GameSpice

For the first time Take-Two has shown GTA IV to the public through an actual demo at this year's E3. The demo was primary a presentation of driving around Liberty City, which was described as "similar in scope to GTA: San Andreas, but intense in details, not only horizontally but vertically".

According to Strauss Zelnick from Take-Two the game is going to set new standard in interactive entertainment. The company are not resting on their laurels, but are looking to redefine the genre. The fourth Grand Theft Auto game is one of the most anticipated titles of the year and is scheduled for release October 16 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

At the press conference Take-Two did not mention Manhunt 2, which leaves its future unknown.

Sony has confirmed that Metal Gear Solid 4 is an exclusive title for PlayStation 3. The announcement came at Sony's E3 conference with the appearance of Hideo Kojima. He revealed that MGS4 would be released worldwide in spring 2008.

Kojima added that this game is going to be the finale to the Metal Gear series and said that although it was a stealth game, it would be built around different elements - such as using dynamic cover on the battlefield. According to several media the trailer shown at the press conference was very impressive.

Argh! Let it be 2008 quick!

This year's Electronic Entertainment Expo (commonly known as E3) has begun and the line-ups from developers and publishers have been unveiled. Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony are keeping their main course secret though. Their line-up will be announced on their respective press conferences.

Here is the list:

Activision

• Bee Movie Game (Xbox 360, Wii, PS2, PC, DS)
• Call of Duty (DS)
• Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PS3, Xbox 360, PC)
• Enemy Territory: Quake Wars (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
• Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (PS3, PS2, Xbox 360, Wii, DS)
• Spider-Man: Friend or Foe (Xbox 360, Wii, PS2, PC, PSP, DS)
• Tony Hawk's Proving Ground (PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, PS2, DS)

Atari

• Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 (Wii, PS2)
• Godzilla: Unleashed (Wii, DS, PSP)
• Jenga (Wii)
• The Witcher (PC)

Bethesda Softworks

• TBA

Capcom

• MotoGP 2007 (PS2)
• Devil May Cry 4 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
• Rocketmen: Axis of Evil (PC download, PSN, Xbox Live Arcade)
• Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix (PC download, PSN, Xbox Live Arcade)
• Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix (PC download, PSN, Xbox Live Arcade)
• Talisman (PC download, PSN, Xbox Live Arcade)

Codemasters

• Cliver Barker's Jericho (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
• HEI$T (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
• Rise of the Argonauts (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
• Turning Point: Fall of Liberty (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)

D3Publisher of America

• Ben 10: Protector of Earth (Wii, PS2, PSP, NDS)
• Dark Sector (Xbox 360, PS3)
• Dead Head Fred (PSP)
• Dragon Blade: Wrath of Fire (Wii)
• Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution (Wii)
• Naruto: Path of Ninja (DS)

Eidos

• Age of Conan (PC, Xbox 360)
• Kane & Lynch: Dead Men (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)

Electronic Arts

• Army of Two (PS3, Xbox 360)
• Boogie (Wii)
• Burnout Paradise (PS3, Xbox 360)
• Crysis (PC)
• EA Playground (Wii, DS)
• FIFA 08 (PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, PS2, PC, PSP, DS)
• Half-Life 2: The Orange Box (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
• Hellgate: London (PC)
• Madden NFL 08 (PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, PS2, PC, PSP, DS)
• Medal of Honor Airborne (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
• Mercenaries 2: World in Flames (PS3, Xbox 360)
• MySims (Wii, DS)
• NASCAR 08 (PS3, Xbox 360, PS2)
• Need For Speed: ProStreet (PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, PS2, PC, PSP, DS)
• Rock Band (PS3, Xbox 360)
• The Simpsons (PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, PS2, PSP, DS)
• Skate (PS3, Xbox 360)
• SimCity Societies (PC)
• Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 (PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, PS2, PC)

Gamecock

• Dementium: The Ward (DS)
• Dungeon Hero (PC, Xbox 360)
• Fury (PC)
• Hail to the Chimp (PS3, Xbox 360)
• Mushroom Men (Wii, DS)
• Unannounced title (possibly Section 8)
• Unannounced title (TBC)

GSC Game World

• "The next game in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series."

Hudson

• Fishing Master (Wii)

Konami

• Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles (PSP)
• Contra 4 (DS)
• Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party (Wii)
• Dance Dance Revolution SuperNOVA 2 (PS2)
• Dewy's Adventure Wii)
• Fishing Master (Wii)
• Hellboy: The Science of Evil (Xbox 360, PS3, PSP)
• Konami Kids Playground (PS2)
• Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PS3)
• Silent Hill: Origins (PSP)

LucasArts

• TBA

Majesco

• Blast Works: Build, Fuse & Destroy (Wii)
• Holly Hobbie & Friends (DS)
• Kengo: Legend of the 9 (Xbox 360)
• Nancy Drew and the Deadly Secret of Olde World Park (DS)
• Operation: Vietnam (DS)
• Turn It Around (DS)
• The Wild West (DS)
• Zoo Hospital (DS)

Microsoft

• Blue Dragon (Xbox 360)
• Halo 3 (Xbox 360)
• Lost Odyssey (Xbox 360)
• Mass Effect (Xbox 360)
• Project Gotham Racing 4 (Xbox 360)

Midway

• Aqua Teen Hunger Force Zombie Ninja Pro-Am (PS2)
• The Bee Game (Wii, DS)
• Blacksite (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
• Cruis'n (Wii)
• Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends: Imagination Invaders (DS)
• Game Party (Wii)
• Hour of Victory (PC)
• John Woo's Stranglehold (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
• The Lord of the Rings: Shadows of Angmar (PC)
• Ultimate Mortal Kombat (DS)
• Unreal Tournament 3 (PC)
• The Wheelman (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)
• TNA iMPACT! (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PS2)

Nintendo

• TBA

Namco Bandai

• Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation (Xbox 360)
• Beautiful Katamari (Xbox 360)
• Culdcept SAGA (Xbox 360)
• Digimon World: Dawn/Digimon World: Dusk (DS)
• Digimon World Data Squad (PS2)
• Dynasty Warriors: Gundam (PS3, Xbox 360)
• Eternal Sonata (Xbox 360)
• .hack//G.U. Vol. 3 Redemption (PS2)
• Namco Museum DS (DS)
• Namco Museum REMIX (Wii)
• Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Heroes (PSP)
• Naruto: Uzumaki Chronicles 2 (PS2)
• Smash Court Tennis 3 (PSP)
• Soul Calibur Legends (Wii)
• Space Station Tycoon (Wii)
• Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology (PSP)
• Time Crisis 4 (PS3)

NCsoft

• Aion (PC)
• Dungeon Runners (PC)
• Guild Wars: Eye of the North (PC)
• Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa (PC)

Paradox Interactive

• Combat Mission: Shock Force (PC)
• Galactic Assault: Prisoner of Power (PC)
• Hearts of Iron Anthology (PC)
• Tarr Chronicles (PC)

Rockstar Games

• TBA

SEGA

• Bleach: Shattered Blade (Wii)
• Bleach: The Blade of Fate (DS)
• The Club (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)
• Condemned 2: Bloodshot (Xbox 360, PS3)
• Ghost Squad (Wii)
• The Golden Compass (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PS2, PC, PSP, DS)
• Iron Man (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PS2, PC, PSP, DS)
• Mario & Sonic at the Olympics (Wii, DS)
• NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams (Wii)
• SEGA Rally (Xbox 360, PS3, PC, PSP)
• Sonic Rush Adventure (DS)
• Space Siege (PC)
• Universe At War: Earth Assault (Xbox 360, PC)
• Virtua Fighter 5 (Xbox 360)

Sierra

• Crash of the Titans (Xbox 360, Wii, PS2, PSP, DS, GBA)
• Empire Earth 3 (PC)
• Geometry Wars: Galaxies (Wii, DS)
• The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night (Wii)
• SWAT: Target Liberty (PSP)
• TimeShift (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
• Unannounced title (TBC)
• World in Conflict (PC)

Square Enix

• Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker (DS)
• Dragon Quest: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors (DS)
• Final Fantasy II Anniversary Edition (PSP)
• Final Fantasy XI: Wings of the Goddess (Xbox 360, PS2, PC)
• Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings (DS)
• Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fate (DS)
• Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions (PSP)
• Front Mission (DS)
• Heroes of Mana (DS)

Sony Computer Entertainment

• Killzone 2 (PS3)

Sony Online Entertainment

• TBA

Take-Two

• All-Pro Football 2K8 (PS3, Xbox 360)
• BioShock (PC, Xbox 360)
• The Darkness (PS3, Xbox 360)
• NBA 2K8 (PS3, Xbox 360)
• NHL 2K8 (PS3, Xbox 360, PS2)
• Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution (PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, DS)

THQ

• WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008 (PS3, Xbox 360, PS2, PSP, DS)

Ubisoft

• Assassin's Creed (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)

Warner Bros. Interactive

• FEAR sequel (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)

THQ plans to release two new Destroy All Humans! games. Their announcement comes just before this year's E3 and it's expected that we're going to get more details during the games conference. The first of these new games will be released on Wii, PS2 and PSP and is called Destroy All Humans! Big Willy Unleashed. You'll play as alien protagonist Crypto and travel by spaceship, on foot or gigantic mechanised robot-shaped vehicle. The game makes use of the motion-sensing abilities of the Wiimote and is going to be released early 2008.

The second new game is Destroy All Humans! Path of the Furon. The story happens after Big Willy Unleashed and this game is announced for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 only. Here you'll once again play as protagonist Crypto in his mission to learn Kung Fu. Sounds like great fun! It's also scheduled for release early next year.

It's expected that both games will be filled with comedy - continuing the tradition from the first two games on PS2 and Xbox.

Spark Unlimited, better known as the developer of Call of Duty: Finest Hour, has signed up for a new project with Gamecock. The project is entitled Legendary: The Box and is being developed for release in 2008 on PC and next-generation consoles. The report comes from GamesIndustry.biz.

Craig Allen, CEO of Spark Unlimited, reveals that the game is their dream game that they've secretly been working on. He continues:

"We've made a name for ourselves with World War II first-person shooters, but Legendary: The Box is our labour of love. It's a thrill to work with Gamecock; they want to see the game completed exactly as we envisioned it."

Spark Unlimited is also collaborating with Codemasters on the upcoming Turning Point: Fall of Liberty - a game scheduled for release before the end of this year.

Steve Ellis from Free Radical is proud to announce that a new Timesplitters game will be released on both the PS3 and Xbox 360. According to the sparse details "they're 'gearing' up to insert monkeys and guns into all the wrong places".

Judging by the logo which is being used by Free Radical it's in fact a spoof of Gears of War. The Gears of War logo also has a monkey on it.

Stay tuned for more information in the future!

Certain dedicated Rainbow Six: Vegas fans must be a little huffy at the moment. Ubisoft has just apologised to owners of the game who paid 800 Microsoft points for five downloadable maps last week through Xbox Live.

The map pack called Black Pack was actually meant to be free of charge. It includes a different version of "Streets", a "PRESIDIO" from Rainbow Six III and three new maps.

Ubisoft writes in a statement on their official blogs:

"Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas Black Pack Downloadable Content for Xbox 360 Live was originally intended to be free content for the fans of Rainbow Six Vegas. We apologise for the error. All players who purchased the Black Pack will be reimbursed automatically. The Black Pack will be posted Saturday June 30th and will be free of charge. Also, as a token of our appreciation for the Rainbow Six community, we are making the Red Pack free as of Friday July 6th as well. Thanks for playing and we hope you enjoy this free content."

According to Microsoft players who have puchased the Black Pack for MS points will get their money back within 8 to 10 weeks.

The second trailer for Grand Theft Auto IV has been released and it's called "Looking For That Special Someone". In the teaser we meet protagonist Niko Bellic and discover his attempts to track someone down. And a woman pleads at one point with him to stop the killing. Interesting.

We also get some glimpses of aspects in the game we've never seen before in the franchise. Like kicking in a door, shattering the lock and the real treat: watching from inside a car as bullets hit the windscreen and leave holes in specific places. Now this is going to be real eye candy!

Expect GTA IV to hit the stores on PS3 and Xbox 360 19th October in Europe!

Rockstar Games is very disappointed. Their latest game, Manhunt 2, has been banned in several countries including such big markets as USA, Ireland, Italy and now also the UK. The developer of the Grand Theft Auto series and Canis Canem Edit disagrees with the ratings board's decision and states in a press release that the adult consumers should be allowed to make up their own minds about the content of any game.

Rockstar Games writes:

"We are disappointed with the recent decision by the British Board of Film Classification to refuse classification of Manhunt 2. While we respect the authority of the classification board and will abide by the rules, we emphatically disagree with this particular decision.

"Manhunt 2 is an entertainment experience for fans of psychological thrillers and horror. The subject matter of this game is in line with other mainstream entertainment choices for adult consumers."

The reason for the banning is of course that the game is filled with violence, gore and murder. The ratings board would not give Manhunt 2 a rating because by issuing a certificate "would involve a range of unjustifiable risks, to both adults and minors".

The statement from Rockstar Games continues:

"We respect those who have different opinions about the horror genre and videogames as a whole, but we hope they will also consider the opinions of the adult gamers for whom this product is intended.

We believe all products should be rated to allow the public to make informed choices about the media and art they wish to consume.

The stories in modern videogames are as diverse as the stories in books, film and television. The adult consumers who would play this game fully understand that it is fictional interactive entertainment and nothing more."

The game was scheduled for release in July for PlayStation 2, PSP and Wii until Rockstar Games postponed the game.

Take-Two has confirmed Grand Theft Auto IV's release date - and the developers at Rockstar has promised that a new trailer is on track for a Internet release June 28.

The release date for Europe, including countries like the UK and Denmark, is 19th October and the Special Edition would also arrive at this point. The release of GTA IV will also have a beneficial impact on the sales of PlayStation 3, according to Take-Two's CEO Ben Feder.

I have just recently bought a PS3 and GTA IV is of course a must have when it's released this autumn. A new trailer will also arrive June 28. It's called "Looking for that special someone".