NEWS...

• XBox 360 Pricing Speculation - Gamedaily has posted an interview with an analyst who believes the XBox 360 will launch with two SKUs. The first SKU will retail for $299, and will be hard drive free (or a smaller hard drive), the second SKU will retail for $349/$399 and will come with "everything a gamer needs anyway."
• Xbox 360 games cheaper than expected? - Amazon.co.uk has begun listing Xbox 360 games for pre order with the prices at either £29.99 or £32.99. So far the only games listed are Call of Duty 2 - £29.99, Kameo: Elements of Power - £29.99, Perfect Dark Zero - £32.99, Quake 4 - £29.99, Tony Hawk's American Wasteland - £29.99 and GUN - £29.99.
• Ace Sequel For PS2 - Little is known about the sequel at this point. Banpresto plans on including 90 types of mecha pulled from eleven animation series. That's double the mechs and nearly double of what was in the series when compared to the first title. The game promises improved controls, visuals, sense of speed and a far greater collection of missions for players to challenge. Gamers are going to have to wait for A.C.E. 2, with Banpresto planning a release for Spring of 2006. Currently, the game is 30% complete.
• Doom 3 Resurrection of Evil confimed for Xbox - Activision sent out a press release officially announcing that the Xbox version of RoE will be on demonstration at this year's Qcon as well as the multiplayer version of the upcoming Quake 4.
• SOCOM storms PSP this November - SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo will be the first game in the series to appear on the PSP when it hits retail on November 8th 2005 (in the US at least). No European release date has been announced.
• HALO 2 Championship - Over $20,000 Cash! - I just recieved this press release: "Some of the top Halo 2 gamers in the United States will be headed to Orlando the last weekend in August to take a shot at winning cash and a new 2006 Scion xB during the Scion National Halo 2 Championship. Pro gamers from all over the U.S. will converge on NBA City, located in CityWalk at Universal Studios, Orlando on August 27 for this championship. The 352 seat, 17,000 square-foot restaurant will convert its entire second story to a video gamer's paradise, with dozens of X-Box's for the Halo 2 competitors as well as PS2's for free play. The competition will take place throughout the day beginning at 10:00 a.m. and is open to the public. Viewing will be available via TV monitors mounted throughout NBA City. The awards ceremony will take place at 3:45 p.m., with Adrian Si, Interactive Marketing Manager of Scion, awarding the keys to the Scion xB to the national Halo 2 champion."
• Blu-Ray and HD-DVD camps clash over security features - The BDA (Blu-ray Disc Association) has officially announced that the copy protection the BD format is going to adopt is AACS, just like HD DVD already has done, but it will additionally support "BD+" and "ROM Mark" protections: The BDA also adopted "BD+", a Blu-ray Disc specific programmable renewability enhancement that gives content providers an additional means to respond to organized attacks on the security system by allowing dynamic updates of compromised code.

REVIEWS

• PS2: Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana (3.75/5) / Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2/5) / Dukes of Hazzard: Return of the General Lee / Graffiti Kingdom (C-) / Madden NFL Football 2006 (9/10) / Psychonauts (4.5/5) / Rise of The Kasai

• Xbox: Advent Rising (6.1/10) / Conker: Live and Reloaded (4/5) / Forza Motorsport / Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (5/5) / Madden NFL Football 2006 (8.2/10) / Madden NFL Football 2006 (9/10) / Madden NFL 06 (4.5/5) / Outlaw Tennis (3/5) / Outlaw Golf  (5/10)
• Gamecube: Harvest Moon: Another Wonderful Life (7.5/10) / Killer 7 (8.3/10) / Killer 7 (7.8/10) / Madden NFL Football 2006 (8.1/10) / Madden NFL 06 (A-) / Medal of Honor: European Assault (8.5/10)
• PSP: Dynasty Warriors (8.2/10) / Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition (7.1/10)
• NDS: Nintendogs (9.5/10) / Kirby: Canvas Curse (A-)
• GBA: Gumby vs. the Astrobots (7.4/10) / Kim Possible 3: Team Possible / That's So Raven 2: Supernatural Style

PREVIEWS

• Ratchet: Deadlocked Progress Report [PS2] - The five different modes of play in the beta are: Deathmatch, Capture the Flag, Conquest, King of the Hill, and Juggernaut. The Deathmatch mode is pretty simple with the choices of how many kills are needed for a win and whether there are vehicles, but it also sports team deathmatch and does something so very cool and yet so simple. With team deathmatch on the players can choose what team they're on by choosing their color. Everyone can essentially do traditional deathmatch by choosing a different color or people can group up any way they want. 4v4? Easy. 3v3v2? No problem. 1v3v2v2? Why the hell not.
• King Kong preview [GC] - From what we understand, King Kong is about an urban war between two crews of militant juveniles who try and control the streets of LA with their own dope tags, wicked guns, and off-the-hook jackings. Players become Kong, a video store employee who spontaneously decides to make his city a worse place by climbing the criminal ranks of either crew and seizing control.
• Spartan: Total Warrior interview [PS2/Xbox/GC] - The Spartan encounters a plethora of different enemies during his mission, all of which are fully AI controlled; each has an individual fighting style, weapon, tactical approach, etc. You're having to constantly adapt your own strategy to match the enemy you're facing
• Total Overdose [Xbox] - The game is played from a third person perspective and this seems to work quite well. For the first few minutes we tried without the auto aim aid but that seemed to be nigh on impossible. However once you use the auto aim it does not make the game overly easy. You can shoot people quick but to get the shots which count, i.e. headshots, you have to use some skill. The reward is new weapons and powerups so it is very much worth it. The game also slows right down during the sequence to show a super slow-mo of the kill.

MEDIA... 

• Dead Rising: One New Screenshot - TeamXbox has posted a new screenshot of Capcom's Dead Rising titled "swing your partner 'round n 'round".
• Rogue Galaxy shots [PS2] - Here are some new images of Sony and Level 5's massive PS2 RPG Rogue Galaxy, the game will have a fantasic and futuristic setting. The protagonist is a 17 year old boy named Jester Rogue, who dreamed to travel in the galaxy.
• The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction Movies [Xbox] - TeamXbox has posted two action-packed movies of The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction.
• True Crime New York City shots [Xbox/GC] - Activision has released new screenshots of True Crime: New York City, the sequel to 2004's Streets of L.A.
• Lunar Genesis shots [NDS] - Here are some new images of Marvelous Interactive's Nintendo DS RPG Lunar Genesis, the story takes place 1000 years before the story of Lunar: The Silver Star.
• Space Invaders: Galaxy Beat shots [PSP] - Marvelous Interactive will release Space Invaders: Galaxy Beat For PSP in Japan on September 22, the game will have 4 play modes: Future, Classic, Wireless and Match-Up.