One of the most exciting bits of news that gamers can hear is that of the release date for highly-anticipated games. Fortunately for gamers in the United Kingdom, Play.com has spilled the beans via a booklet. Release dates for various games such as Fable 2 and Protorype have been announced.

Got a particular game in mind? Why not check the full article for the list of games?

When you talk about the PC gaming market, two of the most popular titles off the top of people's heads would probably be Blizzard's World of Warcraft and EA's The Sims franchise. Lionhead Studios boss Peter Molyneux explains that these two games are the cause behind the "tragic" state of PC gaming today. To find out more about what Molyneux had to say, check out the full article.

Peter Molyneux, one of the most established video game designer still around today, has recently revealed that they are working on a new franchise capable of revolutionizing the whole game AI.

To make his point more clear, he referred to the 2001 PC title Black & White which was considered special at its time. Know more about this after the jump!

Prominent figures of the gaming industry such as Ken Levine, Peter Molyneux, and well-known director Steven Spielberg are gearing up to make waves at the Game Developers Conference 2008 scheduled in February at Moscone Center in San Fransisco. There will be sessions discussing topics such as storytelling in Bioshock (Xbox 360, PC), three spankin' new features added to EA LA's Fable 2, and the upcoming puzzle-video game Boom Blox for the Wii.

We've seen a number of titles that use Kynogon's AI engine called Kynapse. A lot of video game developers have chosen to use it in their games - Turbine (for Lord of the Rings Online and Dungeons & Dragons Online), Lionhead Studios (for Fable 2), and Bethesda Softworks (for Rogue Warrrior).

Deadline Games (Chili con Carnage and Total Overdose) has taken them up as the AI middleware guys to handle all their next gen engine. And subsequently, Kynapse would most probably be also used for their upcoming titles for next gen. Deadline Games' production manager Per Kyed Laursen said about the AI solution choice:

We were looking for a solution for AI for inclusion into the second generation of our Kapow engine that will form the basis of our production for all of our next gen titles. We found that the combination of functionalities and tools, the quality and responsiveness of the technical support, the overall performance and hardware acceleration for next gen platforms made Kynapse the obvious choice for our AI needs.

CEO of Kynogon, Pierre Pontevia, is also enthusiastic about the new partnership. "We are pleased to announce our long term relationship with Deadline Games today," he adds. "Deadline Games have shown their commitment to making games that have solid technology and that are great fun to play, and we look forward to working with them on their future projects."

Kynogon and Larian Studios announced today that Larian Studios' new role-playing game will be powered by Kynogon's Kynapse A.I. engine, with the engine providing complex pathfinding solutions.

Kynogon's technology is being used by some of the world's leading game publishers like Sega and Lionhead Studios as well as industry leaders like British Aerospace. Kynapse is an A.I. engine that lets Non Player Characters move around in any 3D dynamic world, understand their environment, hide, communicate, cooperate, drive vehicles, and more for a more immersive game experience.

Independent game developer Larian Studios is currently working on a next-generation game that demands cutting-edge technology, hence the choice to use Kynapse. According to Swen Vincke, Managing Director at Larian Studios, "We are relying on multiple top-notch middleware solutions and Kynapse was smoothly integrated with all the other external technologies we are using."

Vincke also added that the requirements for A.I. in the company's upcoming game are "very challenging. We have thousands of characters running on very large and extremely dynamic terrains. Kynapse was the natural choice for our AI needs."

You remember that Microsoft bought Lionhead Studios, right? Well, Peter Molyneux (the boss of Lionhead Studios) has things to say about Microsoft's XNA Game Studios Express platform for game developers. As you know, Chris Satchell talked all about the YouTube concept, and we already looked at what Dave Mitchell had to say about PS3 Linux and XNA.

Molyneux said in a speech, "You're lucky bastards, because the web is a fantastic place to get your ideas out there. If XNA really is going to be the YouTube of game design then that will be a brilliant, brilliant thing."

He also said some things about game design. "If you want to get into the games industry there is nothing better than a demo," he said.

"You have to have a great excitement for what you do. You cannot do this without finding it almost orgasmically exciting."

Well, we tend to agree. XNA Game Studio Express, as you might know, is a free download meant for homebrew developers and hobbyists (professionals will have to wait for XNA Game Studio Professional - it should be out sometime in 2007). Because of the "starter kit" nature of XNA, it's easier to make games for Windows and for Xbox 360. Remember, developers can make Windows games free using the XNA Framework for coding their games, and to run games on Xbox 360, developers only need to pay a US$ 99 fee to join the XNA "Creators Club."

So it's not just developers who are lucky bastards. We all are lucky bastards, because XNA means more Windows and Xbox 360 games for us.