This is my last Lunchtime Video, readers. A late night showing of "Coraline" in 3D means I wasn't able to film this goodbye from anywhere special, but the movie did get me wondering: why aren't more games doing 3D gimmicks?

(Videos not viewable by users logging in from Canada or the U.K.)

The acclaimed "Dead Space" series is coming to the Wii later this year, in the form of "Dead Space Extraction." In an e-mail interview, the game's executive producer has revealed a ton details to us about the game's story, controls and more. Read more...

Most assumed "Dead Space" Wii would be a visually adjusted port, but Electronic Arts today announced "Dead Space: Extraction," a new entry in the franchise with "innovative motion controls" in a first-person-perspective -- keep reading for details and a trailer. Read more...

At the NECA's Toy Fair booth, the company had new, unreleased figures for games on display, such as the lead characters for "Dead Space," "Prototype" and even "Dante's Inferno," a game that we know little about. Read more...

Over at Joystiq, writer Ludwig Kietzmann called out my argument "Resident Evil 5" should have taken more cues from games like "Dead Space" by arguing the controls benefit the series' survival mechanic, but seeing true survival hasn't existed since the original, I have to disagree. Read more...

Electronic Arts only announced "Dead Space" for Wii yesterday, but an intrepid PC user hacked their Wiimote into the PC version of "Dead Space" and recorded their experiment, providing a glimpse at how the game might play on Nintendo's hardware. Read more...

And the EA earnings call keeps delivering. Company CEO John Riccitiello just revealed that the company's well-received XBox 360 / PS3 horror game "Dead Space" will be coming to the Wii. The implied timeframe was some time in the next year or so. Riccitiello immediately signaled that the game wouldn't be a weak port: "It is absolutely going to be the quality of fear factor of the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions."

When word broke that Capcom was incorporating a "Gears of War"-style control scheme into "Resident Evil 5," gamers rejoiced, but this week's "RE5" demo proves implementing only part of that system isn't enough; you need to go all the way, something "Dead Space" did and "RE5" doesn't. Read more...

EA tried a lot of new games this year. What did the head of the company think of them?

Here's EA CEO John Riccitiello speaking on an investors conference call today to report lower-than-expected revenue for the company's financial year. A financial analyst asked Riccitiello what he thought of EA's 2008 original games:

"We're very pleased with a lot of our new franchises this year. We think 'Spore' has established a strong base for being an ongoing franchise. We think the same of 'MySims.' 'Dead Space' looks like a long-term big winner for us. We expect 'Warhammer' will continue to perform very, very well, it's life measured in multiples of years, not multiples of months. 'Mirror's Edge' is one that was very strongly reviewed. That one's going to go forward, we'll probably look at some issues around the design to make sure a strong [intellectual property] is married with strong business. …

"We did manage to put quality and innovation on the board in 2008 and we're very proud of that. Many times what happens with a new intellectual property is the first edition doesn't generate the units that subsequent editions can generate. And I would argue that in this particular year the consumer might have been more reticent to take risks than they otherwise might be. It was a very crowded holiday.

"I think we've established value for EA and value in our franchises and things we can build on for the future."

Related Posts:
EA Announces Impressive ‘Spore’ Sales, Big Lay-Offs
EA Vows To Not Make ‘Crappy’ Licensed Games, Pushes Original Content
EA Chief: Slow-Starting Wii ‘Boom Blox’ Is Video Games’ ‘Dark Side Of The Moon’

(Elite Suit, Obsidian Suit, Scorpion Suit)

Electronic Arts is ramping up reasons you should be on board the "Dead Space" hype train soon.

If you pre-order, you gain access to a downloadable "Scorpion Suit." If you own an Xbox 360, it's a platform-exclusive "Elite Suit." On the PlayStation 3, it's an equally exclusive "Obsidian Suit."

All three suits are virtually identical, an EA spokesperson told me today. Each provides you with a "new look, increased toughness and increased inventory slots." You'll access them through stores found within "Dead Space."

Here's what caught my eye, though: there doesn't appear to be any reason players shouldn't use the suit. EA couldn't tell me of any weaknesses to balance out its strengths. "You don't have to use it if you want to play the game as is the first time around," said a spokesperson. "The suit will be there in the Stores on the ship, so it's up the player on when they want to put it on."

So, if you want to make the game a bit harder, play "Dead Space" with the original suit. But make sure to grab the platform downloads as soon as possible -- in the US, the free download expires on October 28. EA couldn't tell me if they would be made available as paid downloadable content later.

Potential "Dead Space" players, will you be donning the upgraded suit?

Related Posts
Game Diary - August 26, 2008: ‘Dead Space’ Surprise
See More Food (Fajitas!) Inspired By ‘Dead Space’ Horror Game
EA’s ‘Dead Space’ Is Being Tested On Standard TVs Too (Public Service Announcement)
EA’s ‘Dead Space’: Original, ‘M-Plus’ And… Actually Pause-able After All??