Nintendo continues to lead gaming consoles

Nintendo's bubble doesn't appear likely to burst anytime soon. According to May sales figures from The NPD Group, the company's DS and Wii machines continue to lead the hardware race, while "Pokemon Diamond" (for the DS) and "Mario Party 8" (for the Wii) were the month's best-selling games.

One of the not-so-secret secrets of Nintendo's revival has been its effort to appeal to people who don't normally play video games -- like, well, women. A new title from Konami called "Dream Skincare" is aimed squarely at that audience. The "beauty navigation software" asks questions about matters such as body temperature, exposure to sunlight and hours of sleep, then responds with dietary advice and skin-care tips.

"Dream Skincare" goes on sale in Japan in October, but Konami hasn't announced any plans to import it to the United States.

Sony under fire in U.K.

A virtual shootout inside a British cathedral led Sony to apologize to the Church of England. The culprit is "Resistance: Fall of Man," the PlayStation 3 best-seller that finds Earthlings fighting aliens in the U.K. At one point, the action spills into a building that resembles Manchester Cathedral in northwest England.

The cathedral's dean, the Very Rev. Rogers Govender, called the game "highly irresponsible." Prime Minister Tony Blair said companies like Sony should focus on their wider social responsibilities.

After a weeklong ruckus, Sony finally sent a letter of apology to Govender -- even though the company said it disagreed with the notion "that there is any connection between contemporary issues of 21st-century Manchester and a work of science fiction in which a fictitious 1950s Britain is under attack by aliens."

Namco Bandai previews

Namco Bandai is the latest publisher to hold a press gathering during the run-up to next month's Electronic Entertainment Expo, and the company actually wheeled out one of its big guns: "Soul Calibur IV." The next chapter of the popular fighting franchise will be coming to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 next year.

More exciting -- to strategy buffs, at least -- was the announcement of "Culdcept Saga," the follow-up to the 2003 cult favorite "Culdcept." It's a nifty, addictive synthesis of a board game with card collecting, and it should be out in the U.S. once Namco finishes translation of its hefty Japanese text.