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Alright we've reached the point where the site is to temporarily be named "Capcom Nation." More news is coming in today for Capcom's Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles, the upcoming on-rails shooter for the Nintendo Wii. G4 has their own nitty-gritty details to share with the world and we're here to offer a brief glimpse at what they have to say.

In it, you’ll get to replay scenes from 1998’s Resident Evil 2, as well as other (albeit currently unidentified games) in the R.E. series. Except that they’ve been a bit revamped since, as you may remember, R.E. 2 — in which you explored such Raccoon City tourist traps as the police station — let you play as either Leon then Claire, or Claire then Leon, with each having a somewhat different experience. In this, though, they stick together, and while there are slightly different things that happen to both — like one part when Leon gets knocked down and Claire picks him up — the game is largely the same for both.

Oh, and befitting the genre, you’re on rails the whole time, so unlike R.E.2 there’s no backtracking and very little exploring unless you count the rare occasions in which you shoot the secret door. But perhaps we’ve said too much….

Darkside also changes up a bit of the format from Umbrella by having the second character (when A.I. controlled) show up on screen, as opposed to always being off-screen like in every other gun shooter. In the demo we saw, for example, the developers played as Leon, and so Claire would often turn up on screen, though always off to the side where she wasn’t getting in your line of sight. It’s actually a nice touch, one that makes it seem more like you and they are in this together.

There's more information and a few small screens over at G4.

Capcom is all over the news today. This time, the company has revealed plans for a demo release of their in-development project, Lost Planet 2. The demo is slated to arrive around the same time as E3, which runs from June 2 through June 4.

In addition, Capcom also played the "coy" card when it came to which platforms the game is slated to be released on. The Xbox 360 version is already confirmed but PC and PlayStation 3 versions are still up in the air.

While demonstrating Lost Planet 2 to the gathered writers last week, (Jun) Takeuchi pointed out it was playing on PC, not Xbox 360. When asked about whether we could expect a PC version of the game he was a little coy.

"It is running off a PC now, so there may be something we can announce fairly shortly," he said.

And what about the rumored Playstation 3 version?

"We are concentrating right now on the 360 version of this game," he said. "However, we would not say that the possibility of a Playstation 3 version of the game is zero, we are just very busy developing the 360 version right now."

Be sure and hit the jump for a new trailer and a few additional details on Lost Planet 2.

Capcom has released a brand new trailer for Dead Rising 2. It comes packed with Zombies, blood, death, chainsaws, and fruity drinks.


Not just content with releasing a new trailer, oh no, Capcom has lifted the embargo for news sites to discuss all of the goodness that is to come in Dead Rising 2. This includes a small bit of information on the game's often rumored multiplayer mode.

Here is Capcom's Keiji Inafune to confirm what we all had hoped would appear in Dead Rising 2.

"We're at a point in game history that you need to have some form of multiplayer component in a game," Inafune told journalists at Captivate 09 in Monaco last week.

"Single-player alone is not going to cut it. So rest assured we are going to put multiplayer in the game, but I can't go into specifics about what type of multiplayer as that directly relates to some of the game systems that we don't want to talk about at this event. It will be online multiplayer, so keep that in mind."

We're not finished yet! Hit the jump to see what Kotaku has to say about the game itself. There are impressions and screen captures from the above video to be had after the break.

Not just content with churning out a sequel to Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles, the teams at Cavia and Capcom are trying to push the boundaries of the little white box known as the Wii. Their aim is to push the visuals up to a level that is almost comparable to Xbox 360 visuals.

"One of the things we thought we needed to achieve was a near-360 level of graphics," said Cavia's Kentaro Noguchi. "By adding in technology like HDR, global illumination, shadow/lighting and some filters, we feel that we were able to achieve some graphics that are the best you will see on the Wii."

The teams are also placing a strong emphasis on the game's atmosphere. Various filters will be employed to pull the player deeper into their character's shoes while he or she battles against the walking dead.

Feel free to read more about what changes are in store for The Darkside Chronicles. Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles takes players through the events of Resident Evil 2, Code Veronica, and a completely new campaign.

The ongoing beta for Counter-Strike 1.6 was updated yesterday. The update addresses even more issues with the sounds and the "Russian Walking." There are even a few fixes in there for a long standing flash bug that has been present in the game. Unfortunately, these fixes in conjunction with the last official update, completely break the Kreedz skill jumping maps.

• full duck jumping doesn't make any sound as before
• walk jumping DOES still make a sound, but it's 65% quieter than a normal one.
• movement penalty now happens after 2 or more successive incomplete duck movements, not the first.
• the unduck penalty does not get applied after you've jumped - this caused the jumping penalty to be reduced.

"The reason 'walk jumping' still makes a sound is because there is no concrete way to determine if the user was actually walking for real, and not just pressing walk long enough for the sound to not play. The purpose of this sound at all, is to eliminate silent pogo bouncing. You may not go full speed when you do it, but if you time your jumps correctly you can pogo around the level silently at a slightly reduced speed, while this may not be critical, it's still something that shouldn't be happening, and was actually a side efect (bug) of another fix from years ago - the penalty for bouncing around."

If you encounter any bugs with this beta, feel free to report it in the official Steampowered forum thread. This includes any and all bugs related to not being able to play your favorite jumping maps due to the gameplay changes.

A small update for Valve's Left 4 Dead was released tonight. Probably the most important aspect of this update includes the removal of Survival Mode breaking console commands.

• Removed a survival related command exploit
• Achievements with multiple critera can now be expanded to show progress
• mp_gamemode is now included with other console variables for server logging

Steam users should know the drill by now. Every Steam user with Left 4 Dead installed should automatically receive the update.

The third annual ELAN Awards, which took place this past Saturday, April 25, saw Valve, Bethesda, Epic, and more of the industry's best developers taking home awards left and right. The ELAN Awards set their sights on the best that the entertainment industry has to offer, from video games, movies, and even TV shows.

Of the nine video game related awards that were handed out, Valve took home four of them, due in large part to Left 4 Dead. We'll run through the winners in the gaming categories, but be sure and check out the complete list of winners from the other entertainment fields.

VIDEO GAME OF THE YEAR
Left 4 Dead - Valve

BEST CONSOLE GAME
Fallout 3 - Bethesda Softworks
Todd Howard, Game Director; Emil Pagliarulo, Lead Designer & Writer; Gavin Carter, Lead Producer

BEST PC GAME
Left 4 Dead - Valve

BEST CASUAL/ARCADE GAME
Mystery Case Files: Return to Ravenhearst - Big Fish Games
Pat Wylie, Adrian Woods, Chris Campbell, Producer

BEST MOBILE/HANDHELD GAME
Club Penguin: Elite Penguin Force - 1st Playable Productios/Disney Interactive
Tobi Saulnier, Founder & CEO, 1st Playable Productions; Zhenelle Falk, Producer/ Designer; Andrew Carroll, Lead Programmer; Ian McConahey Stead, Lead Artist

Hit the jump for the rest of the awards.

Sure, we may have just brought you the announcement news and first trailer for Uncharted 2, but what's an announcement without impressions of the new mode? Both 1UP and G4TV dish out their own impressions of the multiplayer mode for Uncharted 2: Among Thieves.

1UP's Impressions
While multiplayer, done well, is always a welcome addition, my first crotchety reaction is to wonder whether it's a necessary one for Uncharted 2. After all, the original's storytelling, not the gunplay, is what kept me playing to the end (though, perhaps like some of you, I didn't particularly enjoy the crazy supernatural ending). And really, not all games that involve shooting need to have multiplayer; so, how can Naughty Dog reconcile that experience with Nathan Drake's solitary moments?

So far, it turns out, co-op is my favorite of the three new modes. It's also the longest in duration. Unlike Team Deathmatch and Plunder, co-op uses actual, in-game locations (whereas the competitive modes simply use art assets in new arena configurations). Rather than let you play through the single-player game with buddies, arguably making it more difficult to tell Nathan's story, Naughty Dog has put in special co-op side missions. Areas that may be clear when you travel through them in the single-player game will be swarming with enemies in the co-op side missions, letting you see them in a different light.

As we've mentioned before, the multiplayer beta for Uncharted 2 kicks off on June 3 for inFamous voucher holders. Hit the jump for a short bit on G4's impressions plus a great deal of screenshots from the Uncharted 2 multiplayer mode.

The 2K Czech developed title, Mafia II, looks more and more refined with every fresh batch of media released. Today, the focus is more on the game's detailed interiors with a couple of outdoor shots tossed in for good measure.


Mafia II is slated to be released on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC later this year. Be sure and keep an eye on our previous coverage in order to stay on top of all of the latest Mafia II news.

While the news of a multiplayer mode being included with PlayStation 3's upcoming Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, the official announcement went out today from the PlayStation Blog.

I’m incredibly proud at the excellent work our team has done so far and it shows in the solid gameplay and incredible polish of the little slice we showed press last week. And if you’re dying to get your own hands on it, don’t worry, we’re having a multiplayer beta! It starts on June 3rd and you can get access to it through vouchers in inFamous, which goes on sale May 26th.

The team promises that there will be fresh news on the single player campaign unveiled in the upcoming weeks. As noted, inFamous will come with a voucher for the Uncharted 2 multiplayer beta. The beta itself will kick off on June 3.

Eurogamer is all about the Dead Space: Extraction news today. They're offering up both a fresh preview and brand-new screenshots.

First up is a small bit from their personal impressions of the first-person shooter.

Specifically, they're used to illuminate dimly lit areas and make shooting evil alien baddies easier. But the fact you have to shake the Wii remote about to charge up the glowworms can actually make this harder, as Papoutsis explains. "It creates an interesting risk-reward dynamic, as you have to stop shooting to charge it. You can try to shoot without the light, but if you use it you'll get better visibility." Presumably, though, charging up the light alerts more enemies to your presence and attracts them to you? "Er, no," says Papoutsis. "That's a cool idea, though. I like that..."(...)

What's more, Dead Space Extraction plays out from a first-person perspective. It's an on-rails shooter, in essence, with a control system specially designed for the Wii remote and nunchuk. "We wanted to do a game that made sense for people who have Wiis, and to create something that felt intuitive and fun," says Papoutsis. "We started out with the controls in our hands, thinking, 'Well, what do these things do? What do they do well?' Then we focused on nailing that part of the game."

Their preview spans two full pages. For fans of the original Dead Space, you'll certainly want to check out what additional differences there are between the first game and Extraction.

Eurogamer also included a gallery of new screenshots from the game. We have a few of them hosted locally, but for the full gallery you will need to head on over to Eurogamer.

Giving in to the public outcry against the game's premise, Konami has decided to drop Six Days in Fallujah. The title had generated heavy criticism for its realistic depiction of the Iraq War.

"After seeing the reaction to the videogame in the United States and hearing opinions sent through phone calls and email, we decided several days ago not to sell it.

"We had intended to convey the reality of the battles to players so that they could feel what it was like to be there."

The game is still in development by Atomic Games and was originally slated to be released on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC at some point in 2010. With Konami dropping the publishing rights to the title, the future of the title ever seeing the light of day is now in question.

You may recall the G4 impressions article that we previously wrote about. This news comes to us from Asahi by way of VG247.

In a move that was quite expected, the Remedy Entertainment developed Max Payne titles are now available on the Xbox Live Marketplace.


Both Max Payne 1 and Max Payne 2 are available for 1200 MS points ($15 USD) each. They are a part of the "Xbox Originals" lineup of titles available on the Marketplace. If you haven't yet played these titles, you owe it to yourself to pick these up.

MyInternetServices and Digital Illusions CE have teamed up to give you the chance to win your very own Battlefield Heroes Beta Key! Don't pass up on this opportunity, enter today!

Get your battlefield heroes key! We have a few spare beta keys and would like to give you the chance to snag one. Simply enter your e-mail address and we'll send one right out to you.

It's first come first serve, so get them now!

To enter, or to read more on the giveaway please follow this link here. Once you fill out the information, the key will automatically be sent to your e-mail. Supplies of keys are limited, so hurry up and enter as soon as possible.

This is just a friendly reminder to all of our CS-Nation readers out there. We have an upcoming interview with the team from the Black Mesa modification in the works and we need you to get in some questions to ask!

We already have a fantastic lineup of questions at our disposal, but we would always love to see more. The more unique your question is, the better chance it has in appearing in the final list of questions we ask.

If you have a question, either post a reply to this news piece or in our original piece. The deadline for questions to be submitted will be Wednesday, April 29 at 11:59PM EST. If you have a question, I wouldn't suggest waiting to submit it until the last moment.

Don't forget that Black Mesa is the highly anticipated Source mod of the original Half-Life. For more information, check out the mod's official website.

A new beta for Counter-Strike 1.6 was released yesterday. This update attempts to address "all sound related glitches" which includes the Russian walking exploit and more.

This beta is addressing some regressions with the recent game patch. Note that you can ONLY test this beta by using a listen server, testing on normal dedicated servers will NOT work and will produce invalid test results. So make sure you ONLY test by connecting to listen servers (i.e servers made by the "New Game" button in the games UI).

The changes for the beta are:
• Fixed all sound related glitches with the Russian walk / silent running fix (including standing still sound, repeat sound, and always default sound)

To opt-in to the beta, it's the same process as if you were joining a Steam client beta. From the Steam settings (File > Settings) select the "Account" tab, and under "Beta Participation" select "Change" and then find the "Counter-Strike 1.6 Beta" from the drop down menu.

For bugs dealing just with the beta, hit up this thread at the Steampowered forums and report them there.