Nintendo DS - $29.99 USD

Midway's Ultimate Mortal Kombat for Nintendo DS - $29.99 USD

Midway's Blacksite: Area 51 for PC and Xbox 360 – Price varies by system