The creator of Doom is at it again building a new IP and Engine from the ground up using the Xbox360! Gamesindustry:

Id Software’s Todd Hollenshead has revealed that the Quake and Doom creator is working on a new gaming franchise powered by a brand new engine from developer John Carmack.

With the finishing touches being applied to Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, the US firm’s collaborative project with UK studio Splash Damage, Hollenshead insists that internal projects are still id’s top priority.

Speaking exclusively to GamesIndustry.biz at a London event earlier this week, the id CEO said: “We are working on an all-new franchise: it’s not Doom, it’s not Quake, it’s not Wolfenstein, it’s not Enemy Territory, it’s not even Commander Keen.
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So some Guitar Hero 3 gameplay has been revealed, and it can be seen here. Some notable differences are the improved graphics and lighting, new stages, and, oh yeah, the HUD. Personally, I don’t think it fits very well. I mean, it looks cool and all, but it just doesn’t fit. It looks wrong.

Also noticeable: the guys at IGN suck at every game they play. I don’t know how they got their jobs, but it wasn’t on their skills at playing games. I mean, why are you playing Hard if you are bad at it? I’ve only had a few months with the game where I was failing songs on Medium, and now I’m working on five starring Hard Mode and playing through some Expert. These guys have been able to play it since the first one came out for the PS2.

In any case, that’s the new footage. If I knew how to embed video files on the front page, I would. Enjoy “Slow Ride” as made famous by Fog Hat (an insanely better song than by whatever they got by Weezer).

- Chris (Grohdinger)

Mushroom Men - Spore War is a newly announced game coming from Red Fly studios and being published by Gamecock Media.

According to the website the game is a fantasy fighter that follows the story of a bunch of mushrooms that get transformed when a comet hits the earth. At least that is about as much as I could get from the description as it currently is.

With little to no information about the game so far except that it involves a backyard, a comet and some mushrooms - oh and its release date is sometime in Autumn 08 - we will keep you up to date as we hear more. For now, feel free to speculate over at the forums

-Andy

According to Major Nelson, there’s a new Call of Duty 3 Map Pack out.

Name: Call of Duty 3 Bravo Map Pack
Price: 800 Points
Availability: Not available in Japan
Dash Details: The Bravo Map Pack unites three new multiplayer maps with two classic PC maps from Call of Duty and Call of Duty: United Offensive. Storm hilltop abbeys, maneuver alleyways for the perfect ambush, or battle in the nighttime shadows of a riverside town in three never-before-seen maps. Gare Centrale, one of the original Call of Duty’s most popular maps, brings its unique layout of warehouses, water towers and a train depot to Xbox 360 for the first time. Marseilles delivers United Offensive’s exciting blend of vehicles and vast, open combat to next-gen.
Size: 950.3 MB (approx)

Not available in Japan, eh?  Something tells me not too many people over there are going to be frustrated about that.

- Chris (Grohdinger)

Lionhead has chosen to fuse two of their franchises together: The Movies Online and Fable.

Naturally, this is The Movies: Online so we are offering movie makers and directors a slightly different take on this pitch and offer them freedom in the creation of their next big flick. We want you to incorporate the Good&Evil choices. You are free in your creative vision but we want you to incorporate different outcomes in your story, where the viewer can see what would have happened if your main character had made a different choice. As a reference we can give you Groundhog Day or The Butterfly Effect, but these are merely an inspiration.

…

There will be one winner, who’ll be taking home the Xbox 360(TM)video game and entertainment system from Microsoft. On top of that, he or she will be receiving a signed copy of Fable 2 when it is released. If this isn’t reason enough to get your creative juices flowing, we’re also throwing in an additional 100MB of storage space on The Movies: Online and a downloadable award which can be used in-game. Three additional runner-ups will also win 50MB of additional storage space and a downloadable award.

Official rules:
- Your movie has to include different outcomes and / or story plot points
- We’ll only accept the FIRST movie you upload for the competition
- Competition starts on Tuesday 29th May 2007
- Competition ends on Monday 25th June 2007
- Only ONE entry per studio
- movie length between 5 and 8 minutes
- Respect the official ToU and Competition rules

So if you happen to own The Movies: Online and have yet to get yourself an Xbox 360, here’s your chance (not to mention a signed copy of Fable 2…I mean, I dunno how much money a game developer’s signature that isn’t Miyamoto’s can get you on eBay, but hey, it’s a free copy of Fable 2).

Original press release can be found here.

- Chris (Grohdinger)

Forum goers NewBornThreat and dpl have informed us of some nice Unreal Tournament 3 information over in this thread here. The first bit of information is a rumored release of the game on September 3rd in the U.S. and 28th for Europe. However, all the source provided is a Digg link and a source whose server crashed due to the traffic. Since I doubt the credibility of the website I’d say it is a rumor for now until Epic comes out with some further confirmation.

However, Team Xbox has given some details of information covered in the next Official Xbox Magazine on how Unreal Tournament 3 will be played:

In the preview, Epic Games’ Steven Polge, the lead designer of Unreal Tournament 3, confirms that the Xbox 360 version of the game will support four-player co-op and two-player split-screen in the single-player campaign, which will let you take different paths depending on the decisions you take.

The preview also revealed that Unreal Tournament 3 will feature 18 vehicles and 5 types of turrets. Epic also promises “zero-time to spectacle� thanks to the hoverboard (two of them being linked to a Manta in the picture below).

Regarding the controls, Polge revealed that they are so good that half the people who work on the game prefer to play the Xbox 360 version. Furthermore, the guy responsible for the controls has stepped in playtest sessions, where everyone was on keyboards, and with a controller he kicked everyone’s butt.“

Being someone that is actually better with a controller than a keyboard and mouse, this is pretty cool. As for four-player co-op, well, UT doesn’t seem like the sort of franchise for that kind of thing. Then again, it also looks as if UT3 is going to be more story heavy than usual. So will it be four player co-op through levels like a regular shooter, or four-player co-op in the typical tournament setting, only with people to help out instead of bots?

Nonetheless, I’m getting a bit intrigued and hyped.

- Chris (Grohdinger)

We’re going to be starting a new weekly feature here at Wii60.com to further identify us as a website and a community called WiiRanty.  The idea is a member of the community or two (or three!) will have a rant of their’s posted on the front page every Monday concerning a topic in the games industry.  It can be from anywhere to someone’s frustration at the direction a franchise is going, or how much they cannot stand franchises that have annual titles, or what Microsoft and/or Nintendo have actually done wrong this gaming generation, the problem with gaming expos, or whatever.  It’s a weekly views piece, as well as a soap box for our editors and our community.  Heck, you can even write a rant about what the gaming industry is doing right for a change and just try and get people to acknowledge that.
There’s a bit of a catch, though: firstly, while I’m sure plenty of folks want to get up and rant about Sony or Sony Fanboys or what have you, those sorts of topics will not be accepted unless there is a really good reason for it.  We are united, after all, because we believe in quality in gaming, not because we like to insult Sony.  Also, any views piece will be looked over and editted before being posted, but if you send in a rant that is full of typo’s and lacking in punctuation, you will be rejected.  We are not going to rewrite your rant so it will be presentable.  It is up to you to write a coherent piece.

With that said, any ideas you have can be submitted in either this thread or you can send them to ccesarano_at_wii60_dot_com.  Do not post your rant on the forums, though, if the concept has been accepted.  Once your idea has been accepted, send the rant either in HTML form or Microsoft Word format to the email listed.

And now, with the feature introduced, here is the first rant to kick it all off written by yours truly.  I hope you all enjoy it.

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So Circuit City has a deal going on this week that if you buy Forza 2 or Shadowrun, you also can get yourself a $19.99 Xbox 360 game with it.  The downside is that the only titles I found on Circuit City’s online page that are $19.99 are:

• The Outfit
• Table Tennis
• Lego Star Wars 2
• Xbox Live Arcade Unplugged
• NFL Blitz: The League

Here I was hoping I could finally get hold of Burnout for the 360, but even that hasn’t reduced to $19.99 yet.  I’m not too impressed with the $19.99 titles, but let’s face it, beggars can’t be choosers when you’re getting a $20 game for free.

They are guaranteed to have at least one copy of Forza and Shadowrun in stock by 2p.m. this Wednesday or you get yourself a $20 gift card.

I figured I’d give you guys a heads up since plenty are already looking forward to Forza, and I know I plan on grabbing Shadowrun.

- Chris (Grohdinger)

The granddaddy of all sidescrolling platform games gets the nod this week as we induct Activisions classic Atari 2600 game Pitfall into our Video Game Hall of Fame.

Follow this link to read the full article and find out all the reasons why Pitfall gets spot #4 and remember to check in next Sunday for Induction #5!

-EarthViper

So Microsoft and Lionhead Studios are putting out video diaries that go behind the scenes into what the company is up to.  Naturally, there is going to be plenty of video footage of Fable 2.  Unfortunately, my computer cannot recognize the video file downloaded from the Lionhead website.  When I can, I’ll check it out on Xbox Live.

My computer is seriously somehow broken.  I don’t know how or why, but when both Windows Media Player and Media Player Classic cannot recognize a .wmv file, SOMETHING is wrong.

Anyway, the video diaries can be found here. Or on Xbox Live Marketplace.  Whichever you prefer.

- Chris (Grohdinger)