"SEGA of America Inc. and SEGA Europe Ltd. today announced the signing of critically-acclaimed developer Gearbox Software to create a first-person shooter title based on the Alien film franchise for the next-generation systems, with license from Twentieth Century Fox Licensing & Merchandising. The agreement complements the recent announcement of an Alien RPG title for the next-generation systems to be developed by Obsidian Entertainment. Gearbox Software is a leading developer in the first-person shooter genre, producing titles for the industry's top franchises including Brothers in Arms, Halo and Half-Life. They consistently produce best-selling titles and have garnered numerous industry awards. Gearbox Software's FPS Alien title will retain the atmospheric look and feel of the original films while leveraging next-generation technology to create an entirely new interactive Alien experience.

"'Gearbox Software has a storied history of bringing innovative and compelling design to the FPS category,' said Simon Jeffery, President and COO, SEGA of America, Inc. 'Combining their design talents with the intense action of the Alien franchise ensures that gamers will have an immersive and action-packed experience.'

"'The Alien series has been a tremendous influence for myself, the people at Gearbox Software and the video games industry in general,' said Randy Pitchford, President of Gearbox Software. 'The opportunity to work with the amazing people at SEGA and Fox to build a next generation video game in the Alien universe is one of those dream projects that is a perfect fit for our capability and our passion.'

"Since its 1979 debut, Alien and its three sequels have grossed more than $557 million worldwide, garnering numerous awards, including two Academy Awards. In 2002, Alien was deemed 'culturally significant' by the United States Library of Congress and was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.

"SAN FRANCISCO & LONDON (December 11, 2006) – SEGA® of America Inc. and SEGA® Europe Ltd. today announced that Obsidian Entertainment will create a role-playing game based on the Alien film franchise with license from Twentieth Century Fox Licensing & Merchandising. This title will be developed for the next-generation systems and the PC.

Obsidian Entertainment draws upon their wealth of design knowledge creating successful games such as the best-selling Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II: Sith Lords and the award-winning Neverwinter Nights 2 to bring the Alien franchise to role-playing gamers for the first time. The role playing game will build upon the distinctive look and feel of the original films while utilizing next-generation technology to create an entirely different and unique Alien experience.

"'With Obsidian Entertainment's development pedigree, they were our first choice to bring the Alien franchise to the RPG universe,' said Simon Jeffery, President and COO, SEGA of America, Inc. 'They are the only developer for us that could effectively combine the Alien mythology with compelling RPG gameplay to create the ultimate Alien experience.'

"'We are thrilled to be working with the great production and publishing teams at SEGA to deliver the ultimate in-depth Alien experience to gamers worldwide,' said Feargus Urquhart, CEO of Obsidian Entertainment. 'Building an epic RPG with a license as heralded as the Alien franchise is truly a great honor.'"

Later this week, new menu options will appear within Steam as we initiate the closed beta for Guest Passes, a new feature that will allow owners of certain Steam-enabled games (purchased either via Steam or at retail) to send a friend limited-time trials for those games. During the beta period the new menu items will appear on all Steam accounts, though the ability to send the Guest Pass will be inactive. When this closed beta concludes, Valve will extend the Steam Guest Pass Beta to Day of Defeat: Source owners. Similar to the Free Weekends, Guest Passes are another example of advanced service and functionality that can only be offered through Steam, the leading platform for content delivery and management.

• Play with 7 Gravity Rifles, each with unique capabilities and teamplay interdependencies and strategic combos
• Compete in a unique collection of arenas spread across the 1000 worlds of the Empire, each a strategic challenge designed to test competitors and teams alike
• Select from a array of start positions on the playfield, from Blitz, Rush, Tandem or Face-off, and learn to dominate your opposition
• Utilise score multiplier targets, deflection surfaces, and skill shot opportunities to increase the value of a goal - and use special teamplay combinations to boost goal scores even higher
• Intuitive HUD elements assist with passing and communication between teammates, and navigation of the arenas
• Revised KARMA collision system sees players being ragdolled if they run into walls, land too fast after using a jump pad, or even into each other
• Experience new health, adrenaline and perceptual awareness systems designed to capture the bone-crushing brutality of non-lethal combat

Titan-Lite is a mini-mod that was created to play the maps listed below in a sort of Titan like environment. Titan maps are listed as 48-player size as to not conflict with future installations of 64-player size maps. This is meant to be played in SP/Co-op modes. This is a beta version so remember that some bugs are to be expected. When you capture a flag you own control of the Silo associated with that flag. The missiles fire every 2 mins until the Titan is destroyed or the ticket bleed is depleted. ***BOTS WILL NOT USE THE TITAN*** as no one has nav meshed it to date. Some weapons and vehicle tweaks have been included, see list below. Also note that FFOLKES unlocks_v1.06 has been integrated into the mini-mod. Read the Rest...

Today EA announced that, since its launch on October 18th, more than one million rounds of Battlefield 2142 have been played online. EA also pointed out the oddly depressing note that this number means more than 1,500 years worth of time have been spent playing the game. Read the Rest...

Planet Gears of War Weapon Guide   
09:13 | by [PSOF]Reaper
Planet Gears Of War put together a guide to all the Gears of War weapons over here, complete with some useful tactical stuff.

Also, don't forget to check out out Thursday's Mark Rein / CliffyB Interview if you haven't already!