The above video speaks for itself. Shown at Leipzig this gameplay footage reinforces the unique path this game is taking for what is essentially an FPS game. Announced in February, Mirror’s Edge has yet to be given a release date, though by the polish shown by this video and its E3 showing, a holiday season release isn’t just wishful thinking.

Details are still scarce but hopefully with DICE having a wealth of online experience with the Battlefield series, then online parkour rooftop racing isn’t out of the question. Obviously it’s too early to call, but if the gameplay lives up, Mirror’s Edge could be just as satisfying a gaming experience as Portal was, mixing FPS, puzzle and action genres into a unique experience. Fingers crossed.

Mirror’s Edge E3 showing embedded after the jump.

Seeing as it worked so well a year ago to boost sales, Sony has again decided to realease an updated PSP for the fall season. Staying mostly true to the PSP 2000 (Slim), the PSP 3000 adds a new PS Button, a new anti-reflective LCD screen and an internal microphone. Whoop-de-doo I’m sold!

The new(ish) handheld is still rockin a UMD drive, so overall this PSP update is a minor one. So it begs the question, who is going to buy this? For sure the Sony Defense Force will be all over this one, and even a fair amount of people still with a PSP 1000 may pick one up. Sony seems to be banking on the dispensible income of those who bought the PSP 2000, who will be willing to shell out another $200 for 2 new buttons and a newer screen?!

The question also begging to be asked is, will this really increase the PSP’s marketshare much, if at all? Lets break it down like this:

• In the casual market, it is very unlikely that you have time in your day for more than one handheld, and the numbers show which one you have probably picked….*cough “the DS”
• For current PSP owners, will this slight upgrade really sway you to part with your cash. PSP 2000 owners especially will be feeling slightly ripped off seeing as less than a year after it launched a newer one is out, finally bringing a specific PS Button for easier syncing with the PS3.
• And finally to people who have never really seen the need in buying a PSP at all. This crowd isn’t suddenly gonna part with their cash after holding out for 3 years because of the addition Skype chat are they?

Sony has definetely had success with the PSP, especially in the last few months where PSP sales have sometimes exceeded DS sales, but overall it seems like Sony is too content with being 2nd place. Here’s hoping that Sony are hard at work behind the scenes on a complete PSP overhaul, with enough innovation to challenge the DS (and it’s successor) for the top spot. The DS proved with it’s touch screen that truly new features help gain marketshare beyond the usual buyers, making it much more promising for developers to create games for. I’m sure I’m not the only one with the mental image of a developer creating an exclusive game for the PSP having a “*sigh….well someone has to make one” mentallity.

Come on Sony, just release the Sony Ericsson PSP and challenge the iPhone before it makes too many inroads into the gaming market.

The revival of Duke Nukem is coming. The bubblegum chewing, ass kicking, stripper tipping hero already reared his head earlier this year with gameplay footage of Duke Nukem Forever. Now 3D Realms is back to hype up its hero once again, with the announcement that Duke Nukem 3D is complete for XBLA.

“We officially passed final cert on our first try Friday, August 15th,” said George Broussard of 3D realms.

Regarding price, Broussard commented that it’d be “about what you’d expect”. That hints at a possible 800-point price point. Come on though, how many versions of Duke Nukem 3D are floating about!? Here’s hoping for a 400-point ($5) release price, or at least a reduced price on its first day up. Any more than $5 would be milking this release for all its nostalgia-inducing worth.

For the moment anyway, the “soon” release date is all we’re gonna get, with the official post up on 3D Realms’ site stating that “it’s in the hands of Microsoft now.”

Continue past the jump for the full set of achievements, courtesy of Achieve360Points.com.

1. Piece of Cake - 25 Points
Complete “L.A. Meltdown” on any difficulty or in co-op.
2. Let’s Rock - 25 Points
Complete “Lunar Apocalypse” on any difficulty or in co-op.
3. Come Get Some - 25 Points
Complete “Shrapnel City” on any difficulty or in co-op.
4. Game Over - 25 Points
Complete “The Birth” on any difficulty or in co-op.
5. Duke’s Mighty Foot - 10 Points
Step on 40 enemies after using the Shrinker on them.
6. Looks Like Cleanup on Aisle 4 - 10 Points
Step in a pile of excrement.
7. Shake It Baby - 10 Points
Tip an exotic dancer.
8. Oomph, Uugh, Where is it? - 10 Points
Find 70 secret areas.
9. Alien Maggots are Gonna Pay - 10 Points
Finish the “Hollywood Holocaust” level in under 3 minutes.
10. Gonna Rip Em’ a New One - 10 Points
Get 100 total kills in ranked Dukematch games (Online).
11. See You in Hell - 15 Points
Get 250 total kills in ranked Dukematch games (Online).
12. Hail to the King, Baby - 25 Points
Earn respect and get 500 total kills in ranked Dukematch games (Online).

Via Shacknews

That my friends is the what the title screen for awesome looks like.  Now, this isn’t like concrete or anything, but it would seem that the USK Rating Board has posted a rating for a game called “Death Tank” for XBox Live Arcade…

Could it be?!?  Could the lost treasure of the late 90s be returning to claim its rightful place as king of all party games?  To properly express my plea to the powers-that-be to see this release through, I will now recite Conan’s prayer to the god Crom from Conan the Barbarian:

Crom.  I have never prayed to you before… I have no tongue for it.  No one, not even you, will remember… if we were good gamers or bad… why we deathmatched or why we gibbed…  No.  All that matters is that two to eight people can play at once against many… that’s what’s important!  Grant me one request; grant me this game!  And if you don’t, then to Wii with you!

Man, I hope that works… Deathtank Zwei was one of the games that my friends and I poured many… MANY… hours into during the late 1990s… heck, I still play it once a month or so.

Please-oh-please let this be true!  It would be fantastic if more than the 10 people who actually owned a Sega Saturn and a copy of Duke Nukem 3D for it got to play this game!  If you have no idea just what the hell I’m talking about (it’s ok to admit it), then hit the jump for some vids (perhaps not the best examples) of the game in action.  The easiest way to describe Death Tank is that it’s Worms but in real-time.  No turn based combat.  You have an arrow that you can move and adjust for your shots, and the only limit on your ability to fire and move is how long it takes to reload.  Matches go fast and furious, especially when you start buying nukes and air strikes in the store (yes, there is a store), and things get really nuts when the “alien technology” gets introduced in later battles.  Seriously, this is party gaming nirvana.

My fingers are firmly crossed for this to be true.

From: GamerBytes

Via: The Saturn Junkyard

Never one to keep fans out of the loop too long Bungie have once again teased at the franchises future. The video embedded above is the acceptance video shown at the Edge’s annual awards, for “Edge Award for Interactive Innovation“. Interestingly enough Halo 3 won this very same award lasy year. 2 years running of ‘innovation’, from the one game, that’s quite the feat. Confusion aside, the real talking point is Bungie’s future plans.

Apart from stating ‘we’re all hard at work on something new’, nothing else was confirmed in the video, so take my ‘Halo fanboy’ speculation past this point with a grain of salt. It is heavily implied though that it is not Halo 4 they are teasing at, referencing how we should ask Microsoft concerning that one. Short of actually saying it, the inclusion in the video of the Flood, Brutes, Jackals, a Hunter, Sergeant Johnson and Miranda Keyes in my mind hints towards an update coming soon that will allow players to deploy bots within multiplayer games. This would be a first in the Halo series, but definetely something fans have been asking for Bungie for years to include.

The last scene helps reinforce this theory, with a quick shot of what lookes to be an enhanced Map Editor, with a cheeky “don’t show this to the internet” ending.

It’s nice to know Bungie are hanging in there with the fanbase to continue to push the social and online benchmark that was set in Halo 3. Of course this is all speculation at this point, and when such an update will be released is anyones guess. Keep an eye out for more info here on Gaming Clarity.

Via Joystiq

Things are very good at the moment for 360 owners. Within the past 2 weeks XBLA has seen the arrival of Geometry Wars 2, the sequel to the modern day classic, Braid, winner of the 2006 “Innovation in Game Design” at the Independent Games Festival, with the anticipated Bionic Commando:Rearmed, the updated remake of Capcom’s NES platformer dropping tomorrow (August 13th). Things on XBLA arcade could hardly be better. Don’t scoff at these titles as the regular XBLA casual games, all three of these games are worth the modest $10/$15 in terms of value.

Jonathan Blow, designer of the acclaimed title Braid, has been using his games success to have his opinions heard regarding the XBLA certification process, cause you know, your less likely to come across as bitter when your game is a success, sorry Space Giraffe.

In an interview with Gamasutra, Blow states how the certification process is geared more towards Triple-A titles, and that “I put in a tremendous amount of work meeting all these (unnecessary) requirements, when I could have put that work into the actual game, and made it even a little more polished, little bit better.”

Later in the interview Blow also states how he has no plans to cash in on Braid’s succes with an immediate sequel, at least for a while anyway. “Money is not really my goal, so even if Braid does very well… that’s not my concern. I’m not going to do a sequel to Braid — I don’t care how many copies it sells,” says Blow.

“I mean, maybe in five years when I’m motivated, if I have a really fresh idea for it. But I’m not waiting in the wings with a level pack, or DLC or anything.”

Foolish, or merely a man with integrity? I prefer to lean towards the latter, with Jonathan Blow having enough pride in his game not to want to whore it out. Braid is a stylish and extremely well made platformer, and I challenge anyone to deny the game’s charm.

Jonathan Blow was also clear, in a response to the interview post that “For the most part, working with Microsoft has been great”. Hopefully a sign that his future endeveours may some day grace XBLA again.

Braid is out now on XBLA for 1200 MS points ($15), and is currently the highest rated XBLA game according to Meta-Critic, with an average review score of 93%, putting it as also the 8th highest rated game on Xbox 360.

Source

I saw this story and just had to share it.  In a recent interview with Develop Magazine, Gabe Newell was asked the age-old question “Is PC gaming dead?”.  His response is what you’d expect; no, but it is changing.  And he’s right, it’s not dead.  PC gaming is smaller, but title quality is way up, and developers are starting to take more chances on the genres they’re exploring.  It’s a win-win for the loyal PC gamer base.  But Gabe’s theory on the current state of the market isn’t the reason I’m pointing this out.  No no, it’s this little golden nugget of awesome he dropped:

“I mean, go ask [Blizzard president] Rob Pardo if PC gaming is dead – if he can take the time out from making money hats…”

And there you have it.  Easily the most awesome thing you’re going to hear a videogame legend say all day.  I always wondered what Blizzard was doing with their mountains of cash they get from the money-printing machine that is WOW.  I have to admit, creating clothing was like number 2 on my list… right behind using 100 dollar bills to light their cigars… which are also made of 100 dollar bills.

Source (not the engine): DevelopMag

“Kid-friendly” isn’t a term you would normally use to describe the Prince of Persia franchise. On the contrary, the most recent titles in the long-running series have fallen very solidly under the “T for Teen” rating. For whatever reason, though, Ubisoft is out to change that.

The latest entry for Nintendo DS, Prince of Persia: The Fallen King, has turned the dark, brooding main character into a cell-shaded pre-teen that would be right at home on a Rugrats cartoon. It remains to be seen whether the gameplay has been dumbed down along with the graphical tone, but it’s not a good sign. I would have preferred the designers take a cue from Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword, which proved that violent, mature-themed games can do very well on the DS.

On the plus side, the classic 2-D sidescrolling action has returned and the game is almost entirely controlled with the stylus, similar to Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass.

Check out the trailer here.

Via IGN

What makes the picture of a new Sonic game so interesting is the fact that the blue man is WIELDING A F***ING SWORD! Yeah, that’s right. Our speedy old friend has decided on a whim to pick up the art of the blade. What makes this puzzling news a bit more plausible is the fact that this game is heading to the Wii under Sonic’s newly created “Storybook” series with former entry “Sonic and the Secret Rings” an innovative yet not fully thought-out title.

While we have yet to see or hear anything else about the game, if this “storybook” category is any indication, we can expect to use the Wii remote to steer Sonic through a facsimile of the story of King Arthur.

While I could rant on and on about how this could be an abomination to the franchise and, how Sonic Team has driven the blue rodent so far off course, I will reserve judgment until we get more information. Expect that to come with September’s Nintendo Power.

Via IGN

Source Sega

In an effort to show that E3 wasn’t a complete and utter waste of time for Wii fans, IGN has posted some of the first detailed gameplay videos from High Voltage Software’s sci-fi shooter The Conduit. The sneak peek was offered behind closed doors and thankfully gives me something to look forward to early next year following Nintendo’s yawnfest media briefing. Honestly, does anyone give a flying you-know-what about Wii Music? Gah!

At any rate, these early videos give a pretty good impression that High Voltage is pushing the Wii hardware to its limits. It by no means looks anything like BioShock or Halo 3 (or Halo 1 for that matter), but it does indicate that a decent approximation can be achieved with a little effort. If an enjoyable story can come together to match the graphics, it should be worth a look.