Dragon Quest maker Square Enix has been awfully quiet about the series tenth game, announced in late 2008 for the Wii. Will a Japanese variety show featuring a man-egg finally reveal more about the highly anticipated Dragon Quest X?

According to a posting on the blog for Japanese TV program Tama Newtown, spotted and translated by Andriasang, the show will be going on location to Square Enix HQ to reveal "Dragon Quest X extremely rare treasure information."

This... seems odd, not Square Enix and Nintendo's style, who seem to prefer to reveal details about their Japanese releases while top executives stand behind podiums in meeting rooms at Tokyo's Imperial Hotel. A game on par with Dragon Quest X, the first entry in the main series to come to the Wii, following the wildly successful Dragon Quest IX for the Nintendo DS, would seem to warrant more fanfare.

But Square Enix head honcho Yoichi "Imperial Hot" Wada is now on the Twitters, so who knows what medium the developer will choose. With weekly Famitsu leaks expected today, maybe Square Enix is trying to get the message out early.

Color us suspicious that Dragon Quest X will get its big coming out party here, but keep an eye peeled just in case.

Variety Program Promises Dragon Quest X Info on Wednesday [Andriasang]

Left 4 Dead meets the Wizard of Oz, as seen at the "Character of the Week" contest at the ConceptArt.org forums via Super Punch.

To: Ash
From: Totilo
Re: I Don't Know Her Name, Will Find Out Tomorrow

Video format this time. NSFW painting referenced in clip can be seen here.

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Modern Warfare Developer Sees More Key Departures Today

Call of Duty creators and Modern Warfare developer Infinity Ward shrinks again today, as more key talent behind the billion first-person shooter franchise jumps ship. Sources close to the studio tell Kotaku of four new departures from the troubled developer.

A pair of Modern Warfare 2's lead designers, Steve Fukuda and Zied Reike, are said to have left the Encino-based Infinity Ward today. Fukuda joined the studio in January 2002, according to his LinkedIn profile, after leaving 2015, Inc., the developer of Medal of Honor: Allied Assault and former home of Infinity Ward founders Jason West and Vince Zampella. Rieke had also been with Infinity Ward since the formation of the studio.

Both Fukuda and Rieke were listed in the Writers Guild of America award nomination for Modern Warfare 2's story, a group that also includes former IW staffers Todd Alderman, Mackey McCandlish and Jason West.

According to those same sources, programmer Rayme Vinson and lead artist Chris Cherubini have also left the studio. When reached via e-mail, Cherubini confirmed to Kotaku that he had resigned today.

Yesterday, we learned that more longtime Infinity Ward employees left the developer, the same day that former studio heads Jason West and Vince Zampella announced their new venture Respawn Entertainment.

Activision claims that West and Zampella were delaying pre-production on Modern Warfare 3 seem like the least of the franchise's problems right now.

Forza Motorsport 3's car lineup continues to grow by leaps and bounds, with ten new rides for the Xbox 360 racer now available for purchase in the Road & Track Car Pack.

Jalopnik readers and AutoWeek have taken their turns selecting cars for Forza Motorsport 3, and now it's car enthusiast magazine Road & Track's turn. They've picked the ten cars featured in the Road & Track Car Pack, hopefully creating a group of new vehicles worthy of the 400 Microsoft point asking price.

The complete car listing in the Road & Track Car Pack is as follows:

• 2010 Volkswagen Golf R
• 2009 Holden HSV w427
• 2010 Ford Taurus SHO
• 2010 Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG
• 2010 Renault Megane RS 250
• 2010 Vauxhall Insignia VXR
• 2010 Mini Coupé Concept
• 2010 Bentley Continental Supersports
• 2010 Mazda MX-5 Superlight
• 2010 SEAT Leon Cupra R

Not a bad list, though I'd say the 2010 Bentley Continental Supersports is a strange choice, considering the vehicle's suspension...

...nope. I tried, but I know nothing about cars whatsoever, to the point where I cannot even pretend I do. It was a valiant effort if I do say so myself, but I am thwarted.

You've heard his music countless time in your favorite Final Fantasy games, but there's more to composer Nobuo Uematsu than "One Winged Angel."

At last weekend's Anime Boston 2010, Uematsu got candid in an interview where he revealed everything from his thoughts on Avatar to his future cosplay plans. Here's a list of some of the more surprising things you might and might not know about the man behind the celebrated music of Final Fantasy, Chrono Trigger and dozens of Japanese role-playing game classics.

He didn't always want to be a composer
In fact, Nobuo said that in his elementary school days, he planned on becoming a pro-wrestler when he grew up. But after learning to play the piano at 11, he began to change his mind. However, he considered his musical career a side job until he started composing for Square in 1985. He said he still watches professional wrestling when he has time.

His favorite composition is not Final Fantasy VII
While he's best known for this soundtrack in the United States, he said he much prefers his arrangements for the lesser known Blue Dragon. This game was released in North America in 2007 on the Xbox 360.

He wants to cosplay... as a chocobo
This year's Anime Boston may have been Nobuo's first anime convention, but he said that after the weekend, he's sold on the idea. He said if he attends next year, he wants to cosplay as a chocobo. Expect to see a lot of hopeful fanboys cosplaying as giant Afros if that happens.

He would have liked to compose Avatar.
Nobuo said he watches a lot of movies to get inspiration for his music. After he watched Avatar recently, he said through his interpreter, Geoff Tebbetts, that "it came so close to being a very good movie" but he wasn't impressed with the battle scenes. On a related note, he said he would have liked to compose for the battle and ending scenes of the movie. If I were James Cameron, I would listen to his suggestions.

But he's not impressed with action movies.
Nobuo urged us not to tell Hollywood, but he thinks the soundtracks to most of the latest action movies are interchangeable. "Even if you have two different action flicks, if you were to switch their soundtracks, they'd both sound the same," he said through Tebbetts. Nobuo much prefers dramatic movies, listing October Sky as a constant inspiration for his music.

He thinks Mario is as important as the Japanese national anthem.
Like any good video game composer, Nobuo said that video game music, especially the Mario theme, is very important to the Japanese. He said he felt that Japan has had a lighter outlook since the song was composed. "I felt they should've run that during the Olympic medal ceremony instead of the Japanese national anthem," he said.

He has his own music company.
After working for Square Enix for nearly 20 years, Nobuo left the company in 2004 and formed his own. It wasn't about hard feelings, he said, just that it became harder to work in an industry where his bosses were increasingly younger than he was. Nobuo formed "Smile Please," which gets its name from a Stevie Wonder song of the same name. He produces "Smile Please"'s music with his own production company, "Dog Ear Records."

And his own band, the Black Mages, formed with two other Square-Enix colleagues in 2002.
The band's genre is decidedly progressive rock and its songs are often built on expansions of Nobuo's Square Enix compositions. Nobuo said the band Bet you can't guess where they thought of the name!

He's still hard at work.
At age 50, Nobuo hasn't slowed down one bit. This month, he is releasing a brand new CD, "Ten Short Stories" in both English and Japanese. According to the press release, the songs tell you "How to live a Fun Life with 100% Uematsu melodies!" Nobuo asked everyone attending the press conference to tell ten more people about his music. But I think we can do better than that, Kotaku.

Photo by Ken Eith Jr.

When Insomniac founder and CEO Ted Price gets his hands on the creation tools in PlayStation 3 exclusive ModNation Racers, Ratchet and Clank get lucky. Aw yeah.

The next big Play-Create-Share game after LittleBigPlanet, ModNation Racers isn't due out for the PlayStation 3 until May 25, but I suppose it's okay to give the head of the team behind the Ratchet and Clank and Resistance franchises a bit of a head start.

Ted Price uses his time in the ModNation to craft a couple of ladies for Ratchet and his robot buddy to mack on in-between races. I particularly like his design for Clank's main squeeze, though I've always been a sucker for pink hair.

Look for more ModNation Racers artist spotlight videos leading up to the game's launch next month.

ModNation Racers Artist Spotlights: Ratchet & Clank Get Girlfriends! [PlayStation Blog]

Cevat Yerli makes big video games for Windows PCs and, now consoles. He owns a Mac, but his studio doesn't make games for them. Apple, he said, doesn't try hard to get games.

Crysis 2, the next game from his studio Crytek, is coming to PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Not to Mac computers, as is standard for so many big games.

"If Apple would really push then we would probably think about it," he told Kotaku on the topic of bringing Crysis 2 to Mac. "Any time we talk to Apple, they're like 'Yeah we're excited but then they pull back. I just [sense] a lack of enthusiasm about Apple for this.'"

Yerli added that, as far as Crytek is concerned, porting to Mac is "not a priority," in part because the don't have the time to do it.

It would help, it seems, if Apple wanted it. The creator of Macs, iPhones, iPods and iPads is increasingly chest-beating about the games on its portable devices — and with the popularity of gaming on the iPhone to prove it — but on its computers? Not really at all.

Apple has not been pushing enough on this.

Cevat Yerli makes big video games for Windows PCs and, now consoles. He owns a Mac, but his studio doesn't make games for them. Apple, he said, doesn't try hard to get games.

Crysis 2, the next game from his studio Crytek, is coming to PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Not to Mac computers, as is standard for so many big games.

"If Apple would really push then we would probably think about it," he told Kotaku on the topic of bringing Crysis 2 to Mac. "Any time we talk to Apple, they're like 'Yeah we're excited but then they pull back. I just [sense] a lack of enthusiasm about Apple for this.'"

Yerli added that, as far as Crytek is concerned, porting to Mac is "not a priority," in part because the don't have the time to do it.

It would help, it seems, if Apple wanted it. The creator of Macs, iPhones, iPods and iPads is increasingly chest-beating about the games on its portable devices — and with the popularity of gaming on the iPhone to prove it — but on its computers? Not really at all.

The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has overturned the 2008 verdict of an East Texas jury that would have resulted in a ban on sales of the Nintendo Gamecube controller, Wavebird, and Classic Controller due to patent infringement.

In 2006, Anascape Ltd. took Nintendo and Microsoft to court over the technology used to implement analog sticks in each company's controllers. Anascape claimed both companies infringed on its existing patent. While Microsoft settled with the company out of court, Nintendo took the fight to the Eastern Texas District Court...

..and lost.

The court found in favor of Anascape, finding that the Gamecube controller, its wireless cousin the Wavebird, and the Wii Classic Controller did infringe on the patent, while the Wii remote and nunchuck controllers did not. Nintendo was ordered to pay $21 million is damages, and a ban was ordered on the sale of the offending peripherals.

The ban was put on hold while Nintendo appealed on a federal level, and now Nintendo has won that appeal.

"In 2008, the jury determined that the Wii Remote and Nunchuck did not infringe," said Nintendo of America General Counsel Rick Flamm. "Today the Federal Circuit's ruling confirmed that none of Nintendo's controllers infringe. We appreciate that our position has been vindicated."

So you can all take your Wavebirds, Gamecube controllers, and Wii Classic Controllers out of your wall safes. Our nightmare is finally over, or something.