Atlus released today new screenshots of Zoids Assault, the latest addition to Atluss lineup of strategy RPGs for the Xbox 360.

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action, Video
We know what you're thinking, and we're right there with you. The absolute best way to capture the intense horror and gore of EA's upcoming Dead Space for a direct-to-DVD (and Blu-ray) movie is with a cartoon. Oh, that wasn't what you were thinking? C'mon - as if the age gate on this trailer for the flick wasn't enough indication, it's not exactly a kid-friendly affair. No sir. It's nice and gory (as gory as cel animation can get, at least).

Set for release on October 28 (hey, that's right around when the game's hitting ... coincidence?) the film follows the events that occurred on the mining ship Ishimura (the game's setting, in case you're just joining us) and the planet it's lifelessly orbiting (and why it's orbiting said planet lifelessly) before the outset of the game. Think of it kind of like Enter the Matrix in reverse. On second thought, don't think about Enter the Matrix.

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Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode One started its run on the Xbox Live Arcade, and shortly after making its way to Steam, the development team at Hothead Games announced that it had begun work on a PS3 version of the game

http://ps3.thegamereviews.com/story-...ar-on-PS3.html

Visitors to the Eidos booth at E3 were treated to a walkthrough of the introductory stage of Tomb Raider: Underworld, the eigth installment in the series and the third developed by Crystal Dynamics. Lara starts off this installment with scuba gear, which she equips to visit the ancient ruins located at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea. The gear allows the player unlimited time to explore the vast underwater expanses. There is even the option of taking out a digital camera with which to share the locations of secret areas and play paths with others over the Xbox or Playstation networks.

While swimming toward the ruins, Lara is targeted, as usual, by the local predators — this time by sharks. While submerged, the player has recourse to a spear gun and sticky grenades, which the developers have dubbed the "instant sushi maker." There are bioluminescent jellyfish stationed by the walls of the ruins that provide a light source for exploring the caverns, and also pose as a hazard that the player must navigate around. Lara can also use a flashlight, which unlike Tomb Raider Legend's has an unlimited power supply. As Lara passes through dirt-strewn passages after climbing out of the water, her face and feet will noticeably be streaked with grime.


One of the new design elements of the game is the ability to pick up items too large to fit in Lara's backpack. The player can carry them around, as in the case of a giant key that is needed to open the doors to the underwater fortress. Above ground, Lara can use these portable objects as weapons, and still have a hand free to aim one one of her firearms. After opening the portal and breaching the water's surface, you enter a flooded hallway and see a giant tentacle. The way forward is blocked by a giant sea creature, called a kraken. The stationary monster's appearance does not initiate a boss fight — rather the player needs to flip a series of giant switches to progress past the obstacle.
The upcoming title marks the first time Lara's animations have been motion captured, courtesy of former professional gymnast Heidi Moneymaker. Looking up the athlete's profile on IMDb, you can see a list of her roles as stunt doubles on big-budget action movies. Lara's moves become more noticeable during select moments when she is placed in great danger. At those predetermined events, time slows down and the player must react to the sudden peril. During these adrenaline moments, a button prompt flashes on screen, which must be responded to within a certain window. For instance, in facing the kraken, the creature will fling out a tentacle at the character and smash the platforms Lara is standing on. These are the first of the game's split-second reactions that players will need to pull off in order to progress through Tomb Raider: Underworld when the game is released this November.


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Filed under: Business
Despite the fact that Unreal Engine 3 has been licensed by, oh, everyone for building their current-gen games, results have been hit or miss. While developers continue to get to grips with the current iteration of the technology, its creator, Epic Games, is already at work building the next version to stump them make their lives easier... in the future.

In news sure to make Dennis Dyack happy, Epic's president, Mike Capps, revealed at Microsoft's Gamefest technology conference that the successors to the current crop of consoles (even Wii?) are its target platforms for Unreal Engine 4. "We've got Unreal [Engine] 4 in production right now," Capps told the gathering of developers, adding, "it's going to be in the next console generation ... our rough guess is 2012 to 2018." So, there you have it. Xbox 720 in 2012. We kid. We aren't kidding when we say that we hope developers other than Epic and a handful of others get a sound grasp on UE3 before then.

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via Joystiq


Have you ever had that dream where you're running down a hallway but are unable to reach the exit because the doorway is constantly stretching out of reach? For fans of Burnout Paradise for the Xbox 360, this has become a waking nightmare, as Criterion has again pushed back the title's forthcoming "Cagney" update until early August.

Criterion is currently "aiming" to release the free update on August 4, nearly a month after the patch arrived on the PS3. However, according to a post on the dev's website, this merely represents the "earliest" that we can expect it to show up. Interestingly, while the previous hold-up was laid at the feet of Xbox Live's burdensome certification process, this latest information indicates that the update, much like the patience of street carnage virtuosos, is now in the "final stages of testing."

Filed under: News

With 1942: Joint Strike now available on Xbox Live Arcade, it's time to show your gaming spirit with snazzy new T-shirts! Featuring Street Fighter's Cammy pulling off her best pin-up girl pose, the shirts are available for $26 (plus shipping) from Meatbun.us. Why Cammy, you ask? Both Street Fighter and 1942 were created by Yoshiki Okamoto, of course! What we want to know is where Meatbun found triplets to pose in the shirt's three available colors.

Check out a close up image of the shirt's artwork after the break.Continue reading Get your 1942: Joint Strike T-shirts!

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Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360, Action, Adventure

No, no, no, don't cry, Sam! Oh, now look, you've ruined your mascara. It appears emo Sam Fisher is going to be sitting on the sidelines a little longer as Ubisoft announced today that Splinter Cell: Conviction is being delayed until the company's next fiscal year. For those who don't tell time through corporate fiscal calendars, that means Conviction won't be released until after April of 2009.

Rumors of Conviction's delay have been floating around for months, kicked into overdrive by the game's no-show at Ubidays and E3. Back in May, the development team said it would be showing the game in "forthcoming months." Well, there's still Tokyo and Leipzig ...

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via Games Industry


The recent cull of underperforming titles on Xbox Live was "not a surprise", according to Doublesix's studio head, James Brooksby.

Brooksby told GamesIndustry.biz that Microsoft's decision to delist underperforming titles last month was really only a matter of time, saying "it was going to happen at some point".

"I'm not sure exactly how that system works... but it's not a surprise that it was going to happen at some point, lets put it that way," he said.

He went on to explain how such actions were just the nature of digital distribution, which has a dynamic business model, and that Doublesix is used to dealing with such challenges.
"I think as far as the business models for all of the platforms are concerned they're all changing and evolving very quickly because this is very new for everybody... We're just approaching each new challenge as it comes along in terms of the changing business models and the changing structures," said Brooksby.

"As far as we're concerned it's a very exciting market, I'd rather have it that way than have it very stale and stagnant - the way things have been for some time." Brooksby's full interview with GamesIndustry.biz is now available online.

Ubisoft announced today the sequel to Naruto Rise of a Ninja. Naruto The Broken Bond is an Xbox 360 exclusive.

Peter Dille recently explained how Playstation Network will triumph over Xbox Live. He noted that you can do things on PSN that you can't do on Live and used Little Big Planet as an example - "we're putting the development tools into the hands of the consumers and then using the network to upload those back up to the network. That's sort of the two way communication you can have on the network from the game design perspective that you can't find anywhere else."

CDNetworks Partners with Octoshape; two companies say they can deliver live hybrid P2P-assisted streaming to millions of concurrent viewers. (release)

Roku Sold 100,000 Units? Dan Rayburn estimates that 1 percent of Netflix’s subscribers bought the little streaming box. (Streaming Media Blog)

The Possibilities of an Apple TV App Store; Saul Hansell predicts that, with Xbox opening up to developers, Apple’s set-top box might follow. (Bits Blog)

Public Knowledge Asks FCC to Deny Studios’ Waiver Request; waiver would allow studios to restrict copying of some HD movies to DVRs. (Broadcasting & Cable)

CBS Radio Gets into Web Video; company launches platform to allow its 140 radio stations to create custom video players for live performances, interviews and more. (MediaWeek)

Google Just Not Into Long-Form Video? Sources tell CNET that Google Video soured the company on the concept, remains focused on short-form. (CNET)

ManiaTV Signs 4 New Comedy Series; among the new offerings will be projects from Michael Palascak and the duo Paul Telner and Jason Fisher. (AdWeek)

Hmmm. Besides providing viewers with an interesting walkthrough of the new Netflix streaming capabilities integrated in to Xbox Experience, Major Nelson drops the bomb that the partnership with Microsoft is an exclusive one (actually, the official PR said as much). In other words, Nintendo Wii and PlayStation 3 owners will never have the capability to [...]

Visit eHomeUpgrade for more breaking news.

Filed under: News
Chatting with Gamasutra during Seattle's recent GameFest, Epic Games' Mike Capps confirmed progress on Unreal Engine 4 mentioning that it should be ready for debut "...in the next console generation - our rough guess is 2012 - 2018." Interesting too was confirmation from Capps that the UE4 will have "console focus" where "version 4 will exclusively target the next console generation, Microsoft's successor for the Xbox 360, Sony's successor for the Playstation 3 - and if Nintendo ships a machine with similar hardware specs, then that also. PCs will follow after that."

One can only try to imagine what the next console generation will bring in terms of graphics and physics, especially seeing how amazing some games look using the Unreal Engine 3. One can only dream. But we're welcoming the next, next generation with open arms as we say; bring on the pretty!
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Joining Microsoft Entertainment and Devices President Robbie Bach, speaking at Microsoft's analyst day, in progress...

- Might make the Microsoft Surface ("big-ass table") a consumer product someday.

- Going to talk about mobile and gaming.

- Gaming business: Creating a whole new interface for Xbox. Adding avatars, expanded video library with Netflix (NFLX).

- Game lineup this year probably the best we've ever had. Going to expand with more, broader content.

- Windows Mobile: Very successful year, gained share, outsold RIM and Apple. Most success in a business context. People using for email in a business environment. More "well-equipped" than Apple, will beat RIM in corporate market. But also have to expand from just a work device to being a device for consumers.

- Just released Windows Mobile 6.1. Going to make it easier for people to find video, music, and games. Also expanding on idea of choice. Not just one form factor that's going to work. You NEED that diversity. (Take that, Apple!)

- Know that phone experience is about software and services. Going to continue expanding work in software and services around WinMo. This is why we bought Danger, etc.

- Talking today about mobile advertising. Advertising on WinMo: Some stuff we're doing, some stuff in labs.

- Shawn Johnson (sp?) joins to talk about mobile advertising. Somehow convinced that mobile advertising going to be an awesome experience for consumers.

- Showing crappy version of Windows Live on a smartphone. Clicks on Hotmail, but first have to look at an interstitial display ad. Ironman promotion above his email. So far nothing interesting.

- "Amazing" ads coming! Already generating 400 million ad impressions per month.

- Now to the "sneak preview" stuff from the "labs." Email from his buddy Mark inviting him to play a Doritos game. Browser automatically launches! Silverlight mobile app launches; ad-supported game. Shooting Dorito chips. The graphics look like something from an 8-bit Nintendo game. Nothing like iPhone apps.

- He wins! A barcode coupon that's good for a free or discounted bag of Doritos. Clicks on the ad to launch location-based map with participating retailers.

- Bach excited about this because user is participatin in the ad. Can track user activity, track ROI.

- Q&A to begin. After Robbie fields questions, will take a break as planned.

- What are you looking for in '09 in terms of margin improvement? Won't go through in detail. But if you look across E&D, hard to make one simple statement about that. Margin structure so radically different for each area. Still think we can continue to grow the business.

- How do you value the Xbox need to kind of drive share and lower prices vs. profitability? Typically the way we think about those issues are a function of cost management (we feel good) and demand. We try to gauge pricing structure based on what's selling. As you saw in Q3 and Q4, demand's very strong. Feel good about demand.

Si vous possédez un abonnement Xbox Live, vous aurez surement remarqué depuis quelques jours lÂ’apparition dÂ’une nouvelle...

Relin writes "Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-slick Precipice of Darkness: Episode One started its run on the Xbox Live Arcade, and shortly after making its way to Steam, the development team at Hothead Games announced that it had begun work on a PS3 version of the game."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Forget what you think about how those E3 pressers went, Xbox honcho Don Mattrick is here to tell you what he thinks. And what does he think? He thinks the other companies have been slacking off &mdash; that they've been "on vacation." No, not just "on vacation," make that "on an extended vacation." Here's the sound-byte: I think we got more than 12 months’ work done, and others went on an extended vacation. Hopefully they got some good vacation photos, because they sure weren't showing up at work... Of course I'm going to be biased, but so far what I've heard is that Sony and Nintendo have disappointed. And Microsoft has been leading, innovating and driving a very comprehensive global programme... We're building momentum and we're on a scale that no other consumer electronics company or entertainment company has been able to achieve in nine years. It's been a very good show and I'm very pleased with what we've been able to accomplish. I think there was a lot of good work, a lot of innovation and a lot of news from us.
Oh, Don.
Mattrick: Rivals have been slacking off [MCVUK]

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Alors que sa sortie est prévue pour le 4 septembre, le nouveau jeu de boxe Facebreaker, qui ne se prend pas vraiment au sérieux, bénéficiera d'une démo jouable sur le Marché Xbox Live dès le 31 juillet prochain. Trois personnages seront pré...

Il n'aura pas fallu longtemps entre l'annonce officielle de Geometry Wars Evolved 2 et son arrivée sur le Xbox Live Arcade, le titre de Bizarre Creations étant prévu pour le 30 juillet, au prix de 800 points, soit un peu plus de 9€. A noter que Bionic Commando Rearmed, qui s'illustre dans un premier...