Any respectable connoisseur of the erotic arts can tell you that in this day and age, watching lo-def pornography is about as un-erotic as watching reruns of Murder, She Wrote. Once you've seen an unclothed bathing suit area at 1080p, lower definition skin flicks just seem to lose their appeal. Many porno purveyors have already made the leap to high definition formats -- such as Digital Playground, which publishes movies exclusively in HD-DVD, much to the chagrin of pornstars left with pockmarked skin after years of spite and heroin abuse.

However, Joone, the company's single-named founder, has recently reconsidered his position in the resolution war, agreeing to publish Digital Playground pictures (starting with their 2005 award-winning blockbuster Pirates) in Blu-ray as well. Why the change of heart? According to Joone, "A lot of people were e-mailing that bought a PlayStation 3 and they were basically saying, 'When are you guys going to release Blu-ray?'" Pornophilic PS3 owners can buckle their swashes when Pirates is released January 4th -- we suggest watching the timeless classic American Bangster to tide you over until then.

Prepare to put on your black jumpsuit, brandish your katana, and stealthily engage the Pirates of the Burning Sea as it enters open beta beginning Friday. Wow, wish we could go back and fix that first sentence. Sony Online Entertainment's swashbuckling adventure will technically be open only to FilePlanet subscribers on Friday, Dec. 7, with others receiving their invites during the week.

Pirates of the Burning Sea has been in development for quite some time and there's been no changes to its plans in pillaging retail beginning Jan. 22. We'll take any alternatives to World of Warcraft at this point. The MMO genre is a nasty place with games releasing and then hardly hearing a peep out of them after. Maybe Pirates won't sink soon after leaving port. Now where's the ninja MMO?

Are those nasty pirates orchestrating their revenge after Nintendo sunk their chips earlier this week? According to a posting on NeoGAF, an unsavory EB Games employee decided to take the contents of an in-store Super Mario Galaxy demo disc and share it with the online world. Though the demo is usually constrained by a 10-minute time limit, the disc reportedly contains the full game and is fully accessible through use of a modified Wii console. As the pirate site offering the code isn't specified or linked to, it's difficult to verify whether or not Mario's currently making his way down some shady pipes.

We contacted a Nintendo spokesperson for confirmation, only to be informed that we were the first to alert them of the development. Note that in the event of the rumor being true, posting of download links or impressions in the comments sections will be met with permanent bans and disapproving glares.

[Via Maxconsole]

If a pirate you were meant to be, trimming the sales and roaming the sea, you'd best mark January 22nd on your Official Babes 'n Barnacles calendar. The date sees massively multiplayer online swashbuckler sim, Pirates of the Burning Sea, ransacking your internet ports and plundering your PC's precious CPU cycles. If you've grown tired of the company of elves and orcs, perhaps living it out on the high seas -- be it through honest exploration or the shameless sinking of ships -- is more your thing.

Those who pre-order the game as of October 23rd will receive several bonus goodies, including a CD filled with "pirate-themed" music, "a blue and yellow parrot" and "a powerful weapon suited to their fighting style." The CD is an in-game item, as anachronistic as that may be. In addition, a pre-order nets you extra sailing time on the Burning Sea, with servers welcoming players 15 days prior to launch. Don't forget to pack some oranges.

[Via press release]

Codemasters has announced a deal with Templar Publishing to release a series of games based on the multi-million selling 'Ology series of faux encyclopedias for the Wii and Nintendo DS late next year. The agreement includes the first three books in the series, Dragonology, Wizardology and Pirateology, with the former expected to ship first in the second half of 2008.

While details are scarce, we know that the Wii version of each title will take a more action-oriented approach to the source material, while the DS will get more 'explorative' games, described by Codemasters as 'interactive books.'

The latter certainly makes sense, though does it strike anyone else as odd that encyclopedias, even fantasy encyclopedias, are being made into action games? The books themselves are really amazing works, but it's anyone's guess how this material will be translated into an interactive format.

Now, we who will both wait and pay for the game must trudge through the pirates who got there first lining the streets asleep, their bellies thick with grog, their pockets fat with $60 bills from all the games they haven't bought. But take heart, dear reader. You won't just be getting satisfaction from playing Gallant to their earringed, tri-corner hatted Goofus. You can also take comfort that, though they might have gotten there first, not a single one of those pirates will get a cat helmet.

Blazing Lizard has decided to table all other discussions for the moment, and answer one burning question. Gone are the questions like "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?" and "If a tree falls in the forest, and there is no one around to hear it, does it make a sound?" and "Do you want fries with that?" Instead they're heading back to the basics of stealthiness vs. swarthiness ... "Ninjas or pirates?"

According to studio director Chris Stockton, "This is the ultimate in rivalries, and we aim to have them settle it with all out balls to the wall action." Nice! Although where will you be able to play this? No man, whether pirate or ninja, can say. The game "is poised to redefine consumer expectations of console downloadable games when it's released for a TBD platform in the first quarter of 2008." Very mysterious.

In the meantime, check out the screenshots and concept art in the gallery below, and sharpen your peg legs and shurikens.

Gallery: Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball

Massively multiplayer swashbuckler Pirates of the Burning Sea was recently announced to be sailing under the flag of Sony Online Entertainment's Platform Publishing. While joining hands with a publisher is generally considered good news, some fans following the game throughout its development have expressed concern over SOE's involvement, citing its indelicate handling of Star Wars: Galaxies. Addressing these concerns is Russel Williams, CEO of developer Flying Lab Software, who updated the game's official website with a surprisingly straightforward explanation of what the publishing deal entails.

Williams specifies the responsibilities carried by each party in the deal and is quick to point out that Flying Lab Software retains complete ownership of Pirates of the Burning Sea and remains independent. "Platform Publishing is a channel for independent developers to compete on the same level as a big publisher – without selling their soul," says Williams. He goes on to stress that the deal will ultimately allow Flying Lab to focus on development of the game and deliver it on time this Fall. "I've put my money where my mouth is. And I want more developers to do the same."

Aye, Mr. Williams! Aye!

Still on the topic of card games, it's really become tough keeping track of them all. You have your TCGs (the card game), CCGs (collectible card games), and CSGs (constructible card games), not to mention the CCGs of Star Trek: TNG (The Next Generation). Probably. Whenever we sit down to play a card game, whether it be Magic: The Gathering, or the World of Warcraft card game, or even Go Fish, we get bogged down by certain rules. Printed instructions like, "Must tap to save before using. Tap once to use, or double tap to reuse. Rinse wash repeat," usually lead to arguments, fist fights, and games abandoned halfway through.

Not so with Sony Online Entertainment's new deck of PC-based card games.

Who doesn't love pirates? The answer seemed to be "no one" as Flying Labs' upcoming MMORPG was swamped with fans throughout the entire New York Comic Con weekend. Although this MMO has been fairly under the radar, it certainly deserves a little more attention. Pirates of the Burning Sea promises a lot of playability, from multiple fighting styles, to naval battles, barter, economics, and more. It's the kind of stuff not-leaving-the-house-ever is made of.

Saying whether or not the team has been successful on capitalizing on their ambitions requires having a lot more time with the game. Thankfully, there is a public beta available for those that want to find out more. The game promises tons of missions, both offline and on. With cross-functionality with a planned Pirates of the Asian Sea, the whole ninja versus pirates debate can finally be settled ... in a far more artistic way than the Internet has ever portrayed it.

Watch the video to get more info about the game. Be warned that it's incredibly long and will waste tons of your time. But that doesn't stop MMORPG players, right?

I played Pirates of the Caribbean Online at a media gathering last week; this post describes the event put on to keep us journalists entertained. While Capcom has thrown its share of parties -- publishers often dangle shiny objects to draw us journalists in -- Disney Online tied its in-game sword-fighting to a real-life fencing event.

Any event like this has food. (The tasty plantains paid dual tribute to the Caribbean of said online pirates and the largely Latino location of San Francisco's Mission District.) Beyond our stomachs, Disney Online tried to impress us with various props used in the movies, hidden behind glass cases, safely away from our greasy fingers. But the real spectacle was that they thought it'd be a good idea to give us all swords and let us spastically fight each other.

Okay, it was a little more controlled than that because the event was held at the Golden Gate Fencing Center. Olympic coach, Mike Pederson literally said that he didn't want any of our eyes on the ends of our swords. (I assume they're hard to clean off.) We all worked to live up to that goal, but our legal waiver aimed much lower.

Disney's upcoming MMO based on the wildly successful Pirates of the Caribbean franchise released some new assets this week, and you can peep the screenshots after the jump. For the more adventurous among you, try finding the developer's video diary on the Disney go.com site here. It ran our browser into rocky shores more than once, and we had to restart, so beware.

This game won't match the depth of World of Warcraft, and it's looking a bit like MTV's Virtual Laguna Beach with pirate outfits on, but we have to admit it looks fun. You get to outfit your own pirate, rig out your ship and set out to make a name for yourself. Plus, you'll be able to interact with characters from the game, including Captain Jack Sparrow. Who knew that Disney would get such mileage out of Depp basically playing "a gay Keith Richards"? Those are the Disney execs words, not ours ... but if Keith Richards was a gay pirate, that might be pretty spot-on.

The game runs on PCs and not Macs, which is a bit ironic considering that Disney bought Pixar earlier this year ... which was owned by Apple head honcho Steve Jobs. We suppose it's fitting, considering that most pirates are on PCs anyhow *ducks incoming cannon fire*.

Check out the screenshots after the jump, and drink up me hearties, yo ho!

Disney's upcoming MMO Pirates of the Caribbean Online is aimed at the teen and casual market, enticing fans of the films to try a new genre. As such, it's a very stylised representation of a pirate world, with fast-paced action that's easy to jump into for a few minutes. The story runs parallel to the films, with sub-plots revolving around the main characters that fans know and love.

The aim of the game is to sculpt a career as a pirate, building up notoriety that takes into account skills like sword fighting, captaining ships and playing cards. With a group of players, you can crew a ship, with every player taking a particular role -- from firing cannons to piloting the ship. Disney isn't aiming for historical accuracy, so moving a ship is much like driving a car -- it even has a reverse gear.

Fans of Captain Jack Sparrow and his motley crew will be wise to keep their eyes peeled this E3. Disney will be unveiling the first images -- along with a playable version -- of Pirates of the Caribbean Online, a massively-multiplayer online game that should be hitting shelves in 2007.

Although a pirate-themed MMO isn't a new idea, taking a film with such a cult following as Pirates of the Caribbean and turning it into a MMORPG could prove a stupendous hit -- as long as it's done right. Disney's VR Studio, the developers behind the family friendly Toontown MMO, are on board for the project -- it's billed as being for "teens to adults" so it'll hopefully have more of a mature feel than Toontown. However, as long as it has Jack Sparrow in, some fans might not care.