The game industry may be getting swamped with sequels, remakes, annualization, and all manner of money-raking tactics. That's bad news, an analyst says, because creativity among developers is often compromised. He says, however, publishers are better off in the long run by breeding talent among the minds behind the medium. Get his full take in the article after the jump.

Remember Hideo Kojima and Jade Raymond's interview from a few months back? Well, we might have been musing about them coming up with a Metal Gear Solid - slash - Assassin's Creed hybrid, and now... well... Let's just say we're pretty amused. In this gameplay video, we see Altair running around a familiar-looking war zone, carrying his own rifle and trying to fight a couple of... nah. Sorry. No spoilers. Anyways, though the video appears to not take itself seriously (clue: April 1, 2008), you can't help but think if there's actually more than meets the eye...

Let's play a little association game. When I say "men in video game development," whose names come first to mind? Kojima? Jaffe? Miyamoto? The list goes on. Now how about if I say "women in video games development?" You probably thought of Jade Raymond then... blank. Kind of imbalanced ain't it? That was the point of Emily Newton-Dunn, former producer of the Burnout series. She remarks that there is a gender imbalance in the industry and that there should be more women making games. Full story after the "read more" link below.

That's right, Assassin's Creed producer Jade Raymond and Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima went one on one in an interview. Unfortunately, they didn't talk about a cross-over between Altair and Solid Snake. They did discuss about game development, so check out the full article for more details.

It's an endless debate when talking about girls playing the same video games guys play. They say girls only like MMORPGs, then follow up with "there are no girls on internet." Others believe female gamers stick to casual games, but Mario and Pokemon titles have more fanboys than fangirls.

No matter what your stand is, here's a list of non-girly games that aren't Barbie, Bratz, or any of those glamorous stuff.

For many of us, this isn't really such a big deal. For the purists and hardcore-fans, however, the topic of whether a localized game should be subbed or dubbed is a factor that can potentially alter the entire play experience. We'll be taking a look at this matter a littler further, by way of a feature piece. Check it out in the full article.

Japanese video game giant Konami's stock prices may have taken a hit when it was announced that Kojima Productions was delaying the highly anticipated Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots for the Sony PlayStation 3, but there's more good news than bad as sales and profits steadily grow. This week Konami has revealed its financial performance for fiscal 2007's first half and great results were observed. MLB Power Pros for the Nintendo Wii sold big in Japan, while Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops is keeping the West occupied. Read the full article for more.

The hottest names behind much anticipated stealth action titles had a chat, as Hideo Kojima went up close and personal with Jade Raymond about Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots and Assassin's Creed. Along with Assassin's Creed creative director Patrice Desilets, they discussed about their upcoming games and plans in the future.

Introductions aside, the folks from Ubisoft Montreal started it off by expressing their love towards Kojima's widely popular franchise.

Desilets confessed how he spent 15 hours playing the first MGS non-stop. Raymond shared the same fond moments and experiences during her childhood with memories of Kojima's solid package.

Even as pioneer of the stealth action genre that blew everyone away with cinematic presentation, Kojima admitted that Assassin's Creed taught his team a lot on what they can do with MGS4. Particularly, he mentioned how programmers from Kojima Productions frowned at creating characters individually and make sure they don't bump into each other, before he gave them inspiration by looking at Assassin's Creed. In the end, the Ubisoft game managed to make it possible.

Jade sounded ecstatic after hearing such high praises from Kojima himself. Desi lets appreciated MGS for introducing a game with strong cinematic feel - not only during cutscenes but also in gameplay - when players had to feel their super spy character as they peeked through corners and hid under cardboard boxes. Both of them stressed out that Assassin's Creed attempts to capture the same feel and be the best game it could be in that aspect.

On the multiplatform debacle, Raymond is glad that more players can have access to Assassin's Creed as it will appear on PS3, Xbox 360, and later on PC. Kojima found countless rumors and speculation about reaching beyond the PS3 with MGS4 as a good thing, since these are undeniable proof that people are interested on what path the game will take. As game creator though, he doesn't want to be bothered with platform issues.

You may love 'em or hate 'em but let's face it, the contributions of bosses to gaming are almost as important as those of the good guys themselves. In this edition of the QuickList, we're honoring the cream of the crop among the bad guys. The criteria? We scrutinized each based on what he had to offer and what he does best. Whether it's style, toughness or infamy, we took them by what they had to offer and we found 10 left standing. Again, this is all subjective and your opinions are as good as ours. Here they are:

10. The Polar Bear (Ice Climber)- After hours of grueling debates on the subject of whether he's even a boss or not, the Ice Climber Polar Bear has eked his way to a cliff-hanging tenth spot on this list. There's not a lot to say about him in terms of difficulty, but gamers from the past know what time it is when they see the hot, red briefs over the off-white fur. It means you're taking too long to climb and he'll force-advance the level with a jumping fart.

Usually, there's no problem getting to his face and pounding his toes with a mallet, but when playing with a friend or sibling, it sparks an unfriendly war of who gets to nail him. The only way to make sure that you do the honors is to sabotage your partner with guerrilla tactics like unorthodox body checks and busting the floors where they stand. We won't be surprised to hear about domestic violence resulting from this scenario.

The rest of the bad-ass bosses await after the jump!

Free Radical's Haze (PC, 360, PS3) is shaping up to be one of the most anticipated titles this generation. We already found out that the game is aiming for a very immersive experience by throwing emotions at the players. That said, we're still talking about the developers in Timesplitters fame here. Awesome weapons and cool vehicles are bound to be there, along with other nifty features.

Free Radical promised some eye-candy through parallel processing, and it looks like they'll deliver. OPM got their hands on the game and caught some details. Flames burn on the grass and buildings, action is faster than it was on E3, stages can be so big that just walking around can take more than an hour - Haze is definitely not lacking on the aesthetics side.

Among the vehicles revealed were APCs and buggies, while the remote-controlled grenade took most interest from the weapons department. Whoever played the game for OPM sure got emotions, or rather frustrations while trying to cover civilians.

Finally, scriptwriter Rob Yescombe stated that the game's story is inspired by Metal Gear Solid. The writer admires Hideo Kojima's complex ideas and how he gives people something to think about.

More info as they come, so watch this space.