Id Software Announces a New Game Engine

With releases for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 scheduled for the end of this calendar year, Enemy Territory: Quake Wars now seems to be comfortably on autopilot. With this joint project between id Software and Splash Damage soon to be complete, it now seems as if id has been freed to work on yet another engine to be used with another brand new franchise.

At a London event earlier this week, id CEO Todd Hollenshead was the first to reveal the news to GamesIndustry.biz.

"We are working on an all-new franchise," he stated. "It's not Doom, it's not Quake, it's not Wolfenstein, it's not Enemy Territory, it's not even Commander Keen! It is a new id brand with an all-new John Carmack engine, and I think that when we show it to people, once again they'll see, just like they saw when we first showed Doom 3, that John Carmack still has a lot of magic left."

Since creating Doom 3, Carmack has had his hands full porting games such as Doom RPG and Orcs & Elves to mobile platforms. But in comparison to those relatively minor projects, this newly announced game would be their first major independently-developed title in nearly three years.

Hollenshead also states, however, that Carmack is still feverishly working on the engine, which he hopes will be used "across a wide range of applications and different games within [id's] suite of franchises". As it is still in its early development stages, Hollenshead was not at liberty to discuss details, but promises to make a formal announcement when the time is right.

Konami still uncertain of Silent Hill 5 platform

Some people really enjoy the comfortable zombie-slaying action of the Resident Evil series. Others, however, prefer the mind-rending psychological nightmare that is Silent Hill. A proper entry in the series hasn't been seen since 2004's Silent Hill 4: The Room, which departed heavily from the typical Silent Hill formula. Ever since, fans have been wondering about the inevitable new-gen sequel without much help from the series' publisher, Konami. In fact, Konami has yet to officially announce the existence of Silent Hill 5 at all. In a recent interview with Dengeki PlayStation (unearthed by SilentHill5.net) Silent Hill 5's chief designer, Masahashi Tsuboyama, is nearly as vague as the series itself. When asked about the platforms on which the game might appear, Tsuboyama states that a console has not been chosen. He also says that multi-platform status is not out of the question either. He further adds that the 360 is "definitely a candidate," he likes Blu-Ray, and he believes Silent Hill probably isn't a good fit for the Wii.

So, no definite confirmation then. Fear not Silent Hill aficionados, for there is a ray of hope. Konami's E3 press conference is slated for July 11th. Let's hope we get a real glimpse of Silent Hill 5 by then.

Some Unreal Tournament 3 details revealed, including co-op

The guys over at TeamXbox seem to have read the latest OXM thoroughly and found a 6 page article about Unreal Tournament 3. The development is coming along nicely and it’ll even have some features only confirmed for the Xbox 360 version so far.

According to OXM editors, the game is already looking better than Gears. It’s been six months since Gears of War and Epic Games has been improving the game engine ever since. The Xbox 360 version will support four-player co-op and two-player split-screen in the single-player campaign where it will let you take different paths depending on the decisions you take. This doesn’t necessarily mean these features are exclusive to the Xbox 360, but they’re still nice features. Furthermore, 18 vehicles will be available, as well as 5 different turrets for you to play with.

UT3’s lead designer Steve Polge said that half the people that work on the game prefer to play the Xbox 360 version of the game and what’s even more special is that those people can easily kick keyboard players’ butts. Polge continued by saying that Unreal Tournament 3 is basically Gears of War on crack, meaning that the game speed is much higher.

If you want to read the full story you should get your ass to the nearest store and grab OXM.

Is This the Final Halo 3 Box Art?

Today, a new Halo 3 box art has made its way onto the Internet and it could be the final one...or is just a fake cover?

The size and position of the Bungie and Microsoft Game Studios logos on the right bottom corner lead us to believe this could be a fake Halo 3 cover but we expect to get confirmation from Bungie soon.

Halo 3 is the final chapter in the groundbreaking “Halo” trilogy. Created by Bungie Studios and exclusive to the Xbox 360, Halo 3 will set a new standard for interactive storytelling and social gaming by engaging consumers worldwide in Master Chief’s epic battle to save humankind. Halo 3 will be available to audiences around the world starting Sept. 25 and will release in Europe on Sept. 26.

Xbox Vs PS3: Ninja Gaiden Black Vs Ninja Gaiden Sigma Comparison

With the fast approaching release of NGS for the PS3, we thought we would put together one last comparison between the former-gen and the current-gen version of Ninja Gaiden. I know what you’re already thinking, “This isn’t a comparison, the PS3 will wipe the floor with the original Xbox”. That’s what I thought at first. But after scanning over the following screenshots and looking at a few different angles of the gameplay, things unfolded in a slightly different manner.

We all know that the PS3 is ridiculously powerful, but how does an exclusive port of an Xbox game to the PS3 look via comparison? Does the original big black box fall so flat on its face that it’s just plain embarrassing? Or is it possible that the difference is only slightly discernable. Check it out for yourself and see, you might be surprised.

With the upcoming release of Ninja Gaiden Sigma for the PlayStation 3, you can’t help but wonder how much of an upgrade this game has had over the previous-gen Xbox. While the changes are noticeable, the difference isn’t particularly shocking. Especially considering that the in-game play is still as fast and smooth on both versions. At least Team Ninja knows how to transition from one platform to the next without taking any steps back.

One thing to note, though, is that the lighting effects on the PS3 version are slightly disappointing, only because the shaders used for character shadowing is only slightly more of an enhancement over the Xbox version. Check out the screens with the white ninjas – they look nice, but at the same time Black isn’t light-years away (lighting wise) from Sigma. Maybe it’s just the room. You can notice, however, that there are more light sources on the characters in the PS3 version, though. The Xbox has some of the light sourcing as part of the textures, where-is all the of the light sourcing on the PS3 version seems to be refractive and adjusts in realtime. And obviously there’s more detail in Ryu’s model file; notice that the straps on his chest are protuberant polygons in the PS3 version, though they're textured in the Xbox version.

When the LOD (level of detail) is at its max, via comparison the original Xbox version actually looks only slightly different than the PS3 version. Again, the light sourcing and some minor details in the character models are what give it away. It will be a wickedly tough time to tell the difference between the PS3 and the 360 version...once the 360 gets Ninja Gaiden.

Halo 2 launches for Vista, connects with Xbox 360

Redmond (WA) - Microsoft launched "Games for Windows - Live" this week. Spearheading the collection of compatible titles for Vista is the new release of Halo 2 for the PC.

With the new service, gamers are able to play Halo 2 on their Vista PC against people who are connected at the same time via an Xbox 360. It's the first console to offer cross-platform online gaming to this degree.

Like Xbox Live, Games For Windows Live has two tiers of membership - silver and gold. Silver membership is free, and gold adds additional features for a monthly ($8) or annual ($50) fee. Xbox 360 owners don't need to do anything to enable the new feature.

In addition to Halo 2, a new PC version of Shadowrun also makes use of Games For Windows Live.

Xbox 360 users who already have an online gamertag can also use the same identity when playing online via a Windows Vista computer. This opens up, for example, the ability to receive Halo 2 achivements, which were added to the PC version, for Xbox 360 user accounts.

It's the newest chapter in Microsoft's push for interoperability between the Xbox 360 and computers. Earlier this year, the company officially renamed MSN Messenger to Live Messenger and opened up cross-platform communications between Xbox 360 users and traditional PC users.

SEGA: VF5 will be a summer release

It seems there's some confusion surrounding the release date of Virtua Fighter 5 according to Eurogamer. It seems that several online retailers, including GameStop, Amazon, and Play.com, are listing the game as a fall or even winter release. SEGA begs to differ and has confirmed with Eurogamer that Virtua Fighter 5 is still planned as a summer release. Eurogamer also notes that we still don't know exactly what will be different between the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of the title, especially given recent revisions to the arcade game. Of course, we're all still hoping for online multiplayer, but we're not hoping too hard.

Hour of Victory demo ready for download

We all knew it was coming and the Xbox gods didn't let us down, because a new Hour of Victory demo is available for download off the XBLM. And before you get your hopes up, word on the street is that this WWII shooter isn't all that memorable. Actually, we're hearing it's the opposite of memorable and more along the lines of forgettable. But we haven't got our mitts on it yet, so we can't be certain. So, we recommend that you give the Hour of Victory demo a download and base your opinion on your first hand experience. Or just wait a few hours until the masses weigh in with their critique

Call of Duty 3 Bravo Map Pack

Name: Call of Duty 3 Bravo Map Pack
Price: 800 Points
Availability: Not available in Japan
Dash Details: The Bravo Map Pack unites three new multiplayer maps with two classic PC maps from Call of Duty and Call of Duty: United Offensive. Storm hilltop abbeys, maneuver alleyways for the perfect ambush, or battle in the nighttime shadows of a riverside town in three never-before-seen maps. Gare Centrale, one of the original Call of Duty’s most popular maps, brings its unique layout of warehouses, water towers and a train depot to Xbox 360 for the first time. Marseilles delivers United Offensive’s exciting blend of vehicles and vast, open combat to next-gen.
Size: 950.3 MB (approx)

Images of Medal of Honor: Airborne

"Electronic Arts released this batch of 32 images of Medal of Honor Airborne. Some may not be totally new, and a few also seem to be from the PC version."

Images of Need for Speed ProStreet

Electronic Arts announced today the official name of the next Need for Speed game: ProStreet. Here 5 images of the game, along with a trailer. I wonder if the game will really look like this though."