via IGN


Discs of Tron, the second arcade game inspired by the classic '80s sci-fi flick, is coming to XBLA on February 13. Priced at a modest 400 Microsoft Points (US$5), Discs of Tron takes the fan-fave arcade hit, ands spiffy new backgrounds, upgraded audio and online multiplayer modes.

For readers born in the '90s, Tron was a Disney movie old folks geeked out to. It starred Jeff Bridges as an arcade genius who gets sucked into a computer program where he meets Bruce "Scarecrow & Mrs. King" Boxleitner, a rebel out to bring down the Master Control Program.

"Discs of Tron is considered an arcade classic as it mesmerized fans who wanted an entertaining and challenging experience derived from the innovative film," said Craig Relyea, senior vice president of global marketing, Disney Interactive Studios. "The game's release on Xbox Live Arcade enables multiple generations to play the addictive game in both its original form from 25 years ago and an enhanced mode with upgraded graphics and sound."
In Discs of Tron, players square off against the evil Sark with a Frisbee-like discs in hand. Throwing the disc off walls while jumping across precarious platforms in an attempt to "derezz" Sark.

You can also take DoT online for two-player co-op, VS matches, VS Speed Mode and VS Deadly Disc.

End of line. ...

via Joystiq


Not content to let their premiere racer rest with just a release and a quick update, Bizarre Creations is offering up new downloadable content for Project Gotham Racing 4. The content is split into two downloadable packs:

Free Challenge Pack (free download!)

• A playable, hydrogen-powered Peugeot Flux
• Tourist Mode - Just drive around the city and admire the scenery with no explicit goal
• "Free Roam" Cat and Mouse Mode - Implements the delayed updates previously discussed here
• Seven unlockable achievements

Premium Challenge Pack (400 MS points)

Includes all the content of the Free Challenge Pack, PLUS:

• Seven new cars - Including the "1987 BMW M3 E30 DTM," whatever that means
• World Challenge Arcade Mode - With 20 new events in three themed chapters
• Three more unlockable achievements

The packs will be available for download on Feb. 14, just in time to play Cat and Mouse with your valentine. ...

via Eurogamer


Nintendo hasn't won this generation of consoles yet, says Microsoft Game Studios' corporate vice president Shane Kim.


Nintendo Wii launched a year later than Xbox 360, but has already broken through the 20-million-unit barrier worldwide, while Microsoft's most recently announced sales figure is 17.7 million.

Asked about broadening Microsoft's demographic, Kim reportedly said: "Let's be honest - when your flagship titles are Halo and Gears of War, most people naturally attribute a brand of M-rated hardcore to your platform. It does make it more challenging to reach out to a more mainstream customer."

Kim also rejected claims that the platform holder played all its cards for the 2007 Christmas period.

"I think the pipeline is very stacked, but you just don't know about it," he told his interrogator, New York Times reporter Seth Schiesel.

And he reckons 360 will go on and on, and won't be quickly replaced like the original Xbox.

"Our belief is that the Xbox 360 will have a very long life cycle. It is much different than the original Xbox," he explained. "For strategic reasons, we launched the 360 four years after original," he said. ...

via Computer and Video Games


New details regarding the Bring Down the Sky downloadable content for Mass Effect have been confirmed by Bioware's community co-ordinator Chris Priestly.

Apparently, the new content doesn't take place after the game's conclusion, but in fact exists as one of the exploratory side-missions you can understake in the middle of the game.

So that means you'll need to dig out those save files if you've already completed the RPG.

Priestly went on to confirm there will be full voice over for English, French, German and Italian, and will include Spanish and Polish subtitles.

Bioware has previously stated that the downloadable content would bridge the gap between the first two games in the trilogy, so the news that this content comes in the form of a playable side-mission in the actual game is surprising, and somewhat irritating for anyone forced to play through the first few hours if they haven't kept their save files.

Is Mass Effect worth playing through again for ninety minutes worth of new content? Let us know below.


Screenshots ...

via IGN


Another quiet week for the Virtual Console, as again just one solitary title makes its way to the service – this time it's Hudson Soft's PC Engine CD shmup Lords of Thunder.

A side-scrolling shooter in dashing fantasy attire, the game is at least relatively new to these shores – unless you're one of the few that managed to pick up the lesser-spotted Mega CD iteration, currently going for in excess of 50 pounds on eBay. It's no genre classic, though there's a sizeable amount of shooting larks to be had, all carried out to a satisfying hard rock backdrop. For 800 Wii points it's all yours to keep.

Virtual Console European Releases, February 8

PC Engine CD - 800 Wii Points

Lords of Thunder (1993) ...

via Kotaku




Plastic DS Lite covers are so pedestrian. Boring, even! Here's a snake skin DS Lite cover. Yes, SNAKE SKIN. And you can even buy it for ¥12,800 (US $120). They really should've called this the DSssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss. ...

via Computer and Video Games


Loads of new screens and movies have been released by Rockstar on a revamped GTV IV website.

Just as we're winding down for a bit of Quake action before heading on to the pub, Rockstar only goes and updates the GTA website with a TON of new content. On a Friday evening! We don't know...

You could fill a whole magazine with it - so look out for that in about four weeks' time.

We've nicked the best bits and posted them up here, to save you some time. But we strongly suggest you head on over to the site and check out the movies.

No telling porkies about your age, mind...


Screenshots at CVG
Trailers at Rockstar ...

via Eurogamer


Ryan Payton, an associate producer at Kojima Productions, has claimed he was misquoted with regard to Metal Gear Solid 4 sales.

As reported last year, a Reuters article claimed Payton said the game needed to sell more than a million copies on launch day because of high production costs.

Now he's set the record straight on the Bionic Commando podcast, stating, "I wish I could send a message out to the whole world cause I hear about this all the time. It was a story from Reuters, so it was literally sent to every news source around the globe. If you notice, in the news story, I have lots of quotes in there with quotation marks, but that part of the story isn't in quotation marks.


Not that MGS4 should struggle to sell a million, of course, but day one could be a stretch. The game is due out this "quarter", and in the meantime you can read all about it and see it in action via the gamepage. ...

via Games Industry


The story in Spain and Germany for the most recent software sales charts is once again firmly focused on the continuing success of Nintendo, with five of the six top three positions in both countries playing on a Wii or DS.

In Germany Brain Training continued to sell well in first place, followed by Wii Play and Pokemon Diamond, according to information from Media-Control GfK International for the week ending February 3.

PC shooter Crysis was fourth, with Super Mario Galaxy and Call of Duty 4 in fifth and sixth.

Burnout Paradise, Eye Training, New Super Mario Bros and World of Warcraft finished off the top ten list, giving Nintendo six of the best-selling games last week.

In Spain Wii Play topped the list, although Burnout Paradise for the PlayStation 3 - one of three titles for that platform - sold well in second, pushing various Brain and Training titles down to take up the third to sixth places.

Mario Party 8, Pro Evolution Soccer 2008, WWE Smackdown! vs Raw 2008 and Assassin's Creed were the rest of the entries at the chart's summit.


The full charts are as follows:

Germany

1. More Brain Training (DS)
2. Wii Play (Wii)
3. Pokemon Diamond (DS)
4. Crysis (PC)
5. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)
6. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PC)
7. Burnout Paradise (PS3)
8. Eye Training (DS)
9. New Super Mario Bros (DS)
10. World of Warcraft (PC)

Spain

1. Wii Play (Wii)
2. Burnout Paradise (PS3)
3. More Brain Training (DS)
4. Big Brain Academy (Wii)
5. Brain Training (DS)
6. Link's Crossbow Training (Wii)
7. Mario Party 8 (Wii)
8. Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 (PS3) 9. WWE Smackdown! vs Raw 2008 (PSP)
10. Assassin's Creed (PS3) ...