Some of you may like this news that comes from Ars Technica. Apparently, after the whole Games-for-Windows-Live-going-free shebang, Microsoft also revealed its intentions to reimburse subscription fees to Gold-level Live subscribers. This was clarified by Games for Windows senior global director Kevin Unangst.

"There will be a benefit for customers who purchased gold subscriptions on Windows," Unangst said to Ars Technica. "Proactively, we will be offering refunds for those with Windows-specific Gold subscriptions. Customer service has already begun to get communications prepared."

Games for Windows LIVE former subscription model denoted the following: $7.99 for a one-month subscription, $19.99 for 3 months and $49.99 for a year.

Ubisoft Montreal is clearly focusing on other projects and Splinter Cell: Conviction doesn't appear to be one of them. Earlier today, publisher Ubisoft confirmed that the multiplatform game has been delayed until the Ubi's 2009-2010 fiscal year.

So, good old Sam Fisher will probably make an appearance on Xbox 360 and PC platforms some time between April 1, 2009 and March 30, 2010, as opposed to of the previously projected date - between Jan. 1 and March 30, '09.

One of the main selling points of the new Splinter Cell was that in the game players won't be relying so much on high-tech weaponry and equipment, but rather on objects in the nearby area - the environment is your weapon.

No details were given about the reason for the delay. Don't worry; it's bound to arrive, eventually. After all, it's still a powerful and very popular franchise.

When Microsoft decided to push back the announcement of Bungie's new game, which was supposed to be showcased at this year's E3, the well-known development studio, obviously, wasn't thrilled with the idea. They even admitted so.

"Keeping things clean, I certainly didn't agree with the decision to delay our news until sometime after E3," Bungie president Harold Ryan told EG.

The company's concern lies with the community and loyal fans, which, as Ryan explains is one of their top priorities with every project. "Bungie is always concerned first and foremost with our fans. Whenever we are prevented from exceeding their positive expectations it is not a laughing matter," he says.

Be that as it may, both MS and Bungie still haven't offered so much as a smidgen of info on the new Halo project or a potential new IP from the lads and laides at Bungie.

Bizarre Creations, best known for their Project Gotham racing series, have revealed that their XBLA title Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 is going to be released next Wednesday, which is a bit sooner than the previously announced August launch date.

Gamers will get a chance to get the game via Xbox Live Arcade for 800 MS Points and will be able to experience local head-to-head or co-op play, multiple game modes and copilot mode (one player fires while the other steers).

See the screens from the game right this way and have a look at the E3 2008 trailer for Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2.

Source.

The main E3 '08 trailer for Resident Evil 5 features gameplay footage and a very brief segments from some of the cut-scenes in the game. Check it out:

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Obsidian Entertainment, the makers of KotOR II and NWN 2, may (emphasizing the 'may') be working on a real-time strategy. An advertisement was spotted on Creative Heads' recruitment web site, as the company is looking for a lead artist to work on an upcoming RTS title.

Nothing else is known at this point or if such a project even exists. It could've been a simple typo.

By the way, Obsidian Entertainment has a few projects underway including the spy themed role-playing game Alpha Protocol, the expansion pack Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir (also an RPG) and yet another RPG set in the Aliens universe.

So, all RPGs then. Then why the hell would they make an RTS all of a sudden?

Source.

Electronic Arts and Starz Media launched a trailer for the animated movie prequel Dead Space, which is actually meant to bridge the gap between the end of the DS comic books and EA Redwood Shores' third-person sci-fi survival horror game.

The game is slated to hit store shelves across Europe and North America on October 21 for the PS3 and Xbox 360. That's correct. It's going to land a bit earlier than we thought and not on Oct. 31.

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The art's crap.

-- The end --

Watchmen, in development at Deadline Games and written by comic editor Len Wein, is a new game set in an alternate 1985 America. Watchmen is based on DC Comics graphic novel from the '80s and features anti-hero Rorschach and Nite Owl.

"A complex, multi-layered mystery adventure, 'Watchmen' will take us to the brink of destruction. In alternate 1985 America – in which costumed superheroes are not only real but have ultimately been outlawed – one former hero goes looking for the truth behind the murder of one of his own, but uncovers a devastating conspiracy to drag the world implacably closer to its own end."

Hm, another mind-numbingly disappointing creation that feeds the publishers' franchise-milking needs? We'll see.

On a related topic, Watchmen the movie is being directed by Zack Snyder (300 director) and will arrive to theaters on March 6, '09.

The controversy surrounding Capcom's Resident Evil 5 -- ignited after the game's debut trailer -- took the company by surprise, as explained by producer Jun Takeuchi over at MTV Multiplayer.

"No, we certainly didn't anticipate the reaction," says Takeuchi. "We think it was a bit of a misunderstanding when we published the first images of the game back in the day. And we think that as we move along and allow people to see more the game and more of what's going on and more of the story, people will get a better idea of the game."

Takeuchi also talked about how the Capcom staff is racially diverse.

"There are black members in the development team," Takeuchi offered. "We do have staff working on the game, who are aware of the historical background and we are constantly checking these kinds of things with them. Certainly the most important thing we have learned is that different countries do see the same things in different ways."

As for the game itself, it looks very promising (judging from the stuff we saw).

Rockstar San Diego is at present busy with Midnight Club: Los Angeles, which, by the look of the latest dosage of in-game screenshots, is progressing beautifully. The free-roam spirit of the game will see players racing at incredible speed through the streets of L.A.

With no load times, no tracks, and no rules, the game allows players to race who they want, when they want, and where they want in an unbelievable recreation of Los Angeles.

You'll be able to catch Midnight Club: Los Angeles in stores on October 7 in the United States and and October 10 in Europe. The game is in development for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PSP, which is going to "take full advantage of the hardware to deliver the unrivaled sense of speed and style that the best-selling Midnight Club series is known for."

Watched Legendary Pictures' The Dark Knight yesterday. Best Batman flick, period. The amazing thing is that the movie stretches to an epic 152 minutes without ever getting dull. The story is full of twists that weave together a superbly written plot. Like in Batman Begins, returning actors fit their parts perfectly, which goes for Batsy-boy as well. The late Heath Ledger masterfully reintroduces an all-too familiar character in an incredibly convincing performance that carries the movie from beginning to end.

If you haven't seen it yet, do so, preferably in one of them nifty IMAX theaters.

Forget The Incredible Hulk, forget Iron Man. The Dark Knight is the blockbuster you wanna to watch this summer.

Okay, here we go again. Another teaser countdown may indicate a possible upcoming demo for Space Siege, the latest sci-fi role-playing game currently in the works over at development studio Gas Powered Games (cheers Blue).

The countdown timer is located on NVIDIA's nZone and it appears to hint an "exclusive nZone demo" for Space Siege. If this is true, then there's a little more than 4 days left until the demo is released - either Sunday night or Monday morning.

Hm, it would be nice grabbing a playable demo for Space Siege. Let's hope this report is accurate.

Japanese publisher Square Enix announced that their project Final Fantasy XIII is in development not only for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 (Europe and US only), but for the PC as well. This was confirmed during a press conference by Final Fantasy XIII Producer Yoshinori Kitase, who discussed the company's new development strategy with current projects.

They claim that their in-house technology makes multiplatform development a lot easier than before. Most of their upcoming games now use the new PC-based Crystal Tools development environment, which allows the devs to create cross-platform games.

"The content will be the same on all platforms," said Kitase. "However, we have yet to determine how many discs will be required for the 360 version. We'll have to consider the differences between formats. Currently the game is being built on PC, where it's actually functional. We're still focusing on making it work on PS3, so it's difficult to know how long the process of taking it to 360 will take."

Kitase continued: "Now that we're developing on a PC base, the pace is going a bit faster," Kitase said. "We haven't introduced new footage of the game, but we should be able to show something new in the near future." Hopefully during the TGS (in September)...

Source.

Nintendo or Capcom haven't said anything about a Wii edition of the upcoming survival horror game, Resident Evil 5. Last we heard, Resident Evil 5 is heading towards the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Sega of America prez Simon Jeffrey appears to think there's a Wii version in the works as well. Either he knows something we don't or this was a mere slip of the tongue:

"The Wii's selling incredible amounts of hardware, but Nintendo knows it needs to expand the demographic. It needs to connect with the core gaming demographic."

He added: "Resident Evil 5 - when that happens on the Wii that's going to help."

Check out our impressions of Resident Evil 5.

Numerous games were a no show at the E3 this year, including Sony's highly anticipated futuristic racer WipEout HD. The delay was partially explained by Sony Europe boss: "There is a specific technical problem with WipEout HD that we have to solve. I can't go into details but it is a really, really tricky technical problem that no region has been able to solve at the moment."

Turns out this "technical problem" requires more than just mere tweaking and polishing. In fact, it was reported that WipEout HD failed "the epilepsy tests so much that it has to be re-engineered."

At this point, we have no idea if there's any truth to this, since Sony hasn't breathed a word on the matter.

The once strong flames of the E3 seem to have died down in the past few years. With the E3 Media and Business Summit being slammed by both publishers and the press, rumors surfaced about the those flames being snuffed out for good this time. However, the show is still on for next year, as reported by Gspot's Blog.

"As we do every year, we're beginning the process of surveying exhibitors and attendees to determine potential changes to the Summit," says an ESA rep. "Once this is completed and shared with the ESA's Board of Directors, we will make an announcement about the specifics of the 2009 E3 Media & Business Summit, which will occur."

The E3 2006 had more than 60,000 attendees, after which the trade group downsized the event to around 5,000 invite-only visitors and have relocated it to Santa Monica. That move cost them $5 million in event cancellation fees. With the number of attendees still kept to approximately 5k, the ESA moved the show back to the L.A. Convention Center for 2008.

You can check out our coverage of the E3 2008 right this way.

GameTap and THQ informs us that they signed an agreement to offer a wide selection of the publisher’s titles for the PC. As part of this effort, certain THQ games will also be made available for free play on GameTap’s ad-supported website www.gametap.com.

“We are excited to be adding THQ’s roster of top content to GameTap,” said Ricardo Sanchez, vice president of content and creative director for GameTap. “With this new deal, subscribers and website visitors will enjoy great games from THQ, including Company of Heroes and Red Faction.”

GameTap is also going to feature popular games from THQ such as Company of Heroes, Warhammer 40K, Red Faction, Supreme Commander, Titan Quest, Saints Row 2, PuzzleQuest and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl.

You should always listen to your heart. Even if your mind complains, your balls will be proud and puffy.

- 2lions