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Elder Scrolls PS3

An upcoming Official Playstation Magazine will confirm that Bethesda’s Elder Scrolls: Oblivion will be coming to both the Playstation 3 and the PSP, as had previously been rumored. 1up has more details; apparently, a new faction will be available from the start of the new version, called the “Knights of the Nine.” The PSP version will be less of a port, apparently, and more of an interpretation of the game, as the portable version will take place in a different setting. 1up has more screenshots of the PS3 version online.

Read More | 1up

Gallery: Elder Scrolls: Oblivion Confirmed For PS3, PSP


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Second Life LogoToday Linden Labs notified users that on or about September 6th, a Second Life database server was compromised and that hackers may have gained access to users’ personal information including names, addresses, encrypted passwords and encrypted payment information. While, according to their press release there was no indication that the hackers could compromise users’ online accounts, Linden is forcing all of their users to change their Second Life passwords in response to the breach.

From the release:

“We’re taking a very conservative approach and assuming passwords were compromised and therefore we’re requiring users to change their Second Life passwords immediately,” said Cory Ondrejka, CTO of Linden Lab. “While we realize this is an inconvenience for residents, we believe it’s the safest course of action. We place the highest priority on protecting customer data and will continue to take aggressive measures to protect the privacy and security of the community.”

With more and more online games every year (most of them requiring payment of some type), the issue of data security could quickly become a major focus for game makers. Will we be seeing a Microsoft-circa-2000-esque push toward writing secure game code in the near future? It couldn’t hurt to start soon…

Read More | http://secondlife.com/corporate/bulletin.php

Gallery: Second Life Database Suffers Huge Security Breach


Sam and Max Take Over The World

We all knew the takeover was coming, we just didn’t know when - now we have a date. On October 17th, Sam and Max Episode 1: Culture Shock will debut on Gametap, with regular episode updates following every month. The title will be exclusive to Gametap for 15 days, after which the episodes will be available for download from Telltale Games’ website. 15 days isn’t that much longer to wait, but Turner Broadcasting (owner of Gametap) is doing all they can to convince you to sign up for their subscription-based service.

Straight from the press-release:

“Gamers get to play the new episodes of Sam & Max first on GameTap, where the whole Sam & Max experience is enriched with additional amazing content,” said Ricardo Sanchez, GameTap Vice President of Content. “Telltale and GameTap are also co-producing new animated machinima “shorts,” which will premiere in November as a prelude to the second game episode, with more shorts airing between monthly episodes to give Sam & Max fans a regularly scheduled fix. With the new machinima shorts and a behind-the-scenes documentary that brings them inside ‘The Making of’ the new Sam & Max game, this exclusive Sam & Max experience adds that much more value to the monthly subscription.”

As a huge fan of the old-school Kings Quest-esque point-n-click adventure games, this might be the best thing to happen to the genre since Grim Fandango.

Read More | Telltale Games

Gallery: Sam And Max for PC Launches Oct 17 on Gametap, On Sale Nov 1


Zelda Wind Waker ScreenshotAccording to a rumor listed on IGN.com, the world of Zelda: Twilight Princess is going to be big - VERY big. Listed in their Fall 2006 games preview, they state “Twilight Princess will not only be bigger - a horse ride from one side of Hyrule to the next is rumored to take 45 real minutes - but much more ambitious than ever before.” While at first blush this sounds like great news - Nintendo fans have been looking forward to a good long adventure game for a while - it brings up some uncomfortable questions. Could the world of Twilight Princess be as bleak and desolate as Wind Waker was? Will the player be forced to endure hours of trekking to arrive at plot points in the game?

I for one am looking forward to a good long adventure from Nintendo in Twilight Princess, but I’m just hoping that adventure doesn’t mainly consist of wandering aimlessly in an overly huge world.

Read More | IGN Wii

Gallery: 45 Minutes Across - Is Zelda: Twilight Princess another Wind Waker?


DescriptionToday Telltale games posted some goodies over on their developers blog, including a statement that “Season One” of the upcoming Sam & Max game is “nearing completion”. More importantly, though, they’ve graced the web with 15 new screenshots of the first S&M 3-D adventure (geez, that sounds naughtier than it should). While some of them are renders “made outside of the game engine”, it looks like the majority of the screens are from in-game scenes.

Sam & Max will be releasing this fall for the PC platform and will be available via GameTap and other services.

Read More | Telltale Games

Gallery: 15 Brand New Sam & Max Screens from Telltale Games


Lego Star Wars II CoverThis past weekend we visited the absolutely crazy floor of the Penny Arcade Expo in Bellevue, WA. The floor was chock full of some great looking MMORPGs and FPS titles for the hardcore gamers, but there were some really great looking less serious games as well. Chief among them was the highly anticipated LEGO Star Wars II, the sequel that tells the stories of Episodes IV-VI in brickalicious format.

See our full thoughts after the jump…

Click to continue reading LEGO Star Wars 2 Looking Great at PAX

Gallery: LEGO Star Wars 2 Looking Great at PAX


Penny Arcade Just ahead of the start of this year’s Penny Arcade Expo (PAX), Penny Arcade announced that they would be entering a partnership with Hothead Games to release a video game based around the web comic, titled Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness. The Penny Arcade characters have already appeared in a collectible card game published by Sabretooth games, so this new endeavor will only push their empire further into the areas that are normally the targets of their satire. The game will be offered as downloadable episodic content, and will be playable on the PC, Mac, and Linux platforms initially, with possible releases on next generation console platforms later. Their partner, Hothead Games, is a new company with a strong pedigree; the company was founded by former employees of Radical Entertainment, Silicon Knights, and EA Black Box.

Read More | Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Gallery: Penny Arcade To Offer Comic Adventure Game


DescriptionMany Bothans died to bring you this game - just in time for Christmas (Dec 2006), Ubisoft will be releasing Star Wars: Lethal Allaiance. Taking place between the two trilogies, you’ll be playing as Twi’Lek Rianna Saren and her ‘droid in a mission to find the plans for the Empire’s secret weapon, the Death Star. The release states:

Ubisoft is honored to announce this exciting and innovative Star Wars game, the first original game in the legendary franchise built to take full advantage of the unique capabilities of both the PSP system and the DS.

Translation: It’ll be 3D, just expect more refined graphics for the PSP and some touch-screen control mechanics for the DS.

This marks Ubisoft’s third Star Wars outing - Revenge of the Sith for the GBA and DS and Apprentice of the Force for the GBA being their previous releases. Given the recent success Ubisoft has had in the platforming genre with games like the Prince of Persia trilogy, we’re keeping our fingers crossed for some solid Force-based action.

Read More | Ubisoft Press Release

Gallery: Star Wars: Lethal Alliance by Ubisoft Announced for DS, PSP


King KongThe larger than life movie King Kong has some competition from its video game title, Peter Jackson’s King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie. King Kong dominated the nominations for the first Canadian Awards for the Electronic and Animated Arts (CAEA), garnering nods in 7 of the 12 categories for video games. (In all, there are 37 awards categories.) Ubisoft’s Montreal studios produced the Xbox 360 version of King Kong. Nominations for the CAEA were announced Wednesday. The awards ceremony will be held Sept. 14 at the flashy River Rock Casino, in Montreal. William Shatner will host the ceremony, which will be open to the public.

Read More | Canoe Network

Gallery: King Kong Nabs Video Game Awards Nominations


PS2 Psychonauts BoxWhen Xbox 360 owners complain this loudly about getting backwards compatible support for a specific game, you know it must be a real gem. Such is the case with Psychonauts, a rare blending of amazing artistic style with solid platforming, the likes of which hasn’t been seen since Rayman 2.

In what may be the best gaming deal this month, The Frugal Gamer is reporting that Psychonauts for the PS2 is now available on Amazon.com for $9.99 (and thanks to the PS3, now with no backwards compatibility worries!). So if you’ve never played it, GO! Go now!

Update: Looks like it may have been a typo in Amazon’s system, unfortunately. The game is now priced at the usual (still quite reasonable) $29.99.

Read More | The Frugal Gamer

Gallery: Psychonauts PS2 @ Amazon.com for $9.99: Now THAT’s Bargain Bin Gaming


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