Digital Jesters has announced that Bet On Soldier: Blood Sport has gone gold and will be released in the UK on September 26^th.

"With Bet on Soldier: Blood Sport, we are introducing to the world a new breed of first-person shooter, featuring the innovative betting system that brings a fresh perspective to the genre," said Leo Zullo, marketing director and co-founder of Digital Jesters. "We think gamers are going to really get into the involved single player story and our new take on bringing 1:1 duels to multiplayer battles online."

The Seattle Times has reported that Microsoft may be planning to open up shop in New York with One Times Square just one of the possible locations. One Times Square, easily one of the more famous buildings in New York, is currently favourite according to the Seattle Times.

The building which hosts the New Year Countdown, as well as some of the most famous advertisements in the world, could by the end of this year being playing host to a huge permanent Xbox 360 advertisement as well as a retail space set over four floors.

Microsoft launched the original Xbox at the Times Square branch of Toys 'R' Us in 2001. It is likely Microsoft would use One Times Square to launch the Xbox 360 using the company's part owned MSNBC news channel to broadcast the launch across the whole of Times Square.

According to a Microsoft spokeswoman "At any given time, Microsoft evaluates and pursues real-estate opportunities and needs. Out of respect for all parties, and a desire to not perpetuate rumours, we do not have a comment on this at this time."

The broking agency that currently holds the property declined to comment if Microsoft was interested in the property but did confirm that a company of "that calibre of company" was interested in the property.

Resident tech expert and Xbox maven DEC has posted a guide explaining the intracacies of HDTV for all of you thinking of upgrading.

HDTV stands for High-Definition Television and is a digital display format that offers a much richer, more detailed image than standard definition TV. This means that high definition images displayed on a HDTV will appear more life-like and vivid than anything seen on a conventional TV set.

The way in which high-definition produces a more detailed image is simply by increasing the number of pixels and hence the resolution of the display. Typical true high-definition resolutions are either 720p, which is 1280 pixels by 720 lines, or 1080i - a resolution of 1920 x 1080.

The News0r crew is taking a brief respite as we welcome in the Bank Holiday weekend, full service will resume on Tuesday 30th August 2005 with full reports from the Age of Empires 3 and Shattered Union press events, which we attended in the past few days. Our friends over at Xbox Game Zone are hosting a ‘Battle of the Sexes' tournament this weekend. If you fancy taking part in the games, head over to www.xboxgamezone.co.uk now!

Have a great weekend and see you on Tuesday for more gaming wonders!

Funcom has announced by way of a press release that Dreamfall, the sequel to the critically acclaimed adventure game The Longest Journey, has been delayed until 2006.

Since Funcom announced 'Dreamfall', the game has topped the wish lists of adventure gamers worldwide, as well as winning "Best Adventure Game of E3" awards from Gamespot.com, Gamespy.com and IGN.com. As a follow-up to 'The Longest Journey', one of the best adventure games of all times according to the critics, 'Dreamfall' takes the genre in a new and bold direction. Direct action, an interactive 3D world, stealth elements, combat and numerous action adventure mechanics are only a few of the many features in 'Dreamfall', yet with the classic adventure game at heart. The game features a mature and action-filled storyline, where breathtaking music, stunning graphics and fascinating characters take you on an epic journey of exploration and adventure as you have never experienced before.

It has emerged that Microsoft is planning to hold a press conference on the 15th of September; the day before the Tokyo Games Show opens to the public.

No official announcement has been made although it is likely the purpose of the event will be similar to the Leipzig announcement, albeit aimed at the Japanese/Asian market.

We'll update you as any announcements are made.

*Update*

We can confirm that Microsoft is indeed holding a pre-TGS event on the 15th of September.

The nature of the planned announcements have also become clearer with word on the street being worldwide launch details although nothing has been confirmed.

Earlier today, Yahoo! Movies presented gamers and movie fans the first official trailer for the upcoming game to movie conversion. Click here to watch the trailer!

Synopsis: There's a level 5 quarantine at a remote scientific research station on Mars, and the only souls allowed in or out are the Rapid Response Tactical Squad - hardened Marines armed to the teeth. The research being done at Olduvai station has unwittingly opened a door, and a legion of nightmarish creatures of unknown origin now stalks the countless rooms and tunnels of the facility, killing what few people remain. Sealing off the portal to Earth, Sarge (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) and his team must use every weapon at their disposal to carry out their orders.

Sony is not planning to drop the price of the Playstation 2 to in order to compete with the Xbox 360 in the UK at least, according to the head of Sony Computer Entertainment UK.

Speaking to the BBC, Ray Maguire said that Sony was concentrating on offering bundles and other deals to compete with Microsoft's next generation console believing that its current price is low enough to compete.

Late August/early September have been the traditional time for SCEUK to announce Christmas price cuts. In the interview with the BBC, Mr Maguire claimed that Sony want to lower the price of the console but will not do so before they once again manage to lower costs. When pressed on when the price might go down, Mr Maguire said that a price cut would not happen before Christmas, implying the next price cut would happen just prior to the launch of the PS3, he then went on to say that although 7.5m consoles have been sold in the UK, "70% of the UK do not have a Playstation 2."

SCEUK, he claimed, was planning to focus its Christmas marketing campaign on attracting those who do not believe themselves to be gamers with games such as music quiz game Buzz and the exercise title Kinetic.

Sony is also hoping its PSP handheld console will attract people to spend money on it rather than Microsoft's Xbox 360. But with GAME reporting yesterday that Xbox 360 pre-orders have rocketed past PSP pre-orders, and Amazon expecting Xbox 360 pre-orders to pass those of the PSP within hours, the PSP may not be the diversion Sony is hoping.

Could Sony's plan of targeting non-gamers this Christmas potentially mean gamers buying the Xbox 360 this Christmas, instead of waiting for Sony's Playstation 3 console, which is expected in Japan early next year and in the UK next Christmas.

Once again the poker has been shoved into the ashes of Shenmue 3 with Kikizo quoting an anonymous source that development of the game has been in hibernation, awaiting the launch of the next generation of consoles.

According to Kikizo's source, the game has "essentially been close to finished and 'ready' for some time - but in hibernation, pending a deal for the entire series on at least one next-gen console."

The same article claims that Yu Suzuki has very little involvement in the project besides his original story remaining intact.

Another surprise is that Suzuki-san's studio, Digital Rex apparently has no involvement, with the source stating that "Shenmue remains at AM2 while [Suzuki] pursues other things."

It is claimed that back in 2003 when the original Xbox's popularity in Japan could have still turned around, the development of Shenmue 3 began, however it was initally shelved when it became apparent the Xbox couldn't recover.

According to the source, since then it has been decided that the game will not follow on from Shenmue 2, rather it will start back at the beginning of the saga and encompass chapters 1-16, including a second chapter which is rumoured to take in Ryo's boat journey to Hong Kong.

The article also discusses possible platform with the source and Kikizo both suggesting Xbox 360 will be the most likely platform, although the source stresses that not only has the platform decision NOT been made; it is not definite that the game will see release.

We'll bring you more on this story as it develops.

You can read the Kikizo article by clicking here.

Word in from Ubisoft today provides us with details of the Far Cry Instincts release date, which is now pinned for the 30th September 2005. If you can't wait until the then to get the game, then you can try your luck on the following site and you could win a Far Cry Instincts demo!

For more information on Far Cry Instincts please visit the official Far Cry website.

UK retailer GAME has announced that due to "phenomenal" demand it can no longer guarantee customers who pre-ordered after August 22nd at 14:30 will receive the premium version of the Xbox 360 before 2006.

Demand has been such that it has outstripped pre-orders for the Sony PSP, and has smashed the pre-order record set by the Playstation 2.

Although GAME has announced it can no longer guarantee supplies of the premium package it confirmed it is still taking orders for the Core package.

It is currently unclear if GAME are planning to hold a limited amount of Premium consoles for sale on the the day.

Update 23/08/05 17:35: GAME have issued a statement clarifing it's situation with Xbox 360 pre-orders.