Welcome back for another edition of Video Game Bits. Over the past three days, two consoles celebrated their first birthdays. This past Saturday, November 17^th, marked the first birthday of Sony's Playstation 3. The high definition console hit the market with a lot of marketing hype, but very little stock to show for it, and many people walked away extremely disappointed with the whole affair. One year later, after many people lost interest in the console, Sony is starting to regain popularity on the market, thanks mostly to the console now actually being available for purchase, a couple of major price drops, including Sony matching the Canadian price to the American price, and the recent release of a number of big name titles for the console.

Today marked the first birthday of Nintendo's Wii. “The little console that could”, Wii has become the system of choice for most families across North America. Offering something for everyone, Wii has been set as a console not just for kids, teens or adults, but one for each of those groups, and even seniors. In fact, Wii appears to be on its way to taking over the spot of world's most popular system, which is currently held by Nintendo's handheld Nintendo DS, and it has already outsold Microsoft's Xbox 360, which is just about to enter its third year on the market. Here is today's Video Game Bits.

Halo 3 gets heroic

Microsoft announced today the upcoming launch of new multiplayer maps for Halo 3, as part of the Heroic Map Pack. The company is set to launch three brand new multiplayer maps for download via the Xbox Live Marketplace starting December 11^th, each with its own different style. “Standoff’s symmetrical valley, with its entrenched bases and fields of boulders is ideal for mid-sized objective and Slayer game types, while Rat’s Nest’s vast, labyrinthine passages bring something new to the Halo multiplayer experience: an indoor vehicle paradise, strongly influenced by the Campaign mode, ideal for big team battles. Finally, Foundry is the ultimate Forge map – players can edit every single object in this voluminous industrial warehouse, place stairways, walls, bridges and tunnels to create an entirely new play space and build almost any kind of map they can think of.” The maps will be available for 800 Microsoft Points.

Uncover El Dorado

Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) announced the release of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune for Playstation 3 today. The team that brought you hit franchises like Crash Bandicoot and Jak & Daxter is unleashing a whole new adventure franchise, exclusively for Playstation 3. The game takes players on a journey as Nathan Drake, an explorer and possible descendant of Sir Francis Drake, as he sets out to uncover the secrets of his family legacy and uncover El Dorado.

Naughty Dog built on its heritage of extraordinary storytelling and character development, creating a game that, according to Sony, “sets the precedence for realistic action games to follow”. Drake's Fortune even includes over 100 minutes of in-game cinematics with movie-like production quality. Equipped with a 400-year-old clue found in the coffin of Sir Francis Drake, Nathan Drake sets out on an expedition to find the fabled treasure of El Dorado. His adventure leads to the discovery of a forgotten island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Unfortunately for Nathan, things take a turn for the worse as he and his team become stranded and are being hunted by mercenaries. Uncharted: Drake's Fortune is available now exclusively for Playstation 3 for $59.99 USD and CAD and is rated T for Teen.

Activision #1 for October

Activision has come out as the #1 U.S. console and handheld publisher for the month of October, according to the NPD Group. The company increased it U.S. market share to a record 28.7% last month, driven mostly by sales of its ridiculously popular music/rhythm game, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. The game even managed to become the first third-party title to ever rank #1 for Wii. Unfortunately, Activision's announcement that it hit #1 came attached with some bad news for holiday shoppers looking to buy Guitar Hero III. Robert Kotick, Chairman and CEO of Activision said, “Despite having significantly increased our production capabilities for the holiday, there is still a high likelihood that we will not be able to meet demand for this game on every platform.”

UT3 ships for PC

Midway Games announced that it began shipping the highly anticipated Unreal Tournament 3 for PC today. The game has already received numerous awards and award nominations, from both this and last year's E3, including “Best of E3” E3 2007 twice. “Unreal Tournament 3’s superior graphics and gameplay experience take the award-winning Unreal franchise to a completely new level,” said Steve Allison, chief marketing officer for Midway. “The game truly defines what fast-paced, frenetic, intense first-person shooter gameplay should be.” Unreal Tournament 3 should be available at retail stores across North America tomorrow in either a regular edition or special collector's edition for $49.99 USD and CAD or $59.99 USD/$69.99 CAD and is rated M for Mature. Midway also expects to be releasing a Playstation 3 version some time this month, as well as an Xbox 360 version early next year. For more information on the game, go to www.unrealtournament3.com.