The ever so popular Fifa series is ready with another knock-out game in the series after a successful run with Fifa 08. The game has been announced for a October release and from the looks of its initial screens, the game looks to improve on its high benchmark. IGN previewd the game (lucky dogs), here is a brief from their initial impressions.

According to next-gen Line Producer David Rutter, there have been over 250 key improvements in FIFA 09 made to the core gameplay. That manifests itself in countless ways, but the primary examples that we were shown dealt with the responsiveness of the players. Players change direction more realistically. Their traps are quicker and, depending on their attributes, their first touches are significantly better. A forward making a run will gesture for the ball as he makes his run; his run off the ball will be faster than if he made it with the ball at his feet.

Collisions aren’t often thought of as a huge facet of soccer (especially by Americans), but it’s another aspect of the game totally redone and modified. Momentum dramatically affects collisions, leading to totally different outcomes. A player tackled by a player from behind after he’s run for twenty yards may do a full flip before hitting the ground; one tapped from behind will fall slightly forward. Players can elude tackles on their non-standing leg, and there are in-air collisions when players go for headers.

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I love my PSP, who doesn’t. Until now I was busy busting ancient Greek monster butt with Chains of Olympus, but that is about to change. I will soon have my hands on Street Fighter Alpha 3 Max for the PSP, yes its SF on the PSP. The game has been out for quite some time but we in India will get our hands on it only now, the game has been very highly rated, check out a review summary and video below.

Most gamers have an affinity for the Street Fighter series. And for good reason - it’s as historic and industry changing as the Mario franchise. Virtually every game in the fighting genre has copied the most seminal in the series, Street Fighter II, in some way or another. Whether it’s the character design or finely tuned combat system, it’s easy to see the influence. And it’s these very elements that make the first PSP Street Fighter, Street Fighter Alpha 3 Max, such a treat. Click here to read the full review.

Remember the GhostBusters, well a game based on the popular series may be in grave danger of being busted. The Ghost Busters game assets have been doing rounds of the internet for some time now, but if the new reports are to be believed, the game may be in danger.

Sierra has assured that Ghosbusters “will not be cancelled”, but offered no further details on the title or any of the others believed to be on the chopping block.

Original Story: In the wake of the recently completed Activision Blizzard merger, the company has revealed that only five franchises from Vivendi Games’ Sierra portfolio will be making the transition to the newly-formed company’s publishing operations. Read full story here.

The World of Warcraft is quite easily the most popular PC game right now, and for good reason. The 10 Million Plus WOW population has been eagerly awaiting the Lich King expansion, but there is a new twist to the tale. Some lucky few who got thier hands on the Lich King CD Key are now selling them off on Ebay. This isn’t the first time that a gamer has sold his soul to the devil and stood in line for the moolah. Read below:

The record price paid on eBay’s UK site so far is GBP 513 - that’s EUR 652, or an astonishing USD 1,021.

This may have been a one-off, but keys are regularly changing hands for between GBP 150 and GBP 300.

Beta keys obtained in the normal manner, by opting in to the test on the official website, cannot be sold - they’re attached to the account of the player who registered.

But the keys given out on scratch-cards at the Blizzard Worwide Invitational event in Paris in June, and BlizzCon 2007 in Los Angeles last August, have no such restrictions. It’s these that are changing hands for serious cash. Originally billed as beta keys “for an upcoming Blizzard title”, Blizzard only announced that these would work for the Lich King beta once it had started.

Tomb Raider is a legendary franchise and for good reason, Lara Croft, she is the reason. Lara is the most fantasized character in gaming till date, no wonder she has movies, books and even music albums named after her. The latest iteration in the series is called Tomb Raider Underworld and is due in a few months. A teaser trailer for the game was released recently, check it out below….also read the wiki summary of the game.

Differences from previous iterations in the series are that Lara’s environment will be an “interactive world that reacts and remembers”, such that footprints left in the mud or mud transferred to Lara’s knee from kneeling on the ground will be washed away by rain, the bodies of the foes she encounters will remain where she killed them, and any destruction to the environment she causes will be permanent. According to creative director Eric Lindstrom, this is “to not only reward the player for the effect they’re having on the world, but to give them navigational aids.” The game uses an animation blending system that allows Lara to interact dynamically with her environment, such as pushing foliage aside with one or two hands, depending on if she is carrying a weapon.  

It also features a “hybrid lighting model that combines dynamic lights with carefully created light maps” and a weather system that changes the environment, for example, “If Lara’s negotiating a wet ledge she’s more apt to slip or lose grip,” which makes “the environment … her adversary” for a large part of the game.

Although this was made official sometime back, I want to make sure that our avid readers known about this. Capcom the creator to hit series like Street Fighter, Devil May Cry and Lost Planet is now officially releasing games in India. Capcom will release games for all platforms including PSP and PC. This is good news as Capcom has some really big releases lined up in the coming months. So don’t be surprised to see Capcom Classics in your local game store, this includes all time favorites like Street Fighter. Check out the video below, more soon on Capcom.

This is still a rumor but if true Street Fighter 4 may release in India simultaneously with the world release. Most companies ignore India due to its low numbers in hardware sales or due to its high piracy ratio. A very reliable source tells me that SF4 may be releasing in India along with the rest of the world simultaneously, which means that you wont need to pay extra to your regular guy for importing a copy of your favorite game. SF4 is already playable in Japan but for the rest of the world, the wait will be longer. Check out more details about the game here and a trailer below.

IGN.com: Street Fighter IV is the continuation of the greatly loved franchise that pits combatants against each other in 2D combat. While IV is the first entry in the series to use 3D character models, battles still take place on a single 2D plane and they feel — in terms of gameplay — very traditional. You have full control over horizontal and vertical movement and you can perform six different standard attacks: three types of punches or upper body attacks of varying strengths, and three lower body strikes (or kicks). Each fighter also has a nice set of special techniques, as well as Super moves that require charges from an energy gauge at the bottom of the screen.

Rock Band 2 Announced:

Harmonix and Electronic Arts have announced via the 2008 E3 Media & Business Summit that Rock Band 2 is going to be released really soon. “With the original Rock Band title providing millions of players with a new way to interact with the music and artists they love, Rock Band 2 builds upon its core band foundation to offer an unparalleled, deeper, dynamic gameplay experience.”

FFXIII versus still on the PS3:

One of the big shockers from the Microsoft press conference was the unveiling of a new Final Fantasy XIII trailer and the subsequent announcement that the once exclusive title would be coming to the Xbox 360. The foregone conclusion one could draw from the announcement is that all Square Enix titles have the propensity to float multi-platform. Fortunately for the Sony crowd, a PSU interview with Square Enix executive Shinki Hashimoto has revealed that Final Fantasy XIII Versus will remain exclusive to the PS3:

We won’t change policy. Final Fantasy Versus XIII is still a PlayStation 3 exclusive

New Guitar Hero on the DS, already:

Let it never be said that Activision sits idly by while there’s a franchise to exploit. Guitar Hero: On Tour (pictured) may have only just shipped, but it’s already a big enough hit to warrant a follow-up, and Guitar Hero: On Tour — Decades was announced for the DS at Nintendo’s E3 press conference today. We know little about this sequel, but apparently, two versions of On Tour: Decades will be released, and owners of the different versions can swap songs. It adds a Pokémon-like twist to the standard Guitar Hero formula, but at the same time, it does initially seem like an unnecessary added level of complication just to get all the available songs in your game.

First Prince of Persia gameplay footage:

After all the screenshot leaks and poor screenshot videos, here’s finally the first official game play video of Prince of Persia:Next Generation. It was released at E3 just some hours ago. Wow, I just love their new artistic direction, this game will be a killer!”

E3 is the biggest event in gaming and this year it is bigger than ever. Read below some of the biggest announcements:

Full game Installs coming to Xbox 360:

Microsoft’s planned overhaul of the Xbox 360 dashboard is bringing plenty of new functionality, but it turns out it has yet another trick to spring: A new feature will allow players to install full 360 games onto their hard drives, making for faster loading times and quicker access to the games you play most often.

FFXIII defects to Xbox 360:

Square-Enix has announced Final Fantasy XIII for Xbox 360 at Microsoft’s E3 press conference.

The announcement debuted in the form of a new trailer which initially looked like a Panzer Dragoon game with dragons flying in a trench. A ship lands in the trailer and flying mechanical soldiers drop out. Included in the trailer were massive airships. A hint of gamplay was shown and the graphics looked awesome.

GTA coming to Nintendo DS:

Nintendo is really pimping out the DS to anyone who wants a piece. The DS’s newest client? Publisher Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto series. Today at the Nintendo E3 2008 press conference, Nintendo announced that Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars will be coming exclusively to the DS this holiday. Developed by Rockstar Leeds in conjunction with Rockstar North, Chinatown Wars will take players inside the seedy underbelly of Liberty City’s infamous Asian Triad crime syndicates. Players will use the DS’ specific controls to guide their cars and characters on what is described by Rockstar as “an epic tale of crime and corruption.” OK, good.

New Interface for Xbox 360:

While the look and feel of the 360 dashboard will be completely changed by this update, the update will also feature the long rumored 3D Avatar system. These avatars will represent players and will be completely customizable. Other major enhancements to the LIVE service include Xbox LIVE Party, which will allow up to eight players to stay together across various gaming and media experiences as a group.

Bioware’s next game has already created loads of hype and teased gamers for over three years. Dragon Age: Origins as it is called has just released an extended trailer featuring more action, more adventure but minimum gameplay, enjoy. In case you dont know anything about Dragon Age, here is some info from its wiki page:

Unlike many of BioWare’s previous titles, Dragon Age: Origins is not based on a pre-existing franchise; the game mechanics and setting are being developed by BioWare specifically for the game. Dragon Age: Origins also utilizes a new game engine named Eclipse. It has not been confirmed if it will feature a toolset for creation of fan-made content, and while multiplayer was initially planned, the focus of development is on the single-player campaign and multiplayer remains unconfirmed. BioWare co-CEO Ray Muzyka describes Dragon Age: Origins as a ’spiritual successor’ to the Baldur’s Gate series.

As of yet, few specific details have been revealed regarding the game’s setting or plot, although more general information is available. The setting will be ‘medieval fantasy’ and the plot has been described as epic, and involves saving the world and exploring the Kingdom of Ferelden. The developers have cited ‘realistic’ fantasy fiction such as George R.R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones and fantasy paintings by artists such as Frank Frazetta as inspiration for the game - they aim for a dark, mature, gritty fantasy setting as opposed to the High Fantasy Dungeons and Dragons BioWare fans are used to.