As if there weren’t enough musical peripherals, Microsoft is adding in a new microphone for their upcoming singing title Lips. Unfortunately, you’ll still need to drag out your other microphones if you’re looking to play Harmonix or Activision music titles, because out of the box, the Lips microphone doesn’t work with anything else except its own game.

Head of development Keiichi Yano confirmed this to MTV, but did state that it’s something that could be added later on through a patch. It’s not confirmed, and as of now, is only a possibility. Don’t buy the game expecting to use the wireless mic in the future for other game.

Some positive and negative news to report on the Street Fighter IV front. The game is coming home February 17th in the US, and Europeans will have their hands on it February 20th. No word on the PC release, so as of now, that date only applies to the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions.

On the other hand, the arcade cabinet won’t be seeing the light of day outside of Japan. Chris Kramer, senior director of communications at Capcom cited the arcade market “which died off seven or eight years ago.” No real surprise there, although it’s a shame the game can’t be played in a traditional setting given its roots.

It seems Wrath of Lich King is a solid expansion. If not, a 15-year old Swedish boy probably wouldn’t have went into seizures during an overly long 24 hour binge play session. Doctors state the convulsions were the result of sleep deprivation and lack of food. The unnamed minor’s father states:

They played all day and all night. Maybe they got a few hours of sleep. They ate a little food and breakfast at their computers. [When the boy went into convulsions] we were terrified and called rescue services…

As Jon Stewart stated on the Daily Show once referring to binge gaming and parents: “As they lay there, I am powerless to stop them.” The media is of course linking it to video game addiction instead of completely oblivious parenting. Pulling the plug, canceling the WoW account, killing the internet connection, or simply talking to the kid were all possibilities. Apparently, that’s all too logical.

A few missteps in an otherwise great launch isn’t something to be bummed over. However, Epic Games was fast on the trigger in helping people out on their forums. Some people couldn’t download the golden lancer they were promised, and that’s taken care of (go to your download history). Slow matchmaking has made some angry (they’re working on it).

As for campaign, you can start a co-op game locally and still play by yourself. Apparently, some people were struggling to get a solo game going, and this is an easy workaround. The only real issue left is the matchmaking system, borrowed from Halo 3. Yes, it can take a while, but once fixed, it should work just fine.

EA has debuted a unique feature with the recently released Tiger Woods ‘09 on mobile phones. By storing the console version of your character within your EA account, you can then play the mobile version with that same character. You’ll boost your stats in certain categories which then affect the other. The stat boost will then be applied when you log into your EA account.

While I don’t have both versions to test this out, it’s a shame the mobile version took so long to come out (months after the console version). With the proper timing, this could have been a bigger success.

Those that have toiled over their creation in Little Big Planet might be a little angry if they’re one of the affected users of Sony’s deletion hammer. Levels that violate copyright, even those that barely even qualify, have been removed in their entirety. Even one level based off of God of War (A Sony franchise) has been dropped for good. The worst one though? One called Failure to Launch, the same title as a 2006 romantic comedy. The level has nothing to do with the film other than the title, so how is that copyright infringement in any way?

Come on Sony. From the recall fiasco, botched servers at launch, and now this, Sony seems like they’re destroying one of their biggest games this year.

We’ve all been teased and teased again with release dates. Finally though, we’ve made it and Microsoft has announced the absolute, 100% true release for the New Xbox Experience is November 19th. Yes, this means Avatars, Netflix support, and fresh new look, multiple way chat, and more.

In the meantime, you can become acquainted with the service through Gamerscoreblog, where they’re running a fairly consistent feature highlighting how this will all work when it’s in your hands. It’s a nice way to figure out the layout so you don’t have to spend an extensive time in a new menu system when it launches.

An upcoming PSP bundle, one including the new PSP-3000, has sparked an interesting thought. The bundle, due November 30th, advertises the PSP Wi-Fi store. The store is nothing new as we’ve known about it for a while. What is new that one would have to assume what you’re advertising it what you’re going to provide to potential buyers.

That should firmly place the online store launch before November 30th. The availability of the store is also supposed to be a sign for the 5.00 version of the firmware. Nothing is official, but consider this room pretty a much a sure thing.

Knights of the Old Republic is, in many people’s eyes, the greatest Star Wars game ever made. The extensive RPG could now be set for MMO glory is a rumor turns out to be true. The somewhat cryptic statement comes from EA CEO John Riccitiello who stated in an interview that they have:

“… got two of the most compelling MMOs in the industry in development” including “the one that people are dying for us to talk to them about — in partnership with Lucas, coming out of BioWare.”

Take a note that the only game to ever come from BioWare and LucasArts was KOTOR, hence the reason why just about everyone figured out the announcement on day one. Still, nothing official, but certainly something you can look forward to without much disappointment.

Pinball FX is one of the more under appreciated releases on the Live Arcade. Great physics, visuals, camera support, and table design make it well worth the money. On November 12th, the game will be graced with a new table, this one designed around Street Fighter II. Not only does it have dot-matrix visuals based on the game, the table is loaded with fantastic looking art, far better than the ancient Street Fighter II pinball game from years ago. Plus, it will even feature the classic theme music from SFII, making it an even better deal. No word on price, but all of the other DLC tables go for about $2.50.

Unschooling, a belief that traditional education doesn’t work and needs changed, has become the basis for University of Wisconsin-Madison Constance Steinkuehler’s study that Warcraft provides actual education value. She gathered up some eight and ninth graders for after school sessions of the game, and lo and behold, it seemed to have an effect. As the report by LiveScience states:

Some of the eighth graders and high school freshmen who signed up for the group couldn’t have cared less about writing or reading in school. Yet those students have gone from barely stringing together two sentences to writing lengthy posts in their group’s Web site forum, where they discuss detailed strategies for gearing up their virtual characters and figuring out tough quests…

So, if they can write detailed strategies about the game online, why is it that they can’t handle and English class again?

If you’re finally ready to give up your addiction to World of Warcraft for something you believe to be less addictive, chances are you’ll be back. Say that “less addictive” activity is Age of Conan. Well, the stats say you’ll be back to Azeroth 68% of the time. Maybe Warhammer is more your speed? Chances are you’ll be back 46% of the time.

Whether that’s the high quality of Warcraft, the low quality of the other games, or simple familiarity with Warcraft isn’t very clear. One thing it does show is how much people love their Warcraft, and what a slim chance any other game has of breaking its spell.