Guitar Hero World Tour is going to let players make their own songs, so it only stands to reason that Rock Band 2 will as well, right? Right? Not according to Alex Rigopulos, the CEO and co-founder of Rock Band developer Harmonix.

Speaking to CNN, Rigopulos states that his company "wanted to do [song creation] right." He adds that Harmonix is "taking a radically different approach" to player-created tracks – presumably he means from the way Guitar Hero World Tour dev Neversoft is handling it – and will "take more time to do it." So, Rock Band 3 with a song creator it is then, right? Right?

Just under a month after shipping Don King Presents Prizefighter for Xbox 360, UK-based Venom Games is reportedly closing up shop. Computer and Video Games cites a source at the company, who divulged that Venom staff were informed of the closure Wednesday.

We contacted Take-Two, who published Prizefighter under its 2K Sports label, and were told by a spokesperson that it is currently "assessing the role of Venom Games in Take-Two's overall global studio system," and "in a consultation with the employees of Venom in relation to possible redundancies at the studio."

Beyond some crappy scans and lots of speculation, real info on the WiiWare return of Mega Man has been scant. Well, GamesRadar just opened the flood gates with its exclusive, proper reveal of Mega Man 9, featuring a hands-on by Nintendo editor Brett Elston and an interview with series creator (and MM9 producer) Keiji Inafune.

Elston reports that Mega Man 9 is ... well, it's essentially an NES game – just as difficult as the original 8-bit installments of the famed series. "Mega Man 9 is easily on par or above the hardest games in the series," Elston says, adding: "Hell, we played for two hours and only made it to three bosses, and even then only beat two." Read on after the break for more new info.

A little ninja scampered across our screen to bring news that Metanet, developer of N+, has three level packs for the Xbox Live Arcade version of the game ready and waiting. According to a post on Metanet's blog, the downloadable content has already been submitted to Microsoft for certification, although it has yet to receive a release date.

The post also reveals that one of the three packs will be free, and that, in total, the DLC-drop contains more than 750 new maps (roughly 300 of which are mutliplayer levels). The maps are reportedly "a lot better than the ones that came with N+" due to the fact that Metanet has "had more time to learn what works." We know what works: 750 more reasons to love the stylish and seductively simple ninja platformer.

[Via Video Games Blogger]

France may not have the Quarter Pounder with Cheese, but it will soon have Capcom. The publisher is opening offices in the country that brought us such great things as champagne, escargot, and jokes about France as part of continuing efforts to increase sales of its games in Europe.

Capcom Entertainment France will report directly to Capcom Entertainment Europe, and we're sure it will soon be hard at work on localized versions of such famous franchises as Homme de Méga, Combattant de Rue, and Mal Résident.

HMV, the music, movie, and games retailer with locations throughout the UK, Canada, Singapore, and Hong Kong, is finally catching up with the wants needs of modern gamers. Starting later this year, the chain will begin selling second-hand games at some of its locations, ramping up across the globe in 2009.

We're not sure why it took so long for HMV to begin selling used software. Perhaps it thought it was actually in Japan, which lifted its ban on used game sales in 2002?

In any event, the move will put HMV on a level playing field with other UK games retailers, including Game and CEX, who have offered used titles for some time (the latter dealing in them exclusively). Now all HMV has to do to recreate the US game-buying experience is to get bought out by GameStop. You know, like New Zealand's Gamesman.

IT security firm Sophos reports that someone has been messing around with the official US PlayStation website. "Messing around" as in fitting its SingStar and God of War pages with fake ads that tried to make (and may have succeeded in making) visitors believe their computers were riddled with viruses.

Phobos says that the bogus pop-ups prompted those who saw them to purchase what turned out to be equally bogus anti-virus software. The "scareware" has since been exterminated by Sony's IT jockeys, but we can only wonder how many hapless gamers were drawn into the hacker's insidious ... web of lies before it was too late.

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

If you were lucky (or unlucky) enough to install PS3 firmware 2.40 before it was yanked by Sony, you'll definitely want to check out PS3 Fanboy's first-ever PlayStation Trophy guide. It's only fitting that their guide is for the first-ever Trophy-enabled game, Super Stardust HD. Be the first person on your friends list to unlock 'em all – check it out!

After playing his latest creation, we're beginning to suspect that American McGee – whose previous work includes American McGee's Alice, Quake, and Doom II – has a bit of a fascination with the macabre. Grimm has its basis in some of the darker fairytales on record, and McGee has certainly milked them for every last, inky drop of blackness.

As we reported earlier today, American McGee's Grimm is GameTap's first weekly episodic game. We plunged into the twisted depths of the first episode – "A Boy Learns What Fear Is" – to bring you the hands-on impressions you'll find after the break.

Wait ... isn't that LocoRoco Cocoreccho? Nope, it's the latest model in the PixelJunk line from Q-Games, PixelJunk Eden. It just so happens that this new video of the game's multiplayer shows two little ... things hopping around and swinging from leaves, limbs, and the like.

The "goal" of the game is to collect pollen and make the flora grow – and, as this footage has proven, totally mellow us out. It remains without a firm launch date, but Q-Games has previously alluded to a summer release for this PlayStation Network title.

Get ready to hit the seedier side of Tokyo and slug it out in HD – Yakuza 3 is coming. The "real" Yakuza 3. As first reported on 2chan, the latest issue of Famitsu quotes Yakuza series director Toshihiro Nagoshi as stating that the game is a direct sequel to Yakuza 2, and is in development exclusively for PS3.

Nagoshi states in the Famistu article that Ryu ga Gotoku Kenzan! – which is set in Edo-era Japan – is actually considered a spin-off from the "main" Ryu ga Gotoku series (Yakuza here in the West). No release date has been announced for the series' third (well, technically fourth) installment, but we'll keep you posted.

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

As we've already reported, SCEA has removed firmware 2.40, released early this morning, from its update servers. Users attempting to use the System Update feature from the PS3 XMB from firmware prior to 2.40 are now being told that their software is up to date.

This action follows a large number of reports on the official PlayStation message boards of the update adversely affecting users' systems. The most widely noted problem is systems simply failing to reach the XMB upon booting, instead getting stuck on a screen with only the familiar "wave" background displayed.

Some posters have reported that removing the PS3 hard disk, formatting it via a PC, then re-inserting it allows the PS3 to boot properly ... with the obvious drawback of losing everything – profiles, saves, DLC, etc. – that was on the drive.

Joystiq contacted SCEA for comment on the situation as was told by PR director Patrick Seybold that they are aware of the message thread and that they are "looking into it right now and will work with those customers directly to address any issues they may be experiencing." This comment came before the update was removed from Sony's servers. We're seeking further comment and will update as we receive it.

Update: SCEA has issued a formal statement via the official PlayStation blog confirming that firmware 2.40 has "temporarily" been taken offline until it can "isolate the problem" and "identify a solution."

GameTap is taking a most unusual approach with its first weekly episodic game series. Each episode of American McGee's Grimm – individual "fractured fairytales" from the designer of American McGee's Alice – will debut as a free download and remain free for a 24-hour period. After that, episodes will go into GameTap's archives and be available to download individually for a yet-to-be-determined price.

The model is likened to that of the iTunes or Xbox Live video download services. Catching a Grimm episode during the initial download-for-free window will be like watching a new episode of a show on network TV. Once it's "aired," you can download it if you missed it – for a price.

The episodes will be supported by minimal up-front advertising and the first one, "A Boy Learns What Fear Is," will debut on July 31. We had the opportunity to play the first three Grimm episodes yesterday and will post our impressions later today.

Speaking to MTV Multiplayer, the developer of such epics as Mass Effect and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic confirmed that it is looking into games of a much smaller (physical) scale. Specifically, BioWare co-CEO Greg Zeschuk states that he finds Apple's iPhone "intriguing" as a games platform. Mind you, he's not saying development is underway, but he is a fan.

"Something that's as big a cultural and technical success as the iPhone is something you've really got to take a close look at," explains Zeschuk, adding that, "We've got a lot of folks looking at it." Zechuk's statements come just a few days after the project lead on BioWare's Nintendo DS RPG, Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, revealed that the company is also investigating Wii and PSP dvelopment. Now BioWare just needs to look into developing for those LCD games you see at mall kiosks and it'll have all bases covered.