Reports hitting the internet today indicate that Microsoft is once again bringing gaming directly into our living rooms. During E3 2006 Microsoft released a number of game movie trailers, game demos and video footage from the shows floor onto the Xbox Live Marketplace.

It seems as if X06 and the Tokyo Game Show will experience the same treatment. Bring it home!

Technorati Tags: Microsoft, Xbox Live, Xbox 360, X06, Tokyo Game Show

Ubisoft has announced Brothers In Arms D-Day for the PSP. The new game features squard based play alongside twelve action packed levels.

Brothers In Arms D-Day brings players the best of the Brothers In Arms franchise in a handheld gaming system. Players will experience D-Day as a Screaming Eagle with more tactics and action exclusive to the PSP system. Now players can surprise the enemy for the ultimate advantage in firefights, leading a fire team throughout the entire Normandy campaign. For the first time, players will also be able to lead a bazooka team, order their squad on an MG42, or fire mortar rounds. An enhanced co-op mode (Skirmish) offers players a 12-mission campaign.

Microsoft has released XNA Game Studio Express Beta. With XNA Game Studio Express budding gamers can create their own games and test drive them on the Xbox 360.

Novice game creators can download the tool today from http://msdn.microsoft.com/xna to develop games for Windows XP and Windows Vista, at no charge. The games built on Windows can be migrated to the Xbox 360 console system starting this holiday season as part of the XNA Creators Club subscription for $99/€99 a year, or a four-month trial cost of $49, opening up retail console game development to anyone for the first time.

Since the announcement of XNA Game Studio Express' upcoming availability on August 14, the public response has been overwhelming – more than 100 schools have requested information on how they can incorporate XNA Game Studio Express into their curricula and the breakthrough news has generated millions of hits on Internet search engines.

Reviews

• Q Brick (Mobile) - MobGames
• Texas Hold'em (Xbox Live Arcade) - News0r
• Chromehounds (Xbox 360) - News0r
• Saints Row - (Xbox 360) XboxLiveAddicts
• Ninety-Nine Nights (Xbox 360) - Pro-G

• Call of Duty 3 (Xbox 360) - 360Monster
• Red Steel (Wii) - Pro-G
• Mobile Grand Prix 2 (Mobile) - MobGames

Microsoft has taken the first step towards becoming a IPTV broadcaster with the announcement that US Xbox Live users will be able to download an episode of seminal sci-fi series, Battlestar Galatica. The episode entitled "The Story So Far" is available now for US users of the service only.

No word has been given as to whether or not it is the start of a trend, but we'd guess that Microsoft is testing the proverbial water. There is no indication either that the episode will be available outside of the US although considering that the UK's very own Sky One funded a substantial portion of the show we wouldn't be too surprised.

Technorati Tags: Battlestar Galactica, Sky One, Xbox Live

With the news that Microsoft's HD-DVD drive for the Xbox 360 won't be released in Asia this year due to the lack of HD-DVD titles, concerns have been raised that the UK and Europe may face a similar fate.

With no formal release date having been set for the first HD-DVD's, doubts are increasing about the likelihood of the drive making UK landfall this year. We'll bring you any announcement otherwise as soon as we get it.

Technorati Tags: Xbox 360, HD-DVD

Today there is a lot of chatter on the internet about Assassin's Creed running on an Xbox 360. We covered this news back in May when Assassin's Creed was on show at E3 2006. Joystick has posted up an interesting titbit of information but we wonder if they have seen this packshot?

  

Electronic Arts has put pedal to the metal and has announced Burnout 5 for the PS3 and Xbox 360. The new game is currently in development and is due to be released in 2007.

Burnout 5 gives players license to wreak havoc in Paradise City, the ultimate seamless racing battleground, with a massive infrastructure of traffic-heavy roads to abuse. Gone is the need to jump in and out of menus and aimlessly search for fun like many open world games; in Burnout 5, every inch of the world is built to deliver heart-stopping Burnout-style gameplay. Every intersection is a potential crash junction and every alleyway is an opportunity to rack up moving violations.

Ubisoft has released a number of new screenshots for the highly anticipated Assassin's Creed.

The first game in the Assassin's Creed franchise is set in 1191 AD, when the Third Crusade was tearing the Holy Land apart. Shrouded in secrecy and feared for their ruthlessness, the Assassins intend to stop the hostilities by suppressing both sides of the conflict. Players, assuming the role of the main character Altair, will have the power to throw their immediate environment into chaos and to shape events during this pivotal moment in history.

According to reports surfacing on the internet today, the Xbox 360 and PS3 may not be powerful enough to run CryTek's Crysis. Bernd Diemer, senior game designer of Crytek was quoted as saying "next generation consoles like the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 do not offer the sufficient power".

We really do hope Crysis hits the PS3 and Xbox 360 as it is looking like one of the best First Person Shooters (FPS) ever. Watch this space for the latest developments.

Technorati Tags: Crysis, Xbox 360, PC, PS3

Xbox gamers can now download the August update via Xbox live. The free update enables a number of Xbox titles to be played on the Xbox 360. The number of Xbox games that can now be played on the Xbox 360 has grown to nearly 300. A full listing of all of the games that can run on the Xbox 360 is available on Xbox.com.

Technorati Tags: Xbox Live, Xbox 360

A playable demo of Broken Sword: Angel of Death has been released. You can grab the demo from one of these mirrors (list via Blue's News):

• 3D Gamers
• FileFront
• Gameguru Mania
• Gamer's Hell
• Worthplaying