Red 5 Studios standing by to show team-based online shooter at PAX '10

After the fate of its Offset Engine-powered MMO was left in doubt when the Project Offset team at Intel left the building, Red 5 Studios -- founded by former Blizzard crew -- has confirmed plans to show off its debut effort, a team-based online shooter, at PAX Prime in September. We knew that the developer intended to forge ahead with its game using "highly modified" Offset Engine tech; we just didn't know until now what the nature of the title was or when we'd see it.

It would seem that the $15 million Red 5 received from China's The9 (former operator of World of Warcraft in that territory) got the company through a rough patch, and that its game -- intended for a worldwide market -- will finally have its day in the sun. (If the sun even comes out in Seattle, that is.)

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Readers pick best webcomic: Off Track

Yeah, now that we think about it, Princess Zelda in Spirit Tracks wasn't exactly the most flattering portrayal of the titular heiress. In Ocarina of Time, she masqueraded around as this badass ninja, in Twilight Princess, she was a killer with a bow and arrow -- heck, in Wand of Gamelon, you actually get to play as Zelda. As Awkward Zombie points out in last week's Wrapup-winning comic "Off Track," all she can do in the series' second DS outing is follow a dotted line, often into a wall, obstacle or slavering jaws of a hideous beast.

Second and third place went to Digital Unrest's "Incognito" and Penny Arcade's "Planting a Flag," respectively. If you've got a strip you'd like to see in tomorrow's Wrapup, make sure you drop a link in the comments, or send in a tip!

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Richard Garriott wins $28 million in NCsoft suit

Spacefaring game designer Richard Garriott has been awarded $28 million in his lawsuit against former employer NCsoft. The Austin American-Statesman reports that Garriott was seeking $47 million -- a much higher figure than earlier reports -- to cover the losses he incurred after being forced to quickly sell his stock in the company at a low point in the market following his termination. He was apparently in quarantine after his $20 million trip into space when NCsoft dropped the banhammer on him. Garriott's agreement with NCsoft was that he would have 10 years to sell his stock if he were ever fired, and NCsoft argued unsuccessfully that he left the company voluntarily.

Garriott said he was "extremely pleased with the jury's decision" in a statement released to the Statesman. Meanwhile, an NCsoft lawyer confirmed that the company is still "considering all options for next steps in the legal process." It might be best to just move on at this point -- you know, start over with a tabula rasa.

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Splatterhouse producer talks blood, guts and paying homage

Controversy is not new to games, but few tend to attract it as eagerly as the upcoming Splatterhouse remake. Following our E3 preview of the game, we were unsure if Namco Bandai's effort would be little more than fodder for your local news looking to stir up viewers. I chatted with producer Dan Tovar at Comic-Con last week to find out if there's more to Splatterhouse than blood, guts and a sensational headline.

"I was a huge fan of Splatterhouse since as far back as I could remember," Tovar told me. "Played the crap out of all three of the original games back in the '80s and '90s, and so when I came to Namco years ago, they were looking for concepts to get going in the next couple of years. I asked them, 'Are we going to be able to do old properties?' and they said yes. Splatterhouse was on the top of my list, so we just went to work trying to get a concept together, and it just snowballed from there."

The game's gimmick is its gore, and when I told Tovar his game was disgusting, he replied with an appropriate, "Thank you." Namco Bandai's working with the ESRB to "maximize our M" rating, and it sounds like the team is looking forward to a little controversy.

"We anticipate a certain amount of that, but the game is called Splatterhouse. It evokes a very particular expectation, and you can't have Splatterhouse without the amount of wetness and blood that we do." And that means turning up the gore, Tovar explained. "There are definitely some of the splatter kills that we had that we didn't think were brutal enough. You want that impact -- at the con, you see a lot of people when they get into the splatter kills, they're like 'Oooh damn, look at that,' which is what we're targeting."

The splatter kills are gory -- spines are ripped, guts are spilled and there's lots and lots of blood. I asked what Tovar's team decided not to do in the game, and he said they were drawing the line at sex, of all things. "We try to stay away from any kind of sexually-themed stuff." Then again, I told him, Dante's Inferno didn't pay much attention to that line. "Yeah, they got away with it," he replied. "So where is the limit these days? I think games are pushing the limits, and people are ravenous for it. I don't know what that says about us as a society, but there's a market for it."

At the same time, it's difficult to make a hit game out of controversy alone, and Tovar claimed that the development team is also working hard to tune the game's action mechanics in an attempt to appeal to a more general audience.

"Games are pushing the limits, and people are ravenous for it." - Dan Tovar, producer

"That's where the action game elements come in," he explained. "We're not trying to re-invent the wheel, so you can pick it up and play it and it feels very at home if you play a lot of action games."

"We wanted to do a whole 3D action, balls-out, let's do it -- let's do it big and do it right," Tovar added, saying that Namco Bandai had not considered doing a total throwback side-scroller. A secondary game was considered, however, "kind of like Bionic Commando with Rearmed" -- instead, all three of the original games were added as unlockables. Additionally, about "five to ten percent" of the main game will be from a side-scrolling perspective. "Obviously, we have to pay homage to the originals, and we have to make sure that the fans -- because they're a ravenous and voracious bunch that have been keeping it alive long term -- that they're getting what they want."

The Splatterhouse Comic-Con demo was the same bloody mess we saw back at E3, but work continues as the game nears its fall release. We'll soon see if that's enough time for Namco Bandai to build a strong enough skeleton to support all the gory insides.

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Visit scenic Nar Shaddaa in Star Wars: The Old Republic

The Star Wars: The Old Republic website reveals a new world for the MMO: the "smuggler's moon" of Nar Shaddaa, orbiting the Hutt homeworld. It's a huge city full of fugitives and other criminals, and is host to an ongoing war between the Hutt Cartel and the Exchange Syndicate -- you know, the kind of thing that a Jedi pays no attention to because he's too busy bringing down the government of the whole galaxy. It also kind of looks like something out of Phantasy Star Online.

Have you ever noticed how in science fiction, entire planets will just have one defining feature? Like in Star Wars: Hoth is an ice planet, Dagobah is 100% swamp, Coruscant is one enormous city, and this place is a different planetwide city. Based on all the planets we've lived on (pretty much the one), that doesn't seem like how it works. Of course, the Star Wars universe is the one with lightsabers and Wookiee best friends, so there's definitely value to its interpretation of civilization.

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WRUP: Stayin' cool edition

by Alexander Sliwinski on Jul 30th 2010 9:30PM

How does one turn a hot dog into a chili dog? Open a bag of ice on the floor! Speaking of, It's been pretty hot lately (northern hemisphere bias!), but thankfully we haven't noticed it with the embarrassment of riches that's been the summer release schedule. Check out our reviews section if you're looking for the latest. What's everyone playing this weekend? Alexander Sliwinski (@XanderSliwinski): It's Elemental, dear Watson. Think I'm close to finishing off Red Dead Redemption.Andrew Yoon (@scxzor): Once again, another weekend of not playing video games. Who needs them?Ben Gilbert (@BigBossBgilbert): Unlike Griffin, I won't be enjoying Fun. until October, but I will be trying to have regular ol' fun (non-musical fun, if you will) by finishing Crackdown 2 (at this point I may as well) and getting some more time in with the "new" Battlefield: Bad Company 2 maps.Chris Buffa (@ChrisBuffa): If I have time, I'll continue playing Singularity. Otherwise, I will enjoy that awesome game known as the Joystiq Database. Much will be learned, but no achievements will be unlocked.Christopher Grant (@ChrisGrant): Having finished the first Alan Wake expansion "The Signal" I went back to the backlog, picking Darksiders. After 10 or so hours in War's world, I've found it to be a totally competent Zelda clone. If I had any complaints beyond the puerile subject matter, it would be that it's not much more than a Zelda clone.David Hinkle (@DaveHinkle): I'm playing the most exciting game of them all: pack a bunch of boxes and ship them out to San Francisco because oh my god I'm going to live there soon! I've got a +10 to Excitement right now.Griffin McElroy (@griffinmcelroy): This weekend will be a delightful mix of Dragon Quest IX, GTA: Episodes from Liberty City and Fun. That is to say, the band Fun. But I imagine the first two things will be remarkably Fun in their own respects.James Ransom-Wiley: I'm at the final stage in the Madison, WI adventure game, and it looks like I'm gonna get the cheesy ending.JC Fletcher (@jcfletcher): Dragon Quest IX continues indefinitely! Also, I'm going to check out Dive: The Medes Island Secret. I really want to know what that secret is!Justin McElroy (@JustinMcElroy): I'm gonna do my best to finish up Deathspank. Also, lots more Clash of the Titans. No, no, I'm shitting you.Ludwig Kietzmann (@LudwigK): Does this have to be a game? I was actually planning on watching every single Pink Panther cartoon this weekend.Mike Schramm (@MikeSchramm): After a few weeks of trying to put down FFXIII, I've only just made a dent in it, so I think it's time to take a trip to my local House of Video Game Retail and get something new. It would be StarCraft 2, except the PC's on the fritz at the moment.Randy Nelson (@DangerPenguin) I hope to get in a least a little bit of the following: Fastar!, Helsing's Fire and Gravity Hook (they're all for iPhone, and you should play them). I plan to get in a lot of the following: Castlevania: Harmony of Despair.Richard Mitchell (@SenseiRAM) I'm in Memphis on a mini-vacay, so I'll be playing "eat the ribs." If I have time, I also carted along Bowser's Inside Story, SingStar, Wii Sports Resort, Demon's Souls and StarCraft 1.

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Zynga shutting down Street Racing game, offering credit for in-game purchases

by JC Fletcher on Jul 31st 2010 3:00AM

Casual giant Zynga is shutting down its Street Racing game on August 2, immediately rendering void all the in-game items players bought with real money. Zynga offered no explanation in the announcement, simply suggesting that players try other Zynga games. Naturally, people whose fake worlds have crashed around them are upset, starting a petition in Zynga's forum to stop the game from disappearing.

Zynga told Develop that it wouldn't be offering refunds on the money spent in-game, opting instead to give credits equivalent to the cost of any purchase made in the last 90 days, plus an extra 100 units of virtual currency, all usable in other Zynga games. Which is really going to satisfy the people planning to stop playing Zynga games when Street Racing goes away.

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Inactive Aion accounts reactivated for double XP weekend

Over on the official Aion message boards, NCsoft has announced a "Double Your Fun" weekend, during which all players will receive double experience points.. In addition, all inactive Aion accounts will be reactivated for the weekend in order to entice lapsed players. If you've had an inkling to revisit the world of Atreia, this looks like the weekend to do it. Find the double XP schedule for each server after the break. Siel & Vaizel: Friday, July 30, 8:00am PDT until Monday, August 2, 3:00pm PDTIsraphel & Zikel: Friday, July 30, 8:00am EDT until Monday, August 2, 3:00pm EDTNezekan: Friday, July 30, 8:00am AEST until Monday, August 2nd, 3:00pm EDT

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Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions' other costumes revealed

You didn't think that Peter Parker's wardrobe would only contain four outfits in his upcoming outing, Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, did you? No, no sir. Revealed during Marvel's Comic-Con panel were a handful of new costumes which will be unlockable in-game, and offered as pre-order bonuses at select retailers. Gamestop - Cosmic Costume Amazon - Iron Spider Costume Kmart - Scarlet Spider Costume Best Buy - Negative Zone Costume Unlockables - Spider Armor Costume, Mangaverse CostumeNote that the slides announcing the retailer bonuses mention that pre-orders will "get a code to unlock

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Irrational Games event on August 11th in NYC, game reveal probable

We don't know much about "Project Icarus," the still-codenamed and much-anticipated new game from Irrational Games, the Boston-based dev behind BioShock. While BioShock 2 has come and gone out of spinoff 2K Marin, and we've already gotten our hands on 2K Marin's followup, XCOM, we still don't have a shred of information on what Irrational's been working on over the last three years.

That's all likely to change on August 11th when Ken Levine and company are holding an event in New York City. We received the above invitation today and, while it's short on details, it promises that "details and formal email invitations" will be arriving shortly. Until then, peruse the above image for any hidden secrets it might hold. New York City, is that a clue? August 11th? That's the 223rd day of the year but what does it mean? It's Hulk Hogan's birthday ... are you seeing what we're seeing? It all makes sense now!

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See how the other half lives in Gears of War 3 'Beast Mode' footage

We didn't think there was anything slower in the whole, entire universe than one of Gears of War 3's lumbering, impossibly muscle-bound protagonists. We were wrong -- as evidenced by the two GameTrailers videos posted below, that honor goes to the new Beast Mode's "Berserker" character.


Source: GameTrailers "

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The Force Unleashed 2 dev diary certainly does unleash the force

We knew the Sithdi (Jedith?) known as Starkiller had some serious Force-wielding prowess in the series' first installment, but if the dev diary for The Force Unleashed 2 posted below is any indication, we haven't really seen anything yet. Force Push is great -- but Force Disintegrate is better.

"

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Street Fighter X Tekken (and vice versa) revealed at Comic-Con

According to Event Hubs, Capcom producer Yoshinori Ono recently dropped a fairly sizable bomb on attendees of the company's "Street Fighter Mania!: SSFIV and Beyond" panel at Comic-Con: Street Fighter X Tekken. The oft-rumored project will be developed by Capcom using the Street Fighter IV engine (only with two-fighter tag team battles), and will feature a number of fighters from Namco's similarly successful fighting franchise, including Kazuya and Nina Williams.

But that's not all! Ono also revealed that Namco Bandai would be developing Tekken X Street Fighter, which will be developed in-house at Tekken, and spearheaded by long-time franchise producer Katsuhiro Harada. Both titles will be released for 360 and PS3, though according to a cheeky slide at the end of the presentation, the current release window is "not for a while!" Source: Event Hubs "

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Rock Band 3 adds Tears for Fears, Marilyn Manson, The B-52s and Def Leppard

The Rock Band Twitter account has been a real beehive of activity as of late. No wonder, considering Harmonix has slowly been teasing new artists coming to Rock Band 3. So far, Tears for Fears, Marilyn Manson, The B-52s and Def Leppard have been confirmed for the game.

Harmonix promises to slowly trickle out more artists as Comic-Con progresses this weekend, so we'll be sure to relay the info as it's made available. In the meanwhile, we suggest you grab your hot pants and celebrate!

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