Alien Hominid came out aaaages ago on Xbox Live Arcade. Did OK for itself, but really, as good as it looked it was just way too hard. So it promptly faded away. But this week, it's back! With The Behemoth's Castle Crashers coasting into the top spot on the XBLA sales charts for last week (and deservedly so), Alien Hominid's been dragged along with it, slotting back into top ten in ninth spot. If you dig Castle Crashers, and have seen the "please buy our stuff it helps keep us alive" notices all over The Behemoth's site, you should be quite pleased with yourself.

Xbox Live Arcade Activity For Week Of August 25th [GamerBytes]

You'll turn blue, pass out. Well, according to this rumour French Wii news site Wiiz is running, the game won't be out until something like Winter 2009. Ubisoft's announced the game is using the MotionPlus add-on, so maybe it'll be there when the peripheral launches — but for Ubisoft's sake, we hope that doesn't happen. The last thing we need is another rushed Red Steel game. Well that, and pictures of Ubisoft devs with the Wii-mote.

Red Steel 2, pas avant fin 2009 ? [Wiiz via Go Nintendo]

Wondering what awaits at the Tokyo Game Show? This should provide an insight. A list of how many titles for each genre and a list for how many games are coming to each platform has been released. Let's start with the game genres:
• Action: 90 titles
• RPG: 35 titles
• "Simulation": 22 titles
• Sports: 20 titles
• Adventure: 14 titles
• Shooting: 11 titles
• Racing: 3 titles

Hit the jump for the major platform breakdown!

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Mass Effect and Knights of the Old Republic developer BioWare is churning out RPG Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood for SEGA. A Sonic RPG? Nothanks.jpg. But a BioWare Sonic RPG? Okay, we're at least receptive. When vaguely talking plot, the game's art director Joel MacMillan said:

I think this is obviously best left for the audience's first playthrough to find out. I will say that the overall story is broken up into two Acts, the first taking place in a very familiar Sonic World, and the second branching out into something we haven't seen yet, something a little darker (not just visually). I'm confident that what has been done with the story in Sonic Chronicles will be something that fans will remember for a while, and will hopefully be expanded in the future.

Sonic fans remember a lot that has happened to that blue hedgehog in the last few years, none of it good. Break the trend, BioWare, do it. Not for your own sake or SEGA's sake, but Sonic's.

Q&A: BioWare on Sonic Chronicles [GameSpot]

Tears to Tiara was originally a PC strategy RPG from adult game developer Leaf. It was then ported to the PS3 as a 12 years-old and up title, and it featured a whole smorgasbord of saucy stuff: cow milking and bound girls and gals in mid-riffs. Not to mention tentacles. The game went July 17th in Japan, and it's done fairly well for such a discerning game. Apparently, it's sold over 50,000 copies in Japan. That's 50,000 discerning PS3 customers, you know.

Tears to Tiara is rated 12 and up.

PS3「ティアーズ・トゥ・ティアラ」の販売本数が5万本越えで制作費回収 [basicchannel]

OK, this is about as Commodoure as Phil Harrison's Atari is Atari, but still. There's a Commodoure logo on the thing, it's called a Commodoure and it even shares that common Commodoure aesthetic, so it'll do. The Commodoure Netbook is the first machine to hit the showroom floor following the brand's reanimation, and while it's not necessarily a gaming machine, again, it's got a Commodoure logo on it. And it will play games. Which is good enough for us.

Min er mindre enn din [NRK, via Boing-Boing]

Epic's Gears of War 2 franchise senior producer Rod Fergusson and his magnificent beard point out that the Xbox 360 is starting to get near its max point for graphics. Fergusson does admit that he's not the technical guy, saying, "I mean, I'm not the technical guy". So while Fergusson is not the technical guy, he does offer this about the Xbox 360's graphic's potential:

So I think we're certainly approaching the upper end of it, as far as what developers are able to do with it, but just looking at all the demos we saw today — ours and others — it's clear that all the games just keep improving, and keep pushing that bar...
There will be games in development that won't ship until 2010, and I'm sure they'll look killer, just because, again, they'll have more time with it, and learn from mistakes and optimisations of others. So, I don't know; I think we're getting up there, but I still think there's room to grow.

Wonder what the technical guy thinks.

Xbox 360 'Approaching Upper End' Of Visual Potential [Gamasutra via CVG] [Pic]

We say inevitable because, really, by 2008 it's one of the last things that hasn't seen some kind of Space Invaders cash-in. And while we'd be well within our rights to loathe this particular tie-in, what with the fact Space Invaders isn't really a PC "thing" and the fact you can't see the letters on the keys, we're going to set our blasters to stun and go easy on it. Because not only does it looks surprisingly appropriate, with all the bad guys the keys and the spacebar our lone hero, it's modelled on the new Mac keyboards, which we wish more PC hardware types would take heed of.

space invaders bendiboard keyboard [technabob]

You probably won't remember, but back in 2004, the WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) sued THQ. The wrasslers accused THQ of bribery and - get this - racketeering, basically saying that THQ swindled them on a licensing deal. They weren't only seeking to have THQ's licensing deal cancelled, but were also after a hefty payout. Well, the Connecticut state court's thrown the case out, after the federal court did the same thing, which means not even some sneaky Jimmy Hart megaphone action can save the WWE in this one.

Connecticut Court Dismisses WWE Claims Against Jakks, THQ [Gamasutra]

Manga Dragonball has been adapted into anime and countless video games no problem. Turning it into a Hollywood movie seems to pose more of a problem, though. It's not easy! Early images of the movie, which stars Justin Chatwin from War of the Worlds and Hong Kong superstar Chow Yun-Fat, didn't exactly set the world afire. While the filmed-in-Mexico Hollywood flick has been repeatedly delayed, there have already been talks about doing a sequel. Anyway, what's reported to be images from the movie trailer below. No surprises here, really. Well, save for that albino vampire Piccolo thing. Maybe the actual trailer is better. But probably not.

Dragon Ball | ¡Nuevas imágenes del apocalipsis! [Nerd Drama via Dragonball Movie Blog via ANN]

Despite the odd hint dropped here and there, there's been no official proof that Rare are working on Killer Instinct 3. And there's still not any proof! But boy, if there was proof, wouldn't it be great if it was via some sheet music for the game's score? Like this one, purportedly from KI3's "Main Title"? Even if it is - as seems likely - a total fake, as far as fakes go it scores a perfect ten for originality. Sure as shit beats some poorly-photoshopped box art or a blurry "screenshot" taken off a CRT TV.
Sheet music to Killer Instinct 3 makes the internet rounds [MundoRare, via Dtoid]

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And the Warner Bros/Traveller's Tales/Lego marketing juggernaut rolls on! Not content with cashing in on the current Batman fever with a Lego game, based upon their Lego Batman Lego, Warner Bros. have signed on with McDonalds to bring us Lego Batman Happy Meal toys, complete with "Lego Batman: The Videogame" branding. No idea what they'll actually be, but if they're not straight-up Batman minifigs, we'll be frowning all the way through our cheeseburgers. Expect them in a McDonalds near you once the current Clone Wars deal runs dry.

Happy Meals [McDonalds, via Go Nintendo]

Korean developer Pentavision has announced that, yes, there isn't just one new DJ Max title coming out, but two. The PSP rhythm title will be released in two different forms: Clazziquai Edition and Black Square. Pentavision is trying to satisfy both casual and hardcore gamers, but Korean website Ruliweb doesn't specify if these each are divided for those purposes or if both editions will feature separate modes for casual and hardcore players. Like DJ Max Fever, these new DJ Max titles have great looking art.

As Kotakuite Torokun points out: "I did notice that CE includes a lot of mainstream musicians".

펜타비젼, 'DJ MAX 포터블' 차기작 발표 [Ruliweb]

You've probably seen all you're ever going to see from the console versions of Resident Evil 4, but the PC version? It allows mods, so it'll be updated so long as the fanbase wanna keep updating it. And really, why wouldn't they! Stuff like this mod - which replaces zombie heads with gentleman bits and zombie pitchforks with...gentleman bits - prove there's plenty of mileage left in the old bird yet. Plenty of NSFW mileage, may we add, in case you're at the office and hovering over the "play" button.

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Last year, we were told that Nirvana's Nevermind would be turning up as a full-album download for Rock Band. Least, we thought we'd been told. Turns out we weren't told anything at all, and that any and all comments Harmonix made regarding Nevermind were merely examples of what could be turned into DLC, not a guarantee of actual DLC. So don't expect it anytime soon. Fine by us - we'd rather Bleach anyways.

Nevermind Never Officially Confirmed for Rock Band DLC [Co-Optimus, via 1UP]

Well, so said Li Jianguo, vice-chairman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC). According to him, 10 percent of the approximately 40 million Chinese children that use the internet are "addicted" Li pointed out. From Chinese newsite Xinhua:

The figures were collected from 11 provinces after a two-month survey, said Li, noting that Internet addiction was mainly caused by on-line games and a lack of supervision by the authorities.

Li said the management and supervision of Internet games and Internet cafes must be strengthened, and he urged researchers to study methods to help minors avoid Internet addiction.

Rest easy, China! Li Jianguo cares.

Chinese lawmaker warns against child Internet addiction [Xinhua via GamePolitics] [Pic]

You remember those Tom Cruise Scientology interviews? Creepy stuff. They've been remade countless times by comedians, we know, but this is the first time we've seen them remade in the Half-Life 2 universe. Which makes it just as creepy, if not more so, because it's not too big a stretch imagining the Thetans being a part of the Combine. Which would make Tom Cruise, big-name Hollywood star, the harbinger of our ultimate destruction. Food for thought, no?

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Gears of War 2 mastermind Dude Huge has confirmed that A). Gears of War 2 is 85 - 90 percent done B). "batshit insane" and C). has more colours. According to Dude Huge:

We kind of actively aimed for the de-saturated look, but its since become de riguer for this generation of games. I think that's why something like Mirror's Edge has become kind of like an oasis in the desert of E3 — 'Look! There's a red crate! I love you!' ...We actually have a little more colour in Gears 2 — reds, oranges. Hopefully you've noticed. What I can tell you is that if there was a Gear 3 it'll be a total disco town: purples, pinks and greens everywhere!

"If" there was a Gears 3, oh please.

Gears 2 "85/90%" complete [CVG]

A few years back, Bethesda released a sprawling, open-world RPG on the 360. Then, when it came time to release some DLC for it, they dropped the ball. Released some horse armour, whole thing didn't go down too well. So it's just lovely to see that, when it comes to Fallout 3's DLC, Bethesda will be releasing content that's more in line with their later Oblivion stuff - like Knights of the Nine - than the earlier stuff. Pete Hines:

We want stuff that's going to be several hours. Not just like a one-off thing, but something like where you can download it and play it for X number of hours.

It'll be similar to what we did with Knights of the Nine in Oblivion, where it's like whole new quest lines, new stuff, that kind of thing.

Good to hear, good to hear (unless you're a PS3 owner, that is).

Fallout 3 Interview: Bethesda Addresses DLC, World Design, and 'Oblivion with Guns' Comments [Shacknews, via Eurogamer]

Tagline above says rumour, but really, we'd be surprised if either of these things didn't take place. The latest issue of the Official PlayStation Magazine (not sure whether it's the British or Australian edition) is making its way to letterboxes, and in the mag's rumour section is the following: "Kingdom Hearts III is currently in development as a PS3 exclusive and will be announced at TGS". Seeing as Kingdom Hearts I & 2 were PS2 exclusive, that's hardly a stretch. And with Kingdom Hearts II being nearly three years old, we're well overdue for a third game. Stay tuned, TGS kicks off in just over a month.

Official PlayStation Magazine [via GOONL!NE]

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl writer Stuart Beattie loves Halo — so much so that he wrote a spec script based on Eric Nylund's book, Halo: The Fall of Reach. This isn't connected to the Peter Jackson Halo film project, which has since been put on ice. Beattie wrote the script between film projects on the hopes that someone somewhere will bring it to the silver screen. So far, it's apparently still only a spec, but making the studio rounds in Hollywood.

Hit the jump for the full art. It's purply.

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Square Enix announced it would be bringing Final Fantasy XIII Agito to the PSP in August, sparing fans of the series much mobile platform kvetching. And while Square Enix character designer Tetsuya Nomura says that the title is currently running on PSP hardware and spitting out new screen shots, don't expect it any time soon.

He tells Dengeki, by way of Final Fantasy-XIII.net, that Agito won't see the light of a UMD drive until after both Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy Versus XIII publish. Yes, that's from the same source as the Squenix might charge for the standalone FFXIII demo business, so have some Mrs. Dash on hand to stave off hypertension.

Suppose it all makes sense, from a publishing standpoint, but that doesn't make epic wait feel any less daunting. At least we'll all have jet packs and snazzy silver jump suits by then...

While the online press wait patiently at the starting line, hobbled by a reviews embargo, there's no stopping magazines from getting their Spore reviews out amongst the public. And the first three are in! Two are from German mags - PC Games and Gamestar - while one's from the British edition of PC Gamer. PC Gamer, they're on-board, giving the game 91%. But the Germans, well, the Germans think it's nicht so gut. Gamestar give it 79/100, while PC Games gave it 73/100, saying that while stuff like the creature creator is great, the early stages of the game lack depth and that there's an "uneasy mix of simulation and strategy". Those Germans...tough crowd!

PC Games gives Spore 73%, talk of release date online embargo emerges [VG247]

While playing LittleBigPlanet may be old hat to some of us, you, the commoner, may be getting your hands on a Sackboy as soon as September. That's this month! According to a post from the official PlayStation forums, a public beta test for the PlayStation 3 is planned for sometime this month, the details of which are unfortunately largely detail-free.

There will be a limited public beta test for LittleBigPlanet in September. If it will be possible to "sign up" for this test, full information on how to do so will be made public in advance of the test. Similarly if the test is going to be conducted in an invitation-only we will let you know ahead of time.

That means it could be as simple as downloading a PS3 theme, as Sony did with the Home beta. However, should the powers that be decide that an early look at LittleBigPlanet will require sending in your severed pinky, we suspect the turnout would still be pretty darn good.

LBP Beta in Sept? [PlayStation Forums]

Like Ashcraft said, "And so, it begins" We got some new Wii Music screenshots to fuel your harmonic needs. Soon you will be able to rock out with your Mii and your friends looking, well, ridicules. To be honest, I am so torn on this. I want to love this game because with the right combination of friends including Owen drunk, Wii Music could be a lot of fun. It just feels like we need to see more on this one.

I'm a huge fan of Line Rider, that's probably pretty obvious by now, and you regular readers probably know that I'm also a reluctant fan of the iPhone. So I was pretty psyched this morning when I saw that the inXile folks will br bringing their version of Line Rider to both the iPhone and iTouch for an absurdly low $US 3.

The iPhone version of Line Rider will include the ability to upload and download tracks on the web via the official Line Rider site and will make use of the touch interface for track creation and play. You can also watch your tracks play out in a movie mode.

These new versions of the game are set to hit the App Store and iTunes later this month along with the DS, PC and Wii versions of the game.

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Go, Death Tank, go! The Xbox Live Arcade release of the Saturn multiplayer classic may not have much in the dazzle department, but it's clean and has explosions and looks like a good way to spend some Microsoft Points. It also has an amazing title screen. We can be very meat and potatoes sometimes.

Death Tank Silent Spring Gameplay HD [GameTrailers]

I had a chance to play around with Facebreaker a bit on the Penny Arcade Expo show floor over the weekend.

Graphically, the game delivers, but I was a little surprised, slightly disappointed even, at how simplistic the controls were.The four face buttons let you throw high punches, low punches, strong punches and perform a grab and throw. To block a punch you pull a trigger and to duck a punch you hold in the corresponding punch button.

While you can move your fighter around with the joystick, this doesn't really seem to come into play much. Mostly you want to be close enough to duke it out and I found myself relying on the duck buttons to avoid blows, rather than moving my fighter away from the fight.

What stripping down the controls so significantly does it create a button-mashing brawling that can be fun to play at times, but that may not deliver a game that with a lot of staying power.

I had fun bashing in the face of Tristan's pugilist, and occasionally having mine bashed in, but I can't imagine it would be a game I'd want to play for any length of time. And while the simple controls seem like a perfect fit for young gamers, the over-the-top cartoon violence and T-rating seems like it will filter out most of the people who will most want to keep playing the game.

With over 140 million PlayStation 2s walking the earth, surely their must be one or two that have broken down. Maybe even three. Possibly even more than that, as there are apparently enough to establish a product made from recycled PS2s.

UK based Pli Design is taking advantage of all those unwanted consoles with its Reee chair, which features 100% recycled PlayStation 2 plastic. Sound familiar? It might, as we wrote about Pli's PlayStation product last year. Seems Pli is just getting around to "launching" it next week.

If you're worrying about compromising "environmental credentials", look no further than the Reee. You've never sat this green before.

Recycled PlayStation®2 chair is a UK first [Pli]

The lovely folks over at GameCinemaHD have just posted a video of the first major boss battle from the next installment of Konami's long-running horror series, Silent Hill: Homecoming. Those of you who would rather be surprised are advised to ignore this post altogether. Those of you too curious to stop yourselves should be warned that the clip contains language not suitable for most work environments. Knowing that some of our readers are of the more weak-willed variety, we've gone ahead and posted the video after the jump, so the choice is yours.

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THQ is looking to further their presence in the Asian gaming market, and to that end they've announced the opening of a new office in Shanghai, China, dedicated to the expansion of local partnerships and the development and publishing of online and offline games in the region, beginning with Company of Heroes Online, the free-to-play version of the popular series developed specifically for the Asian market.

"The Asian markets represent a significant growth opportunity for THQ, particularly as we execute on our strategy to grow revenue from online gaming, an increasingly important segment for our industry", said Martin Good, senior vice president THQ Asia Pacific. 'We look forward to continuing to build new publishing and development relationships in China to expand our presence in this important and fast growing gaming market".

China is of course home to over a billion Chinese people, many of whom turn to gaming in order to have something to look at other than other Chinese people all the time, hence the exploding game market. Good move, THQ.

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Now that the Summer of Live Arcade is over, Xbox Live Arcade is back to business as usual in a rather unusual fashion, releasing not one, not two, but three new games. Tomorrow sees the release of the ultimate battle between good and stupid as Blazing Lizard's Pirates Vs. Ninjas Dodgeball hits the XBLA, along with CrunchTime Games' space-shooter Shred Nebula, both at 800 Microsoft points. Joining the two bigger titles is Gin Rummy (400 Microsoft points), a card game I am pretty sure my grandmother used to play, though I might be mixing that up with Cribbage.

So, you guys planning on picking up any of these? Which ones? If your answer is Gin Rummy, congratulations on figuring out how to use a computer to surf the web. Tell your helpful grandson I said hi!

This week on Arcade: Shred Nebula, Pirates vs Ninjas Dodgeball and Gin Rummy [Xbox Live's Major Nelson]

Is Pure really the next evolution of offroad racing? We'll be one step closer to knowing the answer to that question come Thursday, when a demo of Disney Interactive's racing title hits both Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network. The demo will feature a 3-lap race against 15 AI competitors on Italy's Mount Garda track - one of 35 tracks shipping with the full retail version of the game. The demo also includes a qualifying track that functions as a tutorial to get players up to speed, no pun intended.

I'm really looking forward to getting my hands on the game, though I've not been truly satisfied with an offroad title since Motocross Madness for the PC back in 1998. Here's hoping I can trade in my old favourite for a shiny new one.

Mirror's Edge is coming out on PlayStation 3. Then again, it's coming out on Xbox 360, too. And the PC. How are we gonna tell the versions apart? Or if you've got all three platforms, which one will you get? This might help. Sony have confirmed that they've signed a deal with EA, which will see the PS3 receive exclusive DLC. No idea what it is, exactly, or how exclusive it really is; there's no stopping EA having "exclusive" DLC planned for the 360 and PC as well. OK, just kidding. For the 360.

PS3 to get exclusive Mirror's Edge DLC News [Eurogamer]

Another batch of closed beta invites have gone out for Sony's Home service, this time to those who downloaded the PlayStation 3 Home theme from the PlayStation Store. If you haven't already done so, check your e-mail address(es) to see if you've been selected. We've heard from scores of folks who've been plucked from the PS3-owning masses and are watching the download progress bar tick ever higher right now.

Just think, you could be staring into virtual space with a bad haircut and low quality streetwear with thousands of other folks by tonight! No Home beta invite for me yet, but I'll be sexually harassing the lot of you via a fibre optic connection the minute it arrives. Bank on it!

The Penny Arcade Expo hit a few road bumps this year, discovering that their exponential growth, while slightly slowed, is still enough to cause problems with line-management and space issues.

But that's a problem easily solved, and the PA folks are all over it.

The bigger problem, as I see it, is in the expo's name and its association with Penny Arcade.

Penny Arcade Expo has the potential, the very likely potential, to become the one preeminent video game show in the country. It has the exuberant backing of developers and publishers, it has more than enough willing participants to go around and it has the blessing of the many folks who cover the gaming industry for a living.

But what it doesn't have is a neutral jumping off point. PAX has the words Penny Arcade in the title and while for me, and tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of people like me, that's a bonus, there are still lots of people out there who hate the strip, the people associated with it and anything whatsoever that has to do with Penny Arcade, Gabe, Tycho and, yes, even Fruit Fucker.

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The Penny Arcade Expo hit 58,500 attendees this year - way up from 2007's 37,000 and just a shade lower than E3 in its prime.

Although the general feeling was that the con was a big success, there were complaints that some panels and demos were difficult/impossible to get in to due to overcrowding and the organisers admit that there is work to be done for next year.

"We finally stopped doubling our attendance", said Penny Arcade Business Development manager Robert Khoo, "but lord I'm not sure if we could have handled any more people if they showed up. Key learnings for next year? Better line management and more space!"

For the 2009 event, Khoo told BigDownload.com that they were going to introduce some practical crowd management measures.

"We have a few ideas to manage that problem for 2009 including wristbands for popular events or just a straight-up hard count of people in line".

Penny Arcade Expo 2008: 58,500 attendees [BigDownload]

KingsIsle Entertainment has official opened enrollment for the Ravenwood School of Magical Arts as they announce the official launch of their card-based spellcasting battle MMO Wizard101. Choose from seven schools of magic, customise your avatar, adopt a magical pet, engage in puzzles and mini-games, and of course - take on all comers in online magical duels. The base game is completely free-to-play, with the full game offering new lands and features for the price of $US9.99 a month, though they are offering a launch special year subscription for only $US60, which seems like quite a deal.

The game is extremely family-friendly, right down to the pre-defined character name generator. Sure, my magical alter ego Fuckwad the Fantabulous can never know true life now, but if it means I'll never run across a Gandolff, Raestlyn, or Dughenning it's a small price to pay. Hit the jump for details on how to enroll.

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In case you missed it, Nintendo and 54 other companies are engaged in a legal battle against the forces of evil. Evil being the R4 cart for the DS. One of those 54 other companies is Capcom, and in a conference call they explained the reason behind their participation in the suit:

There are companies that sell downloads without any licence in the U.S.A., while a considerable number of pirated copies of game software are available in the Chinese market. In response to these situations, this lawsuit took the initiative for the whole industry in terms of taking countermeasures. It does not necessarily have a great effect at this stage, but we intend to send a wake-up call to such companies in the future.

That last line's interesting. Particularly if you're involved with the R4 - or other similar devices - and your boots were previously shaking. Their heart's not really in it!

[Capcom]

Sure, the industry-dominating MMORPG World of Warcraft is bringing in tons of cash from its millions of subscribers every month, but such success doesn't come without a price. In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Blizzard senior VP Frank Pierce explains that with great subscription numbers comes great, exhausting responsibility.

I don't know if I'd describe it as "interesting" as much as exhausting...As a company we've found ourselves spread very, very thin - because the World of Warcraft community has a voracious appetite for content. That development team is 130 people, they're working on content patches, they're working on an expansion set, they've got their hands full - and then we've got the other development teams that we need to continue to support as well.

Incidentally, the question Frank is responding to is "How interesting has it been for you to watch the success of World of Warcraft?", a question a lesser man might have answered with "pretty interesting" and then moved on to the next, hopefully better question.

Blizzard's Frank Pearce [GamesIndustry.biz]

Perfect World Entertainment has kicked open the doors to the beta version of Perfect World international, the English-based version of popular 3D MMORPG Perfect World II. After a successful closed beta period, they're ready to let anyone and everyone step into the shoes of the Human, Winged Elf, or animalistic Untamed and explore the massive world on the back of their flying sword. The game features an extensive mount system which includes "the unique ability to mount and carry other players", and what's more fun than mounting other players?

Other features of PWI include a system of alignment that allows you to follow a good or evil path, customisable clothing, large-scale PVP battles and a Marriage System, which presumably comes into play after all that player mounting. Best of all, open beta characters carry over into launch, so for all intents and purposes this is less of a beta, more of a launch while we fix things sort of situation. Head over to the official website to sign up!

White Knight Story looks hot. Or, least it did last time we saw it. Which was at TGS. Been a long time between showings for the game, leading some to wonder where the hell it had got to, but Level 5 have updated the game's website to confirm that, yes, it's still around. And what more, we should be seeing more of it soon, the site saying 'The day of awakening is coming soon". How soon? The Tokyo Game Show kicks off in a bit over a month, that's unlikely to be a coincidence.

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