Destructoid reports that everybody’s favorite lawyer Jack Thompson has been ordered to undergo a battery of psychological tests on top of his 91-day suspension. In an email personally sent to Game Politics, he relates that this mediation was a “charade” and that he is not “one who needs a psych evaluation.”

Thompson is not a favorite with the Bar: his deals with them have seen five counts of professional misconduct, as well as a complaint from a Miami judge regarding his Bully suit.

He has been quite for some time. This explains why.

A pre-E3 fact sheet of Rock Band reveals a total of eight confirmed songs in the upcoming Harmonix game. From the eight listed songs, six are drawn from the master tapes of the original recordings: The Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” David Bowie’s “Suffragette City,” Weezer’s “Say it Ain’t So,” Nirvana’s “In Bloom,” The Hives’ “Main Offender” and Blue Oyster Cult’s “Don’t Fear the Reaper”. The remaining two tracks are covers of Black Sabbath’s “Paranoid” and Mountain’s “Mississippi Queen”.

The fact sheet also revealed other details: there will be both instrument-specific as well as band-wide campaign modes, time-slowing practice mode from Guitar Hero 2 and the ability to create custom rock star avatars, right down to stage moves and tattoos.

Some screenshots were also released.

Owners of the Xbox 360 can now rest easier. Microsoft has officially announced an extension to the warranty of the console, protecting its owners from general hardware failures for three years from the purchase date.

“Over the past couple of months, the number of repairs to Xbox 360 consoles has been unacceptable to us,” said Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices Division. He also said that the company has made improvements to the console that will reduce such issues from happening.

Customers who paid for out-of-warranty general hardware failure will receive a reimbursement check from Microsoft in 10 to 12 weeks.

Originally developed by Utrecht School of Arts students in the Netherlands, De Blob will be making its way to the Wii and DS, courtesy of THQ.

The game puts players in control of a blob in a highly-stylized city, with the objective of coloring buildings by slamming the blob into them, returning the city to its colorful, cheery state.

The Wii version is being developed by Blue Tongue Entertainment, with the DS being worked on by Helixe. Both versions will make use of the console’s unique control schemes to enable movement of the blob.

More information on the game is expected at E3. Those interested in the game can check out the original PC version.

Kotaku first reported of a Circuit City promotional sales flyer that listed the PS3 for $499, hundred dollars less than its current retail price. This sales flyer is reported to be effective starting the week of July 15-21.

Following the above report, GameDaily received confirmation from the retail sector that the price cut on the PS3 will be retail-wide and not just Circuit City, effectively authenticating the price drop. The price drop is scheduled to take place on July 12.

However, speaking to Bloomberg, SCE President Ryoji Chubachi has said that the company has no plans to cut the price of the console “at the present.” Hopefully, Sony’s E3 conference will yield more on this matter.

TVG reports that the latest issue of Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu contains word that an “international demo” for Blue Dragon will be released on July 20, more than a month before the game’s release. The magazine notes that the demo will feature up to 2 hours of play time and would most likely feature English voice-overs.

In a recent announcement, Microsoft included Blue Dragon as part of its Bringing E3 Home initiative to offer trailers and demos to Xbox Live users. However, the company didn’t mention what sort of content to expect for the game.

Blue Dragon is scheduled to hit stores in North America on August 28; Europeans will get it on August 24.

Indie developer Wahoo Studios and Silverlode Interactive have announced that Sage, the companies’ free-to-play MMORTS has entered beta testing. Interested parties are asked to check it out by downloading the game from this location.

Saga is a persistent-world real-time strategy game set in a fantasy universe inhabited by Elves, Dwarves, Ogres, Giants, Demons, Dark Elves and mechanical beings. Players collect troops, build armies, conquer new lands and build up kingdoms that exist even when the player is not online, complete with resource collection, city building and peasant management. Saga includes massive armies that gain experience through subsequent battles, multiplayer questing, an auction house for trading troops and spells, guild wars and espionage.

Saga has no subscription fees. Players pay as little or as much as they decide, by purchasing ‘booster packs’ of random troops and spells, which are traded and customized to create the strategic army of choice for each player.

The first E3 trailer is out! Although the event isn’t supposed to start in at least four days, Midway has released the trailer for BlackSite: Area 51, its upcoming “spiritual sequel” to the action-shooter released a couple of years ago.

The trailer can be found on FileFront, Gameplay Monthly, Gamer’s Hell and Strategy Informer.

Hoping to simplify the controls of its sports games, EA has announced EA Sports Family Play style of gameplay on the Wii. It will debut on Madden NFL 08, NBA Live 08 and FIFA 08, enabling players of all abilities to play their friends and family without a competitive disadvantage. There will also be advanced controls for more experienced players, ensuring no one gets left out.

In the main game of Madden NFL 08, NBA LIVE 08 and FIFA 08, players have the choice to play the style that best suits their skills. When entering a contest, players now have the option to choose Advanced or Family Play. Once in the game, Advanced users take complete control of all aspects of the gameplay through intuitive Wii gestures using both the Nunchuk and Wii remote. EA SPORTS Family Play offers a simplified control system using just the Wii remote that enables novice players to focus on having fun while the console does the rest. With the Wii remote in hand, players control key actions - such as shooting, passing, snapping, and throwing - while the console controls the rest. It’s like having an invisible helper on your team. Plus, as novice players gain confidence in their ability they can gradually begin to use Advanced controls simply by plugging in the Nunchuk. It’s that easy.

Below are screenshots from the Family Play system.

The land of the rising sun will finally get the Xbox 360 Elite. Microsoft announced that the high-end version of the console will go on sale October 11 in Japan where it still lags behind the PS3 and Wii despite launching almost a year earlier.

Interestingly, the console will retail for less over there than in the US. Featuring a 120GB hard drive, HDMI cable and other extras, Elite will go for 47,800 yen ($390) as compared to $480 in North America.

This is close to the 20GB model of the PS3 which sells for 49,980 yen, while the Wii sells for half of that.

According to a post on Ninja Theory’s IGN blog, Mat Hart, head of production on Heavenly Sword, stated that a demo of the game will appear on the PlayStation Network in the “very near future.”

“I can confirm that we are, of course, going to be releasing a demo for Heavenly Sword… and soon”, he said. “This will be downloadable via the PlayStation Network… so keep an eye out for this in the very near future. And I mean very near future!”

Although I’m speculating here, but a demo release in E3 week would bode well for PS3 gamers.

He also talks about other aspects of the game, including the possibility of a sequel. “The story of the Heavenly Sword was developed with a much longer arc in mind than just a single game,” he said. “In the event that the demand for a sequel is great enough the next ‘chapter’ will be very exciting indeed!”

Heavenly Sword is set for release exclusively on the PS3 this September.

According to Engadget, who are sourcing PlayStation Magazine France, Sony will be rolling out a second version of their Sixaxis controller featuring rumble.

They are saying that the controller will feature “touchsense” which will allow for rumble not only through the controller handles, but through the thumb-sticks as well. The rumble will also have the ability to give feedback from pin-point locations on the controller and will be much stronger than previous incarnations.

The latest issue of Postal Nation is up taking a look at the evolution of Postal Dude, the iconic character known for his murderous rampages and more. There’s a brief mention of Postal 3, stating that they are “finalizing the new Postal Dude model” and that he is being refined to show his “age and RWS attitude.”

City Interactive has announced Art of Murder: FBI Confidential, a point-and-click adventure set for release during Q4 2007.

The player takes on the role of an FBI agent, whose task is to solve a series of macabre murders of wealthy, well-to-do citizens. The victims are killed with an unknown device, and the murderer removes their hearts afterwards. The adventure begins in New York, but the clues will lead the player to, among others, the Peruvian city of Cusco - the ancient capitol of the Inca empire, and the verge of the Amazon jungle.

Time to take out those oversized baggy jeans because the ’90s are in town! SCEE has announced SingStar ’90s, the latest in the franchise that will, as the title implies, feature music from the past decade. It is set for release this August on PS2.

The game will include 30 tracks with songs from MC Hammer, REM, Spice Girls, Billy Ray Cyrus and The Cranberries; it will also come with original videos. Here’s the full track listing:

ALL SAINTS - Never Ever
AQUA - Barbie Girl
B-52’s - Love Shack
BARENAKED LADIES - One Week
BILLY RAY CYRUS - Achey Breaky Heart
CRASH TEST DUMMIES - MMM MMM MMM MMM
DIVINYLS - I Touch Myself
EMF - Unbelievable
GIN BLOSSOMS - Hey Jealousy
LISA LOEB - Stay
MC HAMMER - U Can’t Touch This
MEREDITH BROOKS - Bitch
M PEOPLE - Movin’ On Up
NATALIE IMBRUGLIA - Torn
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK - Step By Step
NICK CAVE & KYLIE MINOGUE - Where the Wild Roses Grow
POISON - Unskinny Bop
RADIOHEAD - Creep
REM - Everybody Hurts
ROACHFORD - Only want to be with You
SAVAGE GARDEN - I Want You
SEAL - Kiss From A Rose
SIR MIX A LOT - Baby Got Back
SPICE GIRLS - Wannabe
SPIN DOCTORS - Two Princes
TECHNOTRONIC FEAT. FELLY - Pump Up The Jam
THE CARDIGANS - Lovefool
THE CRANBERRIES - Zombie
THE CURE - Friday I’m In Love
WET WET WET - Love Is All Around