With the story's second part already scribed, fans of big-haired action epic Heavenly Sword have eagerly been awaiting confirmation of a sequel. Though it hasn't arrived just yet (possibly waylaid by disappointing sales of the original), developer Ninja Theory has revealed to Gamesindustry.biz that it's no longer entangled in Nariko's mess of red hair. A new intellectual property for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 is now being assembled, with some thought spared to a CGI movie tie-in.

"We're certainly targeting a triple-A blockbuster, with two and a half years in production – a big game that builds on our core strengths of story-telling, cinematics and combat," said Ninja Theory co-founder and chief developer, Nina Kristensen. "But we're actually looking at something in addition to that – we're considering opportunities in creating a CGI movie using the game engine alongside the game itself."

Kristensen went on to say that the company hopes to maintain its relationship with the world of film, which seems to imply that Ninja Theory's next game will boast the same high production values and cinematic flair seen in Heavenly Sword. Right, is this where we make a joke about running time?

Unfortunately it seems that Ninja Theory are definitely not currently working on Heavenly Sword 2. Nina Kristensen, co-founder of Ninja Theory, confirmed the news during an interview with GameIndustry.biz. Instead, the development team is working on a new multiplatform intellectual property, potentially leaving the Sony owned Heavenly Sword franchise for another developer to play with.

Kristensen also mentions that they're thinking of producing a CGI movie to accompany their new project. Nothing's confirmed yet, as the two and a half year development cycle has only just started, but the potential of using the game engine to produce a movie is something they're definitely interested in. The full interview will be published on GameIndustry.biz later this month, where Kristensen will discuss their new project in further depth. In the meantime, check out the concept art for the game that was found on the new Ninja Theory website.

Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword (PC)

Please, make the addiction stop! Civilization IV: Warlords, the first expansion for Civ IV, made my "Best of the Rest" last year and Beyond the Sword tops this year's list. The funny thing is I'm not a Civ fanboy, nor am I even that great of a player (Full Disclosure: I still play on Noble level), but Civ IV is a game I can come back to over and over again. Beyond the Sword added much-needed mechanics for culture-prone and passive-aggressive players, with enhancements in espionage and other concepts "beyond the sword." Oh, and just to keep last year's tradition going: Firaxis (2K, Take-Two), please get the rights to Alpha Centauri back from EA and give us a sequel!

Pac-Man Championship Edition (XBLA)

If not worthy of a Top 10 spot, then certainly Pac-Man deserves Joystiq's 'Comeback Player of the Year' award. I covered Pac-Man CE's overblown launch in early June, but it wasn't until I became a devoted player at home that I realized the sheer genius of the first true Pac-Man sequel since 'the Ms.' hit the maze in '82. Designer Toru Iwatani managed to scrape off a quarter-century of rust and fashion a remarkably relevant game that held me down during an otherwise punishing summer drought. Geometry Wars might be the most celebrated, but Pac-Man CE is Xbox Live Arcade's true star.

Gamasutra reports that Andy Serkis is to become a ringleader of sorts for a new game industry network in the East of England. The actor, best known for his motion-captured portrayal of Gollum in Lord of the Rings and Bohan in the PlayStation 3's Heavenly Sword, will kick off "Games Eden" in the hopes of encouraging and supporting game development within the region. The endeavor aims to keep industry members in touch through an international website and a series of networking events, with the envisioned result being the growth of the economy within the region. Awfully nice of him, really.

Funded by the East of England Development Agency (EEDA), East of England International (EEI), Screen East and FDMX, Games Eden will be guided by one of those committee things (we're told Princess Leia is a poor example of one) comprised of representatives from the likes of Sony, Zoonami and Ninja Theory. As gaming continues to grow larger and more lucrative, you can likely expect similar initiatives to take root in industry hot spots around the world.

It's a little early for Christmas, but it's always the right time for dancing video game characters! Jan3D has put together a super-short video as an early holiday gift to his/her fellow gamers. And to think that you weren't planning on getting him/her anything.

Not much else to say here. Just be prepared to see Big Daddy, Nariko, Mario, Master Chief, Ratchet, and NiGHTS like you've never seen them before -- in sync.

Today's additions to the PlayStation Store may not incite frenzy, but with the entire video game world talking about a certain spartan, maybe Sony thought it was to retain their big guns for another week where they could garner more press.

For US PS3 owners, in addition to an assortment of free trailers, we have demos for Clive Barker's Jericho (which also came out today on the Xbox 360 and PC) and NBA 2K8, a new vehicle for Motorstorm dubbed the Castro Capitano ($0.99) and Speed Master feature for Ninja Gaiden Sigma.

European gamers today got some Warhawk and Heavenly Sword wallpaper, a quartet of new Motorstorm vehicles (£1.49 for each pair), the Ninja Gaiden SIgma Speed Master pack a demos for Sega Rally and Folklore (this is a different demo than the one previously released).

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

This week's release list can only be described as ... heavenly. We've been waiting for a long time for this. Heavenly Sword is finally available to the masses this week and we can't wait to get our hands on it. Here's the full release list:

US Games

• Heavenly Sword
• DiRT
  
• NHL 08
• NHL 2K8

European Games

• Heavenly Sword
• DiRT

Asian Games

• Megazone 23: Aoi Garland
• Megazone 23: Aoi Garland Limited Edition
  

Check it out. Two potentially great games being released simultaneously throughout America and Europe. This is what we really love to see. As for Megazone 23: Aoi Garland, we've never heard of it. If you're intrigued and want to try it out then go right ahead, your PS3 will play games from any region. Release dates are constantly subject to change, so always keep that in mind.

Sony has confirmed that the French will be getting a new "Starter Pack" for their PlayStation 3s starting Sept. 19 which will include Heavenly Sword and F1 Championship Edition. The rest of Europe can still take their Motorstorm, along with Resistance, and like it too! Speaking with GI.biz, Sony said, "The choice of which titles to include in the Starter Pack, and the freedom to change the titles is up to the individual markets based on their unique market conditions."

Sony went on to confirm that this new pack will be introduced in France for the time being and will be available for the Heavenly Sword launch. Actually, it would be hilarious if Sony America ever introduced the Starter Pack in the States and started offering games to "individual markets based on their unique market conditions." One state gets Motorstorm, while another gets Heavenly Sword. We'd love to see how those determinations would be made.

In this episode of the Heavenly Sword animated series we discover that the return of the Heavenly Warrior is met with disbelief as it turns out the baby has a va-jay-jay. Yup, she's born a -- wait for it -- "worthless girl." Ouch, the clan initially decides to kill her, but they seem to settle on letting her live as an outcast.

The series is starting to wrap up in preparation for Heavenly Sword's Sept. 12 launch. We really do hope that the crumb of a demo isn't indicative of the whole experience. At this point, it's sad to think we'd prefer having three-minute animated shorts tell the story of the game each week than actually play the thing. We'll find out in a week.

See also: Part I, Part II, Part III & IV

And finally, it comes: the day of the warrior. Entrusted with the Heavenly Sword, will this warrior succumb to the sword's mythical bloodlust? Watch this week's episode of the Heavenly Sword prequel animation and see Nariko's transformation into a skilled warrior. This episode will also be available for download this Thursday on the PlayStation Store. Check out the previous episodes here:

See also:
Episode 1: Legend of the Heavenly Sword
Episode 2: Guardian of the Sword
Episode 3: The Rise of Evil
Episode 4: The Divine Birth

The Heavenly Sword animation continues. The latest episode chronicles the journeys of the clan that protects the Heavenly Sword. At the end of their trials comes a birth of the divine variety (is there any other kind?). What will this mysterious baby become? Well, you'll have to watch and find out, no?

This episode will be available in HD on the PlayStation Store later this week.

See also:
Episode 1: Legend of the Heavenly Sword
Episode 2: Guardian of the Sword
Episode 3: The Rise of Evil

It's a double feature with parts three and four of the Heavenly Sword animated series. Part three tells the tale of a son's betrayal and his desire to become a god. This animated series has been a great way to get exposition and background out of the way before the game releases Sept 12 -- we're still fence-sitting in angst after the PSN demo if these shorts will end up being cooler than the game.

Part four can be found after the break, in it the clan protecting the sword prepares for the rebirth of the Heavenly Warrior ... a boy savior. Then there's a shocking cliffhanger during the birth. Um, not to ruin anything, but most should be able to guess what the revelation was if you've been paying attention to Heavenly Sword at all.

See also: Part I, Part II

The deluge of Leipzig Games Convention information made us forget to give you these: brand new direct-feed shots of Heavenly Sword. You know the drill by now: these have Nariko destroying her enemies, in one horrifying way after the other. IGN UK may not have liked the game, but GamePro certainly did, giving it a 4.5/5. It won't be too long before American audiences get their hands on the game, and judge for themselves.

Check out the gallery now.

We can't say we didn't see it coming -- Ninja Theory is willing to give us a second Heavenly Sword game. Chief developer for Ninja Theory (always get the two ninja companies confused), Nina Kristensen, issued this statement: "We'd certainly like to do the sequel with Sony but nothing's been set in stone ... We're looking to expand and do new things but certainly we want to continue the Heavenly Sword franchise." Ultimately the decision comes down to Sony and we're sure their decision will be based on sales of the first game.

Reviews are starting to come in for all of Sony's anticipated, heavy-hitting games. While there aren't a lot of reviews for Heavenly Sword just yet, it's getting mostly positive responses. Also, since it is so heavily anticipated, we think it'll sell well enough for Sony to "okay" a sequel. Even though most of us haven't gotten our hands on the final version, do you think Heavenly Sword should turn into another sequel-churning franchise, or is there just something a little more special about a single game that tells a whole story?

[Update: changed "Team Ninja" to "Ninja Theory"... seriously, these companies need to think a litter harder about their names.]