In the 2007 Edinburgh Interactive Festival, Eidos Product Acquisitions director Ian Livingstone observed that gaming was still significantly behind movies and comics in terms of character "recognizability". This led him to say that the gaming industry "needs more Lara Crofts."

GameSpot narrates that in Livingstone's presentation at the aforementioned shindig, he presented the audience images of popular movie and comic characters first, then went on to flash pictures of iconic game personalities. The result: movie and comic book characters were easier to recognize for the crowd.

The Eidos bigwig then goes on to ask, "If we all work in the games industry, what does that say?" And then he went on to answer that same question by saying that developers need to establish more character in their games.

Livingstone discussed some key elements which can make a character linger in the psyche of gamers. One of the most important, he says, is the name. ""With a name like 'Darth Vader,' you know he's not going to be nice," he says. "Now 'Jar Jar Binks,' he's going to be much more fun."

Livingstone also pointed out that a distinctive look always helps. He cited their character Agent 47 from the popular Hitman series and revealed that the bald head with the bar code at the base often fascinated their audience, giving the character more life than others.

Finally, he says there are catch phrases. These are amazingly cool and original lines that will help people identify with a given character. Much like in a movie, people will find it hard to forget a particular line that hits close to home.

October 12 is but a few months away. It is Spain's National Day, Malawi's Mother's Day, Brazil's Children's Day; but for gamers and movie lovers alike, it marks the day Agent 47 hits the silver screen. Everyone is anticipating how the enigmatic, killer for hire from the much successful stealth action series will fare in Hollywood.

Just like other big movies, Hitman will begin to show its presence soon. Hitman, starring Timothy Olyphant, will hitch a ride on upcoming Live Free Or Die Hard's momentum. Next week, when curtains reveal the latter, the bald assassin will make a showing in the attached trailer.

Story will follow Agent 47's escapades from the Russian military and Interpol. Seems like he will also get linked with a gorgeous girl portrayed by Olga Kurylenko. Imagining this cold blooded killing machine all lovey dovey can kill brain cells, but we'll have to wait and see how it goes.

For those who missed Agent 47 in action throughout different games, or simply can't get a hold of a certain entry to the Hitman series, Eidos Interactive has something in store for you: the special Hitman Triple Pack is confirmed for release this June 22 in Europe for PS2 and PC.

Package will include Hitman 2: Silent Assassin, Hitman: Contracts, and Hitman: Blood Money. Stealth aficionados who found missions to be short or lacking should have a blast with this wide collection.

Story follows Agent 47's ventures to Japan, Las Vegas, Paris, Budapest, Hong Kong and Sicily as he pursues targets for high bounty. Time comes when he has to kill for survival too, of course.

Our elegantly bald enigmatic killer is still hot on the metal. With an upcoming movie and this sweet deal, fans should be able to wait 'til any new Hitman title emerges. We'll be sure to inform you if something comes up, so watch this space.

As if not popular enough, Nintendo is still hot on their marketing. The Wii will ride the blast of "Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End", with a live commercial for the silver screen.

Unsuspecting movie viewers will see the first part of the act by watching an ad reel. A couple of actors will disguise and hide among the audience a la Agent 47, as a "cool" teenager Steve and his mother Elsa.

Just like an elaborate prank, the lights will illuminate the dark auditorium and the mom will come storming in search of her son. In front of everyone, Elsa will challenge Steve to a Wii tennis rematch.

Not wanting to show defeat and cowardice, the "cool" guy forgets about his reputation and takes up a Wiimote. Soon, the son will be caught up with the game so much that he'd forget why he was actually doing it.

The ad aims to show that the Wii is for all ages, and easy to pick up for everyone. Dean McKain from CommentUK's marketing department believes that the viral effect of the movie goers telling their friends about what they saw before "Pirates" will have a positive impact for the console.

Last month, we gave you plot details for Hitman the movie. This time around, we've got the first pictures of the man himself, Agent 47 played by Timothy Olyphant. Some fans may have doubts how they'd portray the cold-blooded killer on the silver screen, but Olyphant looks close enough to the actual Agent 47 from the games.

Not too shabby, huh? He kinda looks nicer than how a Hitman who kills for blood money should be, but Agent 47 will probably look the same with a pretty girl beside him. Now, if only we could find out how his suit would look like with a concealed MP5 and a 12-gauge shotgun...

 Deadwood star Timothy Olyphant will be playing the lead Hitman role as Agent 47 (Yes, we know he denied it but he signed a couple of days after as reported by Variety.) Luc Besson confirms another name for the Hitman cast. Dougray Scott.

Remember the prince in Ever After? The one with Drew Barrymore? (Oh, right. Chick flick.) Or better yet you may remember him better as the bad guy in M:I-2. In Hitman, he's reportedly going to play the man going after Agent 47. We'll see how the movie goes under Fox with Chuck Gordon, Adrian Askariah, Daniel Alter, and Luc Besson producing. Xavier Gens will be at the helm for the Skip Woods screenplay.

Hitman's production begins by late March where they will be filming in Prague. Movie hits the big screen on October 12. And the movie is also reported to be a franchise. Hold on to your hats and let's pray that they stay faithful to the original Hitman.

While the search for the actor who would play the role of Agent 47 in the movie-adaptation of Hitman continues, Lionsgate just bagged movie rights to another video game also, unsurprisingly, from Eidos Interactive.

Although the game is yet to be released later this year, Kane & Lynch: Dead Men caught the eye of the big-time movie distributor. The upcoming game doesn't seem to be making much fuss, so why is Lionsgate interested in it?

The shooter game has now-defunct mercenary Kane teaming up with schizo-freako Lynch who meet each other on death row. While waiting for their final sentence, both of them are kidnapped by Kane's former team, and together they must dig up treasures (and horrors) from the ex-mercenary's past.

Well, given that psychotic backstory of Kane & Lynch and the track record of Lionsgate ("Saw", "Hostel", "Blair Witch Project", etc.), you'd see the connection why they want to make a movie out of it. Slice-and-dice hardcore action? You bet. Now if only they find their actors in time...

Despite what the Internet has got to say about the matter, Hollywood star Timothy Olyphant denies reports that he's already been casted to play the role of Hitman's Agent 47 in a movie adaptation of the popular video game. According to him, he had been approached about the matter and it had been discussed before but "his involvement has been greatly exaggerated."

Olyphant also noted that the fact that he would have to shave his head bald in order to play the role is "a major concern".

Sigh. Here's to hoping that Vin Diesel changes his mind.

Vin Diesel facts: Riddick to most, Melkor to the D&D community, real name Mark Sinclair Vincent III. And for the videogaming community, up until now, the iRL face of one of gaming's most notorious cue-balls - Agent 47 of the Hitman game series. Did we mention he uses a gun and bucket for blood donations?

Unfortunately, as hinted in the clause "up until now," it ain't the case anymore. We just got word on the web that instead of casting Vin, the Hitman: Bloody Money movie production will be be picking actor Timothy Olyphant, famous for his role as Seth Bullock in the Deadwood TV series.

In related news, Swordfish writer Skip Woods will still be providing for the movie' screenplay. Co-producers for the film as of now include Luc Besson (The Fifth Element), Chuck Gordon, Adrian Askarieh, and Daniel Alter. Expect this 20th Century Fox film to be coming in as early as next year's fall.

Beg your pardon good sirs, but it seems that the chaps over at Steam have announced another round of updates for The Ship. These updates will be automatically installed when you restart your Steam client.

The Ship, for those curious, is an FPS set aboard a 1920's luxury cruise liner, and the player, under orders from a "Mister X," has to murder their fellow passengers, be have themselves and their families killed by "Mr. X." Players are given free reign on how to murder their fellow passengers, ranging from the crude but iconic crowbar mentioned earlier, to the more elaborate murders that Agent 47 would approve of. Think of it as a cross between Hitman, The Sims, "Saw" and "Titanic". .

See the update list after this jump!