Via Eurogamer:

Time for another snippet from our old friend Internet Reports, for whom E3 is like a thousand Christmases rolled into one.

The latest rumour concerns a new next-gen title that's based on one of the NES's best remembered classics - Duck Hunt.

As everyone over the age of 20 will recall, Duck Hunt came with a light gun that let you shoot birdies on the screen. That might sound a bit rubbish to you youngsters, but it was cutting-edge in those days, and didn't half take our minds off the permanent impending threat of global nuclear holocaust.

Now, it seems, a new version of Duck Hunt is in development for the Nintendo Wii. Which sounds plausible, since the Wii's remote controller is clearly ideally suited to shooting things at your telly.

Internet Reports says it'll be playable on the E3 show floor - and if it is, you know where we'll be. Well, those of us who are already over there, obviously. The rest of us won't be flying to America just for Duck Hunt. Sadly. ...

Via Eurogamer

Ubisoft Montreal's creative director has spoken of his disappointment with Sony's next-gen offering, claiming the Japanese giant is adopting a "me too" approach by duplicating ideas from other consoles.

According to Nindojo.com, Clint Hocking criticised Sony's mimicry of Microsoft's Xbox Live service during an E3 workshop on next-gen game design, before taking a pop the introduction of a motion-sensor device in the PS3 controller - an idea which he believes has been, ah, 'borrowed' from Nintendo. "How much more "me too" can Sony be?" Hocking said.

He also criticised the industry's drive to significantly boost videogame visuals with each new generation of hardware, arguing that the focus on graphics is a "fundamental problem of approach" that turns game developers into factory workers.

Hocking claims that being forced to spend valuable development time on textures and art shading is detrimental to the creation of entertaining videogames and something that in most cases (referring to the current low adoption of HD televisions) consumers won't even be able to appreciate.

Hocking was full of praise for Nintendo's effort, however, commending the new Wii motion-sensing controller which he believes can offer new inspiration for developers and create emotional experiences more powerfully than enhanced graphics. ...

Via Eurogamer

It's hard to tell what was the main highlight of Konami's E3 conference, held earlier today in Los Angeles - there was a wide range of games on show, and arguably a little something for everyone.

For many gamers, of course, the best moment will have been when Hideo Kojima took to the stage to reveal new DS and PSP titles, plus a little bit more of Metal Gear Solid 4.

But of course, MGS isn't Konami's only classic series - let's not forget Silent Hill, which is coming to PSP for the first time. The new game, which is titled Silent Hill: Origins, sees you playing as a truck driver called Travis who finds himself lost in everyone's favourite spooky little town. It's a prequel to the original Silent Hill, so you'll get to find out all about the town's past - and you'll also meet characters from games further along in the series.

If you'd rather rock out on a dance mat than defend yourself against a vast army of faceless homicidal mutants determined to ensure that the last thing you see is their bloodied limbs crushing your pathetic skull into a sticky mess of bone, hair and mucus, great news - Dance Dance Revolution is coming to Xbox 360!

Titled DDR Universe, it'll feature exclusive songs and you'll be able to download extra tracks via the Xbox Live Marketplace. In addition, the original Xbox will get DDR Ultramix 4, which will feature 65 new songs, enhanced versions of the modes featured in previous games and multiplayer action for up to four players.

Konami also showed off previously announced and offensively titled Wii game Elebits. It's a whole new franchise, don't you know, which appears to have been inspired by the likes of Pikmin and playground games such as hide and seek. We're looking forward to seeing more of this one on the show floor.

For movie fans there's Hellboy, which is in development at Krome Studios (best known for doing the King Arthur game and the Ty the Tazmanian Tiger series). It'll appear on Xbox 360, PS3 and PSP, and is being developed with a little help from Mike Mignola, the man who created the comic book. It's out next year, most likely in conjunction with the movie sequel, which sees Hellboy and chums attempting to bring down a rebellious army of mythical creatures who want to rule the world.

Castlevania veteran Koji Igarashi was on hand to present new DS title Portrait of Ruin, which is set to take the series beyond the castle walls. It's set during World War II, and environments shown included a city, a rural landscape and a big old desert - some of which appeared to be in 3D. Along with the main character, you'll be able to control a sidekick who can help you overcome obstacles and pull off combo attacks.

Death Jr. is also coming to DS, in the form of Death Jr. and the Science Fair of Doom. There's also a new PSP game on the way, titled Death Jr.: Root of Evil. And finally, we have Brooktown High: Senior Year - a dating sim for PSP. It's down for a US release, perhaps surprisingly, but there's no word on whether it'll make it to Europe.

We'll be bringing you more on all of Konami's most exciting new titles, which may or may not include Brooktown High: Senior Year, in the next few days. ...

Via Eurogamer

Winning Eleven: Pro Evolution Soccer 2007 will be out on PC, PS2, PSP, Xbox 360 and DS in January, publisher Konami confirmed at a pre-E3 conference in LA today.

The moniker is the international title, which is certain to be changed for PAL release. Konami didn't specify whether the January date pertained to Japan or Europe.

New play modes are to be included in the update, as well as what sound like significant gameplay additions. Players will now be able to run without the ball and point passes exactly. Strikers and defenders will work harder to find space and throw off advances from the opposition.

A new International Challenge mode will feature four continents to dominate. In addition, the Master League is to be lengthened. Licenses have now been acquired for Argentina, Spain, Sweden, Italy and Holland, meaning more authentic player names and livery.

The football sector remains as fiercely contested as ever. Rival EA is currently topping the British charts with its World Cup rendition of FIFA, and is likely to show a full update of the game on the E3 showfloor tomorrow. ...

Via Engadget

If you want something done right, you'd better do it yourself. That's SanDisk's thinking anyways, with their new RapidGX Memory Stick PRO Duo cards they're showing at E3. The cards do the usual Memory Stick PRO Duo thing, namely providing music, movies and other content for PSP owners, but they include a bit of SanDisk special sauce performance enhancements to speed file transfers up to 15MB per second, double the normal rates for PRO Duo cards. Seems like they just got tired of Sony's limitations in the Memory Stick tech, and figured a way to improve it themselves. The 1GB card is all that's available right now, and it retails for $85. The price -- for a limited time only -- includes for free SanDisk's new MicroMate high-speed card reader to help the RapidGX hit its maximum speeds, and also includes PSP loader software to maximize space and convert files. ...

Via Engadget

They've always said that the previous iteration of the "Revolution" controller wasn't quite final, but now that Nintendo has unvieled what is presumably the final controller design for the Wii (though Nintendo is still calling it a prototype, and might tweak a few things), we thought we'd lay out what exactly this Wiimote is, and why it makes Nintendo so darn smarmy all the time. First off, the new version unvieled by Nintendo on Tuesday includes a built-in speaker -- the addition of which lengthened the controller slightly -- along with minor interface tweaks like swapping out "a" and "b" for "1" and "2" buttons and other icon changes. GameSpot is also reporting that this Bluetooth wireless version is quite a bit heavier than the feather-light wired prototypes, and that the nunchaku attachment is tweaked slightly in shape and button design. As for the actual operation of the controller, that is managed by sensors within the Wiimote, in tandem with a sensor bar located on your TV, which can watch for movement in full 3D space. A better equivilant to Sony's new PS3 controller design unveiled on monday would actually be the Wiimote's nunchucka attachment, which also includes an accelerometer. While all of this motion sensing might provide an easy learning curve in some instances, the number of buttons available to the user, including dual trigger buttons ("c" and "z") on the nunchucka, a trigger and face button ("b" and "a") on the Wiimote, along a bunch of other face buttons, could make things a bit more complicated than anticipated. With that said, we'll be playing with the Wii on the E3 show floor tomorrow so we're sure it won't take long to find out if our fears come to fruition. ...

Via Engadget

With all the attention being payed to those pretty pretty pictures that the big three have been flashing at us so far this week, it's easy to forget about that other little detail in gaming: audio. Pioneer didn't forget though, and they've just announced their new HTS-GS1 5.1 surround sound speaker system for the Xbox 360 to cater to that very thing. The HTS-GS1 has 600 watts of total system power being pumped out of the receiver subwoofer, which includes the five satellite speaker connections, three digital inputs (one coaxial, two optical), an analog input, radio tuner, and control ports. There is also a separate display to monitor the system (pictured) and a Multi-Channel Acoustic Calibration System that mics the room and adjusts the audio for best results. The integration with the Xbox 360 not only includes its similar stylings, but a bundled remote that can manage the HTS-GS1 along with all other Xbox 360 functions like Media Center Extender. The HTS-GS1 should be priced around $500 and will be available in June.

Screenshot Via Comments ...

Via CVG

If Nintendo was looking for something that it could wave under the noses of its rivals and say "ha ha, look what we've got", then point to the Resident Evil game, just exclusively announced for Wii by Capcom.

The revelation was made known at E3, with Capcom resisting the temptation to release gameplay and story details, only saying that the survival horror game will make good use of the Wii's inventive controller.

"The next-generation console Wii is garnering much attention with its groundbreaking new controller," read an official company statement. "The new Resident Evil game for the console will combine the series' intense gaming experience and atmosphere with the revolutionary control system of the Wii."

The decision has clearly been born out of the enormous success enjoyed by Resident Evil 4 on the GameCube. Resident Evil 5, which is in development for Xbox 360 and PS3, could possibly also appear on the Wii - we just don't know. We're pretty excited by this, so stay tuned for any further news. ...

Via CVG

Looking forward to Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess is a cast-iron certainty when you're a games journalist. But that 'looking forward to'-ness literally bubbled over when we heard about the Wii version's interactive sword-wielding, fishing-rod fun, courtesy of its special controller.

This latest, non-format specific E3 trailer, despite its brevity, has done little to lessen our pounding heartbeats. Battles on horseback, monstrous foes, fantastical lands - it looks lovely. If you're a Nintendo fan, you'll be just as excited as we are about its impending end-of-2006 release.

Screenshot Via Comments ...