XCOM: Enemy Unknown's October 9 launch date this morning was also coupled with screenshots and a developer doc on XCOM's base of operations. Referred to as the "ant farm," the XCOM base is a living cutaway, allowing players to build out and create all new rooms to assist the agency in its clandestine operations.

XCOM: Enemy Unknown begins training a new generation of operatives in the art of global xeno defense on October 9 and 13 in North America and internationally, respectively. 2K Games plans to launch the console and PC versions simultaneously.

Pre-orders of the game will receive the Elite Soldier Pack DLC, featuring a blonde, flattopped recruit inspired by the original XCOM. It also includes soldier deco packs for players to customize the look of their character with "complete color customization." XCOM fuchsia team, move out!

The October XCOM launch brings a little more clarity to BioShock Infinite's move to 2013, giving 2K Games more breathing room for a potential break-out by a mostly forgotten franchise. This doesn't mean GTA V is off the table for October, but it's hard to imagine the blockbuster series launching then without sacrificing one of the publisher's games in that month. And by "one," we mean XCOM.

What would life be like if you could fell entire civilizations with a flick of your wrist, crush hordes of men with a downward swat and destroy worlds with a ridiculous, wide-armed downhill skiing motion? You'd either be Lord Voldemort, or you'd be playing Babel Rising on Kinect, like the stylish young man in the video above.

Babel Rising is set to launch in June for PlayStation Move and Xbox 360's Kinect.

Double Fine is building up an intriguing cast of characters for its mysterious, bone-themed game. First we had the monk, the hillbilly and the time traveler, and now we have three more random occupations to ponder: the adventurer, the scientist and the knight.

Double Fine's Ron Gilbert posted images of each of these characters on his blog, Grumpy Gamer. The only other information gleaned from the reveals appears to be that the knight isn't exactly Sir Bravery, but we could have gotten that from the little shaking knees in his picture.

We may not have any idea when to expect Retro City Rampage on the Vita (and various other platforms), but we're starting to see what it'll look like once it's finally done.

Potential rampagers need not worry about the Vita's smaller screen size, according to developer Brian Provinciano, as the portable version has been outfitted with two different scaling options; one that scales the game to ensure everything is clearly visible, and another that maintains the console version's original 16:9 aspect ration and stylized borders.

Touchscreen functionality has also been "tastefully" implemented, but only so far as to aid in navigating menus and during shopping sprees. "If you're an absolute purist," Provinciano adds, "you can still play the game 100% with the buttons." The Vita version also supports "continuous play" with the PS3 version, meaning that saves transfer between the two platforms and both versions share the same universal scoreboard.

Additionally, the Vita and PS3 ports will come packed with visual filters that make the game look like various systems of yore, such as the all-red "Virtual Burn" and monochrome "Brick Handheld" settings.

DmC Devil May Cry has been delayed. The redesigned Dante will now perform endless aerial combos and smart-ass quips on consoles starting January 15, 2013 in North America and Europe. A PC version has also been announced, and is set to strike "later in 2013."

Continue Reading

As a side effect of Activision's ongoing court battle with former Infinity Ward heads Jason West and Vince Zampella, details of the company's deal with Bungie have been made public in documents posted by the LA Times.

According to the documents, Bungie has agreed to create four "sci-fantasy, action shooter games" in a project code-named "Destiny" (for which Bungie filed trademarks last year). The first will be an Xbox exclusive (360 with the option for its successor) in fall 2013 (versions for other systems would follow one year later) with followup games on Xbox successor, PS3 successor, and PC in 2015, 2017, and 2019. Four DLC expansions, code-named "Comet," are included in the deal, due fall 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2020.

In the contract, Activision reserves the right to take over the "Destiny" property if Bungie fails to meet its requirements; however, it stipulates that it will not begin more "Destiny" projects until Bungie has completed its work.

The contract also gives Bungie the freedom to put five percent of its staff to work on a prototype for a new game referred to as "Marathon," with the team size allowed to grow after certain operating income. There are also rules governing how much of the company's staff can work on Bungie.Net, Halo Reach DLC and other projects.

That takes care of the next eight years or so of video game news. Who wants tacos?

We apologize that this trailer for 007 Legends is buried after an action-packed, tension-ridden, sexually charged video advertising the coming James Bond film, Skyfall. We're sure anyone interested in a James Bond video game is completely outraged by the violent hedonism of James Bond movies. Again, our sincerest apologies.

007 Legends is due out October 16, its trailer eventually reveals, following in-game scenes from Moonraker, one of the six James Bond storylines mashed up for the title. The 007 Legends trailer begins at 1:24, and in all honesty we could have very easily cut out just the video game portion and spared you the trouble of having to watch the Skyfall trailer.

If anyone has a problem with our editorial decision, feel free to take it up with our staff – all 0011 of us.

As you may have noticed during online play, or perhaps heard about on an internet website, Street Fighter X Tekken's reccent Patch 1.04 introduced a major, game-breaking glitch, wherein any knife-like projectile will cause the game to hard freeze, should it come into contact with any fireball.

"The development team is currently examining the problem and planning to patch the game as quickly as possible," said producer Tomoaki Ayano in a statement to Capcom Unity. "The patch to fix the glitch should be released by mid June." Patch 1.04 was originally released with the intention of correcting infinite combos and other game-breaking glitches that had been discovered.

Continue Reading

Kind of a turn-based strategy game, kind of a board game, Hydravision's upcoming PS3 download release Dungeon Twister is loaded with instability – as a feature, not a bug. Two players control teams of eight adventurers, each with different abilities, and try to capture areas of a maze-like dungeon. It's based on a board game (but not the Twister we normally associate with board games, which could theoretically be played in a dungeon).

Upon seizing control of a segment, players can then rotate the area, opening new avenues for themselves and confounding their opponents (or leading directly into traps). The goal is either to escape or defeat your opponent.

Dungeon Twister will take turns on PSN this summer.

I have slain a dragon. I have walked the coasts of this land more times than I can count, treading upon the lives of creatures most foul. I have felled the beasts of the forest with arrows and steel and pillaged their leavings for aught. I have died, thousands of times, as have those who have adventured with me. And, in the end, I think back on almost none of it with fondness, or the nostalgic recollection given to hard fought, hard won battles. I am no hero.

Listen now, as I play for you the song of my heartache. Let me spin you a tale of confusion, anger, humility and bona fide bewilderment in the face of abject mediocrity. Let me tell of Seraphina the Arisen, her loyal pawn Josephine, and their stupid, stupid quest to save the kingdom of Gransys. Let me tell you of Dragon's Dogma.

Continue Reading

The PlayStation Vita port of Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath should be released in late June, according to statements made by Just Add Water CEO Stewart Gilray on the PlayStation Blogcast. "That's my intention," Gilray said. "The QA might say 'noooo' but that's my plan anyway."

The Vita version includes tweaks to make the game more natural on a handheld, like the ability to switch between third- and first-person views by double-tapping on the touchscreen, and using a "pinch" gesture to zoom.

Gilray also hopes to get the HD update of Oddworld: Munch's Oddysee out in June. That's planned for PS3 and Xbox, though of course only the PS3 version was mentioned.

Aliens: Colonial Marines launches on February 12, 2013, Sega announced this morning. The Gearbox Software-developed game was previously given a "fall 2012" launch window, and was planned as a Wii U hardware launch title (the game is also planned for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC), though no hard date was ever given before. In fact, despite the February 12 date announcement, the game's Wii U version still doesn't have a date. "A release date for the announced Wii U version will be revealed at a later time," the press release reads.

Upset? That's understandable, but Sega's hoping to deflect some of that rage with a new trailer, which we've dropped just above.

Continue Reading

Continue Reading

In addition to the player-versus-player goodies the latest DC Universe Online downloadable content pack provides, Mark Hamill will be returning to voice The Joker, and he won't be alone.

"The Last Laugh" DLC pack also features Arleen Sorkin, who returns as Harley Quinn, a role she played in Batman: Arkham Asylum. Adam Baldwin joins the two as Superman, his first video game voiceover role since, well, DC Universe Online. The content is free for Legendary subscribers and can be purchased by free and Premium users via PSN and the game's website.

Continue Reading

The folks over at Gearbox Software have been busy with a lot more than designing fancy collector's editions, according to Borderlands 2 producer Matt Charles. Answering fan-submitted twitter questions on the PlayStation Blog, Charles addressed several technical problems suffered by Borderlands – by and large, the news is positive.

Voice chat issues that plagued the first game, for instance, are currently being worked on and the system "will be working for everyone when the game launches." Charles also said that while it's "too early for me to give any final numbers," Borderland 2's framerate will "see an improvement over the first game."

He also mentioned the upgraded user interfaces we've talked about before, and that players will now automatically pick up ammo and currency dropped by felled villains: "There's a lot more useful data for gear comparison and also more descriptive text on the item cards as well. Having said that, the best way to know what a gun does is to use it."

EA Sports Canada recently announced the feature set for NHL 13, which is due for release on September 11 in North America and September 14 in Europe on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Among the more noteworthy features listed are the additions of "True Performance Skating" and "EA Sports Hockey I.Q."

True Performance Skating is the latest in EA Sports' apparent efforts to introduce physics-based engines to player movement. Much like FIFA 12's Player Impact Engine, True Performance Skating promises to deliver the "explosiveness, momentum and top end speed displayed by today's NHL players," while utilizing over a thousand new player animations. The result, according to the team, should allow for more realistic and creative player movement.

NHL 13 also features EA Sports Hockey I.Q., and unfortunately it isn't a sports-themed quiz show. EA Sports elaborated on the shortcomings of the computer A.I. in last year's game, saying that "players were only aware of skaters in their immediate proximity and goalies could only react to the player in control of the puck." EA Sports Hockey I.Q. is expected to encourage, you guessed it, more intelligent decisions by computer-controlled players, who will now "read the whole ice."

The series' Be a GM mode, traditionally a single-player feature, will allow players to pit their teams against one another in a full 30-team online league in NHL 13. EA Sports Canada says there will be a "companion mobile app" for players to connect to their online leagues as well.

EA Sports also listed details on collector's edition versions of the game, which mostly includes Hockey Ultimate Team card packs. Both the standard and collector's editions of the game are available to pre-order now from the Origin store.

Spider Man games are, generally speaking, made or broken by how satisfying it is to traverse New York City as your Friendly Neighborhood Spider Man. Slingin' webs is the essence of that fantasy, second only to being an accomplished journalist. That's why everyone likes Spider Man, right? The journalism?

Beenox's solution for The Amazing Spider Man, the "Web Rush," pulls double duty as both locomotive and combative solution by slowing down time, thus allowing the player to select their next web-oriented target of interest. Slowing down time will also be helpful for making J. Jonah Jameson's incredibly strict deadlines, which we know you're also concerned about. No one ever said the life of a genetically enriched photojournalist would be easy.