Today, Bethesda Softworks officially announced the upcoming Spring 2007 release of The Elder Scrolls IV:
Shivering Isles: Official Expansion for Oblivion. The expansion will be coming to the Xbox 360 (via the Xbox Live Marketplace) and Windows platforms.
From the announcement: "Shivering Isles features more than 30 hours of new gameplay and allows you to explore an entirely new plane of Oblivion – the realm of Sheogorath, the Daedric Prince of Madness. Shivering Isles adds to the existing world of Oblivion so you can continue playing with your existing save game/character, or create an all new character just to explore the new content.
Within the Realm of Sheogorath, players can explore the two extreme sides of the god’s madness – the sublimely creative and the completely psychotic. Something is happening to the Shivering Isles and Sheogorath himself looks to you to be his champion and defend his realm and its inhabitants from destruction. Do you have the strength to survive his trials, tame a realm fraught with paranoia and despair, and wear the mantle of a God?
The Shivering Isles features a bizarre landscape split between the two sides – Mania and Dementia –filled with vast, twisting dungeons mirroring the roots of the trees they are buried within. You’ll encounter more than a dozen new creatures including hideous insects, Flesh Atronachs, skeletal Shambles, amphibious Grummites. Throughout your adventure, you will discover all new items, ingredients, spells, and more, and have the talented craftsmen of Crucible and Bliss forge new armor and weapons just for you. "
Sony responded to IGN's inquiry on when flOw will be available for download from the PS3's Online Store. "We'll be posting a trailer at the end of this month [January] / beginning of next. As for the game itself, we'll be releasing near the end of February." Pricing and exact release date has yet to be announced. Read more about flOw here.
Germany is looking to its fellow EU neighbors to further regulate violent video games. A violent outbreak from an 18-year old at a high school in Emsdetten, Germany, which resulted in 37 injured, was attributed to the youth playing "Counter-Strike," according to Police. The proposed law would place a ban on video games that involve violence to human characters.
From an article at Infoworld: "A certain degree of linkage between the growing violence among the younger generation and the growing diffusion of violent games exists,” said Franco Frattini, the European Justice commissioner, at a meeting of the justice ministers in Dresden, Germany, on Tuesday.
The Commission also wants to harmonize national rules in the 27 countries in the Union. “Protection of children cannot have borders,” Frattini said. The Commission wants to see a combination of outright bans on the most violent games, together with minimum age rules on other titles."
Several Xbox 360 games have faced a unrated review, preventing them from being sold or advertised to the public. German gamers are able to import from neighbors, or find at several shops within the country by asking for the unrated games. Million-seller games such as Gears of War and Dead Rising, to games such as Condemned: Criminal Origins have been given the non-rating, blocking advertising and retail distribution in Germany. Not only are the games barred from sale, but also other media related to the game, such as Gears of War Faceplates and Dashboard Themes from the Xbox Live Marketplace.
The Interactive Software Federation of Europe has opposed bans in the past, but it may consider the ban in the case of children being exposed to violence.
The game is from Eidos and its mantra is "Rule the skies, command the ocean, prowl the sea lanes, war on a totally new scale."
The multiplayer demo is now available from the Xbox Live Marketplace (Gold Members) and on January 30th pick it up at a store near you. The demo is not available in Japan.
NOTE:
Apparently, the Battle of Midway is a real and a pivotal battle that took place during WWII just after the air strikes on Pearl Harbor.
Walmart.com has recently put up new pictures of the Halo 3 Legendary Edition boxed set. The pictures offer different views of the Master Chief helmet replica, and also refer to the helmet build as "similar to a motorcycle helmet". More photos can be seen here.
Dubbed as a "Rhythm Music Arcade Game" and coming from Bizarre Creations, Boom Boom Rocket will be EA's first entry into the Xbox Live Arcade.
From Microsoft: "In Boom Boom Rocket, players trigger rockets to the beat of the music while travelling through a 3D cityscape. The better the player times the explosions, the more spectacular the fireworks effects. The fireworks are choreographed to 10 original tracks created by Ian Livingstone. Players can play in single player mode or go head-to-head against a friend on the same console."
Features include:
- Three modes of gameplay: Normal, Speed and multiplayer head-to-head.
- Each song is choreographed into three skill levels to ensure that everyone can join in the fun. Successfully chain fireworks to fill the bonus meter and activate the psychedelic bonus mode for extra points.
- Players can unlock new firework designs by mastering each music track. You can also utilise the connected online element and see how their scores compare with other players on the Boom Boom Rocket leaderboard.
The game was conceived by EA's Pogo, causal games, division.
Harmonix has delivered a successful series of Guitar Hero games, so no doubt it comes as a surprise to many that Neversoft seems to have won over the next gig of Guitar Hero. A "positions available" announcement on Neversoft Entertainment's main page for Guitar Hero hints that Neversoft is developing some version of an upcoming Guitar Hero game. Neversoft is known for its development of Tony Hawk games, most recently Tony Hawk's Project 8. Tony Hawk Project 8 is published by Activision, whom acquired Red Octane last year.
Guitar Hero II ranked as the 2nd top selling game during the holidays of December 2006, and ranked as the 5th best selling game of 2006.
Red Octane and Activision are the publishers of the popular Guitar Hero games, currently on the PS2 and soon to come to the Xbox 360.
Watch a race of the Playstation 3's upcoming Formula One Championship Edition below. Several different perspectives are shifted throughout the game from this downloadable demo, available from the PS3 Online Store.
From Sony: "As the only official interactive game of the FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP™, this is the chance for gamers to rewrite the 2006 season with all the official drivers, teams, cars, circuits and racing rules. Enhanced driving aids allow FORMULA ONE newcomers to enjoy the exhilaration and thrill of the sport while online play will demonstrate whom the real world champion is with a full 22-car grid. Adding to the fun, PLAYSTATION 3’s SIXAXIS Wireless Controller will enable gamers to discover a new way of racing with its motion sensing technology."
