The 360 version isn’t as far behind the PS3 version as most people thought.

Apparently, to make up for the lack of user-generated content, Epic has thrown in a few exclusive bits to the Xbox 360 version of Unreal Tournament III. Oh, and the disc will also contain a sneak peek at Gears of War 2.

The 360 version will offer 5 new maps and 2 new characters not available in the PS3 release, as well as the aforementioned split-screen mode. But maybe you knew that already. What you probably didn’t know, however, is that Cliffy Blaznats will also offer some color commentary on an exclusive, as yet unseen video preview of the upcoming Gears of War 2.

Does this make up for the near infinite possibilities of user-generated content like that found on the PS3 version of UT3? Mark Rein, vice president of the world (and Epic Games), had this to say:

“This is a great title and, with two-player split screen support and some very cool new content, Xbox 360 players should be thrilled with this fantastic version of the game.”

I’ll be the judge of how thrilled I am about your game, thanks. UT3 is set to ship July 7th for the Xbox 360, with a review most likely to follow shortly thereafter.

Source

The first bit of Gears of War 2 gameplay that we are to be treated to will be hosted tonight at 10:30 PST on 1UP’s video outlet GameVideos.

It is unknown as to what said gameplay video will contain, whether it’s single or multi player, what revelations will be had, or if we’ll even be alongside the good old Delta squad. And while I’m already pimping 1UP’s content, you may want to watch The 1UP Show to help ease the wait.

Check back later today for an update.

*Update* – Microsoft has announced that the footage will be available on Xbox Live Marketplace from from 7am BST on May 10.

Source: 1UP, Image, Videogamer.com

A little birdy let slip that Microsoft has a brand new franchise in the works, and it’s a doozy. In an attempt to capitalize on what has already been a proven success, and combining that proven success with a big-name actor, Microsoft came up with this: LithGoW.

Take the basic structure of Gears of War, but then add in John Lithgow as your main character, and you get LithGoW. A Microsoft spokesman had this to say in a phone conversation earlier today:

“We’re very excited to have John Lithgow on board for this project. In fact, it couldn’t be done without him! Combining his versatility as an actor and the freedom of expression videogame development offers, we have come up with a Halo-killer. I mean seriously, have you ever seen Harry and the Hendersons? Imagine that movie except Harry the bigfoot has a machine-gun, and John Lithgow takes his kids along to help the bigfeet (that’s more than one bigfoot) murder all the hunters, then use the dead hunters as building materials because the bigfeet are eco-friendly. And that’s just one chapter. Imagine that, and you’re only beginning to see our vision.”

Turns out, there are many more chapters in the game. John Lithgow has been in a lot of movies: Raising Cain, Buckaroo Banzai, the bad guy in Cliffhanger — not to mention his TV show, Third Rock from the Sun, and a little movie called Shrek (he was the voice of Lord Farquaad). These worlds will be fully explored in LithGoW as well, albeit in a dilapidated Gears of War motif.

John Lithgow had this to say about his involvement in the game:

“I love videogames. I love the idea of being in a videogame. I’ve been spending a lot of my time recently doing theater and writing children’s books, so I wanted to show that I can still be cool. Microsoft gave me that chance. It’s really fun to see myself doing awesome stuff like stomping heads, and voicing the game has been a blast. My favorite part in the game so far is when you discover that Shrek is running a prostitution ring with Gingerbread people, and you can take Shrek out and run it yourself, or you can just destroy his business by eating all the Gingerbread people… but that makes you puke and… well, I don’t want to ruin it.”

Microsoft briefly toyed around with the idea of having every character in LithGoW being played by John Lithgow, but they ultimately axed that idea. Apparently having John Lithgow face off against an army of John Lithgows wouldn’t make sense within the context of the story — it would always result in a stalemate because John Lithgow cannot possibly ever be more awesome than himself.

Personally, I don’t understand why Microsoft didn’t just put Tom Berenger in there since he was the obvious inspiration for Marcus Fenix. Then again, a Tom Berenger game doesn’t seem like it would have the same diversity as LithGoW — mainly war movies, baseball, and sex scenes. Actually, that sounds pretty sweet! I guess there’s always hope for a sequel.

Marcus’s daddy Tom Berenger from the movie Platoon, complete with scar and doo-rag.

LithGoW is labeled as a first- and third-person open-world shooter/trippin’ balls simulator. No release date has been announced, but I sure hope it comes out soon!

Source: Microsoft

Voice actor John DiMaggio, the raspy voice of Gears of War lead man, Marcus Fenix, was recently interviewed by IGN. During the course of the interview, DiMaggio revealed that Gears of War 2 will feature Brumak, who first debuted as a villain in the PC version of the original Gears of War.

He goes on to reveal that Dom’s good buddy, Franklin, will be returning as well, and then lets the following tidbits roll off his tongue:

Oh man, dude – there’s new weapons, new beasts, there’s a couple of new characters, and it’s just badass.

When asked about the sequels overarching plot, DiMaggio states:

“The storylines are really cool and the relationships of the guys in the game – the sequences that explain things that are going on – they’re a lot deeper.”

Note to self: We really need to start interviewing more videogame voice talent.

Source: IGN

Well, when we sat down with Mark Rein and the rest of the newly formed PC Alliance at this years GDC, we wondered if his loyalty to the PC would extend beyond the confines of the Moscone Center. However, his recent comments in response to a particular bayonet wielding designer may help to answer that question.

“Cliff’s an idiot! I’m kidding, obviously. Hey, Cliff is Cliff, and he is making a console game, and that is what he’s focused on, so that is what his thinking is all about. But as a company, we make PC games. We love the PC, it’s our heritage, we want to see it be strong, and we want to sell games like Unreal Tournament III and Gears of War on PC, and have them sell as well as they do on console.”

Interesting at the very least, however Mark is a very outspoken individual, so this really shouldn’t come as a surprise.

Source: Eurogamer.net

In a response to a poster who asks what games will be at GDC this year, Surfer Girl says “YES” to seven games. These games are MotorStorm 2, Alan Wake, Too Human, InFamous, LittleBigPlanet, Killzone 2 and Gears of War 2.

There are three other games that might possibly make it to the event: SOCOM PS3, Metal Gear Solid 4, and WipEout HD.

Unlike last year, Sony and Nintendo won’t be having keynote presentations, so it might be wishful thinking to expect anything on the scale of Sony’s reveal of Home and LittleBigPlanet.

On the other hand, there is a Microsoft day booked for Tuesday, along with an hour long Microsoft keynote. Big things could be coming from the Xbox camp.

What games can we confirm for GDC? Mercenaries 2, Far Cry 2, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, and Battlefield: Bad Company.

In addition to these, Square Enix will be presenting their Final Fantasy XIII engine, and three big Fable 2 secrets will be revealed. You heard it here first.

Make sure to come to Ripten for all of your GDC coverage.

*Update* -  Surfer Girl has since retracted her predictions, blaming sleep deprivation for her original outburst.  Please read about this here, along with further titbits on what will be at GDC’08.

Current and future UE3 clients will be eligible to witness these latest upgrades and enhancements within Epic’s expo suite at GDC.

The first presentation on February 20th will see Epic Games’ Programmer Martin Sweitzer dropping some programming edu-mi-cation on your ass, followed by an Unreal Tournament 3 postmortem two days later presented by President Michael Capps and Producer Jeff Morris.

You can look forward to GDC ’08 coverage as it happens here on Ripten.

Source: Next-Gen.biz

Over at Cinematic Happenings Under Development, where the merry movie-goers know the real meaning of Christmas, they’ve put together some of the most memorable, and forgettable holiday-themed games.

A couple of these games might seem familiar to old-school types, like the adorable Christmas versions of Nights and Lemmings, but some, like the official GBA game based on The Christmas Clause 3, are about as likable as rancid gingerbread.

Check out the list and let us know which holiday versions you have fond memories of, and which ones you’d like to see. How about Gears of War at the North Pole?

Source: Chud.com