So, who’s working on the next Bond game? If 1UP is to be believed, Bizarre Creations, who were recently bought by Activision, is working on a Bond game with a load of driving elements. No details were posted.

Some new information on The Club was sent out earlier this week. Sega sheds light on three gameplay modes that will be present in the upcoming Bizarre Creations action-shooter. Here’s the scoop:

Run the Gauntlet
A single player mode: “Run the Gauntlet” is exactly how it sounds; a point-to-point run-and-gun race against the clock. Players will sprint through the level chaining together as many combos as possible by blowing away bad guys in stylish and deadly ways. The focus is on sprinting the character towards the exit and trying to finish the level within the time limit, achieving the set score.

Team Skull Shot
A multiplayer mode: This is a team-based game where both teams have coloured skull shot targets scattered throughout a level. The red team must shoot the blue skulls and vice versa. The team who shoots all the opposing team’s skull shots first is the team who wins.

Score Match
A multiplayer mode: Players are set a score target and must burst into the level and try to achieve it as quickly as possible by taking down the other players and keeping their combos going. It’s all against all and not a place to make friends, but then The Club is all about survival of the fittest, fastest and meanest.

A few new details about the Photo Mode in Project Gotham Racing 4 have been revealed. It will feature the same set of standard effects from its predecessors, but with a couple of additions including noise, wobble, tunnel and vehicle blur filters.

They also revealed that a “3D filter” will be applied on images. This effect will apply a sort of 3D effect on the images, which can be seen when one wears those crazy red-blue glasses. Some screenshots below:

Through an updated release date schedule Sega announced a delay to The Club, an upcoming third-person shooter from Bizarre Creations. Originally set for release later this year, the game is now expected to hit stores in February 2008.

Only the most ruthless killers can join the underground elite known as The Club, where the world’s rich and powerful watch merciless fighters test their skills through secretive tournaments. While highly trained and effectively brutal, most combatants find themselves forced to participate. The posse of urban warriors represents a variety of countries and backgrounds. They share almost nothing in common except for participating in the ultimate blood sport where the greatest reward is survival.

Players will choose between eight unique fighters, each with their own combat style and agendas, as they travel the globe in a series of visceral urban battlefields. In addition to a variety of single-player scenarios, The Club boasts an array of multiplayer options to satisfy even the most discerning action aficionado.

The game is being developed for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

Microsoft Game Studios and Bizarre Creations today revealed new details on Project Gotham Racing 4. The game will feature an all-new career mode, dynamic weather system and PGR on demand. They also revealed new vehicles that will be in the game:

Cars:

• Ariel Atom 300 Supercharged 2004
  
• Aston Martin V8 Vantage 2005
  
• Austin Mini Cooper S 1964
  
• Chevrolet Camaro Z28 1969
  
• Ferrari F430 2004
  
• Caparo T1 2007
  
• Caterham R500 2000
  
• Lamborghini Gallardo 2004
  
• Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren 2005
  
• Tesla Roadster 2008

Motorcycles:

• BMW F 800 S 2006
  
• Honda NR750 1992
  
• Honda CBR600RR 2005
  
• Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14 2007
  
• MTT Turbine Superbike 2006
  
• MV Agusta F4 Senna 2006
  
• Norton 500 Manx 1962
  
• Triumph Speed Triple 2005
  
• Triumph Trident 2005

Six new screenshots have also been released to show off the vehicles. PGR4 is set for release on October 12 for £44.99.

Bizarre Creation’s new creation The Club gets some spanking new screenshots, courtesy of the Leipzig Games Convention. Check them out below:

This studio update on Bizarre Creation’s website reveals the locations that will be present in Project Gotham Racing 4. It also talks about the “racification” of the tracks, the challenge of adding motorcycles, weather and some other things related to the locations themselves.

This year’s X06 saw a couple of big announcements from Microsoft. Very big announcements. Let’s check them out:

• Peter Jackson, who is currently associated with the upcoming Halo movie, Academy Award-winning screenwriter Fran Walsh and Microsoft Game Studios have teamed up to create two new games exclusively for Xbox 360 and Xbox Live. The first series will be a collaborative with Bungie to co-create the next game in the Halo universe, while the second series will be a completely new IP. Additionally, they have also partnered up to form Wingnut Interactive, the studio which will dedicate itself to bringing these series’ to the next-gen console.

• Besides the Wingnut Halo game, Ensemble Studios is working on Halo Wars, a new real-time strategy game based on the legendary universe. Before you cry foul, keep in mind that these guys are behind the Age of Empires franchise, which has been a solid series so far. The game is entirely exclusive to Xbox 360.

  For more information, check out the game’s website which hosts a cinematic trailer, as well as these screen grabs from the trailer.

• Hoping to make a dent in Sony’s future, Microsoft revealed that the Xbox 360 version of Grand Theft Auto IV will receive two exclusive downloadable, “epic” episodes via Xbox Live, each with many hours of entirely new gameplay. These episodes will be available just months after the game’s release next year.

  Both the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game will ship at the same time in October 2007.

• In a move that is very uncharacteristic of Ubisoft, the publisher confirmed that the next Splinter Cell title after Double Agent will be a console-exclusive on Xbox 360. It will also be released on PC for those without the console.

• Yes, BioShock is also exclusive to the console. It’s on PC as well.

• Banjo-Kazooie is back, courtesy of Rare! Another exclusive to Xbox 360, the title will feature the much beloved characters, who, according to the press release, will thankfully retain their “sharp wit and hilarious sense of humor.”

• Another exclusive: Marvel Universe Online. In development at Cryptic Studios, the game will also be released for Windows Vista.

• Everyone saw this coming, but not this soon: Project Gotham Racing 4. The game was unveiled at the show, though it is not expected until late next year, or 2008.

• id Software’s DOOM and Codemasters’ Sensible World of Soccer are now available on Xbox Live Arcade.

• And finally, the Xbox 360 HD-DVD player will be released in North America, UK, France and Germany this November. It will retail for $200 in North America and €200/£130 in U.K., France and Germany. The player will also come with a copy of King Kong on HD-DVD and the Xbox 360 Universal Media Remote.

The guys over at Bizarre Creations are hosting a Photo competition that will let Project Gotham Racing 3 compete for great prizes including a limited edition PGR3 faceplate, a Bizarre Creations t-shirt and a professionally framed print of the winning photo signed by the team.

All one has to do is go into the game’s new Photo Mode and take pics within the game. There are four categories - Best Car, Best City, Speed and Style - all focusing on the major points of the game. The last date for entry is August 31.

Bizarre’s racing game now has style: a Style Pack for Project Gotham Racing 3 has been released on Xbox Live Marketplace, offering 12 new cars and other new features. On sale for 400 Microsoft points, the pack includes the following cars:

• BMW M6 (2006)
  
• BMW Z8 (2001)
  
• BMW M3 CSL (2003)
  
• BMW MINI COOPER S (2005)
  
• Gumpert Apollo Coupe 4.2 V8 (2005)
  
• 2005 Chrysler® Firepower Concept
  
• Ferrari 365 GTB4 “Daytona” (1968)
  
• Ferrari F430 Challenge (2006)
  
• Mercedes CLK DTM AMG (C209)
  
• Pagani Zonda F (2005)
  
• RUF R.K. Spyder 3.8 (2006)
  
• Vanwall GPR V12 (2006)

Individual cars can be downloaded ala carte for 60 points each. In addition to the above cars, the Style Pack features Photo Mode Integration, allowing players to upload their best moments online. The pack also includes new mini-games such as “Free Roam Points”, “Team Free Roam Points” and “Cat and Mouse”.

Bizarre Creations, best known for the Project Gotham Racing series, is expanding into action shooters: the developer and Sega have announced The Club, a next-gen 3^rd person action shooter, for next-gen consoles next year.

The Club is a loosely organised and highly illegal underground entity. The Club is a meeting ground for those seeking the ultimate in vicarious thrills, and those who want to watch them. You have been entered into the sport, and against the odds must fight for survival.

Set in a variety of unusual and evocative locations scattered across the globe, you will be wielding high-powered weaponry in a bid to earn your escape. Your first task is to survive, but you must kill according to their rules - quickly, relentlessly and with style.

Kill or be killed, stand still and youre dead!

Only select press will get an in-depth presentation behind closed doors at E3.

The “Speed Pack” for PGR 3 has been released over Xbox Live, letting gamers shell out money on virtual cars, as well as other new features. Available for 400 points, the pack includes twelve new cars:

• Audi RS 4
  
• Chevrolet Corvette Z06
  
• Dodge Viper SRT-10 Coupe
  
• Lamborghini Gallardo SE
  
• Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VIII FQ-400
  
• Nissan NISMO R34GT-R Z-Tune
  
• Pontiac GTO
  
• Radical SR8
  
• RUF RT12
  
• Saleen S7 Twin Turbo
  
• Ferrari 612 Scaglietti
  
• Aston Martin V8 Vantage

In addition, hosts now have the ability to take players to the lobby during playtime races, new Xbox Live achievements, rotating car classes for Career Championships, gamertags being displayed in-game conversation, savable custom routes and many other online and offline enhancements.

The announcement also covers the revelation of an upcoming Cadillac Collection, which will include several Cadillac cars. They also announced the “PGR 3 Global Tournament,” letting racers take it to the (virtual) streets for a chance to win prizes.

There’s no such thing as “free stuff” these days: Bizarre’s going to release a Speed Pack for Project Gotham Racing 3 on April 17, offering a part for free and the other for 400 points ($5).

The free pack will include access to the game’s first global tournament feature, as well as one car and feature enhancements and fixes. On the other hand, those who cough up cash will be treated to 12 new cars, including an Aston Martin V8 Vanquish and a Ferrari 612 Scaglietti.