Less than 24 hours after the game’s release, hackers have found a way to reinstate the violent scenes in the PSP version of Manhunt 2.

The hack restores the game to its original full-gore version, which means that Rockstar didn’t cut offensive material in order to get the M rating, they simply disabled it.

The question is, did they follow that route for simple expediency, or because they knew they could count on the gaming community to find a way to play the game the way Rockstar originally intended? Perhaps a bit of both.

Let the countdown to the ESRB’s inevitable freakout begin. I figure we’ll also be hearing from a certain Floridian lawyer before long, too.

Source: GamesIndustry

When Xbox Live becomes available in India on November 5th, it will offer rentals of 360 games, and educational content, with Video Marketplace content soon to follow.

Thanks to Microsoft’s partnership with Seventymm (India’s version of Netflix), Live subscribers will also be able to rent the latest 360 titles for a set number of days.

“Education specific learning aids for grades 1-12” will also be available, though I’m not quite sure what that means just yet.

Once the Video Marketplace is up and running, users will be able to download pre-released UTV Bollywood films, as well as content related to upcoming films like Hanuman.

Given Microsoft’s spin that the 360 Arcade is for families, might we see educational material show up on Live in North America soon?

I’m personally more interested in that game rental service, though. The guarantee that the title you want would be available, 24/7, is really appealing.

The Guitar Hero III demo is now available on Xbox Live, though you may have already tried it if you picked up Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground or the December issue of Official Xbox Magazine.

You may even have downloaded a less-than-legal copy from various websites last week, though I don’t encourage such behavior. Yarr.

You don’t need a guitar to play the demo, but obviously it’s more enjoyable if you use one.

The demo includes five songs:

• Lay Down (Priestess)
• Rock You Like a Hurricane (Scorpions)
• Even Flow (Pearl Jam)
• Hit Me with Your Best Shot (Pat Benatar)
• The Metal (Tenacious D)

Guitar Hero III is going to be one of the best selling games of 2007 I believe. Thoughts?

I actually knew this a few days ago, but Capcom has officially announced that Lost Planet, previously a Windows PC and Microsoft Xbox 360 exclusive, will be coming to the PlayStation 3 early next year.

The PS3 version benefits from the delay by including 16 different multiplayer maps and new playable characters that weren’t available in previous retail versions.

Overall I found Lost Planet to be so-so, but tooling around in those Vital Suits was a bundle of fun.

If you missed the Nintendo conference because you’re not a member of the media and don’t live in Japan, never fear.

The ever-thoughtful folks at Nintendo have translated the whole thing into English and posted streaming video on their web site.

Tune in to hear Iwata speak as if he is in a bad old dub of a Godzilla movie, and watch videos of the Wii Ware games, Mario Kart, Monster Hunter 3, and everything in between.

It clocks in at about 45 minutes. You can even click through the slideshow that Iwata had behind him.

Someone who goes by the nickname “blueblythe” on the Craftster Community website thought it would be a good idea to sew a complete Nintendo gaming system:

You can click the above picture to see more up close and personal pictures of this embroidered plush Nintendo system.

Apparently Blythe Church hand dyed the felt, hand sewed it and embroidered all the details. It took her 2 full weeks to create this geektastic masterpiece.

The felt Nintendo system has an opening cover so that games can be put in and removed and she even made felt Mario 3 and Duck Hunt games:

Who knew that crafting people came up with such cool geeky stuff? I’ve seen some cool things before but this Nintendo system takes the cake.

Hat tip to Blythe Church for making some cool stuff out of felt.

Since I’ve now got Nintendo on the brain, it’s time to dig my Nintendo (NES) system out of the garage so I can play some Mario 3 and Duck Hunt.