Blizzard game designer Rob Pardo has confirmed that StarCraft II will not be released this year. “The only thing I can give you [that's] concrete is it’s not going to be this year,” he told MSNBC. “Some people were hoping, because of how advanced the game looks, that we’d have it out by Christmas, but that’s definitely not happening.”

Apparently, the company uses a different design philosophy than other game designers: “Different companies have different philosophies on how long they spend on products,” he said. “We’re able to do that because we have smaller teams and we give ourselves time to iterate through the product…You see a lot of companies that are so focused on the release date that they put 100-person, 200-person teams together to hit that date, and at that point you’re really the runaway train. You have to hit that date and live with decisions that you might not have been 100 percent happy with. We take the opposite approach.”

So, it’s going to be released “once it’s done”. There you have it.

EA offers you the chance to keep driving like a maniac in Burnout Dominator. The company has released two brand new tracks for the PSP version of the game, available free of charge and downloadable directly to the PSP.

First up is Carnival Point: “As the late afternoon sun shines overhead, drift around long mountainous bends, hurtle past the sandy beach and wreak havoc in the downtown traffic of a South American metropolis.”

Red Gate will be available on June 7: “Race and boost chain your way through the busy streets of an Eastern European city at night.”

The tracks can be downloaded directly through the game itself, or through the game’s official website.

Those looking to get dirty can now do so as Codemasters has unveiled its pre-order program for DiRT’s June release. Those who pre-purchase the game through various retailers across North America will receive an exclusive access code that unlocks 10 cars in the game, as well as access to exclusive videos of off-road racing star Travis Pastana.

Cars included in the offer are the Subaru Impreza WRX-RA STI version II, Toyota Celica GT-FOUR, Peugot 205 T16, Lancia Delta S4, Icker Jimco buggy, McMillin Racing Car, Kamaz 4911, MAN TGA, Freightliner Century Class S/T and the Kenworth T2000.

DiRT will ship this June for PC and Xbox 360; a PS3 version will follow shortly thereafter.

Ever read anything by H.P. Lovecraft? If you’ve not, you should seriously check out his literary works. They are amazing.

With that out of the way, Lighthouse Interactive has announced Darkness Within: In Pursuit of Loath Nolder, an upcoming Lovecraft-inspired horror adventure game. Scheduled for release this Fall, the game explores the human psyche, immersing players in the world of nightmares, the occult and a frightening psychological world, according to the release.

“This is truly a game that will send shivers up your spine”, said Lighthouse Interactive’s Vice President, Steve Wall. “People love both a good mystery and suspenseful psychological thrillers. This is a great combination of both. Players are sure to turn the lights on while playing this game.”

Here’s the deal:

As police detective Howard E. Loreid, players are tasked to solve the murder of Clark Field, a wealthy man involved in the occult. At the top of your list of suspects is Loath Nolder, a highly respected private investigator who mysteriously abandoned his last case for reasons unknown. Rumor had it that he ventured to several exotic places around the world. It remains a great mystery as to why Loath Nolder disappeared so suddenly, resurfacing five years later and resuming his investigations just as abruptly as he had left them. Why does this venerated P.I. now sit on the other side of the law?This seemingly routine investigation takes a dramatic twist as strange and terrifying happenings begin to plague your psyche. You experience lucid horrifying dreams and are tormented by paranormal happenings. Why do days pass instead of hours when you sleep? What’s real and what’s not? As you pursue fugitive murder suspect Loath Nolder, you must face dire truths hidden deep within a haunting darkness and the recesses of your mind.

The game will feature a built-in hint system with 3 difficulty levels, an unique inventory system, dynamic puzzles, and “eerie” gameplay atmosphere, among other things.

Those who have seen the Silent Hill movie will either love or hate it… there’s no middle ground. With that in mind, IGN reports that Christophe Gans, the director behind the Silent Hill movie, will direct the film adaptation of Capcom’s Onimsha.

Budgeted at $70 million, the movie’s screenplay is by Leslie Kruger and John Collee (Master and Commander). Shooting is expected to begin in China next February, with the film being targeted for a December 2009 release.

“I have loved the Onimusha story for years and am overjoyed to have the opportunity now to bring it to life for worldwide film audiences and to access the unparalleled film resources of China to do so on the scale that the story demands,” Gans told ScreenDaily.

Producer Hadida added, “There is nothing else in the marketplace like Onimusha. It combines swashbuckling adventure, passion, and heroic destiny on an epic scale. … I have worked with Christophe on three successful productions and am confident that he brings the ideal vision to realize this incredible story.”

Onimusha is now being shopped around to prospective buyers, with several studios showing interest in the project.

Well, at the very least it should be more logical than The Sims movie, right? Variety Asia reports that Double Edge Entertainment has picked up the movie rights to the King of Fighters series. According to the report, the movie will be directed by Hong Kong action helmer Gordon Chan.

The rest of the article talks about how BenQ and the Taiwan government are involved in the movie, alongside Hollywood movies such as Smother and The Heaven Project. The movie is also being backed by Japanese shingle Micott & Basara and sales agent Arclight/Easternlight as co-producers.

The movie has no release date yet and has no cast attached yet.

Drew Carey, comedian and star of the upcoming CBS show The Power of 10, will play five players from both the US Men’s and Women’s National Teams in FIFA 07 on Xbox 360, and for every game he loses, he’s going to donate $10,000 to benefit the Mooch Myernick Memorial Fund. This event will occur at a VIP invitation-only at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California, on June 5 from 7-10 pm. Here’s why they think he’s gonna give away the whole $50,000:

While Drew is clearly a FIFA Soccer 07 and Xbox 360 aficionado -he may have bitten off a little more than he can chew in this challenge, even if it is in the virtual soccer world. In Los Angeles Galaxy striker Landon Donovan, he faces the USA’s second all-time leading scorer, the all-time leader in assists and the two-time U.S. Soccer Male Athlete of the Year. And it only gets worse. Four-time World Cup veteran Kasey Keller has set virtually every U.S. goalkeeping record there is for the men, including wins and shutouts. U.S. Women’s National Team striker Abby Wambach has scored a whopping 70 goals in 91 games for the United States. New England Revolution forward and 2005 Major League Soccer MVP Taylor Twellman is currently the leading scorer in MLS, already with seven goals in just nine games this year and 82 total in his career. And U.S. Women’s goalkeeper Hope Solo has been in the nets for most of the USA’s current 41-game unbeaten streak.

The event will also see the invitees getting the chance gift packs after each match, which includes signed jerseys from all the participating US soccer players, two EA Sports games, three nights’ accommodation at a Doubletree Hotel, and more. Fans will also get the chance to bid on an Xbox 360 Elite signed by Drew and the US Soccer participants, which will be on eBay starting June 6.

It’s a pretty big claim these days to say your game will look better than Gears of War did, but one developer is claiming that, and rightfully so. Epic’s (Gears of War creator) upcoming Unreal Tournament 3 has seen some reworking to the Unreal Engine, which should make for an even better graphical experience. If the word of the developer was not enough, word of the title comes from a nice little six-page spread in the recent issue of the Xbox Official Magazine. They confirm that the title is indeed looking superior to Gears of War at this stage.

But the 6 pages alone didn’t just contain praise for the look; naturally the game will feature a single player and multiplayer endeavors, as well as two or four player co-op. The title will also include 18 vehicles, 5 turrets and a brand new hover board that lets you attach on to vehicles just like Marty McFly in back to the future (picture above). Apparently the title plays so well on the Xbox 360 that much of the team prefers to play the game on the console versus the PC. Definitely this is shaping up to be another big title. While Epic probably won’t steal the show this holiday season against Halo 3, they will definitely be one of the top tiered titles to look forward to.

Read (Team Xbox)

Strategy Informer, a site that is dedicated to strategy games as the title suggests, reports that Epic’s Mark Rein has revealed new information about an upcoming Gears of War update through the game’s forums. He said that new achievements relating to Annex and the Hidden Fronts will be included in the update, which does not have a release timeframe yet. However, they are making “significant” progress, and they plan on improving roadie run, as well as squash exploits and do other “general housekeeping”.

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A new trailer for the Final Fantasy 4 remake for the Nintendo DS, (which will be receiving the same treat number 3 did last year) has made its way out after the Square-Enix Party. The notable part, apart from the game shaping up to be another great re-make, falls at the end of the trailer which marks the game coming for 2007. That’s all fine and dandy until you consider the sizeable delay between regions. While it’s probably a sure bet Japan will be receiving the title, can they manage to sneak it out in English speaking regions before the holidays? That remains to be seen.