CDV has announced plans to publish Tarr Chronicles, Akella’s upcoming space combat title, in North America. A sci-fi dog fighting title that drops players in the pilot seath of a space fighter as you struggle to protect the remains of humanity from an enemy onslaught.

Lost in space and deep behind enemy lines, the player must don an elite fighter pilot’s uniform and defend the galaxy’s last hope in Tarr Chronicles, a gripping arcade-style space combat simulation in development by Quazar Studio and Akella. At your disposal are dozens of detailed high-tech fighters bristling with cannons and rocket launchers, yours to fly against an unstoppable alien menace – the De’Khete. Intelligent squad mates with unique personalities will assist you in frenzied white-knuckle space battles between vast fleets of fighters and massive capital ships. From fully-customizable equipment to collectible badges and fast-action combat encounters, Tarr Chronicles will keep you pinned to your seat.

Tarr Chronicles will be released this September for the PC.

Vicon, developer of award-winning motion capture systems, has announced the sale of sixteen MX40 cameras to Digi-Guys, the developer of WarDevil – Unleash the Beast Within, which is described as a “PS3 videogame and Blu-ray movie.” Interesting.

Due to be released next year on the PS3, WarDevil is a next generation concept, bridging the gap between videogames & Blue-Ray HD motion pictures. The game & studio technology has been in development for over three years. The project is the first to utilise this new method of production, allowing Digi-Guys to create both a videogame & movie property from the same studio pipeline, spearheading an entirely new methodology to both mediums.

The Vicon MX40 camera has been used in the production of many blockbusting movies and video games, as well as in the engineering and life sciences sectors. Vicon is a subsidiary of Oxford Metrics Group, which is also the parent company of 2d3 and Geospatial Vision.

“Digi-Guys is a well established Digital Content Studio & game developer in the UK and has produced many excellent projects,” said Nick Bolton, chief executive of Oxford Metrics Group. “WarDevil is no exception. We’re pleased to be able to help Digi-Guys meet its needs for bringing highly detailed realism to its projects.”

The game is currently set to release exclusively on the PS3.

These retro games were released this week on the Wii Shop Channel:

Lode Runner (NES®, 1-2 players, Rated E for Everyone, 500 Wii Points): This landmark action-puzzle game has been a worldwide fixture in video games from the moment of its inception until today, producing many sequels and related products along the way. The player controls the hero, or “Runner,” who collects gold nuggets located around every stage, all the while avoiding capture by enemy robots. The action itself is simple, but the stages are designed as increasingly challenging puzzles, and none of the 50 stages is as easy as it seems. The Runner avoids enemies by digging holes in the floor to the right and left of his position-by doing this, he can clear a path to places that, at first glance, seem unreachable. Players must use their brains to collect all the gold nuggets in every puzzling stage if they want to escape to the next. In addition to normal play, this version of the game features an Edit Mode that allows players to design their own stages, adding a new level of enjoyment to the game.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Sega Genesis, 1-2 players, Rated E for Everyone, 800 Wii Points): Dr. Eggman (aka Dr. Robotnik) is back to continue his zealous search for the Chaos Emeralds needed to fuel his new Death Egg contraption. The evil doctor secretly follows Sonic to his vacation spot, Westside Island, and launches a full-scale attack, imprisoning all the helpless animals of the island and turning them into mindless worker drones. Now Sonic must thwart the doctor’s plans at all costs. This time he isn’t alone, as a peculiar two-tailed fox named Miles Prower (aka Tails) decides to aid him in the battle. Together they must locate the Chaos Emeralds before Dr. Eggman does, and put an end to his diabolical scheme.

Golden Axe II (Sega Genesis, 1-2 players, Rated E10+ for Everyone 10 and Older – Fantasy Violence, 800 Wii Points): Not long after the devastating reign of the wicked Death Adder, another evil arose. Dark Guld and his minions invaded and took hold of the prized Golden Axe with plans to destroy it. Once again, as a fierce barbarian named Ax-Battler, a fearless female Amazon known as Tyris-Flare or a ferocious dwarf named Gilius Thunderhead, you will wield steely swords and powerful magic in an all-out war to recover the sword. Once you slash your way through the six side-scrolling levels, you’ll get the chance to defeat Dark Guld once and for all.

Going on to show that men of religion also indulge in shooting aliens once in awhile, the Church of England has demanded the withdrawal of Sony and Insomniac’s Resistance: Fall of Man over the inclusion of Manchester Cathedral in it. The Church also demanded that Sony apologize, donate a portion of the game’s profits to the cathedral’s educational department, support anti-violence campaigns in Manchester, and remove the game from store shelves.

Sony, in a move that can only be deemed as good, has responded to the affair by apologizing through a letter. “It was not our intention to cause offence using a representation of Manchester Cathedral in chapter eight of the work,” the letter said. “If we have done so, we sincerely apologize.”

The letter was signed by David Reeves, president of SCEE. Apparently, the Church still isn’t pleased: they are still demanding that the game be removed from stores, as well as a couple of other outstanding demands. Sony has offered to meet with church officials, though that is yet to happen.

Disney is looking forward to increase their presence in the gaming industry, according to the LA Times. “Over the next five years or so we are ramping up to about a pace of $350 million per year in video game investment, principally consoles and hand-helds,” said Disney executive Thomas O. Staggs.

The media giant already has a noticeable presence in the industry with its acquisition of Propagand Games, Avalanche Software, and the rights to the Turok franchise. The company also had a publishing deal with Tetsuya Mizuguchi’s Q Entertainment. They have also received the game-movie tie-in to the Pirates of the Caribbean movie; a PC MMO based on the franchise is also in the works.

Sony launched the official PlayStation blog, marking their space on the Internet. Unlike their semi-official ThreeSpeech blog, the PlayStation.blog (yes, with a dot) actually features executives and developers from SCEA and partner companies writing directly to the gamers.

So far, the blog has been host to posts by various developers in the Sony family, as well as Dave Karraker himself. Good luck Sony!

Engadget’s WWDC 2007 live-blog was the first to break news of id’s shiny new engine that was shown off during Steve Jobs’ keynote. John Carmack, the programming guru at id Software, had this to say:

So the last couple of years at iD we’ve been working in secrecy on next-gen tech and a game for it… this is the first time we’re showing anything we’ve done on it publicly.” iD Tech 5… “What we’ve got here is the entire world with unique textures, 20GB of textures covering this track. They can go in and look at the world and, say, change the color of the mountaintop, or carve their name into the rock. They can change as much as they want on surfaces with no impact on the game.

Basically, the engine removes the texture memory constraints and allows artists and designers to customize the world with virtually unlimited visual fidelity. At least that’s what id’s announcement had to say. Dubbed id Tech 5, the engine will render vast outdoor landscapes, as well as indoor environments with unprecedented visual detail.

The engine has been announced for the PC, Mac, PS3 and Xbox 360. More information, as well as another Mac announcement will be revealed at E3 next month.

Everyone’s favorite film director Uwe Boll is at it again – The Hollywood Reporter reports that he has signed a deal with independent film distributor Freestyle Releasing to bring his upcoming films to more cinemas across North America, thus reaching out to more disgruntled gamers.

The first movie to be widely distributed according to the deal is Postal, the upcoming adaptation of Running With Scissor’s controversial shooter. The film stars Zack Ward, Chris Coppola and Boll himself; it’s set for release on September 28. Apparently, the movie will first open on 500 screens and move on from there based on boxoffice results.

The second movie to be released will be the Dungeon Siege adaptation, which is slated to open January 2008 across 2500 screens in North America. As it stands, the movies will be promoted and marketed by Uwe Boll himself, who will be giving money out of his own pocket for advertising and other related costs.

Thankfully, the third film is not a videogame adaptation, but a horror film penned by Boll himself. Dubbed Seed, the movie will star Michael Pare and is set to open early next year.

The very first photo from the upcoming Hitman movie has been released. Check it out:

Excalibur Publishing has announced plans to publish Requital, an upcoming action/RPG in the works at Primal Software. Scoop:

Your Story Your name is Wolfhound. You are the last of your clan. You were taken screaming from your mother’s breast and enslaved, whilst your parents were murdered at the hands of a murderous butcher. You now have your freedom and there is only one thought on your mind – revenge! All you remember about the person who ripped your family apart is the weapon he used and the mark on his hand. Your quest is to find him and make him pay for the death of your family with his death – by your sword.

Before you can repay the evil that was done to you and your parents, you must wear a mask of friendship to all those that you meet on your travels. The only way to get the information you need is by offering help to others. You will have to perform a variety of tasks, spend time building up your skills, weapons and armour, as well as training yourself by fighting lesser enemies.

Danger lurks all around these lands not only from the living but also from the undead! Always keep your best weapon close to hand!

No release date was mentioned.

The pre-order bonus program for World in Conflict has been announced. Starting June 22, gamers who pre-order the title from GAME stores across the UK will receive several items including a bonus DVD from The History Channel, access to a beta event, bonus multiplayer maps and special multiplayer account privileges. More details:

• “Declassified: The Rise and Fall of The Wall” DVD by The History Channel Learn about the brutal life and catastrophic death of the Berlin Wall, central symbol of the 20th century’s longest and deadliest war. Features rare footage, insider reports, and exclusive interviews with major players, including Mikhail Gorbachev and George H.W. Bush.

• Access to World in Conflict’s Beta Event – Guaranteed access to the upcoming beta event for World in Conflict scheduled for July 2007

• Bonus Multiplayer Maps for the Beta Event and Demo – Exclusive multiplayer maps for play in the July beta event and the game’s demo. These maps will only be available to those who pre-order the game.

• Exclusive Massgate Account Privileges – Exclusive access to Massgate, the powerful multiplayer software created by Massive Entertainment to provide online play for World in Conflict. By pre-ordering, players will be able to secure their online name before the game releases, ensuring their handles are their own when everyone else joins the fray.