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Steam has kicked off another one of its popular weekend sales today, with Bethesda's acclaimed post-apocalyptic title Fallout 3 getting a nice 50% discount. This means the game will be available for just $25 on Valve’s digital distribution platform. Unfortunately, that does not include any of the $10 downloadable expansions, so those looking for the absolute best deal might want to hold on until October when the game and its five DLC packs will be sold together in a $50 Game of the Year bundle.


Additionally the company announced an update to its Steam client and, for fans of the old Street Fighter franchise, it is offering a 10% discount on pre-orders of Street Fighter IV PC which hits next Tuesday.

For the past few months we’ve been hearing rumors about a slimmer, and potentially cheaper, version of the PlayStation 3. Alleged images of the console started making the rounds back in May, followed by a cease and desist letter, which ironically gave rumors a bit more credence. Things quieted down for a while, with no mention of the console at E3, but speculation is once again running rampant.

Somewhat coinciding with a report from Ars Technica last week, the Economic Daily News claims Sony indeed finalized a new PS3 form factor and has already awarded Foxconn and Pegatron with manufacturing contracts. They also assert the units are slated to be delivered this month, although that seems less plausible since it would give Sony and retailers no time to clear out both the 80GB and 160GB models – Ars’ fall release prediction is more likely due to this reasoning.

Of course, Sony could also align the pricing on current models to sell the slimmed-down version concurrently. Whatever the case may be, for now you should take this for what it is – a rumor.

The gaming community was recently shocked to learn that Zenimax would be acquiring id Software. Mixed feelings regarding the future of the company were tempered by an interview with John Carmack who said that no significant changes were planned. Now, he's back for another round with Tom Mustaine at his side to talk more about the future of Doom and other company prospects.

Speaking with Shacknews, Carmack and Mustaine both chimed in about where the Doom franchise is heading and their development experience on the iPhone, from hardware limitations to game design. It's clear from their commentary that more mobile titles are on the agenda, with DLC being a big priority. Carmack also brought out their willingness to experiment with game design, an important consideration given the difference in gaming platforms compared to 15 years ago.

The lengthy interview spans three pages and is focused primarily on id's mobile objectives. Some other projects they brought up are Doom Classic on the iPhone and Wolfenstein RPG, both geared specifically for mobile platforms. Whether you think id has a future or not, it's a great interview to read through.

In a follow-up to yesterday’s announcement that StarCraft II would lack LAN support and the subsequent public outcry, Blizzard has gone on record to explain their controversial move. Unsurprisingly, the company’s decision was rooted in piracy, coming as an attempt to curb illegal downloads after the game is released. Bob Colayco of Blizzard told Joystiq that this “safeguard” against piracy wasn't an easy decision for them, indicating they knew many players would be unhappy with it.

Blaming piracy for stripping features is one way to explain their actions. Such tactics are becoming increasingly common, with more games requiring online verification to make full use of content. So why not do the same with StarCraft II, requiring some sort of online activation before LAN play becomes possible? Compare Steam and the EA Downloader, both of which even require occasional re-authentication of single player games to keep them functioning. What prevents Blizzard from incorporating measures such as this?

Take a look at any recent Blizzard title and try to come up with the single most influential feature they have in common. It's not hard to realize the impact multiplayer functionality has had on their games, all the way back to the original Diablo. The three major Blizzard franchises all pretty much depend on multiplayer support now. Thus, it was somewhat surprising to learn that the company apparently will not be including support for local LAN plan in the upcoming StarCraft II.

In an interview with IncGamers, Rob Pardo of Blizzard specifically mentioned that they have no plans to include local multiplayer support for the game. Instead, all multiplayer features will only be available for Battle.net users. This will remain a free service, so you won't find any complaints there, but the lack of support for LAN play has the potential to be a controversial move. Not everyone would have access to Battle.net at all times, and some people might just want to bring friends over to play.

In the same interview, it was also revealed that there is a “zero percent” chance that StarCraft II will appear on any modern console, with Blizzard dead set on the PC as the only supported platform. I'm still looking forward to the future release of StarCraft, but it does seem possible that Blizzard may end up alienating players as a result of these decisions. What's your opinion, is Blizzard making a mistake?

Sony had plenty of noteworthy announcements to make at this year’s E3 conference. From an impressive game lineup for 2009, to its intriguing new motion sensing technology, and the proclaimed “worst kept secret of E3,” the PSP Go. But despite expectations that it would lower the price of the PlayStation 3 console, the company had no such announcement to make, claiming that from their perspective E3 “is all about content.”

They’ve long maintained that their platform is a “very good value proposition” when you factor in the default Blu-ray drive and 80GB HDD. However, with sales still lagging behind those of its cheaper competitors and publishers threatening to drop support for Sony’s console, a price cut seems almost inevitable and long overdue. Thus is not surprising to hear that Sony is clearing inventory on the $399 80GB PS3 in advance of “dropping the price of hardware” in the fall. According to Ars Technica’s usually trustworthy source, the company will also launch the rumored slimmed-down version of its PlayStation 3 console around that time.

Furthermore, the site claims the Xbox 360 lineup will see a shift in September, with the 60GB Pro version disappearing from store shelves and the 120GB Elite taking its place – presumably at the former’s $299 price point. The move seems to fit nicely with Microsoft’s plans to offer full retail games on demand, something that would require more disc space than typically available if it is to gain any serious traction.

DICE and EA's cartoon-style shooter Battlefield Heroes has finally launched after numerous delays and a lengthy closed beta period last year. The game is something of an experiment for the companies, given that it is offered completely for free, supported only through advertisements and micro-transactions for character customizations. It will be the first title in the Battlefield series to be released under this non-traditional business model.


The game features a built-in matchmaking system to ensure that players of equal skill are paired together for fair play. Users can use real-world currency to purchase virtual “Battlefunds” that can be redeemed for a variety of in-game items and bonuses, such as the ability to get “Valor Points” faster, new clothes and limited-edition items. You can learn more on Battlefield Heroes via the official website.

In a rather unexpected move, ZeniMax Media, parent company of development studio and publisher Bethesda Softworks, announced today that it is purchasing the longstanding independent developer behind Doom and Quake. The acquisition joins together two of the most acclaimed game studios of all time, combining the first person shooter expertise of id Software with Bethesda’s proven track record in making great role playing titles like Fallout 3 the Elder Scrolls series.

In an interview with Kotaku, id co-founder John Carmack said no significant changes are being made to either company. The studio will continue to be run under the direction of Carmack and the company’s principal employees are all sticking around. Bethesda will publish all of id's games going forward, except for those already signed with third-parties, including the Activision-backed Wolfenstein and the EA Partners-planned Rage.

Carmack hopes the matchup will make business dealings easier for id Software. No financial details were revealed regarding the acquisition, but it is likely to be bigger than Bethesda's recent deals.

Update: Sony launched its PS3 firmware 2.80 today. No major features but some bug fixes. If you would like to download this update please head here.

PlayStation 3 users everywhere, get ready for an update tomorrow following Sony's announcement of a new firmware for your console. Firmware version 2.80 brings with it a short list of improvements and fixes for the platform, along with an allegedly big new feature the company offered no details about.

This is the latest in a long series of firmware updates Sony has crafted for the PS3 since release, with the first updates happening more than two years ago shortly after it was launched. While each and every release may not be all that exciting, watching modern consoles evolve certainly is; with not only bugs being corrected but major features being added just by having it plugged in to the Internet.

The fourth downloadable episode for Fallout 3 has arrived on the PC and Xbox 360 this morning. Dubbed Point Lookout, the extra content will put players in a radioactive swampland along the coast of Maryland where they will encounter new mutants, allies, and low-tech weapons as they try to unravel the mysteries of this town. The pack is designed for level 20+ players and like previous releases it costs 800 Microsoft Points ($10).


Those buying the Games for Windows version of Point Lookout, will need to install the latest game update (version 1.6); available here. A fifth expansion, the alien-abduction-themed Mothership Zeta is expected to come in late July. Meanwhile PlayStation 3 owners will be given access to the first DLC in the series, Operation Anchorage, this month, followed by The Pitt and Broken Steel after 4-6 week intervals.

In addition to all of the previous drama surrounding 3D Realms and their long anticipated Duke Nukem Forever title, some interesting new information has surfaced. In a court document filed on Friday, Apogee Software, Ltd. (3D Realms’ legal name), claims they signed an agreement with Take-Two Interactive, the designated publisher of Duke Nukem Forever, and 2K Games, a subsidiary of Take-Two.


The alleged agreement granted 2K Games full rights to design and publish a new title based on Apogee’s Duke Nukem franchise. Yes, an absolutely separate title from DNF, named “Duke Begins.” The title was a part of the previously undisclosed agreement between the companies met in October 2007. It also resolves the confusion surrounding Take-Two’s $2.5 million payment to Apogee. Take-Two claimed the payment was to help fund the development of DNF – but Apogee later stated the money was provided “in connection with another agreement for an unannounced game.”

Development of Duke Begins was to commence within two months of the October 2007 agreement and it was due for release by mid-2010. However, Apogee believes development halted in April 2009, despite Take-Two’s present denial of such. Where does it end folks?

While I don’t adore the title, I’ve yet to meet someone who doesn’t enjoy playing Left 4 Dead. Though, even the most dedicated fanboys get tired of playing the same stale campaigns, and professional development studios can only churn out so much free content. Acknowledging this, Valve is preparing the release of Left 4 Dead's authoring tools.

The software development kit (SDK) is expected to arrive as soon as next week. This will allow users to generate new maps and edit existing ones as well as package content in a single VPK file. A new menu option named “Add-on campaign” will permit you to browse your third party content. Through this menu, you will be able to create games and invite friends to your add-on campaign. It will also aid in distributing user-generated content, by automatically offering your friends the option to download it.

With Valve’s feet in hot water after announcing an early sequel to Left 4 Dead, this update should prove to be a band-aid. The main question of that debacle was whether or not the developers would live up to their promises of serving free downloadable content for the original. By releasing the official dev-kit, Valve's DLC shouldn't matter. The community can scratch their own itch by producing quality material.

The web is abuzz today with rumors that that an Xbox 360 successor might be coming sooner than expected. The news actually originated from Microsoft’s CEO Steve Ballmer himself, who during a recent conference in Chicago was quoted as saying that a “new Xbox 360 will hit the store shelves in 2010.” This evidently sparked speculation about some new muscle under the hood along with a built in Project Natal camera, but apparently Ballmer’s words were taken way out of context, with two key members from the Xbox team now denying the possibility of new hardware.

In an official statement released to the media, a Microsoft spokesperson said that the Xbox 360 is “not even halfway” through its lifecycle and will be here long into the next decade. Ballmer did talk quite a bit about a natural user interface that would recognize gestures and voice, so he was obviously referring to the recently unveiled Project Natal device or perhaps even a new SKU (as in the current Xbox 360 bundled with Natal).

Indeed Microsoft admits that Project Natal will be an important part of their platform going forward, but has not confirmed a launch date or any other concrete details at this time. For now, it seems the only thing certain is that Microsoft is planning something major for their Xbox platform next year.

The entire world has been long clamoring for a PlayStation 3 price drop, but Activision boss Bobby Kotick is kicking things up a notch or two by actually threatening to drop support if sales don’t improve. Speaking with The Times, Kotick expressed concern that his company paid $500 million to Sony in royalties and other goods last year alone, but the Xbox 360 and Wii are cheaper to develop for and offer a better return on investment.

Activision feels Sony’s console is “losing a bit of momentum” and urges the company to drop prices to something more reasonable. Furthermore, looking at 2010 and 2011 sales predictions, he says they might consider dropping the PS3 and PSP platforms altogether if things don’t pick up. Of course, that’s an absolute worst-case scenario, considering it would be rather foolish to just ignore the 20+ million PS3s out there in the world and the fact that by that timeframe the console is likely to have received the much requested price drop – it better have.

Still, Kotick’s words should not be taken lightly, coming from the world’s largest independent game developer, responsible for games like Call of Duty, Guitar Hero, Tony Hawk and multiple Dreamworks and Marvel movie titles.

Microsoft is usually tight-lipped when it comes to Xbox 360 hardware updates, but it is no secret that the company does periodic revisions to make its console perform better, fix bugs and lower production costs. The latest such change is more of a technical optimization, rather than something meant to improve performance, but will see new Xbox 360 Arcade units get double the internal storage capacity at 512MB.


Microsoft initially made the switch to internal storage in the Xbox 360 Arcade last December, when it started offering the console with 256MB of internal memory. The updated model features the same, more reliable Jasper innards (65nm CPU and 65nm GPU) as its predecessor only with a new 4Gb Samsung NAND chip. This gives owners of the $199 base model a bit more room to store game files and media, while still being able to upgrade their consoles with a HDD later. Unfortunately for those looking to buy an Xbox 360 Arcade, we're not aware of any way to spot one of the new units without taking them out of the box.

Gaming research firm NPD Group revealed May’s top 20 selling PC games and unsurprisingly World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King sits at number one. The original title was the best-selling PC game of 2005 and 2006, and the Burning Crusade expansion sold 2.4 million copies in its first 24 hours. With more people playing WoW than ever, Wrath of the Lich King sold 2.8 million copies on its opening day, making it the fastest selling PC game of all time.

While WoW’s second expansion has been resting comfortably at the top of NPD’s list since its debut, the World of Warcraft Battle Chest and other standalone titles never fall far behind. Last month the Battle Chest was at number 3, World of Warcraft at 4, and the Burning Crusade at 11. Other Blizzard titles to make this month’s list include the StarCraft Battle Chest at 10, the Diablo Battle Chest at 16 and the Warcraft III Battle Chest at 18.

Coming in second place is Electronic Arts' The Sims 2 Double Deluxe. EA holds other positions with Spore at 6, The Sims 2 Apartment Life at 8 and The Sim City Box at 14. Left 4 Dead is hanging tight at position 7 and Fallout 3 moved up three spots from last month to claim spot 15. Despite Demigod’s rampant piracy and Stardock’s reported technical issues, it came in at number 12.

NPD Group research excludes both legal and illegal digital distribution, so its numbers are not completely accurate as they mostly reflect what's hot on retail shelves. The complete top 20 list, after the jump.

World of Warcraft's upcoming major content patch, Call of the Crusade, is expected to deliver a new 80 player battleground. Much like Alterac Valley, the new battleground “Isle of Conquest” supports up to 40 players on each side. Both the Alliance and Horde have keeps which house the factions’ generals – who can be killed to claim victory. Also akin to Alterac Valley is the reinforcement system and the ability to capture various points on the map.

This isn’t to downplay the latest battleground as a rehash. The Isle of Conquest also includes siege weaponry and vehicles to be taken advantage of. By controlling certain points on the map, your faction can use the associated weaponry. Some of the featured siege weapons include the Glaive Thrower, the Catapult and even an airship. These weapons give the new battleground more dimension and room for strategy than Alterac Valley.

Also included in this patch is an expansion to the Argent Tournament, the Crusaders’ Coliseum, and the beginning of Arena Season 7. As always, if you wish to preview this patch you can give it a whirl on the Public Test Realm. Blizzard has yet to announce an official release date for patch 3.2. That said, based on pure speculation, I foresee its arrival in late August. If Arena Season 6 is to follow the two previous seasons, its duration will be 17 weeks, ending August 18 with Season 7 commencing the following Tuesday, August 25.

Video game sales in the U.S. fell for the third consecutive month in May, according to the latest figures from NPD. Last month was the first time since August 2007 that the games industry dipped below $1 billion in sales from consoles and games, with revenues of 'just' $863.3 million; or 23 percent less than a year ago.

On the hardware side, Nintendo’s Wii remained the top-selling console, but sales plunged by more than half to 289,500 units. Conversely, sales for its DS portable gaming devices remained strong with 633,500 units moved. They were followed by Microsoft’s Xbox 360 on sales of 175,000 units, Sony’s PlayStation 3 on sales of 131,000 units and Sony’s PlayStation 2 on sales of 117,000 units.

On the software front, games sales dropped 17% to $448.9 million. One solid performer was UFC 2009 Undisputed, published by THQ, which managed to move 679,600 copies on the Xbox 360 and 334,400 on the PS3. Wii Fit was next on sales of 352,800 units followed closely by EA Sports Active with 345,800 units sold.

Since the announcement of Left 4 Dead 2's development, there has been a considerable amount of debate and controversy over Valve's move. Some fans have been eager to see a successor to L4D, others have criticized Valve for leaving fans in the dust, as it were. It was that topic and several others that brought Gabe Newell into the public light this week, in a lengthy interview with G4. Answering questions as to Valve's decision making and other future plans they have, Newell went over the current three biggest titles his company is responsible for.

Concerning Left 4 Dead 2, he was prompted on why Valve has chosen to create a sequel so soon after the original L4D release. Newell went over several reasons, ranging from scheduling to talent. The most interesting point he brought up was that directly after L4D's launch, there was still a lot “on the table” that developers and game designers wanted to accomplish. A lot of their goals, he said, came directly from playing L4D themselves. Further, he also commented that Valve doesn't plan on ceasing updates in terms of both bug fixes and content for Left 4 Dead once its successor is available – whether or not developing for both the original and sequel simultaneously will have an impact on quality remains to be seen.

He also talked about limitations of existing hardware platforms, such as the Xbox 360, which apparently make developing additional content for L4D more difficult. Switching topics to Team Fortress 2 and Half Life 2, he addressed concerns about recent updates to TF2. Primarily, he just said that changes are still underway, and that certain decisions – like making drops in TF2 random – will make more sense once trading systems are implemented. Overall, it's a long interview, and well worth the read if you're fan of Valve games.

According to a recent study, gamers who play for more than seven hours a week sleep less than casual or non-gamers. The study claims to have linked a direct correlation between the number of hours played and sleepiness. During the 2009 SLEEP event, it was shown that avid gamers snooze less throughout the week and have higher rates of sleepiness.

As a whole, hardcore gamers were observed to exhibit poorer sleep habits than light gamers. On average, participants who reported that gaming interfered with their sleep slept for 1.6 hours less than other gamers. Even further, those who claimed to be addicted to gaming averaged one hour less sleep on weekdays.

While the statistics showed that admittedly addicted gamers scored higher on the Epworth Sleepiness Scale, only about one third of them recognized sleep interference. Personally, I can attest that when I’m hooked on a game, I often exchange hours in dreamland for those in a digital reality.

With Sony recently announcing the UMD-less PSP Go, this announcement should come as no real surprise, but the company’s social media manager Jeff Rubenstein has confirmed that “just about” every PSP game released in physical format after October 1 will also be available for download on the PlayStation Network. This coincides with the launch date for the PSP Go, which will include 16GB of internal storage, along with expandable memory via a Memory Stick Duo slot.


Additionally, Sony intends to make upgrading to the PSP Go more viable for those with large UMD collections by implementing some sort of good-will program, but those plans have yet to be detailed in any significant way. It’ll still be up to third-party publishers whether or not they want to release past and future titles on the PlayStation Network, but I imagine most – if not all – of them will just get with the program. Currently, the company has only about 35 UMD titles available for download via PSN, ranging from $5.99 to $24.99.

The recent Left 4 Dead 2 announcement was quite a surprise; one that readers here on TechSpot seemed enthusiastic about. However, the sequel isn’t being welcomed with such open arms in some gaming communities. In specific, the disgruntled Steam Group named L4D2 Boycott (NO-L4D2) has seen a substantial rise in members from its start on June 1. At the time of writing, the group just cracked the 21,000 member mark.


Determined to stop the second installment of Left 4 Dead, the group has called Valve out on their decision. The boycotters argue that by releasing a sequel so soon, the L4D gaming community will be split – ultimately leading to the original becoming obsolete. They feel that the original title has yet to see its fill of downloadable content. As such, they are requesting that Valve honor its commitment to ongoing DLC releases. The group suggests that Valve should either deliver L4D2 as a free update or an expansion and if it is pushed as premium content, they request that Left 4 Dead owners be given discounts.

In response to the outcry, Valve has suggested that updating Left 4 Dead in the manner which fans desire is too difficult. During company meetings, it was determined that they wanted to see improved storytelling, new environments including swamps and New Orleans and a more intelligent AI. I’m certainly far from game developer so my outlook is moot at best. Which side of the fence do you sit on, and why?

Violent games may soon be a thing of the past in Germany. GamePolitics reports that the country’s sixteen interior ministers have banded together to petition the Bundestag (Germany's equivalent of Parliament) for a ban on both the production and distribution of violent games. If approved, the ban could be fully enforced before the next German elections in September, forcing companies like Crytek to either relocate or outsource development work.

The country has been hard on video games in the past with bans on Manhunt and Dead Rising taking place, or even going as far as to require alterations to the cover art for Left 4 Dead, but an outright ban on every violent game would significantly hurt the European market for mature games and threaten the country’s games industry. The proposal is gaining a lot of attention as it comes in the wake of a school shooting in which sixteen people were killed, with the 17-year-old shooter being revealed as a Far Cry 2 and Counter Strike fan.

Originally created by computer engineer Alexey Pajitnov, Tetris is one of the most recognized games of all video game history. Pajitnov designed the game as a distraction while working on an Elektronika 60 computer for the Computing Centre of the Soviet Academy of Sciences.


After a process uniting a series of mathematical puzzles and diversions, Tetris’ core concept was born. He titled his creation by combining the name of his favorite sport, tennis, and “tetra”, a numerical prefix commonly used in Greek and Latin. The game’s debut was on the IBM computer, but it didn’t see widespread popularity until it launched on Nintendo’s Game Boy, having sold over 35 million copies.

Despite its vast recognition, Tetris’ royalties were claimed by the Kremlin until Pajitnov moved to the US and regained its rights in 1996. Today, over 70 million copies of the game have been sold on nearly every platform imaginable and countless freeware versions are available online. Here’s to 25 years of shape-shifting blocks and humming the Korobeiniki.

Bethesda has announced it will deliver the fourth expansion to its popular post apocalyptic adventure game, Fallout 3, later this month. Dubbed Point Lookout, the extra content will put players in a radioactive swampland along the coast of Maryland where they will encounter new mutants, allies, and weapons as they try to unravel the mysteries of this town. As usual, there will be choices to be made, which will open up a whole new series of missions and possibilities.


Point Lookout will be released on Xbox Live Arcade and Games for Windows on June 23, priced at 800 Microsoft Points ($10), with a PlayStation 3 release later on. Bethesda is calling this their “most open-ended DLC yet,” and while it won't raise the game's level cap at all, it is intended to be significantly challenging even for high-level players. Hopefully, they’ll sort out the issues that marred previous DLC releases as well.

Keeping up with Nintendo and Microsoft, who recently unveiled an intriguing motion-sensing device codenamed Project Natal, Sony is showing off its own take on this novel way of controlling games. A demonstration team for the company took the stage at E3 today and showed off a new controller (video) that works in conjunction with the PlayStation Eye to supposedly offer an experience “closer to real-life than anything you've ever seen.”

Unlike Microsoft, Sony says they’ve learned “some experiences need buttons” and that’s why there's still a controller involved. The system is said to deliver true one-to-one tracking, which was demonstrated to some degree through a variety of tech demos involving sword-fighting, shooting, handwriting, spray painting and some virtual object interaction in a 3D room. The device is still in early stages, but Sony says they’re looking to release it in the spring of 2010.

Personally, I’m not a big fan of the type of gaming the Wii has to offer. But for all its limitations when it comes to raw horsepower compared to other current-gen consoles, Nintendo appears to be doing a pretty good job in shaping the future of console gaming for the years to come – at least a portion of it aimed at casual gamers. We’ll have to see where this goes and just how much software supports Project Natal and the PlayStation Motion Controller.

Yesterday at Microsoft’s pre-E3 conference, Valve confirmed that Left 4 Dead 2 will be released November 17 exclusively on the PC and Xbox 360. Gabe Newell, president and co-founder of Valve, states that the new game “will set a new benchmark” for co-op games. The game will present new Survivors, boss zombies, weapons, and items. Left 4 Dead 2 promises to be much larger than the first, bringing more campaigns and maps for all modes of play.


In order to provide more depth, Left 4 Dead 2 will add more to the melee aspect of the game. Instead of smashing zombies senselessly with your gun, there will be weapons such as chainsaws, baseball bats, axes, and even frying pans available for the player. Another feature of the game will be AI Director 2.0, which has the ability to modify pathways, the weather, and world objects. It is also able to manipulate the effects, sounds, and number of zombies in order to match the player’s performance. The company hopes this will top the replay-value of the title’s predecessor.

Valve plans to back the game with a multi-million dollar marketing campaign, much larger than that of the original. Also expect to see Left 4 Dead 2 as the cover story of this month’s PC Gamer and Official Xbox Magazine. Is it still too early for a Left 4 Dead successor or will you be the first in line at GameStop come November?

As speculated, Microsoft today unveiled the long rumored motion-sensing device for its Xbox 360 console that will allow players to control games with the movement of their bodies. Dubbed Project Natal, the new accessory consists of a camera, depth sensor and multi-array microphone that can track full body movements, recognize facial expressions and even voice commands.

The company hopes to emulate the success of Nintendo’s Wii, without the need for a controller, noting that Project Natal will offer more than just a set of “preset waggle commands.” You can use the system to control your Xbox Live avatar, navigate through the Xbox 360’s dashboard using gestures captured by the camera, and control games specifically designed for the device – development kits are said to be going out today. It might be a while before this motion-sensing bar hits the market, but Microsoft is nonetheless teasing us with a short video demonstrating how the system could be used to control games.

The announcement was made at the company’s E3 press conference, where Microsoft also unveiled a number of exclusive titles and the ability to access social networking sites Facebook and Twitter as well as streaming music service Last.fm on the Xbox Live service.

An EA press release this morning announced that the company has agreed to a deal extension with Crytek to publish Crysis 2. Being the next installment to one of the most hardware-demanding and well-received games of recent times, they have their work cut out for them. There is a pretty limited amount of information circulating so far, but the press release did say that the title would be built on CryEngine 3, and that it would be available on the PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Crytek’s CEO, Cavat Yerli offered a statement on the coming title – albeit one that lacks the juice I know you want to hear. He says that the development of Crysis 2 marks a major stepping stone for the company and that it was not only the next entry in the Crysis franchise, but the first title to be built on CryEngine 3. Yerli added that the company was excited to have EA’s support again as the development of Crysis 2 commences.

A press conference is scheduled for 2PST today, so hopefully more details will be available then.

Update 6/2: It has been reported that the PSP Go will launch on October 1 with price of $249.

With Sony’s E3 press conference only a few days away, June’s edition of video magazine Qore has leaked online. The video shows an interview with John Koller, Sony’s director of hardware where he reveals some of the PSP Go’s primary specifications while the interview host toys with the device and asks an ordinary series of questions.

As speculated, the PSP Go will feature a sliding form factor, and the UMD drive is no more. Koller says that the main differences between the Go and the PSP 3000 are the integrated 16GB of flash memory, Bluetooth support and naturally, the emphasis on improved portability, being 43% lighter and having all-digital content. Other details include a 3.8” display, a Memory Stick Micro slot, complete PlayStation Network support, PS3 integration as well as new Gran Turismo, Little Big Planet and Metal Gear Solid entries.

Koller added that Sony’s latest handheld is not going to replace the PSP 3000, so if you prefer to purchase tangible content, the door remains open. If the video (link) didn't quench your thirst, there is a series of press images here. Pricing for the PSP Go has not been disclosed yet, but it is expected to be available this fall.