Eidos is the latest company to announce their gaming lineup for this year's E3, which will include the latest game in the Tomb Raider franchise, and Just Cause 2. More details are available in the full article.

People say Jane Cavanagh, the founder of the SCi Entertainment Group, has just released the company's 2007 annual report where they revealed that sequels to the Tomb Raider, Hitman, and some of their other IPs are in development. There's an uneasy air surrounding its emergence, however, since SCi's own investors called for the ousting of Cavanagh a few months ago. To find out more, head on over to the full article.

It looks like Lara finally has a daddy to come home to. Warner Bros Home Entertainment recently subscribed up to £15 million (US$ 30 million) new shares in the company and announced a new strategic partnership with the house behind the Tomb Raider series. For more details regarding this, read our full article after the jump.

Worried about the possibility of video game violence tainting the minds of children, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy came up with a "do not buy" list of violent video games.

Contrary to what most might expect, Rockstar Games' controversial Manhunt 2 (Wii, Sony PlayStation Portable) isn't the number one violent video game, but Grand Theft Auto is. Check out the Top Ten list in the full article.

Another great game from Epic Games is releasing an album for its soundtrack: Unreal Tournament 3 (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC). The soundtrack is compiled into a 2-disc set and features over 150 minutes worth of tracks, including re-mixed music from previous Unreal Tournament games.

The soundtrack will be released on November 20.

Eidos apparently believes that Kane & Lynch: Dead Men has the potential to replicate the success of Hitman. According to MCV UK, SCi CEO Jane Cavanagh revealed even though the game hasn't been released yet, a sequel is already in production.

"We've already got Kane & Lynch 2 in production, which just goes to show the belief we have in it as a long-term franchise", Cavanagh said. Kane & Lynch: Dead Men (PS3, Xbox 360, PC) is being developed by IO Interactive, the same studio behind the successful Hitman series.

Eidos is also reportedly pumping a lot of money behind the marketing drive for Kane and Lynch: Dead Men. According to reports from MCV, Eidos is dishing out more money into the game's marketing than it did for any game in the Tomb Raider series.


Buy: [Kane & Lynch: Dead Men (PC)]
Buy: [Kane & Lynch: Dead Men (Xbox 360)]
Buy: [Kane & Lynch: Dead Men (PS3)]

In the 2007 Edinburgh Interactive Festival, Eidos Product Acquisitions director Ian Livingstone observed that gaming was still significantly behind movies and comics in terms of character "recognizability". This led him to say that the gaming industry "needs more Lara Crofts."

GameSpot narrates that in Livingstone's presentation at the aforementioned shindig, he presented the audience images of popular movie and comic characters first, then went on to flash pictures of iconic game personalities. The result: movie and comic book characters were easier to recognize for the crowd.

The Eidos bigwig then goes on to ask, "If we all work in the games industry, what does that say?" And then he went on to answer that same question by saying that developers need to establish more character in their games.

Livingstone discussed some key elements which can make a character linger in the psyche of gamers. One of the most important, he says, is the name. ""With a name like 'Darth Vader,' you know he's not going to be nice," he says. "Now 'Jar Jar Binks,' he's going to be much more fun."

Livingstone also pointed out that a distinctive look always helps. He cited their character Agent 47 from the popular Hitman series and revealed that the bald head with the bar code at the base often fascinated their audience, giving the character more life than others.

Finally, he says there are catch phrases. These are amazingly cool and original lines that will help people identify with a given character. Much like in a movie, people will find it hard to forget a particular line that hits close to home.

 

IO Interactive taking a 360 turn from the Hitman series is an understatement; Kane & Lynch:Dead Men is in an entirely new world of blood money and dead men. Enigmatic guys with guns are still there, but the traditional hide and seek is nowhere in sight.

In the exclusive gameplay video taken by Jeuxvideo.tv, we see that these bad guys would pull their arsenal out without second thought. Doesn't matter if the place is populated with civilians and covered by police - if they shoot, shoot them back and nail 'em to the ground.

Like what we heard before, the player will be backed up by a bunch of guys under your commands. "Go there, do that, kill them for me" is the motto, made easy thanks to the intuitive system.

Talking about gunplay, the duo doesn't do anything groundbreaking. Clear out a route to exit the building, go crazy down the roads filled with cops - it's what some might think as your basic action shooter fare on next-gen platforms. Then again, the game won't be out until later this year for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC. We'll have to get our hands on it ourselves before our final say.

Far from its famous Hitman series, IO Interactive is coming out of the shadows to wreak havoc in their upcoming Kane & Lynch: Dead Men. If you've seen the German trailer, your senses are probably teased to the limits. Wait no more: here's the English version.

The trailer is taken from Lynch's perspective, expressing affection towards his partner. With a mad man ready to betray fighting by his side, we wouldn't want to be in Kane's shoes. He gets to star in an awesome looking game, sure, but having some insane guy to cover your back is no different than having a gun at your throat.

Have fun watching the video for now, since the game won't come out 'til later this year.

No longer a stealth game, Splinter Cell: Conviction (for the PC and Xbox 360) has ex-Third Echelon agent Sam Fisher dashing through crowds and using his environment to evade detection and capture. In a franchise often defined by the tact, sleekness and precise surgical infiltration possible only with stealth, Conviction steers the game deeper into Sam Fisher's story.

Although latest installment to Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell series had little details as to what would Fisher be doing now, Ubisoft's Mathieu Ferland did state that the game would revolve around Sam Fisher's self-discovery and self-realization. So aside from adding more action instead of more thought into the game, you will also be getting more emotional now.

Ferland also noted that the game was "a big change in the devotion of the brand," which to most fans is practically the understatement of the year. Fans that started out with the first Splinter Cell and have tasted the likes of Eidos' Hitman series may find this game to be particularly lacking in something. Oh yes, we remember now: it lacks Splinter Cell.