Rejoice all you fanatic Wii lovers, its time to dust of that Wii Zapper! Blood-thirsty zombies are headed your way courtesy of Sega and Headstrong Games. The trailer is very sweet and definitely reminds me of a certain Quentin Tarantino movie. Enjoy the video in all of its bloody goodness.

I will admit, when I first watched this new bit of footage for Killzone 2, I was thinking...there's no way. There's just no way that Guerrilla have implemented the absurd Army of Two-esque "chatter" system between your squadmates. Thankfully, they haven't; all the footage here is taken from the game's online multiplayer. Phew.

Set to debut officially this week at the Leipzig Games Convention, here's another peek at the PS3's biggest exclusive FPS for the early part of 2009. It's looking good, gotta give it that. Compared to the single player portions I've gotten my hands on, multiplayer isn't quite as sharp...but that's such a small thing to quibble over. Look at them hi-def 'splosions!

Seeing BioShock running on the PS3 at E3 left me impressed: It's still just as beautiful and there's extra content! I might just be enticed to give it another go. Luckily, now I know when I'll be able to, as 2K Games have announced that the PS3 port of BioShock will land on retail shelves October 21st in North America, and October 24th everywhere else.

Being handled by not only 2K games, but Digital Extremes as well, the PS3 version of BioShock will include not only the recently detailed Challenge Rooms as DLC shortly after launch, but Trophies and a brand new difficulty mode on the disc: "Survivor." Christoph Hartmann, president of 2K, said:

We are proud to introduce 2K Games' showcase title, BioShock, to an entirely new audience. With the addition of the new Add-On Game Content we are able to extend the award-winning adventure while maintaining the perfect harmony that millions of players around the world have fallen in love with.

Sounds like a plan, Hartmann! Full announcement after the jump.

Let the record show, I'm now completely sold on Build-a Banjo Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts. After spending WAY more than my fair share of time with the game at E3, this is now at the top of my list. I was giddy like a school girl to find out that the Xbox 360 game is now officially pegged for a November 14th release date, but this new announcement from Microsoft has tipped the scales.

Gamers that plunk down the required $5 to pre-order Nuts & Bolts (whose pre-orders begin today, coincidentally) will receive a very special bonus gift: The original Banjo-Kazooie on Xbox LIVE Arcade...for free. Yes, by securing your copy of Banjo's first next-gen adventure at your local retailer, you will be gifted with a free code to download the classic N64 game when it hits the Arcade this Fall. Oh, and better yet, those that do this will get access to the XBLA title 2 full weeks before it officially hits the Marketplace for the public. Yes! Couple this with the now confirmed Stop 'N' Swap feature that will tie both the retail and downloadable together, and the fact that the game will only cost $39.99, how can you lose?

Two other little nuggets of Banjo news this morning as well. First, Rare has confirmed that there will in fact be a playable demo of Nuts & Bolts, and they are aiming to have it out before the game releases. Y'know, so you can test out the vehicle system for yourself in case you were a Doubting Tom. The Marketplace demo is likely going to be comprised of a shortened version of the build that was on-hand at E3. And lastly, Microsoft and Rare have debuted screens for a brand new area within Nuts & Bolts named "Jiggoseum," or "World of Sports" as it was originally called.

This giant stadium evokes themes of ancient Rome and Greece with modern day sports activities. The Jiggoseum, common stomping ground for Mr. Fit and Trophy Thomas, will include 17 challenges to test Banjo’s (and his contraptions’) athletic abilities. In order to successfully complete his adventure in this world, Banjo must transport the Olympic Torch across a large body of water to help Captain Blubber light the Olympic Cauldron. A boat may seem like the vehicle of choice for the job… but with tons of options, it’s up to the player to decide.

So. Awesome. No word on the exact release date for the XBLA Banjo, but it's likely to be on or around the retail game's release period. As was previously mentioned, Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts launches on November 14th, exclusively on the Xbox 360. Hit the jump for some new screens.

Pack your bags, we're going to Africa! Let's just hope we make it back alive. 

Wow, from the look of things Chris and Sheva had better stock up on those red and green herbs. This new trailer for Resident Evil 5 features some exciting new environments and frantic gameplay. New characters and monsters are shown as well. This game looks beautiful. Resident Evil 5 looks like it will set the bar on the Survival Horror/Action genres when it releases on March 13 next year.

Codemasters rocked our collective socks off with Colin McRae DiRT last year, and proceeded to do the same with Race Driver: GRID a few months ago. Somehow, they have a knack for this so-called "racing" business. Not content with their previous efforts, though, the publisher today announced one the new titles they will officially debut this week at the Leipzig Games Convention: FUEL.

What is FUEL, you ask? Well my friends, FUEL is a new racing title from French developer Asobo Studios that's been 4 years in the making, and it houses the "largest environment ever created in racing history." That's a big claim. How big? Over 5,000 square miles of a no-boundaries, multi-terrain race zone. Players will experience locales ranging from a "tsunami-wrecked pacific coat" to the Grand Canyon to snow-capped mountains, deserts and many more. A dynamic weather system will also be in place that will be able to generate real-time day-to-night cycles as well as tornados, blizzards, thunderstorms and more. Think of this as another non-MMO racing title.

FUEL is set in an alternate present in which whole swathes of the globe have been ravaged by the effects of climate change brought on by decades of environmental abuse. Here oil prices have rocketed and yet a new breed of racing junkie takes to the wastelands, pitting their grungy home-tuned vehicles against each other in an all-new extreme sport as they compete to win fuel supplies.

Codemasters say that up to 16 vehicles will be on screen during your game, no word on this also holds true for whatever online modes they have planned. A new game similar to Test Drive Unlimited? Yes, please! Barry Jafrato, Senior VP of Brand at Codemasters, said:

The technology Asobo Studios has developed to build FUEL is ground-breaking. To create a game on this unprecedented scale to this level of graphical quality, complete with all the dynamic weather effects, is a great achievement. FUEL had to be a special title for Codemasters to include in our racing portfolio and we believe that from both a gameplay and a technical perspective, FUEL compliments our long standing tradition of driving excellence.

 FUEL is being developed for Xbox 360, PS3 and Games for Windows, and will release sometime next year. Full announcement after the jump.

[Update]: Video interview including in-game footage added.

Jump back in time 25 years.  Ronal Reagan was the President, the promise of a new formula for Coca-Cola was enticing, and Rick Dees' Top 40 countdown featured bands like Devo and Duran Duran.  

Here we are, a quarter of a century later, and those two bands are getting their due as part of Rock Band's weekly downloadable content pack.  Released this morning on the Xbox Live Marketplace, with the PS3 content coming on Thursday with the Store update, you'll find five new songs to help you flash back to those simpler days.

Devo's tracks consist of "Girl U Want" and "Through Being Cool", while Duran Duran brings us a couple of more easily recognized hits with "Girls on Film" and "Rio".  Oh, and there's also some band named The Janitors bringing us "Get Your Rock On".  They're from the 80's as well, and if you don't remember them... welcome to the club.

All songs are priced at 160 Points / $1.99 on the Xbox Marketplace and the PlayStation Store, respectively.

Coming up this Thursday on both the Xbox Marketplace and the PlayStation Store, Guitar Hero 3 is getting a new DLC pack featuring Dragonforce, an English Speed Metal Band.  

Included in the track pack are a debut single, "Heroes of Our Time", which is a new  song from their Ultra Beatdown record, as well as "Revolution Deathsquad" and "Operation Ground and Pound" from their Inhuman Rampage album. 

Activision is citing these three songs as being almost as tough as "Through the Fire and Flames", a song which separates the newbies from the shredders in the Guitar Hero arena.  Already, our fingers are aching in anticipated pain.  Hit the jump for the full press release.  

 

It's been a long time coming but the drought of JRPGs on next gen consoles seems to finally be coming to an end. With titles like Tales of Vesperia, Infinite Undiscovery, The Last Remnant and Star Ocean: The Last Hope soon heading to our store shelves, it seems that our expensive next gen consoles are finally getting the RPG love they so desperately need. 

Final Fantasy XIII director Motomu Toriyama sat down with Famitsu this month for a little chat. In regards to the playable demo, which releases in March of '09, Mr. Toriyama shared some info about the game:

Like the FFVII demo that was included with PlayStation's Tobal Nol.1, you'll be able to play from the opening through the prologue. We're making it so that players will understand about the world of the Cocoon and how the Lucys are handled.

He also mentioned the possible length of the demo.

We'd like to make it something with lots of volume. I think it will be longer than FFVIIAC.

Advent Children clocks in at about an hour and forty minutes, so we can expect to get a decent taste of what's to come. As for the battle system, it will be a new take on the ATB system of past Final Fantasy games. You will also be in control of multiple characters in the demo. Toriyama informs that the story will unfold unlike any other Final Fantasy. Essentially it will be told through multiple points of view and that "Lightning" is actually not the main character.

This game can't come soon enough. Quit your drooling people, we'll have more news on Final Fantasy XIII in the coming weeks and months.

Sources: IGN, Kotaku  

Been flexing your creative muscle with the Spore Creature Creator? You can expect more galactic simulation goodness when Spore warps to a console near you in the not-too-distant future.

 In an interview with Gamespy, Will Wright let loose a juicy little piece of info:

Well, actually we are going to go on all platforms, but we will come out on PC first. We will even come out on cell phones and stuff. One of the things in the game is that as you go around and encounter things... creatures and plants, or whatever, you make trading cards of each thing. That is the metaphor for the database -- trading cards. So you can collect your cards. You can print them out. You can now play your own card game. That might be like the cell phone part. That stuff is so light. It's more about collectability as opposed to interaction. Every creature in the PC game is three or four megabytes. But the cards, that is the database that the player is building.

Well, there you have it. The video game genius himself has just ended the lives of 3 million more geeks. Me included. Let the countdown begin. Spore will be available for the Mac and PC at European retailers on September 5th, and in the North American and Asia Pacific regions on September 7th. Console release dates have not yet been announced.

Do you recall the name "Joshua Larson"? How the now infamous "Gerstmann-gate" event that spanned from the end of 2007 until almost early Spring this year, which left GameSpot a shaken fortress of editorial credibility? No? Well, as it just so happens, both go hand-in-hand, as Mr. Larson was the guy in charge of managing business strategy and product direction for GameSpot/C|Net (he was present when the company was scooped up by CBS)...and was also the man who was eventually pinned as the reason that Jeff Gerstmann was sacked. Needless to say, that led to Larson's "unfortunate" firing in the wake of 5 GameSpot veterans leaving the site.

Now, here we stand 5 months later, and good old Josh has found himself a new job, and an ironic one at that. In-game advertising company, Double Fusion, has announced a new division dedicated to core games, and have made a few position changes to better steer the ship. Among them, Senior VP of Sales and Marketing Julie Shumaker will oversee the new core group. Glen Sussman, former CFO and COO of GameTrust, is now Double Fusion's CFO. And Mr. Larson has been named the new Vice President of Business Development. Of an in-game advertising company. Interestingly enough, all three people were described as sharing:

 a love of games and a history of strong results and success in their prior roles.

Ooh, really? While that may be true for one or two of them, I don't think that GameSpot, nor C|Net, would agree regarding Mr. Larson. If you recall, alleged GameSpot insiders outed Larson shortly after Gerstmann-gate began as being someone who "had no editorial experience and was only involved on the business side of things." Couple that with his firing, that doesn't translate to "strong success," at least not in his most recent job. I wonder what game worlds they'll be targetting?

Capcom already shocked us all (?) by announcing that previous 360-exclusive, Dead Rising, was heading to the Wii of all platforms; but until today we'd yet to see it in motion.

So, how does the game that was once thought to only be possible on the Xbox fare? Think of this way: Chop 'TIll You Drop is more of an "alternative" version of Dead Rising, rather than a port. It looks...ok, far worse than what you've seen on the next-gen system, but it has a certain charm that is reminiscent of Resident Evil 4 - probably because of the new camera angle. One thing of note, though: Am I the only one that sees noticeable slowdown whenever Frank West plows through a group of zombies? You be the judge...