Morning Battlefield 1943, it's nice of you to join us. We've been ...expecting you.

Go ahead and hit up the full list, or, if you're looking for a particular system, skip right to the PC, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii and PSP. Should you want to check out any past release lists, scope out our handy archive.

Retail releases should be at North American stores by Wednesday, July 8, with Tales of Monkey Island - Chapter 1 PC debuting via digital distribution on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Battlefield 1943 arrives in the Xbox Live Marketplace Wednesday and the PlayStation Store Thursday, with the multiplayer shooter dropping in on PC come September.

... Read more

"We really tried to make the different approaches not necessarily equivalent but always balanced," explains Alpha Protocol creative designer Travis Stout in a new developer diary, "and there's always something and interesting and fun going on in each path."

Please install Flash to view this Shackvideo

Shackvideo users can use the HD Stream.

Publisher Sega recently announced a release date of October 6 for Obsidian's PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 espionage RPG, with the creative tagline "The Espionage RPG."

Though Left 4 Dead 2 is slated to arrive on PC and Xbox 360 come November 17, developer Valve has reaffirmed that it will continue to support the original edition of its cooperative zombie shooter with as-yet-unspecified downloadable content.

"More info will be coming shortly on the [Left 4 Dead 1] DLC," Valve's Chet Faliszek told Shacknews, adding that the DLC will come in addition to enhancements, such as the promised team-based matchmaking update for the first Left 4 Dead.

"We plan to keep supporting Left 4 Dead 1," Valve marketing VP Doug Lombardi recently told CVG. "I think folks took our [E3] announcement [of Left 4 Dead 2] as a sign that we were dropping Left 4 Dead 1 and that's just not the case."

Lombardi noted that "there will be some announcements coming before summer's out about what's coming there," explaining that the internet's vocal... Read more

Taking the day off for an early start to the holiday? Then you've got the time to sit around and watch 17 minutes of Double Fine's Brutal Legend, all narrated by Tim Schafer himself.

Brutal Legend is set to arrive on October 13 on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Please install Flash to view this Shackvideo

Shackvideo users can use the HD Stream.

Click through for the rest:... Read more

"The art style...is the glue to everything," Gearbox's Mikey Neumann explains above the gentle hum of a crowded meeting room during E3. "It allows us to embrace what our game actually is, and man, when we had that epiphany, when it all came together, we were like, 'shit man, that's what this game is, this game is about having fun.'"

Neumann, whose job title today is "a guy who can get you things," is talking about the radical change that the studio's shooter-RPG Borderlands recently underwent, shifting from a gritty realistic aesthetic to something a bit more... stylized.

It was a risky move, especially considering that the game is nearing completion--it's hitting PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in October--and this is the first time that Gearbox has demonstrated the new art style, in real time, to most of the gaming media.

And though the game's not out until October, it needs to be completed much sooner than that due to the need for testing. "You can subtract two and a half to three months for certification time," he says. "Subtract three months off of October... Read more

Codemasters seems to be on a screenshot kick today, with some new screenshots of Operation Flashoint: Dragon Rising accompanying this morning's DiRT 2 screens.

Developed internally at Codemasters, not by creator Boehmia Interactive, the tactical shooter sequel is slated to appear on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 this fall.

The IGF award-winning platformer Fez will be released on Xbox Live Arcade early next year, according to developer Polytron.

The clever indie title makes use of perspective shifts and optical illusions, some of which can be seen in the trailer below.

Please install Flash to view this Shackvideo

Originally scheduled to arrive earlier this year, publisher THQ today announced that Vigil's Darksiders: Wrath of War (PS3, 360) will now make it to stores on January 1, 2010.

A new trailer for the action game was released to mark the dating. Check it out below.

Please install Flash to view this Shackvideo

Shackvideo users can use the HD Stream.

The first developer diary for Splinter Cell: Conviction sees the team at Ubisoft Montreal discussing their plans to push the stealth-action series "further" while staying true to it.

The oft-delayed title, once due in 2007, is now expected on PC and Xbox 360 this fall.

Please install Flash to view this Shackvideo

Shackvideo users can use the HD Stream.

Obsidian's spy-themed action-RPG Alpha Protocol will ship off to North American retailers on October 6, publisher Sega has just announced.

The game is now tagged "The Espionage RPG," going by the box art issued today, with all three versions--PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360--to be released simultaneously.

In addition to Alpha Protocol, Obsidian has two other projects in the works--Fallout: New Vegas and a secret mystery title--with its Aliens RPG recently confirmed to be cancelled.

The promised Green Day downloadable content for Rock Band is set to arrive next week, along with a roaring selection of tracks from artists on the metallicious Mayhem Tour.

Green Day Pack
• Green Day - "21 Guns"
• Green Day - "East Jesus Nowhere"
• Green Day - "Know Your Enemy"
Mayhem Pack
• Behemoth - "Conquer All"
• Black Dahlia Murder - "What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse"
• Cannibal Corpse - "Hammer Smashed Face"
• God Forbid - "Empire of the Gun"
• Job for a Cowboy - "Embedded"
• Marilyn Manson - "Disposable Teens"
• Slayer - "Black Magic"
• Whitechapel - "This Is Exile"

The tracks hit Xbox 360 and Wii on July 7 then PlayStation 3 on July 9, priced at $2 a pop (160 Microsoft Points, 200 Wii Points). 360 and PS3 rockers can also snag the whole Green Day Pack for $5.49 (440 MS Points) or Mayhem Pack for $13.49 (1,080 Points).

As DiRT 2 enters the final stretch--it's slated to arrive this September--developer Codemasters has released some new screenshots illustrating the various off-road tracks, including Battersea, Croatia, Morocco and Utah.

Look for DiRT 2 to hit PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, Nintendo DS and PSP.

DICE has announced that Battlefield 1943 will be released July 8 on Xbox Live Arcade then July 9 on the PlayStation Network, priced at $15 (1200 Microsoft Points).

A new trailer introduces Guadalcanal, one of three maps available at launch for 24-player WW2 warfare. A fourth map will become unlocked by a community challenge.

Please install Flash to view this Shackvideo

Shackvideo users can use the HD Stream.

A PC release is due in September, potentially with gameplay closer to Battlefield 1942.

The downloadable PC release of Frozenbyte's platformer Trine will go live this morning, according to the game's Steam page. The PC version is priced at $30 on Steam, and is set to unlock at 9am PST today. The PlayStation 3 release, expected either today or next Thursday, will cost only $20.

No idea what Trine is? Think LittleBigPlanet, but with a fantasy setting, three distinct characters, and only offline multiplayer to start. Or just check out the excellent demo.

Ah football, the beautiful game! And still reasonably attractive when impudently dubbed "soccer" and made into a video game, if the first FIFA Soccer 10 trailer is any indication.

Please install Flash to view this Shackvideo

Shackvideo users can use the HD Stream.

Along with improved player AI and football mechanics, and a deeper Manager mode, EA claims FIFA 10 sports "the first-ever true 360 degree dribbling system." Charming.

Developed by EA Canada and published by EA Sports, FIFA Soccer 10 is scheduled for release on PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, PS2, PSP and Nintendo DS in the fall.

Microsoft Research's Kodu Game Lab, described as "a new visual programming language made specifically for creating games," has been released on Xbox 360.

Available under the Community Games--soon to be rebranded "Indie Games"--portion of the online Xbox Live Marketplace, the 167MB program can be sampled in demo form, with the full version downloadable in exchange for 400 Microsoft Points ($5).

The full version packs several tutorials and numerous samples, with genres ranging from shooter to racing to role-playing. Created games can be shared with other Xbox Live members, and can support multiplayer for up to four offline players.

"We're making it easy for everyone to enjoy the magic of game creation," lead designer Matt MacLaurin explained earlier this year. At the time, Microsoft utilized "actual 12-year-old girl" Sparrow to demonstrate the ease of using Kodu's icon-based interface.

The development team at Blue Omega, responsible for the Unreal mod-turned-game Damnation (PC, 360, PS3), has been entirely laid off.

"The entire Blue Omega team was laid off today (well, starting Friday)," wrote former Omega programmer Geoff Rowland on his Twitter account last week.

Legal documents dug up by Shacknews also show that Blue Omega's demise was prefaced by an ugly period involving multiple subcontractors and lawsuits.

Blue Omega had hired two developers in 2007, Velvetelvis Studios and Point of View, to do contract work on Damnation--relationships which both ended in legal disputes.

One lawsuit filed by Blue Omega on January 20 shows that Damnation publisher Codemasters had at one time forcefully removed the developer from... Read more

Konami has confirmed that its downloadable Vandal Hearts prequel Flames of Judgment, originally expected to hit Xbox Live Arcade in August and PlayStation Network in September, is now to be expected within the ever-vague "winter" release timeframe.

The strategy game is said to improve upon the "speedy RPG pace" of the first Vandal Hearts, which hit the original PlayStation in 1996. Multiple endings are on tap for the prequel, along with a "deep range of customization options" and twenty maps.

In a research note circulated today, Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter predicts that the current console cycle will not expire until 2013 at the earliest--and when the new games come, they will still be wrapped in a box.

Pachter's paints a picture where "ancillary revenues" drawn from digital distribution and console updates--such as a possible high-definition Wii, as well as Sony and Microsoft's motion controllers--will naturally delay the release of newer hardware.

But while Pachter sees an uptake in digital distribution, he expects a slow revolution, with downloads representing "less than 50 per cent of total game sales in ten years' time." The case of Grand Theft Auto IV's first digital expansion "The Lost and... Read more

I know next to nothing about cars, but one thing I do know is that I love racing games that include comparatively pedestrian vehicles. There's nothing like racing a high-performance Formula One machine while behind the wheel of a virtual 1992 Ford Taurus station wagon.

In that spirit, of the following 15 Japanese-manufactured cars, 9 are production cars. See if you can spot the street-legal motors in the gallery below.

Also detailed are three "legendary" tracks set in Japan: the Suzuka Circuit, Tsukuba Circuit and Twin Ring Motegi.

For the full track descriptions, click through:... Read more