The embargo over THEY has been lifted, resulting in new information on the upcoming sci-fi action shooter. Below are some new screenshots; more information on the game after the jump.

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It was revealed through an IGN video that Rock Band will feature sons from Hole and Pixies. The playable tracks are “Celebrity Skin” and “Wave of Mutilation”, respectively. Also, in a corresponding preview piece it was revealed that the Yeah Yeah Yeah track “Maps” and “I Think I’m Paranoid” by Garbage will also be included in the game. All these four tracks will ship with the game.

Yes, we all know certain games can only be run on the Xbox (hint: Halo and Halo 2) and certain games only on the PlayStation (hint: Devil May Cry), but in this day and age you would developers would be smarter not to claim such things. Well, Guerilla Games has claimed just this: Killzone 2 is only possible on the PS3. In an interview with the Official PlayStation Magazine, the studio’s bigwigs revealed that developing exclusively for the PS3 is a “huge benefit” and that when developing for several platforms you always have to take “restrictions into consideration.” Well said words, but this is what stings the most: “[Killzone 2] would be difficult, if not impossible, to deliver on a competing machine.”

The game’s producer Ter Heide chimed in: “I would say [It's] impossible. We literally can’t do this stuff on any machine other than the PS3.” He notes the use of Blu-ray on the console, citing the recently shown demo that used 2GB space.

On the official Enemy Territory: Quake Wars forums is a release date for the demo of the upcoming team-based multiplayer shooter. According to the post, the demo is due next Monday: “The Windows PC demo is going to be released on September 10, 2007.”

Apparently, “Linux” is a word which can be compared to the likes of excrement, sexual intercourse and illegal sons, among other things. The use of this word is banned on Xbox Live, according to this user. Funny stuff!

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is the latest politician who has entered the debate of violent video games, promising to review new rules for advertising and sale of software to children. Apparently, he is “aware of growing concern about the effect of screen violence on youngsters” and is looking into drawing up new legislation for the promotion and sale of video games to minors.

He is expected to put the plans in front of a new ‘Citizens’ Jury’ later this week. His new stance comes after leader of the opposition David Cameron last week launched an attack against violent video games.

According to this site, Microsoft has announced at IFA in Germany that they have cut the price of the Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive by €20 to €180. It is not currently confirmed.

With the movie in the hands of the Wachowski brothers, the creators of The Matrix series, Warner Bros. has announced the Speed Racer videogame. The game will be available on the Wii and DS as the film hits cinemas next years; the PS2 will also get love once the DVD of the film hits stores.

In development at Sidhe Interactive, the Wii and PS2 games will have players take on the role of the characters from the film, getting behind the wheels of each character’s vehicles. The Wachowski brothers are involved in the development, as they lend “direction and assets” to the development team directly from their Berlin set. Also, John Gaeta, co-VFX supervisor on the film, is also working with the studio to maintain a close film-to-game connection.

Capcom has announced Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law, originally set for PS2 and PSP release, is now also coming to the Wii. However, it will carry a $10 premium over its PlayStation counterparts, retailing for $39.99. All three versions will be available on November 13.

Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law is a fully animated interactive adventure game that merges the fun and mayhem of the popular Adult Swim TV show with Capcom’s unique style of gameplay. Players will step into the shiny wingtips of Harvey Birdman, a third-rate superhero turned third-rate defense attorney charged with exonerating parodied classic cartoon characters.

Over the course of the game, players must guide Harvey through a series of odd and comical cases. Each of the game’s five interactive stories takes the winged crusader of justice to familiar locations from the TV show. In order to prove his client’s innocence, Harvey must peruse the scene of the crime, gather evidence, talk with other cartoon characters, occasionally have drinks with opposing council, and of course, tear holes - no matter how ridiculous - in the testimony provided by the witness for the prosecution. Harvey must bring the whole story together to defend his client in a court where anything can happen… including a confrontation with the prosecution who brandishes a Shrink Ray Gun. With outrageous gameplay and the comical antics of hilarious animated characters, players and fans alike will feel that they are not just taking control of a character, but actually taking part in a brand new episode of Harvey Birdman.

This week has seen the release of four classic games on the Wii Virtual Console service. Here’s the deal:

Adventure Island (NES, 1 player, rated E for Everyone - Comic Mischief, 500 Wii Points): A mysterious tropical paradise known as Adventure Island is the setting for this side-scrolling action game. The evil Witch Doctor has kidnapped Tina, the true love of Master Higgins. To save her, you must safely guide Master Higgins through eight perilous stages - including dense forests and creepy caves - while defeating all of the enemies in your path. Each area is made up of four rounds filled with enemies determined to stop you in your tracks. In addition, as time passes, Master Higgins’s vitality is automatically drained. To keep going, he must eat constantly by grabbing fruit, milk and whatever other goodies he can as he races toward his goal. Sometimes eggs containing miraculous items like axes to throw at enemies or honey that grants temporary invincibility will appear. Use items skillfully to help you clear the areas. At the end of each area you’ll face the Witch Doctor, who you must defeat to advance. Go, Master Higgins, go!

Donkey Kong Jr. Math (NES, 1-2 players, rated E for Everyone, 500 Wii Points): Learning can be fun, especially when you play along with Donkey Kong Jr. Practice addition, subtraction, multiplication and division by directing Junior, a cute little monkey who must climb up and down vines to collect numbers and math symbols to solve the math problems his father gives him. Compete with a friend in a race to solve problems in Game A or add more challenge with Game B. Of course, you can also practice on your own. This game is perfect for younger players who are looking for a fun and easy way to develop their math skills.

Landstalker: The Treasures of King Nole (Sega Genesis, 1 player, rated E for Everyone - Mild Fantasy Violence, 800 Wii Points): After hearing of the legendary treasure of King Nole, the elvish treasure hunter Nigel undertakes a quest to gather various pieces of the famed loot. His journey takes him through Mercator Island’s villages, caves and dungeons that hold King Nole’s riches. Along the way, he’ll have to help the inhabitants of the island while fighting against the treachery of Duke Mercator, who is searching for the treasure as well. A variety of obstacles and foes will try to deter Nigel, who must use all his wits and skills to defeat Duke Mercator and uncover the secret of King Nole’s treasure.

Bonk 3: Bonk’s Big Adventure (TurboGrafx16, 1-2 players, rated E for Everyone - Comic Mischief, 600 Wii Points): The hard-headed hero is back for more side-scrolling action in the third installment of the popular Bonk series. It’s up to Bonk once again to thwart the plans of the relentless evil King Drool. There are seven rounds scattered throughout the Dinosaur Kingdom, each one filled with fun contraptions and comical enemies. Grab a Flower Copter or exchange 16 Smileys at the end of each round to play up to eight different bonus stages. Or you can change the size of Bonk by grabbing the new red or blue candy items. Depending on the situation, you can change your size to bonk your way through a dead end or to get a hard-to-reach item. And if that’s not enough, you can grab a friend and put your heads together to defeat King Drool in the new two-player mode.

A dozen new high-resolution screenshots from Spore have been released, showing off the evolution of a creature.

In-game ad agency Double Fusion has debuted technology separating ad integration from game development and allowing for dynamic placements of ads. Previously developers had to hardcore the ads into the game itself.

Dubbed fusion.runtime, the tools will give developers the ability to create new ad placements in finished game as well as back-catalog titles. Ubisoft and NCSoft have already begun using these tools. In fact, the recently released free ad-supported Ubi games Far Cry, Prince of Persia and other make use of these tools, allowing for integration of ads in the menu and loading screens.

“Game makers that want deep interactivity in their ads, or want pinpoint control over system resources, will benefit from our [previous] fusion.sdk solution,” said company co-founder and CTO Hillel Rom. “For those game makers that don’t have time in their development process to incorporate an SDK, or want to add advertising to back catalog titles, or perhaps want to avoid bothering the original developer in the case of games licensed from other regions, fusion.runtime opens up the revenue possibilities by delivering great advertising experiences.”

It was announced earlier this week that 10tacle Studios, Europe’s largest independent developer, has developed and will publish a freeware game BMW M3 Challenge in anticipation of the release of the new BMW M3 Coupe.

The project is part of a free-of-charge distribution system that has been financed by a mid-six-figure development budget, carried by BMW and other sponsors through in-game advertising. The game is set to be released later this month ahead of the car’s release.

Additionally, 10tacle revealed that it is currently in negotiations with a world-renowned company looking to commission a comprehensive game project as part of an upcoming marketing campaign. They plan on beginning work on the project before the end of this year; the budget is said to be in the double-digit millions.

Gamespot reports that SCi Games might be in talks to sell itself to an “unnamed company”. However, it seems their talks of a takeover bid are at an “extremely preliminary” stage, noting that there is no guarantee that it might go forward.

The current owner of Eidos Interactive - publisher of many popular franchises like Tomb Raider, Hitman and Championship Manager - SCi Games is speculated to be in talks with EA Games or even Warner Bros. Entertainment. The latter, in fact, bought 10% of the company’s shares back in December and awarded Eidos the rights to make games based on many of its properties including The OC and The Flintstones.

As per the report, the company is set to make an announcement in due course.

America’s Army, the tax-funded action shooter, has drawn fire from a group called Iraq Veterans Against the War, who stood in formation in front of a recruiting event shouting “war is not a game.” The protest did not last long, however, and from the description it seems that it was a rather spontaneous event rather than part of a larger campaign.