Remember the much-controversial E3 2005 trailer of Killzone PS3? Well, it’s been missing in action since then… until recently. None other than Dutch newspaper de Volksrant has word on the game, which is being called the most expensive production in Dutch history.

According to the paper, Guerilla Games’ PS3 project tops the budget of Paul Verhoeven’s WWII thriller Black Book; it cost more than 16 million Euros to make. Though no specific numbers were mentioned, Killzone director Arjan Brussee states that their budget tops that of the film and that it’s the “biggest multimedia project in Dutch history.”

Why is making Killzone PS3 such an expensive endeavor? Say hi to next-gen graphics - what used to take “someone a week now takes him a month,” said Brussee. The article states that 120 developers are currently working on the project and that it will be fully translated in 20 different languages. Downloadable content was also mentioned: the paper mentions that new “chapters” will be available through the PlayStation Network and that “the Killzone that is in stores is only the beginning,” according to Brussee.

Predictably, no release date was mentioned.

Lighthouse Interactive has announced plans to release on add-on for Ship Simulator 2006. It will feature 6 new ships, one of them a giant cruise ship capable of carrying thousands of passengers. All new ships in the expansion can be used to create new missions.

The add-on will be available by early February 2007; it will retail for €20 or £15.

Yes, after thousands of persistent rumors and speculations, Microsoft has finally said it out loud: a price drop for the Xbox 360! In a report by Next-gen.biz, Robbie Bach of Microsoft stated that the company is currently thinking of how to “cost reduce the Xbox 360″ and that it is the “first order of business.”

He continues, stating the obvious fact that Microsoft had beat Sony to the market, which, in turn, favors them since they will have the “cost advantage”, “price more effectively” and “reach price points quicker.” Basically, they are going to take advantage of coming first to the market by pricing the Xbox 360 more competitively, making it more appealing to the price-conscious gamer.

Following on the footsteps of the Halo 3 multiplayer beta, Microsoft has announced a public multiplayer beta testing program for Shadowrun. Although the game will be hitting both PC Windows Vista and Xbox 360, the beta, which is underway, is only limited to console participants, though they may expand the beta in the future.

Full instructions for joining the beta can be found after the jump.
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The mod behind my favorite comic of all time - Concerned - is going commercial on Steam. Garry Newman and Valve have announced plans to release Garry’s MOD via Steam. As expected, Garry is quite happy, and says that the release will have quite a few new features: “It has a bunch of new tools to play with (winches, hydraulics and hoverballs), totally new spawn menu and a few new Post Processing effects to play with. The great thing about Steam is that I can update really regularly, really easily - which is something I plan on doing - so expect more tools/gamemodes/stuff to come.”

It will be available starting today; to celebrate the launch, Valve will be offering a special bundle of Garry’s MOD plus Counter-Strike: Source for $25. The mod alone will cost $9.95.

Starting December 11, visitors to YourPSP.com will be able to download a “very special Christmas Gift” if they are LocoRoco fans. A whole new snow-covered level will be offered, featuring “flying sleighs, loveable reindeers and Christmassy characters.” There will also be a new Christmas song on offer, as well as new costumed characters, and more.

I’ll let the press release itself do the talking:

Friday 24th November/… Family and friends of the air guitar yesterday paid their final respects as it was cremated in an East London funeral parlour.

As the funeral party tearfully took their seats, a church organist and choir performed classic rock hymns such as ‘More Than a Feeling’ and ‘Heart-Shaped Box’. The guitar-shaped coffin was lead in by three female gothic pallbearers, and a rock vicar delivered an impassioned tribute to the once-great fictional instrument. Following the service, the air guitar coffin was cremated as a Slash lookalike played an emotional solo.

Mourner Anna Starr, 24, of South London, said: “There was not a dry eye in the house. The moving service really captured the spirit of the air guitar as it played its final note before ascending the ‘Stairway to Heaven’.”

The air guitar died this week as its 21st Century replacement was born: Guitar Hero II® for the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system, which hits stores today. Rather than pretend playing air guitar riffs using fingers and thin air, Guitar Hero II lets anyone look and feel like a true rock star. The video game uses interactive music technology and the Guitar Hero SG® Controller, modelled after the Gibson® SG guitar, to allow players to thrash along to more than 40 rock classics including ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’, ‘Freebird’ and ‘Message in a Bottle’.

Following the service, the funeral party moved to the wake, where the air guitar’s life was celebrated and remembered. Top rock artists White Rose Movement and LunarMile provided the entertainment, as the evening moved from a tearful wake into a raging party. Mourners then cranked up the volume as they rocked out to Guitar Hero II till the wee hours of the morning.

“The air guitar had a good innings,” added, Chris Tufnell, 23, St Albans, “but all things must come to an end. The fact is, there’s really no place for the air guitar any more in this PlayStation generation. Strap on your Guitar Hero SG controller and rock out.”

If that didn’t tickle your funny bone, these pictures from the event will:

Patches:

• Battlefield 2142 v1.05 on 3D Downloads, 3D Gamers, Boomtown, ComputerGames.ro, FileFront, Gameguru Mania, Gamer’s Hell, Gamer’s Nation, gameSlave, Internode Games Network, Strategy Informer, The Patches Scrolls and Worthplaying

• Combat Wings: Battle of Britain on City Interactive

• DarkStar One v1.3 on Ascaron

• Falcon 4.0: Allied Force v1.0.8 on Lead Pursuit

• Joint Task Force v1.2 on Sierra

• LEGO Star Wars II v1.02 on LucasArts

• Microsoft Flight Simulator X on the Official Website

• Need for Speed Carbon v1.3 on EA FTP

• NHL 2007 on EA FTP

• Strategic Command 2: Blitzkrieg v1.05a on Battlefront

• Space Empires V v1.17 on the Official Website

• Scarface: The World is Yours v1.2 on Sierra

• PRISM Guard Shield on 3D Gamers, 3D Downloads, FileFront, FilePlanet, Gamer’s Hell, Internode Games Network, Strategy Informer and Worthplaying

• Switchfire on Frogster Interactive

Shipped:

• Cricket 07
  
• RACE
  
• Superman Returns
  
• Star Wars: The Best of PC

• Forge of Freedom
  
• IL-2 Sturmovik: 1946

The third teaser trailer for Dark Sector has been released, showing another re-invention of the original sci-fi title. Available in HD and SD resolutions, the teaser can be downloaded from the game’s official website which, after almost 3 years, still hasn’t matured into a full site, though it is now host to an official developer blog.

A couple of screenshots from the re-imagined Dark Sector are available on 3D Gamers.

One more middleware tool for PS3 developers is now available: Trinigy’s Vision Game Engine. The company has announced that it has concluded a Tools & Middleware License Agreement with Sony to offer the game engine for licensing to potential game developers.

The Vision Game Engine helps game creators bring more shiny graphics onto the screen while at the same time reducing development costs. Companies like Atari, Take 2 and Threewave have used the engine for powering their games, ranging from first-person shooters to MMOGs.