Check out the video above, it’s awesome.

By now I’m sure you’re acquainted with the ‘Humble Bundle’ and the idea behind it. If not, it’s basically the opportunity to buy a collection of indie games at one packaged price. What makes this unique is you choose how much to pay and how that payment is distributed among indie developers, charities and the organisers of the Humble Bundle.

The current Humble Bundle contains EDGE, Osmos, and Anomaly: Warzone Earth; all of which are for Android this time around. Plus, and for those who pay above the average contribution, which is currently about $5.92, you also get a copy of World of Goo.

It’s a great way to contribute to organisations that need the donations and score yourself some awesome Android indie games in the process. So go check out the most current Humble Bundle if you’re interested .

Hitman: Absolution’s lead producer, Hakan Abrak, was recently asked what IO Interactive wanted to achieve with the highly anticipated sequel, and in the short interview he highlighted improved AI among other things.

“We’ve been developing this game for a long time, and it’s very much linked to the technology, especially creating more complex, more believable artificial intelligence,” Abrak told the US PS Blog.

“Early on, we knew we couldn’t achieve our ambitions with the older Glacier 1 engine, so we decided to create Glacier 2. It’s a huge challenge to create new game technology, but it brought a lot of benefits.”

Hitman: Absolution will provide the player with the freedom to be a silent assassin or deranged mass murderer, and Abrak touched briefly on the experience you’ll have depending on your choice.

“Voyeurism has always been a key storytelling focus in Hitman, and we still have a lot of these small stories peppered throughout the game. It’s where a lot of the replayability comes in, actually,” the producer noted.

“If you go into the game guns blazing, you’ll get a unique experience…but if you’re stealthy and explore more thoroughly, you’ll learn a lot more about the world and characters by overhearing conversations and the like.”

Regarding stealth, in addition to the new Instinct ability and upgraded disguise system, IO has also brought in a warning system to alert the player when they’re being noticed.

“When you’re making a stealth game, it’s important to find new ways to build tension. We built a lot of prototypes for Hitman: Absolution, and we learned that creating a ‘Giger counter’ effect was a very effective way to communicate that the player is about to get spotted — you’d better move,” Abrak said.

“In earlier games, it could be frustrating because you didn’t know when an enemy was about to spot you. And that ‘Giger counter’ effect has the bonus effect of making you squirm when you play, it builds more tension. I find myself saying ‘ooh! ooh! ooh!’ when I’m sneaking around.”

Hitman: Absolution is expected to release somewhere in 2012 on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox360.

Well, in theory you should get something pretty amazing but that’s not how reality works. It’s even worse in the gaming industry because the standard and fairly logical formula of [Awesome Thing A] x [Awesome Thing B] = Awesome² does not prove true for all values of A or B.

Why the Maths lesson? Well, I have to write 4 Maths papers on 4 consecutive school days and decided that someone should share my pain but it’s also a roundabout way of introducing today’s shameless intellectual property cloning.

There’s a new free-to-download game called Cut the Birds available on Apple’s App Store for iPad and iPhone and by watching the above video of it, you might just feel the strong tug of deja vu. You’ll also question the integrity of the App Store’s approval process.

Now, that sounds like an unholy amalgamation of iOS heavyweights Cut the Rope and Angry Birds and funny enough, you’d be dead on the money for thinking so. Not only does it steal the names but it also combines the games somewhat and steals Angry Birds’ visual style completely.

The third in this unholy trifecta of itheft is Fruit Ninja from which Cut the Birds manages to steal the gameplay without blinking an eye.

So, to summarise: name from Cut the Rope/Angry Birds, visuals from Angry Birds, gameplay from Fruit Ninja. It’s actually starting to sound pretty decent.

The only thing keeping me from raging all over the developers of Cut the Birds is that the game is free so they’re not profiting from their little copy-paste escapade.

Sadly, I couldn’t find Cut the Birds on the SA App Store (I blame Telkom. Why? Because it is the root of all evil).

Before you get too excited, this is going to be produced to co-incide with the release of Men In Black III in autumn next year. It’s being developed by Activision and despite being an obvious movie tie-in has been billed as an original title with “Hollywood production values”.

Behold, the official blurb:

True to the spirit of the franchise, the original title will feature action-packed, yet light-hearted gameplay mixed with edge-of-your-seat shooting excitement from the universe’s most elite peacekeeping force.

The films’ unique blend of action, humor, and eye-popping special effects will fuel the Men In Black’s gameplay experience. Utilizing the rich mythology of the Men In Black universe, the game’s original story will build on the history of the series to bring back familiar faces, while also introducing new foes. More details on gameplay features and characters will be revealed soon!

VP of licensing at Sony Pictures Entertainment Mark Caplan chimed in with: “With Activision bringing the Men In Black universe to life on next-gen consoles for the first time, the Men In Black video game will be both familiar to fans, an exciting beginning for the uninitiated, and revolutionary for the franchise.

Unfortunately, I was unable to find any trailers for MIB III but let’s hope it makes a return to the greatness of the first movie. The game on the other hand, will have to a fair amount to prove itself anything more than a shameless movie license cash-in.

The MIB game is set to release on most consoles, including handheld.

According to partners in development Tapjoy Inc and MachineWorks NorthWest, who have teamed up to bring the classic to the Android OS, Duke Nukem 3D will be releasing on the platform “very soon”.

The game is a port of the iOS version, and will be compatible with all Android devices running on Version 2.1 and above.

Bringing Duke Nukem 3D to the OS is part of the Tapjoy Android Fund, which is an initiative designed to deliver “top-quality mobile games and applications” to Android.

Released way back in 1987 before me and likely many of you even existed, Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards was genesis; the start of an era and a series that would span more than 2o years. Packed with sexual content, humour and very possibly attributed with giving birth to the kluch we all know and love today; Leisure Suit Larry goes down as a classic series despite some very mediocre offerings in recent years.

The 24-year-old 16-bit classic is being remastered with current-gen 2D graphics courtesy of Replay Games. The remake will be finding its way onto PSN, XBLA, a host of PC services and even the mobile arena.

Series creator Al Lowe has given the remake his blessing and is in fact working with Replay on the update.

Speaking with EGM, Lowe said: “I’m overjoyed to see Larry released from his digital dungeon after all this time, and be placed in the hands of someone who understands him and wants to see him, brought back to the forefront by people who love him and understand him.”

Provided that remake enjoys a sufficient amount of success, Replay is looking to redo all the games in the original series. Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards HD is due out at the end of next year.

Atari has made a lot games that were really great to play back in the days of game cartridges, mullets and the company has decided to make a grand throwback to the golden days with Atari Greatest Hits for iPhone and iPad.

Currently available worldwide in the App Store, it comes with Pong free but thereafter you have to pay and you may end up paying quite a bit because there certainly is  along list of games available for Greatest Hits. Comprising arcade and Atari 2600 games, Greatest Hits features 100 games which can be downloaded either in packs of four for 99c (R7.80) or get all 99 (minus Pong) in one big lump for $14.99 (R117.80).

All games use virtual controls which gel better with some than others but there’s always room to improve with an update or something. To any retro fans, this one’s for you.

The list is as follows:

Asteroid Pack
1. Asteroid
2. Asteroid Deluxe
3. Asteroids 2600
4. Canyon Bomber (w/ Bluetooth multiplayer)

Battlezone Pack
1. Battlezone
2. Red Baron
3. Air-Sea Battle (w/ Bluetooth multiplayer)
4. Submarine Commander

Centipede Pack
1. Centipede
2. Millipede
3. Centipede 2600
4. Millipede 2600

Black Widow Pack
1. Black Widow
2. Space Duel (w/ Bluetooth multiplayer)
3. Desert Falcon
4. Space War

Crystal Castles Pack
1. Crystal Castles
2. Crystal Castls 2600
3. Surround (w/ Bluetooth multiplayer)
4. Maze Craze

Gravitar Pack
1. Gravitar
2. Gravitar 2600
3. Radar Lock
4. Demons to Diamonds (w/ Bluetooth multiplayer)

Star Raiders Pack
1. Star Raiders
2. Liberator
3. Star Ship (w/ Bluetooth multiplayer)
4. Human Cannonball

Missile Command Pack
1. Missile Command
2. Missile Command 2600
3. Fun with Numbers
4. Flag Capture (w/ Bluetooth multiplayer)

Lunar Lader Pack
1. Lunar Lander
2. Sky diver (w/ Bluetooth multiplayer)
3. Video Pinball
4. Code Breaker

Super Breakout Pack
1. Super Breakout
2. Breakout (w/ Bluetooth multiplayer)
3. Off–the-Wall
4. Circus Atari (w/ Bluetooth multiplayer)

Tempest Pack
1. Tempest (w/ Bluetooth multiplayer)
2. Tempest 2600 (w/ Bluetooth multiplayer)
3. Outlaw
4. Atari Video Cube

Majar Havoc Pack
1. Major Havoc
2. Secret Quest
3. Sentinel
4. Yars Revenge (w/ Bluetooth multiplayer)

Warlords Pack
1. Warlords (w/ Bluetooth multiplayer)
2. Warlords 2600
3. Combat (w/ Bluetooth multiplayer)
4. Combat 2 (w/ Bluetooth multiplayer)

Adventure Pack
1. Adventure
2. Haunted House
3. Return to Haunted House
4. Save Mary

Tic-Tac-Toe Pack
1. 3d Tic-Tac-Toe
2. A game of concentration
3. Backgammon
4. Brain Games

Fatal Run Pack
1. Fatal Run
2. Dodge ‘Em
3. Night Driver
4. Street Racer (w/ Bluetooth multiplayer)

Quadrun Pack
1. Quadrun
2. Slot Racers (w/ Bluetooth multiplayer)
3. Stellar Track
4. Math Gran Prix

Casino Pack
1. Casino (w/ Bluetooth multiplayer)
2. Slot Machine
3. Video Checkers
4. Video Chess

Sword Quest Pack
1. Swordquest Earthworld
2. Swordquest Fireworld
3. Swordquest Waterworld
4. Sprintmaster

Championship Soccer Pack
1. Championship Soccer (w/ Bluetooth multiplayer)
2. Golf
3. Double Dunk
4. Basketball

Football Pack
1. Football (w/ Bluetooth multiplayer)
2. Home Run
3. Miniature Golf
4. Bowling

Real Sports Basketball Pack
1. Realsports Basketball (w/ Bluetooth multiplayer)
2. Realsports Boxing (w/ Bluetooth multiplayer)
3. Realsports Tennis (w/ Bluetooth multiplayer)
4. Realsports Baseball (w/ Bluetooth multiplayer)

Real Sports Football Pack
1. Realsports Football (w/ Bluetooth multiplayer)
2. Realsports Soccer (w/ Bluetooth multiplayer)
3. Realsports Vollyball (w/ Bluetooth multiplayer)
4. Video Olympics (w/ Bluetooth multiplayer)

Battlezone Pack
1. Battlezone 2600
2. Super Breakout 2600
3. Super Baseball
4. Super Football

Hangman Pack
1. Hangman
2. Black Jack
3. Steeplechase

If you haven’t heard of World of Goo by now, you are seriously missing out. Have a look see here to find out what it’s all about. Moving on, World of Goo is one of the best mini-games I have ever played and has racked up many awards and nomination for just that. It is a truly fantastic little puzzle-solving game that first appeared on PC then migrated to WiiWare then iPad and finally it is making the journey over to iPhone/iPod Touch. According to developer 2D Boy, WoG for iPhone/iPod Touch will be out soon and will go for a ludicrously low 99c (R7.60) but will be free to anybody who already has it on iPad.

If you have an iPhone/iPod Touch, I strongly urge you to get this game as soon as possible.

Do you love announcements?

Well then you’ll be thrilled to read that this is an announcement of an announcement!

That’s right, Inception-styled announcements, now a reality!

EA Sports is set to reveal FIFA 12 next month.

How do we know this? Well the new Official Xbox Magazine UK has promised a full reveal in its next issue.

Don’t look at your screen like “Is that it?”, of course that’s it. What more were you expecting from an announcement, fluffy pink bunnies?

Needless to say, it will be the first time the public’s heard proper gameplay details of the new instalment following comments from the developer that suggest that AI and set-pieces will be two improved areas in FIFA 12.

There is also something called “player stories” and “match-day atmosphere” that has been mentioned to feature.

So basically nothing much.

The world awaits with baited breath! Pfft…

eGamer Rating:

Addictive: Yes
Worth The Time: As a quick game while you’re waiting for something, or someone: Yes

Things Loved: Not really applicable to game.
Things Hated: Not really applicable to game.

Reasons To Buy/Not Buy: If you’re constantly waiting for someone or something, or if you always have a couple of minutes free where you can’t immerse yourself into something, then this is a definite choice.

Quick Conclusion: It’ simple and quick to play. No learning curve, and you’ll dig into the action very quickly. From second one you’re busy.

Name: Plock
Players: 1
Platforms: Apple iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch
Publisher: MetroGames
Price: $0.99 — Available on iTunes (US)

Plock has two game mode which include “Classic” and “Survival”.

Classic has you break, or destroy, as many blocks as you can in only one minute. The faster your break blocks, two or more in the same colour, the more points you’ll rack up. Also, the faster you destroy blocks the more bombs you’ll earn which, you guessed it, blows up even more blocks at once.

The more blocks you annihilate in one touch increases your score greater than a lot of smaller destruction’s would. There’s space for planning and strategy where if you destroy smaller blocks you could stack up a big batch for maximum points. Time, however might constraint this. But practice will make perfect.

If you break eight or more blocks you’ll earn a “Plock” and this multiplies your score. The more Plocks you earn, the higher your score.

Survival mode has you level instead of score. You have an initial 30 seconds, or so, to finish stages. As you blow blocks your Progress bar will increase, and once it increases fully it will complete the stage. There is no score. Obviously as stages are cleared, the progress bar will diminish a lot quicker.

The same Classic rules apply, and this means: Bombs, Plock and stacking blocks for quicker progress.

Another nifty feature for both modes is a fix to a possible deadlock. If you’ve broken blocks and you’re in a deadlock with nothing left to break, all you need to do is shake your device and the blocks will jumble. Get back in there, start Plocking.

Once you’ve finished either mode you’ll be able to upload your score to either Twitter or Facebook through the game.

Final Conclusion

Plock is a popular Facebook game which has been made available on the Apple iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. It’s a quick, and simple game where you’re, literally, involved from second one. I say second, as the game doesn’t last very long. It’s fast-paced and it’s all about the High-Score.

Quick, fun, and addictive.

When Xbox Live launches on the Windows Phone 7 later this year it will be launched with quite a large and varied games lineup.

It includes titles such as Assassin’s Creed, Crackdown, Castlevania and Halo.

It would be better if you see the list for yourself:

• 3D Brick Breaker Revolution (Digital Chocolate)
• Age of Zombies (Halfbrick)
• Armor Valley (Protégé Games)
• Asphalt 5 (Gameloft)
• Assassins Creed (Gameloft)
• Bejeweled™ LIVE (PopCap)
• Bloons TD (Digital Goldfish)
• Brain Challenge (Gameloft)
• Bubble Town 2 (i-Play)
• Butterfly ( Press Start Studio)
• CarneyVale Showtime (MGS)
• Castlevania(Konami)
• Crackdown 2: Project Sunburst (MGS)
• De Blob Revolution (THQ)
• Deal or No Deal 2010 (i-Play)
• Earthworm Jim (Gameloft)
• Fast & Furious 7 (i-Play)
• Fight Game Rivals (Rough Cookie)
• Finger Physics (Mobliss Inc.)
• Flight Control (Namco Bandai)
• Flowerz (Carbonated Games)
• Frogger (Konami Digital Entertainment)
• Fruit Ninja (Halfbrick)
• Game Chest-Board (MGS)
• Game Chest-Card (MGS)
• Game Chest-Logic (MGS)
• Game Chest-Solitaire (MGS)
• GeoDefense (Critical Thought)
• Ghostscape (Psionic)
• Glow Artisan (Powerhead Games)
• Glyder 2 (Glu Mobile)
• Guitar Hero 5 (Glu Mobile)
• Halo Waypoint (MGS)
• Hexic Rush (Carbonated Games)
• I Dig It (InMotion)
• iBlast Moki (Godzilab)
• ilomilo (MGS)
• Implode XL (IUGO)
• Iquarium (Infinite Dreams)
• Jet Car Stunts (True Axis)
• Let’s Golf 2 (Gameloft)
• Little Wheel (One click dog)
• Loondon (Flip N Tale)
• Max and the Magic Marker (PressPlay)
• Mini Squadron (Supermono Limited)
• More Brain Exercise (Namco Bandai)
• O.M.G. (Arkedo)
• Puzzle Quest 2 (Namco Bandai)
• Real Soccer 2 (Gameloft)
• The Revenants (Chaotic Moon)
• Rise of Glory (Revo Solutions)
• Rocket Riot (Codeglue)
• Splinter Cell Conviction (Gameloft)
• Star Wars: Battle for Hoth (THQ)
• Star Wars: Cantina (THQ)
• The Harvest (MGS)
• The Oregon Trail (Gameloft)
• Tower Bloxx NY (Digital Chocolate)
• Twin Blades (Press Start Studio)
• UNO (Gameloft)
• Women’s Murder Club: Death in Scarlet (i-Play)
• Zombie Attack! (IUGO)
• Zombies!!!! (Babaroga)

Microsoft says more titles will be revealed between now and the service’s launch this holiday season.

Microsoft has commented on their up and coming mobile OS at the GamesCom event in Germany. Matt Booty, general manager of mobile games at Microsoft Game Studios said that “Windows Phone 7 is the launch of a major gaming platform for Microsoft,”

Essentially this means that the Windows Phone 7 will boast Xbox Live implementation with features such as Avatars, Achievements, gamerscore, messaging, friends lists and multiplayer.

Games for the phone include Halo: Waypoint and Crackdown 2 amongst others:

• “3D Brick Breaker Revolution” (Digital Chocolate)
• “Age of Zombies” (Halfbrick)
• “Armor Valley” (Protégé Games)
• “Asphalt 5″ (Gameloft)
• “Assassins Creed” (Gameloft)
• “Bejeweled™ LIVE” (PopCap)
• “Bloons TD” (Digital Goldfish)
• “Brain Challenge” (Gameloft)
• “Bubble Town 2″ (i-Play)
• “Butterfly” (Press Start Studio)
• “CarneyVale Showtime” (MGS)
• “Castlevania” (Konami Digital Entertainment)
• “Crackdown 2: Project Sunburst” (MGS)
• “De Blob Revolution” (THQ)
• “Deal or No Deal 2010″ (i-Play)
• “Earthworm Jim” (Gameloft)
• “Fast & Furious 7″ (i-Play)
• “Fight Game Rivals” (Rough Cookie)
• “Finger Physics” (Mobliss Inc.)
• “Flight Control” (Namco Bandai)
• “Flowerz” (Carbonated Games)
• “Frogger” (Konami Digital Entertainment)
• “Fruit Ninja” (Halfbrick)
• “Game Chest-Board” (MGS)
• “Game Chest-Card” (MGS)
• “Game Chest-Logic” (MGS)
• “Game Chest-Solitaire” (MGS)
• “GeoDefense” (Critical Thought)
• “Ghostscape” (Psionic)
• “Glow Artisan” (Powerhead Games)
• “Glyder 2″ (Glu Mobile)
• “Guitar Hero 5″ (Glu Mobile)
• “Halo Waypoint” (MGS)
• “Hexic Rush” (Carbonated Games)
• “I Dig It” (InMotion)
• “iBlast Moki” (Godzilab)
• “ilomilo” (MGS)
• “Implode XL” (IUGO)
• “Iquarium” (Infinite Dreams)
• “Jet Car Stunts” (True Axis)
• “Let’s Golf 2″ (Gameloft)
• “Little Wheel” (One click dog)
• “Loondon” (Flip N Tale)
• “Max and the Magic Marker” (PressPlay)
• “Mini Squadron” (Supermono Limited)
• “More Brain Exercise” (Namco Bandai)
• “O.M.G.” (Arkedo)
• “Puzzle Quest 2″ (Namco Bandai)
• “Real Soccer 2″ (Gameloft)
• “The Revenants” (Chaotic Moon)
• “Rise of Glory” (Revo Solutions)
• “Rocket Riot” (Codeglue)
• “Splinter Cell Conviction” (Gameloft)
• “Star Wars: Battle for Hoth” (THQ)
• “Star Wars: Cantina” (THQ)
• “The Harvest” (MGS)
• “The Oregon Trail” (Gameloft)
• “Tower Bloxx NY” (Digital Chocolate)
• “Twin Blades” (Press Start Studio)
• “UNO” (Gameloft)
• “Women’s Murder Club: Death in Scarlet” (i-Play)
• “Zombie Attack!” (IUGO)
• “Zombies!!!!” (Babaroga)

[via:joystiq]

EA has finally confirmed a release date for FIFA 11 after a number of rumors where going around the interwebz.

The EA title available for PS3, Xbox 360, PC, Wii, PS2, DS, PSP and mobile on September 28 in North America and October 1 in Europe and Asia.

The Wii version will be available on October 1 in Europe and Asia and October 4 in North America.

I know the thumb has nothing to do with FIFA 11, but i just have to celebrate the Dutch victory! Hup Holland Hup!

[Source:CVG]

iPhone and iPod owners are finally be able to benefit from the original Guitar Hero game. There are loads Guitar Hero variations, some really good, some really bad, but the Apple Store lacks the original version.

The game will come with easy-to-play or challenging-to-master mechanics, new game features and addictive gameplay. Apple-based Guitar Hero will allow players to strum, tap, slide and whammy their way to fame. There will be built in social integration — Facebook, etc — leader boards, news feeds and the ability to play as if it was the original console version.

“With Guitar Hero for the iPhone and iPod Touch, we are once again leveraging our leadership position in the music/rhythm videogame space to deliver an all-new Guitar Hero experience that millions of people around the world can enjoy anytime, anywhere,” said David Haddad, Chief Operating Officer for Guitar Hero.

“From our headliner set list in the base app and forthcoming song packs to the innovative new social integration and guitar shredding gameplay mechanics, Guitar Hero will let players experience and interact with music in all-new ways.” he added.

It costs $2.99 — about R20 — from the Apple App Store. Unfortunately song packs cost an extra $1.99 — R15.

Songs include

The Guitar Hero base app will feature the following tracks:

• Queen – “We Are The Champions”
• Rise Against – “Savior”
• The Rolling Stones – “Paint It Black”
• Vampire Weekend – “Cousins”
• Weezer – “Say It Ain’t So”
• The White Stripes – “Seven Nation Army”

Six additional song packs, featuring three songs each, will also be available at launch. Song Pack featuring The Faint, Minus the Bear and Silversun Pickups:

• The Faint – “The Geeks Were Right”
• Minus the Bear – “Secret Country”
• Silversun Pickups – “Substitution”

Song Pack featuring Band of Skulls, Obits and The White Stripes:

• Band of Skulls – “Death By Diamonds And Pearls”
• Obits – “Two-Headed Coin”
• The White Stripes – “Blue Orchid”

Song Pack featuring Darkest Hour, The Dillinger Escape Plan and Protest the Hero:

• Darkest Hour – “The Tides”
• The Dillinger Escape Plan – “Farewell, Mona Lisa”
• Protest the Hero – “Limb From Limb”

Song Pack featuring A Day to Remember, AFI and Breaking Benjamin:

• A Day to Remember – “I’m Made Of Wax, Larry, What Are You

Made Of?

• AFI – “Medicate”
• Breaking Benjamin – “Diary of Jane”

Song Pack featuring Vampire Weekend

• “A-Punk”
• “Giving Up The Gun”
• “Holiday”

Song Pack featuring Queen

• “Another One Bites The Dust”
• “Fat Bottomed Girls”
• “Killer Queen”

We have no idea how valid or real this list is but it has been making it’s rounds on Twitter.

What seems to be certain from that list to appear at this years E3 is the following:

Killzone 3 (This will be one really sick announcement)
LBP2 (Curious to see the successor to the first game and how it turns out)
Dead Space 2 (The space-horror game that everyone sits with baited breath anticipating)
Guitar Hero 6 (Well this is just another GH but really wonder how well it will be received)

Some things that are likely to appear at E3
Call of Duty: MMO (the Sledgehammer project, perhaps. Since the Vietnam one is out soon.)
Mass Effect 3 ( This is a bit sudden but I guess it is just an announcement and not a release date.)
MotorStorm 3 (Not much too say about this.)
A slight possibility at E3:
Bad Company 3 (given BC2′s success, it is similar to the Mass Effect 3 announcement.)
Road Rash HD ( I would love to see this if it is the same one I used to play as a child)

And lastly the stunners:
Fahrenheit 2 (Successor to Fahrenheit something I thought that would not come with the release of Heavy Rain.)
God of War 3: Afterfall (I guess this was partially inevitable that someone would decide to make money.)
Omikuden (Only cause no one has heard of it before).

I just hope that this list is true and that we get too see these titles at E3 this year.

Vodacom’s mobile effort known as The Grid has revealed it’s first multiplayer social game for mobile phones. Legends of Echo will allow players to trade, battle and communicate with other South African’s at a single point.

The game is available through The Grid — does anyone use The Grid? — and it will allow players to move around in a virtual world exploring things. And stuff.

It’s been said that all technological advancements, such as buildings, will be replaced by meadows and green grass. Or wheat fields.

Essentially Legends of Echo is an MMO for your cellphone.

The game’s objective is to be the Legend of Echo, and this means battle other players, kill other players and buy the best gear at a flea market.

“Legends of Echo combines the best in real-time Location-Based Services and mobile multiplayer gaming, in that it allows players across South Africa to interact in a virtual world that is linked to their real-life location – all via their cellphones. As such, it’s an exciting and entertaining extension of The Grid as the leading location-based social network in South Africa.” Says Vincent Maher, Portfolio Manager Social Media, Vodacom South Africa

It’s free to download, and it works with Java. So, to play Legends of Echo, SMS ‘ECHO’ to 33313 (50c/SMS) or visit
http://www.legendsofecho.mobi/

Lucas Arts stepped up at the Game Developers Conference, sending Tim Schaefer and Ron Gilbert, the originals creators of the game, to make the announcement for the Monkey Island 2 remake. They revealed that Monkey Island 2 Special Edition: LeChuck’s Revenge will be released in summer of 2010 and is heading to iPhone, iPod Touch, Mac, PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. This special edition of Monkey Island 2 includes new high-definition graphics (of course!), a re-mastered musical score, full voiceover as well as an in-depth hint system.

“The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition really resonated with gamers young and old thanks to its classic storyline and updated gameplay features,” said LucasArts’ President Darrell Rodriguez. “We’re adding even more great new features in this sequel and can’t wait for classic Monkey Island fans and newcomers alike to experience perhaps the most beloved installment in the franchise ever.”

Lucas Arts also revealed that The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition will be available for download in the foreseeable future on PS3, through PlayStation Network, the Mac from Aspyr’s www.GameAgent.com and for the PC by using Telltale Games online store at www.TelltaleGames.com and Instant Action’s www.InstantAction.com.

Furthermore, a couple of screenshots were released for the game, which are comparison shots to show the difference between this new Monkey Island 2 and the original. Naturally, the better-looking, more detailed and smooth images are screenshots for the new Monkey Island 2 – they really look a whole lot more awesome!

[Source: Kotaku]
[Credit to Kotaku for the screenshots]

EA will add two new entries to the iPhone, one being The Sims 3: World Adventures, while the other is Skate It. The skate game will require you to use your iPhone to do sick tricks, rack up points and grind some rails.

Skate It will only be revealed in May 2010.

Back to Sims 3 World Adventures, which is an update for the original game. There will be 52 new goals, more personas and new careers.

Anno: The Harbour is currently available on the iPhone through iTunes. The new game boasts never-seen-before graphics for the iPhone and it will allow players to master a harbour and manage incoming ships.

Of course if you are harbour control, therefore you ultimately control customs. So please, bring a few cheaper technologies to South Africa when you have time to overlook certain ‘anomalies’.

Anyway, the game is unique, but not really. It’s unique in the sense that it is a boating game, while Flight Control is pretty much the same idea however it’s all about aeroplanes. Then again, Anno’s version will probably include a few more in-game details. Flight Control is really simple.

Key features for Anno: The Harbour include:

• 4 different Harbors: Occident, Orient, Corsair and Venice that are upgraded during the game
• 8 different Traders with their ship fleet from a touchy Venetian to the Relaxed Salesman
• 2 Game Modes: Story and Endless
• 36 Missions in the story mode
• 16 achievements to earn
• Local highscore for each map
• Listen to your own music while playing

Pricing is about R42. Search for it by name.

Ubisoft have managed to surprise us gamers by rather sneakily releasing Assassin’s Creed II: Multiplayer for the iPhone, which will be completely free to download during the first 48 hours of its release only. The game was first teased last month, with information and a couple of screenshots being revealed. The game is played from bird’s eye view, also known as top-down, and, just as the name implies, is an online multiplayer adaption of Assassin’s Creed II designed specifically for the iPhone and iPod touch.

In the game, played entirely online, you are an assassin up against three other assassin’s in a completely real-time battle. Basically, the point is to kill your opponents before they kill you, utilising the various assassin’s tools and skills, such as blending in with civilians, to your advantage. Assassin’s Creed II: Multiplayer features stat tracking with online leaderboards, a friend system, achievements, and three unique maps, inspired by Assassin’s Creed II: Discovery.

You can read more on the game by clicking on the App Advice link at the end of this article. The game will be free to download for the first 48 hours and then the price will become $2.99, which is about R22.98, so it would be best to grab it as soon as you can.

Assassin’s Creed II: Multiplayer Launches Unexpectedly For Free [App Advice]

The iPhone chart toppers are out, and it’s no surprise that Plants Vs Zombies grew to Number 1… In only two weeks.

1. Plants Vs Zombies
2. Call of Duty — World At War Zombies
3. Rock Band
4. Bejeweled 2
5. The Sims 3
6. All-in-1 Gamebox
7. Word With Friends
8. Tetris
9. Angry Birds
10. Monopoly

Surprisingly enough this has reminded me, I need to get a few new games. Namely, Plants Vs Zombies, Monopoly and CoD.

Note, if I get these.. Things are once again going to slow down around here.. Oh and I’m using this image because, apparently, that’s my pink iPhone.

A little while ago Capcom announced that Street Fighter IV would be making its way to the iPhone, and that they were interested in developing for handhelds. Confirmed today by Capcom, Street Fighter IV for iPhone, releasing in March 2010, will include eight characters, namely Ryu, Ken, Guile, Blanka, Chun-Li, Dhalsim, M. Bison and Abel. Judging from screenshots we’ve seen of the game, it does look to be quite visually impressive, featuring the same graphical style and feel of its big brother. The controls, on the other hand, look to be quite questionable and might end up being quite difficult to get used to.

Street Fighter IV will cost $10 (approximately R76), which I think is quite pricey when taking into account that there are only eight characters. Although you will, in addition to being able to battle AI opponents, have the option to fight it out with your friends, as Bluetooth multiplayer is built in. Personally, while it looks good and cool, I’d much rather prefer a PSP or DS iteration of the game, if they’re going for handhelds that is. Let’s wait and see how this one turns out.

We recently spoke about Sonic 4 arriving pretty soon, where we now have news that the game has its own teaser site in Japan. Following the teaser is the news that the game will arrive on the iPhone, where Dreamcast users will only receive it on 11/11/11.

The new Sonic game will be available for download on the PlayStation Network, WiiWare and Xbox Live Arcade.

Japanese Site
English Site

Project 72. A task which saw a team of developers create an iPhone game in only 72 hours. The story goes that Dogtown Studios, who do publish a lot of iPhone apps, came up with a challenge to create a game in only three days.

The challenge started at 8:00PM on Tuesday, the 5th of Jan, where it ended on the 8th at 8:00PM. The team was able to complete and submit the game in the correct time frame.

The game seems pretty cool, and it will have you guide a rocket ship through space. You’ll obtain the top score by traveling the furthest distance without running out of fuel, or getting sucked into a black hole. Of course space includes UFO’s, asteroids, satellites and other debris for you to dodge, or, uhh, just crash into.

Pricing is set at $0.99.

[via:joystiq]

Square Enix announced that classics Final Fantasy I & II will be released soon for both the iPhone and iPod Touch. We have no word on release date or pricing for these two games, so we’re going to have to wait for those. The release date for both games is simply labeled “TBA” (to be announced) for now. Check out four screenshots below for upcoming Final Fantasy I & Final Fantasy II for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

[Credit to Kotaku for the screenshots]

The Apple App Store now holds the key to Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wards for your iPhone and iPod Touch. The car-stealin’, hooker killin’ game will cost you a mere $9.99 (about R75).

This is the same game released on the PSP and Nintendo DS, so expect hours of game play. The elaborate price is simply due to the game being on par with other hand held devices, so don’t be scared to cough up some cash..

Sadly, the lack of physical controllers do make me slightly skeptical, for instance the controllers look a bit funny on screen. Overall this looks to be a good deal. R75 for hours of fun on your phone playing games.

Click to see large image (Controllers visible)

THQ has released the new WEE Smackdown vs Raw game for the iPhone. The Wrestling game will be available on the App Store for $4.99.

The iPhone Smackdown will let you fight against the normal wrestlers from the fighting-soap-opera. The control method is weird though, you gotta like, swipe and press sensitive buttons.

Pac-Man Championship Edition is making its way to the iPhone. The Pac-Man Championship Edition was made for the Xbox Live Arcade, and it was apparently pretty good.

Like every other Pac-Man game on the iPhone, don’t expect anything spectacular as the game cannot change that much. It’s the same stage, with the same basic game idea.

… Only writing about this ‘coz its coming to the iPhone, which is cool.

iPhone fans… Ahh, lucky buggers. While yesterday we released news on the Doom Classic game for the Apple device, today we’ve got something slightly different — a free to play first person shooter called Eliminate.

Eliminate will work on the iPhone and iPod touch devices and it will allow for some pretty intense multiplayer gaming. The title will allow for straight forward online play, with average graphics. Remember it’s only a mobile device, so graphics will never compare to something on a PC, or console.

The game is played with two virtual thumbsticks, where one is used to aim and the other is used to move.

While the game might be free-to-play, it will however require money to buy items for your character, if you would like to play seriously. This is a really good idea as it allows for the player to pretty much pay to build his fighter — by good idea, we mean that the owner will be making some good $$.

Just so you know, you don’t need to buy things with real money.

Check out the video below.

We recently reported on Doom for the iPhone. The developers said that it was just awaiting approval from Apple, and it seems like this has finally been done. The new Doom game should not be confused with Doom: Resurrection, a previous release for the handheld device.

The new Doom game will come with a selling price of $6.99, roughly R70 for South Africans — if it is ever available in our iStore.

Doom Classic includes four-episodes, “Knee-deep in the Dead,” “Shores of Hell,” “Inferno” and “Thy Flesh Consumed.” There are various control configurations and they will definitely take some time to get used to.

Sadly, bad news follows the release of the game. It was said that the man responsible for Doom’s front cover, Don Ivan Punchatz, has passed away at the age of 73. Punchatz was involved with various companies as he created art for numerous books and magazines.

Best of luck to his family and friends, and we will keep memories fresh with the new iPhone game.

Doom & iPhone fanatical fans will be super pleased to hear that Doom, the iPhone edition, will be ready pretty soon.

John Carmack has been working on the new Doom Classic for the iPhone for quite a while now, and he’s said that the game has been submitted to Apple for approval. The game be operated by the player swiping and tilting the phone to blast bad guys away.

The Doom iPhone Classic should support Wi-Fi multiplayer as well as Bluetooth connectivity.

Checkout Carmack’s page here and read up about the game.