Star Wars Blu-Ray Releases September 16th

A trilogy of box sets will descend onto retail shelves on 9/16/11, and they will be:

• The Original Trilogy
• The Prequel Trilogy
• The Complete Saga

This is the first time that the classic Star Wars films (or the new ones for that matter) will appear on an HD disc format in any way, so get ready for a flood of advertising and promotions. It's going to be a big holiday for sci-fi fans.

iPad 2 Dominates in the UK

Just a few short weeks after we reported that the launch may not even happen as scheduled, the iPad 2 is a smash hit in the British Isles. The tablet has reportedly sold out completely at the retail level, in fact the iPad's successor now has a four week waiting list for anyone who has yet to grab a unit.

Not to be forgotten here is that there's still a monstrous demand for iPad's in the US, which isn't going to help overseas markets any.

Edit: 'grab a unit' just sounds... not right, doesn't it?

Spiderman: Edge of Time Announced

Nary a year without a Spider-Man (or Spiderman, if you're a lazy typist) proclaimed Activision! And it was done...

Spider-Man: Edge of Time has officially been announced to be coming this fall from Shattered Dimensions developer Beenox. That last part should make Spidey fans happy as SD was one of the most well received Spider-Man games in a long time and just oozed charm (and production values). It also oozed something else- Spider-Man 2099.

Although the game featured three additional Spidey's (to the main Amazing Spider-Man storyline) from alternate times and realities, it was the Spider-Man from the year 2099 that grabbed players most. The 2099 series of books from publisher Marvel has been defunct for a while now, but fans haven't forgotten.

And future Spidey, you've got star quality. Edge of Time may not jump through dimensions, but it does jump through time.

Spider-Man: Edge of Time is a focused, action-packed adventure set in two connected and evolving timelines, from the contemporary times of the Amazing Spider-Man to the corrupted future world of Spider-Man 2099, against the backdrop of a rich, tightly crafted narrative by acclaimed Marvel veteran Peter David (co-creator of the comic book series Spider-Man 2099).  The game features all-new "cause-and-effect" gameplay, where players will see how the immediate and sometimes unexpected effects of their actions as one Spider-Man changes the timeline of the other Spider-Man.   Spider-Man: Edge of Time is slated for release this fall.

Sound good? Full release after the break-

Mega Man Universe Canned

Capcom has officially canceled the oddball Mega Man Universe title that was in development for the PSN and Xbox LIVE. If you're not familiar, MMU was a never all that well defined kind of do-it-yourself project that featured re-mastered levels from Mega Man 2, a bunch of playable Mega Men (including the awful 'movie poster' type one from the first game's box), and even a 'create your own hero' toolbox.

It's an odd cancellation since it's such a big name franchise, but probably one that should have been expected. Capcom put a lot into the hype into the announcement of the game- but then once it actually was announced, everything just kind of... stopped. It's never all that good when you stop hearing so much as a peep about a game and here's the case in point.

Old MMU just slipped silently into the night...

Xbox LIVE Wrapup -- 'Rush'N Wakfu' edition

Couple of solid Arcade titles this week- Rush'N Attack, Strania, and Islands of Wakfu all make their debut. If you're looking for more Mass Effect 2 action, The Arrival has... arrived.

There's also some pretty nice sales on a few Arcade games that you may have skipped over-

Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City

Video Games | Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City | Debut Teaser

Xbox 360 | PlayStation 3 | Nintendo Wii | PC Games                                

Operation Raccoon City is a straight up, old school, Resident Evil- shambling zombies and all. It takes place during the destruction of Raccoon City and spans across both Res 2 & 3.

It is September 1998 and the action centres once more on the ill-fated Raccoon City and the horrific consequences of the deadly T-virus outbreak from the Umbrella facility. With a cover up required, Umbrella orders an elite team into Raccoon City to destroy all evidence of the outbreak and eliminate any survivors. Hearing of this plan, the US Government dispatches its own special forces to uncover any evidence that exposes the cause of the viral infection and Umbrella’s actions. Players take on the role of an Umbrella Security Services soldier (U.S.S.), competing alone or in four player co-op in a battle against all the competing forces at play in Raccoon City.

 Full release post jump-

Nintendo Breaks All Records With 3DS Launch

Nintendo stated today that the 3DS has broken all US gaming console sales records to date. That's for both home and the portable matkets- It's a bold claim, and it's one that the Mario company can't back up at the moment- proof isn't too far away though.  On April 14th the official sales numbers will be announced, presumably they'll make you tremble at the might of 'N'.

But until then- commence with the guessin' !

PSN Update -- 'Back to the Moon' edition

This week's PSN update brings the second episode of Back to the Future, 'Get Tannen' with it. We also get treated to a new side-scrolling adventure game by the creators of Strider- Moon Diver.

Click through for the full update-

Nintendo Download -- 'No 3DS Stuff Yet' edition

No... Not yet dammit. Weren't you told there wouldn't be any 3DS downloadable fun for a while? What do you mean, 'why's Nintendo so late in patching in the 3DSware network?'

'It should have been done for launch!' - how dare you!

Why don't you just click through the jump for this weeks offerings from the big N while we try to compose ourselves after your little tirade...

The nerve of you.

Resident Evil 4 & Code Veronica X Announced for PSN and Xbox LIVE

To celebrate the fifteenth birthday of Resident Evil, Capcom is planning a year full of releases and "surprises". And here's the first one- they'll be re-releasing two of the most beloved titles in the franchises history- Code Veronica X and Resident Evil 4.

Both games will be out this fall, both will be download only, and both will receive HD makeovers.

To kick off the 15^th anniversary of Resident Evil®, Capcom®, a leading worldwide developer and publisher of video games today announced that the highly acclaimed Resident Evil® 4 and Resident Evil Code: Veronica® X will be released as downloadable titles for the Xbox 360^®video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system. Scheduled for release this fall, both titles have been enhanced with upgraded visuals as they make their debut on high-definition consoles.

SD/HD

Full release and a few more SD/HD side by side shots after the break-

Dead Island Screens Keep on Coming

Zombies in bathing suits...

A Very Special Message From Randy Pitchford

Randy is so likable that it almost eases the sting...

Trine 2 Has Alluring Adventure Gameplay

Trine 2 is pretty, prettier than Trine 1 even- but, as this latest trailer suggests... alluring?

Video Games | Trine 2 | Exclusive Alluring Adventure Gameplay Trailer

Xbox 360 | PlayStation 3 | Nintendo Wii | PC Games                                

Hmmmmm, maybe it is alluring. An Alluring Adventure! With gameplay-

Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters will be Available in 3D

Ahhh the third dimension, what a wondrous place. It's the plane of existence that we inhabit! It's also been the buzz word for entertainment over the last several years- and it doesn't seem to be going away any time soon.

The latest game to make use of this fad innovation is the movie tie-in for the new Green Lantern film, coming on June 10th, Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters.

Green Lantern: Rise of the Manhunters is inspired by Warner Bros Pictures’ upcoming Green Lantern film, which brings the enduringly popular DC Comics Super Hero to the big screen for the first time and stars Ryan Reynolds in the title role as Hal Jordan, the newest member of the Green Lantern Corps. In the videogame, gamers can use an arsenal of amazing constructs and take flight across the deepest parts of the universe to restore intergalactic order by wielding the ultimate weapon: the Green Lantern Power Ring. Gamers playing the Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 versions will also have the option to join forces with a friend to play as Hal Jordan or Sinestro to battle the Manhunters.

As far as the 3D goes, it'll be available in anaglyphic and stereoscopic flavors- depending on what you have as far as a TV. There will also be a specially designed 3DS version of the game that takes advantage of that unique hardware and it's viewing abilities.

Full release post jump-

Warhammer 40k: Space Marine Gets a Little Chaos

As in the forces of Chaos-

Space Marine puts players into the role of one of humanity’s elite soldiers, as they battle to protect an Imperial Forge World from a millions-strong Ork invasion. But this isn’t all that faces Captain Titus of the Ultramarines. When Titus makes planet-fall, he soon realizes that the forces of Chaos are lurking in the shadows pulling the strings for their own nefarious purposes.

So, Orks and Chaos then?

 The addition of Chaos forces adds more variety to the Space Marine single-player campaign by complementing the animalistic and horde-like Orks with a much more powerful and strategic enemy. While Titus can dispatch dozens of Orks alone, the Chaos Space Marines are more than capable of going toe-to-toe with him, especially with the support of Renegade Militia, Tainted Psykers and Bloodletter Daemons, among other units.

 Expect to see a lot more from this promising shooter- it drops this August for 360, PS3, and PC.

Duke Nukem Forever- Wait for it -Delayed

Yeah, it's getting kind of tired now isn't it? Duke has officially been delayed... again. The good news is that it's only for about a month, placing the game's launch in June.

But it's not really about the length of the delay is it? No, it's more about the fact that there's a delay at all. When Gearbox Software took over the (at the time) dead Duke Forever project, studio boss Randy Pitchford came across really well and generally gave the impression that the long suffering fans of Mr.Nukem would finally be taken care of. That they'd get the game that original developers 3D Realms had promised. Gearbox seemed ready to go- even holding off on any kind of announcement until they had a fully playable build ready for display.

And now, a delay... at this point, any delay is unacceptable to fans of this series. A half hour would be too much. Perhaps Gearbox should have held off on a release date until they were sure they had one that would stick. Screwing around with a game that has this much baggage is just plain old asking for a hater/media crap storm, no matter what the reason for the holdup is.

There was, before this latest news even hit, a microscope on Duke Forever solely because of it's history. Let's not forget that this is a game that was first announced back in 1997. Fourteen years is a long time to wait for anything, and an obscenely long time for development on a video game.

To be fair, it wasn't all dev time- there were studio closings and re-appropriation of properties and all that good stuff tossed in there as well- but at this point, does anyone even care? It's been fourteen years! I think it's pretty safe to say, that if Duke Nukem Forever is anything less than a total smash hit it's going to take a drubbing. Maybe not from longtime fans- but from everyone else. And I've got a feeling that there aren't all that many of us longtime fans left.

Advance word is nothing amazing, it's far from terrible, but it isn't knock your socks off wow. Any further delays or 'issues' are only going to make things worse and further tarnish the image of a truly classic PC game series.

Come on Randy- don't let us down.


posted by Jason

Tactical Soldier: Undead Rising on iOS

Get tactical marine! Tactical Soldier: Undead Rising has arrived on the App Store.

Now, before you go getting all 'we don't need more zombie games' on us- have a look, because this one does something different. Much like the recently released Trapped Dead (which we'll have a review up for soon ) TS:UR is a strategy game. The difference (besides platforms) being that while TD is an RTS, TS:UR is straight up old school turn based.

“We created this game out of passion for the turn based games that we used to play in the old days. We love games like x-com, jagged alliance and similar but couldn’t find many games of this kind on the App Store and thus we assumed that we were not the only ones, wishing for more games in the genre.”

And looking pretty good too, full release and screens post jump-

Xbox LIVE Wrapup -- 'Sanctum Sanctorum' edition

Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime is pulling double duty this week, heading up both the PSN and Xbox LIVE list of releases- but like on Sony's online service, there's a lot more to like on LIVE this week as well.

There's some demo love with WWE All Stars and Zumba Fitness, the consistently overlooked Call of Juarez appears on Games on Demand, and look- Sonic 4 is on S A L E.

PSN Update -- 'Bustin Makes Me Feel Good' edition

Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime headlines a nice update for Playstation owners this week- There are some solid demos like WWE All Stars and You Don't Know Jack, a PSOne Classic with the release of Legend of Mana, and even some quality DLC in the form of Castlevania: Reverie.

Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars 3DS Screens

Shadow Wars definitely doesn't have the visual punch that some of the other 3DS titles have (or will have), but it seems to have a special, cel-shaded, charm all it's own.

Shots of the game in action after the break-

Thor Screens are a Mixed Bag... Whoa- Deja Vu...

Much like the Cap screens from earlier today, these screenshots of Sega's upcoming Thor adaptation are both yeas and no. The biggest difference between the two games is that Captain America's DS adventure just looked plain old bad. Thor on the portable actually looks kinda interesting.

The Wii version? Not so much... again.

Captain America Screens are a Mixed Bag

Warning- the following screens are both good... and bad.

The Xbox and PS3 versions of Captain America are looking pretty good overall, and they've shaped up a bit more from New York Comic Con last fall (where the game looked pretty good already). The Wii and DS versions of the game however... not so much.

The Wii is once again 'gifted' with a goofy, cartoonish, look- and the DS version of the title just looks plain old sub-par. Click through and judge for yourself-

Nintendo Download -- 'Wrestling with Arcade Essentials' edition

Natsume Championship Wrestling may not be a name that instantly jumps to the front when you think of classic grapplers, but it probably should be- now available on the Virtual Console, NCW was one of the first wrestling games to feature an 'in ring' referee. Not to mention that the game had some really nice, clean, graphics for it's day and actually still hold up pretty well.

Might make for a nice little 'tide me over' till WWE All Stars next week-

This week also sees the release of a collection of re-imagined arcade classics with the Arcade Essentials collection in the WiiWare arena as well as a couple of demo's. Always nice to see more of those-

Gun Loco Canceled

Were you looking forward to Square/Enix' Xbox 360 exclusive shooter Gun Loco? No? Well then you probably won't care too much that it's been canceled.

It didn't get all that much media coverage, but in all seriousness, the game actually sounded pretty cool- It's story centered on a distant prison planet where convicts competed in bloody foot races. The last man standing got paid with freedom.

Sound a little like The Running Man? That's a good thing in our book. Gun Loco seemed (despite the awful name) like it had potential- no reason was given for the canning.

UK iPad 2 Launch in Doubt

It was scheduled for the 25th, but now that isn't looking like such a sure thing.

MCV is reporting that the iPad 2 has had such a massive showing in the US (the first country to receive the sequel device) that the supply just isn't there to feed additional markets at this point. Also not helping matters are the ongoing disasters in Japan- several key components are manufactured there and delays are obviously, and understandably, mounting at this point.

Also pointed out in the MCV piece is that even though the deciding factors are new, an international iPad delay isn't. In 2010, there was such a call for the device from the States that global shipments were knocked way off schedule.

Just to give you a perspective on how well Apple is doing with their newest baby, the iPad 2 moved over 1 million units- in it's launch weekend alone.

Mortal Kombat Kollector's Edition Gutted

The Mortal Kombat Kollector's Edition packs a load of stuff into one little bitty box just for you! Maybe not just for you, but you get the picture-

The first thing you'll notice is that these boxes have the Euro PEGI rating stamped on them- that's because they're the Euro editions of MK. But have no fear, the collector's edition of the US version of the game should be similar- if not identical.

Edit- similar it is then! The US edition has an action figure in place of the statue.

Warhammer 40k: Space Marine Screen Surfaces

Warhammer 40k: Space Marine is like the Loch Ness Monster, sometimes you don't hear anything about it for years and then it just pops up and we get a fuzzy snapshot that maybe shows a dinosaur- or maybe it's just a log.

Well, it's not a log- that's for sure.

Xbox LIVE Wrapup -- 'Defiant Poker' edition

Who doesn't like poker?!? Sometimes it feels like there must be somebody out there somewhere who's sole task is to make sure there's a freakin' ton of card games released.

This week it's Full House Poker, and no (before you ask), there are no Olsen's or Bob Sagat's anywhere to be found. Apparently, it's just a card game. What are there -like- a billion poker games on LIVE now?

Where's Dave Coulier when you need him, huh? Oh, I should probably mention that there's a new Halo: Reach map pack available. You might be interested. It's called Defiant.

PSN Update -- 'Slam Bolt Uprising' edition

Slam Bolt Scrappers and Hard Corps: Uprising (Contra) headline this weeks PSN offerings- but there's plenty more to like if they're not your cup of tea.

Playstation Move Heroes, Crysis 2, and Mortal Kombat all get the demo treatment and the PSOne Classic Parasite Eve is released just in time for it's Third Birthday. And to top things off, there are some very nice premium themes to be had- if you like the MLB.

Super Street Fighter IV 3DS Looking Dragon Punchtastic

With only a little over a week until the 3DS launches here in the US, the game that most potential buyers are hyped up about is SSF4. And the 3D fighter is shaping up very nicely indeed-

Click through for some shots of the game in action as well as some menu stuff-

Rainbow Six: Shadow Vanguard Now Available for iOS

Leave it to those Clancy boys to sneak up and catch everybody napping- Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Shadow Vanguard (whew...) is now available for the measly price of $6.99 on the iPhone & iPod Touch.

Looks pretty good too-

First Castlevania DLC Whips Out

Looking as pretty as last Fall's retail release is the first DLC for Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. Dubbed 'Reverie', this is a brand new single player story spanning three stages of undead smashing goodness-

Click through only if you've beaten the main story! Spoilers ahoy-

Brand New Dead Island Screens

A smattering of Dead Island screens for you this fine afternoooooowhatthehellisthat!?!

First Batman: Arkham City Gameplay Emerges

Gametrailers posts up the first vid of actual gameplay from the much anticipated sequel-

Video Games | Batman: Arkham City | Gameplay Debut Trailer

Xbox 360 | PlayStation 3 | Nintendo Wii | PC Games                                

Surprise! It looks fantastic-

Japan Sees Massive Delays in Product Launches

The Japanese people have way more on their plate right now than worrying about whether or not to go get the newest iPad, and Apple is just the latest on a list of companies to put off their product launches in respect to the country wide crisis' that still rage more than a week after the quake that started it all.

Apple has officially announced that the iPad 2, due to launch on March 25th in non-US territories, will be held back for a future (as yet unannounced) date. It's a common sense move that needed to be made- and they're not alone.

Just last week Sony announced that their post-apocalyptic racer, Motorstorm Apocalypse, will miss it's launch date alongside another PS3 exclusive- the zombie themed Yakusa of the End. A few DS and 3DS titles have been temporarily shelved as well, as has the newest (fourth) release in the popular Disaster Report series. That title would have placed the player in the middle of an earthquake ravaged city- as it stands now, the game has been permanently canceled and will never see a Japanese release.

That's just a minuscule sample of how life is being put on hold in Japan. It's a country that's perhaps best known for cutting edge tech and videogames, but now deals with the unknown future repercussions of the constantly evolving disaster that they face.

Transformers MMO Coming Next Year

Developer Jagex and Hasbro have officially teamed up to bring Transformers into the online space:

Hasbro, Inc. (NASDAQ: HAS) announced today that it has signed a strategic development agreement with Jagex Limited to jointly create a new online game based on the globally iconic TRANSFORMERS brand.  Under the agreement, the two companies are slated to launch the TRANSFORMERS online game in 2012 in North America, Latin America, Europe, New Zealand and Australia.             

Details are extremely light at this point but it could really only be one of two things- an online shooter, or an MMO with Massively Multiplayer seeming the much more likely option.

“Hasbro’s decision to align with Jagex speaks to the quality of their award-winning development and publishing team that boasts an outstanding track record of delivering  innovative and fun online games capable of reaching millions of gamers across the globe,” said Mark Blecher, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Digital Gaming and Media at Hasbro.  “We are extremely excited to create a dream team that combines TRANSFORMERS brand stewards with Jagex development experts to deliver an epic TRANSFORMERS gaming experience to fans in 2012.”

 More as we get it-

Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime is a Very Dark Game

No really- it's dark, there's not a whole lot of color going on there-

And is that a driving level?!?

The Riddler Revealed in Arkham City

Looks like Eddie plays a bigger part in Batman: Arkham City than that of an audio annoyance since we actually get to see him this time around.

Arkham City arrives this fall for the Xbox360 and PS3.

WWE All Stars Match Types Detailed

The first thing that's going to stand out to wrestling die-hards is that there's no tag team match available. Seems like an odd omission considering that this is actually a pretty chunky list-

• 1 on 1
• Triple Threat 
• Fatal 4 Way
• Tornado Tag
• Extreme Rules
• Elimination
• Steel Cage
• Handicap Match

Yes, there's a Tornado Tag but no standard tag. Allegedly it's to keep the pace "fast and the action heavy". Full detailed descriptions and detail post break-

Prey 2 is Now Official

Prey originally was released in 2006 and was, for many, the first really 'next gen' FPS. It introduced new takes on gameplay with it's wall (and ceiling) walking pads and even beat the much acclaimed Portal to the punch with it's own portal transportation ideas.

That's all in addition to the fact that Prey was a terrific shooter at it's core and had an awesome story that mixed sci-fi with real world 'ancient alien' lore. Good stuff all around.

Nintendo Download -- 'Soil Your Plants' edition

Plants vs Zombies makes it's debut this week for the DSi, thus marking it's availability on every console known to man. Bets on how long it takes to get a 3DS version?

The Witcher 2 Brings on the Goodies

However you decide to pick up The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, you'll be able to get a ride on the swag train. From the full blown collector's edition on down to the digital download edition, there's a lot to like, including... papercraft?

These New Dungeon Siege III Screens Will Burn Your Head Off

Featured in this latest batch of screens from the upcoming dungeon crawler, Dungeon Siege III, this gal seems to really pack a punch. Which is no easy task when your head's on fire.

New Batman: Arkham City Screens

Yep, looks about right.

Keep it coming Rocksteady.

Monster Earthquake/Tsunami Rattles Japan

Say a little prayer today to whatever god you like for the people of Japan. They suffered through the worst earthquake in the country's history today- an 8.8 -only to be hit with a massive tsunami that washed away an as yet unknown amount of people and structures.

At this point there isn't even an estimate as to loss of life- but to give you an idea, some 250 bodies were just found in one of the coastal areas first hit by the wave. And to make matters worse, there are fires at several refineries and nuclear plants.

We're not going to cover this much here- it's a gaming blog after all -but here are some links if you'd like to keep up on things or if you need to check on anyone:

Japanese Quake Person Finder

BBC News

CNN

Arcade Brawler 64th Street Comes to iOS

Looking an awful lot like Final Fight, 64th Street is a side-scrolling brawler developed by DotEmu- well, not originally. Back in 1992, Jaleco published 64th Street for the Super NES along with spin-offs Rival Turf and Brawl Brothers- all to very little fanfare.

And yet here we are, with DotEmu repackaging the game for the iOS. Basically, it's got 16bit looks and plays (hopefully) like the above mentioned Final Fight. Not a lot to dislike there honestly-

Need a further push? It's 99 cents.

Click through the jump for some screens-

Painkiller Stakes the iOS

Lo and behold- we were just talking about Painkiller and here's an iOS version of the game! Painkiller Purgatory just hit the platform today in lite(demo), standard, and HD (for the iPad) editions.

The title promises fast, "visceral" gameplay with "high octane" weapons and the series' "trademark giant boss battles". Painkiller is one of our favorites and is a criminally underrated franchise- the first iOS entry looks great but we have yet to play it, so commenting on the controls can't be done quite yet.

Once we dig our clawn into it, we'll have a review up.

Pilotwings 3DS Screens Sans the 3D

Because of course you can't see the effect on your monitor, it should go without saying that all of these screens are 2D images of a 3DS game.

It really doesn't have that Pilotwings feel does it? Seems more like some generic Mii game now, still... it looks good which counts for something.

TheAngrySpark.com Downtime

Sorry to everybody out there who tried to access the blog earlier today- we were down for a bit with a security issue but we're back in action- business as usual.

Xbox LIVE Wrapup -- 'Torchlight*' edition

*Torchlight edition not available in Japan.
It's an adventuresome week on 'the Xbox LIVE'. Action/RPG Torchlight starts things off, followed up by the two Dragon Age 2 DLC packs- and if it's a value you're looking for, add-ons for Lara Croft & The Guardian of Light will round things off- lots of stuff, including the actual game, is on sale.

Venture on for... bullet points!!!

PSN Update -- 'Dragon DaVinci' edition

There's a lot to like this week on the PSN, not the least of which are the two pieces of DLC listed in the title- Dragon Age 2 and Assassins Creed Brotherhood. DA adds The Black Emporium & The Exiled Prince, while Ezio tries to track down a missing Leonardo in Davinci Disappearance.

But that's far from all there is- There's an explosion of Disney PSOne classics this week (8 of them! Maybe not 8 of them that you'd want but still) as well as Ridge Racer 4 and some very nice add-ons and sale items for various titles.

The Lord of the Rings: The War in the North Screens

LOTR: the War in the North just keeps looking better and better. This fall's action/RPG has been in development for a while now over at Warner Bros but it looks like the wait might be worth it.

That's... a lot of orks

The title looks like the familiar films it's based on, but at the same time, has a fresh feel that just oozes style. Could this be the first good Rings game since Return of the King on last gen's consoles?

Torchlght Arcade Cancelled in Japan

In an odd turn, today's release of the critically acclaimed PC action/RPG Torchlight, on Xbox LIVE will not extend into the land of the rising sun. It seems that, while other territories' versions are just fine, Japan's edition has a fatal flaw in the form of a 'text bug'. And apparently, no work will be done to repair said bug as the title has been permanently canceled for release on LIVE in Japan.

Torchlight was released in 2009 as a fairly low profile game but garnered positive word of mouth from both critics and genre fans alike and was one of LIVE's more anticipated releases. It must be one hell of a bug to get the game canceled-

Uncharted 3 Villain Unveiled

Katherine Marlowe, the very name of Nathan Drake's newest nemesis just reeks of nastiness doesn't it?

So Evil...

Katherine is the head of an ancient order that Nathan finds himself at odds with. Her tactics are more manipulative than your typical villain and her men are better trained and much more dangerous than any thugs that Drake and his partner Victor Sullivan have faced in the past.

Let's hope she has a lot of them too- because if these games have taught us anything, it's that Drake's going to be shooting a lot of them. Full release and some fresh screens after the break.

Pokemon Sells a Combined 1 Million Copies

When Nintendo launched Pokemon Diamond and Pokemon Pearl back in 2007, they did pretty well for themselves selling 780,000 copies on day one.

Well there's a new king in town- actually two. Pokemons Black & White have officially moved 1.08 million units... in one day. What do you think the chances are of a 3DS version?

iOS 4.3 Today?

Word on the street is that the third revision of iOS 4 may just be inbound today instead of the presumed Friday launch. (Friday would have coincided with the iPad 2 launch)

So you know the drill by now- keep checking all day until something happens.

3DS at Pax East

Going to be at Pax East up in Boston this weekend? Then you may want to try out a little device called the 3DS.

Nintendo will be showcasing pretty much the entire launch lineup of 3DS games, as well as a few that won't be out for a couple of months yet (read- Ocarina of Time & Kid Icarus), at demo stations inside their booth.

So go check them out before you buy them on the 27th at booth number 412- you can't miss it, it'll say 'Nintendo' right on it.

Xbox Successor in the Works (?)

Don't look now but Microsoft might be going back on that ten year life cycle promise for the 360- from Engadget to Eurogamer, sites across the web are reporting on a job posting from MS on Linkedin.

They're looking for staffers who know what they're doing in graphics architecture, design, and a/v hardware. All the postings are for the Xbox division.

From the looks of the positions offered, the next 'box is probably in the embryonic stages of development right now- which may mean an announcement at e3 2012, although even that might be a bit soon.

It's just so nice to hear about new hardware isn't it?

Dead Island Screens and Artwork from GDC

Xian Mei is one of the characters in the much talked about zombie hack and slash Dead Island. Maybe. There isn't actually all that much info about the playable characters of DI right now. But hey, least we know the name right? Must count for something?

New screens of (possible) player characters after the jump-

Halo Wars Sequel Possible?

Halo Wars was more than just a spin off, it was maybe the first RTS that just 'worked' on a console- although it didn't hurt to have that Halo branding on it. But with little to no chatter since the title was released and the disbandment of the game's architects, Ensemble,  it didn't seem like a sequel was something we should look forward to.

But maybe that needs to be rethought. 343 Industries' Frank O'Connor talked with CVG recently and called the game "a huge success", citing better than forecast sales numbers and critical acclaim. He also said that the thought of a continuation for the series was not out of the question. Before you get too excited, lets add on there that O'Connor also said that there's nothing being worked at the moment.

One very interesting thought? O'Connor mentioned utilizing Kinect. Gesture based Real Time Strategy? Now that has serious potential.

3DS Preorders Best the Wii

It looks like the iPad 2 announcement hasn't hurt 3DS fever any in the British Isles. MCV is reporting that the 3DS has already locked in it's place for the biggest console launch ever in the UK. With the console approaching 100,000 preorders, Nintendo is guaranteed a massively successful opening day on March 25th.

The big 'N' says that stores can keep the orders coming as availability is strong, so there'll be plenty of consoles to go around. That's refreshing to hear as most console launches have that familiar tinge of 'I hope I'm going to get one' to them. It's nice to see availability of a product not be artificially manipulated with a 'shortage'.

Nintendo Download -- 'Saving the Princess... With Bombs!' Edition

Bomberman 64 makes an appearance this week on ye old Virtual Console, but that's not the only title worth checking out- The light gun series, Heavy Fire, continues with Black Arms for the Wii and Jelly Car 2 joins Earth Saver for some downloadable action on the DSi.

New Battle: LA Screens

Battle: LA is looking surprisingly good for a last minute FPS, movie tie-in-