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Nintendo planning Zelda surprise for E3 2010

At E3 2009, Nintendo revealed a few fragments of information about the upcoming Zelda, basically confirming that it was in development and released a sweet teaser poster (which you can see above). Now Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma has said that they’re “trying something new” with regards to the structure of the game, and adds,

“So we have been trying something new in terms of the structure of the Wii version of the new Zelda game this time. I am really hopeful that people will be surprised with the changes we have implemented for this Wii version.”

The game is set for a hopeful 2010 release. Very hopeful.

Infinity Ward talking possible spin-off based on “Ghost”

Ghost, the guy with the cool mask (see above), is one of the many characters in the game with a cool name and deep British accent. According to rumors, developer Infinity Ward is now considering a spin-off game based on the character — there’s already a comic book based on “Ghost”.

The news was broken by Craig Fairbrass, the guy who does the voice for Ghost, saying that there are talks about a “little game about Ghost”. Which might just mean a DLC only title sometime in the future. You never know. Especially considering how far Activision is willing to go to milk every penny out of their titles.

Dead Space 2 getting online multiplayer?

Job postings are a great way to spy on upcoming products from companies. For instance, a recent job posting from EA looks for a “Senior Online Level Designer,” which should be qualified to “be able to work collaboratively with Creative Director and Online Producer to create extremely fun, satisfying and polished multiplayer levels”. And you know what that means? Yep, pretty big possibility of Dead Space 2 having online multiplayer.

Alan Wake premiering in May 2010

Remedy has always been secret about Alan Wake, and has been very careful not giving a firm release date on the gorgeous adventure game. Now MCV claims that a source tells them that the release date is set for the end of May on the Xbox 360, and will receive a “Hollywood-style promotion”? Does that mean we’re gonna be seeing a lot of Alan Wake merchandising? T-Shirts and cup-holders?

IO Interactive working on a secret game

IO Interactive, the Danish developer (owner by Square Enix), is best known for the Hitman franchise and the recent Kane & Lynch and Mini Ninjas (read our Mini Ninjas review).

While the developer has confirmed it’s working on Hitman 5 and Kane & Lynch 2, CVG reports that a secret source tells them IO is working on a game “unlike anything else”, and note: “Imagine all the violence of Hitman and Kayne & Lynch but not scripted”.

New Zelda for Wii not committed for 2010

We first heard about the new Zelda game for Wii at the 2009 E3 expo, where Shigeru Miyamoto himself unveiled the news. Now Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime has refused to confirm the game for 2010 in an interview with GameTrailers TV, saying “We haven’t committed to Zelda in 2010″.

Nintendo is known for delaying their highly anticipated titles like Zelda and Mario, but in the end, it has often resulted in a better overall product. Let’s hope it’s the same with the next Zelda, even if we have to wait until 2011.

Serious Sam HD gone gold

Serious Sam HD developer Developer Digital announced via Twitter that Croteam’s Serious Sam high def re-incarnation has gone gold — however, as fate would have it, that particular tweet has since been removed. Another tweet reveals that you’ll be able to pre-order the digital copy of the game next week. We’ll see if that one sticks on Twitter or not.

Valve denies L4D 2 demo revealed DLC

Yesterday we reported that the Left 4 Dead 2 demo included references to unannounced DLC, two of them, to be precise, but Valve’s Chet Faliszek has stated that those names are placeholders only, in case they decide to release DLC. Faliszek said,

If you’re reading in the forums and you’re reading about the “Miracle” DLC or whatever, that’s test code. To get tested through Microsoft certification we had to do test scenarios with DLC. We haven’t actually come out internally with what we’re going to do yet.

Seeing that Left 4 Dead has received DLC packs, there’s no indication that the sequel won’t. After all, DLCs are big business, just look at Bethesda and Fallout 3.

Left 4 Dead 2 DLC hinted?

The Left 4 Dead 2 demo appears to have hints in the code of two unannounced DLCs for the game, titled “Miracle Pack” and “Apocalyptic Pack”. CVG claims that the two names appear next to the survivors in the code, but I guess we’ll all know once Valve makes things official. There’s no reason not to think DLCs will be finding its way to L4D 2.

Super Mario voice actor confirms new Mario game

Charles Martinet, the legendary voice actor behind the voice of Super Mario, spilled the beans on a new Mario game, saying his latest gig involved voice acting for a new Mario game that is not New Super Mario Bros. Wii or Super Mario Galaxy 2 — both of which are announced and will ship this year and next year, respectively. He wrote on his Twitter page, “Mama Mia!!!! I’m going to Seattle this week to record a new Mario game! Woo Hooo!!!!! I can hardly wait!!!!1″, followed by another tweet saying, “Awesome new Mario Game! And it’s not NSMB Wii, and it’s not Galaxy 2, but it’s going to be crazy fun!”. As usual Nintendo doesn’t comment on rumors, but you can always guess.

Nvidia Tegra to be used in next Nintendo DS

Nvidia’s Tegra chip, which includes CPU and graphics in the same, lower powered chip, is rumored to be featured in Nintendo’s next DS update. The Tegra chip can already be found in Microsoft’s Zune HD, which can, among other things, play 3D games and stream HD video. The basic Tegra chip configuration runs at 600 MHz, while the two chips found in the DS run at a meager 67 MHz and 33 Mhz. The rumors suggest that the new DS might wait and get the next generation of Tegra chips, which are due in about a year from now.

Crytek UK working on original FPS

When Crytek bought Free Radical, developers of Time Splitters and Haze, most expected the newly named Crytek UK studio to continue the Crysis franchise, however, according to studio boss Karl Hilton, they’re doing something completely different: an original FPS. There are no other details regarding the game, however, we’re pretty sure it’ll have at least a “Cry” in the title.

Will Wright’s latest studio working on 3 unannounced projects

In early April we let you know that Will Wright, the guy behind The Sims, Spore and co-founder of Maxis, would be departing the studio he helped build to focus on his newest studio Stupid Fun Club. At the time we had no idea exactly what the studio would work on first and not much has changed since. Although today we now at least know that Stupid Fun Club is working on something.

Mr. Wright himself recently sat down with VentureBeat to let us know that Stupid Fun Club is working on three separate projects which could come to life in “six months to a year”. He elaborated by saying that these projects range from the internet to toys but didn’t say much further.

So, within the next 6-12 months we should be seeing more of Stupid Fun Club.

Modern Warfare 2 delayed?

Recent rumors have suggested that the upcoming and highly anticipated shooter Modern Warfare 2, would be delayed up to two weeks. While Activision hasn’t announced anything yet, retailers are still listing November 10 as the official release date. The rumors on the other hand, are suggesting November 20 for consoles and November 24th for the PC version. We’ll wait for a confirmation from Activision, as this may very well be bogus.

Wii price cut all but confirmed

Several rumors have been suggesting that Nintendo will lower the price on the Wii from $250 to $200 in the upcoming weeks, rumors from major retailers who all received the new price point on the game console. Nintendo however, has remained tight-lipped as usual, not commenting on anything.

Major retailers like Best Buy, Target and Toy ‘R Us have all sent out memos with the new price point — $199 — and all suggest that the official announcement from Nintendo will be on September 25, this Friday. We’ll have to wait and see and get a confirmation from the Big N.