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Each of these pictures has something wrong with it. Are your eyes and your video-game knowledge sharp enough to spot the problems?

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Every Millennium Falcon-themed post titled with that particular cliché is lame, but damn it -- this is a Dreamcast shaped like Han Solo's ship! This might be the fanciest case mod in existence -- made more awesome by the fact that the builder had to add more components to it just to make sure it didn't cook its innards. And the video makes it look incredibly dangerous to operate [via Technabob]:

If you find my cliché title too egregious, don't worry -- Bitmob has a firm policy on disciplining interns as radical as me. Next time you see me, I'll probably be frozen in carbonite on my way to some place terrible.

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Former EGMers Shane Bettenhausen and Mark MacDonald join Gaijin Games' Alex Neuse and Bitmob's Dan Hsu on this week's episode of the Mobcast.

In this episode the guys relive past arguments, debate the state of Japanese game development, predict the success of the PlayStation Move, share mediocre game recommendations, and wonder why so many current games feel the same. 

You'll understand this more after you listen to the podcast, but Mark would like to present this link to refute Shane's claim that he gave Steel Battalion a 10/10. Why do I get the feeling that I'll be updating this post again with a comment from Shane?

Since this episode is an old-school reunion of sorts, I decided to start things off with the 8-bit Mobcast theme from P4KO. I hope you like it as much as I do.

Have a question you want answered? Want to share some important insight with the world? E-mail the crew at letters@bitmob.com.

Click here to find out how you can get in on the "3 Great Prizes, 3 Ways to Win" giveaway.

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Growing up with the original NBA Jam on the SNES set me up for a lifetime of disappointment -- no matter how many consecutive shots I made in real life, the ball would never catch on fire.

Video Blips:

• Finally, basketball fans will get to play as today's superstars in this remake of NBA Jam. I can only pray that my favorite legends from the first game -- Bill Clinton and the big-headed wolfman -- will be unlockable characters. [GameTrailers]

Continue after the break for some war-torn Medal of Honor footage, the debut trailer for Puzzle Quest 2, and a Dead or Alive: Paradise video, which at this point should be synonymous with being NSFW.

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The community-submitted tunes just keep on coming! It seems like every week the Jukebox's playlist becomes more and more eclectic, and I'm definitely a fan of this trend. Also, I want to take a second to thank everyone who takes the time to suggest a song each week. I'm grateful for your continued support.

For this edition, I've taken it upon myself to disprove the theory that newer video game music sucks -- every song I chose is a title I have played in the last two months.

The community section of this week's selections is a bit different: Its tunes are from all over the map. Pixel Revolt co-host Jeff Grubb throws in only the second song in Jukebox history from the Atari 2600 (hint: It's from a David Crane game that isn't Pitfall!). Bitmobber Jimmy Flores takes us back to the days when Metroid Prime was getting rave reviews, and Alex R. Cronk-Young keeps it current with a nostalgic track from Mega Man 10. Last -- and most certainly least -- some British guy named Alex Martin who follows me on Twitter donated a stinker from Amped 3. Thanks a lot, Alex -- and don't worry, we still love you!

Want to find out what the hell a Bitmob Community Jukebox is? All you have to do is hit the jump.

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Editor's note: We each have our own preparations for playing video games, and Toby is interested to know exactly how you ready yourself whenever you've got the itch. But I'd like to know which one of you has the most elaborate ritual. Well? -Rob

I always wonder how other people play video games. Where do they plop down? Do they eat or drink? How do they sit when playing Call of Duty online?

I have my own little process down pat, which includes several variations depending on the time of day or what game I'm playing.

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Stuart Ashen's obsession with horrifyingly awful old-PC games returns with a look at possibly the worst concept in existence. BMX Ninja is exactly as it sounds and was released back when the Commodore 64 was viable.

I'd really like to think that most game company executives are Daleks. Explains so much about Activision if you consider it. 

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Out of all the possible Capcom crossovers, Mega Man and Street Fighter seem to be the least likely. But a pixel artist named SpeedBrkr disagrees. He put together artwork for every Street Fighter character -- transformed to fit into an 8-bit world.

If you go to his actual page, you can see that he also animated each character. Who knew that Akuma and Blanka could be so cute?

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Editor's Note: Richard flexes his creative muscles here and tackles the topic of linear games from the perspective of a Roman Senator. I'm glad that this inventive piece found a home at Bitmob, and I'm interested to read what he comes up with next. - Jay

My fellow gamers, as the moon turns and the long foretold coming of the Thirteenth of the Fantasies Final draws nigh, one word has been spat like a curse across the realm. It is spoken of as the black death upon gaming's soul, festering away at all the good and leaving not but an untouchable rotted corpse. Like the word “witch,” the mere accusation spreads like wildfire and becomes truth amongst our community. And lo doth any hapless victim receive this title for they shall forever be burned within the flames and hatred of their once most faithful of supporters. Yet, I stand here today, in the Grand Hall of the Internet and surrounded by this most fickle of counsels, to defend this greatest of sins: Linearity.

At the birth of our kingdom, we were but a simple people, content to bounce our square balls and gather food from ghost-riddled caves. Yet, with time came complexity and with complexity, the birth of legends. Who here can forget the tales of the great Fixer-of-Pipes and his battles with the Reptile King? What child does not know of the adventures of the Blue Rodent and his Twin-Tailed companion? Do not forget my fellows, that even in that golden time, linearity was there. For both the Fixer-of-Pipes and the Blue Rodent could not move but right; forever right to victory. Lo! I hear you cry, “but what of the Hero of Hyrule and the Masked Hunter of Men?” Indeed, their legends can be told in many different ways. Yet, even their epics must be told in a certain order, lest they have not obtained the items with which to conquer their trials.

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Editor's note: People often bandy about a somewhat amorphous term to describe video game fans and characters: "emo." What does it mean? I make immediate connections with the origins of the term: mid-'80's post-punk emotional hardcore bands like Embrace and Rites of Spring. Brian makes connections between the supposed affectations of people who are "emo" and the lack of sensitivity this may indicate toward mental illnesses such as Major Depressive Disorder or Social Anxiety Disorder. Whatever the case, I'm in full agreement that this is a somewhat loose, very ineffectual way of describing something. -James

Disturbing trends in game journalism are nothing new, but one annoys me more than most others -- the increased use of the term "emo." Since the start of the new millennium, the term "emo" has infected pop culture faster than Swine Flu swept PAX '09. When used in everyday discussion, it's often associated with people who appear to be unhappy and wear dark-colored clothing.

One definition at Urban Dictionary describes "emo": "An entire subculture of people (usually angsty teens) with a fake personality." Whether or not such people exist is debatable, but the term "angst" is nothing to laugh at. According to Dictionary.com, "angst" is when a person has "a feeling of dread, anxiety, or anguish." Certainly, having a small amount of these feelings is normal, but when they overwhelm an individual, it can endanger that person's existence.

I'm sure some people feel they have earned the title of "emo" -- although I have never met any -- by pretending to hate the world and acting depressed because they crave attention, but that doesn't mean we should use such a term lightly. As someone who frequents game sites, I've noticed that people throw the word about carelessly to describe certain characters and people who enjoy relatively niche genres. This is a shame, because not only does it misrepresent certain real-life and virtual individuals, but it also reveals the ignorance of much of the gaming community.

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It seems America's competitive spirit extends to exorbitant spending on digital pixels.

News Blips:

GamesIndustry conducted a study that shows American gamers spent $3.8 billion on massively multiplayer games in 2009. Consumers spent nearly half the amount ($1.8 billion) on monthly subscription fees, with subsequently smaller spending on annual subscriptions and other forms of payment such as micro-transactions. Unsurprisingly, Blizzard's World of Warcraft reigns supreme; its players comprise the largest portion of the total player base (46 million) in the United States. That's odd -- I didn't know playing as an elf would be so lucrative.

Game-design guru Warren Spector (System Shock) has warned the industry against becoming too engrossed with motion control and other input methods. While not scorning outright the recent trend of motion control devices, Spector (who is currently working on Epic Mickey for the Wii) stresses the importance of maintaining perspective in the ever-broadening video game audience. "I don't know if we want to throw away our entire history because we want to use gestural controls. I hope we keep our perspective a little more rational." Spector's right: How am I going to enter my Konami codes on a silly nunchuck? [Gamasutra]

Industry analyst Michal Pachter portends the outcome of the Infinity Ward/Activision lawsuit.  While not going into specifics, Pachter expects the lawsuit to "progress to trial or settlement, with some compensation likely awarded." The Webush Morgan analyst admits that Activision could be in serious trouble if Infinity Ward heads Jason West and Vince Zampella decide to work for EA, which has recently revived the Medal of Honor franchise. I'm glad Pachter is here to tell us about how a lawsuit works. [IndustryGamers]

Developers of classic games have noted their preference for working on smaller, social-centric titles. Longtime designers and industry veterans (such as Richard Garriot of Ultima fame) have turned to smaller-scale projects -- like iPhone apps and Facebook games -- that resemble the creative mentality of gaming's halcyon days. “I remember, early in my career we would make a game in six months," said designer Brenda Brathwaite (Wizardry). "I love the idea of just putting a game together with a small group of people. I can’t imagine anything I’d rather do.” A return to smaller games is a nifty idea...but nothing will convince me to buy an iPhone. [Wired]

Got any hot news tips? Send 'em over to tips@bitmob.com.

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