Last night on Spike's GameTrailers TV, Epic Games showed off Unreal Engine 4, t?he next generation of its industry-standard game engine, for the first time. You can watch the impressive ?"Elemental" demo above, with its heavily armored knight that awakens in a mountainside castle once a long-dormant volcano erupts. According to Epic, the demo is running on a single currently available consumer-level graphics card, the Nvidia GeForce GTX 680.

If you're wondering what's so special about Unreal Engine 4, Epic has also released a ten-and-a-half-minute developer walkthrough of the demo with senior technical artist Alan Willard. He ran through some of the salient points with Kotaku:

• Real-time dynamic global illumination: Lighting looks much more realistic, taking into account every light source (such as a blinding noonday sun or lava's soft reddish glow) and surface (like dull stone or a gleaming, reflective statue) and calculating a scene's appearance on the fly.
• Environmental and particle effects: Whether it's a raging bonfire, the tiny sparks leaping from it, or the thick smoke billowing off it, the vast increase in the possible number of particles will allow for better-looking effects in both obvious and subtle ways.
• On-the-fly development iteration: Developers will be able to spend much more time making tweaks instead of waiting for code to re-compile every time they do, which is better for their productivity and, ultimately, for the games themselves.

Don't expect to play games that look like this anytime soon, though. While the next Xbox and/or the next PlayStat??ion may launch by the end of 2013, Epic expects developers to st??ick with Unreal Engine 3 for early games in the next console generation, and then use Unreal Engine 4 for their next projects. "It makes sense to just stay with [UE3], do higher-resolution textures, increase their polygon budget, increase the number of characters on screen and things like that," said Willard.

After seeing this, we thi?nk the next generation can't get here quickly enough.

GTTV Episode 520: Epic Games - June 7, 2012 [GameTrailers TV]
Unreal Engine 4 Elemental Demo [UnrealDevelopmentKit YouTube]
Unreal Engine 4 - GT.TV Exclusive Development W??alkthrough [GameTrailers YouTube]
How Unreal Engine 4 Wil?l Change The Next?? Games You Play [Kotaku]

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Indie games are vital if the PlayStation Vita is to succeed, said Sony Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida in an interview with Gamasutra. Major franchises like Assassin's Creed III: Liberation make headlines, but through initiatives l??ike its Pub Fund -- which Sony created specifically to support independent development on PlayStation platforms -- Sony has made it clear that the company believes in small games.

"We do it for the love of it, almost," said Yoshida, acknowledging that titles such as Queasy Games' Sound Shapes (see image above) aren't likely to produce millions of dollars in sales. Even so, he said, "We really think it's important to work with younger people, and people wh??o really sometimes disregard conventions of making games."

It's refreshing to see this kind of attitude from a platform holder. Yoshida spoke of the "magic [that] happens" in indie development, of how "the creative vision of one person really shines through the entire game." Here's hoping Vita owners reward that faith in?? small games.

Yoshida: Small games, indie??s crucial to Vita ??success [Gamasutra]

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The death knell has sounded for 38 Studios. Following the layoff of its entire 379-person staff two weeks ago after missing a $1.125 million loan payment to Rhode Island, the developer of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning and the Project Copernicus MMO has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which means that the company is officially no more and its assets will be liquidated. Here's the full statement from a 38 spokesman, as given to the Providence Journal:

This action comes after several weeks when the company has reviewed, considered and received the recommendations and advice with respect to potential avenues for relief that are currently available. After ongoing negotiations with the State of Rhode Island and potential investors and other interested parties, the Company has been una??ble to find a solution to the current stalemate.

The bankruptcy filing comes one day after state and federal officials -- the Rhode Island State Police, Rhode Island Attorney General, Rhode Island U.S. Attorney, and the FBI -- launched a criminal investigation into 38 Studios' finances. Rhode Island State Police Col. Steven O'Donnell told WPRI that they ??will be looki??ng into "both the money that came from the state as well as the money that came from Bank Rhode Island."

The state funds are the original $75 million loan from the Rhode Island Econo??mic Development Corporation to 38 Studios, initiated in 2010. Bank Rhode Island loaned the company $8.5 million earlier this year, issued against state tax credits that never came to pass. According to O'Donnell, the timing of the investigation ??and the bankruptcy filing is a coincidence.

Rhode Island officials are hopeful that the state can get some return on 38 Studios' assets, which it now owns. Jonathan Savage, legal counsel to the Economic Development Corporation, told reporters today that the state has had discussions with investors offering upwards of "tens of millions of dollars" for 38's former intellectual property. "We're going to do everything we can to maximize the return on our investment," said Gov. Lincoln Chafee. Here's hoping Rhode Island gets something for its trouble, since the state's taxpayers are on the hook for nearly $90 million through 2020.

Bankrupt 38 Studios will be liquidated [WPRI via Joystiq]
Criminal probe launched into 38 Studios [WPRI]
Schilling's 38 St??udios de?clares bankruptcy; law enforcement investigating [Providence Journal via Joystiq]
3??8 St??udios liquidation valued in tens of millions by RI, gov. will get every penny he can for taxpayers [Joystiq]

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Like you didn't see that one coming.

Nintendo held a press briefing yesterday evening in which it focused on 3DS software, but Scott Moffitt, the company's executive vice president of sales and marketing, took some time out to go through a few statistics in his presentation. The handheld has racked up some impressive software sales in its first year on the market, despite a modest install base of over four million units in the United States.

Through March 2012, three 3DS games had tallied sales of at least one million copies in the US: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (one million units since June 19, 2011), Super Mario 3D Land (two million units since November 13, 2011), and Mario Kart 7 (1.6 million units since December 4, 2011).

Thankfully for Nintendo, more first-party franchises are launching new titles in the coming months, including New Super Mario Bros. 2, Luigi's Mansion 2, and Paper Mario: Sticker Star. Because tradin??g on nostalgia is apparently the easiest path to success in this indus??try.

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Call of Duty: Black Ops II is guaranteed to sell a bazillion copies this fall, but even so, developer Treyarch isn't mailing in this sequel. In fact, Black Ops II might be the riskiest entry yet in the Call of Duty franchise, with player choice in campaign missions, fully controllable ground and air vehicles, and permanent player death that affects the way the story plays out. Oh, and they're mo-capping horses, too. Max Scoville of The Destructoid Show talked to Treyarch's Mark Lamia,? who br??oke it all down.

Call of Duty: Black Ops II will launch on November 13, 2012, for Xbox 360, PlaySta?tion 3, and PC.

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EA's Origin service recently celebrated its one-year anniversary, and while it's a growing platform -- 12 million registered users and $150 million in revenue is nothing to sneeze at -- it's not yet as good as EA wants it to be. Its main competitor, Valve's Steam system, has built a loyal user base in almost nine years of existence, and one of its main tactics is the deep discounts it periodically offers. But the man who runs Origin, David DeMartini, told GamesIndustry International that his service won't be using that strategy.

DeMartini acknowledged that the deep-discount approach to move units of aging inventory "certainly works for Valve," but he wasn't as sure of how well it goes over with the publishing partners who "take on the majority of that haircut." He seemed ??to favor the publishers' position in general, stating his belief that Steam's strategy "cheapens [...] intellectual property":

The gamemakers work incredibly h??ard to make this intellectual property, and we're not trying to be Target. We're trying to be Nordstrom. When I say that, I mean good value -- we're trying to give you a fair price p??oint, and occasionally there will be things that are on sale you could look for a discount; just don't look for 75-percent-off going-out-of-business sales.

DeMartini also pointed out that Steam sales can engender in gamers a wait-and-see attitude, teaching customers, "I might not want it in the first month, b??ut if I look at it in four or five months, I'll get one of those weekend sales and I'll buy it at that time at 75 percent off." That's not an unreasonable thought for cash-strapped gamers in an economic downturn, but it's obviousl??y not ideal for developers and publishers.

Instead, Origin has other plans in the works for older titles. Although DeMartini wouldn't go into detail, he said EA would "present a value to the customer and [...] engage them in [the] service on a going-forward basis." The fundamental idea is to "form a longer-term relationship with them and draw them in that way," which, if you think about it, is ?exactly what Valve has done through Steam.

Stea??m? sales "cheapen intellectual property" says EA Origin boss [GamesIndustry International -- thanks, David!]

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Jonathan Holmes headed to the Sega booth on the E3 show floor to check out a near-final version of Arkedo's Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit, a refreshi??ngly self-aware action-adventure platformer. Studio head Camille Guermonprez walked Holmes through the game's first boss battle and much more, and talked about how Arkedo wants to make a game with a few different levels of humor.

Hell Yeah! is due out this summer on Xbox ?Live Arcade, PlayStation Network, and ??Steam.

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Nintendo continues to show off the Wii U's capabilities with tech demos, and PanoramaView looks to be another one of them. Our own Jonathan Holmes played around with the feature, which lets you use the GamePad as a window into a world that was previously filmed wi??th a 360° camera. He got a look at the madness of Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, and then tried ??something a little less boisterous: a day-night tour of London from the top of a double-decker bus.

A video plays on the TV, and from there, you can move the GamePad around in your own environment to get different views of the on-screen action. PanoramaView also takes still photos as you look? around, and then rates them. It's quite impressive, although as always, it'll be up to developers to find interesting ways to use the feature. ?Sony has showcased similar technology with the PlayStation Vita, so it's certainly doable.

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Fans who harbor nostalgia for EA Sports' venerated last-gen MVP Baseball franchise may want the publisher to get back in the game and put out a new baseball title, now that Take-Two, the parent company of 2K Sports, seems unwilling to extend its third-party exclusivity deal with Major League Baseball. But in an interview with ESPN, EA Sports head Andrew W??ilson declared that his company isn't focusing on baseball at the moment.

Having just accomplished the stunning coup of taking the UFC license off of THQ's hands -- as Wilson put it, "The ink was still wet when we walked on stage [at EA's press briefing]" -- Wilson said that while he's hopeful for future opportunities with the MLB license, "It's?? just not something we're workin??g on right now."

Considering Take-Two's apparent lack of desire to continue its exclus?ive third-party agreement with MLB for baseball videogames -- the company has reportedly lost $30 million over the course of the seven-year contract -- it would seem safe to assume that MLB would open up the license for bidding once again, or make no exclusive agreements and allow any publisher to release a lice?nsed game. (The latter is the case for the NHL and NBA.)

But EA could be hesitant to jump back into baseball for a few reasons. At this point, there's no way the company -- or anybody else -- would be able to develop a simulation title and have it ready for release by next March. And trying to take on Sony's well-regarded MLB The Show series, which is entrenched with a vast majority of the market share on PS3, might be more than the publisher can handle -- especially when it's already trying to do just that with its revival of NBA Live, which will compete with the juggernaut that is NBA 2K this fall. Finally, EA may not want to make a major investment in a new property with n?ext-generation consoles just around the corner.

In the meantime, it doesn't look like a simulation basebal??l game will be available in 2013 a?nywhere except on the PlayStation 3 and the Vita.

EA Sports' Andrew Wilson talks UFC, MLB [ESPN via Pastapadre]

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Jonathan Holmes' enthusiasm is infectious, as you can see in this video of his hands-on time with "Animal Crossing: Sweet Day," one of the 12 minigames in Nintendo Land. It's a rather strange little five-player game: the GamePad-holding player controls two characters, one with each analog stick, and tries to catch the four other Animal Crossing characters running around the area. And by "catch," I mean, "tackle and then stab with a large knife." This is a Nintendo product, right?

Holmes admitted it was "a bit disorienting," but maybe he was just distracted by all the beautiful women who showed up to let h?im chase them. In the?? game.

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Nintendo Land appears to be positioned as the Wii U's version of Wii Sports, a collection of minigames designed to familiarize players with the new system's features and functionality. Our own Jonathan Holmes checked out the "Donkey Kong's Crash Course" game, a challenging physics-based puzzle-platformer in which you use the Wii U GamePad's tilt sensor to navigate a mine cart through an obstacle cours??e.

Holmes enjoyed the demo, since it caused him to have to "defy [his] own instincts.?" If only everyone in the world were as open to new experiences!

Nintendo Land will launch with the Wii U, but Nintendo hasn't decided whether the gam??e will be a pack-in.

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Bethesda is expanding the realm of Skyrim with the game's first piece of downloadable content, Dawnguard. You've seen the trailer and screenshots, and now you can watch The Destructoid Show's Max Scoville give you his thoughts on ??playing as a Vampire Lord. It sounds pretty? gnarly!

Dawnguard is due out for Xbox 360 later in June; Microsoft has a timed excl??usive, so the expansion will launch on PC and PlayStation 3 roughly one month after its 360 release.

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Gearbox Software's Borderlands 2 will be a much more story-driven experience than its predecessor, and that's largely thanks to its principal writer, former Destructoid features editor Anthony Burch. In an interview with The Destructoid Show's Tara Long from the E3 show floor, Burch explains that he did about 95 percent of the writing for the sequel, and that its main antagonist, Handsome Jack, is basi??cally Burch in videogame form... except that he's, w?ell, handsome. Or something like that.

Borderlands 2 is d??ue out for Xbox 360, PlayStat??ion 3, and PC on September 18, 2012.

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We're approaching the singularity, folks: Final Fantasy games on next-generation hardware could finally look as good as the pre-rendered cutscenes we've been watching for the past decade and a hal?f.

Yesterday at E3, publisher Square Enix presented a real-time tech demo of its proprietary next-gen gameplay engine, dubbed Luminous Studio. The four-minute demo, "Agni's Philosophy," is recognizably Final Fantasy-esque, by which I mean: it's got fierce incantations, fey magic, arcane rituals, gr?otesque cr?eatures, lightning, glowing crystals, and an attractive young Caucasian woman in a ridiculous outfit.

The visual splendor on display is stunning, from the fluttering of individual strands of an old man's beard to the blinding brilliance of the sun. Square Enix is designing Luminous St?udio as a versatile game engine, with plans to support development on consoles, PCs, smartphones, and browsers.

If this is what the next generation will look like, it can't come soon enough. After checking out the demo above, gawk at the twelve screenshots in the gallery below, and visit the demo's website for more details.

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Nintendo is figuring out a way to allow Wii owners to transfer data from the Wii to the Wii U, said a hardware producer for the company during a developer Q&A session held today at E3. When asked about the possibility, the producer replied that Nintendo is "readying the system to be able to transfer saves and everything you've bought," according to Polygon. That would presumably includ?e all save games, as well as downloaded WiiWare titles and Virtual Console games.

It's great news if Nintendo can pull it off, but we're not expecting the transition to be smooth. Polygon points out that Nintendo's current setup has no unified account; instead, purchases are tied to a console, and cannot be transferred from Wii to Wii. One would have to presume that moving content from a Wii to a Wii U would be a?? complicated, caveat-riddled process, and the Nintendo representative gave no details.

Nintendo is readying a way to transfer Wii games and sa?ve files to Wii U [Polygon; image via Wired]

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I bet that headline is a sequence of words you were? never expecting to see.

At E3, didn't-see-that-coming shockers tend to fall into the category of unlikely or unforeseen alliances, like Gabe Newell announcing Portal 2 for PlayStation 3 at Sony's E3 2010 press conference. In that vein, ladies and gentlemen, I now give you... "Knocc 'Em Down" by Snoop Dogg, an original track that the gangsta rap veteran recorded specifically for Namco Bandai's Tekken Tag Tournament 2.

The upcoming fighting game will also feature a Snoop Dogg-themed bonus stage where Mr. Dogg, flanked by two fly honeys, surveys the action from a pimped-out throne. Namco Bandai touts the collaboration as an "East Meets West" merger between the "Godfather of Fighting Games and Doggfather of Hip-Hop." If the trailer above doesn't get your head bobbing, Namco Bandai will release a full music video within the week, in which top Tekken players and model Adrianne Curry will fight Snoop Dogg. (Presumably in the game, not a rap battle. Altho??ugh we'd pay to see the latter.)

For his part, the Doggfather is quoted as having been a fan of the Tekken fr??anchise since the '90s, and he has this further gem to offer:

All you Tekken Tag Tournament 2 fans better?? get? ready to experience kickin' ass on Tha Boss Dogg's stage with my new song "Knocc 'Em Down" banging in the background. What more could you ask for?

What more, indeed?

Tekken Tag Tournament 2 is due out in North America on September 11, 2012, and in Europe on September 14, 2012, for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Fans of fighting games and Snoop Dogg can pre-order the game to receive early access to his bonus stage. I'd love to keep quoting the surreal press release Namco Bandai sent out, but you really should just see it for yourself below, along w?ith three screenshots.

NAMCO BANDAI GAMES AND SNOOP DOGG TEAM UP TO OFFER EXCLUSIVE CONTENT IN TEKKEN TAG TOURNAMENT 2

East Meets West as Godfather of Fighting Games and Doggfather of Hip-Hop Create Original Song, New In-Game Stage

Los Angeles, Calif., (June 5, 2012) – NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc. has joined with iconic hip-hop star Snoop Dogg to create original content for TEKKEN TAG TOURNAMENT™ 2, the next installment in the award-winning fighting game franchise coming this September for PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft. Snoop Dogg puts his inimitable gangster touch on TEKKEN TAG TOURNAMENT™ 2 with an original song created exclusively for the game, titled Knocc ’Em Down. The Doggfather will also make a special appearance in the game as a non-playable character in The Snoop Dogg Stage as a special pre-order bonus to be made available in addition to previously announced pre-order DLC that bolsters the largest roster in TEKKEN history.

“We are big fans of Snoop Dogg and are proud to welcome him to the TEKKEN franchise,” said Katsuhiro Harada, TEKKEN Project Director at NAMCO BANDAI Games Inc. “The content we created with Snoop Dogg and the song he made for the game allow TEKKEN fans to experience the legendary hip-hop star in a unique way and blend both Eastern and Wes??tern cultures like never before.”

“I've been a fan of TEKKEN since the 90's so I’m excited to have made KNOCC ’EM DOWN for the game’s soundtrack. The game's got a special stage featuring yours truly sittin’ high above and watching the action take place,” says Hip-Hop icon Snoop Dogg. “All you TEKKEN TAG TOURNAMENT 2 fans better get ready to experience kickin' ass on Tha Boss Dogg's stage with my new song KNOCC ‘EM DOWN banging in the background. What more ?could you ask for? &??rdquo;

With his new song KNOCC ’EM DOWN, Snoop Dogg prepares players for the next battle in TEKKEN TAG TOURNAMENT 2’s legendary King of Iron Fist tournament. Featured in the game and on the original soundtrack, KNOCC ‘EM DOWN blends Snoop’s smooth style with the lethal power of TEKKEN. The music video releasing in the next week will feature Snoop squaring off against the TEKKEN community’s most highly respected competitive fighters and model Adrianne Curry, herself a figh?ting game aficionado.

“NAMCO BANDAI Games America is making it a priority to bring fighting game fans a truly original experience in TEKKEN TAG TOURNAMENT 2,” said Carlson Choi, Vice President of Marketing, NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc. “This is our first time partnering with Snoop Dogg and we couldn’t be happier with the results. He brings something completely unique to the TEKKEN franchise.

Gamers looking to connect with their favorite rapper can pre-order TEKKEN TAG TOURNAMENT 2 to gain access to The Snoop Dogg Stage, which continues a tradition of iconic stage backgrounds in TEKKEN games with the Doggfather making an appearance along with a bevvy of beautiful women. The stage will be free as part ?of all pre-order bonuses available through retailers worldwide. Fans who pre-order through Amazon®.com and Best Buy® also gaining early access to the first DLC characters, Michelle Chang & Angel. Players who pre-orders through GameStop® will have exclusive early access to The Snoop Dogg Stage plus DLC fighters Kunimitsu and Ancient Ogre, in addition to Michelle Chang and Angel.

TEKKEN TAG TOURNAMENT 2 improves upon the tag based combat of the original, with the latest installment introducing one-on-one fighting and solo fighter vs. tag-team battles. These new modes introduce a new style of play in the TEKKEN series and provide an easier point of access to new players, while keeping the ga??me fresh for long time fans of the franchise.

TEKKEN TAG TOURNAMENT 2 will be available worldwide for the PlayStation 3 system and Xbox 360 the week of September 10, 2012, and hits stores across North America on 09.11.12 and in Europe on 09.14.12. For more information on the TEKKEN universe, please visit: //www.namcobandaigames.com or //www.tekken.com. Find us on Facebook at //www.facebook.com/Tekken or follow us on Twitter at //www.twitter.com/Harada_TEKKEN or //www.twitter.com/FilthieRich.

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Trine 2: Director's Cut was one of the games shown in a montage of third-party software during this morning's Nintendo press briefing. Finnish studio Frozenbyte is building a definitive console version of its well-received co-op puzzle-platformer, which is currently available for PC, Mac, Linux, PSN, and XBLA, exclusively for release on the Wii U this holiday season. The Director's Cut features Wii U-specifi??c controls and an exclusive new party mode, "Magic Mayhem," designed for four-player offline or online play.

Frozenbyte has made over 100 improvements to Trine 2, including a new coat of gameplay polish and changes to level geometry. According to CEO Lauri Hyvärinen, the studio had to cut features from the game in order to get it out last year, and the Director's Cut represents the developer's fully formed "vision of Trine 2." Plus, since Trine 2 was such a gorgeous title, the Wii U hardware has? allowed Frozenbyte to produce a console version of the game that looks about as good as the PC version.

Also in development at Frozenbyte is a Trine 2 expansion that will be included in the Director's Cut. It contains six extra levels that take place in never-before-seen environments with new villains to fight, and each character gets some additional skills to ramp up the variety in puzzle solutions. We've reached out to Frozenbyte to ask if the expansion will also be making its way to other platforms?, and will update this post with any comment we receive.

In the meantime, enjoy the trai?ler above and the three screenshots in the ??gallery below.

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Nintendo spent the bulk of its E3 2012 press briefing on the Wii U, focusing on a glossy black version of the hardware in addition to the white console and GamePad that were unveiled a year ago. We still don't have more precise hardware specifications for the console than the information Nintendo gave out las??t year, but the company released som?e details on the GamePad today.

The GamePad weighs in at about 1.10 pounds (500 g), a bit lighter than any of Apple's various iPad models, and measures -- protrusions aside -- approximately 10.06 inch?es (W) × 5.25 inches (H) × 1.61 inches (D). It features a 6.2-inch non-multitouch screen with a 16:9 (widescreen) aspect ratio, although t??he display's exact resolution remains a mystery.

Motion-sensi?ng technology inside consists of an accelerometer, gyroscope, and a geomagnetic sensor. The unit also boasts a front-facing camera (resolution unknown), microphone, stereo sound, rumble functionality, a sensor bar and stylus, and a Near-Field Communication (NFC) chip.

A rechargeable lithium-ion battery serves as the wireless GamePad's power source, but you might actually be spending a lot of time playing games with the unit's AC adapter plugged into an outlet. According to hardware details available on Nintendo of Japan's website -- information that, curiously, Nintendo of America omitted from its E3 site -- the GamePad's battery takes about two and a half h?ours to charge, and depending on the screen's brightness setting, lasts between three and five hours on a full charge.

For reference, that's about how long the PlayStation Vita's battery lasts during gameplay. The GamePad has a lot of technology packed into it, but it's not actually processing gameplay; instead, the image on its screen is streamed from the Wii U console. Here's hoping?? the unit's chargi?ng cable isn't short or proprietary.

Check out some photos of both the black and white Wii U hardware in the gallery bel??ow.

Nintendo All-Access @ E3 2012 [Nintendo of America]
E3 2012 - Wii U [Nintendo of Japan]

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Ubisoft stole the show at E3 Day Zero with a surprise unveiling of Watch Dogs, an open-wor??ld experience that truly looked like a n??ext-generation title. Based on the stunning lighting effects and lifelike animations, most of the journalists and fans we'd seen talking about the game assumed it was, indeed, a PlayStation 4 and Xbox 720 title. Yet the person playing the on-stage demo at Ubisoft's press briefing appeared to be using an Xbox 360 controller, leading people to guess that the game was running on a PC.

In an interview with Geoff Keighley on Spike TV's E3 live stream earlier today, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot confirmed that the press conference demo of Watch Dogs was being p??layed on a high-end PC, and announced the game would be releasing on PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. When Keighley asked if it would also be launching on next-generation consoles, G??uillemot remained cagey, only saying, "We'll see."

We can't wait to see more of Watch Dogs, which currently has no release window.

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I'm really glad that Square Enix picked up United Front Games' Sleeping Dogs after Activision dropped the project (back when it was called True Crime: Hong Kong). Hamza's write-up of the hard-boiled open-world crime thriller made it sound impressive, and this trailer contains enough?? familiar genre tropes -- including a bit of the ol' Triad ultraviolence -- to get my blood flowing.

Hopefully not out of my body, though, since that looks pretty unpleasant when it's happening to protagonist Wei Shen at the start of the traile?r.

Sleeping Dogs is due out for Xbox ???360, PlayStation 3, and PC on August 14, 2012.

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If there's one word to describe Lara Croft in Crystal Dynamics' upcoming reboot of Tomb Raider, it's "resilient." Just look at how much punishment she takes in this trailer, whether from thugs or Mother Nature. At least she gets to return the favor in a few instances, using a bow and arrow -- which officially seems to be a thing?? at E3 2012 -- to take down bad guys and deer. Archery is a useful skill!

Sections of this trailer were shown as part of a lengthy live gameplay demo during yesterday's Microsoft press briefing. If this footage gets you pumped, relax for now -- Square Enix recently delayed Tomb Raider until the first quarter of 2013.

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One of the new games Microsoft announced at its E3 2012 press briefing yesterday morning was Twisted Pixel's LocoCycle, the studio's sixth original IP. Here's the short teaser trailer from the show??.

The titular motorcycle is apparently called "I.R.I.S.," and she's quite the capable vehicle -- equipped with nuclear technology, cloaking abilities, martial-a??rts training, and knowledge?? of over 50 languages, I.R.I.S. is ready for any challenge.

That's all Twisted Pixel is saying for now; LocoCycle isn't ?even at E3, but the Microsoft-owned studio is promising more details at PAX Prime. We'll be there to check it out!

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Quantic Dream co-founder David Cage came out on stage at Sony's E3 2012 press briefing to introduce his studio's next project, Beyond: Two Souls. Oscar-nominated actress Ellen Page (Hard Candy, Inception) stars as heroine Jodie Holmes, a young woman gifted with supernatural powers that come from a psyc??hic link to a force she calls Aiden.

Cage showed a slow-paced four-and-a-half-minute cutscene followed by a minute-long trailer in which sh*t blowed up real good, and you can watch them both above. The footage led us all to wonder just what kind of game Beyond: Two Souls is, exactly. Cage explained that you will play as Jodie at different ?points in her life, calling a "portrait of [her] life through 15 years." Sony says you will "experience the most striking moments of Jodie's life as your actions and decisions determine her fate."

When asked by GameTrailers' Geoff Keighley to compare it to Heavy Rain, Cage described Beyond as a "more action-driven experience" that offers "much more direct control" and "much more spectacular action" than the 2010 thriller. So there's? some good news for you folks worried about another QTE-fest.

Beyond: Two Souls is currently set for release in Febru?ary 2013, exclusively for PlayStation 3. Check out 14 screenshots below.

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Numerous online games send messages to lapsed users in an attempt to get those players to come back. Sometimes, they try to guilt you into going back; other times, they look to entice you into returning by offering free goodies. In the case of the Facebook game The Sims Social, EA and Playfish opted for the former tactic in an email sent today to pla??yers. But somebody sh?ould've looked this one over first.

The message, penned by "Your Sim," a cute, slim, winking redhead with her arms in the air, begs her man of the house to return. She's lost without him, and assumes that his leaving was her fault. But if he'll just come back into her life, she'll do anything for him -- and first on the list is cleaning the entire house "from top to bottom." In fact, the top of the email (see screenshot below) says that without her man, she was so bored that she already cleaned the house. Then there's the last line, which suggests that the return of her hubby would inspire her. To d?o what? EA leaves that part to the (presumably male) player's imagination.

As if the email's sexist language and imagery weren't bizarre enough, the letter looks stranger still in the context of The Sims Social. Facebook is the world's largest gaming platform, and The Sims has perhaps the most mainstream, cross-cultural appeal of any of EA's properties. So why would EA send something like this to former Sims Social players? Who at EA a??nd/or Playfish approved it, and what were they thinking? Wouldn't a less c?hauvinistic strategy, let alone a gender-agnostic approach, make more sense?

We've reached out to EA for comment on the sexist und?ertones in this email, and will update this post with a??ny response we receive.

[Screencap of email via @DinosaurPizza]

The post The Sims Social promises to be a good woman if? you return appeared first on Destructoid.

2K Sports has announced that NBA 2K13 is due out for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC, Wii, and PSP on October 2, 2012, in North America, and October 5 worldwide. A Wii U version is also in development; it will be released during the "launch window," in time for the holiday season. It's somewhat surprising that NBA 2K13 won't be available for the Vita; perhaps we'll hear about a Vita ve??rsion of the game at?? E3.

Fans who pre-order NBA 2K13 will gain access to a launch-day downloadable package containing official NBA All-Star Weekend events set in Houston, where the 2013 NBA All-Star Game will take place: the Foot Locker Three Point Shootout, the BBVA Rising Stars Challenge, and the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest. (Pastapadre notes that until now, EA held exclusive rights to the All-Star Weekend setup, so in NBA 2K, All-Star events have only been play?able in "Blacktop" mode.)

We reached out to 2K Sports for comment as to whether the All-Star Weekend DLC will be available to people who don't pre-order NBA 2K13, but had not received a response as of pres??????????????????????????s time.

This fall, NBA 2K13 will have competition for the first time in three years in the form of EA Sports' NBA Live 13. In 2010, EA announced it was rebranding its simulation basketball franchise as NBA Elite, but eventually canceled the game when it became clear that NBA Elite 11 was not fit for release. Last year, the publisher revealed that its new NBA simulation title -- which has since been confirmed as an NBA Live game -- would not launch until 2012.

All-Star We?ekend Coming to NBA 2K13 as Pre-Order Exclusive; Wii U Ver??sion to Release in Console Launch Window [Pastapadre]

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EA is looking to expand its support of small studios, this time through its Origin digital distribution service, by capitalizing on the indie development wave du jour: Kickstarter. The publishing giant announced today a new initiative specifically geared toward developers working on successfully crowd-funded downloadable P?C games. EA is offering to sell those games on Origin with an attractive deal: the company will waive distribution fees for the first 90 days of release.

Brian Fargo and inXile Entertainment, whose Kickstarter campaign for Wasteland 2 recently collected nearly $3 million, are already on board. In a press release from EA, he called the program a "major economic bonus for small developers." Newly created indie studio Pinkerton Road will also be releasing its Kickstarted game, Moebius, on Origin. The company's founder, Jane Jensen, also praised the initiative, saying, "It's great to see a big publi??sher like EA acknowledging [crowd-fun?ding] and opening up distribution opportunities for these games."

It's a mutually beneficial arrangement. Small studios get access to the Origin audience of over 12 mill?ion registered users, and EA gets a cut of the action by selling the indie developers' crowd-funded games through their upstart platform. Plus, it's an enticing hook that will probably provide long-term revenue for EA: it's unlikely that developers would pull their games from Origin after the initial three-month period rather than start paying distribution fees.

Studios can visit Origin's website to contact EA about the program, which is only available for gam??es wh??ose development fans have already funded.

Origin Game Publishing and Distribution [Origin]

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[Update: You can now watch the debut ??trailer, which focuses on True Perfo?rmance Skating.]

EA Sports has officially announced NHL 13, this year's iteration of its critically acclaimed hockey series. After releasing two teaser trailers this week that suggested NHL 13's gameplay innovations would rival the franchise-defining debuts of the Skill Stick in NHL 07 and real-time physics in NHL 11, the publisher listed two major gameplay changes and two ne??w modes in the announcement press release.

In NHL 11 and NHL 12, the physics engine only simulated collisions between players. This year, a feature EA Canada is calling True Performance Skating "authentically replicates the explosiveness, momentum and top end [sic] speed displayed by today's NHL players," thanks to "physics-driven skating and over 1000 new animations." After seeing Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh chase down Devils forwards on would-be breakaways in the Eastern Conference Finals, and prevent the skaters from getting off good shots, I'm excited to find out if that kind of play will happen in NHL 13.

The other new feature, an artificial intelligence system called EA Sports Hockey IQ, promises to overhaul ??the behavior of and interactions between players, goalies, and teams. Until now, players didn't have true awareness of everything happening on the ice, and goalies couldn't react to anyone but the puck carrier. It also sounds like the system will differentiate teams by bringing hockey strategy into play, and let you customize those strategie??s to craft your own play style.

EA Canada is also ??expanding Be A GM, which it says is the series' "most popular offline mode," to the Internet. GM Connected lets friends join in a 30-team online league, with the option of playing as a player, general manager, or coach. In addition, the developers are working on a mobile app that will presumably offer some level of interaction with a league when people aren't playing on their console.

NHL Moments Live will be a hockey equivalent of the Madden Moments Live feature in EA's Madden series, a mode that lets players relive salient moments from the 2011-12 NHL season and sometimes challenges them to rewrite history. The "Live" part of ??the equation means that EA Canada will periodically update the mode with moments from the 2012-13 season.

EA will be releasing a Stanley Cup Collector's Edition for NHL 13, which comes in a tin embossed with Lord Stanl?ey's Cup and offers a variety of digital bonus content ??for $79.99:

• Two Stanley Cup® Theme Hockey Ultimate Team packs featuring randomized player items from the Western and Eastern Conference Champions
• Gold Jumbo Hockey Ultimate Team Pack (Regular) featuring 24 randomized items, including an exclusive Wayne Gretzky Hockey Ultimate Team Legend and six other rare items
• A CCM Boost Pack featuring the all-new CCM RBZ stick (For use in Be a Pro and EA SPORTS™ Hockey League)
• A 10% discount on a one-time purchase at shop.NHL.com

NHL 13 will launch in North America for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on September 11, 2012, and in Europe on September 14, 2012. Expect more details on the game at E3. For now, you can check out the first screenshot in the gallery below, and continue to vote on the player who will appear on the NHL 13 cover; the campaign is currently in the quarterfin??al round. ??(The only correct choice, of course, is Henrik Lundqvist.)

The post NHL 13 announced, w??ill deliver new ?AI and skating physics appeared first on Destructoid.

The draw of “reality” television is its ostensibly greater degree of unpredictability over scripted shows, the coveted “you can’t make this stuff up” factor. Many simulation videogames better replicate the infinite variability of life than reality TV does, and one way in which a few recent sports games have gotten there is by implementing real-time physics engines. EA Sports’ venerated FIFA series did that with FIFA 12 last year, delivering often impressive but occasionally laughabl?e results. There was more work to be done; modeling collisions is only one aspect of simulating socc??er.

The holy grail in sports games is calculating everything on the fly, taking into account the unending variety of variables in every case. “The philosophy of the team,” explained David Rutter, executive producer for the FIFA franchise, “has been to take all of the inputs that would occur in this real world that we ??live in, and use them to drive the outcomes of the game that you are playing.” It’s an asymptotic venture, and the talented developers at EA Canada are getting closer e?very year.

[Editor’s note: I use the terms “soccer” and “football” interchangeably in this article. --Samit]

FIFA 13 (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC, Wii, Vita, 3DS, PSP, PS2, iOS)
Developer: EA Canada
Publisher: EA Sports
Release: Fall 2012

Three of the creative leads behind FIFA 13 delivered a lengthy presentation to members of the press a few weeks ago at EA Canada, located on a sprawling campus in the Vancouver suburb of Burnaby. They discussed five major gameplay innovations that are coming in this fall’s new soccer game, but they did not speak of new modes or any other changes, and we didn’t have a chance to play the game. So there’s a lot more to come regarding FIFA 13 -- perh??aps at E3, or, more likely, at G??amescom -- but for now, I’ll take you through what gameplay producer Aaron McHardy called “a revolution of game-changing features” for the PS3, 360, and PC versions.

Attacking Intelligence lets AI teammates think ahead

Dumb AI is a perennial nuisance in team sports games; it’s always frustrating when a scoring opportunity evaporates because a computer-controlled teammate didn’t do something you perceived as natural, lifelike, and/or smart in a particular situation. EA Canada has revamped FIFA’s positioning code, making ??AI attackers smarter and opening up the field for yo?ur offense.

FIFA 13’s new Attacking Intelligence feature is felt in a number of ways. Players are now much better capable of analyzing space to go on decisive runs -- they can not only evaluate openings on the pitch and realize they’re in position to make a run, but also can get to valuable space in a manner that creates more scoring chances. This encompasses new behaviors such as stutt??er-stepping to stay onside, curving runs around defenders, and creating separation from opponents to open up passing lanes, as well as more complex soccer strategy in player positioning and ball movement.

The world’s best players have an unparalleled ability to visualize and predict the progress of a play. As McHardy put it, “They’re processing the game at another level,” always thinking ahead to try and gain the upper hand on defenders. Your teammates in FIFA 13 will do the same: they have the intelligence to understand where the ball is likely to go next, and accordingly -- instead of standing around until the play comes to them -- they’ll start moving one or even two passes ahead of time, putting themselves in better position to receive passes and propel the attack forward. McHardy played footage from the studio’s test bed environment, complete with wire-frame players, proving the improvements between FIFA 12 and FIFA 13 to be apparent, significant, and remarkable.

Dancing around defenders with Complete Dribbling

Last year’s game introduced Precision Dribbling, a setup that suffered from the same problem that has plagued the movement systems in almost every soccer game: players pushed the ball in a direction and turned their body to follow the ball. It made it difficult to get around defenders without using FIFA’s relatively complicated Skill Moves. FIFA 13 brings in an upd??ate called Complete Dribbling?. McHardy said it’s “way bigger” than Precision Dribbling, with the key element being that EA Canada has finally separated the moving direction from the facing direction.

I asked McHardy how important that change is, and he told me it’s “completely l??iberating.” Until now, he explained, “You couldn’t really face up a player 1v1 and beat him in the way that Messi beats a player 1v1: running straight at him, sidestepping around him, keeping that facing angle forward, and being able to get around the player.” It’s now possible to move laterally while s??till facing forward, which lets you quickly evade defenders and continue attacking. Complete Dribbling gives you the power to embarrass your opponents, and the freedom and creativity to do it in a variety of ways.

Precision Dribbling brought shielding into FIFA, and Complete Dribbling expands on that with the ability to lock a facing-away angle contextually and chain shielding more fluidly with other dribbling moves. In addition, you now have the ability to change direction more quickly in low-speed dribbles, as well as finer control over close touches. Some of these elements came from the dribbling system in FIFA Street, according to Rutter. While Street is an arcade game, the FIFA team felt that “mapping stick control one-to-one with foot movement work[ed] well,” and implemented parts of that setup in FIFA 13.

Complete Dribbling also makes advanced dribbling tactics accessible to all players. It’s controlled completely by the left stick, so even novices who can’t pull off Skill Moves will be able to dribble circles around their opponents in FIFA 13. “What we would like is for everyone that plays our game to feel like they have tools ??to go around defenders,” said line producer Nick Channon.

First Touch Control means nobody’s perfect

McHardy played footage from a real soccer match in which Ronaldinho perfectly trapped a pass from 50 meters out -- just one gentle tap from his foot, and the ball fell safely into possession. But he’s one of the world’s best footballers, and even he can’t pull that off in every situation. The next clip McHardy showed was from FIFA 12, in which a middling player managed to receive a long pass with perfect touch. That’s simply not realistic, and FIFA 13’s First Touch Control system aims to fix that.

This year, the ball isn’t glued to your foot. The new system introduces “contextual trap error,” taking into account a wide variety of factors to determine how easy or difficult it will be for a player to secure the ball. Rain makes it much tougher; a soft pass is easier to gather, unless it’s coming to Earth from way up high; and a well-timed shove from a defender could make all the difference. First Touch Control also accounts for players’ attributes, differentiating the Ronaldinhos of the world from less skilled footballers. Channon made sure to note that it’s “unpredictable, [but] it’s not random, and that’s a very key difference.”

EA Canada implemented the system to eliminate perfect control and introduce opportunities for your opponent to take back possession. Playing aggressive passes will make it harder for your teammates to corral them, and it will give the other team chances to pic??k up balls that bounced away from an attacker’s foot, providing balance to the more offense-minded gameplay changes discussed above.

Getting physical on and off the ball with the Player Impact Engine

The FIFA team debuted a completely new collision system with the Player Impact Engine last year, and it had its share of glitches. Many of those errors -- the infamous “kiss,” or players’ limbs being forced into biomechanically-impossible-without-tearing-tissue positions -- arose because FIFA 12 didn’t properly model the musculoskeletal structure of its players. ??Joints now have the proper tension associated with them, and EA Canada has added (and slowed down) animations so players can disentangle themselves without expressing their love for each other. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

“What’s really rewarding this year is building loads of features” on top of FIFA 12’s solid foundation, said Channon. The original Player Impact Engine had a major limitation: it only calculated physics for collisions in which one player already had the ball. Two opponents waiting for a pass to drop, however, had very little interaction. FIFA 13’s evolution of real-time physics allows for players to push and pull each other off the ball, bringing in the crucial element of jockeying for position. “We never really had that concept in our game,” Channon told me, “and I think th??at’s something we’re very excited about.”

This development makes playing defense much more active, and i?t allows bigger players to use their size and strength to their advantage in preventing attackers from getting to the ball. It’s all about the “battle for the ball,” said Channon, noting that “it’s like any sport, really: if you’ve got good body position, you’ll generally be in a good place.”

Tactical Free Kicks provide creative freedom

I have limited experience playing FIFA, but even I’ve noticed that free kicks weren’t very exciting -- not nearly as interesting as they are in real life. “Free kicks, in FIFA, have just been kicking the ball over the wall,” admitted Channon. That’s only one element of many in the highly variable setup, and FIFA 13 finally retools the system to give you nu?merous options, both on offense and defense.

The kicking team can now organize up to three players over the ball to play around with fakes, and execute dummy runs to take the ball down the side or to the front. Test bed footage showed two players hopping over the ball, after which the? third player sent a pass to the first, who put a shot on goal.

You can add to or subtract from the defensive wall, and even creep upward (with the potential for the referees to notice and penalize you). If you mis-time a shot-blocking attempt, you can reform t?he wall and jump again. More aggressive teams can send a player toward the kickers to intercept passes or block shots. These changes have been “in the making for a while,” Channon told me, “and we felt that this year was the time to do it.”

Minor enhancements can have major effects

McHard?y closed his presentation by discussing additional gameplay improvements. Last year’s iteration of real-time physics made it “infinitely more difficult” for referees to call fouls correctly, so the team has “re-architected” the rules system to work better. They have also humanized the CPU by making it a bit more forgiving, especially on Professional difficulty, which used to be robotically perfect.

Lateral defensive containment is a new option, letting defenders cut off passing lanes ??by moving sideways instead of only toward or away from attackers. On offense, you can take advantage of new pass types, sending lofted through balls or passes that bounce over defenders’ outstretched legs. EA Canada has also added animations for 180-degree shots, off-balance shots, and ??celebrations.

As you can see, EA Canada is doing a lot of work to more accurately simulate soccer. It took Rutter, Channon, and McHardy 90 minutes to cover all the new gameplay features -- that’s how much is changing this year. I heard a few amazed gasps from fellow journalists during the presentation, so it seems like FIFA fans have a lot of stuff to get excited about between now and FIFA 13’s launch this fall.

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The well-received Metal Gear Solid HD Collection is making its way to the PlayStation Vita this summer, sans Peace Walker; the original PSP game can be purchased on the PlayStation Store, although not through the Vita, weirdly. However, it will include touch controls specific to Sony's new handheld. Konami brand manager Kevin Vlaming walked me through the experien?ce, a??nd I recorded the demo for you all to watch above.

For those who own MGS 2 or MGS 3 on PS3, the Vita HD Collection also lets you "transfar" content from save games. And it includes all the other content that was present on the console HD Collection -- the Substance and Subsistence stuff, as well as the first two Metal Gear MSX games.

The MGS HD Collection launches for the Vita in Japan on June 28. There's no American relea?se date yet, but it's set for relea??se here this summer.

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EA Sports put the Madden cover to a vote once again this year, and as of last week, the fans had whittled down a bracket of 64 NFL players to just two: Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam "Ace Boogie" Newton (the No. 1 seed) and Detroit Lions wide receiver Calvin "Megatron" Johnson (the No. 6 seed). In an episode of ESPN's SportsNation broadcast live from New York City's?? Times Square yesterday evening, hosts Colin Cowherd and Mi??chelle Beadle revealed that Johnson beat out Newton for the coveted cover spot.

The marketing partnership between ESPN and EA Sports, now in its second year, proved even more fruitful this time around. Fans cast over 19.6 million votes, a 54% jump from the 12.7 million tallies for the Madden NFL 12 campaign. The final face-off was a close one: Johnson defeated Newt??on by a margin of 52% to 48%. Along the way, he took down teammate Matthew Stafford, No. 11 seed Dwayne Bowe, No. 3 seed Arian Foster, No. 2 seed Rob Gronkowski, and No. 1 seed Aaron Rodgers.

A clearly disappointed Newton was nonetheless gracious in defeat, giving "big ups to Megatron." As for Johnson, EA Sports personnel whisked him away after the SportsNation broadcast to don his full Lions uniform and game-day equipment for a photoshoot in Times Square. One of the images taken yesterday will become the final box art for Madden NFL 13, which launches for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStat??ion Vita, and Wii on Aug??ust 28, 2012.

Check out the gallery below for 17 photos from the event, captured by yours truly. Are you guys happy to see Megatron on the Madden 13 cover? If not, whom would you have picked?

Madden '13 Cover - SportsNation [ESPN]

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