With E3 just about a month away, it seems like the obvious venue for Nintendo to finally explain just what the hell their mysterious Nintendo Wii Vitality Sensor will actually be used for. But could that explanation be coming much sooner than expected?

Nintendo has revealed they’re planning a press conference in New York in conjunction with the American Heart Association this Monday, May 17, where they will make “a special joint announcement.” While the press release makes no mention of what this announcement will be, the natural speculation is it will revolve around the Vitality Sensor, considering the device is used to read a player’s pulse — something that could lead to the sort of games the American Heart Association might approve of.

Very little has been explained about the Vitality Sensor since its reveal at E3 2009, with Nintendo president Satoru Iwata saying at the time that games “have been used for stimulation, but maybe it won’t be long until games are used for relaxation and even to fall asleep.” Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime has previously stated the Vitality Sensor and its first compatible games will be shown at E3 2010, but then, that doesn’t necessarily mean they can’t make any announcements about it leading into E3, either. And if Nintendo would rather have much of their E3 focus fall on the Nintendo 3DS, it would make sense to get the Vitality Sensor reveal out of the way a month in advance.

Just as reported last week, Nintendo is preparing to launch a new Nintendo Wii console bundle this Sunday, May 9. The bundle includes what you currently get when you pick up a Nintendo Wii — a console, Nintendo Wii remote, nunchuk, and a copy of Nintendo Wii Sports — as well as two new additions: A copy of Nintendo Wii Sports Resort and the Resort-required Nintendo Wii MotionPlus attachment. The system and controllers will be available in either black or white and will be available for the current price of £199.99.

“Nintendo leads the way in delivering rich motion-control gaming experiences at an accessible price point,” said Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime in a press release. “By including even more of our top-quality hardware and software in the basic Nintendo Wii system package, we’re extending that commitment to entertainment and value. Now more than ever, consumers can count on Nintendo to deliver inclusive fun and advanced motion controls at a mass-market price.”

Black Nintendo Wii remotes and nunchuks have been available in the United States since November, but the black console remained unavailable until now. The announcement doesn’t come as much of a surprise after the news was leaked early last week and then confirmed by a scan of a GameStop flyer showing the contents of the bundle, including the black Nintendo Wii.

The Boy Scouts of America has revealed that it will start awarding belt loops and pins to Cub Scouts for video game media literacy. ABC News reports that the awards won’t be given out for actual game skill, but rather for showing that the child can be responsible about his gaming habits. The belt loop is given for learning the ESRB ratings, playing a parent- or teacher-approved game, and making a schedule that fits game time around chores and homework. The pin is awarded for installing a game console and comparison shopping, among other unspecified educational tasks.

The Boy Scouts already give pins and loops for activities like science, photography, and sports, so this is a natural way to reward kids for being more informed about activities they already enjoy. “Let’s be serious, most households have video games in them, and if they don’t have them in their households, they’re in libraries,” said public relations manager Renee Fairrer. “They’re a part of our lives.”

But while organizations like Common Sense Media and The American Academy of Pediatrics are praising the idea for making kids more conscious of their media choices, it’s also seeing its share of criticism for encouraging kids to stay indoors. “Being a Boy Scout is about getting outdoors, it’s about being in the woods with your friends and building campfires,” said Christian Marino, a former Eagle Scout. “It’s not about sitting at home playing video games.”

Rumors have circulated about a sequel to inFamous for some time now. The first game was quite well received, and following its release last May we heard about a possible inFamous film and actor David Sullivan tweeted about auditioning for the role of main character Cole who was, according to Sullivan, being re-cast for the sequel. And earlier this year, PlayStation: The Official Magazine reported that Sony was rumored to be revealing inFamous 2 at E3 this year alongside Killzone 3 and Resistance 3. A more recent issue also suggested that inFamous 2 would make it out this year, though they also said the same of Bcash machinean: Arkham Asylum 2, something that a U.K. retailer doesn’t believe is the case.

Regardless, the mounting evidence and seemingly obvious choice to develop a sequel should make it no surprise to hear that Sony has registered a web domain (via VG247, PlayStation Lifestyle) for inFamous 2: infamous2thegame.com. A WHOIS search reveals Sony Computer Entertainment America as the registrant and points to SCEA’s DNS servers, so it’s unlikely this is simply a fan who registered the domain.

Whether or not this domain is legitimate, keep your eyes peeled during E3 in June for the first official word on inFamous 2.

On this day in 1989, Sega of America formally revealed that it would release its 16-bit Mega Drive console in the United States, renamed the Genesis.

The ramifications at the time were huge. Nintendo-mania was sweeping the nation, with its 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System in nearly one out of every five American homes. The console, however, was over six years old, and was starting to show its age.

According to a Gamasutra report, former Nintendo of America vice president of corporate affairs Denise Kaigler has joined 38 Studios as the company’s new chief marketing officer.

Kaigler spent just under two years at Nintendo after succeeding former marketing VP Perrin Kaplan back in January of 2008. Before that, she headed up global corporate communications at Reebok, investing 16 years of her life at the shoe company.

Her reason for leaving Nintendo late last year: The excessive travel associated with the job caused far too much stress in her family life. “It’s a fact of life that job and family often pull us in opposite directions,” Kaigler wrote. “It has been a fantastic adventure, but the time has come where I need to choose one over the other… and I have to choose my family.”

Mega Man creator and gaming executive Keiji Inafune is about to make the world his playground. Inafune made waves at last year’s Tokyo Game Show when he proclaimed that Japanese game development was “finished“. Needless to say, he’ll be bringing his anti-Japan bias to his role as head of global development at Capcom.

Quoth Inafune of his new duties, “It’s a common comment I hear that games created in Europe aren’t really Capcom games, that games created in Japan are true Capcom games. I want to put an end to that, basically saying that whether games are created in America or Japan or anywhere in the world, I will be the one overlooking it and so it will have that Capcom flavour that fans know and love.”

Inafune’s been running pretty hot lately, with executive producer credits on AAA titles like Street Fighter IV, Dead Rising 2, and Dark Void. Will he be able to use his past successes to create new hotbeds of games development throughout the world?

When you think about Sega, mostly Eastern games/development springs to mind; Sonic, Yakuza, Valkyria Chronicles etc. For that reason, when it comes to making job cuts it might not be surprising to hear it’s all happening in the West. The company’s London studio has suffered a cut of 37 jobs, and a further 36 have been lost in San Fransico. Sadly, this is around 12 per cent of Sega West’s work force gone.

But it’s not all in vein however, as the publisher is to reform with a clear focus on digital and traditional gaming. San Francisco is now primarily concerned with down-loadable games, while London is to focus on packaged goods. Sega are hoping the more straightforward approach to these different products will bring them great success.

Sega West president, Mike Hayes helped to explain the situation, saying, “Traditionally, Sega of America and Sega Europe had been running a dual company where both would look at traditional goods and both would look at the digital side. What we decided to do is to make San Francisco the kind of hub for our digital efforts, and therefore make London the hub for the traditional packaged goods part.”

Quick to wipe out any sign of weakness, Hayes also added, “I would stress, however, that this is very much administrative reorganization, because clearly we want to be very successful with digital globally. Likewise, we want to continue to be successful with traditional goods. So the reorganization allows us to be much more efficient in terms of our costs, but probably more importantly in the way that we can look at the future business.”

On this day in 1997, Ken Kutaragi — the “father of the PlayStation” — was promoted to chairman and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment of America.

Kutaragi had been with Sony some twenty years at that point, starting in the mid-70s as an engineer who quickly worked his way up the ranks with his ability to innovate technology and rock the boat that his contemporaries stood on.