Electronic Arts today announced that developer Criterion is currently working on the fifth entry in its well regarded Burnout series of racing games. Entitled simply Burnout 5, the game is headed for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Burnout 5 diverges significantly from past series entries by featuring a seamless open world environment called Paradise City. "Gone is the need to jump in and out of menus to aimlessly search for fun," notes EA's press release. As players gain more notoriety in the world, they will face up against the city's other legendary racers. "Burnout 5 is a complete reinvention of the series, built from the ground up for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360," said Criterion designer Alex Ward. "To create truly next-generation gameplay, we needed to create a truly next-generation game, from top to bottom." In a feature that is somewhat reminiscent of Stefan Eriksson's car crash that spawned months of bizarre and convoluted Gizmondo-related news, today's announcement claims that players will be able to actually "rip their cars in half."

EA plans to ship Criterion Games' Burnout 5 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2007.

Raven Software's upcoming action RPG superhero mashup Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (PS2, Xbox, GCN, PS3, X360, Wii, NDS, PSP, GBA, PC) will be scored by its own alliance of composers. Activision announced today that Chance Thomas (Quest for Glory V: Dragon Fire, Unreal II: The Awakening), Cris Velasco (Jaws: Unleashed, Terminator 3: The Redemption, God of War), and Mark Griskey (Gladius, Star Wars: Racer Revenge, Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith) will be handling composition duties for the game, which will feature over 50 minutes of original music.

Activision plans to ship Raven Software's Marvel Ultimate Alliance to all platforms later this year.

IGN relays information from a Tecmo financial report indicating that the veteran publisher has signed on to release content for Nintendo's Virtual Console service for Wii. Long time gamers no doubt remember the company's classic NES titles such as Tecmo Bowl and other sports games, as well as the Ninja Gaiden series, both of which are likely candidates for Virtual Console inclusion. Apparently, the company's support for the service is "aggressive." No specific titles or release dates were divulged.

Bethesda sends word that its next piece of downloadable content for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion will be available for the Xbox 360 version of the game via Xbox Live this Thursday, August 31, the same day the content for the PC version will be available. The Spell Tomes pack, which adds several new spells to the game, is the cheapest Oblivion download yet, at 80 Microsoft Points ($1).

Atlus announced today that its dark Sony-developed survival horror title Rule of Rose (PS2) has received its very own official site. Rule of Rose is set for release in North America on September 12, 2006.

Capcom has announced that its zombie killing title Dead Rising (X360) has seen brisk sales in its first two weeks at retail, with the publisher already having shipped over 500,000 units in North America. The game, which has also seen strong reviews, is set for release on September 8 in Europe and on September 28 in Japan.

Over at FileShack we've got a video diary on Ubisoft's Rainbow Six Vegas (PS3, X360).

As you may have noticed in tonight's Evening Reading, Wired has a lengthy feature up asking whether the PS3 can save Sony. It frames the upcoming PS3 in the context of Sony's recent PR and financial troubles, looking back on the company's history leading up to its present situation, and comparing it to its competitors in Microsoft and Nintendo.

CNET News.com has an interview with Sony Computer Entertainment America president Kaz Hirai, speaking on PlayStation 3 and revealing nothing particularly new.

You may recall seeing some unexplained screenshots in Friday's LNC for a game called Space Giraffe (working title). If you missed those, here they are. Be warned; there's some colorful language. They depict the next game project from gaming industry veteran Jeff Minter, best known for his various music visualization software--including Neon, preinstalled on Xbox 360--as well as the classic Tempest 2000 (JAG, SAT, PC). Minter has released some details on Space Giraffe by way of a comments thread on his online journal. The game is a sequel to Tempest 2000 (and the much lesser known Tempest 3000), and Minter goes into a bit of gameplay detail about the project. No release date has been revealed.

Microsoft's Xbox 360 backwards compatibility team has released a substantial update to the list of Xbox games compatible with Xbox 360. A total of 48 games were added or improved, bringing the total number of supported titles to 267, close to 30% of the total Xbox library. A few notable additions include Criterion's Burnout 3: Takedown, an update for Headfirst's Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth, Firaxis' Sid Meier's Pirates!, an update for Valve's Half-Life 2, and EA UK's Catwoman. Interestingly, Traveller's Tales as yet unreleased LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy, which is also in development for Xbox 360, was included in today's update. (Thanks Major Nelson.)

Following Microsoft's erroneous announcement that both FIFA 07 from Electronic Arts and Winning Eleven Pro Evolution Soccer 2007 from Konami would be exclusive to Xbox 360 among next generation consoles, EA and Konami have clarified the situation in straightforward terms. EA stated that its FIFA 07 will indeed be shipping on Xbox 360 but not on PlayStation 3 or Wii. The game is also heading to all current generation home and portable consoles as well as PC. Konami, on the other hand, issued a statement on its official website stating that the game is headed for a multiplatform release:

It has been falsely reported on some websites that KONAMI will release its "Pro Evolution Soccer 6" exclusively for Microsoft's Xbox 360. These reports are not true. KONAMI is currently proceeding with the production of a multi-platform release of "Pro Evolution Soccer 6" so that as many people as possible can enjoy the game.

Konami did not specifically name any further next-gen platforms. Currently, Winning Eleven Pro Evolution Soccer 2007 (aka Pro Evolution Soccer 6) has been announced for PlayStation 2, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS, PSP, and PC.

According to reports tracking back to Spanish gaming site Meristation, which has posted some reliable breaking news over the last year, Ubisoft Montpellier's multiplatform Rayman Raving Rabbids will be a timed exclusive on Wii. The game will allegedly release on other current- and next-gen platforms next May, according to information Meristation claims to have gotten straight from Ubisoft at last week's Games Convention in Leipzig.

This runs contrary to Ubisoft's initial announcement, which pegged the game as being released for all systems this holiday season. However, acclaimed designer and Rayman series creator Michel Ancel, who is heading up the title, recently stated in an interview that Rayman Raving Rabbids underwent a significant overhaul after becoming more familiar with the Wii control scheme. Various comments from Ancel as well as marketing from Ubisoft suggest that the Wii is the game's primary development platform.

Electronic Arts has released a demo of the Xbox 360 version of EA Tiburon's Madden NFL 07, downloadable via Xbox Live. It weighs in at 750MB, and allows players to try out games comprised of minute-long quarters. The demo is available to Xbox Live subscribers registered in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Australia, and New Zealand.

Nintendo announced today that the number of unique players that have used its Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection online service for Nintendo DS has surpassed 2 million, with the number of game sessions played over 70 million. The service has been active for just over nine months. Currently, seven online-enabled games are available; another, Star Fox Command, will be released this week.

Microsoft's Lary "Major Nelson" Hryb notes that Capcom's Street Fighter II' Hyper Fighting has received an autoupdate via Xbox Live, addressing various issues. The main improvements are related to connection and time out issues. Leaderboards will also be reset to erase the progress made by players exploiting the ability to disconnect.

During Games Convention today in Leipzig, Microsoft made the surprising announcement that next iterations of both major licensed soccer franchises FIFA 07 from Electronic Arts and Pro Evolution Soccer 6 will be next-generation exclusives on Xbox 360 for the following twelve months. Though this does not bar them from appearing on PlayStation 2, Xbox, and GameCube, it does mean that PlayStation 3 and Wii will have to sit out on licensed soccer for a year.

Microsoft also announcd that three well known board games will be coming to Xbox Live Arcade for Xbox 360: Carcassarone, Alhambra, and Settlers of Catan.

Though its next-gen console won't be seeing an officially licensed soccer game in the next year thanks to Microsoft's timed exclusivity deal, Nintendo did announce that a new version of its own soccer franchises is coming to the system. During its Games Convnention press conference today, the company announced Mario Strikers Charged. The game features more team creation options than the original title, and also adds online multiplayer functionality.

Also announced during Nintendo's conference was Battalion Wars 2, which Nintendo was sure to note is abbreviated "BWii." The game is a followup to UK-based Kuju's action/strategy hybrid on GameCube published by Nintendo last year. The biggest addition to the game is online multiplayer, which has three main modes: the combat oriented Assault, the tactical Skirmish mode, and a cooperative mode. The game includes new units, races, and environments, and is comprised of over 20 single-player missions and over 15 multiplayer missions.

To kick of its presence at this week's Games Convention in Leipzig, Sony has announced that it will be releasing limited edition pink models of its PlayStation 2 and PSP consoles in Europe later this year. The Pink PlayStation 2 will be released to "selected retailers" on November 8, 2006 and will include an extra pink controller and a pink memory card. "The Pink PlayStation 2 is funky, fresh, and fashionable, and will further broaden the console’s continuing popularity and relevance with a fun new twist," said PS2 European brand manager Dan Hill. The company also announced that Europe will see a price cut for PlayStation 2, which as of this Wednesday will sell for 129.99 Euro and 94.99 GBP in the UK. Memory cards will drop to 19.99 Euro, with no specific UK price point given. - Product shots.

PS2 won't be pretty in pink alone, as Sony also announced the the P!nk PSP Value Pack, which contains a Pink PSP, white headphones with remote control, pouch, wrist strap, and 32MB Memory Stick Duo. The exclamation point in the product's name is thanks to a marketing tie-in with recording artist P!nk, some of whose music videos will be included on a UMD packaged with the Value Pack. "This association is much more than a corporate deal," said Sony BMG Europe VP of brand partnerships Marcel Engh. "It is bringing together two great and unique entertainment brands that complement each other both in style and attitude." The P!nk PSP Value Pack, also exclusive to Europe, will be released October 27 for 229 Euro and 169 GBP in the UK. - Product shot.

According to Chris Morris' latest Game Over column, American Technology Research analyst P.J. McNealy believes that Electronic Arts has transferred its upcoming World War II shooter Medal of Honor: Airborne (PS2, Xbox, PS3, X360, Wii, PC) from EA's own Criterion-developed Renderware engine to Epic's Unreal Engine 3, to which it recently purchased a license. Presumably, this report refers to the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC versions of the game. McNealy also noted that EA is developing a previously unrevealed first person shooter called "Dead Space," though no details were provided. Unsurprisingly, EA has not commented on either rumor.

Racing Gears Advance developer Orbital Media has been sitting on two new portable action titles for quite some time now: Scurge: Hive (NDS, GBA) and Juka and the Monophonic Menace (GBA). Both titles have seen multiple delays, but it looks like they're finally on track for release. Publisher SouthPeak Interactive today announced that it will be publishing both Orbital titles at some point this year. Juka and the Monophonic Menace is a Game Boy Advance exclusive, while Scurge has been developed for both Nintendo DS and Game Boy Advance. (Thanks IGN.)

Ubisoft today announced that it will be publishing a sequel to its portable racing series Asphalt: Urban GT. Developers Virtuos and Game Source are currently working on Asphalt: Urban GT 2 for both Nintendo DS and PSP. The game will include six game modes with 30 tracks and 36 licensed vehicles, as well as the ability for the player to tune his or her cars.

Virtuos and Game Source's Asphalt: Urban GT 2 is set to ship in November 2006 for Nintendo DS and March 2007 for PSP.

Ubisoft has announced that it will be releasing a patch for its shooter Far Cry Instincts Predator (X360) via Xbox Live, fixing various issues and improving a few technical aspects of the game. Changes include tweaks to the controls to increase responsiveness, various graphical and network-related bugs, and support for as many save games as will fit on the user's storage device. Check out the full summary of changes here. The patch should be made available within the next few days.

Via an article in Billboard.com and a Flash-based website entitled "Coming Zune," Microsoft has finally acknowledged its not-at-all-secret handheld device, codenamed Argo and officially dubbed Zune. As expected, it will be a line of portables rather than a single product. While the first device will be a subscription-based music player, but further iterations could very well play videos--and video games. The Argo project has been headed up by Xbox co-founder J Allard and a cavalcade of other notable Microsft executives, including several from the Xbox team.

Zune is expected to reach stores this year.

Sony held a presentation during Comic-Con on Friday entitled "PSP University." There was little new information given, with the main goal of the hour-long affair to trumpet various PSP successes and upcoming games and initiatives. Here's a rundown:

- 120 games are currently available for PSP, with over 200 by the end of 2006.
- There are currently over 350 UMD movies and TV shows available. Sony Pictures and Fox still have UMD products in the works.
- Sony stated that in the United States, PSP is about a million units ahead of Nintendo DS, though a representative admitted that DS Lite had a particularly strong debut showing.
- Sony Connect is working on bringing more downloadable video content to PSP, but must first devise a sufficient copy protection method.
- PSP firmware version 2.80 will be released next Thursday and will include RSS video support. Sony strongly encourages keeping the system up to date with the latest upgrades.
- The Greatest Hits program will come to PSP next Tuesday, making certain games available for $19.99 in the US. Those titles will be Ape Escape: On the Loose, ATV Offroad Fury: Blazin' Trails, Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee, Twisted Metal: Head On, and WipeOut Pure.
- Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories has been the most successful PSP title, followed by Madden NFL 06, then SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo.
- Sony may at some point revise certain aspects of PSP, including its speakers and analog nub. However, there are no plans to modify the d-pad.
- Sony has no plans to modify the text entry system for PSP, or to release a keyboard peripheral. However, it is possible that a third party will release a keyboard at some point.
- Sony is looking into the possibility of a video output solution for the system, but ultimately it is up to Sony's Japanese operation.
- According to Sony, the most wanted feature among fans for PSP is functionality with PS3. Thus, PSP will serve as some kind of remote control for PS3. The next most wanted feature is PlayStation games on PSP, which the company has announced will be coming. Fans also requested a camera peripheral, which will be coming this fall. The company is not yet allowed to divulge the camera's megapixel count.
- A Sony representative shared the company's stance on homebrew development: "Overall it's frowned on. Our tech guys have gotten madder and madder lately, and it does void your warranty."

LucasArts held a Star Wars-oriented presentation during Comic-Con on Friday. Responding to a question as to whether the publisher would be working on Nintendo's upcoming Wii console, a company representative pointed out that the Wii controller bears some similarities to a lightsaber. He noted that LucasArts will be supporting all three next generation consoles.

According to Microsoft's fourth fiscal quarter reports, the company met its self-imposed target of five million Xbox 360 units shipped worldwide by the end of June. That number breaks down to approximately 3.3M in North America, 1.3M in Europe, and 400,000 in Asia. It is unclear how many machines have been sold to consumers. To follow up on its mid-year target, Microsoft noted in a financial conference call that it plans to ship 10M units worldwide by the end of 2006, with 13-15M units shipped worldwide by the end of June 2007.

Despite Xbox 360's strong performance, Microsoft's Home and Entertainment Division, the headquarters of Xbox, has seen a significant increase in financial losses due to the costs of launching a new system as well as the per-unit loss on Xbox and Xbox 360 hardware. Division revenues on hardware and games were up an impressive 94% to $1.14B, but that came at a price. Operating losses were also on the rise, up 106% year over year to a hefty $414M. Microsoft hopes to achieve division profitability by the end of Xbox 360's life cycle as hardware manufacturing costs go down and the company sees continued profits from game sales.

Nintendo announced this week that retail chain Toys "R" Us will be holding "Free Download Week" from July 23-29. During that time, Animal Crossing: Wild World owners can bring their Nintendo DS systems into Toys "R" Us stores to wirelessly download six exclusive in-game gifts. The gifts will be themed around the Mushroom Kingdom from the Mario franchise. They include the 1-up mushroom, Starman star, pipe, question box, and others, and can be used to decorate players' houses.

Atari has ended its "Do You Want to be a Car Designer?" contest for Eden Studios' upcoming racer Test Drive Unlimited (PS2, X360, PSP, PC). Winner David Sichtermann will have his vehicle, which concept art shows in various states of transformation, featured in the game when it ships later this year. Sichtermann will also receive a $2,500 prize for his efforts.

IGN has a developer diary with Backbone Entertainment's Sara Guinness on the upcoming MechAssault: Phantom War (NDS).

Speaking to Game Informer, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime responded to inquiries regarding Nintendo's upcoming online service for its Wii console. Though he unsurprisingly declined to get too specific, he did indicate that microtransactions, a large part of Microsoft's Xbox Live strategy and known to be supported by PS3's service, are an option for publishers on Wii as well. "All of that is possible with what it is we are trying to do," he said after being questioned if players will be able to buy content for games. "If our license partners want to go in that direction, it's certainly possible in our system." The interviewer clarified, asking "They could add cars to a racing game as a microtransaction, and you would be okay with that?" to which Fils-Aime responded, "Exactly."

Fils-Aime also commented on the always-on WiiConnect24 service, though his examples were fairly conservative: receiving new weapons or being able to fight new enemies. As to whether Nintendo will be making use of such features or microtransactions in first party productions, Fils-Aime stated that more details would come at a later date.

Nintendo hopes to see significantly improvement over its home console results in this past generation. "Our focus is on a substantially higher base than we achieved with GameCube," said Fils-Aime. "With stellar third-party support we're getting, really, right at launch, that's another major difference from what we did with GameCube."

According to the SOCOMBLOG run by SOCOM series developer Zipper Interactive, Map Pack #1 for SOCOM 3: U.S. Navy SEALs (PS2) is now available for download.

The pack contains three 16-player multiplayer maps: After Hours, Liberation, and Last Bastion. Each is an update of popular levels from SOCOM II.

Somewhat oddly, the pack is currently free of charge, but as of July 12 it will go for $5.99. Those who have already download the pack at that time will be required to purchase it in order to continue using it. Further map packs are planned for the future.

Capcom's Xbox Live-enabled Street Fighter II Hyper Fighting (X360) has seen numerous delays with little explanation, having originally been slated for release early this year, but it looks like it may be out relatively soon. Recently, the game's official page on Microsoft's Australian Xbox.com site was updated with a release date for the game: July 30, 2006. However, not long after, the date was removed, and now currently reads simply "2006." Complete goof or accidental leak? Neither Microsoft nor Capcom has commented, so we'll have to wait and see.

Atlus today announced that its well received Nintendo DS surgical sim Trauma Center: Under the Knife is undergoing a reissue, and should be widely available at retail by the end of July. Like its fellow DS reprintee Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, the game has been notoriously difficult to find due to initial low-volume distribution. "The continued demand for Trauma Center: Under the Knife is both gratifying and overwhelming," said Atlus sales and marketing VP Jim Ireton. "We apologize to Nintendo fans who've had a tough time finding the game, and we hope this scratches their surgical itch until we ship Trauma Center: Second Opinion for the Wii later this year."

Speaking of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (NDS) reprints, Capcom shot over a note today informing us that a new shipment of the elusive title has been received at the Capcom online store. Capcom will be selling the game for $29.95 until current supplies are exhausted, at which point prices will likely once again balloon to double MSRP on eBay.

Relic's WWII action title The Outfit (X360) received an Xbox Live title update this week. There's no new content, but a slew of fixes and improvements have been made with regard to matchmaking, multiplayer tuning, and various gameplay issues. Check out the full list for more.

During Activision's conference call yesterday in which the publisher divulged its financial results for the past year, company CEO Bobby Kotick also noted that Call of Duty 3, the next game in the acclaimed series of World War II shooters, would would be a console-only product released in the fourth calendar quarter of 2006. Today, IGN released a COD3 trailer serving as a de facto official announcement for the game. It was also noted that Call of Duty 3 will be coming to all three next generation console platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii--though the trailer was created before Nintendo's name change and still sported the Nintendo Revolution moniker. It is being developed by Call of Duty 2: Big Red One (PS2, Xbox, GCN) developer Treyarch.

An Activision representative confirmed to Shacknews that the game is indeed not heading to PCs. This would imply that the game is a spinoff title in the same vein as Big Red One, which was released in close proximity to the "main" second entry in the series, Call of Duty 2 (X360, PC) developed by Infinity Ward. However, Activision also noted that COD3 is followup to the 360/PC title rather than the PS2/Xbox/GCN title. It would seem odd for the franchise to skip out on PC, the platform where it got its start. Company reps assured as that all would be clarified next week at E3.

Sega keeps on truckin' with the pre-E3 game announcements. Last night, the publisher finally revealed the secret Bizarre Creations project that has been kept secret for quite a while now: The Club (working title), a third person action shooter for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Unfortunately, the press release goes into a pretty minimal amount of detail about the game, but it sounds something like organized crime meets Fight Club meets The Running Man. "The Club simply delivers that visceral thrill of high-stakes gambling and tosses in a heavy dose of frenzied gunplay," said Sega's Scott A. Steinberg "Bizarre Creations has a incredible track record and now they bring the innovation, both technical and creative, shown in the racing genre and have applied it to the shooter category."

Bizarre Creation's The Club is slated to ship some time in 2007. - Concept art.

It has been rumored that Atari-owned Australian developer Melbourne house (Transformers) has been working on some kind of Test Drive-related game. Today, Atari revealed just what the project is. Test Drive Unlimited, a pseudo-MMO racing game being developed by Eden Studios for Xbox 360 and PC, will be coming to PlayStation 2 and PSP courtesy of Melbourne House. The game will reportedly retain "most of the core gameplay features" from the Xbox 360 and PC versions of the game, including the substantial online mode and huge environments. Just how the PlayStation 2 and particularly the PSP versions will differ has not yet been revealed. It is almost certain that none of the four versions will operate with one another online, as the almost identical Xbox 360 and PC versions do not have that capability.

Along with the announcement also came a quiet confirmation that the Xbox 360 version of the game has now been delayed from the previous expectation of June; the game is now expected in September. Officially, all four versions are set for a fall 2006 release.

EA today revealed its next-generation E3 lineup; that is, games from the publisher being developed exclusively for PC or next-generation systems, or multiplatform titles which include next-generation versions. These eleven titles spanned over every current- and next-generation home console and portable platform, as well as PC. The announcement also indicated that many of EA's upcoming projects will be presented behind closed doors at next week's E3: the recently revealed Army of Two (PS3, X360), Will Wright's magnum opus Spore (PC), long awaited Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars (PC), and the next version of the Madden football franchises including the game in playable form on PlayStation 3 and Wii.

- Madden NFL 07 (PS2, Xbox, GCN, PS3, X360, Wii, DS, PSP, GBA, PC).
- NCAA Football 07 (PS2, Xbox, X360, PSP)
- NASCAR 07 (PSP)
- Army of Two (PS3, X360)
- Battlefield 2142 (PC)
- SPORE (PC)
- Crysis (PC)
- Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars (PC)
- The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-earth II (X360)
- Superman Returns: The Videogame (PS2, Xbox, X360, DS, PSP, GBA)
- Def Jam Fight For NY: The Takeover (PSP)

Sega today revealed its not yet complete list of E3 2006 announcements, consisting of thirteen titles across several current- and next-gen home consoles and portables. These titles do not make up Sega's entire E3 lineup, but are titles that have been recently announced or will be fully unveiled at the show. Furthermore, the company promises "three more surprises" as part of its ongoing nightly game announcements leading up to the show.

- Chromehounds (X360)
- The Club (working title) (PS3, X360)
- Full Auto 2: Battlelines (PS3)
- Midieval II: Total War (PC)
- Phantasy Star Universe (PS2, X360, PC)
- Sega Rally Revo (PS3, X360)
- Sonic Rivals (PSP)
- Sonic the Hedgehog (PS3, X360)
- Super Monkey Ball Adventures (PS2, GCN, PSP)
- Super Monkey Ball Banana Blitz (Wii)
- Virtua Tennis 3 (PS3)
- World Pool Championship 2007 (PS2, PSP)
- Yakuza (PS2)

Atari today revealed the eleven titles which will make up its E3 presence at E3 2006, spanning across six current- and next-gen home console and handheld platforms as well as PC. They are as follows:

- Alone in the Dark (X360, PC)
- Arthur and the Minimoys (PS2, PSP, DS, GBA, PC)
- BattleZone (PSP)
- Dungeons & Dragons: Tactics (PSP)
- Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 (PS2, Wii)
- HOT PXL (PSP)
- Neverwinter Nights 2 (PC)
- Super DBZ (PS2)
- Test Drive Unlimited (PS2, X360, PSP, PC)

Publisher THQ revealed its fiscal fourth quarter results today, and the picture was quite similar to so many of its industry competitors: fourth quarter results were way down year over year, while overal fiscal year results weren't quite so bad. In the fourth quarter, THQ saw revenue of $148M and a loss of $8M, a significant decline from revenues of $171M and a profit of $10M in the same period of the previous year. For the overall year, THQ had $807 in revenue and profits of $34M, with revenue up from last year's $757 but profits down from last year's $63M. Still, the company performed slightly above its projections, resulting in stock rising 4% to $25.45.

In an analyst conference call, company CEO Brian Farrell touched on the development costs of Nintendo's next-generation console Wii, for which THQ is currently developing three licensed titles. Farrell indicated that investment required to develop Wii games is dramatically lower than that required for PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360. In fact, he said, budgets "could be as little as a third," or somewhere within the range of "a quarter to a half" of that for other next-gen systems.

The latest edition of the English-language version of Kojima Productions' podcast contains the audio stream only from the upcoming E3 trailer for Metal Gear Solid 4. I listened to it and I have no idea what was going on, but you may have better luck. Oh, and that particular clip is in Japanese.

Edge Online reprints a feature from the magazine's latest issue, sitting down with Nintendo design head Shigeru Miyamoto and speaking on Nintendo's current and future plans with DS and (as it was named at the time of the interview) Revolution.

IGN has a video interview with Toys for Bob president Paul Reiche about the upcoming Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam (Wii, DS). You know, Toys for Bob. They made Star Control. And Star Control 2. Respect.

GameSpot has a Q&A with 7 Studios producer Elizabeth Dahm about the upcoming The Sopranos (PS2, X360).

Mercenaries (PS2, Xbox) developer Pandemic Studios has recently been dropping a series of hints on its website related to its mysterious Project Q. The concensus among the internets was that the images and captions were clues suggesting a sequel to Mercenaries. Those suspicious were confirmed when Pandemic officially announced Mercenaries 2: World in Flames. "While we're building on the core mercenary experience we created for the original," said Pandemic CEO Andrew Goldman, "we've taken full advantage of next-gen technology to offer a more richly detailed, reactive, living world than gamers have ever seen before." Specific platforms were not revaled, but considering the original game shipped for PlayStation 2 and Xbox, successors PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 are a fair bet. LucasArts published the first game, but was conspicuously absent from the press release, suggesting a new publisher may have been found.

No real information about the game was disclosed, with Pandemic preferring to keep the game under wraps until it is presented during E3. Check back next week for more.

When Nintendo released its updated DS Lite handheld in Japan, the system saw demand that was even higher than anticipated, which most likely resulted in Nintendo's reluctance to nail down any non-Japanese release dates by which time the supply chain would be sufficient. Today, the company finally revealed when DS Lite will be coming to North America: June 11. The system will be priced at $129.99, the current going rate for the original Nintendo DS, and will be available only in the iPod-esque Polar White color at first. Nintendo Australia also announced that the system will be available in Australia a bit early, arriving June 1 for AUS$199.95. Nintendo Europe has not yet announced a release date for European territories.

Though it answers several important questions, Nintendo's press release raises a few as well. It was not stated whether the original Nintendo DS will see a price drop once its sleeker and brighter sibling hits shelves, for example. Also, though the system will be available for a base price of $129.99, the release states that it will be priced "as low as" the quoted figure, implying there may be other options such as a version with a packed in game. The obvious choice there would be New Super Mario Bros. (DS), which will be released on May 15.

If you're considering picking up a DS Lite and are curious how it stacks up to the original Nintendo DS, check out our extensive hands on preview.

In the past week, we've seen quite a few rumors confirmed as fact. That happened yet again today as Vivendi confirmed that Monolith's acclaimed PC shooter F.E.A.R. will be heading to Xbox 360. Last month, Monolith's Xbox 360 launch title Condemned: Criminal Origins took the opposite route, heading over to the PC platform. Day 1 Studios, responsible for the two MechAssault games on Xbox, will be handling the port to 360.

F.E.A.R. for Xbox 360 is set to ship this fall. The game will be shown at E3. - Screenshot.

THQ announced today that it will be publishing a video game based on the HBO mob-centric television series The Sopranos. The player is cast as the illegimate son of Sal "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero, attempting to rise within the ranks of the mob and prove complete loyalty to boss Tony Soprano. Neither a developer nor a final name was revealed for the game, which is in development for PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360. "Teaming up with one of the best in the business, we're excited to enter this new entertainment medium with our most successful and widely recognized original series, The Sopranos," said HBO's Carmi Zlotnik. "It's clear that fans want more of The Sopranos, and creating a game that puts the player in their world is a great way to satisfy them."

THQ's The Sopranos game is planned for release this holiday season.

Sony Computer Entertainment America today revealed its E3 lineup for PlayStation 2 and PSP. Not surprisingly, the publisher is keeping quiet on the PS3 front until next week's pre-E3 press conference. Today's list consists of thirteen games across the two platforms.

- ATV Offroad Fury Pro (PSP)
- ATV Offroad Fury 4 (PS2)
- Gangs of London (PSP)
- God of War II (PS2)
- Killzone: Liberation (PSP)
- Lemmings (PSP)
- LocoRoco (PSP)
- NBA '07 (PS2, PSP)
- Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters (PSP)
- Rogue Galaxy (PS2)
- SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo 2 (PSP)
- SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Combined Assault (PS2)
- World Tour Soccer '06 (PSP)

THQ announced its full lineup for this year's E3, consisting of nineteen games across all current- and next-gen home consoles as well as portable consoles and PC. The console lineup is as follows:

- Saints Row (X360)
- Frontlines: Fuel of War (PS3, X360, PC)
- WWE SmackDown vs. RAW 2007 (PS2, PS3, X360, PSP)
- The Sopranos (PS2, X360)
- MotoGP '06 (Xbox 360)
- GTR (Xbox 360)
- Cars (PS2, Xbox, GCN, X360, Wii, DS, PSP, GBA, PC)
- Destroy All Humans 2 (PS2, Xbox)
- SongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab (PS2, GCN, Wii, DS, GBA, PC)
- Monster House (PS2, GCN, DS, GBA)
- Bratz: Forever Diamondz (PS2, GCN, DS, GBA, PC)
- Barnyard (PS2, GCN, GBA, PC)
- Avatar: The Last Airbender (PS2, Xbox, GCN, Wii, DS, PSP, GBA, PC)
- Juiced: Eliminator (PSP)
- Alex Rider: Stormbreaker (DS, GBA)

Activision announced its fiscal fourth quarter and fiscal year outcomes this week, and like so many other gaming firms in recent months, the situation could be better. In the fourth quarter, the company saw a net loss of $9.2M on revenue of $188.1 versus a profit of $3.6M on $203.9M in the same period last year, for a decrease in profits of $12.8M year over year. Still, for the full fiscal year, Activision saw increased revenue over the previous year, rising from $1.41B to $1.47B. However, overall profits shrunk substantially from $138M to $42M. The company pinned the declines on the oft-noted current console transition, which has been taking its toll industry-wide. Activision expects revenues to fall in 2007, but to rebound significantly heading into fiscal 2008.

During an analyst conference call, Activision also indicated that it plans to have three launch titles each for PlayStation 3 and Wii this year. A company representative noted that these games will ship during "launch periods" rather than necessarily launch day. Furthermore, it was confirmed that Activision will be lending greater support to Wii than was granted to GameCube. One of Activision's launch period titles for Wii is almost certainly Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam, a yet-to-be-formally-announced Tony Hawk skateboarding spinoff heading to Wii and DS courtesy of Star Control and Star Control II developer Toys for Bob.

Lucasfilm today announced that the original Star Wars trilogy (you know, Han shoots first etc.) will be coming to DVD for a limited time on September 12. At the same time, LucasArts announced that Traveller's Tales' LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy will be hitting shelves the same day. It was also revealed for the first time that the game is in development for Xbox 360. That means it's headed to a total of eight platforms, the others being PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, Nintendo DS, PSP, Game Boy Advance, and PC. LEGO Star Wars II is a followup to last year's surprisingly successful LEGO Star Wars, which featured a LEGO brick video game rendition of the Star Wars prequel films. For details on the DVDs and game, check the full press release. - Trailer.

Next Generation catches up with Microsoft's Peter Moore during the runup to E3. Moore touches on the competition, Xbox 360 in Japan, and why the term "online gaming" is a term that is "off-putting" and "quite frankly seems kind of geeky." Please, implores Moore, call it connected gaming.

Game Informer interviews a EA's Jason Armenise and Chuck Blevins about the company's version of Madden for Wii.

Last week, rumors stemming from Taiwanese manufacturers of chips for Xbox 360 indicated that Microsoft plans to boost Xbox 360 production to an ambitious one million units per month, a significant increase from recent figures. The news was vaguely downplayed by Microsoft representatives, but now the Wall Street Journal reports that yet another Taiwanese manufacturer of Xbox 360 components has come out with a similar story.

If true, Xbox 360s will certainly be on their way to widespread availability. However, it is likely Microsoft will also want to hoard many of the units--which is perhaps why they have yet to confirm these rumors--in order to ensure that holiday season shelves are packed with Xbox 360s. Microsoft recently used a similar strategy to promote a "second launch" for the machine, during which retailers nationwide released stocked up consoles simultaneously. It might serve the company well to take advantage of the inevitable insufficient supply Sony and Nintendo will see this holiday season by having plenty of 360s available for customers unable to secure one of the two competing machines.

Sega fans take note. The latest issue of Japanese publication Famitsu reports that Sonic Team's whimsical Sega Saturn flight-simultator-ish title NiGHTS Into Dreams will be seeing a new iteration on Nintendo's upcoming Revolution. With its high-flying acrobatic gameplay, the game seems like a natural fit for the gestural 3D mechanics of the upcoming system's controller. NiGHTS creator and longtime Sega designer Yuji Naka has apparently left Sega to found his own studio, but he plans to maintain close ties with Sega. Famitsu seems to indicate that the game is in the hands of a newly independent developer, and Naka would fit the bill.

Reports from January indicated that Sega is also working on a Sonic the Hedgehog title for Revolution, and rumor has it there may be a total of three Revolution-exclusive games in the works from Sega.

Not content to stir the pot with just one new Revolution rumor, Famitsu also stated that next week the magazine will be revealing Revolution's E3 lineup.

A GameSpot paraphrased translation of a report from Japanese language site Impress reveals that Square Enix may be working on a new massively multiplayer game for PlayStation 3 and Windows Vista. Final Fantasy XI (PS2, X360, PC) producer Hiromichi Tanaka described the reasoning behind developing those two specific platforms and, oddly enough, it is indirectly a result of Xbox 360 development being less intensive than PS3 development.

The Xbox 360 version of Final Fantasy XI, he explained, was quite straightforward; working from the PC version of the game, it was a trivial matter to get it up and running on 360, which has been one of Microsoft's big cross-platform seling points to developers. Putting Final Fantasy XI on PS3, however, would require essentially a ground up approach that could take years, meaning it will absolutely not be launching with Sony's next-gen platform and may never end up on the system at all. Instead, the considerable time and development resources his team would have to invest in such a project would be better used developing a new MMO for PS3 and Windows. Then, if there is demand for a 360 version, it would be easy to engineer from the PC product.

As far as any details about this potential game or whether it would be related to Final Fantasy at all, Tanaka was silent. It's possible more will be revealed at E3 in a few weeks, but since it sounds like development is still in the planning stages, don't bet on it.

What appeas to be a slipup at EBGames has resulted in the premature unveiling of two new SOCOM titles from Sony's recently acquired development studio Zipper Interactive. EB quickly pulled the two product pages from its online site, but not before word of the games got out.

SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Combined Assault is apparently in the works for PlayStation 2. The game will contain single-player and online multiplayer modes, with new four player online cooperative mode. Both the single- and multiplayer components will feature new vehicles and weapons.

SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo 2 is a PSP sequel to the first Fireteam Bravo game. It contains ten new multiplayer maps playable both online and via local wireless, a single-player campaign, and new types of weapons, enemies, and terrain. The game also features new Crosstalk connectivity features with the Combined Assault title on PS2, unlocking a new story arc and more.

Both games are expected later this year. While they have yet to be confirmed, it is safe to say that both projects are in development. When it comes to release dates and ambiguous unannounced game titles, retail sites have a less than stellar reputation, but the product pages in question here were detailed and complete, with far more information than could have been reasonably predicted.

Last week, Famitsu revealed Namco Bandai's upc