‘You are likely to be eaten by a grue’; words that many will recognize even if they’ve never played the text-based classic Zork. While modern games often require lightning fast reflexes, patient attention to timing puzzles or long hours of accumulating equipment and experience. Jolt Online Gaming is bringing back a classic experience that requires imagination, logic and creativity in the way of text-based games of the past.

LegendsOfZork.com will give players an online , persistent adventure that can be accessed from any internet browser. Players will take up the role of a recently unemployed salesman and part time treasure hunter and search for loot in the underground kingdom of Zork. The game isn’t available yet but you can go to the website to sign up for announcements and beta registration.

Yesterday the Knothole Island content pack for Fable II was released to the delight of Fable fans and Mark Llabres Hill (a writer on the game) has given an interview about the content pack. Unfortunately for anyone trying to decide whether or not the extra content is worth the 800 MS points, this interview isn’t likely to help you that much. Mr. Hill is tight-lipped as far as what the actual content of the pack is, but apparently you can complete your Master Chief getup with the Halo assault rifle.

Many of the questions that were asked of Mr. Hill are dodged under the guise of not revealing surprises or keeping ideas that had been discussed and not used a secret in case of future content packs (the existence of which he neither confirmed nor denied). He does give out some interesting details, including that they briefly toyed with the idea of calling Knothole Island ‘DLC Island’. Read the whole interview after the break. READ ON »

It seems game studios are reaching wider and wider for new intellectual properties and game concepts to develop. Comic books, films and movies have been getting game adaptations for quite some time now. Recently some rather unusual material has been acquired for conversion to a video game including literary classic Dante’s Inferno. With its explorations of hell and vast amount of material that could make for impressive gameplay and visuals the book seems perfectly suited to making an adventure game.

At the time the announcement seemed incredibly odd, but in light of one of today’s rumors an adaptation of Dante’s Inferno seems as commonplace as a new Mario title. Several publishers have been approached by Andrew Lloyd-Weber’s company Really Useful Group to ascertain the possibility of bringing some of the composer’s classic musicals to game systems: “With the video gaming audience having moved from its male-dominated roots towards a more family-oriented demographic, now is the perfect time for us to take some of the best-known names in musical entertainment in a more interactive direction,” said Really Useful Group’s Douglas Glen of the proposal.

At this early stage it’s impossible to say what direction they’d go with the games, but something along the lines of a musical rhythm game is likely. I’d be very amused to see a game that combined Dance Dance Revolution gameplay with the singing of Rock band.

Numerous players are reporting that an Assault Rifle from the Halo series is available through the Fable 2 DLC. The weapon is known as “Hal’s Rifle,” and can be obtained by giving pure experience to “The Box of Secrets.” A few other items featured from Halo are all part of the Hal set, which include armor, and energy sword.

As for stats, it does 59 damage, has 24 bursts, 1.35 reload, has normal attack speed, and has an empty augment slot.

Read (Xbox Insider)

Supposed sources close to Nintendo have tipped IGN that the Nintendo DSi will be released in the United States in early April. The source also said that it would retail for $179.99.

The third iteration of the Nintendo’s flagship portable system has been out in Japan since November. Reggie Fils-Aime, president of Nintendo of America, has said that the system will be sold in Europe by spring, but also mentioned that it would be released in the US “well into 2009.”

Nintendo has declined to comment on the rumor.

The Wii has finally received its long-awaited DLC store for Rock Band 2. While other consoles had access to downloadable content since day one, the Wii had to wait a much longer. The first entry in the series did not feature any DLC at all for the Wii.

A total of 50 tracks have been released; 20 of them are standard freebies, and 30 other tracks are for purchase. A full list of tracks are viewable after the jump. READ ON »

Electronic Arts has announced today that Command & Conquer 3 Red Alert: Uprising will be shipped at a retail price of $20. Players who pre-order bundle pack through Direct2Drive will get $5 off the full price.

The real-time-strategy expansion will be hitting shelves in March for the PC.

New data from Chart Track is reporting some numbers for the total console base in the United Kingdom and Ireland.

The Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii have a combined console base of 10 million. Adding the 12 million portable systems into the mix, the total comes out to 22 million. Here’s the low down:

• Xbox 360 – 3.2 million
• Playstation 3 – 1.9 million
• Wii – 4.9 million
• DS – 8.8 million
• PSP – 3.2 million

Read (GamesIndustry.biz)

Europeans will be able to get the box in the picture here. Inside you will find an 80GB PlayStation3 system and a Killzone 2 game. So far this is just a leaked rumor but we should expect Sony Computer Entertainment Europe to confirm it soon. We’re also waiting for a price for the bundle so if you’re reading this from Europe don’t go out and buy any PS3 systems just yet.

via gamzsonev3

Nintendo has unveiled a new Wii Channel called Wiinoma. The channel functions mainly as a broadcast television, offering lifestyle, education, cartoons, cooking, and other types of shows.The content is entirely original and created exclusively for Nintendo.

Wiinoma will also allow users to interact with the content directly. For example, players will be able to take Brain Training quizes of some sort. A pay-per-view service will also be added to the mix.

The channel will be hitting Japanese Wii’s in the spring. The rest of the world will be getting their hands on Wiinoma before the end of the year.

Read (Mark’s Technology News)