If there was any doubt to the sheer scale of Halo: Reach, Bungie’s latest trailer puts that to rest. The amount of beautiful, gorgeous shots in this single trailer, set to Marty O’Donnell’s latest Halo score, is a sight to behold. The Pelican’s coming over the mountain range, the lone Spartan firing rounds at the Covenant drop ship, or the Spartan simply witnessing the devastation are all jaw-dropping in terms of scope.

That doesn’t even cover the potential action, with seemingly hundreds of warthogs charging into battle against Covenant Banshees. It’s all stunning, some of the best sights to come out of the Halo universe so far, and we haven’t even played it yet.

Hydro Thunder Hurricane

This sequel that started as another project entirely turned out okay. It doesn’t keep the intensity or the insanity of the original, but it’s a somewhat sluggish effort that does have the pacing it needs to be a true follow-up. It captures the essence, including the turbo power-ups, the zany courses, and even recreates the boats in full HD. Controls lack the tightness and precision of the older title, but it makes the franchise its own. Online play is included in various modes, and the aggressive nature of fighting for that little extra turbo is a blast regardless of the new feel.

The vastly underrated fighter Street Fighter III is finally getting a release on the current generation of hardware… or so it seems. Capcom Producer Yoshinori Ono announced over the weekend that the third iteration of SFIII, Third Strike, is going to be released as an online edition.

The issue with the announcement? No specific hardware choices were announced; the only statement made was that it will be a downloadable affair. The assumption is (of course) Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network (and maybe PC?).

Those expecting a visual makeover along the lines of Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix should probably get their expectations in order. Not only would the complexity of such a project be unheard of, that surely would have been part of the announcement to get fans hyped up. This will likely be the standard port with all of that beautiful animation intact, and now with online play, a great boost for Xbox Live players who lost support for Street Fighter Anniversary when Xbox Live went offline for the original Xbox.

Those who enjoyed utilizing motion controls to play Resident Evil (RE4 on the Wii specifically) will be able to do so on the PS3 and Resident Evil 5… with the “gold” edition only.

Close to the launch of PlayStation Move, Gold owners will receive a patch enabling the new control scheme for the title.  After the release of Move, future pressed copies of RE5 Gold will have the necessary code on-disc.

Why do you need the Gold edition? Sony’s Sid Shuman simply stated that “… the original version of RE5 won’t be receiving the patch, for technical reasons.” Technical reasons as in they want more sales of the Gold copies? Since the game itself is exactly the same in terms of its code, what could the barrier possibly be? Still, for Move purchasers, it’s nice to see some support for older titles so the launch isn’t limited to mini-games.

Capcom producer Yoshinori Ono made a huge announcement at this years Comic Con, heading up a panel at the company’s “Street Fighter Mania!: SSFIV and Beyond” panel. Namco and Capcom have teamed up their fighting game franchises for two different cross-overs, Street Fighter X Tekken and, appropriately, Tekken X Street Fighter. The former will be running on the Street Fighter IV engine, and the latter on the Tekken engine, so obviously expect the games to be wildly different despite the similarity in titles.

Ono was quick to state these games are a ways away from actually being released, so count on them coming anytime soon. This was purely an announcement.

Namco and Capcom did team up before in Namco X Capcom, a Japanese RPG featuring characters from multiple franchises, not just Street Fighter and Tekken. That game was never localized and stayed in Japan on the PlayStation 2.

Vindictus, kicking tail and taking names

With Vindictus entering closed beta, interest has been piqued by the game’s unique physics-based action. Aside from being nice and bloody, the game boasts a visceral physics engine that allows for satisfying and flashy combat effects. Players can launch, juggle, and knock around enemies, as well as effect their environments in ways that are typically only seen on console action games like Devil May Cry or Otogi. Vindictus has thrown another bone to it’s hungry audience by introducing two new character videos on it’s official website, detailing their fighting styles and the brutal gameplay that makes Vindictus a must-play title.

Lann is a warrior, which means in-your face combat. He dual-wields weapons to flashy and gruesome effect, quickly darting between targets and unleashing a stunning dance of blades. If Vindictus were a fighting game, you could think of Lann as a “pixie” type character: he moves fast, hits fast, and is very hard to hit. The official website details more about his abilities and history, so be sure to check it out.

Fiona is also a warrior character. If Lann could be compared to Devil May Cry‘s Dante, Fiona would more closely resemble Ninja Gaiden‘s Ryu. She’s a bit slower than Lann, but she makes up for it by hitting hard, and putting her large defensive shield to good use both defensively and offensively. She can deflect damage without sacrificing her position, which makes her a tank in every sense of the word Check out her detailed history and attacks on Vindictus’ official website.

Rod Fergusson, executive producer of Gears of War 3 over at Epic, is right. He wants Carmine dead. Following in the line of overexcited Carmine brothers Anthony and Benjamin, Clayton will be making his appearance in Gears 3, but apparently his fate is still in doubts amongst the dev team and fans.

Apparently, no one has respect for tradition anymore. The Carmine’s are video game fodder in the purest form, always finding a way to die in the least admirable way possible, and taking that away from Gears 3 is just missing the point. A cliche but enjoyable little subplot could easily see him cheating death multiple times to keep the tension high, and the laughs rolling. Speaking at a Comic-Con party, Rod said to Joystiq it would be left up to the fans, who according to Rod ask things like, “What about Mrs. Carmine?”

Well, how do you know she is even alive anymore? The Carmine name is a video game legacy now, regardless of the reasons, much like Kenny was on South Park’s early seasons. Let the family rest in peace… together.

The Red Lash Dreadnaught, AKA Giant Enemy Crab, TERA

It was revealed last week that TERA, the exciting new action MMORPG from Blue Hole Studios in South Korea, would be published by Frogster Interactive Pictures in Europe. European fans were downcast by the news, citing a great many list of grievances against the publisher. Frogster’s director of product management, Daniel Ullrich, recently posted a list of answers to many of the concerns players had about Frogster’s involvement with the game on TERA‘s official forums.

Daniel Ullrich addressed five key concerns in the forum post:

• TERA will not be free-to-play like many of Frogster’s other MMOGs. TERA is designed for a subscription-based model, and it will be operated as such in Europe.
• Frogster has no intention of censoring TERA in Europe. It is their hope to keep the game completely faithful to the other versions of TERA worldwide. However, while TERA doesn’t seem to require any censoring in Europe, this may change depending on legislation in certain European countries (like Germany).
• Frogster has not yet disclosed the type of hardware used for the servers in Europe, but because the game is so demanding in its gameplay aspects, they are assuring prospective players that they will work closely with Blue Hole Studios to obtain the best hardware to deliver the best performance possible.
• Frogster is putting together a 24/7 support team exclusively for TERA players. It is their hope to deliver the best possible English, French, and German customer support to TERA fans.
• Frogster has agreed with both En Masse Entertainment (the North American publisher), and Blue Hole Studios to provide users from all regions with the same information and game versions on the same day.

Daniel Ullrich finished off his post by inviting concerned players to visit TERA‘s booth at this years Gamescom, one of the largest gaming conventions in Europe, and talk with Frogster directly. Gamescom will take place on August 19 to 22, 2010 in Cologne, Germany.

The stylings are nice on the controllers, although the hardware itself is pretty bland beyond the color. In the midst of all the announcements with Kinect, this is going to make a crowded holiday season for potential Xbox 360 buyers, and if Microsoft is aiming for the casual market, that’s the last thing they want.

A formal announcement on the hardware is expected to be announced at Comic Con soon. All of the images were leaked on a Facebook page by the Swedish game store GameShop (and a tip sent to Kotaku)

Heroes of Three Kingdoms, Open Beta announcement header image

Based on the turbulent and heavily romanticized “Three Kingdoms” era of Chinese history, Perfect World Entertainment‘s free-to-play MMORPG Heroes of Three Kingdoms is slated for open beta testing on July 27th.

“The player response to Heroes of Three Kingdoms has been tremendous,” said Product Manager for HOTK, AJ Potter. “We are always striving to excite our fans with new games that resonate beyond the traditional RPG experience. By continually looking for ways to make improvement, listening to player feedback, we are ensuring that we fulfill our commitment to deliver our players the best game possible, and we look forward to delivering this amazing piece of history to North American gamers.”

Heroes of Three Kingdoms entered closed beta testing on July 13th. Testing ends on July 26th, and Tuesday, July 27th sees the opening of the game to the public. Players who have reached level 20 or above before closed beta ends on July 26 will be given an as of yet unnamed buff-item as a reward at the start of open beta.

Heroes of Three Kingdoms offers a variety of character options, a title system with hundreds of different titles and occupations, instances based on historical events, 18 different weapon-types, a robust crafting system, and more. Players itching to play can visit the official website on July 27th and try out Heroes of Three Kingdoms for themselves.

Joker, using his trademark (?) uppercut on some poor yutz

Sony Online Entertainment, DC Entertainment, and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment have announced that their upcoming massively multiplayer online game, DC Universe Online, will be entering beta testing later this year, and has opened registration for the beta. They are also offering incentive for early-birds to reserve the game with a nice variety of pre-order bonuses.

Beta testing is expected to start in November, and registration is officially open. Players interested in participating can sign up on the official website for a chance to be selected in the beta.

A Collectors Edition of DC Universe Online will be available exclusively for PC. This version of the game comes with a snazzy Batman statue (conceptualized by artist Jim Lee), as well as a limited edition artbook, and a DC Universe Online: Legends Issue #0 comic.

Major retailers are offering pre-order bonuses as well, the most notable of which is the ability to play as Batman in the Player versus player (PvP) combat arena. Other pre-order bonuses include the limited edition comic, and/or a unique in-game weapon for player characters.

Finally, players who pre-order DC Universe Online for digital download get perks too. Players who pre-order through Steam get Bane’s Venom Injector as a bonus, while players who use Direct2Drive get Mr. Freeze’s Zero Grenade.

Even after stating they weren’t going to speculate, Microsoft’s price point for their motion control camera came in right where retailers expected it to: $150. It does come packaged with a game, Kinect Adventures, apparently trying to avoid the Wii comparison by not including any sports-related titles.

Microsoft is also introducing a new matte-finished hardware with an absurdly small 4GB hard drive. That hardware is $200. For the holidays, another bundle will be introduced with the same 4GB 360, Kinect, and Kinect Adventures for $300.

Those ready and willing to rush out to grab a Kinect need to look back briefly and consider the history of add-ons, even this generation when the Xbox Live Vision Camera promised the same type of experience that went nowhere. Remember the Sega Activator? Super Nintendo Super Scope 6? NES Power Pad?

All of those were add-ons that went nowhere, because unlike the Wii, developers need to specifically program for motion control or light gun games, and not every user will own that additional device, leaving the market smaller than designing a game for a controller. It creates a split market, and it’s as true now as it’s ever been. Why spend millions developing for (and learning) new tech when the audience is not even half that of the console ownership numbers as a whole?

That’s going to be the hurdle for Kinect (and Sony’s Move), especially with the price as it stands.