Gears of War was a big hit for The Cliffster and Epic. Unless Gears of War 2 is totally rotten, that game will probably be another big hit for The Cliffster. And if Gears 2 makes money, then yes, we'll probably see another sequel. If that sequel does well, then another. Endless! But, The Cliffster and Epic are so not counting their eggs before they are hatched. Says The Cliffster:

If a Driver game fails? Try, and try again. That's new franchise owners Ubisoft's thinking (maybe Atari were just bad luck), as a BBC story on British games development contains the unsurprising news that Ubisoft Reflections, in Newcastle, are working on another Driver game. Least, that's what the BBC presenter from the vid below says, and seeing as he's sitting in the studio, and had obviously been hanging with the team, and is pointing at a screen showing a driving game being played, we're prone to believe him.

How a computer game is made [BBC, via VG247]

On August 2nd and August 3rd, Square Enix is holding a "private party" with the utterly ridiculous name DKΣ3713 that will be limited to only 2,400 attendees, picked by raffle through the Japanese Square Enix Members website.. It will showcase Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts games. And just like we thought, Final Fantasy XIII will not be playable. Hit the jump for the full rundown of what will be there and what form it will be in. Bring on the disappointments!

And the Itagaki vs. Tecmo legal battle continues! On June 10th, Tecmo filed with the Tokyo District Court for a "gag-order" against former employee and Dead or Alive creator Tomonobu Itagaki before the court case begins. The provisional disposition includes the following four points, prohibiting:

• Disclosing or leaking information regarding Tecmo's game software, sales, development or any other company secrets

• Using newspapers, magazines and the internet to criticise company software and company employees

• Obstructing the company's business through slanderous remarks to third parties

• Do not accept interviews regarding Tecmo or talk to the press about the company

This gag-order certainly seems in response to the statement Itagaki released to Kotaku and other outlets.

テクモ、板垣氏に対して仮処分を申請 [IT Media] [Pic]

Wildstorm have announced that, come September, they'll be releasing a new World of Warcraft miniseries. Called World of Warcraft: Ashbringer, it's being timed to coincide with the release of Wrath of the Lich King, and will be based around the tale of the Ashbringer sword. If this matters, it's being written by Blizzard's Mickey Neilson, so stuff like consistency and canon shouldn't be an issue.

New World of Warcraft Comic Series Coming in September [Game|Life]

Here, have a look! Here are new Final Fantasy Versus XIII images from the upcoming issue of Famitsu. The PS3 exclusive is part of the Final Fantasy XIII label Fabula Nova Crystallis and is being directed by famed character designer Tetsuya Nomura. According to the Famitsu scans, Square Enix thinks it will be able to announce the latest news regarding FF Versus XIII this summer. Smart money says they do it at that "private party" this August.

Hit the jump for another scan.

This week's Famitsu announces mecha Macross Ace Frontier for the PSP. The game is based on the anime Macross Frontier, and hey, the franchise is celebrating its 25th anniversary! Out in this fall in Japan, the PSP game is being developed by Art Dink (read more about them here) and will be published by Namco Bandai. Like other Macross games, Ace Frontier will feature mecha from all the series and movies like Veritechs from Macross, Macross Plus and Macross 7. There are scans, and they are right down there.

To recap: PC adventure game Limbo of the Lost has been busted stealing art assets from nearly every PC game released in the past ten years. The list of games it stole from - and the way it used said stolen assets - is hilarious. Almost as hilarious as some of the entries in a competition held over at Rock, Paper, Shotgun, to see who could come up with the best "mocked up screenshots for other levels that might have appeared in Limbo of the Lost". Who'd have thought Majestic would manage to steal something from Peggle. I've included a few of the entries here, but really, you should check out the full catalogue of entries over at RPS. Good times.

That's the impression I'm getting from these graphs, showing how many titles were offered for sale/download on each of the platform holder's online services since launch. While the numbers obviously fluctuate from month-to-month on all three - Xbox Live, the PlayStation Store and the Wii Shop Channel - general trends still present themselves. Like the fact all three hit a peak in late 2007 before dropping off in the first half of 2008, with the number of XBL Arcade, PSN and Virtual Console games going through the floor. Lucky for Xbox Originals, WiiWare and PSP downloads then!

See that? That's the top of Square Enix music album Final Fantasy Remix. We are putting the rest of the album behind the jump — not because it's risky or anything, but because it will give you a headache into enternity. The actual CD features piano "remixes" of Famicom, Super Famicom and PlayStation era Final Fantasy tunes. On sale this August, but the exact title list is still being finalised. Hit the jump for the full album art and regret it for the rest of your life.

Remember these lovely ladies? Yeah. Turns out Kojima didn't hire them just to pout for a few publicity shots, get all slimy, zoomed-in and combative and appear as boss characters. No, turns out they had to be employed for these voyeuristic - and more than a little creepy - photo shoot features as well. The breathing may well make these (three more after the jump) NSFW, so click "play" with caution.

A still unconfirmed rumour has it that actor Michael Ironside will not be returning as Sam Fisher in Splinter Cell: Conviction. Game site Sarcastic Gamer says that the actor was "quietly axed" from the franchise and will be replaced for Conviction. According to the Sarcastic Gamer insider:

He was getting to way too egotistical about the project and extremely difficult to work with...He was also asking for a shit load of money... He pretty much tied his own noose.

Granted, this is still unconfirmed and Ubisoft apparently hasn't offered an official comment on this rumour. US? We're on the fence: Ironside is the voice of one of Ubisoft's biggest franchises, which is why it's hard to believe they'd let him get away. (That would be a total buzz kill for Conviction!) Then again, because he is so important, maybe he's become "difficult". Watch out, though, Ubisoft. Piss off Ironside and he'll totally scan you. KA-BOOM!

Ironside's Ego Demands [Sarcastic Gamer Thanks, Drew!]

I know, it's the PR equivalent of water torture with Blizzard and Starcraft 2, what with their "one at a time" release of assets, but it's been a few weeks since we indulged them. They've today released three new images for Starcraft 2: a single screen, and two pieces of artwork. One piece above, the other - and a very busy-looking screen - after the jump.

A lot of detail went into Metal Gear Solid 4. A lot. Why, just check out how much care went into rendering the face of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder suffering, Beauty and the Beast Corps member Laughing Octopus — plus the care given to her rear and crotch. No, wait! That's after the jump as some might find the screenshots spoilerific. Others might find them NSFW. And others will applaud Kojima Productions' attention to detail, S&M gear and helmet slime.

I'm probably going to go to a special level of Hell for reminding you guys of this, but, the Princess Bride PC/Mac game by casual developer Worldwide Biggies is now available for purchase. It's $US 19.99, which works out to be $21.13.

Now, I'm not sure what's scarier: the system requirements recommending a 2.8GHz processor (what is this, Assassin's Creed?); or the developer's name containing a word I automatically associate with jubblies.

To be honest, I haven't played it, though that's mainly because I don't want to. If you're brave enough to not only pay for it, but indulge in its, uh, uniqueness, please, let us know your thoughts before you shoot yourself.

Okay, I may be exaggerating. The site says the game includes voices from the original cast (including - somehow - Mandy Patinkin), so it can't be all bad, right?

Princess Bride Game [Official site]

It does! I mean, look at this thing. It looks amazing. Absolutely amazing. Speed, bright colours, Sega music, speed, blue skies...oh man. And yet...it's a Sega game. A Sega Sonic game. Made after 1992. Part of me wants to give myself over to the excitement, while the other part is afraid. Afraid they'll find some way to balls this up.

People still play Diablo II? They must, considering Blizzard continues to pump out patches for its eight-year old title. Whenever I start to think about how impossible this scenario is, I remind myself that people still play Solitaire too. Hey, if a game's addictive, it's addictive.

Along with a reset of the competition ladder, the patch removes the game's ancient copy protection. If this gives you any trouble, Blizzplanet has a fix that should sort you out.

Diablo II Patch Information [Blizzard]

Phew! Sure seems like Sega listens to fans. After the first Yakuza game was released with an English language dub, erasing the brilliant original Japanese one, people complained. Why not, you know, release the game with subtitles? It is called Yakuza and English dubbing, no matter how good, kills the mood! Well, that is, unless you're one of those can't-see-foreign-movies-with-subtitles people. For the PS2 sequel, Sega points out on the game's official site:

Chatting at the Game Education Summit in Dallas, Warren Spector has spoken out over lengthy single-player games, questioning their place in today's market.

One-hundred-hour games are on the way out. How many of you have finished GTA? Two percent, probably. If we're spending $US 100 million on a game, we want you to see the last level!

Two things: firstly, he's not advocating everyone go casual. Just...if you're making a SP game, don't make one that's SUPER-long, OK? Secondly...he's wrong. While the gaming market is currently expanding, it's not changing. Difference being, people aren't walking away from games like Oblivion to go play Wii Fit. Those guys are still out there, and they still want big, SP games. Be a shame if developers stopped making them.

Spector: 'One Hundred Hour Games Are On The Way Out' [Gamasutra]

Anyone still using their Wii Fit Balance Board? Matthieu and Simon, students at German Research Centre For Artificial Intelligence, are! They've got the board hooked up to a PC via Bluetooth and are using the Nintendo peripheral as a World of Warcraft movement controller. Nice to see some folks still using the Balance Boards innovating.

Oh, and the music used in this video is FRIGGIN' AWESOME.

WoW Fit [Rock, Paper, Shotgun]

More John Riccitiello at the William Blair & Company conference! This time, he's talking about the company's Godfather sequel, and what he's saying doesn't sound too bad at all:

You can play this game both at the street level, much like a GTA-style game, but you can also play it top-down, almost like you're in an RTS, controlling the strategy of the boroughs so you can see what's going on..

So...there are parts where you play, and parts where you command at a more strategic level? So...X-Com, with mobsters? Neat idea, if they can pull it off.

EA Talks "Godfather II" [Next-Gen]

This one's going to kill me, I think. May have been too ambitious. The mental image I had of Zafehouse, the next title for Kotaku AU's Game A Week feature, went fuzzy at about, oh, 3AM this morning. I almost freaked out believing I'd made some unplayable monstrosity. But, through the late nights debugging my arse off, I've managed to forge something I'd call "feature complete". Now I just have to playtest like mad.

Don't forget to check out Wizkill, the game from week 1, and make suggestions for other games I can make.

Yesterday's episode of Evil Avatar's podcast featured as a special guest David "Voice of Solid Snake" Hayter. They got chatty, they talked Metal Gear, but something else they talked about was Hayter's other line of work: as a Hollywood writer. Over the year's, Hayters worked on movies like X-Men 1 & 2 and the Scorpion King, and he's even at work on the upcoming Watchmen flick as well. Seems he's also in discussions with both Capcom and Warner Bros to write a screenplay for a Lost Planet movie. Interesting choice, Capcom. Can't say I enjoyed the game too much, but the setting could work as a flick, especially if it's pitched at the Chronicles of Riddick end of the budget/market.

Evil Avatar Radio Ep. Eleventy One - David Hayter [Evil Avatar]

EA boss John Riccitiello is confused. Speaking at the *breath* William Blair & Company's 28th Annual Growth Stock Conference, he yearns for a day when Metacritic scores - for EA games, of course - were higher:

It used to be...All Metacritics were higher once upon a time because it was ten professionals rating them. Now, sort of anybody with a pen can rate them and it ends up with a bit of a wider track some times.

Uh, John? Think you got your Metacritics and your GameRankings mixed up. But hey, that's a simple mistake for the head of one of the industry's biggest companies to make. Totally understandable. What's a little less understandable is how he continues.

If you've been hanging out for Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit on Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, hang out no longer. GameTraders in Carillon City has copies of the UK PAL version going for $89.95. You can swing in right now and pick this baby up, nearly three weeks before its official release.

Remember, if you see a game on a retailer's shelf when it shouldn't let us know at tipsATkotakuDOTcomDOTau!

[Thanks everyone]

Sega's denial to MTV Multiplayer earlier today that it was publishing the game seen in the leaked Crucible video that spilled out of the Intellisponse fiasco sounds legit, according to a source. We've been told that that clip has nothing to do with Sega's game of a similar name, but is instead the work of developer Big Huge Games and Oblivion designer Ken Rolston. The former Elder Scrolls designer joined Big Huge Games last year to work on a "strikingly original" console RPG due to be published by THQ in 2009.

Alex gets bonus points from me for squeezing in a reference to Tony Martin's last radio show, Get This. R.I.P.

R18+ and Video Games: A History of Violence [YouTube, thanks Alex]

Last week, Metal Gear Solid 4 stormed straight to the top of the British sales charts. Good news for Konami! But Konami aren't the only ones with an investment in the game. Sony were banking on it to help shift a ton of PS3s as well, what with it being the first AAA PS3 exclusive title and all. So how'd it do in that regard? The news for Sony is that, while the game definitely drove hardware sales in Japan, its effect in the West may be a more muted affair. British chart monitors ChartTrack report that "it had minimal impact really. [PS3 sales] were up by seven percent". Guess everyone who wanted the game already had a PS3.

Chart-Track: MGS4 had "minimal" impact on UK PS3 sales [GI.biz]

By the way, this is not an invitation to send your boner-centric creation to tips. Just consider it a heads up.