LittleBigPlanet meet MGS4!!!

KillZone 2 Gameplay Footage

InFamous Preview: The Neon District

Left 4 Dead: Death from Above

Left 4 Dead Cheating

We all knew it was bound to happen eventually... Creative gamers have figured out how to use glitches in the game to do all kinds of things. Check out how far they've taken it here:

Left 4 Dead: Gameplay Montage

Left 4 Dead: In Depth

1UP Show: Left 4 Dead Impressions

The embedded video gives in depth commentary on the retail game (not the demo) and gives a glimpse of what it is like when choosing to play as one of the infected boss characters.

Left 4 Dead Demo game play video

I didn't think it was possible that a game could so quickly shift my focus away from Gears of War 2... But it has happened. Take a look at the embedded video, and I'm sure you'll see why.

Fallout Retrospective: Taking a Look Back

Gears of War 2: First Ten Minutes

TGS 2008: No More Heroes 2

The embedded video is a teaser for No More Heroes: Deperate Struggle which is a sequel to the hit game No More Heroes.

The Conduit - Control Customization Walkthrough

InFamous - PAX 2008 - Gameplay Walkthrough

Mirror's Edge - PAX 2008 - Alternate Paths Walkthrough

Far Cry 2 PAX 2008 Gameplay Video

Left 4 Dead XBox 360 Gameplay Video

Left 4 Dead is the first living dead game IMHO that truly captures the essence of running for your life from Zombies, and allows you to team up with 4 of your friends to do so. As much as I hate continuing to shell out $50 per year for XBox Live, I may have to for a little while longer...

Street Fighter IV - Character Intros

Gearbox developing Halo 4 for XBox 4D?

Gearbox president and CEO Randy Pitchford is awfully excited about his company's latest project, though he's not ready to mention it publicly. According to him, however, it's "big... 'look at our line up and imagine something even bigger' kind of big." Whatever you say, Randy.

Word of the project comes from the Gearbox forums, where Pitchford is soliciting for artists and programmers to come on board for the unannounced title. Pitchford will be directing the game himself, which will be entering pre-production and will have at least two years of development ahead of it before release.

Of course, part of Pitchford's excitement is purely to drum up interest in the title, and draw more potential employees to the project. Still, with promises of something incredibly exciting, we can't help but wonder what Gearbox might have up their sleeve. Original IP? Or a brand-new notch in an existing franchise? All we know is that between this new secret project, Borderlands, Samba de Amigo, and the Alien FPS, it's sure going to be a busy couple of years over at Gearbox. (Source Joystiq)

My Take

As I've said before, I believe Microsoft will release a new 3rd generation XBox during the Holiday season of 2009, after just 4 years, like they did with the original XBox. It will support a high-definition DVD drive, all models will be packaged with hard disks, and superior graphics and general processing than anything that's currently on the market. I also believe that Halo 4 will be a launch title for this new console.

XBox 360 + Wireless Motion Controller

There are lots of rumors swirling about the Internet at present about an XBox 360 Arcade System with a 512MB Memory card (in place of a hard disk) bundled with a wireless motion controller(like the Wii) with a handful of mini-games.

Do I believe Microsoft is planning to do this? Absolutely...

However, I think where these sites have gotten it wrong is the price. Most assert that Microsoft plans to sell this bundle for $199 to compete with the Wii. I disagree... Microsoft will likely sell it for between $249-$279. Why? Because there's no point in swallowing that extra $50, since the Wii is selling out at $249!

Prince of Persia: Leipzig GC Gameplay Trailer

House of the Dead: Overkill

The Conduit - GC 2008

The most innovative shooter for the Wii yet... The Conduit... just looks better and better every time I see it!!! Nintendo, you really need to considering buying the engine for this game, and provide to all of your third party developers as a freebie!

Rumor: $199 Xbox 360 Arcade with motion controller

"Building on reports of an impending Xbox 360 price cut, which allegedly will drop the Arcade SKU below Wii to $199, comes the reemergence of Microsoft's elusive motion controller, now rumored to be included with the Xbox 360 Arcade this holiday. A source "close to Microsoft's marketing department" detailed the bundle to X3F, claiming the new Arcade system will feature a 512MB memory card (in place of a hard drive), the New Xbox Experience pre-loaded and a motion controller, along with a few compatible minigames developed by Rare.

The motion controller supposedly will be sold separately as well, in a package that includes even more minigames. The controller is said to be compatible with all versions of Xbox 360. So how 'bout it, Nintendo -- you gonna trump this by tacking on HD?" - XBox 360 News

My Take

Nintendo may have a very real problem on it's hands if this rumor is true.  It'll be interesting to see how long Nintendo will be on top...  Especially since it has continued to alienate the hardcore gamer as it seeks to go after the "expanded market"...  Good luck with that Nintendo.

Dead Rising Wii Gameplay

Heavy Rain Gameplay

MadWorld - 'Games Con 2008' Trailer

Leaked Resistance 2 BETA Footage

Saints Row 2 - Exclusive Sons of Samedi Trailer

Start Fable 2 With A Lot of Gold

KORE Debut Trailer

The Godfather II: Trailer

Street Fighter IV - Akuma vs Abel

Electronic Arts' iPhone Line-up

Star Wars: Force Unleashed - World Exclusive Trailer

Naruto - Black Parade

This is another anime music video was created by Gunst4r Her0, check it out:

Friendship's End

This anime music video was created by Gunst4r Her0, check it out:

Highlander: End Game

InFamous Direct-Feed Gameplay

Damnation: Debut Trailer

Call of Duty: World at War's Co-Op gameplay

Are you ready for the next Next-Gen yet?

Have we already reached a plateau with current next-generation hardware?  

Consider the following:

• Crysis, a game release last year for the PC has to be scaled down in order to port it to the XBox 360 or Playstation 3. 
  
• The XBox 360 is already suffering from the lack of a high capacity disc medium, and games like Metal Gear Solid 4 would have to span several discs. 
  
• Developers like id Software are complaining about the memory footprint that the current next-gen consoles can support being inadequate which causes developers to spend much more time optimizing the code.
  
• Few games are actually rendered at 1080p (or even 720p for that matter...).

When you first heard about the next generation consoles did you picture that the graphics would look like the pre-rendered cut-screens in the games at the time?   Or did you picture the graphics of the Wii?

Nintendo and Microsoft have already admitted that they are working on the successors to their current consoles.  And current speculation is that Microsoft will release a successor to the 360 around November 2009...  I personally think they will release a new system no later than November 2010.  Why?  Because Sony currently has the upper hand with Blu-Ray, and the Wii continues to outsell the XBox 360 (in both the US and world wide).  I also believe that advances in technology and consumer lust for better graphics and gameplay will drive the time down between hardware cycles.  I believe the future cycles will be between 3 and 4 years.

Let me know what you think in the comments section.

NullDC Dev: Fullspeed Dreamcast Emulation On PSP May Be Possible, Not Making Promises

Drk||Raziel, developer of Dreamcast emulator NullDC, has issued a clarification statement in regards to the recently unveiled PSP port.

First off, he notes that due to RAM constraints, the PSP port of NullDC will be compatible with Slim units, which house 64MB RAM compared to 32MB on the previous hardware revision. Furthermore, the author explicitly mentions that he is not making any promises concerning the speed of the emulator, only that he will attempt to get it running as fast as possible.

Certainly, we’re excited over the prospect of Dreamcast emulation on PSP, but as with the PSP version of StrmnNrmn’s N64 emulator Daedalus, don’t expect games to run at a playable speed any time soon. In the meantime, we’ll wait patiently for Drk||Raziel’s efforts. (Source Exophase)

Dead Space: Downfall - Feature Film Trailer

New Tenchu 4 Wii Japanese Trailer

John Carmack talks 360 vs PS3

Saints Row 2 'Tera Patrick'

Dead Space: Animated Comic Issue 4

Rage - Stranger Trailer

Video: 1:1 Wii Lightsaber is Real!

Nintendo admits Wii 2 is in development

Isn't it too soon to already be talking about Wii 2? A better question is: Are you all that surprised?

"Nintendo, as you might expect, is approaching things a bit differently. President Satoru Iwata freely admits the company is already working on the Wii’s successor. However, he adds that he doesn’t view the hardware as particularly interesting."

I believe that Nintendo will release a Wii successor as soon as sales start slipping for the current Wii console. Why? Because Nintendo well knows that is shipped a last-gen underpowered piece of hardware. Hardware that is not capable of delivering experiences that the XBox 360 and PS3 could. It's not a matter of if, but a matter of when consumers figure out that the Wii doesn't truly deliver on it's promises. This is why they're releasing Wii Motion Plus, an add-on for the Wiimote that makes 1 to 1 motion possible. From where I'm standing, that should've been part of the Wii's design from the start.  I, like many of you, own a Wii, which I only use (mainly) when people come over that have never played the Wii.  It has become a novelty in my home.    I have friends who also own the Wii, and they have the same experience...  It collects dust, until people come over.

To make matters worse, Nintendo as a company has decided that the hardcore gamer is no longer their top priority. The casual market is...

Don't hate the messenger...

Sims 2: Apartment Pets - Baby Animals Trailer

Deadly Creatures - Comic-Con 2008: Cam Snake Snacks Gameplay

Demigod - Battle Teaser

E3 2008: The Conduit - Weapons Montage

All Points Bulletin (APB) Trailer

APB Character Creation Gameplay

All Points Bulletin (APB) Gameplay

Lord of the Rings: Conquest - Comic-Con 2008

E3 2008: Star Wars: Force Unleashed - Lightsaber Duel

Star Wars: Force Unleashed - Rancor Battle Gameplay

E3 2008: Street Fighter IV: Ink Bleed Trailer

PLAYSTATION 3’s First Homebrew: Pong

Remember Pong, the 1972 Atari-develpoed title we all knew and loved once? Well, here it comes again as the first hombrew (as far as I know) for the PLAYSTATION 3. A nifty coder who calls himself Dragula96 was the one who was able to do this.

Playing Pong on your PLAYSTATION 3 is quite easy. You just need to follow a few simple steps before you and your buddy are reliving the 1972-days.

Hit the jump for the tutorial on how to get Pong on your PLAYSTATION 3.

1. Download the game pack here.
2. Extract the file and you should get a director called "AVCHD". Place it in the root of your memory stick or USB drive.
3. Power up your PLAYSTATION 3.
4. Connect your USB drive or memory stick to your PLAYSTATION 3.
5. Go to the [Video] menu in the XMB.
6. Select your device, then [AVCHD], and after a small load, Pong begins.

Only two-players are available at the moment. Tell us how it is.

The original report can be found here

Darksiders: Wrath of War

E3 2008: Dead Space - Lullaby Trailer

Soul Calibur IV Developer Diary: Critical Finishers

Afro Samurai - Comic Con 2008 Trailer

Dead Space - Animated Film Preview

Mercenaries 2: Tank Cam Gameplay Video

Bionic Commando: Rearmed - Sing Along Japanese Trailer

Resident Evil: Degeneration

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 Trailer

MTV E3 2008: Tough Questions

A New Fatal Frame IV Trailer

E3 2008: Gears of War 2 - Wartime Interview

E3 2008: Gears of War 2 - Interview with Rod Ferguson

E3 2008: Wii Sports Resort Video

E3 2008: Dead Rising Wii in America This Winter

Excited about playing Dead Rising with Wiimote controls? You won't have to wait long.

Capcom announced the official U.S. release details today for its Wii version of the popular Xbox 360 zombie game. Titled Dead Rising: Chop Till You Drop, the game will be available this winter in the U.S.

Based on the engine that powers Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition, the game will feature a number of tweaks over the Xbox 360 version, including a more "seamless" save system and motion-controlled zombie bashing.

If they overhaul the gameplay and get rid of the screw-up-once-and-you-have-to-start-the-game-over baloney that killed the last game for me, that would be great too. (Source Wired)

E3 2008: DC Universe Online Trailer

E3 2008: Halo Wars - Stage Show Demo

E3 2008: 50 Cent - Blood on the Sand

E3 2008: Singularity Trailer

E3 2008: XBox Live Arcade - Games Presentation

E3 2008: Rag Doll Kung Fu - Debut Trailer

E3 2008: The Conduit - Developer Interview

E3 2008: What You Didn't See

With the curtains drawing on E3 for another year, how did your predictions for the show work out? As anyone who read last week's column will no doubt have noted, my own insistence that predictions are a mug's game turned out to be painfully accurate - with the list I offered of things to watch out for being hit and miss, with an emphasis on the miss.

In fact, casting an eye back over the various predictions for last week - my own included - it's clear that there's another story to be told about E3's conferences and announcements. Many commentators have bemoaned the fact that this year's show simply hasn't produced the fireworks we'd hoped for - but the really interesting thing about this year's E3, I'd argue, is what you didn't see.

There are a few really blatant things that you didn't see - for instance, you didn't see Bungie's new Halo game. That seemingly came as a surprise to Bungie as much as it did to the media. The developer had launched an ominous looking countdown on its website which eventually fizzled into annoyed nothingness when Microsoft took the last-minute decision not to unveil the game at E3 after all - leaving the announcement of a cross-platform port of a game we already knew about two years ago to be its biggest conference announcement.

Additionally, we didn't see any sign of Microsoft's motion controller. Now, I confess that I'm not entirely clear how well into development Microsoft's Wiimote-challenging efforts are, so it's possible that it's simply not ready for the limelight. Equally, it's plausible that some clever bod at the company looked at a script for the press conference and realised that if another copycat "lifestyle" element was introduced, the chances of Don Mattrick being pelted with finger buffet sandwiches by outraged hardcore gamers would increase exponentially.

More surprising from my perspective is the fact that Sony's motion controller wasn't in evidence either. Whatever about the development status of Microsoft's peripheral, Sony's version is definitely well down the road - it's easily come far enough for viable prototypes to be kicking around in the labs. Whether it was a last-minute exclusion from the Sony conference or not is hard to say, but either way, it may have been fortuitous. The company's big selling point for its motion controller was to be how much more accurate than the Wiimote it is, enabling true 1:1 matching of actions to the screen. Unfortunately, Nintendo had shown off a Wiimote add-on block that does exactly the same thing all of half an hour previously.

Actually, once you start delving into it, there are all sorts of questions to be asked about the Sony conference. Where, for a start, was the new game from Fumito Ueda and the team behind ICO and Shadow of the Colossus? Ueda's previous titles may not have been commercial dynamite, but they cemented the PS2's reputation as the home to quirky, beautiful games which enthused the hardcore and delighted older audiences. Equally, where was Siren: Blood Curse? Launching in a matter of weeks, it's an ambitious use of the PlayStation Network distribution system and the best survival horror game of the generation to date, with huge appeal to the large and diverse audience attracted by horror gaming.

The PS3 could do with a dose of that right now - instead, with Sony announcing lots of first-person shooter games and Microsoft crowing over Final Fantasy, the two companies seem to be locked into a death-spiral, grimly determined not to do a damned thing to differentiate their offerings until the bitter end. Everything you do, I can do... Well, pretty much the same, actually.

There's plenty more we didn't see at E3 - a show which, this year, seems to have raised more questions than answers. We heard that the Mario and Zelda teams are hard at work, but we've got no idea what they're working on (frankly, the fact that "Nintendo is working on a Mario game and a Zelda game!" was considered a viable headline is a stinging condemnation of the week's conferences as a whole). We know that Microsoft has redesigned its Xbox 360 interface to incorporate Mii-style avatars, but the whole value of the Mii concept lies in its clever integration into a wide range of Wii software - Microsoft has a lot of explaining to do about the planned uses of it's Xbox Miis (Xiis?) before they start to seem like a worthwhile move.

One other thing we didn't see was any sign of a proper reconciliation between Sony's various territory organisations. While some European and Japanese software made it onto the roster at the main Sony event - which is fairly strictly a Sony Computer Entertainment America shindig - the announcement of a new PS3 model for Europe was relegated to a SCEE-specific event at the end of the week. Some big European games (such as Killzone 2) also joined Japanese titles like Siren on the list of titles curiously absent or relegated to a brief trailer glimpse at the event. Its fortunes may have improved in the past year, but Sony's market is still under siege from two exceptionally strong competitors - this really isn't the time to be presenting a fractured face from the media, or burying any of your line-up.

There is one final thing that wasn't in evidence at this year's E3. Following the news as it emerged over the course of the week's events, it was extremely hard to see a strong case for the event continuing to hold pride of place in the industry's calendar. One of the biggest problems with the old E3 was that top publishers had stopped bringing their key games to the show, believing that individual showcase events could provide a better environment for major announcements or hands-on play. The new-look E3, it seems, hasn't solved that problem - and with the platform holders seemingly also choosing to move major announcements away from the show, there must be a lot of journalists and analysts coming back from Los Angeles today who are wondering if the expense associated with covering the show is actually justified.

E3 stands on increasingly fragile ground - it's increasingly apparent that if even one of the platform holders drops out, the whole event will have trouble sustaining its appeal. What I was looking for this year as evidence that all three platform holders are truly committed - that they aren't just going through the motions by saving up a few weeks' worth of announcements and popping them all onto a convenient stage. That, most of all, was something I didn't see. On the strength of this year's performances, it's hard to see how E3 can avoid becoming even more diminished in importance in the coming years. (Source GamesIndustry.biz)

E3 2008: Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse Trailer

E3 2008: Wii Sports Resort - Sword Duel Gameplay Demo

E3 2008: Naruto tries out the new Interview Jutsu

Star Wars: Clone Wars - G4 Preview

Nintendo to core gamers: Keep playing Kart

E3 2008: Dead Rising Wii - First Screenshots

Click images to enlarge

High Voltage's Corso: Wii Deserves Better Games Than It's Getting

Talking to Gamasutra during E3, High Voltage creative director Matt Corso has been discussing the developer's just-announced Wii FPS The Conduit, suggesting that, for the core gamer, "The Wii is a really cool game system... it's worth better games than it's getting right now."

High Voltage (Harvey Birdman, Leisure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude) has been working on the Wii-exclusive first person shooter for some time, with the alien-heavy title - featuring with both a single player campaign and online multiplayer components - tentatively scheduled for release in Q1 of 2009.

Speaking to Gamasutra about the circumstances that made High Voltage create the game as a Wii exclusive, Corso commented:

"It seems that no developer was really pushing the system, and we wanted to really take advantage of the hardware and show that the Wii is capable of doing much more than what people were actually doing on it.

Also, we felt there weren't enough hardcore first-person shooter-style games available on the system, and this system is so perfect for that style of game. We saw an opportunity to take advantage of it, and make something really special for the system.

The Wii is a really cool game system. It's worth better games than it's getting right now. There are some great games out there for the system, but it just seems like there's such an opportunity to do so much more with it. Considering it's such a popular system right now, it just doesn't make sense to not focus on making really quality games."

Corso also weighed in on graphical fidelity and quality of Wii titles, noting:

"The system can actually display some really quality visuals, and right now the bar has been so low that it was easy to exceed that bar at first - and now we feel we're just going way beyond that point.

But you know, it makes sense. The Wii is very strong, and it's going to have a lot of staying power, and it's going to be here for a long time to come. We as a studio see no reason why we shouldn't take advantage and try to develop the best experience possible for the Wii."

The full interview with High Voltage's Corso will appear on Gamasutra in the near future. (Source Gamasutra)

E3 2008: First Wolfenstein Footage

E3 2008: Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia - Boss Battle Gameplay

E3 2008: Halo Wars - Live Demo

E3 2008: Tomb Raider: Underworld

E3 2008: This Is Vegas - Gambling Walkthrough

E3 2008: This Is Vegas - Combat Walkthrough

E3 2008: The Last Remnant - In-Depth Interview

E3 2008: The Agency Developer Walkthrough

E3 2008: Velvet Assassin Developer Walkthrough

E3 2008: DC Universe Online - Gameplay Interview

E3 2008: Sony's Ambitious Console MMO Plans

LOS ANGELES -- One thing was made very clear during my meeting with Sony Online Entertainment: The company absolutely must have some amazing technology up its sleeve for The Agency and DC Universe Online.

Both games, unlike traditional MMOs, were built from the ground up to feel like console titles -- The Agency is a first-person shooter, and DC Universe Online is an action title -- a necessary step in courting each game's planned PlayStation 3 audience.

Really, the only similarity they share with traditional MMOs is that each game has a persistent world with persistent characters. (Source Wired)

New Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia Trailer

New Castlevania Judgment Trailer

Wii Overtakes 360 as Console Leader in US

When the craziness surrounding the Wii's launch hadn't died down months after the fact, it became clearly evident that Nintendo had a hot commodity on store shelves. As it turns out, the momentum hasn't slowed.

Nintendo announced today via text message (of all places) that the Wii has officially passed the Xbox 360 as console leader in the US. According to the imminent NPD results, the console has a 10.9 million install base.

We'll have full results soon - stay tuned! (Source Kombo)

Left 4 Dead Walkthrough