XBOX 360 DARK MESSIAH: MIGHT AND MAGIC ELEMENTS DEMO NOW AVAILABLE

A demo of Ubisoft's Dark Messiah: Might & Magic Elements for the Xbox 360 is now available for download in all regions except Japan via the Xbox Live Marketplace.

Please note: As of late November, it appears that Microsoft has re-instituted the one week wait before free content becomes available to Xbox Live Silver members. As such, if you're not an Xbox Live Gold member, this demo most likely won't be available for download until sometime next week.

LAZY DAY TRAILERS: MASS EFFECT

Now this is what Lazy Day Trailers are all about! I’m not talking about Mass Effect, I’m talking about days where I’ve overslept so badly that I need something I can toss online to entertain you. See? I do really care about you and your entertainment needs!

Today we’ve got an exclusive look at Mass Effect direct from the good folks over at GameTrailers.com. Check it out!

Mass Effect will be hitting retail on November 20th exclusively for the Xbox 360.

• Mass Effect – Official website
• Mass Effect: Exclusive Launch Trailer – GameTrailers.com
• Mass Effect Video Page – GameTrailers.com 

XBOX 360 TWO WORLDS DEMO NOW AVAILABLE

A demo of Reality Pump's Two Worlds for the Xbox 360 is now available for download in all regions via the Xbox Live Marketplace. Download size is approximately 566.51MB.

• Two Worlds – Official website

MASS EFFECT COMING NOVEMBER 20TH

Microsoft has announced that BioWare’s Mass Effect will be hitting retail on November 20th, 2007.

"Today, Microsoft Game Studios and BioWare Corp. announced that the highly anticipated action role-playing game (RPG) “Mass Effect” will ship to retailers throughout North America on November 20, 2007. The recipient of more than 50 awards, including the 2007 Game Critics Awards for “Best Console Game” and “Best RPG” at the Electronic Entertainment Expo last month in Los Angeles, “Mass Effect” is poised to become the must-play RPG of 2007." – Microsoft press release

Mass Effect will be an Xbox 360 exclusive release. Not much else to say at this point – November is looking to be a very expensive month for gamers.

• Mass Effect – Official website
• Critically-Acclaimed RPG “Mass Effect” Begins Epic Journey to Retailers on November 20 – Gamerscore Blog

XBOX 360 ETERNAL SONATA DEMO NOW AVAILABLE

A demo of Namco Bandai’s Eternal Sonata for the Xbox 360 is now available for download via the Xbox Live Marketplace in the United States and Canada. Approximate download size is 584.12MB.

Eternal Sonata will be released in North America on September 17th, 2007.

• Eternal Sonata – Official U.S. website

XBOX 360 BLUE DRAGON DEMO NOW AVAILABLE

A demo of Mistwalker’s Blue Dragon for the Xbox 360 is now available for download via the Xbox Live Marketplace. Download size is 1.10GB.

MASS EFFECT TO SHIP ON JUNE 5TH?

That’s at least the word over at Destructoid. According to this story, Mass Effect, the highly anticipated opening to Bioware’s sci-fi trilogy, will be gracing Xbox 360 owners with it’s presence on June 5th, 2007. While the folks over at Bioware aren’t confirming the date, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this one turns out to be true.

While we’re on the topic of Destructoid, I’d also like to give a huge shout-out to them on celebrating their first anniversary just two days ago – you guys make me feel so inadequate, it’s not even funny. Congratulations on building an awesome site and community!

• Mass Effect (finally) has a release date – Destructoid
• Destructoid says June 5th release date, is this right? – Mass Effect forums
• Mass Effect – Official website

PETER MOLYNEAUX TALKS FABLE 2 AT GDC ‘07

Sorry about the delay in getting today’s news up, but I’ve spent the better part of the day cleaning the pigsty that I call home, and even now the pigs are still looking at me as if to say I’ve got a long way to go. I think anytime you have to spend a day cleaning just so you’ll be able to do some spring cleaning in a few weeks, you know you have a serious mess on your hands.

Anyway, if you’ve been playing along with the home version of our game, you know that I have a love/hate relationship with Peter Molyneaux. To put it plainly, I love the man’s creative vision and innovation, but I absolutely hate the grandiose promises he makes that make the end result of said creative vision feel lackluster and unfinished in the end. Still, he somehow manages to hook me on his ideas time after time despite my previous experiences. While Molyneaux has purposefully scaled his promises back following the debacle that was Fable, he still can really sell what he’s working on with the best of them.

You want a case in point? Well, I have one for you. Below are four videos of the Fable 2 demonstration Molyneaux gave at the Game Developer’s Conference this year, and I’ve got to admit that the concept of the dog is already breaking down my resistance to buying into Molyneaux’s vision of Fable for a second time. If this dog works as he says it will – and given his history, I have some doubts about that, then I could easily see myself spending hours just goofing around with the thing while completely ignoring whatever challenge I’m supposed to be accomplishing. Just ask me about my mighty break-dancing, crowd pleasing Tiger creature from the original Black & White some time and you’ll know what I mean.

Now, in all honesty, Fable wasn’t a bad game – it was just a bad game when compared to what we were told it’s going to be. I think most people who didn’t listen to any of the pre-game hype – or waited for the release of The Lost Chapters, were probably pretty pleased with the project. I want to stay optimistic about Fable 2, but I also don’t want to feel like Peter’s bitch again either. That’s the thing – I love the fact that there is someone in charge of a major studio that is willing to take risks to give us something unique, I just wish that it wasn’t me handing the cash over sight-unseen every damn time. Unfortunately, like I said earlier, I just know the promise of the dog is going to make me grab this one at release too.

Fable 2 is being designed by Lionhead Studios and published by Microsoft Game Studios. It’s currently slated to be released exclusively for the Xbox 360 at an as-of-yet unspecified date. Now then, you watch the videos, I’ll go back to cleaning. Enjoy.

• Peter Molyneaux – Wikipedia
• Lionhead Studios – official site
• Microsoft Game Studios – Official site
• Fable 2 – Official site
• Fable 2 – Xbox.com product page
• Peter Molyneaux at GDC ’07 – Bowerstone – YouTube
• Peter Molyneaux at GDC ’07 – Dog: part 1 – YouTube
• Peter Molyneaux at GDC ’07 – Dog: part 2 – YouTube
• Peter Molyneaux at GDC ’07 – Dog: part 3 – YouTube

THE VILE LAIR NOW AVAILABLE FOR OBLIVION

As announced earlier, Bethesda has released the latest Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion content pack for both the PC and Xbox 360 versions of the game. The pack, entitled The Vile Lair, is designed for characters on the darker end of the spectrum, most specifically those who choose to be infected by vampirism. As per the content descriptor;

“This underwater hideout provides your infamous character with safe haven. Those willingly inflicted (or shall we say graced?) with vampirism will find a means to feed, and if necessary, a means to cure their infliction. Hire evil minions, pray to the dark god Sithis, and a host of other functions await.

Features:

• A multilevel lair for murderous players to find refuge
  
• The Font of Renewal, where a player may purge himself of Vampirism
  
• The Shrine of Sithis where the infamous player may heal and be cured of disease
  
• A Dark Minion, who the player may employ to find gold in a most unseemly manner
  
• A ‘cattle pen’ for vampires to dine
  
• An indoor garden of venomous plants, including the notorious Chokeberry to feed to your enemy
  
• Various furnishing upgrades, including a study room and storage area ” – Official Elder Scrolls Download Store

The pack is available in the Xbox Live Marketplace at a cost of 150 points ($1.87) for Xbox 360 users and on PC via the Oblivion Download Store at a cost of $1.89. For more information on the pack and it’s story, head on over to the Oblivion Download Store and watch as the total cost of experiencing Oblivion continues to rise.

FINAL FANTASY XII TO HIT STORES ON HALLOWEEN

Square Enix has announced that Final Fantasy XII will go on sale in the Unites States on October 31st 2006 with a regular edition priced at $49.99 and an Gamestop/EB Games exclusive collector’s edition for $59.99.

” a limited run of the FINAL FANTASY XII Collector’s Edition will be available exclusively at GameStop and EB Games stores, as well as through the e-commerce sites GameStop.com and EBgames.com. Housed within special packaging, the bonus DVD offers Japanese and American promotional trailers, in-depth developer interviews, an art gallery and featurettes focusing on highlights of the FINAL FANTASY franchise.” -Square Enix press release

Check out the full press release here and ask yourself which you want more, bags of free candy or Final Fantasy XII.

MODDER ADDS MULTIPLAYER MODE TO OBLIVION

I just read over at Joystiq that an enterprising modder known only as “the FERRET” has created a mod named MultiTES4 for the PC version of The Elder Scrolls IV that will allow for a (currently) very limited multiplayer experience;

“The current version (being only an alpha) is pretty limited in it’s capabilities. It supports only 2 people running around Cyrodiil. The other players in the game are represented as NPCs to each individual on their computer. The NPC will move and travel to match the players that are connected to the server.” -the FERRET

While there certainly aren’t a ton of features at this time, the mod has only been in the works for about a month and a half and has been a one man job, so the progress so far is still pretty impressive. As per the FAQ on the front page of the MultiTES4 homepage, the FERRET will shortly be adding a few people to the team in order to allow the mod to continue growing.

This is one I think every PC Oblivion owner should keep an eye on, as it could easily add a whole new dimension to the game once completed. Check out the MultiTES4 homepage here and marvel at the dedication of the PC community.

KINGS QUEST III REMADE BY INFAMOUS ADVENTURES

The good folks at Infamous Adventures have completely remade Roberta Willams classic graphic adventure game King’s Quest III.

“Infamous Adventures is proud to present a Remake of Roberta William’s classic 1986 hit, King’s Quest III. Remade in VGA color to match later Sierra releases, and using the AGS engine by Chris Jones, IA promises to make an enjoyable 1:1 remake of King’s Quest III. In the tradition of recent remakes, King’s Quest I and II+ by Tierra/AGDI, Infamous Adventures hopes to create a new classic of the Beloved Series.” -Infamous Adventures website

In addition to a completely updated graphics, Infamous Adventures has also completely redone the soundtrack to the game, and according to a note on the site, a full voice pack will be available for the game shortly as well.

Once again, I’m absolutely in awe of those people who don’t feel the adventure game market is dead and are actively doing something to keep the interest in the genre alive. Huge kudos to the folks at IA and join me in wishing them the best of luck on their current project “Quest for Infamy” which appears to be mix of an RPG and graphic adventure game in which you get to play as the bad guy for once.

Head on over to Infamous Adventures website to check them out and download the Kings Quest III remake at this link.

MORE CONTENT COMING FOR OBLIVION

The official Elder Scrolls IV Download Store has listed another add-on pack as “Coming Soon” for Oblivion. The pack, Mehrunes’ Razor, seems to be geared towards the melee oriented characters and centers around a quest to halt the overthrow of the empire and obtain an extremely powerful sword. From the content description;

“The lost Ayleid City Varsa Baalim has been unearthed by a rogue Telvanni arch-mage, in pursuit of a fearsome Daedric Artifact, Mehrunes Razor, which he believes will give him the power he needs to topple the Imperial reign – but what horrors lie in wait beneath the Valus mountains; and can you overcome them to claim Mehrunes Razor as your own?

Features:

• A fully-featured quest takes you deep into the fringes of the Niben.
  
• Earn the fearsome Mehrunes Razor, with the ability to kill foes instantly.
  
• 17 new magic items to discover!
  
• Conquer the largest dungeon in all Cyrodiil.
  
• Thwart a plot to overthrow Imperial rule in Tamriel.
  
• 12 new books, notes, and journals to help you unravel the mystery.
  
• Hidden treasures await! ” – Official Elder Scrolls IV Download Store

While the pack certainly sounds interesting, I’ll again hold off on my opinion until it’s actually out there and it’s value can be better judged. I will say that the concept of a sword with the ability to kill instantly sounds a bit “broken” to me. It’s a little early for the game to be going Monty Haul. One last thing to note is that the information page states the download will be $2.99, an increase from the previous content add-ons. Hopefully that’s more indicative of the quality and amount of content the download will provide and not just that Bethesda thinks that the previous content packs have sold well enough that they can justify a price increase out of pocket. Check out the full content description page here.