E3 is just around the corner, and several more studios have announced their respective games for this year. This week goes from one end of the spectrum to another, from bikini-clad zombie-fighting gals, to a blue-helmeted robot exterminator. Let's get started!

Here's a keeper for the weekend: Valve has just put new updates up on Steam for Audiosurf and Race Driver: GRID, the latter being part of the follow up the version 1.1 patch that released for the retail editions of the racing game. While Audiosurf seems to be gearing up for additional content in the future, the GRID patch corrects issues with game initializations and shut downs. More at the full story.

Well at least Nintendo won't be sued for it this time. According to a patent filed a few months ago, Nintendo has a controller that a) never saw the light of day or b) hasn't seen the light of day yet.  At any rate, it looks as if it belongs more on an Xbox 360 rather than a Wii. But then we don't even really know if it's for the Wii. Details in the full article.

One of Russia's most distinguished game developer and publisher, 1C company, has announced two new game projects that will be their first on the next generation consoles. The two games are based on Captain Blood novels and the successful IL-2 Sturmovik flight combat simulation series.  Both are now heading to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 (to North America with help), but even handhelds will feel some love as well.

Here's an update iPhone fans might really enjoy. ZodTTD has posted a new video on his website, showcasing a controller mod he's set up. It's an SNES gamepad adapter modded to work with the iPhone and the iPod Touch. Specifically, it's an SNES gamepad used to control snes4iphone. See the video after the jump!

The long-running Genesis Plus emulation project for GameCube has been ported to the Nintendo Wii by homebrew coder eke-eke. This means that it is now possible to run Megadrive games on Nintendo's newest console.

To know more about the features and capabilities of Genesis Plus, click the "read more" link below for further details.


Download: GenPlus 070720
Download: Injector
Download: GenPlus 080107
Download: GenPlus GX 080301

We've just gotten a report claiming that Microsoft is gearing up to announce three new Xbox 360 bundles in response to the PlayStation 3 price drop in Europe. No official statement confirming or denying these new sets has been released yet, so you might want to wait for that before you get excited.

After looking at the alleged contents of each pack, it seems that each one focuses on a different consumer group - from hard core FPS fans to casual gamers. The most expensive of the three is the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare bundle. It is said to be an Xbox 360 Premium with an HDMI port packaged with a single gamepad, and a copy of CoD4. According to the rumor, this will be released early November for around €385 (est. US$ 543).

The second bundle, called the Xbox 360 Premium Value pack, is supposedly going to be released on November 3. It will include an Xbox 360 Premium console with an HDMI port, one wireless controller, Forza Motorsport 2, and Viva Pinata. If it comes out, the estimated price would be at about €349 or US$ 492.

The last of the rumored bundles,  the Xbox 360 Arcade Pack, appears to be targeting casual gamers . It reportedly includes a core system with an HDMI port, one wireless controller, a 256 MB memory card, five Xbox Live arcade games, a CD of demos, a one year subscription to Xbox live, and other various goodies. Like the previous pack, it was speculated that this will be out by November 3 for €279 (est. US$ 394).

If these bundles do make it to the market, we can expect that there will be more than a few happy gamers this holiday season. Hopefully Microsoft decides to "spread the love" by announcing a North American release as well.

If you need a real wireless third party classic controller for the Wii, you can now chuck out your plans to buy the official Nintendo Classic Controller. Meet the Thrustmaster's T-Wireless NW gamepad for the Wii, awireless  third-party version of the Classic Controller.

This wireless controller decked out in white and blue Wii colors includes an adapter that plugs into the Wii console. While it being a wireless is a godsend, we still have one complaint on this great accessory: the overall design of this controller looks a bit awkward. We wish that they just adapted the design of the official Classic Controller to give gamers a retro feel while playing Virtual Console games.

Thrustmaster also launched the T-Megapack also for the Wii, which includes a white go-kart style racing wheel, two white silicon Wiimote protectors, and a recharging base. The wheel is a worthy addition to one's Wii accessory collection - just insert the Wiimote in the wheel and it's ready to go. The recharging base is also a nice Wii accessory that not only looks good beside the Wii but can also be connected to its USB port.

Both products come out October 2007, with the T-Wireless NW coming in at a SRP of US$ 19.99 and the T-Mega pack NW at US$ 34.99.

And just to settle the score against the competition, EA Sports' NHL 08 (for the PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3) producer David Littman recently made a blog entry for the next hockey sports title and passed new gameplay features and improvements that players might be interested to know. And according to him, from now until shipment, fans of the game can keep checking blogged updates on new developments.

But first, let's see what EA Sports has in store for the new hockey successor to NHL 07, featuring cover athlete Eric "Gunner" Staal this time around. Littman pointed out that all the NHL 07 skating issues have been addressed and that players should have complete, 100% control over each of their players.

"Overall, our goal is to create the tools and the brain of an NHL player, input them into our game, and then leave the rest to you," blogged Littman. So expect brief flicks on control sticks should equate to a precise unique reaction on a player in the game, like a 10% tap in one direction should reflect a player zipping in that location in 10% speed accordingly.

And how about stopping to line up the right pass or shot? That's been improved, too. In any case, the length of time it takes for you to tap the stick on your gamepad, the controlled man will take that long to stop. A simple tap backwards makes a brief controlled halt, and tapping back forward again will cause your player to skirt in that direction again.

And skating has also been improved to the point that animation and gameplay mechanics become more practical and realistic. Teammates on the defense positions will now keep to the blue lines, facing their upper torso toward the puck so that they're always ready to receive a pass from the puckhandler.

Cross-over turns are now just controlled by a genuine, quick roll of the stick, if you want to skirt behind the goal for example to clear up a newly retrieved puck for a new offensive dash toward the opponent's end. He also adds that it keeps player's speeds up while allowing them to change direction.

Skill Stick features in NHL 07 have been further developed to practical levels in NHL 08, and the team behind NHL 08 will also be addressing goals trickling past the goalie and new team-based AI. More on that once they come in.

Dubbed simply as the "District," this map was inspired by the Xbox's original single player mission on New Mombasa. By integrating the gameplay potential and elements of the New Mombasa outskirts with the aesthetics of the Turf multiplayer map, the District was designed with both close-quarters and open-spaced frag fests in mind.

In an interview with GameSpot, David Mertz (lead designer for the Windows version of Halo 2), Matt Van Gorder (content lead) and Kevin Weston (network developer) revealed that the map would have balance for medium-range combatants against snipers, and gunners on-foot can still duck or dive for cover into the urban alleyways of District - away from vehicle-loving enemies.

District will allow up to 15 vehicles to spawn, with three Scorpion tanks that can be optionally set to spawn at a predefined area in the settings menu.

But that's not even counting the two standard and two optional turrets that can be manned in the map. The map provides a riding slot for everyone, except for the Spartans who love to hike.

District in itself is not just an urban map for hide-and-seek: it's four times larger than Turf and around two-thirds as large as Coagulation. The map is huge, and in order to navigate it properly, Hired Guns created the level with landmarks to guide players on what to capture and where to make their stand.

Given that the game is coming before the first half of 2007 ends, the game will be catering to users of Windows Vista only and be made playable on Games for Windows Live against Xbox opponents, in addition to introducing the first Achievements for Halo 2. In order to ensure that PC gamers won't have a superior edge over the gamepad fraggers, they've claimed to have made adjustments to keyboard-and-mouse sharpshooters to give equal footing to all Halo 2 gamers.