BitSnark

You can always count on someone, somewhere being shit at their job. Thankfully, their P45 is the result of some top notch gaming leakage in the form of Gears Of War 3 being inadvertently advertised for release in April 2011.

It’s been a fairly well known fact that a third game would arrive at *some* point and indeed, many folks rightly assumed that Epic Games Production head honcho Cliffy B, would be unveiling the title this coming Monday on the Jimmy Fallon show over in the US.

As far as his reveal goes on Tuesday, it will be interesting to see if it is Gears 3, or if they had something entirely unrelated, such as an original IP, planned for the show.

Either way this situation is this: Gears Of War 3 is coming out in April 2011.

Hoo-rah.

WB Games today announced that a third title in their long running horror FPS F.E.A.R series, will arrive this Autumn on 360, PS3 and PC platforms.

Coding duties will be handled by series console port stalwarts Day 1 Studios, instead of original coders Monolith Productions.

Little else is known about the title, but you would be forgiven for thinking that it would likely involve copious amounts of shooting, gore, trippy visions and of course slo-mo.

A live-action announcement trailer can be seen at the link below:

The link is below:

http://gamers.eurogamer.net/giveaways.php?id=87015&claim=true

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What?

You’re still here?? GTFO and grab yourself a key!

Microsoft today announced that Remedy’s long-gestating survival-horror mystery thing, Alan Wake, will actually release a week earlier than was previously thought.

Instead of May 21st, the title will now arrive on our fair shores on May 14th.

The US and Japanese dates remain unchanged on the 18th and 27th respectively.

Fancy that 🙂

The sequel to the CD Projekt’s mature RPG hit The Witcher has been confirmed for a console release today, just mere days after it was confirmed that the title was in development.

Entitled The Witcher 2: Assassins Of Kings, the game appears to boast the same mature content and action RPG gameplay that made it such a hit when it released back in 2007.

The promise of a console version of the title is notable, given that a console-centric title, known as The Witcher: Rise Of The Wolf, was announced to be in development last year but was cancelled before the year was out.

The title will arrive on all three formats in 2011.

Confirming the rumour mill for the last year, Nintendo has announced that a true successor to their wildly successful Nintendo DS handheld will be unveiled at E3 2010 later on this year.

Billed as a ‘true’ successor to their 125 million plus selling handheld dynasty, the Nintendo 3DS as it is known, will boast 3D output graphics without the need for 3D glasses and will also be fully backwardly compatible with Nintendo DS and DSi titles.

Aside from the rumours regarding its Nvidia TEGRA based architecture, no other details are known about the handheld.

The megaton has been dropped.

The bastards. For years since E3 2005, the topic of a next gen remake for Final Fantasy VII has been dangled in front of fans by developer Square-Enix. Over the years, it has been flat out denied and sometimes cruelly teased by individual staff members, but today Square Enix boss Yoichi Wada confirmed that Square Enix is now actually exploring the possibility of remaking Final Fantasy VII for the current generation of consoles.

Given the fact that a FFVII remake is essentially a license to print money, I am quite surprised it took em’ five years to just start ‘exploring’ the possibility of such a remake.

The Square Enix CEO had this to say in an interview with tech site silconera:

“Right now we don’t have a clear direction, but many fans have requested we remake Final Fantasy VII. We’re going to explore the possibility – whether or not we’re going to do it, if we’re going to do it, and the platform.”

Given the size and budget of such a project, I would expect it to release on PS3 and 360 in order to maximise return. That is unless one of the platform holders offers a *substantial* amount of money up front for a timed exclusive or something.

But still, until I see it in some sort of tangible medium, i’m not going to hold my breath.

Square Enix you great cockteases.

WB Games today have announced that Snowblind Studios (the folks behind the console Baldur’s Gate titles), are developing a more mature offering set in Tolkien’s legendary fantasy fiction.

Lord Of The Rings: War In The North, is a visceral action-RPG that allows players to upgrade their various party members in regards to skills and abilities, improve their gear and take part in some co-operative questing goodness.

In regards to the lore, the game will take in some familiar settings and one or two familiar characters; but for the most part, the majority of the game will be set in the unexplored
North (as per the title) where a number of new enemies and perils await.

The violent CG-ified teaser trailer can be seen at the link below:

http://uk.pc.ign.com/articles/107/1078502p1.html

Ubisoft and Microsoft have confirmed that a demo for the latest installment in their stealth series, Splinter Cell Conviction, is now available to download on Xbox Live.

Now fly my children! Act out your Jack Bauer fantasies!

Just a friendly reminder that the XBLA restoration of Joanna Dark’s finest FPS arrives today on the marketplace for 800 Microsoft Points.

It has 1080P 60FPS visuals, 4-player split-screen mulitplayer, 8-player Xbox Live multiplayer, bots (remember when FPS’s had these?), 3 multiplayer maps from Goldeneye and all the weapons from Goldeneye too.

Bargain.

See you online!