Don’t you just love rumours? What would we be without them? Boring and no news to write, that’s what. However, it has become an almost proven fact now that Epic Games are hard at work to the sequel to their ‘marmite’ Gears of War franchise.

A trusted US publishing source has apparently contacted Edge, telling them of the game- a teaser trailer is expected to be revealed on April 8th, whilst Epic Games are looking to show off the full game at this year’s E3; though the game won’t launch until next year.

Despite the fact that the game could be finished this year, Edge has gathered that Microsoft are keen to not let GoW clash with Halo: Reach- which is apparently set for a September release- or Natal, which should be hitting stores for this Holiday.

“Microsoft’s keen to avoid a clash with Halo: Reach and wants Natal to own Christmas. That’s why we won’t be seeing Gears Of War 3 until next year, but expect a major marketing push ahead of its release,” said Edge’s source.

Microsoft have been contacted about this and they have said that they don’t comment on rumours or speculation. How surprising!

It has recently been revealed by Hideo Kojima, the man behind the classic Metal Gear Solid franchise, that the upcoming Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker for PSP will be Metal Gear Solid 5.

Why the number was dropped earlier is unknown, but Kojima has spoken that Peace Walker was set to be a “MGS5-class game”, so either they’ve only just made this decision (highly unlikely) or it was dropped because they did not want to lose publicity for this because it isn’t going to be a fully-fledged PlayStation 3 format title.

It is currently penciled into our release calendar this spring and I’m betting that it will be another classic entry into the series, and possibly the best looking PSP game to date. There’s a video below (courtesy of Kotaku) showing you roughly 8 minutes of gameplay, direct from the game.

Thanks goes to lunlunqq over at NeoGAF forums for spotting this announcement on the official Peace Walker blog!

Game Review:

WARNING: SPOILERS FOR GOD OF WAR I AND GOD OF WAR II

If you own a PlayStation 3 (PS3) and you’re new to the God of War trilogy, do yourself a favor and pick up the God of War Collection. Immerse yourself in the mythos of Kratos and see how he evolved into the furious badass he is today. I remember playing through God of War II and having my jaw drop at the literal cliffhanger. Ever since the third installment was announced for the PS3 back in 2007, fans of the series have held their collective breaths, wondering which direction Santa Monica Studio would take. When Sony unveiled the debut trailer at E3 2008, suddenly the buzz was on. Fast forward to 2010 with the release of the highly anticipated title.

God of War III is the final piece to Santa Monica Studio’s trilogy puzzle, set to light up PS3s everywhere. It picks up right where God of War II left off — the monumental confrontation between the gods of Olympus and Kratos rallying the Titans for another bid at The Great War. Riding atop Gaia’s back, Kratos boldly announces his intentions to “bring the destruction of Olympus!” It’s rather hard not to believe the Ghost of Sparta isn’t capable of accomplishing such a feat. His resume of doom is quite impressive, including: killing Ares, acquiring Pandora’s Box, escaping the Underworld and defying The Fates. If there’s one man for the job of bringing down Zeus and company, Kratos is just the guy you want to go on a murdering rampage.

If you’ve played through the previous titles, you know exactly what to expect with the gameplay mechanics and the controls. It’s a third-person action adventure with elements of platforming; throw in a fixed camera and token sex mini game, and you’ve got a title that feels instantly familiar. Chests are scattered throughout, providing orbs for upgrades, health and magic. Weapons run the whole gamut — from Kratos’ trusty Blades of Exile to Hercules’ Nemean Cestus.

The range of weapons available is a hack and slash player’s dream, leaving the door wide open for unique combinations of brutality. With any title in this genre, its worth is determined by combat mechanics and this is where God of War III shines, carrying on the legacy of its predecessors. Tight controls make it easy to switch from sharp weaponry to devastating magic. Combat runs elegantly to string combinations of grounded and aerial assaults before segueing into optional quick time events of finishing moves. Ending lives is not a delicate exercise; Kratos goes full out, leaving behind entrails, heads and other body parts in his wake. If you’re squeamish, these predetermined button presses of remorseless violence will most likely leave you queasy. Whether it’s flesh being separated from sinewy muscle or intestines spilling from slashed bellies, the attention to detail underscores both artistic and technical skill Santa Monica Studio employed.

Words like epic and mind-blowing get tossed around a lot, but they’re so fitting, especially after getting a high dose of visual eye candy during the opening sequence. The sheer scale of the ensuing battle grips you in rapt attention. Exiled Titans returning for one last hurrah against the gods of Olympus? You can bet your eyes will water at the glorious nihilism on display. It’s a celebration of ass kicking, wonderfully vicious ass kicking! While taking down Minotaurs and Centaurs are welcome ways to execute particular combinations, there is definitely a sense of awe and satisfaction when committing deicide. The scale is what draws you in. Think about it. Numerous gods completely dwarf Kratos, leaving your antihero to sometimes climb onto them to execute vicious kills. You’re not just fighting enemies left and right anymore!

While God of War III begins with high-octane overdrive sequences leaving you breathless, it settles into a more manageable, recognizable pace. Climbing from Hades’ Realm up Mount Olympus, there is something new to keep your attention from straying into boredom. Kratos’ ascent gives the game a vertically-oriented focus, once again emphasizing the massive scale of his quest. Level designs and objectives are balanced to prevent gameplay from growing stale. Icarus Ascent, where you use the Icarus Wings to fly straight up through what is essentially a wind tunnel, is one such welcome transition. As Kratos defeats enemies, he gains new weapons and abilities that keep combat engaging. Beyond gameplay and level design, God of War III is simply breathtaking; even Chimeras and The Furies are grotesquely beautiful! Cutscenes employing more traditional animation doesn’t break up the pace; surprisingly, it provides a richer backstory using simple means to contrast against the graphically intensive design. Santa Monica Studio has finely balanced every aspect to constantly keep the audience’s attention.

While the game is a technical and artistic victory in visual eye candy, there may be certain aspects that would irk the discerning gamer. The storytelling is blunt and straightforward: Kratos makes a declaration of killing everything on sight and goes about doing so with the most vicious methods he can conjure. While there were elements of humanity in Kratos in previous titles, he is absolutely heartless; there is no empathy or mercy left, painting him as a fairly flat character. I must step in with a side note concerning the pacing as well. While the game was well balanced, there was one particular objective that was a slight bump in the road. I won’t ruin anything, but it felt like I was playing Spartan Guitar Hero. It was a discordant note in an otherwise fluid pace.

These are, of course, minor asides in a title that is otherwise a stellar example of what technical and artistic visions can combine to create. There were numerous times when I was left slack-jawed at the cutscenes after I took down a god. As the finale of the trilogy, it certainly bears the burden of expectations. With balanced poise, God of War III provides a satisfying end to a series that will leave an indelible mark amongst the PlayStation fanbase.

Jinkwell’s final say: God of War III has left me completely enthralled by the beauty of both the graphics and the combat. Only one word adequately describes this game: epic. I wasn’t just watching murder unfold; I participated in the act through quick time events for one serious cut of deicide.

Prison Break: The Conspiracy is almost here, with the North American release date of March 30, 2010 for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and the PC.  So what about some new information about the game you may ask.  Well we have the launch trailer here for you, and fans of the TV series I think will enjoy this.  So take a look at the video and let us know what you think, but first here’s a little background on the game.

Prison Break: The Conspiracy is a stealth adventure in which players take on the role of Tom Paxton, an undercover agent sent by the Company to investigate new Fox River inmate Michael Scofield.  The game parallels the events of Season 1 of the award-winning TV series and features voiceovers from all the original show characters as well as a storyline created in part by the original writers of the series.

One more thing before I forget the UK fans of the series that want to get their hands on the game don’t have the two weeks to wait like us as Prison Break: The Conspiracy is set to release this week for them.

The first and most memorable would have to be Cowboy Bebop, which is widely considered the greatest anime series of all time both here and in Japan, and was the first anime run on Adult Swim so many years ago.  This series, much like Akira and Ghost in the Shell opened many up to anime who never would have given it a chance otherwise. Whether you came home from the bar at 2 am and it was all that was on TV, a friend would not shut up until you watched it, or you were just getting into anime thanks to the afore mentioned movies; Bebop was and is a stepping stone for most anime fans. It’s such a well told series, rot with style and action that even people who refuse to like anime love Bebop. This was Adult Swim’s first strike, and it was a solid one.

Upon this success [as] has hit us with one great series after another, to name a few; Trigun, Rurouni Kenshin, Death Note, Full Metal Alchemist, and yes Bleach. Now I wish I could claim that [as] has the success it achieved with Bebop, with all it’s anime but sadly this is not the case. Most do fairly well but only a few bring in the numbers that Bebop did when it was on its first few runs.

Now this brings me to my point, Adult Swim has brought anime to the masses in a way that no network has even considered, but even the mighty have low moments…The past year or so has seen a lull in fresh anime on [as].

until now that is–

Adult Swim is now airing new episodes of Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood  (they are now on episode 4), which I can easily say is one of the best anime’s I have ever seen (and I’ve seen a great many) the quality of story-telling in the FMA mangas and the new adaptation Brotherhood is just phenomenal, I mean its some seriously powerful stuff.

You can go check it out now at Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood [as] catch up on the first three episodes.  Now I warn you, it takes those first three episodes to suck you in, but I promise by the end of the third episode you might be wondering if you are still watching the same series, it takes such a dramatic and heavy turn that it’s the equivalent of a punch in the gut.

So listen everyone, if you love anime and are around a TV between 12pm and 5am Saturday, do yourself and the rest of us a favor; give [as] one more rating point, because that one more point might mean they can buy us one more new series to air (Darker Than Black anyone?).  So, in all seriousness let’s help [as] bring anime back in full force, catch FMA: Brotherhood, Cowboy Bebop, and a few other delicious anime series every Saturday night starting at midnight!

I added some hilarious Adult Swim bumps, check them out.

Adopt an Anime

Subliminal

promo

*[as]  is Adult Swims abbreviation.

Metro 2033 is a very atmospheric game based on the novel Metro 2033 by Russian author Dmitry Glukhovsky.  The game combines RPG, survival horror and first person shooter elements to deliver what could be this years must-own survival horror shooter.

It is a purely single player game which no multiplayer whosoever, so gamers are expecting a strong story.    The game takes place in post-apcalyptic Moscow and players will spend most of the time in the metro system, dealing with other survivors and mutants. Resources are scarce so you will spend some time above ground as well, scavenging for extra supplies. As you can imagine, ammunition is also scarce and can be used as currency if needs must.

Matro 2033, is available now on PC and Xbox 360.

Credit to Gametrailers for the trailer

Creat and Tik’s partnership has created PSN favorites Magic Ball and Cuboid, but also a couple of digital bombs, such as Interpol: The Trail of Dr.Chaos, so the quality of Wakeboarding HD is yet to be determined. Though, from the trailer on their website, it looks like this game will have a better chance of living up to the “state-of-the-art water simulation ” claims then it does to “high-quality action game”.

Wakeboarding HD will release on the European PSN on March 18th and the North American PSN on March 25th for $14.99 / €14.99.

Press Release:

TIKGAMES AND CREAT STUDIOS TO

RELEASE WAKEBOARDING HD FOR THE

PLAYSTATION® NETWORK

Arcade Style Action Platform Game Featured By Sony at Game Developers Conference Launches on PSN on March 18^th in Europe, October 25^th in North America

March 15, 2010 – TikGames (San Mateo, CA) and Creat Studios (Canton, MA) today announced that Wakeboarding HD will be available for download on the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system on Thursday, March 18^th in Europe and March 25^th in North America.   The sixth release under the partnership between the two companies to deliver next generation console games, Wakeboarding HD features state-of-the-art water simulation and split-screen local multiplayer, and will be available via Sony’s PlayStation® Network for $14.99 / €14.99.

Grab your board and hold on tight!  Wakeboarding HD drops players into 20 high-speed, water-filled, arcade levels to maneuver through tracks, perform high-flying tricks, collect bonuses and avoid dangers from exploding mines to bloodthirsty sharks.  Gamers of all ages can show their skills and wreak havoc as the tropical paradise resort transforms into an action-packed extreme playground.

“Wakeboarding HD returns gamers to the intense, over-the-top action of 90’s arcade games, combined with the best of modern gameplay.  TikGames is thrilled to bring another innovative, high-end title to gamers on the PlayStation® Network,” said Anatoly Tikhman, Founder and CEO of TikGames, LLC.

Challenges include performing a variety of assigned tasks while zooming through obstacles at top speed in order to keep action chains alive.  Jump the ramps, ride the rails, crash through boats, docks and tourists, collect stars and power-ups, dodge the lurking sharks and evade the treacherous mines while feeling the force of the wake!

“Creat Studios is excited to deliver another high-quality action game like Wakeboarding HD to the PlayStation® Network and take advantage of capabilities only found on the PlayStation 3,” said Vladimir Starzhevsky, co-founder and CEO of Creat Studios, Inc. “We are continuing to push our design, technology and gameplay capabilities to bring PlayStation Network players the most engaging and entertaining titles.”

Wakeboarding HD will include PlayStation Trophy support and has been rated “E” for Everyone by the Entertainment Software Rating Board for this platform.

“PlayStation” and “PS” Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. The PlayStation Network Logo is a service mark of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

About TikGames: TikGames, LLC was founded in 2002 by Anatoly Tikhman with a plan to develop the most innovative and entertaining games for digital distribution. Towards that end, he has built an industry-leading studio to deliver a broad range of top quality proprietary games. The company is headquartered in San Mateo, California. Further information is available at www.tikgames.com.

About Creat Studios: Creat Studios, Inc. is a premier digital download publisher and developer of current and next-generation online, console and handheld games. Founded in 1990, Creat’s corporate headquarters are located in Canton, Massachusetts, with development studios in Massachusetts and St. Petersburg, Russia. Creat Studios develops and publishes titles for Sony PSP®, PlayStation®3, Nintendo DS™, Nintendo DSiWare™, Wii™ and Microsoft Xbox 360®.  For more information, please visit www.creatstudios.com.

ModNation Racers

On May 25th you can start to play, create, and share your own cars, drivers, and tracks across the Playstation Network. Now, instead of creating your own version of your favorite Playstation mascots, you can get them by pre-ordering from certain retailers as bonuses.

ModNation Bonus

Kratos and his Kart of Chaos will be available exclusively at Gamestop, Ratchet and Clank will be available with a pre-order through Amazon.com, and a code for Nathan Drake can be secured through an uncharted visit to Best Buy.

In addition to these special characters, each pre-order comes with a mystery Mod and Kart package that includes different accessories for you to use to customize your game even further.

Xbox 360 20GB HDD

Microsoft has been offering a 120GB hard drive for quite some time, but the price makes it less than appealing. There was a time that Microsoft made efforts to keep the file sizes on XBLA games under 50MB, and the biggest piece of DLC was horse armor. With the constant evolution of Xbox Live, there’s a dearth of content that is vying for space on our console’s storage, and I don’t see Microsoft attempting to keep file sizes down to something more manageable anymore.

The release of the Blur beta (which weighed in at a whopping 1.44GB), and the upcoming Halo Reach beta has really made me think about how much further the 20GB limit can be pushed. Anyone that’s played the Blur beta has seen the HD cinematic at the beginning. How much of that 1.44GB is just that video? Personally, this is where I think Microsoft should step in. I’m sure they have compression algorithms in place that significantly shrink these files, but at what point do they step in and say, “Is this 2 minute HD video really necessary?”

Xbox 360 120GB HDD

I did an impromptu Twitter poll recently asking people with 20GB hard drive how they deal with it and if they are constantly shuffling their content. The responses were essentially the same across the board.

• MolotovCupcake – I am having to delete things all the time! I keep telling myself it’s time to upgrade, but I torture myself instead. xD
• Gronar – Full, 4MB free space. But remember, Peter Moore told us all those E3’s ago “20 GB is all you’ll ever need.”
• Polychronopolus – I still have a 20gb. And it is always full so yes, I’m always deleting sh*t off of it.
• wargamer – I have a 20GB still. I’ve deleted a lot to make room for new stuff and will again soon. Constantly re-downloading too.
• TeeTocks – I have to make room often especially when there are betas or demos I wanna try.
• robertcortez – I still have the 20 and it’s usually almost full (less than 1GB remaining) most of the time. Cleaning out the reefer is a pain.

The easy answer is to go out and upgrade your hardware, but for a lot of people this isn’t an option. Unfortunately, we’re not going to see Microsoft lower the price on the big 120GB hard drive, so what we’re left with is deleting and re-downloading content. It makes me wonder if Microsoft has decided to not enforce any strict size constraints onto newer content in an attempt to force all of us early adopters to upgrade. It may sound devious, but I’m hard pressed to find another reason for the situation we’re in.

So, what is your solution for the small hard drive blues? Are you destined to wait until your console finally dies or the Xbox 720 is eventually released? Should Microsoft be doing more to shrink these demos, betas, and XBLA titles? Or am I just complaining because I’m too cheap to buy a 120Gig hard drive?

Lost Planet 2

Forgive me for being a bit cliche, but this game looks epic.

A GameStop pre-order will also net you two new map packs (seen below).

Back to the Island
Brings the new weapons and abilities of LP2 back to Island 902, a remake of the classic map from the original Lost Planet.

Helix
Fight in a multilayered NEVEC ocean research facility at the bottom of the ocean. While you need to swim down to reach the lower levels, the aqua catapult can be used to move back to the upper levels.

Lost Planet 2 will be available for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 on May 18th. Until then, you can catch up with Lost Planet: Extreme Conditions, available on all of the same systems.

Map pack information comes via GameStop.