Lionhead Studios head Peter Molyneux has made another one of his famous bold claims, teasing that an upcoming revelation about Fable III will "really upset people."

The tease emerged as part of a Gamereactor International video, with Molyneux stating:

We're making a big announcement about Fable III in the next couple of weeks [at X10]...I hope I haven't spoiled some horrible PR surprise. Gulp. We'll be making some announcements about Fable III and there's some, wow, there's some very, very big things happening in Fable. Bigger than you think, and it's going to really upset people. I'm really scared when I go out and tell people what it is, they're going to get super pissed off. They really are. But it's the right thing to do, man. I'm sure it's the right thing.

A showcase of Microsoft's upcoming Xbox 360 efforts, X10 takes place this Thursday, February 11, in San Francsico. Molyneux has previously noted that "there's something fundamentally wrong with RPGs like Fable," and vowed that the 2010-due third entry in the action-RPG series would somehow "take that foundation stone and throw it away."

The man later revealed that Fable III would include a microtransaction store--selling, for example, an in-game sword at 1 euro--and also support the Xbox 360's upcoming motion-tracking add-on Project Natal, though to what extent is currently unknown.

A revamp of NES classic Blaster Master is the star of this week's batch of North American Wii and DSi downloadable releases, joined by a port of popular tower defense Field Runners and games with such fabulous names as Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom, Hubert The Teddy Bear Winter Games and Extreme Hangman.

DSiWare
• Oscar in Movieland - $8
• Link 'n' Launch - $5
• Fieldrunners - $5
• Sudoku 4Pockets - $5
• Extreme Hangman - $2

WiiWare
• Blaster Master Overdrive - $10
• Tomena Sanner - $5
• Bloons - $5
• Hubert The Teddy Bear Winter Games - $5
Wii Virtual Console
• Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom (NES) - $5

All titles will be available from 9am PST. Further details from Nintendo... Read more

Unpaid volunteer-staffed studio Grimoire Assembly Forge today announced the development of its top-down shooter "Dudebro™ - My Shit Is Fucked Up So I Got to Shoot/Slice You II: It's Straight-Up Dawg Time."

The absurdly named free shooter is tentatively slated to hit PC and Mac over the summer, with Jon St. John--best known as the voice of Duke Nukem--contributing his vocal talents.

Grimoire Assembly Forge itself "is predominantly comprised of members of NeoGAF, the preeminent video game industry discussion community," according to today's announcement, with the team sporting over 100 unpaid volunteers worldwide.

More details on the ridiculous title, straight from the developer, follow below:

"Dudebro™ II" follows the exploits of elite soldiers John Dudebro™ and his sidekick Habemus Chicken as they chase anyone who threatens the world's brodiocity - an arms dealer, a voodoo priest... Read more

An iPhone and iPod touch port of Apogee's mid-nineties shooter Rise of the Triad will "soon be available," Apogee Software LTD off-shoot Apogee Software LLC confirmed today.

Super Methane Brothers developer Mobilia Interactive is behind the port, which promises "a number of customizable control schemes" in addition to "four full game episodes" and the expected five playable characters.

Of course, given that Apple's upcoming iPad is compatible with all iPhone applications, owners of the tablet will also be able to play Rise of the Triad after its debut.

Previously, the various incarnations of Apogee had worked with MachineWorks Northwest to produce iPhone and iPod touch renditions of Duke Nukem 3D and Prey, with the latter brand now property of id and Bethesda owner ZeniMax.

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New Red Dead Redemption screenshots give a look at the many uses of the lasso in Rockstar San Diego's open-world wild western, from roping wild horses when you need a ride to hog-tieing hoodlums so you can safely cash in lucrative live bounties.

Red Dead Redemption arrives on April 27 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Rockstar San Diego recently faced accusations of working staff ridiculously hard, though a response from the developer was quite dismissive of the "opinions of a few anonymous posters."

Traveller's Tales and LucasArts today announced the latest fruit of their long-running plastic platonic relationship, the cartoon-inspired LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars.

Clone Wars features "fan-favourite characters" from Star Wars movies as well as the animated series, plus "brand new battle modes, giving players unique, head-to-head combat and an upgraded level builder" as well as abilities such as "Squad command, Lightsaber slicing, Lightsaber jumps, long distance Jedi attacks and Grapple Tie-Ups."

Players can also choose whether they will be a Jedi or Seperatist, for those who you really take a deep interest in the riveting political and economic intrigue behind it all.

LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars is slated for release on PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PSP, Nintendo DS and Wii this fall.

Indie developer Unknown Worlds has released a little Natural Selection 2 pre-alpha gameplay footage, giving a look at the current state of its PC sci-fi RTS-FPS hybrid.

The pre-alpha footage--and do remember that it is pre-alpha--comes in celebration of being voted 'Indie Game of the Year' at modding and indie hub ModDB and follows a successful discount bundle promotion with Wolfire Games' rabbity 'Overgrowth.'

Last November, UW founder Charlie Cleveland told us that NS2 was tentatively slated for "early next year" though a date has still be to given. $20 pre-orders grant access to the editor and a spot in the beta, while a $40 'Special Edition' packs alpha access too.

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Missed the Team Liquid Starleague StarCraft competition games this weekend? Catch up with the downloadable VODs, there were some great games.

Are you a schoolteacher? Give your students the education they deserve with the aid of the fantastic initiative Squid4Kids.

Curious what EVE Online GoonSwarm Intelligence Agency head The Mittani has to say GoonSwarm's recent self-induced explosion? He did some words about that.

Why do girls wear makeup and perfume? Because they're ugly and smell bad.

The Super Bowl isn't the only big game this week, what with BioShock 2 and Dante's Inferno arriving alongside the likes of Scene It? Twilight DS and Percy Jackson.

Highlights

If you're looking for a particular system, skip to the PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii or Nintendo DS sections, or just read on through for the full breakdown... Read more

All those things that have to get done today? They can wait another few minutes. Take some time for yourself--sit back, relax, and actually enjoy what the day has to offer.

I mean, haters are still gonna hate, regardless of tickle fights, huuugs and the like.

It seems that Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata isn't the only one who's skeptical about 3D-tech making a significant impact in the world of gaming any time soon. Philippe Gerard of 3DLized, a company specializing in the creation of stereoscopic media, recently voiced concerns about the difficulties of creating and enforcing industry-wide quality assurance standards for games using three-dimensional technology.

In a workshop about stereoscopic 3D held at the Imagina conference, industry magazine Develop reports that Gerard spoke about what he calls "the grammar of 3D." He explained that attributes such as image speed, object movement, and how the action is framed, all affect the overall "potency" of the experience for the end user. Ignoring these rules result in things like peripheral image distortion, or in the case of fast-moving action, disorientation of the audience.

"Developers will have to guarantee that their 3D is not uncomfortable or damaging throughout an entire game, and that the grammar of 3D is constantly in place, even with the player in control of framing and movement on-screen," Gerard said... Read more

Microsoft wrote a fitting coda to its first game console today. On April 15 they plan to turn off Live access for the original Xbox. New games stopped coming to the system a long while ago but the persistence of online play stands as probably the strongest indication of just how well the service ultimately hit the mark.

When Live launched on only the first anniversary of the Xbox, November 15, 2002, no one knew quite what to make of it. In a world where most relied on dial-up connections to the Net, it required broadband access. And despite only supporting a handful of titles, it asked users for an annual subscription fee. The inclusion of a headset and support for voice chat across all games topped things off. I remember our reactions were along the lines of "what are they thinking? Consoles are for single-player games. That's what they need to take on the PS2," and "everyone who wants to play online plays on PC and it's free."

Yet Live never once looked back. It certainly paid off. All those things that seemed like a gamble at the time we take for granted today. Sony and Nintendo both countered with online adapters but they floundered without a corresponding service on which to anchor support. They took steps to recover that lost ground in the current generation but Live continuously pushed forwards as well turning gamers into gamerscore slaves, revamping the service with the "new Xbox experience," and making the 360 into a conduit for NetFlix, LastFM, Twitter, and Facebook. For this move to end original Xbox access to be seen as a part of the Live success story it must spur the next evolution of the service -- and that's more than just expanding the friends list beyond the 100 member cap (though that's a good start).

So goodbye original Xbox Live. I haven't seen you in a long time but we had many good times together. I put Crimson Skies up there as probably my most fond memories from the service but obviously Halo 2 will be dominant in the eyes of many. And lest Shoe track me down who can forget the tense Spies vs. Mercs Splinter Cell matches? Yes, I've moved on but for anyone wanting to relive these and any other Xbox moments online the clock has started ticking. 68 days remain until the servers shut down and the Xbox book comes to a final close.

We covered some other stories around the Shack today as well:

• AvP Marine trailer
• L.A. Noire a PS3 exclusive no more, coming to Xbox 360 as well
• PS3 sales up in 2009
• Dino vs. Mech action coming in 'Primal Carnage'
• Just Cause 2 trailer

In preparation for Super Bowk weekend, New Orleans send Miami a 'Get Ready' letter

Spend enough time measuring and you'd still be hard pressed to match the tape measure ninja

A work of art that takes here today, gone tomorrow seriously: this sculpture connects to the Net and starts auctioning itself on eBay the moment you get it hooked up

Some new media for the upcoming Dragon Age: Origins 'Awakening' expansion is here to introduce 'The Children,' a new set of not-so-adorable foes that give a hellacious new meaning to the notion of daycare.

There's no word as to who birthed the monstrosities, but the press release informs us that, "Disgusting, sharp teeth, covered in slime, and foul smelling are a few ways to describe 'The Children.'" In other words, they're quite similar to regular kids.

Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening hits the PC, Xbox 360, and PS3 on March 16.

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Despite an admittedly stagnant Japanese economy and "generally weak" demand for video games in North America and Europe, things are looking up for entertainment conglomerate SEGA SAMMY compared to where it was a year ago.

Though net sales between April and December 2009 were down 7.7% over the previous year, the company saw net income of 16.94 billion yen ($189.9M USD)--a significant improvement over the previous year's net loss of 10.84 billion yen ($121.5M USD).

In particular, the company's consumer business (home video game software, toys and animated films) saw net sales drop by 13.6% to 83.1 billion yen ($931.4M USD), with an operating income of 1.4 billion yen ($15.9M USD). The same period last year saw the same segment post an operating loss of 5.6 billion yen ($63.3M USD).

In addition, the company provided a breakdown of software shipments... Read more

Though the Xbox 360 release of Monster Hunter MMO Frontier Online is only confirmed for Japan at the moment, publisher Capcom has implied that an overseas release is likely.

"I feel Monster Hunter can definitely succeed overseas," Capcom executive Keiji Inafune told Famitsu, as noted and translated by andriasang. "There's a high possibility that MHF will kickstart that."

After revealing that Monster Hunter Frontier was coming to Xbox 360 last week, Capcom cautioned that the game had not been confirmed for North America or Europe.

Were it to come over, Monster Hunter Frontier would be far from the first Monster Hunter release for North America or Europe--various PlayStation 2 and PSP versions have hit the territories, with Monster Hunter Tri due on Wii soon--though it would mark the first time that the MMO, which hit PC in 2007, would be available outside of Japan and Asia.

With the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of Dante's Inferno hitting Europe today and North America next Tuesday (February 9), the time for trailers is almost over. Fortunately, publisher Electronic Arts has summarized the premise rather well in this montage.

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Following its retail debut, Visceral's hellish action game will be supported with various downlodable add-ons on the two platforms, including a cooperative multiplayer mode, with the game also coming to the PSP in the near future courtesy of A2M.

A portable rendition of ModNation Racers is in the works and slated to launch on PSP alongside its bigger PlayStation 3 brother later this year, GameSpot has learned.

Sony Computer Entertainment's San Diego studio is behind the portable project, with PlayStation 3 version developer United Front offering "guidance and assistance." Powering the game is a modified version of Studio Liverpool's WipeOut PSP engine.

As with the PlayStation 3 version, ModNation Racers PSP will offer the ability to create and share custom content in addition to its single-player and online multiplayer modes. No word yet on any connectivity between the two versions, nor a more specific release window, though several retailers list an unconfirmed June 1, 2010 release date.

With the weekend near, you know the usual discounts on PC digital downloads can't be too far behind. Let's check in with the usual suspects and see what they've got on offer.

From Far Cry to BioShock 2, bundles seem to be the name of the game this weekend. Missed out on Far Cry and Far Cry 2? Playing catch-up will cost you just $14.99. Red Faction? All three can be had for $22.50--that's just $7.50 per explosive action game.

And with BioShock 2 arriving Tuesday February 9, now's your last chance to take advantage of the pre-order deals and discounts. Sure, the Steam four pack may look costly at $134.97, but that's only $33.74 per copy--over 30% off the game's $49.99 MSRP--not to mention the four free copies of the original BioShock that come with it.

For a breakdown of the assorted savings, look no further than below... Read more

Freedom's the magical word of the day in this Just Cause 2 trailer. Freedom to decide where you go. Freedom to choose your own tactics. Freedom to defy the laws of physics. Freedom to cause chaos. And, apparently, the freedom to get high on propane.

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Just Cause 2. Avalanche Studios. PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360. March 23, 2010.

Shacknews editor Chris Faylor's face lit up today upon being introduced to Primal Carnage, a multiplayer class- and objective-based shooter starring honking great dinosaurs, brought to our attention by an announcement that its developer Lukewarm Media has licensed the 'Unigine' engine--star of the world's first DirectX 11 benchmark.

Set in the aftermath of a military experiment gone awry, Primal Carnage pits five classes of mercenaries against five species of dinosaurs in competitive and co-op modes.

'Survival' sees up to five mercenaries fending off AI dinosaur attacks while riding on a train, boat or the like, completing objectives and facing a boss battle at the end. 'Power Grid' meanwhile is Team Fortress 2-style competitive interspecies point-capturing play.

Primal Carnage is slated for release on Windows PC and Linux in the fourth quarter of the year, likely costing around $20 according to lead designer Ashton Andersen.