Left 4 Dead Maps Resurrected in Left 4 Dead 2 Over Forty New Final Fantasy XIII Screens Just In Time For The Weekend PlayStation Network Plans To Implement Premium Content Subscription-Based Model Microsoft Game Studios Hiring Epic Liason/Producer For Gears of War & Shadow Complex Madden NFL Arcade Game Changers Video Toys“R”Us Goes Game Stop, Geoffrey the Giraffe Now Accepting Used Console Trade-Ins

So maybe Sony WILL end up losing the exclusive rights to Metal Gear 4 to Microsoft and the Xbox 360, but that may pale in comparison to what some Japanese outlets are reporting will be the fate of Konami’s Silent Hill 5 and even more surprisingly, Capcom’s Resident Evil 5. Read more…

Ripten.com will be interviewing the man who’s pencil and paper gave birth to Jackie Estacado, a character we’ve all come to know better as “The Darkness”. If you were a fan of Marvel Comics in the late 80’s and early 90’s then you remember first seeing Marc’s distinctive style breath life into The Uncanny X-Men and Wolverine.

Here is your chance to ask Marc a question about the upcoming game, the comic, anything you can think of (within reason of course). Submit your question via email at ripten@gmail.com or in the comment area below. Deadline for submissions is this Saturday, June 2nd.

Update 6/3/07:
Submission deadline has been extended to Monday, June 4th due to the overwhelming email response to this article.

Update  6/6/07:
The interview is complete and is available for viewing here.

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Sony better pray that this rumor turns out to be false. According to some Internet sites, the much anticipated game Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots could be ported over to Microsoft’s green machine Xbox 360.

Before you Xbox Fan-boys start busting out the army fatigues and face paint, take a deep breath and remind yourself Read more…

While this may not exactly be video game, or movie, or even gadget news, it does involve many individuals who have made a career out of selling those exact items to consumers across the country. They depend on these things to pay the bills each month and we just got word from a very reliable source within Circuit City that they plan to lay off a portion of that workforce in the coming weeks.

It is very upsetting when you think that the first people to get cut Read more…

…and we would like to know what the fans of our site, the product, and fans of video games in general would like to know. So submit your questions in the form of a comment below and we will take them into consideration.

For those that are not familiar with the ground breaking technology that NaturalMotion has created, then we suggest you visit their official website at www.naturalmotion.com.

Get those questions in, the deadline is June 5th!

Update: 6/8/07 – 12:48PM EST
We received word from our contact at NaturalMotion that all interviews are being postponed at the moment as they “are unable to discuss any Euphoria related inquiries”. They added that they are still looking forward to the opportunity to discuss the products with us in the near future. We appreciate all the email responses we received and would like to let everyone know that their questions will still be considered for any future interview with NaturalMotion. Stay tuned.

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This new five-minute Crysis video featuring Crytek’s CEO and President Cevat Yerli, Nvidia’s EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) Director of Content Management Darryl Still, Intel’s EMEA Global Software Relation Manager Stephane Negre, and Microsoft Vista’s EMEA Group Product Marketing Manager Michael Newey will explain the impact of DirectX 10 and take you deep inside the new and improved Crytek Engine powering the much anticipated Crysis first person shooter.

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The rules of combat have just changed, and after watching the first 10 seconds of this video you will see why. Read more…

In terms of the next-gen console race, the PlayStation 3 finished last month in last place. Rumors are circulating that Sony will drop the price of the Blu-ray capable PS3 by $100, however Bank of America analyst Mike Savner has been quoted saying that he believes it may not be enough.

A drop in price by $100 still has the PS3 on top as the most expensive console of this generation, and one can not rule out a drop in the price by Microsoft on the Xbox 360 which first hit store shelves back in November of 2005. Read more…

In a world where video games and music lyrics are blamed for out of touch teens committing indescribable acts of violence, 24 year old resident of the U.K Adam Mapleson, an avid gamer and Counter-Strike enthusiast was shot trying to HELP a female security guard who was being robbed at a railway station.

The U.K Sun, reports that the hero is in stable but serious condition. Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family.

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According to this months issue of Nintendo Power, Battalion Wars 2 by publisher Kuju Entertainment will flank its way into US stores on September 24th, 2007.

The much anticipated sequel to the Gamecube title “Battalion Wars” offers up a stylized and highly addictive representation of war, putting you behind the wheel of cartoonish tanks, turrets, and other military machinery.

While the comic book look from the original remains, Battalion Wars 2 features noticeably improved graphic enhancements such as greater character and level detail, much more elaborate and impressive special effects, and what appears to be a more fluid frame rate. Level designs are similar to the first installment but slightly bigger on the Wii. Read more…

This is what we have all been waiting for … a battle for the ages, and the time is now. We have assembled 32 of the finest video game characters that have ever called a console home, and a five round single elimination tournament of speed, skill, strength, and determination stands between them and being named pixel for pixel the baddest that ever was, the “King of the Game”.

Can Marcus Fenix roadie run his way through a bullet blazing, one liner laden, no holds barred battle with the one and only Duke Nukem? Will Metal Gear’s main man Snake slither his way to victory against the Splinter Cells triclops, Sam Fisher? Metriod’s Samus Aran, or the combat evolved Master Chief? The king of cold: Sub Zero or the queen of hot: Lara Croft?

We here at ripten have been working for over two months, researching, arguing, and eating lots of junk food, all in the name of bringing you an accurate account of each characters quest for video game immortality. Read more…

E3, also known as “min-E3″, is being held this year from July 11th to the 13th at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, CA. Anyone who is familiar with the E3 of old knows that the new “min-E3″ pales in comparison to the event held in years past, that said … it is still better than nothing.

A schedule of events was released by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) for the show on the official E3 website.

Getting the ball rolling this year will be Microsoft with a “pre-E3 conference” at 8:30pm on July 10th. Next up will be Nintendo, offering up a tasty batch wii goodness, with a conference at Read more…

The Electronics Boutique / GameStop Memorial Day 2007 Sale starts today and runs through 6/17. Here are just a few of the deals they will be offering… Read more…

If you are one of the many PlayStation 3 owners that enjoying the 1.8 firmware update you probably realized shortly thereafter that you can not stream all of the content on your media server to your PS3, namingly your AVI and WMV files.

Fear not, here at ripten we have a solution … Read more…

Ok, who farted?

“The next Gears of War update is coming along nicely”, said Epic VP Mark Rein on the official Gears of War forum. He added that while a release timeframe has yet to be set Epic wanted to make every effort to let the fans of the game know that significant progress was being made to the many aspects of the game including but not limited to the roadie run … new achievements have been added to the Annex and Hidden Fronts DLC as well.“The title update is free and that’s what contains the achievements. However some of the achievements are tied to things relating to playing the maps in the Read more…

Sony, the electronics heavyweight, is back for another “rumble” in the Blu-ray jungle. After sustaining $97 million dollars worth of damage in their last bout with the Immersion Corporation Sony is becoming more and more familiar with the squared circle of patent law infringement.

Sony is being hit hardest where it hurts the most … the wallet.

Citing violations related to the Blu-ray technology, Irvine, California’s Target Technology Company has come out swinging and Sony is left once again trying to soften the blow. Read more…

Guess who is back for some more weapon-slinging action, hoping to regain his spot as a Playstation favorite once again? Thats right, Sly Cooper has returned, revamped , and ready for a double feature debut. There will be two brand new Sly Coopers coming out for the PlayStation 3 and PSP.

Todays gamer expects connectivity and PlayStation Magazine reports that both titles will have simultaneous ship dates and are capable of connecting to one another, although details about how that will work are unclear at this time. Read more…

Here are four new Grand Theft Auto IV images from Rockstar Games. We are going to let them speak for themselves. Let us know what you think. Read more…

A little wider, little more … ok, we give up, what did you have for lunch?

The 2008 financial report for Konami contains a list of games under the companies “financial outlook for 2008″. According to what we read in the report, Metal Gear Solid 4 is slated to hit the shelves Read more…

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) just announced the availability of the latest version of the PS3 firmware, Version 1.80.

This is a significant upgrade as the system will now have the ability to upscale PlayStation and PlayStation 2 games, as well as DVD movies up to full 1080p HD resolution.

So bust out those PS1 and PS2 games, dust off the ol’ DVD collection and get ready for a dramatic enhancement in picture quality PS3 owners. A feature like this is normally reserved for Read more…