The first official Halo 3 news comes in the form of a public beta announcement: gamers will be able to get an exclusive hands-on experience of the highly anticipated second sequel through the Xbox Live multiplayer public beta. The pre-release version of the multiplayer experience of Halo 3 is scheduled for availability in Spring 2007.

That wasn’t the only piece of news Bungie had for us. A 60-second Halo 3 teaser ad will be aired on December 4 in North America; those in the UK will see the ad on December 15 on Channel 4. Created by advertising agency McCann Erickson, the ad will provide viewers with a look at Master Chief and the world of Halo 3. The ad will be available for download via Xbox Live Marketplace and viewable on Xbox.com.

In addition, new maps for Halo 2 will also be available for download through Xbox Live Marketplace. No details were revealed.

Already revealed via the company’s conference call, THQ has officially announced Titan Quest: Immortal Throne, the first expansion to the action-RPG. Slated for release early next year, the expansion will feature an original storyline with more than 12 hours of single-player content. It will also include new gameplay features, such as an all-new skill mastery that combines with existing masteries to form eight new playable character classes. New monsters, hundreds of unique weapons and an additional 10 levels of character and skill development will also be present.

Fans of the ever-popular franchise can look forward to Star Wars: The Best of PC from LucasArts that combines all the popular Windows games in the series in one package. This compilation will go on sale this Holiday season for $40.

The package includes Empire at War, Knights of the Old Republic, Battlefront, Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast and Republic Commando. Additionally, it will also offer a 14-day trial of Star Wars Galaxies.

More details on the titles inside.
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2004 saw a reimagining of Sid Meier’s Pirates! on the PC, as well as the Xbox. Now it seems the game is headed for another platform: the PSP. 2K Games and Firaxis Games have announced that the game will be released for the PSP on February 23, 2007.

In Sid Meier’s Pirates!, a strategy/adventure game, players take the role of a Pirate Captain in the 17th century Caribbean - amassing fortune and fame in an attempt to seize a rightful place as one of the most revered and feared pirates in history. Players test their skills as a sea captain exploring the high seas and dueling in land and sea battles in a richly detailed 3D world. Additional features for the PSP system include wireless Ad-Hoc multiplayer for up to four players, widescreen graphics, new treasure hunts and more.

Foundation 9 Entertainment, North America’s largest independent developer, has become the world’s largest independent game developer thanks to their purchase of Amaze Entertainment and all its studios.

Amaze, established for ten years now, has developed nearly 100 titles since its inception, including several version of “The Sims”, as well as titles based on popular film franchises such as “Harry Potter”, “Lord of the Rings” and “Pirates of the Caribbean”. The company has recently developed the handheld versions of “Eragon”.

The transaction will see Foundation 9 expand its already mighty empire - The Collective, Backbone Entertainment, Shiny, Digital Eclipse and others - and see a combined entity that employs over 725 people across eleven studios, producing more than 30 SKUs. It is currently working on a DS version of Death Jr., Dirty Harry and Sonic Rivals.

Good in creating grotesque monsters everyone loves? Be sure to enter your ghastly creation in SouthPeak Interactive and IGN’s original character creation contest for Monster Madness: Battle for Suburbia. Contestants will have to submit their original design of a monster, complete with super powers and weapons, for the chance to be incorporated in the final version of the game for the PC and Xbox 360. The game is expected to smash into stores in Spring 2007.

Out of all the entries, five contestants will be selected to win prizes by IGN. The grand prize winner will have his/her creation appear in the game, along with a copy of the game, a 32″ LCD plasma TV and a Xbox 360. The second prize winner will receive a laptop and a Windows version of the game. Rest of the winners will each receive a $100 Visa gift card and a Xbox 360 and Windows version of the final game.

Last date for entries is December 1.

Through a brief note, SOE announced that Cash Money Chaos, its upcoming arcade-style shooter for the PSP, has been renamed Cash Guns Chaos.

After being captured by an alien race, players struggle through a version of a twisted 70’s game show to save themselves and the human race. There are more than 50 blood-filled and body-part laden levels in CGC where players are try to grab as much cash as possible while destroying all the demented clowns and killer gorillas in their way. Featuring wickedly fast paced arcade style action in a fully 3D world, players will fight dozens of enemies at a time. CGC’s multiplayer functionality allows up to 8 friends to wirelessly team up or compete against each other in exciting online scenarios. As enemies are killed, they drop both cash and prizes, such as toasters and luxury vacations, to help players finish their goal.

Cash Guns Chaos is slated for release during the first quarter of 2007.

If you thought Postal couldn’t get any worse, you were wrong. Damn wrong. Running with Scissors, the guys behind the legendary series, has announced that Postal Holiday Fudge Pack, proving that there can be bad taste in naming game compilations.

It doesn’t stop there: their press release is full of innuendo that screams like a seven-year old in your face. Vince Desi, the company’s CEO, doesn’t care if you were “naughty or nice”… he wants everyone to share in some holiday fudge. If that wasn’t enough, he asks “What would Christmas be without Fudge?” Yeah, where would we be? The dark ages, perhaps.

Moving on, the compilation will feature the entire Postal saga, from the original 1997 game to the multiplayer-optional Postal 2: Share the Pain and Apocalypse Weekend. The pack will also contain the “soon to be legendary fan conversion” Eternal Damnation as well as the fan mod A Week in Paradise.

That’s not all: there will also be Extras - “bits and pieces” of Postal lore ranging from Postal Babes to “favorite video slices from the cutting room floor.”

Look for the Postal Fudge Pack this Holiday season. It will be available as a Windows/Linux/Mac hybrid DVD.

“Up yours and Happy Holidays from all of us at Running With Scissors!” wished a jolly Desi while hanging balls on his tree. “Just remember not to eat it all at once.”

Oh, Vince Desi, where would Postal be without you?

Sonic Solutions has announced that its software will be used to power DVD-playback in Nintendo’s recently released Wii. The company’s Sonic CinePlayer CE DVD Navigator software will be available for the Wii in the latter half of 2007.

Ditching next-gen formats for the comfortably-established DVD, the Wii will support all standard video and audio specifications offered in the disc format, as well as advanced functions such as widescreen video, motion menus and multiple video angles.

Neither Nintendo nor Sonic revealed any information on exactly how DVD playback will be enabled and available. Further information is expected to be released sometime early next year.