Darwin is definitely not a Microsoft product, but it's also definitely an Xbox 360 motion controller.

Motus Games' Darwin was officially unveiled this morning on their website, the light saber-esque controller snaps in two uses a number of sensors to track where it is. It does this, according to the company, without the use of the IR receiver that the Wii uses. Motus claims it is far more accurate than the Wii Remote. The device may also work on the Playstation 3, though the developers are being deliberately vague about that.

There's still a lot more we don't know about the device than we do know about it. According to the site, which makes no mention of working with Microsoft, the Darwin isn't ready for sale yet bit is "currently making its way into the hands of developers and publishers" and they're expecting it will hit stores in less than a year.

The devices two units are packed with buttons. The top controller includes a power button, left, right arrows, D-pad, A button, wireless connection and battery indicator and upper and lower triggers. The bottom controller has a power button, left, right arrows, analogue controller, upper and lower triggers and wireless and batter indicator. Both include straps.

The site also shows the device in action, playing with Lego Star Wars II, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2008 and Harry Potter V: The Order of the Phoenix. Hit the jump to watch the device in action.

Admission: I liked Fable 1. Being a longtime Molyneux fan, I knew to filter out the bullshit, and just enjoy it for what it was. And it was an above-average RPG, one of the best to appear on the Xbox. It was far from perfect, however. The linearity was a problem. As was the voice-acting. Which was provided, it seemed, exclusively by representatives of the Cornish dairy farmers association. Thankfully, that's a part of the sequel that's been improved, with the voice acting "kicked up a couple of notches", according to a report in the latest OXM. Partly due to the shift away from the rural setting of the first game, but also partly due to the fact they're now hiring proper talent, like charming British comedian Stephen Fry. Even if he's still just doing "oooyy, errr Ranger", at least now it'll be done with some dignity.

Exclusive: New Fable 2 details revealed! [OXM] [Pic]

Grand Theft Auto IV was an enormous success. Really, it doesn't get any bigger than that! So, imagine if you (yes, you) were one of the creative forces behind that title. You'd probably pack up and call it a day. Well, good thing you're not and Rockstar's Sam Houser is. The Rockstar honcho says that he (and gaming) are only getting started and that there's still so much left to be done. Says Houser:

What have I got left to achieve? Everything. We are only scratching at the surface of games' potential as a creative medium.

Fantastic to hear this kinda stuff from a guy like Houser.

Rockstar boss: Games industry has 'limitless' potential [MCVUK via VG247]

Sony's released a handful of LocoRoco 2 screens which look all cutsy and whatnot. The PSP title hasn't been dated yet, it will apparently feature new bosses and more catchy music. Click through the gallery below to have a look!

Even though E3 is next week, it's never too early to talk about the Tokyo Game Show. So! For those interested in attending TGS 2008, good news: You'll be able to buy tickets beforehand. That's right, convenience stores across the country will be selling them via Electronic Ticket Pia for ¥1,000 (¥1,200 with tax). That's ten bucks plus tax in U.S. money. But what does that matter? You'll have to be in Japan if you want to buy tickets early.

TGS tickets go on sale starting July 16th.

前売入場券は2008年7月16日より販売 [Famitsu] [Pic]

Activision Blizzard, that's a big company right there. And, technically, it's a merger. But things could have been so, so different. Instead of a union, it could have been a buy-out, with Activision originally interested in straight-up purchasing the WoW creators. Says Activision boss Bobby "What, Me Worry?" Kotick:

We talked about the opportunity to buy Blizzard and they were adamant that they loved the [videogame] business and were committed to it. They didn't want to sell the business but would entertain other ideas. They were struggling on the console side and needed to diversify into other parts of the business and recognised how difficult that would be independently, which is how we ultimately settled on this structure.

Ah, the structure where Blizzard execs get fat new paychecks while Activision gets a piece of WoW's cash flow? Everybody wins!

Activision tried to buy Blizzard before merging with Vivendi Games [Variety]

Will nothing end the tedium of the PSP dominating Media Create hardware charts? We can't even take satisfaction in the continuing dismal fortunes of Microsoft overseas. Truth be told, the 360 has another relatively good week, as sales in the 1,000 to 2,000 range are more common. PlayStation 3 sales return to normal, as the Metal Gear Solid 4 bump continues to wane. Here are the results of the Japanese console war from June 30 to July 6.

PSP - 56,439
DS Lite - 47,455
Wii - 44,525
PlayStation 3 - 14,359
PlayStation 2 - 11,768
Xbox 360 - 4,776

Media Create Weekly Sales

Well! If Brain Age gets a naughty movie, then one would correctly assume that Wii Fit must get one as well. Japanese adult video maker Gekidan Carnival has just released Geki Fit, which features the tagline "Fitness Is Erotic!" Geki Fit features 115 minutes of young ladies in various stretching and yoga poses against an all-white background. While there are no Wii-motes, Wiis or Balance Boards, the movie does feature font and packaging "homages". (Gekidan Carnival probably doesn't want to get sued back to the stone age by Nintendo!)

Hit the jump for the cover. The distasteful sweat might be NSFW.

Could it be? Could Capcom actually be looking seriously (we knew they were looking casually) at doing the undoable, and releasing Tatsunoko Vs Capcom in the US? Perhaps! It's been announced that at the EVO world finals in Vegas in early August, Capcom will be running a location test for the splendid-looking fighter. You know, the one nobody thought would ever leave Japan, the one Western licensing departments must be having kittens over. And not just that, but they're also "working on more ways for US players to try it out as well", so expect further hands-on details to come in the coming months. Like, at a guess, PAX.

Tatsunoko Vs Capcom: On Tour in the USA! [Capcom]

Activision Blizzard have around $US 3.5 billion in cash lying around after the merger between the two companies. Where's it going to go? Who knows. Some of it on fancy new office stationary, probably. Some on getting fair trade organic coffee sold at the company cafeteria. And some on this brave endeavour: Acti boss Bobby Kotick thinks that, between the franchise's popularity and Vivendi's ownership of Universal Music, Guitar Hero as a platform could someday become a music download service to rival iTunes. Sounds fairly ridiculous considering said service would be for a game using plastic instruments rather than one allowing you to buy music for your music player, but whatever. It's your $US 3.5 billion, Bobby.

Activision to launch rival to iTunes [Yahoo]

It may have settled for a third place showing last week, but with less fierce competition the week after Daigasso! Band Bros. DX gets a chance to shine in the top spot. Media Create's Japanese software ranking shows drifting drama Initial D Extream Stage relegated to second. Not bad for a PS3 game (still), but a low key week across the board.

Little in the way of new debuts makes for a rather dry chart. Still, if you want to see how the PS2 port of Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters fared, it's after the jump.

The 360's all but assured of being a cheaper console come Monday. And when Monday comes - with the Pro model tipped to drop to $US 299 - it'll be a full $US 100 cheaper than the PS3. So, will Sony get with the program, and cut their prices too? Nope! Sony's Chief Financial Officer Nobuyuki Oneda (pictured, glimpsing the future) has said that "Our strategy is not to sell more quantity for PS3 but to concentrate on profitability...Our plan is not to reduce the price". Note he's not saying they don't want to sell more PS3s; he's just saying they're happy with the rate they're already selling at, and are more concerned with making the PS3 cheaper to manufacture. Just so, you know. You know.

Sony CFO: No Plan To Cut Price Of Playstation 3 Game Console [Beurs] [Pic]

Gears of War 1 ballparked around 6 to 9 hours. For some, that's a little on the short side. So for Gears of War 2, lead designer Cliff Bleszinski wants to make it a tad longer. Says The Cliffster:

We definitely want it [Gears of War 2] to be longer. We won't specify a number of hours right now, but it will be longer — I can guarantee that. And it'll have a little bit more drama too... I think that, with campaigns like in Gears, Halo or Call of Duty, my personal preference is around the 10+ hours mark, with a co-op and a multiplier you can play in the longer term.But I find a lot of games are filled with padding to make them seem longer. They do stuff like, at the half way mark, demand that you play through all the levels again backwards, and you think "kiss my ass". We'll never do that. We'd always rather push forward and provide new experiences.

Added value! That's because The Cliffster cares. He really, really does.

Interview Cliff Bleszinski [CVG]

Inside the Developers Studio: Kyle Shubel [PlayStation.Blog]

The latest Game Informer's rocking a fairly extensive preview of the upcoming Rock Band 2. If you're up for a trip to the local newsagent (or wherever you Americans get your magazines), it's got the game's first screenshots, as well as a ton of information that may or may not be news to you. Pick of the lot, though, is information on the game's "new" drum kits. See, there's two. One's the "standard" kit, which looks a lot like the first game's drums, only now with a number of improvements, like new drum pads that generate "far less noise" (they're also "velocity sensitive"), slots to clip on cymbals (which will be sold separately) and a whopping great metal-reinforced pedal. But the other drums? Oh my.

DS title Pokémon Platinum details are divulged in the August issue of CoroCoro comics. Besides announcing official Japanese release date is September 13th, there's a bunch of new details like a new "Wi-Fi Club" area that's able to hold up to 20 folks at once, a new Team Galatic member, new international police member, a "Battle Recorder" that allows trainers to record and share battles, and Dialga and Palkia appearing simultaneously in story.

Newly-merged Activision Blizzard are the world's #1 publisher for a reason. Well, four reasons: World of Warcraft, Tony Hawk's, Call of Duty and Guitar Hero. So with the ink only just drying on the Activision/Blizzard merger, it makes sense for the new company to move to secure the talent behind those games. Variety reports that all the "top execs" at Blizzard have been signed to new, five-year deals, company boss Robert Kotick saying "We realised it would be impossible to compete [with 'World of Warcraft'] and so ultimately my only issue was making sure they were committed for at least five years". Smart move. The heads of Infinity Ward and Neversoft have also been signed to new deals, locking in most of the new mega-publishers top talent. Here's to five more uninterrupted years of Guitar Hero and Call of Duty!

Blizzard, Infinity Ward, Neversoft execs sign long term contracts with Activision Blizzard [Variety]

Over in Germany, Burger King is running an edgy Vice City inspired campaign called Veg City. The website has a true Grand Theft Auto-style map, and there are mini games like a sniper games, red light district multiple choice game minus vegetable fucking, and an airport baggage game. Nothing quite like pickle hookers and capsicums getting cavity searches! Imaginative stuff.

Welcome to Veg City! [Official Site via Marblehead Blog via GamePolitics]

Ahead of what will no doubt be a big push for the game next week, Activision have released some new screens for Call Of Duty: World At War. Again, they're split between the Pacific and Eastern fronts, leaving us wondering when we'll get to see something from the British sections of the game.

Betty, file this under "surprised it took them this long", could you? Konami's lawyers in the US have filed a patent lawsuit against Harmonix (and MTV, and VIacom) in the federal court in Tyler, Texas. They allege that Harmonix's Rock Band violates a pair of patents Konami obtained in 2002 and 2003, which relate to "simulated musical instruments, a music-game system and a musical-rhythm matching game". For this, Konami seek justice. They also seek cash money. Loads of cash money. As well as an order blocking Harmonix (or Viacom) from using technology that violates Konami's patents.

Konami Sues Viacom Over `Rock Band' Music Video Game [Bloomberg] [Pic]

It is, it isn't, it is, it isn't...sheesh. Yes, it's been confirmed that Mega Man 9 will be making its way to the Xbox 360 and PS3. Despite WiiWare-only claims - from Capcom, the scamps - to the contrary. Above is the closing screen from the game's first trailer, showing the necessary details. Thanks for the confusion! Perhaps as a tonic for your Mega Man dizziness, they've also announced that Mega Man 1 & 2 will be appearing on the North American Virtual Console, and appearing "soon". Full (and excellent) trailer's after the jump.

Tecmo has announced its list of E3 2008 wares and there's nary a trademark D-cup nor a ninja in sight, as each of its three titles lands on Nintendo hardware. Leading the charge is Tecmo Bowl: Kickoff for the Nintendo DS, a portable update to the publisher's arcade/NES classic American football fest.

Also for the DS is Robocalypse, an "innovative, new, real-time strategy game" in which, you guessed it, robots fight. They fight comically, it seems, as Jay Lender, SpongeBob Squarepants writer and director co-wrote the storyline.

Rounding out the list is SPRay for the Wii. Tecmo describes it as an action adventure game with "a unique gameplay mechanic involving the use of several liquids that are sprayed onto the game universe". For more details, check the full press release.

BioWare's fan forums have now reached four million user accounts, the company announced today.

BioWare co-founders Dr. Ray Muzyka and Dr. Greg Zeschuk began cultivating a fan community around Baldur's Gate on newsgroups and in chat rooms back in 1996, and its own forums launched in 2001 alongside Neverwinter Nights, which is when it began collecting registrations.

On the heels of Mass Effect, and with Dragon Age up ahead (plus the mysterious "unnanounced MMO"), Bioware said its community usership is at an all-time high.

More users, apparently, have united for social interaction around the work of a single studio than use social networking sites like Friendster and Xanga. EA recently acquired a social network of its own — makes you think, perhaps, about where they might be going with it.

Full announcement follows the jump.

The Entertainment Consumers Association, an advocacy group representing gamers, has joined up with nonprofit Connected Nation in support of universal broadband. The effort benefits gamers, says the ECA, because high-speed internet access for everyone supports access to online games and the growth of that industry.

Jennifer Mercurio, the ECA's government affairs director, said that it created the Gamers for Universal Broadband initiative in response to "member outcry" over internet access limitations interfering with games.

Through the joint initiative, the ECA joins Connected Nation's advisory committee. Full details follow the jump.

As part of its "Bringing It Home" E3 campaign, Microsoft will finally let loose the public demo of Too Human via Xbox Live, reports IGN. Anticipation for the demo is likely at an all-time high, as Silicon Knights' bossman Denis Dyack has been teasing a demo since August of '07. We expect a flurry of varying opinions upon its release.

The polarising Xbox 360 hack and shoot adventure will join the festival of downloadable delights at some point next week, as Microsoft attempts to distract you from coverage of its competitors by offering up free trailers, demos, news from the E3 show floor and other shiny objects. Look forward to it, won't you?

Pre-E3 2008: Too Human Demo Finally Coming [IGN]

Brash Entertainment has announced today it's doing the Tale of Despereaux video game for Xbox 360, PS2 and Wii, set to release alongside the film on December 19th. The movie and the game are both based on an an award-winning book by Kate Dicamillo — would that make this the first video game yet tied into a Newbery Award-winner?

I saw this game when I visited Brash in New York a little while ago — the build I saw was very early, and being unfamiliar with the film, I couldn't tell how well it captured the aesthetic, but it did look cute, showing some scenes of a tiny little mouse whose friend was unhappy with his distinct un-mousiness. Despereaux isn't really interested in scurrying around and chewing things up — he kind of just wants to save a human princess. Aw.

Definitely a kids' title, though. It's still interesting to see how cross-media proliferates, a game from a movie from a novel. Full announcement and screens after the jump.

The official Into The Pixel web site give us our first conceptual look at Half-Life 2: Episode Three with this moody painting of, we assume, protagonist Gordon Freeman facing down the Advisor seen in previous episodes. Obviously, fans of the game know that Gordon has a serious beef with the Advisor following the events of Episode Two, but this hardly seems like a fair fight. Don't bring a crowbar to a telekinesis fight, Gordo.

While unconfirmed — the art is listed under "Half Life EP3" — it may lead to more speculation that the final episode in the Half-Life 2 trilogy will make an appearance at E3 2008. That's been denied by Valve spokesfolk, but you know how they love to twist words.

Potentially good news for consoles owners of the Sony persuasion is that the official Into The Pixel listing tags the game as seeing release on the PC, Xbox 360 and PS3. Bigger look after the jump.

It seems that European publisher-distributor CD Projekt (The Witcher) have come up with a new site where you can buy DRM-free games from the '80s, '90s and early millennium. You know, old games. The site promises good ones, though - it's called Good Old Games, the header image lists the Fallout series, the Freespace series and MDK, among others.

You'll have to wait until September - it's currently in beta- but the site's teaser says it'll sell games for $US 5.99 and $US 9.99, and promises total DRM freedom:

You won't find any intrusive copy protection in our games; we hate draconian DRM schemes just as much as you do, so at GOG.com you don't just buy the game, you actually own it. Once you download a game, you can install it on any PC and even re-download it whenever you want, as many times as you need, and you can play it without an internet connection.

Whoa, really? Awesome.

[GOG.com - Thanks, Brettrick!]

After rebounding from a disastrous showing at E3 2006 — five hundred and ninety nine U.S. dollars, massive damage, motion controlololol, giant enemy crabs, etc. — with a more understated E3 2007 presentation — is that... Chewbacca? — Sony has a meaty line-up planned for 2008. In fact, Sony Computer Entertainment America may have too much to pack into its E3 press conference this year, as it gears up for its third holiday season in North America. The list of games it should have on hand for the PlayStation 3 will make for impressive sizzle trailers and thrilling ship date announcements. But SCEA will likely have one or two things up its sleeve, as rumours of God of War 3 and a new Twisted Metal abound.