Game News: December 12, 2006

Hollywood Goes Gaming: Writer Brings the Legacy of Star Trek to Xbox 360
   Don't miss our interview with the co-writer of Bethesda Softworks' Star Trek: Legacy, the first Star Trek game for Xbox 360.

Critics: Video game glorifies violence (AP)
   AP - Targeted largely at conservative Christians, it's a violent video game with a difference: Combatants on one side pause for prayer, and their favored interjection is "Praise the Lord."

Guide to Piñata Achievements
   Need help with the achievements in Viva Piñata? This guide will walk you through the most difficult and obscure achievements in the game.

Call of Duty Evolves Online
   Xbox.com takes a look at the massive additions in the new online multiplayer modes of Call of Duty 3.

Tony Hawk's Project 8: Board Online Exclusively on Xbox Live
   We detail Tony Hawk's Project 8 and the exclusive online multiplayer modes it brings to Xbox Live.

Gearbox and Obsidian linked to Alien games
   Brothers in Arms and KOTOR II devs tipped to be working on the Aliens games. Sega declines to comment...
Developers Gearbox Software and Obsidian Entertainment are being linked with the new Alien games that are to be produced following Sega's snapping up of the franchise.

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Send your mate a Steam game
   Valve reveals new feature for its digital distribution platform.
Steam Guest Passes - what are they? Well, it's a new feature being introduced to Steam that allows owners of "certain" Steam-enabled games to send a chum a limited-time trial of said certain Steam-enable games, Valve's informed.

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Conan MMOG unsheathes Xbox 360 blade
   Funcom's Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures has been officially announced for Microsoft's console.
Based on the fantasy universe created by author Robert E. Howard, the game actually combines single-player and MMOG elements, players experiencing the first stages of the title solo before stepping out into the wide, massively multiplayer world. Age of Conan features the common RPG elements you'd expect, but it's very much action-focussed with combat based around "fast reaction gaming", as the developer describes it.

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Comcast and Circuit City Connect (The Motley Fool)
   The Motley Fool - Right on the heels of Best Buy's (NYSE: BBY - News) effort to play Santa, comes Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA - News) and Circuit City's (NYSE: CC - News)'s new retail collaboration. The two companies plan to open up an electronics boutique called Connect, where consumers can visit for advice on HDTV products and services, and to experience the difference between plasma and LCD screens. Customers can also schedule TV and service installations, similar to what satellite providers like EchoStar (Nasdaq: DISH - News) and DirectTV (NYSE: DTV - News) have done for years via traditional retail stores.

Sega brings aliens to Wii and PSP
   Classic sci-fi series, Alien Syndrome, set to return in 2007.
Sega is hard at work on an all new edition of Alien Syndrome, an action-RPG, for the Wii and PSP in the summer of 2007.

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Halo 3 beta slots up for sale in Europe
   One site from the Xbox Community Network has been very, very naughty...
Microsoft is "shocked" that one website is trying to sell off its allocation of beta places on the upcoming Halo 3 multiplayer beta test, due to launch next spring. Obviously the other websites that have abided by the rules aren't too happy either.

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AIIDE '07 Calls for Papers
   

The Third Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Interactive Digital Entertainment (AIIDE '07), taking place June 6-8, 2007 at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, has announced its call for papers.

Video games, foreign players hit soccer in Britain (Reuters)
   

Reuters - Foreign players, video games and a lack of coaching are behind the current shortage of young talent in British soccer, national managers agreed on Tuesday.

Assault Heroes hits Live Arcade
   Vehicular Combat game hitting Xbox Live tomorrow.
This week's Xbox Live Arcade release, Sierra's Vehicular Combat game Assault Heroes, lets you blast through enemy-infested territory in a mix of boats, 4x4s and on-foot carnage.

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MS has 'no defence' over bricked 360s
   Microsoft's only defence could be "We're Microsoft, and we can do anything we want," says 360 lawsuit lawyer.
Following a class action lawsuit against Microsoft regarding 'bricked' Xbox 360s - caused by the fall dashboard update - one of the lawyers involved in the case has said Microsoft's only defence would be "we're Microsoft, and we can do anything we want".

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Wii is the fastest-selling UK console
   "The fastest selling HOME console in history" Nintendo tells CVG.
First it was 50,000 units sold in 12 hours. Now Nintendo has confirmed that the Wii rocketed past the 100k mark in its first weekend in UK, destroying the previous record of 70,000 units set by the Xbox 360. Unlucky Microsoft.

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PS3 overtakes 360 in Japan after a month
   PS3 sells more in its first month than Xbox 360 manages in a year.
Recent hardware sales figures for Japan reveal that the PS3 has sold more than 187,000 consoles since its launch on November 17 - already trouncing Xbox 360, which has only managed to sell 110,000 units in the past year.

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Fallout MMORPG for 2010?
   Interplay seems to be planning production of a Fallout MMOG in 2007, with a view to launching the game in 2010.
Well, that's according to a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing anyway - brought to our attention by Blue's News - in which it's stated that the budget for the project totals a whopping $75,000,000 "and will be funded by Interplay, its development and distribution partners."

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Square Enix's next 'Dragon Quest' for Nintendo DS only (AFP)
   

AFP - Japanese video game developer Square Enix Co has said it would release the next version of its hugely popular "Dragon Quest" role playing series exclusively for the Nintendo DS handheld console.

China tightening control of online games (AP)
   AP - China is tightening controls on its booming online game industry, requiring distributors to closely monitor game contents after some were found that included forbidden religious or political material, a state news agency said Tuesday.

Dragon Quest IX comes to DS
   Square Enix brings one of its biggest RPGs to Nintendo.
Square Enix are quite clearly all about the DS. After bringing Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime and Final Fantasy III to Nintendo's handheld, it has now been confirmed that Dragon Quest IX will be coming to the DS in 2007.

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Make your own PC and X360 games now!
   XNA Game Studio Express and Creators Club released, enabling home-made games on Xbox 360.
>From today budding developers can finally create their own Xbox 360 and PC games, thanks to the official release of XNA Game Studio Express and the XNA Creators Club on Xbox Live Marketplace.

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