To celebrate the release of Tomb Raider Anniversary in Europe today (comes out in America on June 5th), Eidos has booty-called each of the Lara Croft models from the last ten years for a family reunion photo at their London studio. If I had the chance to invite them all over for four player polygamy, I'd pass and call up a few of the Chinese Lara Crofts instead.

I've never even seen these ladies before, how did two of them get cast for the role with blond hair? The totem pole with tits on the left looks like a less ugly Morgan Webb in her other photos, and I couldn't even fit the beast on the east into the damn picture. Last time I was in Europe all the women were hot, what the hell happened? If the one in the middle pretended she was Sophie Marceau we might have a deal, but she'd have to be convincing.

Last week's American Virtual Console versus European Virtual Console competition was an easy decision for me, Europe got Super Mario Bros. 2, but my winning vote goes to whichever team has Streets of Rage 2. Which is why, even though America got ActRaiser, Kid Chameleon, and J. J. & Jeff, I've got to go with the European Virtual Console releases this week: Streets of Rage 2, ToeJam and Earl in Panic on Funkotron, Kid Chameleon, World Sports Competition. The first three are all available for 800 Wii Point, and the World Sports Competition will cost you only 600 Wii Points.

In other Virtual Console news, so far Nintendo has sold more than 4.7 million Virtual Console games, at a rate of over 1,000 downloads and hour. They've finally reached their 100th game retro re-release, and on Monday they plan on making the triple digit release plunge with Zelda II – The Adventure of Link. Of all the Zelda games ever released, Zelda II has generally been accepted as the worst in the series, but at least we get another Zelda game to revisit.

Last week's American Virtual Console versus European Virtual Console competition was a tough decision. I picked Ninja Gaiden and Pac-Man, but some of you picked Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest and Mario & Yoshi over the American updates. This week is another close call, with Europe getting the NES games Mach Rider and Super Mario Bros. 2 both for 500 Wii Points each.

Super Mario Bros 2. is a huge addition to the Wii archives, although I think I have to once again go with America's updates. Not only did we get the Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest game we missed the week before, we also got Streets of Rage 2, one of the best beat 'em up games of all time. Which of the two updates is the winner in your eyes?

It's time for another Virtual Console versus Virtual Console update. Earlier this week America got these three games, and today Europe and Australia get these two: 

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest (SNES, 800 Wii Points): We see our hero Donkey Kong take a step aside to allow his family members to take center stage. When the big ape himself is kidnapped, it is up to the young Diddy and Dixie Kong to fight their way through eight worlds of comical action to save their superstar relative.

Mario & Yoshi (NES, 500 Wii Points): This is a fast-paced puzzle game starring everybody’s favourite plumber and his faithful dinosaur side-kick, Yoshi. In this game, players must catch falling enemies from the Mario series in-between egg shells, to free Yoshi trapped inside. With increasingly difficult stages to master and a frantic split-screen multiplayer mode to enjoy with a friend, this is the ideal title for puzzle fans!

I love Donkey Kong games, but I've got to give the win to Monday's Pac-Man and Ninja games. Here's pictures for the two new Virtual Console games overseas.

I only buy one out of every three or four Mario Party games, but I've been keeping track of Mario Party 8 for a few months because this looks like the one out of the next three worth buying. Aside from the intriguing Wiimote possibilities, the levels look more enjoyable than what I remember of Mario Party 7 the few times I played it. North America will get Mario Party 8 on May 29th, and European Wii gamers will get it a month later on June 22nd. I've been saving up extra cash to start up the game reviews and giveaways again, and Mario Party 8 and Lair are the first two upcoming games that come to mind, mainly because I'm still pissed at how much WarioWare: Smooth Moves sucked, and dragons are fucking sweet. So stay tuned for more updates.

Yesterday we discussed why a mobile phone Call Of Duty game wouldn't be as fun to play as a console Call Of Duty game. It didn't take much discussing before the decision was unanimous, and we must have given Sony false confidence, because they still think we want a camera for our handhelds. If it were built into the device when we bought it, and didn't add much to the price, then I wouldn't mind. But how hard is it to understand that phones are good for cameras and not games, and that handheld game consoles are good for games and not cameras?

The PSP camera has already been out in Japan for a while now, and there's finally news on its arrival in Europe. On May 16th, "Go! Cam" will be available for 39.99 Euro (about $70 USD). On top of just photo and video capturing, Go! Cam will also include a microphone and editing software for photo manipulation, as well as Wi-Fi access that enables you to upload your pictures online. I wouldn't buy it even if I did own a PSP and lived in Europe in the future, although Microsoft has been successfully shoving shitty microtransactions on innocent games for a while now, it's good to see Sony finally catching up.

A few days ago I noticed a lot of Wii games had popped up on torrent sites, and since the console is cheap by comparison to its rivals, I thought about giving it a try. I guess Nintendo has been noticing the rising trend as well, here's an announcement they made in Europe:

“Modification microchips (mod chips) circumvent the security embedded into Nintendo's products. To install a mod chip into a Nintendo hardware system, it is necessary to dismantle the product and, in some instances, remove components. The use of mod chips voids the manufacturer's warranty. In addition, the installation of a mod chip can damage the functionality of a Nintendo console, sometimes rendering it incapable of repair. Mod chips have been adjudicated to be illegal in various countries around the world, including the Unites States, the United Kingdom and Hong Kong. Most European countries have also already adopted laws prohibiting the circumvention of technological measures for copyright protection. People caught installing or selling mod chips may be subject to criminal charges. We are invading Poland.”

Okay, the last sentence wasn't part of the quote, but I wouldn't rule it out just yet. They have to expect it will be a problem when region locking continually makes their continent look like a third world country compared to us when it comes to gaming. Don't worry though, since this announcement was only made on the Nintendo UK site, you should take it as an encouragement to mod your Wii if you live anywhere else.

The PSP has received price cuts in America and now it's Europe's turn. On Friday, May 4th, the price of the PSP will drop down from £149.99 to £129.99 in the UK, and be sold at 169 euros across the rest of Europe. Sony will also be releasing five five new £14.99 Platinum titles out of greediness celebration:

• Ridge Racer 2
• Tekken
• Killzone
• Loco Roco
• Moto GP.

The SCE UK managing director happily stated that "now the exciting possibility of connecting remotely to PS3 makes PSP more relevant than ever. So what better time to offer a brand new price point, and the launch of five new Platinum titles?” The launch of five good PSP games would be more appropriate - if you could pull that off you could just launch them as instant Platinum titles and I might actually buy a PSP.

First Europe gets dibs on Dubs and Mario "Football" - now they get their own Virtual Console updates too? Jeez, you give these guys an inch and they take a mile, but noooo, they won't call it a mile. They'll call it a kilometer. Because that's French for mile. Oh yah, and Australia gets in on this action too. But that's okay, they don't have many miles to begin with, here's what all of ten people now get to download down under: Sonic Spinball, The Story of Thor, and Vectorman. All three are Sega games, and each of the them costs 800 points. Nice lineup, but America wins this week, those games are no match for Star Fox 64.

Finally, online gameplay on the Wii is in sight. Nope, not Pokémon Battle Revolution in June, there's a new game doing it first in Europe: Mario Strikers: Charged Football.  Don't forget, football means soccer and death counts overseas, it's the perfect setting for Mario. Thanks to the Wi-Fi multiplayer mode a Wii World Cup is actually something that's possible after its release in Europe on May 25th, Nintendo better not screw this one up.

Gameplay consists of five player teams (up to two real players and three computer players per side), with one playing the team leader with extra "super abilities" available to them. Mario gets steroids and grows to huge proportions, and Peach takes a friggin photo on the game field and freezes the entire opposing team (now we know why she got denied from the Mario Olympics game, what a bitch). On top of this, you also get to choose three side kick CPU players to help out your team tactics, so expect Nintendo to bring back all its ugliest characters to make enough slot choices.  So how will it be played with the new Wiimotes? Straight from the Nintendo press release:

"Basic movement and strikes are executed using the analogue stick and buttons on the Wii Remote and nunchuk, but when the pressure is on, players can use their instinctive movements to affect the gameplay. Flicking the Wii remote will cause the character to check their opponent, hopefully stealing the ball in the process. Players can also use the Wii remote to perform cat-like saves, defending their goal from Megastrikes by grabbing the balls out of the air."

Sounds like a formula for pain and pissed off parents, Nintendo has even erased the rulebook and encouraged foul play, not bad Nintendo, I can see this getting a ton of attention, just like Wii Sports should have if it launched with online leagues. When you fall victim to another player's foul, you instead get an item to help you get revenge, with red shells and chain chomps already mentioned.

The game's multiplayer mode is split into an unranked mode for quick and easy game setups, and a ranked mode where players can compete to climb up leaderboards. The main mode is "Road to Striker Cup" which takes you through seventeen stadiums and three cups to the top of single player exhibition mode, and there's also a Domination mode for quick matches between friends. The estimated retail price for now is 50 Euros (£35), this definitely sounds like a must have Wii title, but Nintendo needs to start moving faster with games supporting leagues and leaderboards. They should hold Mario Golf tournaments that give away online Virtual Console dollar credits to the globe's best gamers. Microsoft pushed Halo and now they're all over the Major League Gaming events, if Nintendo blows this opportunity to get family members of all ages online and having fun, then they've sealed their fate. Even with the bullshit of the Wii friend code system, this is still something exciting to look forward to.