Riccitiello: "quality of EA games up sharply"

EA CEO John Riccitiello believes that the quality of EA games has risen sharply since he began his reign according to comments in The Mercury News.

Riccitiello believes that, while EA used to have a reputation for rushed games and endless sequels or NFL licenses, that has changed since he took over thanks to games like Spore, Battlefield: Bad Company, Mercenaries 2, Crysis and the latest Command and Conquer

Cooking Mama:World Kitchen

There isn’t a whole lot to say about this one.  It’s the new version of cooking Mama.  It will feature a lot of cooking minigames.  That’s about it.  This obviously isn’t for the action junkie crowd.  It should make a fairly interesting game for non-gamers though.  This version will have about 50 recipes overall and each of these contains a whole bunch of minigames.  If you know someone who really likes simple minigames, then this should be on your shopping list.  If all goes well, it will be released on October 6th.

Demigod

This game is the latest planned release from Gas Powered Games.  These are the geniuses who made the original “Dungeon Siege” and the more recent “Supreme Commander.”  This game will match the best features of both games to create a unique RTS.  The game follows your demigod’s fight to become the true god.  This is done through a series of battles with other demigods.  As the fight goes on, you’ll become more and more powerful in standard RPG fashion.  I think that this already looks like an amazing release.  The fights look epic and there is much talk about innovative multiplayer.  This should be another big hit when it comes out in February.

A Look at Raven Squad

We covered the announcement of Raven Squad earlier.  They’ve released some new gameplay footage showing their tactical options in action.  If you didn’t know before, Raven Squad has been getting a lot of buzz because of its promise to provide a mixture of FPS action alongside RTS gameplay.  The mission that they showed started off with the two four-man squads moving in for a rescue mission.  One has more offensive options with grenades and machine guns, while a support squad can use sniper rifles and smoke for tactical play.  The cool note was that a simple press of a button flips you into a top down display similar to the one used in Brothers in Arms.  This actually allows full orders though, making it more of a seamless switch than in-depth planning.  It should be a really interesting addition to gaming when it comes out sometime this winter.

Games for Windows Live - expanded and free

Microsoft has today announced that the Games for Windows Live Gold service will be completely free from now on and that many new features and expansions to the service are planned for the future.

The most immediate benefit of this announcement though is that PC gamers will no longer have to pay for a Live Gold account if they want to go online and try a spot of Xbox 360/PC crossplatform gaming - excellent if you're a fan of

Secret Files: Tunguska

There’s something new for owners of the DS and the Wii.  “Secret Files: Tunguska” offers a point-and-click adventure game for fans of the old school.  I’m surprised that there aren’t more point-and-click games for these consoles since they are particularly suited for the genre.  Regardless, this looks decent.  The story revolves around solving the mystery of the Tunguska Incident.  The good news is that DS users don’t have to go blind looking for pixels.  Clicking a magnifying glass highlights all of the objects that your character can interact with.  An interesting game for the adventure genre.  Keep an eye out for it this October.

Tomb Raider: Underworld Update

It seems that we have a new Lara Croft adventure to look forward to.  I won’t say that any of the new screenshots look groundbreaking, but it sounds like a good addition to the franchise.  The graphics look pretty good for a pre-build and the gameplay sounds interesting.  They’ve added a grappling hook to make for more acrobatics and the maps look a lot more non-linear than the previous incarnations.  It’s at least something to keep an eye on when it is released this November.

Microsoft turns to users for new wave of Xbox games

SEATTLE--Microsoft will turn to users of its Xbox 360 to create new video games and broaden the types of games available on its console, taking a page out of the strategy books of Facebook and YouTube.

Microsoft makes Games for Windows Live free, will sell game downloads

Microsoft announced late Tuesday that it would no longer charge Windows gamers to connect to one another for multiplayer gaming, and this fall will launch an online store for downloading PC games.

All users will be able to access the Games for Windows Live, which is similar to Microsoft's Xbox Live -- service at no cost. Microsoft said that the decision to remove the pay tier came after discussions with developers and fans led it to believe that multiplayer gaming should be free.

Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World

There isn’t too much to say about this one.  There are some new screenshots available of this new title for the Wii.  It serves as a branch off of the main game.  Their big announcement so far was the inclusion of various monster interaction.  It specifically featured a mixture of charming monsters to be allies, while playing enemies off of one another.  It should be a nice little addition to mix up the game while still staying true to past fans.  Keep an eye out for it’s launch near the end of the year.

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Announced

Today is the day that fans of Rockstars GTA series can rejoice. It’s been officially announced the latest DS game is going to be Grand Theft Auto:Chinatown. This is a game that will deliver a rich, fast-paced and intense Grand Theft Auto experience that will be truly unique to Nintendo’s handheld platform, said Sam Houser, Founder of Rockstar Games. Rockstar Leeds, along with the team at Rockstar North, has built upon a decade of progressive design on Grand Theft Auto, and has created something fundamentally fresh and immersive.

CD Projekt launches new on-demand games platform

CD Projekt, the Polish developer behind The Witcher, has announced that it will be launching a new on-demand games platform all of it's very own.

Best of all though is the news that the platform, which will run from website GOG.com will be focusing on older, arguably better games than the usual casual faff that populates such services.

In fact, GOG.com has already signed agreements with Codemasters and Interplay to sign classics such as the original

Endwar Voices Up

It’s time for another release from the mind of Tom Clancy.  This time it revolves around a global world war for precious resources.  Not exactly original, but you aren’t here for the story.  The new addition to the Clancy franchise is EndWar.  It will be an interesting addition to a growing genre.  This is the genre of strategy games for the consoles.  EndWar is certainly thinking outside the box.  They’ve adapted a new form of voice command to handle the controls.  You don’t have to worry much about actually uses the controller for precise control.  You can just order Alpha Squad to take Point X.  So far the system has been getting nothing but praise, so this may be a big step for the strategy world.  We should get some more pretty shots through E3 next week to tide us over until the October release date.

Yahoo to offer free games with in-game ads

NEW YORK--Yahoo said on Thursday it would offer its users hundreds of popular casual online games as free downloads backed by revenue from advertising integrated into the games.

Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway - New Features Shown in Previews

E3 is getting ready to go full force next week.  This means will be seeing much more of some of the industry’s biggest launches.  The Brothers in Arms series is already showing off some more gameplay footage in released movies and new screenshots.  The graphics look spectacular.  The gameplay hasn’t been touched much, so one can expect the same tactical play familiar to the series.  The big addition will be environmental damage.  Sandbags and wood will be worn away with gunfire in a cover system reminiscent to Call of Duty’s advancements.

MS: New ratings might make games more costly

Microsoft executive Neil Thompson has voiced concerns recently that the proposed changes to the UK ratings systems put forward in the Byron report may end up making computer games in the UK more expensive.

"We're in the business of providing great games to a broad audience of gamers, and we need to be able to fulfill that role by getting products to consumers quickly and at a good price," he told GI.biz.

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Sid Meier’s Civilization: Revolution

This new addition to the Civilization series will be released on July 8th.  It will take the series in a radical new direction though.  This version was built specifically for handhelds and consoles.  Gameplay is shorter with faster gameplay options overall.  This should make it perfect for quick multiplayer games or for killing some time while you’re out.   If you’re interested in trying your hand at the Civilization series or if you’re an old fan who wants a portable version, keep your eyes out for this release.  It will also be available for XBox 360 and PS3.

Preview of James Bond: Quantum of Solace

There’s some new information being kicked around by the developers for this one.  A series of screenshots were just released to tease us for the future release of this companion to the Bond movie of the same name.  The graphics look pretty sharp but I’m worried about some descriptions.

I feel a mix of hope and fear towards this new title.  The game has been picked up by developing powerhouse Treyarch and uses the same engine as Call of Duty 4.  I would normally be cheering.  We might finally get a good movie game that isn’t a cheap attempt to ride the coattails of its mother.  Call of Duty 4 was amazing and I’d hope that the effect would carry over.  The first shots of the game seem to be a little disconcerting though.

A Look at Space Siege

I think just about everyone and their charmed demon knows about the latest announcement from Blizzard.Well, it seems that Diablo 3 is now a bright speck on the horizon.This is good news for fans of the action RPG genre, but I think it is too far away to get overly excited about.I’ll take a hard look at the trailer and emerging bits of news later in the week.For now, I’d like to look at Space Siege.This upcoming release should help action RPG fans kill some time while we wait for Diablo’s expected release next year.

Soul Calibur IV to take over your HDD?

PlayAsia (site in Japanese) has just listed Soul Calibur IV’s game data to weigh in at 6.7 GB, and the save data will weigh in at a measly 2 GB.  Right now it’s just a rumor, but it is a bummer to all of us who have filled our hard drives up with videos and demos.  Especially those of us with the smaller hard drives.  I don’t know if I’m ready to surrender almost half of my 20 GB Xbox 360 hard drive to just one game, especially for a fighting game even though it does have Yoda and Darth Vader.  Do you think it’s worth it if the rumor is true?