Late Night Consoling

Games retailer GameStop recently added a listing their online store for a game called Lord of the Rings: Tactics. No description was provided, but this obviously set off the rumor radar. It has since been removed, but sources have been confirming that such a game is in development. With only the title providing any clues, the only assumptions can be made is that it'll be based on LotR (shocking!) and most likely be a strategy game.

A couple days ago, AnandTech did a very thorough investigation of the Xbox 360 and PS3. They followed up their report by talking (anonymously) to game developers and getting their opinions on the new consoles. The verdict? The processors are rather sub-par whereas the GPUs are quality stuff. The most damaging is that these consoles will not spur on a physics revolution, leaving it in and a stagnant state and allowing the PC market to pioneer this area of gaming.

GameRiot and the Cyberathlete Professional League are hosting a $10,000 Halo 2 tournament in Dallas, TX. Taking place July 6-9, sixteen teams of four players will compete in a double-elimination format with first prize walking away with three grand. Learn more at the official site.

When Square Enix made the announcement of a firm release date for Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, their cinematic follow-up to the PSone smash hit, they only revealed the release date for the DVD version. Well, according to the Magic Box, Squeenix finally gave us a date on the UMD version: September 14, same day as the DVD. But uhh.. do yourself a favor and get the DVD version.

French publishing powerhouse Ubisoft has announced its sponsorship of Check-em, a new charity initiative that urges men to regularly check themselves for testicular cancer. As part of the partnership, trailers for Ubisoft titles will be placed on the DVD being sent around that instructs men on how to properly check themselves. Thank you, Ubisoft, for being so concerned about my balls.

IBM announced today it has partnered with Mercury Computer Systems "to build new breakthrough computer systems for data-intensive applications." Inside these computers will be the Cell processor, the same one powering the PlayStation 3. These super-computers are being used for military purposes, for both defense and aerospace applications such as "real-time radar, sonar, and signals intelligence data."