Author - Jerry Paxton

Square Enix Licenses Unreal Engine 3

Square Enix has licensed EPIC Games Unreal Engine 3 for several upcoming titles. News on which titles will be developed utilizing the engine is forthcoming.

“It is a pleasure to provide Square Enix with an exceptional game engine that will help them bring thrilling new experiences to legions of fans all over the world,” said Taka Kawasaki, territory manager of Epic Games Japan. “Many Western games have achieved great success with the Unreal Engine, and this milestone reflects the Japanese development community’s trust in our technical prowess. We can’t wait to see how Square Enix fuses the power of Unreal Engine 3 with its beautiful characters, enthralling storylines and fantastic gameplay.”

New Images from Trine 2

Focus Home Interactive has released some new screenshots from the upcoming actioner, Trine 2.

Screenshots

Nordic Games Purchases Dreamcatcher

Nordic Games GmbH has acquired DreamCatcher Interactive (SuperPower, Painkiller) for an undisclosed amount. This puts the number of studios under the Nordic Games umbrella at three, after JoWood and The Adventure Company.

“We are very happy that we were able to close the deal according to our internal schedule. After the incorporation of the “JoWooD” and “The Adventure Company” publishing label, “DreamCatcher” is the third and last to follow for the time being”, commented Nordic Games Holding AB CEO, Lars Wingefors. “Our approach is to assess the performance of DreamCatcher’s portfolio through back-catalogue sales, and as a consequence develop sequels to its bestselling brands and licenses, just as we did with our other two publishing labels”, elaborates Wingefors.

Xbox 720 Due in 2012 with Announcement in January (RUMOR)

File this under rumor for now, but EDGE is reporting that Ubisoft Montreal developers are currently working on build computers tricked out to match the specs of the next-gen gaming console from Microsoft. According to EDGE’s unnamed source, more of these build computers should be reaching other developers prior to Christmas of this year, pointing to an Xbox 720 (or whatever it will be called) launch later in 2012. With CES coming up in early January, it is not too hard to speculate that, if another rumor is correct, we will see some sort of announcement during the Microsoft keynote.

This other rumor, recently posted at VG247, claims that the new Xbox runs a hex-core CPU with 2GB of DDR3 RAM and will utilize an AMD processor.

Metal Gear Solid: Rising Teaser

Looks like we will be getting a full, world-premier trailer for Konami’s upcoming Metal Gear Solid: Rising at the Spike TV Video Game Awards on December 10, 2011. They released a small teaser trailer to whet our appetites in the meantime – enjoy!

Teaser

EVE Online: Crucible Release Date

CCP Games has announced that Crucible, its 15th free expansion for EVE Online, will launch on November 29, 2011.

Some of the major improvements in Crucible:

  • Four fan-designed battlecruisers built to deliver swift and effective destruction to the opposition
  • Over a dozen stunningly remade nebulae, changing the look and feel of EVE’s universe completely
  • Other fan-favorite graphical improvements such as engine trails, warp tunnels and shadows
  • Time dilation in fleet flights — adjusting time itself to keep fairness alive when hundreds of players face off against each other
  • 3 new factional captain’s quarters with unique, artistic looks
  • A significant ship rebalancing effort, to bring greater diversity and balance to large and small scale conflicts
  • A lot of small changes — from fonts to UI to Doomsday devices to PvE tweaks

Battlecruiser WIP Images

F1 2011 Announced as Vita Launch Title

Today, Codemasters announced that F1 2011 is set to be a launch title for PlayStation Vita on February 22, 2012. F1 2011 features a host of single and multiplayer options, including an additional and extensive Challenge mode is perfect for portable play, with gamers completing a wide range of objectives including checkpoint, gate and overtaking challenges.

Vita Screenshots

New Ninja Gaiden 3 Screenshots

Team Ninja and Tecmo Koei have unveiled some new screenshots from their upcoming Ninja Gaiden 3, which is due out in 2012 on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 platforms.

Screenshots

Spike Announces VGA Nominees and Video Game Hall Of Fame Award

Spike TV has unveiled the nominees of its upcoming Video Game Awards, which airs live on November 10th, 2011. The company has also announced it will be making The Legend of Zelda its first entry into its Video Game Hall of Fame, gracing the title with a special award at the show.

“The ‘VGAs’ always celebrate the best games of the year and preview the future with world premieres,” said Casey Patterson executive producer of the “VGAs” and executive vice president of event production for Viacom Media Networks Entertainment Group. “Now our Video Game Hall of Fame will recognize the game franchises throughout history that have brought the industry to where it is today.”

“It is only natural to start with ‘Zelda,’” said Geoff Keighley, executive in charge, publisher relations, Spike. “‘The Legend of Zelda’ is a franchise that inspired many of us to see the potential of games when it debuted 25 years ago, one that has successfully transitioned from one game console generation to the next and has continually shown the narrative and artistic potential of the medium.”

GAME OF THE YEAR

“Batman: Arkham City” (Warner Bros Interactive / Rocksteady Studios)
“The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim” (Bethesda Softworks / Bethesda Game Studios)
“The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword” (Nintendo)
“Portal 2” (Valve)
“Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception” (Sony Computer Entertainment / Naughty Dog)

STUDIO OF THE YEAR

Bethesda Game Studios
Naughty Dog
Rocksteady Studios
Valve

BEST SHOOTER

“Battlefield 3” (Electronic Arts / DICE)
“Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3” (Activision / Infinity Ward / Sledgehammer Games)
“Gears of War 3” (Microsoft Studios / Epic Games)
“Rage” (Bethesda Softworks / Id Software)

BEST INDEPENDENT GAME

“Bastion” (Supergiant Games)
“Minecraft” (Mojang)
“Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery EP” (Capybara Games)
“The Binding of Isaac” (Edmund McMillen)

This is a partial list of nominees – to see the full listing, head over to the 2011 Video Game Awards website.