via Computer and Video Games


Free Radical's always bashed the right nerve with its TimeSplitters FPS series, which is why we're all over Haze like a rash.

New screenshots, including snaps of the shooter's co-op mode, are on this page and demanding your attention.

Haze is set in a near-future where the government has outsourced military operations to private multinational corporations. You play Jake Carpenter, a soldier who works for the Mantel Corporation who has access to high-tech vehicles, kick-ass weapons and performance enhancing bio-medical support.

Free Radical director David Doak has said previously that one of the developer's key goals with the game is "to make people think" in addition to "pushing the bar with gameplay and presentation".

He explained, "...in Haze we're trying to examine more the feeling of the soldier. If you're fighting in a war, you need to somehow justify your actions, so in Haze we actually cause the player to question that to some extent".

Currently, Haze has only been officially confirmed as a PS3 release this year. Expect more versions in 2008.


Screenshots here ...

via Computer and Video Games


A third console instalment in Rare's Perfect Dark franchise will be revealed sometime next year, claims a report on Indian games site GameGuru.

The sight, claiming sources within Rare, says the British developer is hard at work on a sequel to the original N64 shooter (rather than another PDZ-style prequel) and it'll have something to show of the game by the end of next year.

According to Guru, story will feature a lot heavier this time around, with a Darker, gritter Joanna Dark. "The entire game has tints of grey surrounding all the characters," it says.

Interestingly, a new morality system is also claimed, with different story branches and endings depending on your in-game actions.

With the 360 launch game's decent sales - and space left to fill now that Halo's done and dusted - we're totally expecting a new Perfect Dark to roll around eventually. This time though, we're hoping it's not as disappointing as Zero - Microsoft; let Rare get on with it. ...

via Computer and Video Games


Responding to a reported quote from Epic president Mike Capps that Unreal Tournament 3 was "just on PS3," VP Mark Rein has reaffirmed to CVG that the deathmatch shooter is still coming to Xbox 360 next year.


Regarding the game's performance, Rein explained, "I would think most of the people who read CVG would actually be able to get a great experience with Unreal Tournament III. We spent a considerable amount of time and effort making sure that gamers will be able to enjoy UTIII even with older gaming rigs," he added.


The 700mb demo was released over the weekend, and Stu's home PC still can't handle it. Then again, he did build it for Quake IV... ...

via Engadget





While we're pretty certain a 16GB iPhone is on the way given the recent emergence of the 16GB iPod touch -- this ain't it. Posted in the user forums at MacRumors and making its way around the interwebs is this supposed 16GB iPhone purported to have just arrived at an Apple store. The jockeys at MacRumors have already pretty much debunked:

• The box is using the old Calculator icon even though the firmware is supposedly version 1.1.2
• The iTunes WiFi icon on the box is warped
• Exif data shows a timestamp of 5 days ago (why sit on a scoop for 5 days before posting?)
• Noise is too uniform in the supposed cameraphone picture

And finally, here's the original iPhone about page before being 'shopped!


A couple more photographs here ...

via Engadget




Well, it looks like that CECHG01 model PlayStation 3 wasn't the only one that the FCC got to spend a bit of time with recently, with the hereto unheard of CECHH01 model now also finding its way into a couple of more recent filings with the commission.

While we can't say for sure what's what, that model number is certainly more than a tad similar to the recently revealed 40GB CECHH00 model announced for Japan, which would seem to suggest that this one can't be all that different. Additionally, from what little info we could glean online (see link below), it appears that this particular model packs a "new board" and, most likely, two USB ports instead of the usual four. More on this as we get it. ...

via Games Industry


Nintendo's market value has peaked at over JPY 10 trillion (USD 85 billion / EUR 60 billion), taking it to a lifetime high.

Stock rose 5.3 per cent to JPY 71,300 on Monday – a fivefold increase in the past two years.

And investors and analysts see no sign of interest in the company dropping as it ignores competition in the market by Sony and Microsoft, and continues its own strategy of expanding the games playing market into new areas.


Investor confidence in Nintendo remains strong ahead of the Christmas period, with the company expected to score high sales of the Wii and DS consoles and related software.

Last week the firm announced that Wii Fit, the new software and peripheral bundle that is expected to further boost consoles sales, will launch in Japan this December. ...

via Computer and Video Games


The total cost of the deal comes to a mind-boggling $860 million for the 800-person development entity.

Sterne Agee's Arvind Bhatia expressed some concern over that high price tag, although he reasons that the investment just might pay off.


Bhatia also said that in light of Disney's recent $350 million acquisition of Club Penguin makes the BioWare/Pandemic deal appear more reasonable.

On Thursday, EA CFO Warren Jenson said of the deal, "We're very excited about the revenue potential. We see that in both '09 and '10 to be in excess of $300 million."

In a separate note, Colin Sebastian with Lazard Capital Markets wrote, "Although the price tag is significant, we note that the acquisition provides EA with ~800 additional game developers. Also, we believe the addition of BioWare/Pandemic provides increasing visibility to peak earnings expectations for EA in the new cycle." ...

via Eurogamer


THQ has oiled up a new demo for WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008 and slipped it onto Xbox Live.

It lets you hop into the Lycra hot pants of Rey Mysterio, Bobby Lashley, Undertaker and Randy Orton, and stamp your feet as you punch each other in single- or two-player head-to-head exhibition matches.

Hopefully it will also give you a good idea of what has changed this year, including the new Superstar Fighting Styles and Struggle Submission System.

We got to twiddle our thumbs on it back in August, and were impressed with what appeared to be one of the strongest iterations in the series to date. The challenge, we said, would be replicating it across all of the platforms.

WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008 is due out for PS3, PS2, Xbox 360, Wii and DS on 9th November. The PSP version will follow on 23rd November. ...

via Games Industry


Viva Piñata developer Rare has questioned why its owner Microsoft decided to back Gears of War with such a high-profile marketing campaign, which left its own new franchise in the shadows last Christmas.

Software engineer James Thomas feels that the new family-friendly IP lost out to Epic's Gears of War, which enjoyed a much bigger marketing budget from Microsoft, helping it top the charts all over the world.


In the same interview, Justin Cook, who worked as a designer on Viva Piñata, notes that the game has sold "close to half a million sales now, so that isn't a terrible debut for a game."

In contrast, Epic's Gears of War broke records on release, becoming the fastest-selling next-gen console game and hitting 3 million sales within ten weeks, as well as becoming the most played game on Xbox Live.

Epic Games president Michael Capps said earlier this year that much of the success of the game was due to a big marketing budget, and the company was "extremely lucky" to have the backing of Microsoft.

However, Microsoft does still has faith in the Piñata franchise. At E3 this year it unveiled Viva Piñata: Party Animals in development at Krome Studios, and Climax's Games for Windows version of the original is due shortly. ...