Sega of America confirmed today that Aliens vs. Predator will be demonstrated during E3 2009. The company also reiterated that several titles it previously announced for the show would still be in attendance.

We eagerly await getting our hands on the "xenomorph vs. human vs. whatever the Predator species is called" title and are taking it as a good portent for the game's projected Xbox 360, PS3 and PC release in "early 2010."

http://www.joystiq.com/2009/05/26/se...earance-at-e3/ ...

LucasArts backs up the ESRB listings for Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron for the Nintendo DS and PSP with an official announcement, promising to take the multiplayer battles to several new levels.

Elite Squadron is a new twist on the Battlefront series, for the first time allowing players to start a battle on land, commandeer a vehicle to take to the skies and space, and then land on a capital starship, continuing the battle there. The battles on each front are directly affected by the player's actions, so every shot counts, no matter where the gun it's fired from might be.

Elite Squadron also features an all-new single player story in the Star Wars universe, with players assuming the role of a force-sensitive clone trooper X2, who ignores order 66 and joins the Rebellion, much to the chagrin of his evil twin, X1.

The PSP version of the game promises to be the most customizable game in the series, with the ability to modify every aspect of your character, from clothing to physical strengths, with hundreds of unlockable items to further personalize your clone trooper.

With 16-player multiplayer on the PSP, 4-player skirmishes on the DS, and an all-new "Heroes and Villains" mode that puts players in the roles of major Star Wars good guys and bad guys, Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron sounds like it will add up to one hell of an experience once it launches this fall.

http://kotaku.com/5270334/lucasarts-...elite-squadron ...

LucasArts backs up the ESRB listings for Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron for the Nintendo DS and PSP with an official announcement, promising to take the multiplayer battles to several new levels.

Elite Squadron is a new twist on the Battlefront series, for the first time allowing players to start a battle on land, commandeer a vehicle to take to the skies and space, and then land on a capital starship, continuing the battle there. The battles on each front are directly affected by the player's actions, so every shot counts, no matter where the gun it's fired from might be.

Elite Squadron also features an all-new single player story in the Star Wars universe, with players assuming the role of a force-sensitive clone trooper X2, who ignores order 66 and joins the Rebellion, much to the chagrin of his evil twin, X1.

The PSP version of the game promises to be the most customizable game in the series, with the ability to modify every aspect of your character, from clothing to physical strengths, with hundreds of unlockable items to further personalize your clone trooper.

With 16-player multiplayer on the PSP, 4-player skirmishes on the DS, and an all-new "Heroes and Villains" mode that puts players in the roles of major Star Wars good guys and bad guys, Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron sounds like it will add up to one hell of an experience once it launches this fall.

http://kotaku.com/5270334/lucasarts-...elite-squadron ...

If your house loses internet, or you're taking your 360 on the road, connecting to Xbox Live can be a hassle. Oh, unless you have a 3G phone and follow this handy guide!

It'll show you how to configure your phone, a laptop and your 360, then use them to commandeer an AT&T 3G signal and route it to your console, enabling you to connect to the service and even play games online. You won't get the best performance, it takes a little fiddling to get it running and apparently voids a warranty or two, but hey, some people are so desperate for this kind of thing that warnings will mean nothing.

http://kotaku.com/5270053/how-to-use...t-to-xbox-live ...

New report claims to scoop Thursday announcement linking Microsoft console to satellite broadcaster
Microsoft is partnering its Xbox 360 with Sky TV for a new media sharing deal, according to a new report.
Claiming to reveal the details of an announcement Microsoft teased last week and which will be made this Thursday, trade publication Rapid TV News has this evening posted that "the long-awaited link up between BSkyB and Microsoft’s X-Box [sic] is at last going to happen".
No real clarification of what the deal entails has been given, but Rapid points to 2007 comments from BSkyB’s COO Mike Darcy about using Windows Media to stream the broadcaster's content as a new means of delivery.
Xbox 360 is compatible with Windows Media streaming functions - and its Video Marketplace is by all accounts proving popular (with even more content deals on the way, MCV understands). Microsoft is also keenly pushing a message around media convergence in the home, so this deal would fit the bill.
"Providing some sort of BSkyB functionality for Microsoft X-Box/360 users could potentially deliver millions more users in the UK and Ireland to BSkyB," points out Rapid TV.

Last week Microsoft said it would this Thursday make an announcement regarding "a very special partnership, sure to keep TV fans glued to Xbox LIVE".
Official details will be made public at an event on Thursday morning - MCV will be on hand to provide a full report.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/34408/Xbox...content-dealrn ...

Nabi Studios reckons turn-based ragdoll fighting game Toribash can fill a gaping genre-hole on WiiWare this year.

Speaking exclusivley to Eurogamer, creator Hampus Soderstrom said he considered other platforms such as Xbox Live Arcade but believes the biggest opportunity is on Nintendo's family console.

"I always just liked the platform better and thought it would suit Toribash much better. And also Wii didn't have any [fighting games]. OK it has Smash Bros. [Brawl], but fighting titles are really lacking on Wii," he said.

"Check in the WiiWare Store and there's only one game listed in the fighting genre category, and that's a snowboarding game that has a sort of fighting element."

Only, Toribash is very violent. The game pits two ragdoll fighters against each other and declares the winner as the person who inflicts the most damage on the other. The user points with the Wiimote and orders each body-part a different command every mini-turn, a bit like stop animation. The result is lots of blood as arms and legs and heads go flying.

"The only limitation is your creativity," said Soderstrom, who thinks it's "pretty cool" when players "take off their own arms and use them as the weapon".

Nintendo were "pretty okay" with the idea, surprisingly, which resulted in Toribash being rated Teen for including Fantasy Violence, which Soderstrom - who invented the game because he likes Judo - snorted at.

He hit a couple of restrictions, such as making sure characters don't look like Miis and discarding user mods, but otherwise the content is unaffected. Soderstrom has even managed to add hair to the Tors, implement a "more intense" online multiplayer matchmaking tournament system, make the blood more realistic and integrate the all important video sharing facility.

"In Toribash [PC] if you want to share a video you have to go to the forum and you need to upload it and [the other players will] rate it there. On Wii we have that built in; the game has a system for sending and receiving replays, which is very nice," he told us.

Tor's joints can be boosted to be stronger and faster by shaking the Wiimote, and we'll be automatically ranked globally or among friends depending on how good we are. And we're not very good.

As for the PC version, that's been played 20 million times, according to Soderstrom. But then that SKU has been around since 2006 and is free, where the WiiWare version will be offered at a premium. Just how much he doesn't know yet, because "it's not up to us really to decide that".

But why should we pay? "We've added a big new experience and it's always going to be fun to play," he explained, adding that he's not sure how well it will sell, but that he's simply focused on making the game "as good as possible".

As for a release, Toribash will be done "when it's done", although Soderstrom said it will definitely be this year - there's about two months of development left plus a month of certification to get through.

And, once that's out of the way, Soderstrom and team can get back to Toribash on PC.

"We keep doing updates, not every month but every other month, adding some features," he said. "At the moment we're going to do a 4.0 version, that's going to be out when we finish the Wii game."

Pop over to Eurogamer TV to see Toribash Wii in action. Alternatively take in some still pictures in our Toribash gallery.

Or, better still, pop over to the Toribash website and try the game for yourself. It's fiendishly addictive.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/fi...lacking-on-wii ...

Supposedly discovered through a Twitterfon ad, these are screens of an iTunes video store for the iPhone, which would let you download movies and TV shows directly to your iPhone or iTouch. AllThingsD found actual links to the skeleton store, suggesting it's indeed legit, and presumably Wi-Fi only.

http://gizmodo.com/5270496/iphone-ge...ovie-downloads ...

According to UOL Tecnologia, Tectoy's Zeebo game console is on sale now in the city of Rio de Janeiro, with availability to spread across the Brazilian countryside later this year. As expected, the system is going for a MSRP of R$499 (that's about $299) and ships with three games in memory: FIFA 2009, Need For Speed Carbon, and Brain Training, all in Portuguese. Additionally, the device ships with credit for three free downloads: Prey Evil, Quake, and Quake II. And as expected, this bad boy includes a free 3G connection via Claro, enabling additional game downloads in the R$7-30 ($3-13) range. Video after the break.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/26/z...r-in-the-hear/ ...

Via Audioholics



One of the coolest features of the Sony PlayStation 3 is a Bluetooth remote control. If you spring for the reasonably priced optional remote there’s no need to point it at the device like any old IR remote. You can gleefully pause, play or rewind movies played back on your PS3 from the bathroom. But, that brings us to one the PS3’s fattest shortcomings, its lack of an IR remote option. So, your big fancy universal remote control can’t provide you a PS3 option. Suddenly Sony’s big-bad convergent media device is looking rather short on convenience.

Take heart couch potatoes - all’s not lost! It seems Logitech has heard your pain and has produced the Logitech Harmony PS3 Adapter. This is no budget IR-to-USB, PS3 command center. USB is a popular low-cost method for working around Sony’s IR prejudice but it suffers serious shortcomings. An IR-to-USB adaptor is laggier than a VoIP call from Mars.

But the biggest problem with an IR receiver that plugs into PS3’s USB port is that it’s not a complete control solution. You’ll have to, Lord forbid, get up off the couch to power up the PS3. And that seems to defeat the purpose of having a universal remote control in the first place. Powering the system down requires stepping through several steps within the operating system. Sadly, this is just a shortcoming inherent in the PS3 and cannot be overcome with any fancy adapter. You’ll have to setup macros that carefully navigate the PS3 system and find the shut down option.

Logitech Harmony PS3 Bluetooth Adapter

Any adapter that can speak to the PS3 through Bluetooth is the more powerful yet costlier option. IR-to-Bluetooth control options can receive IR commands from your universal remote and the adapter translates them to Bluetooth for the PS3: Presto, now you can instantly power up Sony’s entertainment hub – and your universal remote’s macros can handle powering it down.

Logitech’s adapter currently retails at $60. The price seems a bit costly for now but it’s reasonable compared to similar devices – remember, this one combines both the USB and Bluetooth options.

One strike against the adapter it’s only compatible with Logitech universal remotes. Sure, Logitech makes a fine universal remote: But what if you already have another brand? You’ll be happy to know that you can find Harmony PS3 Adapter IR codes online so you can include non-Harmony universal remotes to your repertoire of potential PS3 controls.

“In our book, Logitech's PS3 Adapter is a success.” – Stephen Kim EngadgetHD

If a reasonably priced IR adapter for PS3, made by a respected name like Logitech, is something you’ve been craving there’s more information online. EngadgetHD has a detailed review of the Logitech Harmony PS3 Adapter. The review is all around quite positive about the product and these guys would know. By reading the review you get the idea that the boys at EngadgetHD are the dedicated couch potatoes you can trust to kick the tires on a media universal remote control system. ...