Ubisoft has announced that air-combat sim HAWX 2 will have an adversarial, local and online multiplayer mode for up to eight players.

The mode, which we were lucky enough to play at the recent hands-on event where we also got to play the single-player and co-op campaign, will feature six different mission types and a choice of any of the game's 32 pilotable aircraft.

The level we experienced was a mountainous valley studded with AA emplacements, radar dishes and tanks. It was a straight-up team deathmatch where points were scored for eliminating the enemy team's land or air forces.

Brilliantly, crashing at mach-2 because you're rubbish at discerning the difference between sky and ground results in a 'death by natural causes' message - presumably taking direction from the US armed forces book of disingenuous phraseology.

Ideally, teams will be formed of planes which fulfil different roles across the combat spectrum, from air interception to ground engagement - allowing teams to function as complete combat units.

Multiplayer comes in addition to the campaign, free-flight, arcade and survival modes, all of which are playable in co-op with up to four players.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/mu...ced-for-hawx-2 ...

LA Noire developer Team Bondi has "defeated the uncanny valley" according to founder Brendan McNamara.

"We wanted to make a detective game," McNamara told the latest issue of OPM, picked up on by ConnectedConsoles.

"And a key part of that is interrogating people. If you're going to see if somebody is lying, you have to be able to look for little poker tells, all that stuff."

But how does it compare to Heavy Rain, the mag asked, given all the plaudits that game accumulated for its performance capture?

"The characters look great [in Heavy Rain], but in the terms of believability you still have to sort of suspend your disbelief and enjoy the game," McNamara reportedly said.

"This is going to be a bit of a line in the sand, compared to that."

LA Noire - rumoured for release in spring 2011 - is a 1940s crime thriller in which players rise through the ranks of the LAPD.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/la...uncanny-valley ...

Sony Europe boss Andrew House has claimed that sales of PlayStation Move are going to "explode in the next 12 months" - but revealed that 3D's success will be judged on a longer lifecycle.

Sony revealed the official UK price of Move's various bits and bobs today, with a Starter Pack - including the Move controller, a PlayStation Eye camera, starter disk and nine playable demos - coming in at £49.99.

House commented that the feeling of immersion experienced when playing with PlayStation Move will be the peripheral's "secret weapon" once gamers get it in their hands.

Speaking to the August edition of the Official PlayStation Magazine, House commented: "[Move] is eminently usable for existing franchises. [It's] not just a minor enhancement - it's a real shift in terms of immersion. I think that's its secret weapon."

He added: "I think [3D and Move] are on different lifecyles. PS Move is very much something which is going to explode within the next 12 months, whereas 3D is a much longer [term] proposition."

http://www.computerandvideogames.com...VG-General-RSS ...

Though we won’t be finding out the retail price of the 3DS until September 29th – and for the UK price the wait may well be far longer – Nintendo has hinted that the device could cost less than many have predicted.
Last month UK retail told MCV that it wouldn’t be surprised to see the 3DS priced at around £200, and earlier this week analyst Michael Pachter estimated that it could retail for as much as $250 in the US.
Now Nintendo’s UK marketing manager James Honeywell has hinted that the actual street cost might be somewhat less.
“Price, we haven't made any kind of announcement at the moment,” he told ONM. “The Nintendo DSi is available for around £129.99. The Nintendo DSi XL, with the larger screens, is around £159.99. So obviously, it's going to fit, kind of, somewhere within that kind of architecture.”
Though it’s a far from definitive statement, that could point to something in the region of £160-£180 – a move that would certainly be welcomed by retail, particularly if it were to be released this Q4.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/40214/3DS-to-cost-under-200 ...

The lucrative WWE video games franchise will benefit greatly from the “new direct relationship” between publisher THQ and the sports entertainment company, according to UK marketing director Jon Rooke.
“It benefits us massively,” Rooke told MCV. “In previous years, we’ve effectively had to communicate with WWE via Jakks Pacific and that slowed communication, lost things in translation and challenged our ability to really maximise the potential of that licence.
“We now have what I call a ‘hotline to Vince’ [WWE CEO Vince McMahon]. I’d liken it to having a relationship with your girlfriend through her mother. It’s not going to be the best relationship in the world and you’re not going to get everything you want from it.”
In addition, Rooke also outlined some lofty ambitions for future promotions of THQs game within WWE’s TV programming.
“Our goal is to be much more aligned with the brand itself, and we fully expect to deliver upon that within the next couple of products,” he assured.

“You’ll be able to watch WWE programming in the UK and Smackdown vs Raw will be a part of that broadcast. Maybe the Holy Grail is to have a storyline about the box reveal, and wrestlers fight it out to see who will appear on the box. That’s the kind of stuff we want to do.”

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/40207/THQ-...t-relationship ...

The results of the latest study from mobile ad network BuzzCity have reinforced the old adage that everyone plays games on their phones - ninety per cent, in fact.
How many of those games are paid for is another question entirely, but the BuzzCity study - conducted among mobile users in 10 countries - certainly throws up some interesting demographics.
Although the typical gamer is male in his mid twenties, at least 29 per cent of mobile gamers are female. In many markets, female mobile gamers are on the increase – in the US and Thailand, for example, 49 per cent of gamers are female and in South Africa women make up 47 per cent of the gaming population.
The report also revealed an increasing number of mature mobile gamers. In the US 12 per cent of gamers are above 40. In South Africa and Malaysia, gamers over 40 years of age make up 19 per cent eight per cent respectively.
Also:


- Men and women prefer Action and Adventure (41%) oriented games followed by Sports & Racing (21%).
- 32% of respondents download games sporadically, while 46% download games regularly (either weekly or fortnightly).
- 40% played games daily, while 17% played throughout the day.
- 46% play to learn something new or to get the most out of their phones.
KF Lai, CEO of BuzzCity, said: "Mobile gaming has gone mainstream and there’s a clear need to address specific demographics. Increasing mobile game traffic suggests a viable opportunity for ad supported games and advergames, particularly where branding is a key campaign objective.
"As users get more involved with the sophisticated plotlines of games, the level of consumer engagement increases, creating more branding opportunities for marketers.”

http://www.mobile-ent.biz/news/37985...-is-mainstream ...

O-Games, a new publisher of family, social and sports videogames, and part of OG International Ltd., announced today that Mystery Tales Time TravelTM is coming to the Nintendo DSTM system on September 14, 2010. Travel through time while exploring some of the world’s most exotic places as you piece together the puzzle in the hopes to solve the ultimate mystery!

Players find themselves on the trail of a French writer who has stumbled upon an old diary of a long lost relative. Setting out on this magnificent adventure in the hope of solving the mystery, players must find the path that will lead them back home. With clues to uncover and riddles to solve, Mystery Tales Time Travel is a thrilling and exciting game the whole family is sure to love!

Mystery Tales Time Travel Game Features:

With various story modes to choose from, players can search for the Hidden Objects before time runs out, locate the Hotspots, and complete Logic and Reverse levels in specific order
Mini-games challenge players to exercise their mind with Memory and Decryption games
Use Magic Spells to travel through time, Dimension Gates to enter new worlds, and Spirit Sights invoked by the witch
Mystery Tales takes you to 30 unique locations across the world in China, Italy, France and Egypt
Train your brain with memory games, puzzle games, and interesting drawings
Search for over 1,000 Hidden Objects

Rated “E10+” for Everyone by the ESRB, Mystery Tales Time Travel is a family-friendly videogame offering a fun experience to all. For more information about O-Games and Mystery Tales Time Travel, please visit: http://usa.og-international.net/default.asp ...

Jet Set GamesTM today announced that HighbornTM, the critically and commercially successful turn-based strategy game for the iPhone and iPod Touch, is now part of the OpenFeint social gaming community. Highborn version 1.1.0 is now live on the iTunes App Store at http://itunes.com/app/Highborn and will be on sale for only $.99 beginning Saturday, July 31 through Sunday, August 8.

In addition to adding the OpenFeint platform for multiplayer gaming, Highborn version 1.1.0 includes a new achievements system along with various improvements and enhancements:

More than 20 single-player and multiplayer achievements to unlock
Player-to-player chat
Significant improvements to mission loading times
Enhanced map mode performance
Various bug fixes
Removed Facebook-based multiplayer (NOTE: all existing Facebook multiplayer games will be deleted in this update)

In celebration of Highborn’s new multiplayer home, Aurora Feint will feature the game on its OpenFeint website and app from August 1—15. Additionally, on Friday, July 30 Highborn will be the Free Game of the Day and featured in OpenFeint’s Game Spotlight app, available in the iTunes App Store.

“OpenFeint is the premier multiplayer community for iPhone gamers and we’re proud that Highborn is now part of it,” said Rade Stojsavljevic, president of Jet Set Games. “We’re thrilled to be able to open up Highborn’s multiplayer to an even larger audience and encourage everyone to give it a try, especially now that it’s on sale for only $.99.”

In Highborn, players are treated to two strategy games that combine to offer an intelligent, tactical experience without the frenetic play of a traditional RTS. Players move forces around an overhead map to secure spells and combat support, then dive into 3D combat to deploy those advantages against an unsuspecting enemy. All the fun and fighting is set against an irreverent tale, filled with wacky heroes, witty dialogue and wild assumptions.

“We’re thrilled that Jet Set Games is bringing Highborn to the OpenFeint player community. It’s a fantastic game that makes perfect use of our new multiplayer technology,” said Eros Resmini, VP of Marketing and Developer Relations at Aurora Feint.

Features:

A Light Touch – Highborn is a casual mobile strategy game that offers a satisfying experience for players, no matter if they spend minutes or hours in the game.
Time for a New Strategy – Highborn features a unique blend of strategic movement and 3D combat that caters to a variety of gameplay styles and offers a great deal of replayability.
Multiplay at Your Pace – Turn-based gaming enables players to think, then act, in round-based play via OpenFeint’s 31-million-player community. Players can have multiple games going at once, and can trash-talk their opponents in player-to-player chat.
Many Styles of Play – Players unlock hero characters as they progress through the game, giving them access to different abilities and play styles, along with different strategies to use against their opponents.
Achieve Greatness – More than 20 single- and multiplayer achievements to unlock, including judicious use of turns, using units as bait, and making it through an entire mission without capturing support structures.

Jet Set Games is planning to release additional single- and multi-player gameplay for Highborn in the form of in-app downloadable content. The company is also finalizing an iPad-specific version of Highborn for release later this summer, pricing to be announced. ...

In less than seven weeks, the epic battle for humanity’s survival will begin with the launch of the most anticipated game of 2010, “Halo: Reach.” To prepare the millions of fans worldwide awaiting the prequel to the blockbuster “Halo” trilogy, Bungie and Microsoft today released a stunning new trailer that offers a glimpse of the heroic themes and non-stop action in the most ambitious campaign in “Halo’s” history. Featuring a stirring sample of the original score by famed “Halo” composer Marty O’Donnell, the breathtaking trailer showcases several dramatic sequences from the game, including the Covenant invasion of the planet Reach and Noble Team’s effort to take the fight from the planet’s surface to space.

The debut of the new campaign trailer follows a slew of exciting “Halo: Reach” announcements at Comic-Con last week, including the world premiere of two brand new multiplayer experiences in “Halo: Reach”: Forge World and Firefight Versus. Forge World is a vast new environment in “Halo: Reach” with unlimited creative potential that will allow players to create and share their unique map designs over Xbox LIVE. Firefight Versus is a brand new multiplayer mode that pits a team of player-controlled Elites with Covenant AI support against a team of player-controlled Spartans. With an epic campaign, diverse competitive and cooperative multiplayer experiences, robust user-creation tools, player rewards, and more, “Halo: Reach” is the most ambitious “Halo” game ever and promises to set a new standard for action-packed entertainment, replayability and customisation.

Additionally, Microsoft and Bungie announced a stunning lineup of custom-designed “Halo: Reach” hardware products at Comic-Con, including the Xbox 360 Limited Edition “Halo: Reach” Bundle, “Halo: Reach” Limited Edition Wireless Controller and “Halo: Reach” Limited Edition Wireless Headset. The Xbox 360 Limited Edition “Halo: Reach” Bundle has a suggested retail price of £249.99, and will be available on 14th September. The “Halo: Reach” Limited Edition Wireless Controller and Wireless Headset will be available on 3rd September for the estimated retail prices of £39.99 and £34.99, respectively. All three products are available for preorder today while supplies last.

“Halo: Reach” is currently available for preorder in Standard, Limited and Legendary editions at participating retailers worldwide. The Standard Edition has an estimated retail price of £49.99, and the Limited and Legendary editions of the game will retail for £59.99 and £99.99, respectively, and are packed with extras fans won’t want to miss. As a special bonus, fans can receive a token to unlock an exclusive in-game Spartan Recon Helmet, by making a pre-order reservation at participating retailers.

Developed by award-winning studio Bungie exclusively for Xbox 360, “Halo: Reach” launches in the UK on Sept. 14, 2010. ...