Watch the 3DS, Wii U Nintendo Direct for Japan live right here [update: it's over!]

There are two Nintendo Direct broadcasts going out today, one for Nintendo of America and the first beaming live from Japan. This first Direct is expected to focus on 3DS games and cover previously announced Wii U games. The last few coughed up more than a few surprises. 

The broadcast begins at 7AM ET (4AM Pacific, 12PM British). The Nintendo Direct for North America is due three hours later at 10AM ET, and according toNintendo it'll also focus on 3DS software. We'll also have that live stream for you, so don't be going anywhere.

Update: It's all been and gone now, and as suspected a lot of it was a recap. There was confirmation, though, of a Spring 2013 release window for Dragon Quest X on Wii U in Japan. Don't forget to tune in for the North American edition at 10AM ET.

Wii U will sell at a loss from launch

The Wii U will sell at a loss when it launches, Nintendo revealed today. In aninvestor briefing, Nintendo President and CEO Satoru Iwata disclosed the console's price is "below cost," citing it as one of the reasons for the company's reduced annual net profit outlook announced yesterday. The 3DS, however, is now no longer selling at a loss, a turnaround Nintendo predicted earlier this year.

Iwata's statement reads:

"In addition to the yen's continuous appreciation, the Wii U hardware will have a negative impact on Nintendo's profits early after the launch because rather than determining a price based on its manufacturing cost, we selected one that consumers would consider to be reasonable. In this first half of the term before the launch of the Wii U, we were not able to make a profit on software for the system while we had to book a loss on the hardware, which is currently in production and will be sold below cost. Our loss has therefore widened during the second quarter in spite of bringing the Nintendo 3DS hardware back to profitability. Although we expect our financial performance to be revitalized, under these circumstances, unfortunately we cannot say that we will achieve "Nintendo-like" profits within this fiscal year."

Nintendo revealed yesterday a loss of approximately $351 million for the first half of its fiscal year, along with predicted annual net profits of $75.2 million, down from $251 million. However, Nintendo expects to sell 24 million units of Wii U software worldwide by the end of March 2013, on the back of the 5.5 million consoles the company predicts it'll shift in that time. Iwata also noted GameStop has taken 250,000 Wii U pre-orders in North America, as of last week.

• Source: Nintendo

Left 4 Dead 2 free to play this weekend on Steam

Celebrating the pre-Halloween weekend, Left 4 Dead 2 will be free on Steam this weekend. Valve announced that starting Thursday the co-op shooter will be gratis to play and is currently available to pre-load.

This weekend adds a new achievement titled "Good Guy Nick" for current players who join up with a free weekend warrior.

It should also be mentioned, in case you haven't paid attention the multi-million selling franchise in a while, that Left 4 Dead 2 added many of the maps from the original Left 4 Dead as free DLC on PC a while back.

[Thanks, Bean]

Left 4 Dead 2

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• Via: Game Informer
• Source: Valve

Primal Carnage lunges on Oct. 29

Human-versus-Dinosaur multiplayer shooter Primal Carnage will say "HEY!" on October 29. Those who pre-ordered the game, which runs $15, should currently have access to test out the beta of this class-based shooter. A pre-order on Steam, GameStop, GamersGate and Rain also nets a feathered raptor skin.

The game runs on Unreal Engine and pits humans against dinosaurs, with five classes apiece to choose from. Primal Carnage is also scheduled to have extensive downloadable content.

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Resident Evil 6's free update crawls onto Xbox, PS3 mid-December

The free Resident Evil 6 title update revealed earlier this month is shambling onto Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 mid-December, Capcom tells us. The update includes the foreboding 'No Hope' difficulty level along with co-op for Ada Wong's campaign, which following the update will be unlocked from the start of the game.

Capcom is also taking the opportunity to chuck in a couple of mechanical tweaks. Following the update, players can widen the camera's field of view - always a handy option with hordes of zombies. The final six or so images in the gallery below show maximum and minimum ranges, although Capcom says the feature is still a work in progress. Also, the update allows English language audio to be combinable with subtitles in alternative languages - which is less handy for combating zombies but still generally useful.

Regards the PC version, Capcom hasn't announced details regarding its release yet, and a spokesperson couldn't confirm to us if the free update will be available or included at launch.

Resident Evil 6 (December 2012 Update)

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SimCity delayed, launching March 5 in North America and March 8 in UK

Electronic Arts announced this morning that SimCity will receive UK building permits on March 8, 2013. This is a slight delay from the February launch window the publisher had been promoting since this summer.

We've reached out to EA's North American PR to confirm whether the city builder got caught up in bureaucratic licensing and union issues on this side of the Atlantic as well. We'll update as soon as we receive a response.

Update: The official SimCity Twitter account notes a North American launch date of March 5, 2013.

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• Source: Twitter - @SimCity

Rumor: PS3 hacked yet again, this time it might be for keeps

Yesterday a new, PSN-enabled custom firmware for hacked PlayStation 3 consoles launched, compatible with the official firmware 4.25 release. This type of hack isn't new, and previously Sony has been able to update its firmware to sufficiently quell the hackers' reach. Following the custom firmware launch yesterday, however, was the release of the PlayStation 3's LV0 keys.

In theory, the LV0 decryption keys make is easy to decode any system update to the PlayStation 3, Eurogamer writes. The LV0 keys allow PS3 firmware to be decrypted on PC, and then re-encrypted with firmware 3.55 keys to run on hacked consoles.

A group called "The Three Muskateers" takes responsibility for the LV0 keys, but not the leak itself. That's all thanks to a new Chinese hacking group, "BlueDiskCFW," who planned to release and charge for custom firmware updates using The Three Muskateers' LV0 keys. To stop BlueDiskCFW from profiting off the keys, the Muskateers released them.

"You can be sure that if it wouldn't have been for this leak, this key would never have seen the light of day," The Three Muskateers write in a statement. "Only the fear of our work being used by others to make money out of it has forced us to release this now."

Read the complete statement from The Three Muskateers, with the keys edited out, below.

Show full PR text

As this was a group effort, we wouldn't normally have lost a word about it ever, but as we're done with PS3 now anyways, we think it doesn't matter anymore. Congratulations to the guy that leaked stuff, you, sir, are a 1337 haxx0r, jk, you're an asshole.

People should know that crooked personalities are widespread in this so called 'scene'. Some people try to achieve something for fun together and make the wrong decision to trust others and share their results with them, but ofc there got to be the attention seeking fame wh*** that has to leak stuff to feel a little bit better about him-/herself. Now the catch is that it works like this in every 'scene', just that in others it usually doesn't come to light.The only sad thing is, that the others who worked on this won't get the attention they deserve because they probably want to remain anonymous (also they don't care about E-fame <3).

PS: This is neither about drama nor E-fame nor 'OMG WE HAZ BEEN FIRST', we just thought you should know that we're disappointed in certain people. You can be sure that if it wouldn't have been for this leak, this key would never have seen the light of day, only the fear of our work being used by others to make money out of it has forced us to release this now.

- The Three Musketeers

• Source: Eurogamer, PlayStation Lifestyle

'Toy Box' to bring Pixar and Disney characters together in game

Disney is working hard and spending a lot of money on an unannounced gaming initiative tentatively called Toy Box, according to an interview with the company's chief executive, Robert Iger, in the New York Times.

Toy Box is an upcoming console game that will make use of both Pixar and Disney characters in the same environments for the first time. It will extend into mobile and online gaming realms, perhaps offering tie-in games on a number of different platforms, made for different audiences.

Disney Interactive has been struggling lately to find a real hit, especially after the lukewarm reception to the company's Epic Mickey. But the House of Mouse has had some good news from the online and mobile divisions lately, where big titles like Club Penguin have worked with breakout mobile hits like Where's My Water? to prop up the ailing Interactive group.

It sounds like the plan is to better incorporate future console titles like Toy Boxwith the online and mobile strengths. We'll have to wait and see just what this project turns out to be; it sounds like the official announcement isn't set until next year.

• Via: Kotaku.au
• Source: The New York Times

Singstar becoming free PS3 app in Europe 'very soon'

SingStar will become a free download on the PlayStation 3 XMB "very soon" in Europe, according to an announcement on the PlayStation Blog. The free version of the popular singing software doesn't even require the standard SingStar mic – you can also use official wireless headsets, USB microphones, or the microphone on the PlayStation Eye camera.

The game isn't totally free, of course. You still have to buy songs from the SingStore, unless you already have a collection or just want to sing along to "short demo songs."

• Source: PlayStation Blog

'Borderlands Legends' is an action-RPG iOS game, available Oct. 31

The Borderlands franchise will make its portable gaming debut on Wednesday, October 31, when Borderlands Legends launches on iPhone and iPad for $4.99 and $6.99, respectively. Rather than furthering the series' FPS heritage, however, Legends instead opts for an isometric action-RPG take on murdering people and then stealing from them.

Familiar inventory management and skill tree systems return, though the rest of the experience is reportedly an entirely new, touch-based affair, according to 2K Games' announcement. Based on what we've seen in the gallery below, we're inclined to believe this ain't your mother's Borderlands.

Borderlands Legends

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• Source: 2K Games