GameSpice

Echochrome is a new and very exciting title coming to PSP and PS3 from Sony Japan. Its concept is very simple. It allows the player to move a tiny character through a labyrint of ledges and staircases by rotating the camera so vertical beams obscure gaps. The goal is to manipulate level design and solve puzzles.

The trailer is self-explanatory - you will be hooked just by watching it for a few seconds. I can guarantee you that myself! The game is scheduled for release later this year.

A new Viva Piñata game has been revealed by Microsoft at it's E3 conference. However, it won't be a sequel developed by Rare. Krome Studios has been chosen to bring the series in a totally new direction. The new game will be a party game including 40 mini-games inspired by the paper creatures from the animated television series.

The game is scheduled for release this Christmas and four friends can play at the same time both offline and online over Live.

Microsoft has also announced the original Viva Piñata for PC. This will feature Windows Live support. A release date has not been given.

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)

I have been waiting for years now and finally StarCraft 2 has been announced. It's in the works! And it's not a MMO but a RTS like the original. What's more the game will use "a custom 3D-graphics engine with realistic physics and the ability to render several large, highly detailed units and massive armies on-screen simultaneously."

And judging by the first gameplay footage there's one heck of a battle coming up.

Mike Morhaim, president and co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment, says:

"With StarCraft II, we’ll be able to do everything we wanted to do with the original StarCraft and more. We recognize that expectations are high following the long-running popularity of the original game, but we plan to meet those expectations and deliver an engaging, action-packed, competitive experience that StarCraft players and strategy gamers worldwide will enjoy."

There is no release date yet, but StarCraft 2 will ship with similar features to the original, including single-player and multiplayer campaigns, a powerful map editor and Battle.net support.

Oh no. Crap. EA has revealed that the highly anticipated Spore from the developer of The Sims is now scheduled for release around March 2008 instead of sometime in 2007. On its conference call script EA said,

"We continue to have enormous confidence in Spore as a franchise - but have made the call not to include this title in our fiscal year financial plan."

Spore is currently being developed for PC and Nintendo DS.

Electronic Arts have announced that Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars will be released in Europe on May 11 with a demo coming to Xbox Live Marketplace soon.

C&C 3 is a great RTS game, however I'm not sure how it's going to be playing it on the Xbox 360. It's the second time EA is releasing one of it's RTS titles for the console, so they probably didn't have many issues with it the last time. But I'm gonna check out the demo whenever it's released in the next couple of weeks, and see how it goes.

Company of Heroes was one of my favourite games from last year, however, I had a small problem with it. First of, there was only one campaign available, and second, the game only had two factions. That being said, the guys at Relic really nailed the gameplay perfectly and now it even sounds like they are going to solve my problems.

THQ have announced another installment of the new franchise, and says the Relic Entertainment is working on Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts scheduled for release this fall for PCs.

Opposing Forces takes us back to the WWII battlefield with two new playable factions with a full campaign for each. Players will take control of the British 2nd Army's liberation of Caen, France, and the German Panzer Elite's battle against airbone forces. It will be playable with the original Company of Heroes and brings the multiplayer to a total of four playable factions. Also, improved artificial intelligence and weather effects are being promised by Relic.