Gamersnewsbits.com

yes, this is another video game news blog. like it or don’t, it’s really here for me to get a fresh start after The Comics Review closed. I worked there for a while doing comic book stuff, and when they opened a video game news page, I worked with Jeff S. and we did that, building contacts and relationships and had some great news going. I will be just posting what I still get from that, and trying to rebuild those contacts that were lost due to the closing of that site. eventually, i will get a new site going on a new domain that i have already purchased. success? if i get one reader, i’m happy. hell, i’m happy to just post things to no one, it keeps me busy and i have reason to read all the news i get about the upcoming games, big and small.

-e

can you say prequel? in an interview on 1UP, hideo kojima hints that Solid Snake’s story is over, but it’s not necessarily the end of MGS…. read on at 1UP

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3168338

Honoring the 25th Anniversary with Exciting Giveaways

GORMLEY, Ontario, Canada – June 20, 2008 – Though it may seem like just yesterday that your pockets were being lightened two quarters at a time by the most revolutionary arcade machine on the market, it’s actually been 25 years, and now it’s time to celebrate!

Launched on to the arcade scene in June of 1983, Dragon’s Lair received worldwide acclaim with its ground-breaking animation and interactive gameplay. This would leave a mark on a generation of millions of faithful followers who fondly remember their first ‘Lair’ experience. More recently, Digital Leisure gave Dragon’s Lair the royal treatment and remastered the original film onto Blu-ray High Definition to ensure this classic animated game could be enjoyed by an all-new generation of gamers.

“I can’t believe it’s already been 25 years!” said Dragon’s Lair creator and legendary film animator Don Bluth. “To think a small project conceived by Rick Dyer would become such a beloved classic is something I couldn’t have foreseen. I don’t think Dirk and Daphne have aged a day!”

The week of June 22nd is your opportunity to celebrate this milestone in video gaming history. During the 25th anniversary week, Digital Leisure will be offering 25% off all Dragon’s Lair games from its website. As well, with your purchased copy of Dragon’s Lair on DVD, Blu-ray or on HD PC DVD your copy will be personally signed by original creators Don Bluth, Gary Goldman, John Pomeroy and Rick Dyer.

To top off the celebrations, Digital Leisure will also be giving away a giclee of the opening castle scene from Dragon’s Lair, hand-signed by all of the creators, a $500 value. This limited piece of animation art will be given away to one lucky Dragon’s Lair fan who enters their name at www.digitalleisure.com during Dragon’s Lair Week! Dragon’s Lair fans will also have the opportunity to purchase an original Dragon’s Lair movie-style poster autographed by all four creators!

This is a once-in-a-lifetime exclusive so don’t wait for the next 25 years to get your copy of Dragon’s Lair. Visit www.digitalleisure.com for all of the details.

Digital Leisure is a leading publisher of interactive video-based titles. The company remasters video-intensive titles that benefit from the superior video and audio quality of DVD and the newest High Definition formats.

Zone Overview – Dragonwake

In the eastern reaches of Caledor, the tall mountain peaks yield to grassy hills that eventually slope down to meet the western border of Eataine. Though the lands to the west are more mountainous, the caves that run beneath the hills of this region are as deep as any in Caledor, and many ancient Dragons slumber within them. In ages past, when the lands of the High Elves came under threat, the Dragon Princes traveled to this land to rouse the slumbering beasts to war. For this reason, the western-most region of Caledor came to be known as Dragonwake.

Fueled by hatred that has festered for millennia, the Dark Elves continue their relentless march across Ulthuan, driving the defending High Elves and their allies ever southward toward the capital city of Lothern. For the noble lords of Ulthuan the situation grows bleaker with each passing day. It is clear that desperate measures must be taken to slow the invaders’ advance, for little else has worked. The time has come to wake the great Dragons of old.

With the enemy at their heels, the High Elf armies pour into Dragonwake and race to the old temples and holy sites to rouse the slumbering titans of the skies. The Dragons are among the High Elves’ mightiest weapons, and their wrath will surely be terrible when they behold the treacherous armies of the Witch King burning and pillaging the lands of Ulthuan. But the Dragons’ slumber is deep indeed, and there is no knowing whether they will ever take to the wing again.

Though it has been long since the evil Druchii fought the War of Sundering, they remember well what sleeps beneath the hills of Dragonwake. Malekith devises an ambitious plan to bend the great Dragons to his will and use them to destroy the High Elves. It will be no small task to break the minds of these ancient and powerful creatures, but Malekith knows that for each Dragon that is turned, he will both deprive his mortal enemies of a mighty weapon, and gain one for himself.

Elsewhere, other plots take root in Dragonwake. One the oldest and most biter rivalries among the Dark Elves is that which exists between the Hag Queens Hellebron and Morathi. Crone Hellebron is ancient, nearly as old as the mother of the Witch King. The long years have twisted Hellebron’s mind, filling her with terrible spite and jealously of the beautiful and eternally youthful Morathi. Hellebron seeks power, so that she might overthrow Morathi as leader of the Temple of Khaine. To this end, the Crone has led a force of Dark Elves southward to Vaul’s Anvil, a workshop and forge tended by the blind priests of the High Elf god of the forge.

It is in the searing fires of Vaul’s Anvil that many of the finest and rarest weapons and armor in the High Elf are forged. It is a resource the High Elves can ill afford to lose, and a counterattack is swiftly organized to break Hellebron’s siege.

Of all these conflicts, however, none may be as important as the struggle for control of the Isle of the Dead. This dread island at the center of Ulthuan’s Inner Sea is the focal point of the vortex, and here the powers of Chaos are so concentrated that no living creature can safely approach the center of the island. The forces gathered at the Isle of the Dead are potent beyond comprehension, but in age now long past, Malekith once tried to take control of this vast and terrible power. The resulting cataclysm destroyed much of Ulthuan and nearly deprived the Witch King of his life.

Now Malekith has returned to Ulthuan, and the dark energies call to him from the Isle of the Dead, tempting the evil ruler of Naggaroth with promises of unlimited power. The High Elves know that they cannot allow the conflict to approach the Isle of the Dead, for if the mad son of Aenarion were to try once more to gain control of the Isle and the unearthly forces concentrated there, it could spell the end not only of the war, but of the High Elves.

ewww….

Atari and Eden Games’ Alone in the Dark for PC is certified Games for Windows and is compatible with Windows XP and Windows Vista operating systems.

The PC version of Alone in the Dark is protected using SecuROM™ online activation. This requires that in addition to the content on the game disk, players download an additional component via an internet connection in order to install and run the game. Once the game has been correctly installed and activated, it can be played whilst offline.

To install the game on a different computer, players must revoke the serial number when uninstalling from the first machine (this is an automatic option during the uninstall process).

For activation instructions and more information on the revoke system and license use, please go to the SecuROM FAQ at http://www.aitdunlock.com

PC minimum spec is as follows:

Operating System: Windows XP/Vista 32-bit & 64-bit
Processor: Intel Pentium 4 2.8 GHz or Athlon X2 +3800 (Intel Pentium 4 3.4 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 +4000 recommended) *
Memory: 1 GB RAM (2GB recommended)
Hard Disk Space: 9.5 GB free
DVD-ROM Drive: 4X speed or faster
Video: NVIDIA GeForce 7600 or ATI Radeon X1950 or better (NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GTX or ATI Radeon X1950 XTX or better recommended)
Sound: DirectX version 9.0c-compatible sound card
DirectX: DirectX version 9.0c (included) or higher

For more information about Alone in the Dark, visit www.centraldark.com

If you build it, they will come…

Irvine, Calif. - June 19, 2008 Atlus U.S.A., Inc. today announced the dungeon-designing, monster-hunting RPG adventure Master of the Monster Lair for Nintendo DS™. Dream it, design it, dig it… then explore it! In order to trap the freeloading monsters of South Arc, you must become the architect of a vast labyrinth, crafting intricate levels designed to lure and capture all manner of beasts. Level after level, every monster disposed of offers the promise of new weapons and items, allowing for more unique dungeon designs and more efficient means of ridding South Arc of the nasty baddies.

On September 2, shovel talks. You dig. Monsters die.

About Master of the Monster Lair

The quiet town of South Arc is about to have some monster trouble. Foul creatures with serious attitude problems have infested nearby forests and are now slowly moving into the village. The townsfolk, fearful for their safety, do not even dare to leave their homes. Calls for help have gone unanswered, likely because every other town in the Kingdom is similarly troubled.

As a young lad off in search of your calling, you stumble across a talking shovel. The verbose tool forcibly binds you to the task of digging a dungeon on the outskirts of South Arc, hoping to bait and trap the scrounging monsters.

Looks like you found your calling, Master of the Monster Lair. Now start digging!

Key Features

• It all begins with a talking shovel – The discovery of a talking shovel begins an eccentric adventure where you become the master of the monster lair! As the shovel’s new owner, you’re given the incredible job of digging a dungeon and hunting the monsters that come to live in it.

• Be the architect of your lair – Transform a small hole in the ground into a huge dungeon for hunting monsters! Fill it with over 20 different types of rooms, including Chapels, Cellars, Stables, Trash Dumps, and more to attract different types of monsters and help you obtain different items.

• Share your lair! – Challenge your friends to reach the end of your custom monster lair and see what monsters and items are waiting in theirs. Trade designs over local wireless and prove that you’re the best dungeon digger around!

Master of the Monster Lair has been rated “E10+” (Everyone 10 and older) with Language and Mild Fantasy Violence by the ESRB.

Bolt Games Inspired by Upcoming Animated Feature Film To Arrive On Multiple Platforms This Holiday

BURBANK, Calif. — (June 19, 2008) - Disney Interactive Studios announced today the November 2008 release of video games inspired by the upcoming, original feature animation film “Bolt” from Walt Disney Pictures. Bolt will be available for the Wii home game system, Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system, PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, Nintendo DS™ and Windows-based PC.

The latest computer animated film from Walt Disney Animation Studios, “Bolt” tells the story of a canine TV star that is inadvertently shipped from Hollywood to New York City, where he begins a cross-country adventure home and makes the surprising discovery that the super powers he thought he had don’t work in the real world. The Bolt video game, which is being developed by Avalanche Software, Disney’s Interactive Studios’ family games development studio, takes place in the world of the action-packed television show and offers the opportunity for Bolt and Penny to travel throughout five international locations, including Russia and Italy.

In the game, players take on the heroic personas of the TV star dog, Bolt, and his owner, Penny, from the high-action television series featured within the film. As Bolt, players can use his superpowers, including laser vision and his superbark, which sends out a sonic blast to devastate opponents, and as Penny, players utilize stealth, hacking skills and a wheelbar, inspired by her scooter seen in the movie, to outwit enemies.

“Bolt uses the film as a springboard, expanding upon the action and dynamic story elements, to provide a fun, challenging experience for gamers,” said Craig Relyea,

senior vice president of global marketing, Disney Interactive Studios. “With Bolt, Avalanche Software looks to further its reputation as a premier developer of compelling animated games for a broad audience.”

The Nintendo DS version of the game will include competitive and co-op multiplayer, mini games as well as DGamer, Disney Interactive Studios’ innovative new technology that provides a fun, connected game community for Disney video game fans. With DGamer, players earn content, interact and chat with others on Nintendo DS through the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection or on a computer through the Disney.com website. The Nintendo DS game is being developed by Altron.

About the “Bolt” film

For super-dog Bolt (voice of John Travolta), every day is filled with adventure, danger and intrigue - at least until the cameras stop rolling. When the star of a hit TV show is accidentally shipped from his Hollywood soundstage to New York City, he begins his biggest adventure yet - a cross-country journey through the real world to get back to his owner and co-star, Penny (voice of Miley Cyrus). Armed only with the delusions that all his amazing feats and powers are real, and with the help of two unlikely traveling companions: a jaded, abandoned housecat named Mittens (voice of Susie Essman) and a TV-obsessed hamster in a plastic ball named Rhino, Bolt discovers he doesn’t need superpowers to be a hero.

Questions answered by Randy Pitchford (Gearbox President) and Benny Wilson (Programmer).

Can you tell us more about one of the new feature in BIA HH, the destructible environment/cover?

RP: In Brothers in Arms Hell’s Highway, being able to shred the kinds of things soldiers hide behind is a big deal. Yes, it does look awesome to see bullets tear apart a wooden fence splinter by splinter, but it is about more than just looking amazing. You see, if the cover that the enemy is protected by is invulnerable (as it is in just about every game you’ve played before), then your only option is to wait them out or charge up on them. Brothers in Arms has always been about suppression and looking for flanks (like real combat), but now it’s also about combined arms and volume of fire. It’s intense and the feature takes Brothers in Arms Hell’s Highway to a new level of authenticity.

How does it impact the gameplay?

RP: The enemy can run, but they can’t hide. Wood can be shredded splinter by splinter and hard cover emplacements, like sand bags, can be blown away with high explosives (grenade and bazookas). It’s amazing to watch and great fun to play with. I can’t believe we’re actually doing what we’re doing because no game I’ve ever played feels this cool with destructible environments. Having destructible environments/destructible cover changes the decisions that are made on the battlefield and the options for winning. It changes the game quite a bit. And there’s a lot of variety too, not just in the gameplay but also in the background, in the level design and the ways that you progress through these environments and the tactical encounters you run into.

Can you tell us more about the development process of the destructible environment?

BW: The very first destructible was a 12 piece checker-board prop that resembled a fence. This was used as a proof-of-concept to ensure that we could get it to break apart the way we needed it to and also to set memory and performance budgets.From there we designed the workflow for getting destructibles into the game. It starts with the art guys modelling their pieces, setting up a skeleton which defines how the destructible needs to break, getting it into the engine, and level designers placing them into the levels.

With that in place, art began cranking out various destructible objects, while code had to develop a few other components to the system like telling soldiers when the cover they’re on is destroyed, etc.

Did you meet any particular challenges?

BW: Yes, our destructible system requires interaction with many other game systems. They have to interact with the cover and navigation system, physics, and even some rendering tricks needed to pull it off. Each of these considerations was a challenge of its own.

Babel is pleased to announce the appointment of Lewis Glover as Director of QA, overseeing Babel’s expanding QA teams in Montreal, New Delhi and Brighton. Babel has over 400 QA testers delivering functionality, localisation and compliance QA, as well as separate Quality Standards, Evaluation and Training teams.

Lewis has previously been at Jagex where he managed QA of their MMO titles, and Atari Europe where he was Quality Director looking after all their European SKUs and was instrumental in the definition of outsourcing processes and migration to an offshore testing model. Lewis will be based in Babel’s Montreal facility, and will also be part of Babel’s new MMO task force.

Babel provides a global delivery capability via its facilities in Montreal, Brighton and New Delhi. Using its three time zones, a QA team of over 400 testers and a localisation department that is currently translating over 1 million words per month, the company is able to offer maximum scale when needed for time-critical launch titles. Babel is a Microsoft approved Xbox 360®test house in Europe and North America, an Approved QAAP test house for SCEA, and a partner with Nintendo.

GAMEVIL USA is distributing Gothic 3 – The Beginning in the US.

Los Angeles, California — June XX, 2008-GAMEVIL USA, the LA-based mobile games publisher, announced today the launch of JoWooD Production’s Gothic 3 – The Beginning, a mobile version of the PC RPG Blockbuster.

The mobile version is part of the original Gothic PC universe, published by JoWooD Productions. Gothic 3 – The Beginning, as mentioned in the title, takes users to the beginning of the story, set 140 years back from the first Gothic series. Users play as young Xardas, a hero chosen by God Innos, to find the four chosen ones and bring back the sealed magic to the island of Khorinis.

Boasting a vastly wide map with 50 different scenarios to explore, Gothic 3 – The Beginning is packed with various features. There are more than a dozen enemies such as wolves, orcs, bandits, and trolls to battle against, players can learn numerous magic spells and collect armors, items by talking to the 35 non player characters, backed by a great AI system, to enhance their character. One of the best features of Gothic 3 – The Beginning is the intuitive controls and attention to details. There are 8 slots to shortcut certain moves, a smooth maneuvering system, and small details such as original soundtracks from the official Gothic PC game – which is sure to please Gothic fans all around - helps create a less frustrating, more relaxed gaming atmosphere. Along with easy tutorials in the beginning to show how everything works, Gothic is very user friendly and makes it easy for newcomers to quickly get involved in the world of Gothic.

Another feature is the continuance of gameplay. While solving the main assignment, users play small side-quests to gain experience points, gold and unique items. Even if players manage to beat the game, players can continue your adventure on Khorinis and further develop their character.

Christopher Kassulke CEO of HandyGames says, “We are happy to expand our cooperation with Gamevil for such a great Title like Gothic 3 – The Beginning. So more consumers worldwide are able to play the best RPG on mobile phones.”

“HandyGames is well known for its consistent quality of games. RPG is a sector in mobile gaming that can show a lot of improvement in the future due to the enhanced capabilities of the handsets.”, says Kyu Lee, President of GAMEVIL USA, “We’re happy to deliver one of the best RPG games that HandyGames has developed so far”.

Developed and published by HandyGames, distributed by Gamevil Inc., Gothic 3 – The Beginning is now available for download.

For more details on the game, please visit www.gamevil.com