Joe Graf, Epic Games’ technical director on the Unreal Engine 3, has confirmed via the official Epic forums that Gears of War 2 will be receiving a fourth title update.

As of now, nothing is known about the newly heard of update, but Graf does confirm that a broken message in the game regarding the map packs will be fixed in the patch. Stay tuned for everything else.

A new trademark for Driver: The Recruit has been registered by Ubisoft recently. Last year in June, a short video of an Ubisoft Reflections tour by BBC revealed that a new Driver game was in development. Driver: The Recruit could possibly be the new title.

E3 seems like the proper time for its reveal.

Source [USPTO]

The next episode of GameTrailers TV, airing this Thursday night at 12:30 PM, will be epic featuring the premier gameplay of BioShock 2 featuring none other than the Big Sisters, a “major announcement” and look at what’s next to come for Killzone 2, an announcement for PuncOut on the Wii by Reggie Fils-Aime, and Peter Molyneux drops in to give us the first video for the upcoming Fable II downloadable content.

Wow. This is going to be one great show.

Polyphony Digital is not just in the game-making industry anymore; now they’re in the restaurant business. At the Twin Ring Motegi race circuit in Japan, they’ve opened the Gran Turismo Cafe.

The cafe opened last week, with staff being equipped with the image of Gran Tursimo. Other than food, they have PlayStation 3 play booths where visitors can play some Gran Turismo 5 Prologue.

We’re waiting on actual pictures of the place. I’m sure they’ll appear on the internet soon enough.

Source

Streum On Studio has announced an interesting new title for the PC today. E.Y.E. combines the elements of the first-person shooter and role-playing game into a single-game (think Fallout 3) that puts players in the boots of a Secreta Secretorum worker. Secreta Secretorum is a powerful organization that is ready to undermine the head-strong federation.

The game’s world was inspired by the likes of Blade Runner, Ghost In The Shell and Warhammer 40K. It will feature 10 physical and psychic skills, 14 cybernetic and upgradable implants, as well as an integrated R&D system.

The game’s full feature list are as follows:

• The solo play, and vice-versa. The limits of solo and multiplayer games are finally left behind.
• Psychological and mental traumas management.
• 25 weapons, different shooting modes, dynamic precision, drilling shots, iron sighting, extended zoom.
• Complete hacking system with game play impact. 5 devastatingly subtle PSI powers.
• About 20 NPC with non-scripted, fully reactive and efficient AI, endowed with a sense of initiative. Bloody close combat with technical detail. Incredible physical movement realism thanks to Source Engine physics.
• Excellent replayability due to primary and secondary missions, dynamic environments, non-linear level progression, and random NPC spawn, type and appearance. Death doesn’t penalize players: no need to restart the current mission.
• Open-level gameplay for hours of play without reloading.

There’s a trailer and some more in-depth story information on the official site and it looks pretty good. This is one to keep an eye on for both FPS and RPG fans.

E.Y.E.

So, do you really think you have what it takes to be the number one dancer? You better check yo’self before you wreck yo’self then, son. Prove your skill in Blizzard’s new April Fool’s joke for World of Warcraft: the PvP Dance Battle System.

The new “Dance Battle System” will allow players to custoize their crews, see available dance moves through the custom action bar, and more.

“Once engaged in a Dance Battle, simply select the dance move you wish to perform, and your character will execute it. As with the Arena system, close communication and teamwork is crucial — you’ll have to be in sync, both with the music as well as with the other members of your crew, to become the “server” and not the “servee.”"

In order to serve the other crew, your crew must earn a higher score from the judges than the other crew earns. The top team will be known as Azeroth’s best dance crew. Can you earn the title!?

There’s a trailer for the gag on the official announcement page.

Electronic Arts has announced the release date for this year’s entry in the Madden franchise, Madden NFL 10. The game will release on August 14, 2009, and of course football fans will gather that day to play each other online and curse each other out like there’s no tomorrow.

Electronic Arts has said the game will feature “online innovation that will connect Madden fans together like never before” and “an immersive broadcast presentation that captures the suspense and emotion of the NFL.”

The cover athlete will be revealed in a presentation on Friday, April 24th.

Source

The Behemoth’s third project is looking great, judging from the trailer they debuted just about three weeks ago (which we’ve included at the jump). The game’s producer, John Baez, sat down with Gamasutra for some discussion on the upcoming project.

Baez revealed that the game will be a multiplayer affair, meaning you can get your party-play on, but will also have a single-player mode. As for the platforms, instead of announcing it for the Xbox LIVE Arcade exclusively, Baez stated that “platforms have yet to be decided”.

There is hope yet for the PS3 and Wii. Trailer at the jump.

Square Enix has launched the official website for their upcoming Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers for the Nintendo Wii. As of now, the website features the trailer released with the Japanese version of Echoes of Time and wallpaper from the game. There are two grayed out unclickables titled “It’s Gonna Be A Long Night” and “Public Spectacle”, with the words “Mor eVisits, More Movies” flashing above them.

So that means you need to visit the site more to unlock those two trailers. Well, get to work.

FINAL FANTASY CRYSTAL CHRONICLES: THE CRYSTAL BEARERS

All you Wii gamers looking to catch a deal or two, get your wallets and one-click purchases ready because Amazon.com is holding a Wii Gold Box event tomorrow, March 31st. On the official Gold Box forum, the Amazon Gold Box team posted:

All Wii Games, All Day. Make sure to visit the Gold Box on March 31 for six great Nintendo Wii video game deals. Happy gaming.

Tomorrow’s the day, so make sure you check them out and see what kind of deals they have to offer. You never know if they’ll have MadWorld on the cheap.

Source

The Witcher: Rise of the White Wolf is a console remake of the hit 2007 RPG, The Witcher. On the latest GRTV, CD Projekt Red and Atari debuted the first combat gameplay of the title showing some very cinematic aspects, if you ask me. The camera system is very different in this game for an RPG.

CD Projekt says that in the console version, they are “taking the best of the The Witcher, like the storyline, and we are doing everything else like user interface, combat system, new animations, new boss fights, some new music, a new engine, and we are aiming to create and ultimate console RPG coming out Fall 2009.”

Famitsu have got their hands on some brand new screenshots showing us mainly the Active Time Battle system in Final Fantasy XIII. We get a first look at the ‘Battle Results‘ screen as well, which gives you your stats, TP bonus, and rank. The rank is out of five stars.

Right now, the battle system’s looking pretty great. As much as I’m looking forward to Final Fantasy XIII though, I can’t help but wanting to hear more about Versus XIII instead. It just seems so much more Final Fantasy VIIish. Hit the jump to see the screens.

Source: Famitsu

The first gameplay of Mass Effect 2 has been released at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. Above, you’ll see the first gameplay clip, which while it has bad quality, it is looking great.

Read on for a look at a cut-scene from the game.

Sony has told gave notice that on Tuesday, March 31, 2009, they will be making an announcement. It’s odd because it is several days after the Game Developers Conference.

They didn’t give any hints or details on the announcements, so all that’s left to do is speculate. What do you think? Price-cut? New game?

Source

Marvelous Entertainment has released a third and brand new trailer for their upcoming Wii RPG, Arc Rise Fantasia. The trailer displays some gameplay, mainly the intriguing battle system, and Japanese people with odd clothing. Oh yeah, it also shows us a coolio dragon in CG.

Check out the screens at 4Gamer. Read on for the trailer.

It appears World of Warcraft developers, Blizzard, may be working on fifth game, said to be a new IP.

Two new job listings have surfaced on Blizzrd’s job oppurtunities page looking for a Software Engineer in Client and in Gameplay under the category of ‘Unannounced’. The job description mentions they need the gameplay engineers “to focus on graphics and other client systems for an unannounced title.”

Over at IncGamers, they tell us “an inside source at Blizzard has confirmed that the game is not a World of Warcraft expansion and not related to their next-gen MMO. The source stated this is a brand new game and they are using the World of Warcraft engine for testing purposes.”

So, it’s most likely Blizzard is making a fifth game. However, what kind of game could it be? Will we finally see a Blizzard title on a console?

Hey look who it is, our old friend, Mr. Project Offset. Where have ya been, buddy? We missed you. Well, thanks for showing your face at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco this week.

The new video for Project Offset from GDC09 is a tech demo showing a meteor striking and it looks oh so beautiful. The game’s currently in the works for the PC and Xbox 360. Hit the jump for the video.

Hideo Kojima, creator of the famed Metal Gear Solid series, held a keynote at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco today. Towards the end of the conference, he revealed his next mission: ‘The Next MGS’.

In the image, we see a person who looks like it’s definitely Raiden turning his back towards the text. So the next Metal Gear Solid awaits us, and Raiden may be the star this time around.

Source

Over at the Game Developers Conference, OnLive is being demoed and boy does it look amazing. It has all the features any gamer could want. First off, it has a Showcase of games displayed in such a stylistic way with a catalog of games from great publishers such as EA, Take-Two and 2D Boy. Second, the Friends pages are awesome, with their moving video captures and brag clips. Third, the games stream amazingly fast and by the looks of it, there’s no need to install since it’s running off their server.

Hit the jump for the rest of the parts of the walkthrough. Day one for me.

Well this is odd and unexpected. While browsing through the iTunes Store for some new iPhone apps, I came across a new release from Capcom. That’s right, Mega Man 2 has been released in iTunes Store today, at the low price of $4.99.

The iPhone version features a virtual arcade, making it seem like you’re playing on an arcade (actually, it’s just to give you actual controls). You can buy it on the iTunes Store here.

Professor Layton and the Curious Village was a hit when it hit the Nintendo DS. Level 5’s point-and-click adventure received high-grade scores across the board. Now, next to Zelda for the DS, what else could Nintendo fans want besides a sequel?

At GDC 09, during a Q&A session with Akihiro Hino, the head publisher of Level 5, he confirmed that Professor Layton 2 will release in the US and Europe within the next six months. As of now, they are localizing Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box.

Source

At the end of the Game Developers Choice Awards, Infinity Ward debuted the trailer for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. There’s nothing left to say, but to watch and enjoy.

Activision has announced today that Guitar Hero fans will have a place to rock out and bob their heads in unison in Sony’s online service, PlayStation Home. The Guitar Hero room is called “Backstage with Guitar Hero”.

“Backstage with Guitar Hero” will grant VIP access to both a themed backstage lounge and massive concert venue where they can meet up, hang out, check out videos for upcoming titles on the franchise, and share their rock and roll secrets.

There is yet no word on the release date for the room.

“BACKSTAGE WITH GUITAR HERO®” TO DEBUT IN PLAYSTATION®HOME

SANTA MONICA, CA – March 25, 2009 – Activision Publishing, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) today announced that Guitar Hero® fans will have another virtual destination to join together and rock with the launch of the franchise’s very own space in the PlayStation®Home, the 3D social gaming community that allows users to interact, communicate and share gaming experiences together online for the PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™) computer entertainment system. “Backstage with Guitar Hero®” will give Guitar Hero rock stars around the world exclusive VIP access to both a themed backstage lounge and massive concert venue where they can meet up, hang out, check out videos for upcoming titles on the franchise, and share their rock and roll secrets. “Backstage with Guitar Hero” will continue to evolve over time adding new functionality.

Over in San Francisco at the Game Developers Conference, a little sit down was held with a few respectable game developers.

Of the group, Emil Pagliarulo revealed that Bethesda Softworks is currently working on some more Fallout 3 downloadable content as well as the next Fallout.

Emil asked himself: “What famous landmarks can we destroy? What landmarks in Japan can we destroy?” Then after the crowd laughed, he said “I just realized how stupid it was of me to say that.” Could Fallout 4 bring a post-apocalyptic Japan to our homes?

Source via Scrawl

Square Enix is bringing more Final Fantasy to the Wii, a lot more. Originally announced in Nintendo’s GDC keynote, but just announced via press release, Square Enix will be releasing Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a Darklord, Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, and the original Final Fantasy on the Wii through the Wii Store.

Final Fantasy IV: The After Years continues the story of the game released in 1991 on Super Famicom, Final Fantasy IV.This was released as a downloadable cell phone title in Japan in late 2008 with over three million downloads.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life As a Dark Lord is a sequel to My Life as a King which has players stopping adventureres from making it to the Dark Crystal at the top of the towwer.

Final Fantasy will be released on the virtual console as a Famicom classic.

All three games were given a 2009 release with no specific release window.

If you’re looking to get your swing on, Capcom’s announced today that Bionic Commando will be releasing on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on May 19, 2009 in North America and on May 22, 2009 in Europe.

You’ll play as Nathan Spencer, a government operative who is betrayed and imprisoned by the group he once served. Nathan comes back into action after bio-terrorists detonate an experimental device over Ascension City following its occupation.

The release date for the PC version was not given. However, Capcom stated that it’s “due to ship shortly after the console release.”

SCEA has big plans for downloadable games on the PSP this year. SCEA director of hardware marketing, John Koller, tells us that it’s one of Sony’s “big pushes this year”.

Downloadable games include downloadable versions of key UMD games. Even though retail is important, “the idea of digital distribution fits into the world as we go forward”, John Koller told GameIndustry.biz

“In the back half of this year, we should see a good rise in the amount of content that comes to PSN for the PSP. We’re aware that most of the content thus far has been for PlayStation 3, and that’s based on the usage model and who has been demanding that content. But as we continue, and there’s more of a desire from the consumer for PSP content, we’re going to really increase the size and amount of content that’s available.”

Koller wants to make digital UMD launches happen at the same time the game hits store shelves, saying that “marrying those launches with the digital versions of those launches obviously makes development sense”. However, they haven’t exactly decided how the timetable will actually work.

Source

Naked Sky Entertainment has released the first set of screenshots for their upcoming XBLA/PSN downloadable title, Star Trek D.A.C.. The game is an 12-player online shooter, allowing gamers to play as Federation or Romulan. A single-player option is also available. The game will not follow the movie’s storyline.

The first screenshots can be seen at the jump.

There’s always more than one side to an image, Super Paper Mario showed us that. That was just step one, however. Polytron’s Fez is taking that innovation to a whole new level. It’s showing us that there’s WAY more than one side to any image. It also shows us rotation is a hella lot of fun.

Check out the trailer at the jump. Be amazed.

RealTime Worlds’ upcoming PC MMO, All Points Bulletin, will be getting very noisy come its release. Vivox has announced today that they’ll be lending a helping hand to RealTime Worlds for the voice chat in All Points Bulletin.

Vivox will allow APB players to alter their voices in order to protect their identities (or just make them sound tougher). Be prepared for a Death Star-full of Darth Vaders.

Vivox is currently known for their voicing solutions established in EVE Online and Second Life. Let’s see how it works out for APB.

Source – Massively