Activision has revealed that Guitar Hero is now headed towards the Wii and DS, following its run on the PS2 and (yet to be) Xbox 360.

Mike Griffith, the company’s president, commented: “In fiscal 2008 we will double our offerings on the DS and the Wii, including Spider-Man, Shrek, Transformers, and Guitar Hero. The key difference in our strategy versus the prior cycle is that in addition to full support on Sony and Microsoft platforms, we will aggressively target the Nintendo platforms consistent with our multi-platform strategy and Nintendo’s expected growth.”

No further information was disclosed.

Dtp has announced Arena Wars Reloaded, offering screenshots from the upcoming action-RTS.

All units and buildings for Arena Wars Reloaded were redesigned and rebuilt from the ground up. Models with up to ten times the polygon count and modern shader effects make the game a graphical highlight in the RTS genre. Elaborate normal mapping of all units, buildings and terrain guarantees for detailed battles and realistic mayhem. The new screens also show off the new terrain shader effects and post-screen shaders.

Arena Wars Reloaded offers a unique combination of action and strategy in its fast-paced RTS battles: New graphics, a wealth of new features, proven balancing and many innovative ideas will once again attract fans of accessible strategy gaming.

No release date for the game was offered. Here are the screenshots:

Disney Online has announced details behind the launch of Pirates of the Caribbean Online, its upcoming MMORPG based on the popular film franchise. The game, scheduled to launch this Spring, will allow players to set sail on their own adventure and interact with various characters from the movie including Jack Sparrow, Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann and many others.

At launch, there will be two options for PotCO players - “basic” access, a free, ad-supported section of the game, or “unlimited” access that provides full access to the game with premium features.

With “basic” access, players will get to experience the game’s main features; it will also allow advertising partners to associate with the brand through online ads and other interactive ad features that will not interfere with the gameplay. Those who opt for “unlimited” access will have to pay a subscription fee of $9.95 that will provide an ad-free experience.

Further information on the game can be found on its website.

Disney has renamed its video game business unit to Disney Interactive Studios, the company announced at its investor conference in Orlando; it was previously known as Buena Vista Games.

Disney Interactive Studios’ Senior Vice President and General Manager, Graham Hopper commented, “This change reflects our focus on creativity, the weight of Disney content in our portfolio, and the enormous value consumers see in the Disney brand.”

EA and Valve have announced yet another delay to Half-Life 2: Episode Two. The second episode in the series is now scheduled for release this Winter. They have also announced the naming and product configurations: Black and Orange Box.

The Black Box will ship for PC and will include Episode Two, Portal and Team Fortress 2. Meanwhile, the Orange Box will ship for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360, and includes all the content of the Black Box, plus the original Half-Life 2 and Episode One.

The nominations for the seventh annual Game Developers Choice Awards have been announced, and Okami and Elder Scrolls IV leads the pack with four nominations each.

Winners will be announced during the GDC, which will take place March 5-9, at San Fransisco’s Moscone Center. The GDCA is the only awards program In the industry with an open peer-based nomination system where honors are bestowed to developers by developers. This year’s ceremony will be hosted by Tim Schafer of Double Fine Productions and will take place on March 7 at 6.30pm within the Esplanade Ballroom of the Moscone Center’s South Hall. Appearing entertainers include DJ Chris and Mega64.

The complete list of nominations can be found after the jump.
(more…)

Following on the footsteps of Liberty City Stories, Rockstar Games has announced that Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories will also be released on PS2. It will hit North American stores on March 6; Europe will get it three days later.

The winner of the Sims Shorts competition has been announced: dubbed “Wild Christmas”, the short involves a cheating father, a hot tub and a dog. It will be seen by thousands of cinema-goers at Vue cinemas this month.

Made by David Cresswell, a modern languages student, the two and a half minute short was created using The Sims 2; it is a romantic comedy with a festive twist where a cheating man talks his way out of a sticky Christmas Eve situation involving a naked woman in a hot tub by using the family dog as an alibi.

The competition was judged by film director and photographer Rankin, comedian Ben Willbond, Vue sales and marketing director Mark De Quervain, and a representative from the Sims team, Claire Ridley.

Willbond had this to say regarding the winner: “The winning entry stood out for me because it managed to tell a story successfully in a very short space of time. Afterwards you find yourself wanting to see more and for me that is the key. Short film, whether animated or not, is a very tricky medium because you have to be able to keep a viewer interested from start to finish. The opening sequence was excellent and will work wonderfully in a cinema. The editing and choice of shots complemented the subject matter perfectly.”

Wild Christmas, as mentioned, can be seen in Vue cinemas all throughout this month, and can also be downloaded from the Sims Shorts website.

Undoubtedly its best success after the Final Fantasy franchise, Square Enix has proudly announced that the Kingdom Hearts series has shipped more than 10 million units worldwide, making it one of the top game franchises in the world. Below is the full regional breakdown:

KINGDOM HEARTS (PAL Release: 1st November 2002, PlayStation 2)
Japan: Over 1.5 million - North America: Over 3.0 million - Europe & PAL: Over 1.1 million

KINGDOM HEARTS: Chain of Memories (PAL Release: 6th May 2005, Game Boy Advance)
Japan: Over 0.4 million - North America: Over 0.9 million - Europe & PAL: Over 0.2 million

KINGDOM HEARTS II (PAL Release: 29th September 2006, PlayStation 2)
Japan: Over 1.1 million - North America: Over 1.7 million - Europe & PAL: Over 0.7 million

Contrary to popular belief, Crysis will run on older PCs. This comes from Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli, who tells Next-Gen that new technology will allow the upcoming game to run on computers that are up to three years old.

“We developed almost all effects to be very scalable for different hardware specs,” he says. “Fortunately this is much easier now that we can rely on the existence of hardware shaders. We believe clearly that Crysis will be enjoyed by a large audience that dates back to gamers with two- to three-year-old gaming rigs.”

However, he suggests that if you are playing the game on DX9, try not to view the game running in DX10. “You should not miss anything when [only] playing it on DX9, but if you get a chance to play it on DX10 you might [miss the fidelity when going back to DX9].”

He also talks about multi-core support, Vista-only and DX10 transition.

From Shacknews comes word that Shivering Isles, the upcoming Elder Scrolls IV expansion will add an additional 250 Gamerscore points, spread out over ten Achievements, once released. This comes hot on the heels of this post on the Microsoft-run Gamerscore blog which explains that developers are allocated 1,000 points in the base game and 250 additional points via any paid or free content downloads.

Shivering Isles is stated to be approximately one-fourth the size of Oblivion, and will offer 30 hours of gameplay. No pricing has been mentioned for the Xbox 360 version, though the PC version has been marked at $30.

In a move that is sure to rock the socks off Jack Thompson, Rockstar Games has announced a sequel to the controversial 2003 action game Manhunt. Simply dubbed Manhunt 2, the sequel is in developed at Rockstar North, who is handling the PSP and PS2 versions, and Rockstar Toronto, who are working on the Wii version.

Manhunt 2 is set for release this Summer.

Sega has announced that Virtua Tennis 3 on he Xbox 360 will feature support for 1080p graphics, as well as include a brand new VT:TV live spectator mode and let gamers around the world compete in Ranked and Player Modes for top scores on the Leaderboard on Xbox Live.

For the first time, Xbox 360 gamers can experience high-definition 1080p graphics on their console with Virtua Tennis 3. With the highest digital video standard enabled on the Xbox 360, each of the 20 tennis pros featured in Virtua Tennis 3 appear even more realistic, while the court environments deliver a newfound richness in colour and texture. The increased levels of detail can be picked out in the spectators and backgrounds, and despite the increased number of pixels on screen, the smooth gameplay mechanics and movements of the players are just as fluid as ever.

The online gameplay for Virtua Tennis 3 consist of a number of features set to make the most of the Xbox Live network. Players can take part in Ranked or Friendly modes, and enter Exhibition games or Tournaments in both singles and doubles matches across the Live network. The all new VT:TV real-time spectator mode allows players to view their friends or other top-ranked players compete in tournaments, adding an all new strategy in sizing up the next opponent.

Virtua Tennis 3 is slated for release this March on PS3, PSP and Xbox 360.

GameBIZ Daily reports that WBIE’s Jason Hall has left the company to move onto his own production company HDFilms, a company that will “segue into a first-look videogame and feature film development deal.” Samantha Ryan, Monolith’s CEO, will be taking over for Hall; however, she will also remain Monolith’s CEO.

As per the article, Jason Hall will also stay actively involved with WBIE and will serve as “executive producer of key WBIE video game titles and will continue to shepherd pre-existing and new HDFilms’ projects in development for Warner Bros. Pictures.” Newsweek has an interview with the man as to why he is stepping down from his role at WBIE.

Already available for the Japanese, Tekken: Dark Resurrection is now also set to kick ass in North America later this month. A re-made version of the PSP fighter, Dark Resurrection will be available exclusively for the PS3 via the PlayStation Network.

The game, among other enhancements, will let players fight as Jinpachi Mishima, the previously unplayable boss from the arcade game. It will also support 1080p visuals and game modes including Arcade Battle, Ghost Battle and a Gallery mode.