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In a somewhat underwhelming manner, Nintendo have announced what we can only assume is a spiritual successor to 2006’s Excite Truck. The game was briefly mentioned in Nintendo’s 2009 Release Schedule along with Punch-Out!! (May 18th) and a new Starfy game.

It’s unclear whether ExciteBots will take on the same fundamental gameplay as its predecessor, but it’s safe to assume that it will. According to Nintendo, it’ll be a game “that builds on the Excitebike and Excite Truck franchises”. The game will feature the same dynamic terrain from the original, and, less interestingly, will let “everyone in the family use the Wii Wheel”.

With a touted release date of April 20th, ExciteBots probably holds the record for ‘Shortest Time Between Announcement and Release’ at just 52 days. The information released with the Press Release is minimal, and doesn’t even mention the developer of the game; we’ve fired an E-Mail the way of Monster Games to try to get some confirmation. For now though, we’ll just sit here, baffled by that name.

Other notable releases included in the schedule are The Conduit, The Legendary Starfy, Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 10 (featuring MotionPlus), Overlord: Dark Legend, Boom Blox Bash Party, EA SPORTS Tennis (working title), Klonoa, Nintendo’s extensive New Play Control! range, Virtua Tennis, Let’s Tap, and, of course, the highly anticipated Garfield Gets Real.

Strangely enough, despite several titles on the schedule taking advantage of Wii MotionPlus, there’s no sign of Nintendo’s own Wii Sports Resort, which is slightly concerning.

Source - GoNintendo

/Rory is wondering what ExciteBots are.

The world and his mother has an iPhone these days - not that I have a problem with Apple’s slick contraption - but I’d prefer my phone to stand out from the crowd. Good news then that Microsoft’s Zune could be getting the phone conversion that internet rumour has speculated on for some time now.

According to Trip Chowdhry, an analyst at Global Equities Research, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will announce a Zune-style mobile device during his keynote address at the upcoming Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, on January 7, 2009.

The device is said to combine the features of Zune’s media player with motion enhancement features, such as an accelerometer, in addition to a large screen and physical keyboard. Far from a shameless iPhone clone, the Zune mobile device could be the next must have phone.

The announcement may not be for a Zune phone however. Some industry professionals such as Gadget Lab, believe the device will be a web-enabled Xbox Zune. This would seem perfectly logical. It’s a well known fact that NVidia have been making a  special chip for a mobile Microsoft product, this coupled with the fact that Microsoft are the only games hardware company not to release a portable device, backs the theory up nicely. Either way, the device could spell big things for games. With gaming on the iPhone taking off in such a big way, there’s certainly room for another player on the portable games front, and the Zune certainly has the credentials to pull it off.

Source

/Jamin | Do want!

Ok, so it’s not quite the Dungeon Keeper 3 announcement we’ve all been waiting for, however Bullfrog’s dungeon creating strategy is to be resurrected by Chinese developer NetDragon Websoft. The deal with EA will see the game reborn as an MMO, and although only initially launching in Asian territories, if successful, the game could eventually see a release in the states. No game details as of yet, but if handled correctly with enough injection of Bullfrog’s charm, and wit, this could be a very interesting title.

Unfortunately the announcement is little for fans to get excited over, however the game will certainly reignite intrest in the franchise, which may be enough for EA to consider making number 3.

/Jamin has an uncontrollable urge to build a dungeon…

Like games? Like writing? Like writing about games? Then listen up. Hide and Geek are looking for a reliable and passionate writer to join our little team. Experience isn’t essential, however the quality of your written work must be of a high standard. It’s not a massive responsibility, we’re not looking for much from you, just enough to keep content up. Unfortunately we cannot pay you, but hundreds of people every day will be reading your work, surely that’s payment enough?

So if you’ve got the credentials - get in contact! Email us with a little bit about yourself and feel free to include sample articles if you have any.

/Jamin waits patientally.

Rewrite your most wanted lists. The wait is over. Star Wars: The Old Republic has today been officially announced at the LucasArts and BioWare press event in San Francisco. This is set to be the second MMO to grace the Star Wars universe, although is not intended to replace Star Wars Galaxies in any way. The game promises to be the first ‘truly story driven MMO’ and is set some 3000 years after the events of KOTOR 2.

As with the first KOTOR games, the new MMO will still place an emphasis on the choice between good and evil, featuring two factions to choose from; the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire, with classes specific to each. Races are yet to be confirmed although so far it is thought that human, wookiee, and droid will all be included.

Bioware refused to hint at a subscription model or release date, however confirmed that an Open Beta is planned for the future. Although confirmed initially for PC, a console version hasn’t been ruled out. Rest assured, Hide and Geek will be keeping an eye on this one and reporting on all the latest Old Republic happenings as they happen.

UPDATE: Official Star Wars: The Old Republic site now live

/Jamin can literally feel the force flowing through him. Well it’s either that or gas.

Without blowing my own trumpet, I used to be pretty frikkin’ good at Street Fighter Alpha 3 on the PSone, and to this day it remains my favourite beat em up of all time. Admittedly this is more than likely due to nostalgia, but gamers are fully aware, nostalgia is a very powerful thing.
Good news then that Street Fighter Alpha 2 and 3 have both been rated by ESRB, meaning that they’re both likely to appear on PSN at some point in the near future. Here’s hoping they won’t face the same 8 month wait that the original took to hit the Playstation network.

/Jamin - down, down-right, right, punch!!

The Hide and Geek team are incredibly happy today. Why? Because one of the most anticipated games of 2009, Resident Evil 5 is going to be playable at the Eurogamer Expo, which we’re attending later this month.

BRIGHTON, ENGLAND, 14th October 2008: Eurogamer.net and Capcom are proud to announce that Resident Evil 5, one of the most highly anticipated games of 2009, will debut for the first time in the UK at Eurogamer Expo.

Not only this, but Capcom’s Street Fighter IV has also been announced as playable for the expo. Hide and Geek are going to be at the London Games Festival, reporting on the days news and events, so stay tuned on October 28th for all the latest.

/Jamin’s going to be playing Resi 5 in 2 weeks!

This morning in Tokyo, Microsoft took to the stage to give us another reason to replace our dead 360’s. Their attempt was noteworthy. With the annoucnement that Tekken 6 would be making it’s way to the format next ‘fall’. There were trailers for the Last Remnant and Star Ocean IV, two of Square-Enix’s contributions to the strong Xbox 360 RPG catalogue, with Star Ocean IV expected to hit next spring. Also mentioned was the exclusivity of Ninety Nine Nights II.

With a slightly less eastern touch, was the announcement of Bungie’s secretive Halo 3-related project, hinted towards earlier in the year. The game, titled Halo 3 Recon, will be a prequel to Halo 3, featuring ODST (Orbital Drop Shock Troops) and is scheduled to release ‘fall 2009′.

Xbox Live Arcade is also set for some old-skool treatment, not Mega Man 9 old-skool though. Space Invaders Extreme. Arkanoid Live, King of Fighters Ultimate 98, Metal Slug 7 and R-Type will be on offer on XBLA to wet some retro appetites.

Also, finally revealed, was the deployment date for the New Xbox Experience. Offering all kinds of new functionality and a ‘new’ aesthetic, the NXE will be deployed on November 19th.

Woffls

“A groundbreaking videogame demands an equally provocative theme song,”

So says Steve Schnur, Worldwide Executive of Music and Marketing for EA. And so the games theme song, titled Still Alive will be  released digitally on November 11th to coincide with the launch of the game. The song is performed by Swedish rock/pop star Lisa Miskovsky, with the album featuring remixes from Benny Benassi, Paul van Dyk, Junkie XL, Teddybears, and Armand Van Helden.

Schnur also said “We’ve taken an unprecedented approach to this track, bringing together several of the world’s top remixers to create an album that will not only cross genres and borders, but also redefine how great new music can be delivered to the world.”

Mirrors Edge will hit UK stores November 14th, with the album released worldwide on the 11th.

Jamin out