This weekend, FOX Broadcasting will show a short based in the world of Rockstar Games’ open-world adventure game Red Dead Redemption.

Created and directed by John Hillcoat, the man behind The Road and The Proposition, the short is hardly short, as it’s 30 minutes long.

The entire film was created using the in-game world of Red Dead Redemption as a virtual set, borrowing its assets and harnessing its technology to get the job done.

The film debuts on FOX May 29 at midnight and the publisher has provided a 60-second teaser of it today (embedded below).

For those currently playing the game. What do you think of it?

Embedded in an Associated Press report detailing the success of Bungie’s Halo: Reach Beta and what’s on the proverbial horizon for the company, was a September 14 release date for the final, shipped product.

In addition to the release date revelation came numbers and statistics from Reach‘s Beta.

According to the report, during the Beta’s 18 day length, more than 16 millions hours and over 1.1 billion kills were logged, leaving Bungie quite the happy camper.

“It’s exceeded our expectations,” said Bungie Studios community director Brian Jarrard. “Our only real perspective going into this was the ‘Halo 3′ beta test, which had about 800,000 people. We knew there were a couple million copies of ‘ODST’ out there, but we really didn’t have any specific information that let us know what the population might be like.”

via AP

The series finale of LOST aired last night. Twitter exploded, heads rolled and tears were shed.

Though the show may now be over, it won’t soon be forgotten, as songs from the sci-fi drama will arrive in the Rock Band music store in the near future.

Gaming site and television channel G4 is reporting two original songs, heard only in the show, will make their way to the popular music game. If you’re a fan of the series, you probably have a guess at which songs were chosen, but for those outside the loop, here’s the skinny.

The cast

Driveshaft’s “You All Everybody” and Geronimo Jackson’s “Dharma Lady” are the tunes in question and G4 thinks they’ll show up on the Rock Band Network in the next few days.

Don’t know about you, but I think it’s pretty neat when two major mediums: television and videogames, pool their creative essences and end up with a mash-up like this. No mention of price or specific date of availability. But wouldn’t it be great if both songs were free?

via G4

Sony’s worst kept secret, a third Killzone title, was outed today. The June issue of GamePro magazine, due to subscribers beginning June 1, has graced mailboxes early, with readers confirming the magazine’s Killzone 3 blowout and detailing some of the game’s specifics.

Supposed Killzone 3 screenshot

According to a reader, writing on the GameSpot forums, the game will be fully playable in 3D, more deeply familiarize gamers with both Helghast language and culture, incorporate jetpacks to the core game experience among other interesting tidbits found right here.

Killzone 2 remains one of my most favorite PlayStation 3 titles and was actually the reason I picked up a console in the first place. My hopes are high for the third installment, don’t let me down Guerrilla!

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of legendary arcade title Pac-Man, Google has launched its first playable doodle, allowing Internet searchers to play the game, in its entirety right in their browser.

That’s right, all 255 Pac-Man levels, plus the 256th, the Kill Screen, are accessible right now.

Play Pac-Man, in your broswer.

The doodle, what Google officially calls the themed illustrations, is the first playable doodle in Google’s history.

Simply press the “Insert Coin” button and you’re good to go! Also, we’re not liable for your boss’ anger.

In my estimation and based on my personal experiences, people either love or hate the 90s metal band Pantera.

If you’re in the latter group and enjoy the melodies and biting guitar riffs of the late Dimebag Darrell, you should be pleased to learn Pantera’s 1996 The Great Southern Trendkill is coming to the world of Rock Band next week.

Each song is $2/160 MS Points/200 Wii Points or $15.99/1280 MS Points for the entire pack (not available for Wii).

Available on Xbox 360, Wii and PlayStation 3 system (May 25):

· "The Great Southern Trendkill"

· "War Nerve"

· "Drag the Waters"

· "10′s"

· "13 Steps to Nowhere"

· "Suicide Note Pt. II"

· "Living Through Me (Hell’s Wrath)

· "Floods"

· "The Underground in America"

· "(Reprise) Sandblasted Skin"

(All tracks are original master recordings; "Suicide Note Pt. I" is not included in this pack.)

(These tracks will be available in Europe on PlayStation 3 May 26)

Harmonix made no mention in the release if these songs will also be available in the kid friendly LEGO: Rock Band music store, but, being Pantera, we wouldn’t expect to see them there anyway.

Lionhead Studios’ third installment in the famed Fable universe, Fable III, will set sail on Windows PC in addition to Xbox 360, the development house today revealed. The Guildford, England based developer also announced, detailed and priced a Limited Edition bundle of the popular role-playing-game.

Unlike its predecessor Fable II, Fable III, a title in which you become the king or queen and serve justice unto your land, will arrive on Windows PC. In Lionhead’s news release, it did not specify if both the Windows and Xbox 360 versions will simultaneously launch, only stating “the journey expands to Windows this Holiday season.”

Fable III

This announcement falls directly in line with what was already teased. Last week Xbox 360 boxart for Fable III popped up and adorning its face was a rectangle with the words “Only On Xbox 360 & Windows” in it. The art was swiftly taken down.

The other Lionhead news arriving this morning was the reveal of both the Standard and Limited Collector’s Editions of Fable III. The former bundles everything you’d expect in it; the game and the box, but the Limited Collector’s Edition has many more goodies inside.

First, the Limited Collector’s Edition will feature “a distinctive box created in the likeness of a book from "Fable III,” where oodles of collectibles will be housed.

They include:

A new quest: Uncover the mystery of the haunted forests of Silverpines and earn the legendary sword, Wolfsbane, deadly against wolves and balverines.

Exclusive location: Unlock a new region, ideal for settling down with a family and discovering new treasures.

"Fable III" playing cards: Created by Lionhead, these cards depict every type of character in "Fable III," including Heroes, royals, rebels and villains from across Albion and beyond.

Guild Seal Coin:  The coin features a Good side (blue) and Evil side (red) to assist players in making critical decisions that will impact the fate of the world forever.

A new dog breed: Renowned for its loyalty, the Boxer is a brave canine companion worthy of greatest Queens and Kings.

One unique outfit: Unearth one male and female outfit from the mysterious, faraway land of Aurora, a new destination in your "Fable III" adventures.

The Standard Edition will retail for $59.99/£44.99/€64.99, and the Limited Collector’s Edition will sell for $79.99/£59.99/€84.99.  And for the PC faithful, the Windows version will cost you $49.99/£39.99/€54.99, and will also be available for digital download via the Games on Demand marketplace for Windows – LIVE.

No art of the Standard Edition or Limited Collector’s Edition was provided. If/when Microsoft or Lionhead provides assets to us, we will update the post. [UPDATE] – and now they have. Find the shots below.

Limited Collector's Edition

Windows version

Standard Edition

The “I think games are too expensive” sentiment is one we’re all familiar with. The going rate of new titles ranges anywhere from $39.99 for a new DS/PSP game to $59.99 or above for console titles. While gamers can whine all they want, prices aren’t ever going to drop…are they?

At least one publisher wants to see such a thing happen. Namco Bandai recently voiced its opposition to the hefty going rate of new releases in today’s gaming world and suggests a summit, with major international publishers, be held to tackle the issue.

“I feel all the big video game companies need to join together in a worldwide summit to discuss the future of our industry. I think we have to pull our thoughts together”, Namco Bandai’s Olivier Comte told MCV.

“I am convinced that in the future we must change the price of video games – they’re too expensive for the audience. With the cost of development and the retail margins, £40 is a fair price [to us], but for the consumer it is too much.”

“From September to December there are three new blockbusters every week, and consumers just can’t afford to buy all that.”

Everything the man has said so far sounds exactly in line with my thoughts and feelings, but where he loses me is when he says “a good price of a game should be around £20 — but for this price we can’t make a ten to 15-hour adventure. So for £20 we should offer consumers four to five hours of gameplay, then after that we can make additional money with DLC.”

Ouch. That’s not what you want!

via MCV

Activision recently began airing a television spot that pokes fun directly at longstanding cart racing champion Mario Kart.

It’s a bold and ultimately humorous spot, something we wish others had tried in the past.

“Race like a big boy” is its catchphrase and I won’t spoil the even funnier comment immediately preceding it. Enjoy!

Game distributor Steam and guide book penning team Prima  have joined forces, today announcing a partnership that will see game guides make their way online, and in the digital hands of gamers.

The guides can be downloaded and read or viewed in-game, hopefully reducing the extent of those frustrating moments when you get stuck and need a hand.

Game guides, now available on Steam

There are six guides available today including one for each of the following recent titles: Just Cause 2, Dragon Age: Origins, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Left 4 Dead 2, Dragon Age: Origins Awakening and Splinter Cell: Conviction.

More titles are promised for the future, but don’t expect one for Counter Strike. That formula is simple; point and shoot.

Each Prima guide costs $19.99, but to coincide with the launch announcement, each of the six available today are going for half off, or a much more alluring $9.99.

Take a look at the full catalog here.

Despite reporting its first ever non-record holiday in January, GameStop today reported record first quarter sales to the tune of over $2 billion.

Total sales are up 5.1 percent from 2009′s first quarter to $2.08 billion due to a 13.3 percent software sales increase.

GameStop attributes the uptick to strong sales of popular franchises’ newest sequels Battlefield Bad Company 2, BioShock 2, Final Fantasy XIII, God of War III and Nintendo’s powerhouses duo Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver.

God of War III, a strong seller for GameStop in its first quarter

Daniel DeMatteo, Chief Executive of GameStop said strong sales at brick and mortal locations is providing necessary capital to the company needed to expand to digital ventures.

“I am pleased that our earnings have achieved the high end of guidance and total company sales have exceeded $2 billion for the first time in a non-holiday quarter. By maintaining a sharp focus on our customer needs and overall business execution, our strong brick and mortar business continues to provide the capital needed to invest in new stores as well as execute our strategic plan to incorporate digital gaming into our global operations.”

GameStop recently began internal promotion for the browser-based title Legends of Zork, a game distributed by Activision and one the company used to test the waters of digital gaming. According to DeMatteo, it work out swimmingly.

Is GameStop ready to embrace the digital revolution?

“The in-store Legends of Zork test proved highly successful in economically acquiring and converting our customers to browser game players. Additionally, at the end of this month, GameStop will be marketing and selling downloadable content in a group of test stores. Of equal importance, our new customer loyalty program will launch in select markets. Altogether, we continue to deliver a superior shopping experience and are introducing our customers to the digital options for gaming,” he said through the statement.

What’s more, the tried, tested, and now reportedly proven trifecta buy-sell-trade has worked well for the company. Paul Raines, Chief Operating Officer at GameStop said store associates have done a great job promoting new releases and putting the aforesaid threesome to great use.

“Our store associates did an outstanding job of executing our ‘Go Big’ marketing campaigns to promote hot new titles. Their effectiveness can be measured by the significant day one, week one and overall market share GameStop captured of this quarter’s new releases. Our unique buy-sell-trade model continues to provide a strong value proposition for new game buyers.”

Many analysts believe the videogame industry is headed towards a more significant level of digitization, bringing about a time where traditional brick and mortar retailers will be affected by the sale games through digital methods. If GameStop’s DeMatteo is to believed, the company is ready for that change. How the company will move ahead in the digital age remains to be seen.

GameStop first quarter fact sheet.

Today mega international retailer Wal-Mart opened a new store, but not in the traditional brick and mortar sense.

The company unveiled its digital videogame outlet “GameCenter” today. It’s being called a “new online destination that combines special savings on the latest video games with first-look exclusives and previews.”

The GameCenter

Before you write off the destination as merely a shiny gimmick, know that the Center actually has some seriously bright spots.

For one, in the Game Center today is an exclusive video (no one’s seen this) of Harmonix designers as well as Tre, Billie Joe and Mike from Green Day speaking at length about Green Day: Rock Band in a behind the scenes look. Wade deeper into the site and you’ll find a Toy Story 3 exclusive look. Not too bad.

"Walmart Gamecenter combines incredible savings with exclusive gaming content all in a

compelling and interactive experience online," says Kelly Thompson, vice president of

merchandising for Walmart.com. "Gaming enthusiasts will be drawn in by the exclusive content

and developer interviews, while moms will appreciate the special savings only Walmart can offer

on the hottest video game titles."

Personally, I’m surprised it took Wal-Mart this long to do something like this.

Billionaire owner of Virgin Group Richard Branson, will grace the annual video game trek to mecca we call the Electronic Entertainment Expo next month where he’ll debut a new “gaming service.”

United Kingdom industry site MCV reports that Branson will appear at E3 2010, which runs from June 15-17 in Los Angeles where he’ll wow gamers with whatever he has in tow.

‘The new gaming service rumoured to launch at E3 will seek partnerships with leading publishers and content owners, offering new and unique opportunities… [we] understand that the new video games venture will be online-only and again challenge-based, possibly built on a technology acquisition,’ reads the MCV report.

The Virgin Group used to have an Interactive division until it was bought off in 1999. During its glory days  however, it pushed out classics Cannon Fodder (1993), The Lion King (1994) Command & Conquer (1995) as well as mega popular Capcom hits Resident Evil, Devil May Cry and Dino Crisis in Europe.

via MCV

In the Sims 3‘s upcoming expansion, Ambitions, players will get yet another hefty dose of famous artists singing their tunes in the Sim language, Simlish.

The artist lineup for The Sims 3 is already quite extensive, but when Ambitions launches in June popular bands Lady Antebellum and their song “Need You Now” as well as Rise Against and their high energy mix “Savior” will find their ways into the game.

“Each time we set out to create a soundtrack for an expansion pack, it’s always exciting matching the vibe of the game to the music by our incredible lineup of extremely diverse artists,” said Robi Kauker, Audio Director for The Sims Studio at EA. “It’s fun hearing hit tracks in the language of The Sims, and I think fans will be pleased to find their favorites songs and artists throughout this game, and will no doubt discover new bands to follow in The Sims 3 Ambitions.”

In case you missed the announcement trailer for Ambitions, find it, and the Lady Antebellum tune embedded below.

Beginning next month, 32 national teams will take part in the world’s largest and grandest tournament, the FIFA World Cup and Sony wants you to be there to revel in the splendor.

Played once every four years, the World Cup is an event many live for, but should you win this contest, your heart actually may stop beating.

Sony, in a partnership with Modnation Racers on PS3 and PSP, is granting enthusiasts the chance to win tickets to the FIFA World Cup Final. The final!

Should you win, Sony will fly you there to South Africa, set you up in a hotel, and equip you with a camera to capture the spectacle.

Sound like something you’d be interested in? Head over to the official page to enter.

THQ’s upcoming fighting game UFC Undisputed 2010 will require the activation of a one-time use code to play the title online, and will charge anyone playing the title second-hand to purchase the code for $5.

Purchasers of a new copy of the game will find the code waiting for them on the back of the game’s instruction manual, but should you pick up the game pre-owned, you’ll need to buy your way into online play.

The "enter code" screen

Electronic Arts’ sports division, EA Sports, is implementing a similar strategy by the name of the Online Pass. This Pass is required to enjoy EA Sports titles’ online functionality beginning with Tiger Woods PGA Tour ’11 on June 8.

But THQ is beating EA to the punch (pun sorta intended) by launching their attack on used games, at half the price and a week earlier.

UFC 2010

When this story broke, late last night, THQ hadn’t yet responded. Now, they have. Speaking with gaming mega blog Kotaku a representative cleared up the issue.

“This multiplayer content for UFC Undisputed 2010 will be available via a one-time code included with the game at purchase. Codes for accessing the content will be available for second-time buyers for an additional $5.”

If this endeavor proves fruitful for both companies,  it could possibly be implemented to more popular franchises both within the sports library of titles (FIFA, etc.) and outside (online shooters, etc.), meaning those “cheap” pre-owned titles you picked up, can’t be played online without forking over more cash.

It’s time to get used to this sort of thing.

Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft is set to receive its third official expansion sometime later this year.

It’ll bring changes to familiar landscapes a new level cap and also new characters to waste time grind level to their peaks.

One of the new races is Worgen and today Blizzard showed off the nagging female.

The female Worgen

If last night’s Black Ops debut 100 percent gameplay trailer wasn’t enough, Activision and Treyarch today dispatched the first batch of Call of Duty: Black Ops screens, letting the world in on what to expect from the Vietnam War era shooter.

Look for the game on shelves for Wii, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 November 9, 2010.

James Cameron’s science fiction epic Avatar did wonders at the box office and more recently on DVD and Blu-Ray. It made more money than any other before it.

Ubisoft was quick to control the license for a video game adaptation and released Avatar: The Video Game a few weeks before the film hit shelves, a decision some say was backwards and silly.

Well, those naysayers feel the force of karma today, as Ubisoft reports the title sold nearly 2.7 million units life-to-date.

“The game Avatar performed ahead of our expectation in the quarter, notably on Wii, and ended up close to 2.7 million units sold in the full year, delivering a positive contribution for the company,” Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said yesterday in a conference call. He added “”The game continues to sell well, notably thanks to the launch of the movie DVD.”

I haven’t played the game, but clearly millions of you have. When I see the game in the cheap bin, I’ll certainly pick it up.

via GameSpot

Blizzard Entertainment’s massively multiplayer online role playing game World of Warcraft aims to siphon more money from its over 11 million users with a new paid Auction House monitoring service.

World of Warcraft Remote Web version.

For $3 a month, those who regularly venture to the rolling hills and dark crevasses of Azeroth, can access World of Warcraft Remote. It’s a service allowing users to manage whatever in-game auctions they currently are engaged in through a Web browser or Blizzard’s Mobile Armory App for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

The app is currently in beta, where users can enjoy its fineries free of charge. Blizzard has set no exact time for its full, official and paid release.

During this beta period, only a large handful of realms are running the beta test, and as the above image reveals, mine isn’t one of them.

For lots more detailed informational tidbits, head to the World of Warcraft forum page.

According to a report, Rockstar Games’ sandbox Wild West title Red Dead: Redemption cost $100 million to develop.

Rockstar, in a previous statement said the project was its “most ambitious to date” and with a huge marketing budget as well as a more than five year development cycle, the development price tag doesn’t seem too farfetched.

The $100 million game?

First revealed at E3 2005, before Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Sony’s PlayStation 3 were even available to consumers, Red Dead: Redemption, finally hit the market on Tuesday (later this week in Europe) and analysts expect it to sell in excess of four million copies before the summer is over.

via The Daily Mail

No, this isn’t some kind of twisted, nonsensical joke. Electronic Arts today posted shots of Dead Space protagonist Isaac Clarke riding a skateboard in the world of Skate 3.

Isaac Clarke

In the newly released skateboarding simulator from EA, if you enter this cheat, you’ll unlock the Isaac suit and can enjoy shredding rails instead of dismantling necromorphs.

Rockstar Games released their open world action game Red Dead: Redemption yesterday and, while its garnered near perfect scores across the review spectrum, it’s also stuck to classic Rockstar roots.

To unlock this Achievement/Trophy simply hogtie a lady and leave her on the train tracks.

This is Rockstar we’re talking about, so yes, let her die and you’ll unlock the “Dastardly” Achievement/Trophy.

Your cries for updates have not been lost and forgotten, Gears of War 2 fans. Epic Games recently announced Title Update 6 for the 2008 third-person shooter as well as a nice discount for those who’ve yet to venture deep into the bowels of the game.

Gears 2

Title Update 6 addresses issues in the game’s multiplayer component, including bug fixes, reconditioning of balancing issues, the addition of a new game mode in Social, and still more.

And on top of the numerous fixes (listed below) Epic revealed  “a promotion that will dramatically reduce the cost of the All Fronts Collection,” for those who haven’t already picked up the DLC.

All the details are below.

Improvements

Title Update 6 makes these new improvements:

• Adds a new public multiplayer match option called Social Xbox LIVE (aka player matches), open to anyone who owns all downloadable maps (that is, All Fronts Collection). We’ll be having a promotion that will dramatically reduce the cost of the All Fronts Collection.
• You can join Social Matches in progress and can quit any time without penalty, although players who quit a match early don’t receive earned experience (XP) from that match.
• Social matchmaking lets your party join a match in progress. If a match is not found, your party hosts a new match, filling any empty player slots with bots.
• Social Matches automatically cycle to the next map without further matchmaking.
• Teams are rebalanced between matches based on XP level without splitting parties.
• If you quit, your spot is taken by a bot until a new player joins the match. That new player can join while the match is in progress.
• If you join a match in progress, you are assigned a team based on XP level and party size.
• If you join a match in progress, you replace a bot at the earliest opportunity: at the first bot’s death for respawning game types (for example, Annex) and at round completion for Warzone, Execution, and Wingman.
• Social leaderboards become part of the War Journal.
• Renames Public Matches to Ranked Xbox LIVE Matches to differentiate these from Social Xbox LIVE Matches, and adds some improvements to these matches.
• Improved host selection using bandwidth testing and previous hosting data has been added.
• Before the match begins, teams are balanced based on XP without splitting parties.
• Renames Private Matches to Custom Xbox LIVE Matches and makes these matches invite-only.
• Adds the ability to join Horde sessions that are in progress.
• In Social Horde, you can join a session in progress through matchmaking and you are able to continue your session from the last wave you failed without starting over.
• In Ranked Horde, you can join a session in progress only through invites.
• If you join a session in progress, at the end of the session you receive the score you achieved during the time you spent in the session.
• Improves the precision of weapon selection using the D-pad.
• Improves client-side hit detection for ballistic weapons.

Exploit Fixes

Title Update 6 fixes these possible exploits, where under certain circumstances:

• Execution rules could be ignored when using certain weapon types.
• On the Subway map, you could get outside of the playable environment by sliding into cover and rolling between a train car and the side of tracks.
• On the Blood Drive map, you could get outside of the playable environment in various locations.
• Players could grief other players on Submission, Annex, King of the Hill, and Guardian games by preventing the objective from being completed while racking up experience. Title Update 6 adds match time limits to each of these game types to prevent this practice.

General Fixes

Title Update 6 fixes these other issues as well:

• An issue that could cause your profile to be overwritten, erasing XP level, and achievement progress.
• An issue that could cause a campaign save slot to be overwritten if you previously chose to continue without saving and then signed in.

Balancing

Title Update 6 makes these balancing changes:

• Changes the Gnasher Shotgun pellet pattern to increase hit consistency.
• Changes the Guardian game type to select the leader based upon XP level (highest to lowest

via Kotaku

Originally scheduled to drop out of service today (May 19) Bungie has extended the life of the Halo: Reach multiplayer Beta until tomorrow (May 20) for unknown reasons.

Extended a day!

Speaking with gaming blog Joystiq, Bungie’s Brian Jarrard revealed the extension.

“Our official plans as of now are to turn off the Reach beta on Thursday, 5/20 at 10AM PDT,” he said.

You’ve earned yourselves an extra day, headhshot-honchos. Go at it while you can!

via Joystiq

“A lie is a lie. Just because they write it down and call it history, doesn’t make it the truth,” reads a nameless narrator in the first full-length trailer for Treyarch’s Call of Duty: Black Ops.

Call of Duty: Black Ops

The trailer, composed entirely of gameplay and clocking it at a hefty 1:42, is one impressive feat, serving its purpose of sticking in your mind past the time you spent watching it.

Call of Duty: Black Ops comes to Xbox 360, PS3, PC and Wii November 9, 2010. And we’re expecting some hands-on time with it next month at E3 2010.

During this “tough” economy, one we’re all soldiering through together, a threesome shines above the rest.

Knives, killing and death.

Ubisoft reported its financial earnings today, and despite a net loss of $54 million for the year ending March 31, over 9 million copies of Assassin’s Creed II were sold and plans for the next installment are pushing ahead as well.

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot blamed the dip on a global economic downturn and said motion control technology from both Microsoft and Sony will “re-energize the casual games segment.”

What’s more, the man expressed his company will shift internally in order “to release new iterations of our major franchises on a more regular basis and guarantee high quality levels.”

via GameSpot

Bungie’s final Halo effort, Halo:Reach, has been in multiplayer beta since May 3. In that time, a mere 2.5 weeks, it has managed to overtake Halo 3‘s player count by leaps and bounds.

The Beta’s fast paced train of death comes to a abrupt halt tomorrow, when Microsoft says it will pull the figurative (or literal!) plug on the trial.

In Reach‘s first week alone, over 14 million games were logged and 157 million kills amassed, which equals more than Halo 3 enjoyed in its beta’s lifetime.

Possibly the allure of the beta was found for gamers in its new gametypes; Invasion and Generator Defense. Personally, Generator Defense felt like a buzzkill. I loved the ideal objective, but with only three versus three, it got old and stale very fast. On the other hand, Invasion and Invasion Slayer, are two areas I’ve logged the most time in, simply because Bungie finally went for it and they nailed it, right on the head.

What do you think?

via Destructoid

While the title remains shrouded in thick, smog-filled clouds of question marks, Ubsisoft today confirmed a pre-release multiplayer beta for  Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood.

When in Rome...

If you weren’t aware, Brotherhood will be the first Assassin’s title to incorporate a mulitplayer component and the beta will serve as a very important testing ground for those skeptical of Ubisoft’s ability to infuse multiplayer into the stealth game.

More Brotherhood details are promised for E3 2010 next month in June, where the title will in all likelihood be playable on the show floor. We hope.

via G4TV

Famed Halo developer Bungie signed a ten-year publishing exclusive deal with Activision last month, but that’s not stopping bitter rival Electronic Arts from pursuing the developer and locking them in for a deal.

Bungie’s deal with Activision extends to only one immediate intellectual property, and, given the growing size of the studio, could spiderweb, a la Rockstar Games, and create sub-studios like Bungie East or something, in addition to the headquarters in Washington state. This way, Bungie would be able to enter into an agreement with Electronic Arts as well as Activision.

“We had extensive conversations with them, but could never really figure out a deal that made sense for both of us. It just didn’t come to fruition,” David DeMartini, Electronic Arts Partners boss said. “Obviously, they were able to come up with some kind of deal that made sense to Activision and made sense to Bungie and we hope they make great games. It’s healthy for the industry to have big independent studios that are making great products.

“I don’t want to see them fail – I want them to be successful. And when they start up a second team, we’ll have other discussions with them about that game as well – because they’re a great studio. There are probably only 20 studios in the world that are that highest level – and they’re certainly one of them.”

Whatever happens, the gaming world should be excited. Bungie’s making a game not called Halo. Weird, huh?

via CVG

The legendary Tomb Raider franchise extends this summer with Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, an Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network and Windows mini-title.

Crystal Dynamics, the team developing the action puzzler, released a trailer for it today, introducing Tomb Raider fans to a fresh take on the storied series.

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light comes XBLA, PSN, and PC sometime this summer for $15.

Hankering for some more good lovin’, Splinter Cell style?

Hopefully you are, as Ubisoft recently dated and detailed downloadable content for Sam Fisher’s latest adventure, Splinter Cell: Conviction.

More is better.

The DLC includes new cooperative  missions on four new environments for play in the game’s Deniable Ops game modes. There is 250 GamerScore up for grabs here, so do your work, and you’ll be rewarded.

Unlike the game itself, which saw release on the Xbox 360 two weeks prior to that of the PC, the “Insurgency” DLC will arrive on both the Xbox 360 and PC simultaneously May 27 for 800 MS Points/$10.

Warner Bros. Interactive and developer 5th Cell today laid rumors to rest and officially announced the sequel to last year’s 1.1 million seller bedside wonder, Scribblenauts. Let’s all welcome Super Scribblenauts to the party.

Nintendo’s DS has an inordinately large number of titles in its library, though some would argue only a large handful of them are worth playing. 2009′s Scribblenauts was one of them and its sequel, Super Scribblenauts, barring development catastrophe, looks to build off its predecessors more than solid foundation and grow by leaps and bounds.

Super Scribblenauts

Over the weekend, online retailer Amazon listed Super Scribblenauts (and subsequently and rapidly took it down) and a domain name superscribblenauts.com, pointed us in the direction, but Warner Bros. today made the name and the game official.

Similar to the original, players will guide main character and all around doer of good, Maxwell, on his travels to complete zany quests by writing words, seeing them spring to life and collecting the precious Starites. Only this time there will be adjectives, adding seemingly limitless possibilities to an already extensive and deep word bank.

In Super Scribblenauts, words like the plain and mundane “axe,” can and will become “flaming axe.” “Dog” can easily become “wet dog” and so on and so forth.

What’s more, it seems 5th Cell has answered the shouts of many and rehashed the original’s wonky control mechanic. According to the press release, Super Scirbblenauts will offer “upgraded controls,” which we can only hope to mean the ability to control Maxwell in another way besides guiding with the stylus.

I fell in love with Scribblenauts. I dubbed it a “bedside” game and I continue to play it when I’m on the go. I cannot wait for the sequel, due out “Autumn 2010.”

This morning, at a press event in midtown New York City, Nintendo and the American Heart Association announced a strategic alliance aiming to promote general health awareness among gamers.

Nintendo and the AHA, together.

The AHA logo will find its way to copies of Wii Fit Plus, Wii Sports Resort and the box the Wii comes in and likely future titles as well.

Nintendo and the AHA launched a website today, www.activeplay.com, and on it the two companies stress the importance of this alliance, especially at this time, when, according to The Journal of the American Heart Association, nearly 70 percent of Americans do not get the recommended levels of physical activity per week.

Together at last!

The website, or an advertorial, depending on how you look at it, expresses the importance of getting “informed,” “empowered” and “active.”

If you’ve got a sharp mind, you’ll remember Nintendo revealed the Wii Vitality Sensor last year at E3 2009. Nintendo, to this day, has not clarified or elaborated whatsoever as to what the product is or what it will become, but it’s likely that with this new partnership between the AHA and Nintendo, its purposes will show itself.

Rockstar Games’ Red Dead: Redemption releases in less than 24 hours. Midnight launches happen tonight and sick days across the country will be called in, in bulk tomorrow.

I'll take this one, please.

If your level of fandom exceeds that type of normalcy though, and aren’t content with merely playing the game, Rockstar has today made available in its Rockstar Warehouse, Red Dead: Redemption t-shirts.

One has protagonist John Marston on it, the other merely the menacing red words over a black base. Which you choose is up to you. At $20, they aren’t the most expensive things out there, but also aren’t cheap enough for me to impulsively pull the trigger.

The Rockstar Warehouse

When Bungie signed their industry-shattering ten-year publishing deal with Activision, many became instantly wary of the renowned Halo developer working on Activision’s crown console jewel, Call of Duty.

However, in an interview with Computer and Video Games, Bungie’s Brian Jarrard dispelled that rumor, and said Bungie has “no interest” in developing a title in that franchise for Activision.

“No. We have no interest at all in working on anybody else’s intellectual property. Realistically, the scale and ambition of what we hope to achieve with our own IP for the next ten years can only really happen if we had the full might of the entire studio working on it. We are committed to fully engage and really work on executing this collective vision as an entire team.”

On top of that confirmation of commitment to Bungie’s own intellectual property, the studio spoke about that IP in question, saying that while the core staff at Bungie remains “100 percent” committed to finishing Halo: Reach and shipping it this Fall, the “new game” is in pre-production. What’s more, Bungie expects it to be as popular, if not more, than Halo.

Yeah – absolutely. We’re tremendously proud of what we’ve accomplished with Halo. If you look at Bungie’s history, each new universe we’ve built has gotten a little big bigger and a little bit broader – with Halo obviously being the crown jewel these days.

Many more interesting facts about Bungie, its take on the Infinity Ward/Activision imbroglio and lots more at CVG.

If an Activision artist’s resume is to be believed, work on Guitar Hero 6 and Band Hero 3 has already started.

Artist Nigel Li, who’s resume was spotted by the information sleuthing website Superannuation recently, indicates he’s done concept artwork for Activision’s two music game franchise’s future installments Band Hero 3 and Guitar Hero 7.

Taylor Swift, as seen in Activision's Band Hero.

Details on Guitar Hero 6, a title that’s supposed to land sometime in 2010, are just beginning to trickle in now and Band Hero 2 remains shrouded in mystery, but apparently, Activision is already setting up shop for the successors to those games.

All things considered, this news isn’t too zany. The Guitar Hero franchise is a popular and recognized one and Band Hero, with its appeal to the teeny-bopper masses, certainly feels like it could be the publisher’s “next big thing,” leading us to believe Activision would plan these titles out years in advance.

What’s more, Li, according to his resume, has only compiled concept art for the two games and everything starts with concept art.

Resume via superannuation

The month of May, with its numerous large budget releases, will aim to see the industry rebound from a pitiful April where sales of the Wii fell nearly fifty percent and Ubisoft’s Splinter Cell: Conviction took home top prize with not even half a million copies sold.

The release schedule ramps up to high gear in this month before E3, with major releases from Disney Interactive, Rockstar Games, Microst, Ubisoft and others making it a great month to finally reach to the wallet and go play.

Monday (May 17)

• Looksley’s Lineup (DSiWare)
• Frogger’s Return (DSiWare)
• BIT.TRIP.RUNNER (WiiWare)

Tuesday (May 18)

• Red Dead: Redemption (Xbox 360, PS3) – Rockstar Games is back in the saddle again with this open world action adventure title where players live as protagonist John Marston in the dying days of the cowboy. RDR is full of all the animated characters, engaging dialogue, weapons and death normally associated with a Rockstar title.

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  Red Dead: Redemption

• Split/Second (Xbox 360, PS3, PC) – This “high-octane” racer is not like Forza or Need For Speed, it’s all about destruction and being able to race through it and sit atop the podium.
• Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands (Wii, Xbox 360, PS3, PC) – A week before Jake Gyllenhaal invades theaters with The Sands of Time, Ubisoft tells the tale between games of old, allowing players to learn the history of what happened between The Sands of Time and Warrior Within.
• Alan Wake (Xbox 360) – In this literally dark tale within a tale, you’ll travel to the fictional town of Bright Falls for what you hoped to be a vacation…only it’s not. Wield your flashlight and shine through the darkness to live to see the light of tomorrow.
• Trauma Team (Wii) – Take to the table yet again in this Atlus made surgical motion controlled title.
• Dragon Age: Origins Darkspawn Chronicles (PS3, PC, Xbox 360) – BioWare unleashes even more content for the expansive RPG.
• Blue Dragon: Awakened Shadow (DS) – More Blue Dragon. Has that ever been a bad thing?
• Attack of the Movies 3D (Wii, Xbox 360)
• Shrek Forever After (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, DS) – Yet another movie tie in. Apparently, this is the final Shrek film.

The list of new releases doesn’t end here however. Looking ahead to the coming weeks are such releases as Green Day: Rock Band on June 8, Super Mario Galaxy 2, ModNation Racers, UFC 2010 and more. Stay tuned!

Video has been taken down.

Rockstar Games’ upcoming wild west action game, Red Dead: Redemption, has certainly garnered a lot of attention lately.

Its launch trailer released last week and just yesterday midnight launch plans for the game at several national retailers became available.

John Marston...On a train....

But what if you want to experience the game right here and now? Somehow,Youtube user DarkNinjaO1 got his hands on the first ten minutes of the game and posted it to the video site.

As I am intently interested in keeping my experience as pure and free of spoilers as possible, I haven’t watched it. When I play it for real on Tuesday, it’ll all be new to me.

That’s just me though. If you wish to spoil yourself, check out the video embedded below.

Rockstar Games’ ambitious Western, Red Dead: Redemption, an open-world action game, described as Grand Theft Auto of the West, releases May 18 for Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Sony’s PlayStation 3.

Pre-order your copy...right now.

Rockstar has pushed its title through the rigors of hard-hitting marketing and their efforts culminate next Tuesday at midnight, when the title officially gets released to the masses.

Like many blockbuster titles, Red Dead: Redemption is receiving the midnight launch treatment, allowing dedicated gamers the ability to purchase the $59.99 disc as early as possible.

John Marston.

The title will release at midnight on May 18 at Wal-Mart, GameStop and Best Buy locations nationwide, and thankfully, Rockstar has assembled a widget of sorts that aggregates a list of locations where the game will be sold the second after 11:59 p.m.

And of course, if you’ve yet to pre-order the title at any of the above retailers, you’ll need to embark upon that $5 quest first. Also, if you’ve yet to warm up your fake sick cough, now would be the time.

I’ll be at the midnight launch event in my area and will slog through some of the game’s campaign before jumping into RDR‘s quite alluring multiplayer component. If you’d like to join my posse and wreak some havoc by my side, add me as a friend on Xbox Live at the GamerTag “eddie not eddy” (spaces included).

Red Dead Redemption Midnight Launch Info Across the US