Bethesda Publishing Hunted: The Demon Forge

Bethesday Softworks announced today that it will be publishing Hunted: The Demon's Forge, a third-person co-op fantasy action game being developed at InXile Entertainment for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. InXile was founded by Brian Fargo, who was responsible for fantasy classics like The Bard's Tale, Baldur's Gate, and Fallout. Fargo is overseeing development of Hunted, while Michael "Maxx" Kaufman is directing the game. Kaufman previously art directed titles like Kingpin: LIfe of Crime, Redneck Rampage and Return to Castle Wolfenstein.

"We are thrilled to be working with Bethesda Softworks on this upcoming release that takes us back to our roots," said Brian Fargo, Founder of inXile Entertainment. "Bethesda's track record speaks for itself and the game we are developing for them is no exception."

"inXile has an extremely talented team and we couldn't be more pleased to have them working on one of our upcoming titles," said Vlatko Andonov, President of Bethesda Softworks. "We believe gamers will be really excited about what these guys have in store for them."

Fargo's track record is pretty impressive, and bodes well for Hunted: The Demon's Forge. And I like the idea of a co-op action game, as long as they allow for drop-in, drop-out gameplay (which seems like a no-brainer, but you never now). Details on the game are scarce right now, but if you guys want to know more, I can let you know as soon as I hear more!

Gallery: Fragile Dreams

In case there weren't enough games out to play, Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon is due out on the Wii next week, too. Ever since I saw it at E3 last year, I've been really psyched to get my hands on this moody adventure, and have patiently been waiting for XSEED to finish the translation. If any of you are also eagerly anticipating the release of Fragile Dreams, I offer you this small little gallery of screenshots and artwork to enjoy in the meantime. So pretty...

The Return Of Tecmo Bowl!

Tecmo Bowl is a beloved classic of the videogame age, and Tecmo Koei America has just announced a remake of the SNES title, one of the most influential football games of all time. This new reincarnation is being developed by Southend Interactive and will be entitled Tecmo Bowl Throwback. It'll have new features, but hopefully without messing with the tried and true gameplay that made Tecmo Bowl so revered among gamers.

Tecmo Bowl Throwback will feature all-new 3D graphics, but with the option to switch to classic 2D mode for the full retro flavor. Customizable teams and rosters will allow you play as any one of the 32 teams with your own special flair. Classic game modes will pit you against your friends in Preseason, Season or Pro Bowl modes. And the most obvious modern addition is online multiplayer, so you don't have to invite your friends over to your parents' basement to play anymore! Oh, and online leaderboards will keep track of your triumphs (and tragedies!).

Tecmo Bowl Throwback is currently slated for a Spring 2010 release on the Xbox 360 via Xbox LIve Arcade and the PlayStation 3 via the PlayStation Network!

Capcom Gets Detailed With Monster Hunter Tri

Aside from knowing that Capcom would be releasing Monster Hunter Tri on the Nintendo Wii and offering an alternative version bundled with the new Classic Controller Pro, not too much was known about the title. But at the Nintendo Media Summit, Capcom finally let loose with some deets. As Navi Fairy mentioned, the game will ship on April 20 for $49.99 for the game and $59.99 for the bundle.

Nintendo and Capcom are also going to offer free online play, and support for the Wii Speak accessory so you can communicate easily with your fellow Monster Hunters. There will also be text-based chat, but anyone who's used the Wii Speak will tell you that there's no going back to hunt and peck typing after being able to just talk to your friends.

Also, a playable demo and pre-order incentive is going to be offered at GameStops across North America. The shops will have the demo available starting on March 8, and if you pre-order Monster Hunter Tri, you'll get a special collectible Nintendo Points card worth 500 points good for purchases in the Wii Shop or Nintendo DSi Shop. (The press release isn't clear if you must pre-order to get the demo, but I can't imagine they're just going to hand them out for free... still, maybe they are!)

The Monster Hunter series is a huge hit, selling over 11 million units worldwide, and has become insanely popular over in Japan. Monster Hunter Tri sold 520,000 units the first week of release over there, and Capcom is going to do its darndest to make it big over here, too.

Oh, and just because I love you guys, I'll throw in a gallery of artwork and screenshots. No extra charge!

Gallery: Mega Man Zero Collection

Capcom just released a metric crapton of new assets for the upcoming Mega Man Zero Collection including new character art, game art and screenshots (the art is mighty purty). As I mentioned before, the Mega Man Zero Collection compiles all four Mega Man Zero games from the Game Boy Advance onto one tiny little DS card. The game's not due out until this summer, but you can enjoy some teasing screens now!

Gallery: Super Street Fighter IV Newbies

Capcom just passed along some character art and screenshots for the three new characters being added to the upcoming Super Street Fighter IV. You've got martial artist Makoto, ninja Ibuki and the "gentlemanly pugilist" Dudley from Street Fighter III 3rd Strike. SSFIV will land on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on April 27 with 10 new character, new Ultra combos, new stages, the return of classic bonus stages and beefed-up online modes.

I'd complain about repackaging a game with new content to sell it all over again without having to make a whole new game, but that's pretty much what the Street Fighter franchise is all about. How long before we get Super Street Fighter IV EX Turbo 4th Strike?

X10: New Final Fantasy XIII Screenshots

Along with the hands on time we got yesterday with the Xbox 360 version of the Final Fantasy XIII game, they also released a new batch of 20 screenshots for the game. They got everything in the mix from shots of the different character classes in action, to battle sequences, to enemies, and even menu layouts. Make sure to check out the gallery below and let us know what your favorite images are.

Dead Rising Prologue Before Sequel

So we already know about the release date for Capcom's Dead Rising 2, but what about that prologue to the sequel, Dead Rising 2: CASE ZERO? Well, while Dead Rising 2 will be on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC, CASE ZERO will be an Xbox LIVE exclusive. There's no release date for the DLC yet, but Capcom promises it'll be out "shortly before the release of the full game." Pricing information will likely follow with an official date.

CASE ZERO will introduce the new protagonist, Chuck Greene and provide a link between the original game and the sequel, bringing you from the mall in Willamette to the casinos of Fortune City. I'm intrigued by one of the new features revealed for the sequel, which is the ability to combine weapons. A water gun plus gasoline becomes a flamethrower, or a rake and car battery make a nice electrified zombie prod. This could lead to some really clever (and sadistic) creations! You can see what I mean in the gallery below. The Wolverine-esqe knife gloves look like a lot of fun, but not so much as the raft paddle with a chainsaw taped to the end!

Gallery: Trauma Team

With Trauma Team headed for the Wii in Spring of 2010, Atlus apparently realized they've been slacking as far as releasing any assets for the Nintendo sequel, so they offered up a little bit of an early holiday present by dropping some new screenshots on us. There's one from each of the six unique operation types: surgery, diagnostics, forensics, first response, endoscopy and orthopedics. I don't know how I'm going to feel about screwing metal plates to bones, even virtually, but forensics is always cool. Heck, I'd even play an entire game just of that! Forget surgery! Just let me examine some corpses and figure out how they died! Fun for the whole family! (It's also a lot less nerve-wracking when you don't have to worry about your patient dying on you!)

Gallery: Clash Of The Titans

Namco Bandai just released a smattering of new screenshots from the upcoming Clash of the Titans game which is due to hit Xbox 360s and Playstation 3s in the spring of 2010 in conjunction with the Hollywood remake of the same name starring Liam Neeson, Sam Worthington and Ralph Fiennes. I'm starting to feel a little bit over the whole mythological God of War-style action adventure game subgenre that seems to have sprung up, but these shots don't suck. Perseus looks a little generic (Sam Worthington is no Harry Hamlin, I tell you what), but the creature designs are pretty cool. I especially dig the centaur.

Muscle March Is Coming To WiiWare In The US! No, Seriously!

Video Games | Muscle March | Debut Trailer

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

Back in the spring, our fearless leader posted a video of the absolutely BSC Muscle March that was heading for Japanese Wiis via WiiWare. But much to my surprise, today Namco Bandai announced that Muscle March would be coming to US Wiis this winter! No, I'm not kidding! A thief has stolen your Protein Powder, and you have to get it by by performing four different muscle poses with the Wii Remote and Nunchuck and match the thief's poses as he breaks through walls. There are two gameplay modes: Muscle March, which lets you tone up through three stages, and Endless Rush, where you can test your endurance with three friends. No, seriously. I know it sounds dirty, but you can't even make this stuff up! Plus, there's a whole ridiculous cast of characters that includes animals.

There are no words. No idea what the point cost will be (probably 800 or 1000), but I can't wait for the release! This is gonna be awesome! Still can't believe this made it stateside, but I guess since it's downloadable, it's not like it's costing Namco as much as it would to put it on a disc!

Red Dead Redemption Dated

If your trigger finger has been itching for some old west action, you're in luck, because Rockstar Games announced today the release date for Red Dead Redemption. The sequel to 2004's Red Dead Revolver will be hitting the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on April 27, 2010 in North America and April 30, 2010 internationally.

"This is our vision of the American West: beautiful, bloody and action-packed. The game is a true epic, and has been developed with the same production values and attention to detail we put into all our projects," said Sam Houser, Founder of Rockstar Games. "Red Dead Redemption represents another milestone for us in the development of open world games."

Red Dead Redemption will transport you to the American West at the turn of the 20th century where you will play the "partially reformed outlaw" John Marston, exploring the wild, wild West. Too bad I'm not a big fan of westerns, or I'd be all over this, because the screenshots I've included below look beautiful!