MCP
Microsoft sure knows what subscribers to its Live service are thirsty for. Root beer, apparently. Out of all the promising titles announced last week for the Xbox Live Arcade, the first to hit release is Root Beer Tapper. The slightly-remixed arcade classic (the first release of the game in 1983 featured beer that was not from the root) will cost 400 MS Points, which currently equates to $5 US. It is slated to his the service on Wednesday the 7th.

Depending on your tastes, you may find this week’s announcement of new Wii Virtual Console offerings a bit more exciting. Super Mario World hits the service this week, alongside the TG-16 title Vigilante, and Sega’s Gain Ground. How do people feel about the whole pricing scheme for these puppies, now that your palate has had time to adjust? $8 US for Super Mario World, which doesn’t sound like much unless you factor in that in certain parts of Canada the original cartridge is used for currency, roughly at the value of a ha’-penny.

Joystiq tells me that charging docks for the Wii remote are slated to hit Japan soon. The third-party hardware will run off of one of the Wii’s USB ports, and gently massaged statistics claim that 3.5 hours of charging will keep you playing for 25. As always, North America and Europe releases are yet to be announced. Take heart in the fact that the item exists, that you might be wishing on the same bright star, even.

As part of the 20th anniversary celebration for the Final Fantasy franchise, Sony recently announced that the first two games would be making their way to the PSP. The games’ pedigrees are a bit in-bred, what with them being apparently combinations of straight ports from the remakes that have hit the GBA and the PlayStation, but they will be the first games in the franchise to be playable on the handheld without the auspices of a certain Dark_Alex fellow and his Amazing Machines. The first port has been dated in Japan for April 19, while the second will arrive some time in May. Outside of the semi-colon nation, we have no idea.

In a little over two hours from this posting, around 0930 PST, a playable demo of Chris Taylor’s upcoming RTS Supreme Commander should be released into the wild. For PC gamers, this is shaping up to be one of the hallmark titles of 2007, with its huge scope, wide variety of units, and genetic similarities to Taylor’s previous opus, Total Annihilation. The demo will be released to any number of download locations, so just keep tabs on the official site. The full game comes out in a couple weeks, on Febraruy 20.

Most other headlines floating around are items of non-news, such as Konami’s relatavistic announcement — which announced that they had made an announcement — and Utah politicos continuing to ruminate on the implications of the failure of videogame legislation. The slow day is fine with me. I’ve got some supreme commanding to be doing.