Rockstar Games' open-world action game debuting in Japan October 7.

Rockstar Games' open-world Western Red Dead Redemption is heading East. According to Andriasang, the latest issue of Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu reveals that Rockstar's latest is due October 7 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in Japan.

John Marston's going to need a lot of track to get to Japan.

Red Dead Redemption exploded onto shelves in North America and Europe in May. Since then, the open-world action game has won rapt reviews across the board, sold more than 5 million units, and has four distinct downloadable content packs planned for it in the coming months.

In other John Marston-related news, Rockstar is planning to actively hunt down and eradicate cheaters from the world of Red Dead Redemption beginning in August with the game's upcoming title update.

Earlier this month, Rockstar confirmed to GameSpot that it had enacted a round of layoffs at its San Diego studio following the launch of Red Dead Redemption. According to the Take-Two subsidiary, the layoffs were a result of the studio's wrapping development on its latest blockbuster game.

For more on the game, check out GameSpot's review of Red Dead Redemption.

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Comic-Con 2010: Obsidian creative leads Chris Avellone, John Gonzalez, and George Ziets describe the story-development process on New Vegas and Dungeon Siege 3.

Who was there: The "Fallout: Writing for Evolving Game Franchises" panel at this year's Comic-Con featured a slightly misleading title, as it involved both Fallout: New Vegas and Dungeon Siege 3, both of which are in production at Obsidian Entertainment. The studio's creative director and cofounder Chris Avellone was joined by creative leads John Gonzalez (Fallout: New Vegas) and George Ziets (Dungeon Siege 3).

Fallout just so happens to be a very sturdy box.

What they talked about: Avellone kicked off the panel by giving a bit of background on how Obsidian approaches game design. The studio, which was founded by several veteran members of Planescape Torment and Fallout 2 developer Black Isle Studios, starts its creative process by first establishing the narrative parameters in which the game universe takes place. These parameters, he said, exist inside certain "boxes."

For instance, in the Fallout box can be found first and foremost the postapocalyptic setting. Avellone said that the universe is much more than that, though, as it is also about capturing the ambiance of the 1950s Cold War era and how people from that time period thought the future would be. The box also contains the precepts of character creation, choices and the consequences thereof, questing, creative thinking, dark humor, perks, and, of course, radioactivity.

With Fallout: New Vegas, Bethesda also wanted the Obsidian team to incorporate many of the elements found in Fallout 3. These included having a signature city--in this case, Las Vegas--exploration, and a scope comparable to Fallout 3.

Finally, Avellone said that the Obsidian box includes more requirements that make a game distinctive to the studio. These include having game mechanics intertwine with the storyline (such as reputation impacting quest options), complex non-player characters who provide perspective on the world, and a fully featured level editor to give the mod community ways to continue creating content.

Gonzalez then took over the conversation, explaining just how he applied these concepts to crafting the narrative in Fallout: New Vegas. He said he began by first replaying all of the old Fallout games, in an effort to soak up the ambiance and style of the franchise. He then did a lot of research into mid-20th century Las Vegas, reading such books as Las Vegas: An Unconventional History and watching movies like the original Ocean's 11.

As for key inspirations, he started with the city's tagline ("What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas") and then incorporated other such elements as Vegas Vic (the iconic 40-foot neon cowboy), mobster Bugsy Siegel, The Rat Pack, and Howard Hughes.

And then it was simply a matter of writing, Gonzalez said. The first draft of the story document was written over the course of a week at a since-closed coffee shop in Ann Arbor, Michigan, called the Espresso Royale. However, it took substantial rewrites and revisions to get it to production stage, gathering input from other Obsidian developers along the way.

Ziets then took over to detail the process of crafting Dungeon Siege III's narrative. The DSIII box was much smaller than that of Fallout, Ziets said. Namely, it had to take place in the world established by Gas Powered Games. Also, player choice was important, as were consequences, companions, and thematic regions. The smaller box gave the team a greater amount of narrative freedom, Ziets said.

As with Gonzalez, Ziets first immersed himself in the established world of the franchise, playing all of the previous Dungeon Siege games. He then acquired Dungeon Siege's lore bible from Gas Powered Games, reading and internalizing the backstory of the franchise.

From there, Ziets said he settled upon four conditions to establish what the team should focus on in crafting the new game. These included what he and his team were most excited by, what is most central to the franchise, what can provide interesting visuals and gameplay, and what will make the fans happy.

As a result of this process, the team pulled a number of elements from the original Dungeon Siege. Namely, the game would be returning to the Kingdom of Ebb, and it would focus on the 10th Legion, which was a central protective force. From there, it became a matter of expanding the world by doing their own bit of world building. To get this process started, Ziets sat down to write the Ebb sourcebook, which is a compilation of short stories, legends, calendars, and even a language.

The story emerged from this brainstorming time, and it follows the 10th Legion, which is in a dire state. The force is on the verge of being wiped out as Ebb crumbles about them, and players embark on a quest to rebuild the Legion and in the process uncover the mystery behind its decimation. He said that it is important for players to feel a personal stake in the story and that they will be among the last of the Legion's original bloodline.

Quote: "Sit the f*** down and write."--John Gonzalez, on the brass tacks behind crafting the narrative for a game.

Takeaway: Obsidian doesn't abide by the adage of thinking outside the box. Instead, the box mentality helps keep the studio focused on the core concepts of what it wants to accomplish with the game it is working on.

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Comic-Con 2010: Capcom and Marvel announce Okami sun god and Norse god of thunder for the star-studded roster.

Who was there: Both Capcom and Marvel Entertainment representatives took to the stage at the Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds panel. From Capcom, there was Seth Killian (special advisor on MVC3) and Ryota Niitsuma (producer). Representing Marvel were Frank Tieri (writer) and TQ Jefferson (director of games at Marvel).

Amaterasu administers a beatdown.

What they talked about: Seth Killian took to the podium first to give some quick background on the history of the Marvel and Capcom relationship, pointing out previous games in the series of "versus" fighting games. He also mentioned that the same engine--called MT Framework--used to power games like Resident Evil 5 is working its magic on Marvel vs. Capcom 3. The development team at Capcom is making sure that the visual style of the game has some comic book-style flourishes and that special endings, as well as in-game events, appease fans of both sides.

Killian then introduced the members of the Marvel crew. Jefferson said that it's an honor to be able to work on this project and that neither side has been sitting idle in the 10 years separating Marvel vs. Capcom 2 and its sequel. In fact, it sounded like it was a deliberate move so that Marvel could remove obstacles and barriers that initially prevented them from putting specific Marvel heroes in the game.

Tieri--who wrote the script for Marvel vs. Capcom 3--described himself as the "Marvel Cop." He's responsible for making sure that Marvel characters act and say things in a way that's appropriate for their characters. He's written comics for just about every major Marvel character, so fans shouldn't be worried in that respect, but he wanted to reassure Capcom fans that not only was he a huge fan of Marvel Super Heroes on the PlayStation (a predecessor to the Versus series), but also he was taking the time to research the characters he wasn't completely familiar with.

What's particularly interesting is that Tieri said the entire library of characters from both sides were available to him when it comes to the endings for the characters. He even went so far as to say that some characters--like Ghost Rider and Man-Thing--would make cameo appearances but won't be playable.

Capcom's Niitsuma followed Tieri's speech with a little bit of information about the gameplay. The team based the design around Marvel vs. Capcom 2, so fans of that game should find it instantly familiar--"like an old pair of shoes," he said. However, he added that they're not ignoring newcomers. As such, special moves and combinations are easy to execute, and the addition of new characters puts more players on even footing because no one knows them well.

Niitsuma then went onto show trailers for six new characters. Yes, six. In addition to the four (Chun-Li, Dr. Doom, Super Skrull, and Trish) announced at the beginning of Comic-Con, Niitsuma played trailers for two new characters announced today--Thor and Amaterasu.

Thor looks like an absolute beast with combinations that make extensive use of his hammer. Similarly, Amaterasu (from Capcom's Okami) is no slouch either, as she's able to use a sword that springs from her back, as well several different types of projectile attacks that correspond to the elements of nature. The crowd reacted quite positively to both characters, but there were more notable gasps and ogling for Amaterasu.

The panel concluded with a quick tournament that gave audience members a chance to play the game and win Marvel vs. Capcom arcade sticks. Niitsuma then added that the classic music tracks from the previous Marvel vs. Capcom are being remixed for Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and that some characters, like Ryu and Chun-Li, are getting entirely new themes based on those from other games.

Quotes:"This will be the greatest fighting game of all time," said an obviously enthusiastic Frank Tieri.

"It will have color," joked Ryota Niitsuma while the projector during the panel showed the game in black and white.

Takeaway: It's clear that this is much more of a collaborative effort between Marvel and Capcom than any previous game in the series and that both sides are quite excited about the project. What's even more obvious is that fans from both sides seem to really enjoy it and get really excited trying to guess and suggest new characters for the game.

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David Jaffe talks Sweet Tooth, live-action cutscenes, and what might have been for the beloved car combat franchise.

Who was there: Twisted Metal game directors David Jaffe and Scott Campbell, as well as Eat Sleep Play's creative director Kellan Hatch.

What they talked about: Jaffe shared some details about the characters and story in Twisted Metal. The four main characters are Sweet Tooth, Preacher, Dollface, and Mr. Grimm. They are all participating in the Twisted Metal competition, once again overseen by Calypso, who dangles the promise of a wish fulfilled for the victor. Though there won't be origin stories per se, players will find out information about each character's backstory, such as the creation of Sweet Tooth's mask, Dollface's vain psychotic break, Preacher's righteous crusade, and Mr. Grimm's childhood trauma. These story elements will be revealed with live-action cutscenes in the single-player campaign. A making-of video played during the panel showed convincingly costumed characters performing scenes against a green-screen backdrop. Jaffe explained how they originally wanted to get away from the notorious live-action scenes of the series' past, but they came back around to the idea when they reasoned that Blizzard and Infamous had cornered the market on CG and animated comic cutscenes, respectively. Jaffe said they were going to be heavily tweaking the footage in postproduction and referenced the opening credits from the Watchmen as a source of inspiration.

Jaffe then went on to discuss the Nuke multiplayer mode previously outlined in GameSpot's Twisted Metal Updated Impressions and confirmed that the game would feature two-player and four-player online split-screen play. He clarified that in gameplay footage, the second person leaning out the passenger side window is not another player but rather an AI companion. He also confirmed that downloadable content is in the works for the game but promised that he would "go down kicking and screaming" before he allowed it to manifest as a $5 costume pack.

Jaffe closed out the panel by talking about "what could have been"-- ideas for this iteration of Twisted Metal that never came to fruition. The first was Twisted Metal: Apocalypse, a game set after the destruction of civilization. One piece of concept art featured a bombed-out Mount Rushmore in the background, and others showed broken freeways and skeletal skyscrapers. The other was a version apparently inspired by games like Midnight Club, a slicker, more modern-looking take on the franchise. Sweet Tooth was reimagined as a svelte, bald gangster with a flaming tattoo on his head, and different factions included Yakuza and the police. As Jaffe put it, this would have been "like a Michael Mann version of Twisted Metal."

Quotes: "No." - David Jaffe when asked if Twisted Metal would support 3D visuals or the PlayStation Move.

"Dollface came out of” not my ex-wife. My ex-wife is a great lady”" - Jaffe describing the inspiration for the character of Dollface.

"I wanna do a million dollar hardcore Sweet Tooth slasher flick exclusive to PSN." - David Jaffe

The Takeaway: Twisted Metal is a franchise that Eat Sleep Play and fans alike have a lot of stock in, and the developer is working hard to make sure this version exceeds expectations.

Random Fact/Who Knew?: They were going to give away Sweet Tooth masks at the panel, but they hadn't successfully made it through toxicity tests.

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Comic-Con 2010: God of Thunder glimpsed in Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and teaser for Sega's movie-based game; Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, Super Hero Squad Online also covered.

Who was there: Marvel director of games Todd Jefferson and manager of licensed games Chris Baker presided over a panel that also featured plenty of developers involved with the individual games.

What they talked about: Baker started by recapping the latest Marvel foray into the world of games, the addition of Marvel characters into Little Big Planet. He also unveiled five more of the 20 characters set to appear in the game: Wolverine, Venom, Captain America, Rogue, and Invisible Woman.

The son of Odin art coming to Midgard in game form. Verily.

Moving on to games currently in development, Baker introduced Spider-Man writer Dan Slott and the game's creative director to talk about Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions. The trailer featured all four Spider-Man versions for the game coming out September 7, the classic Spider-Man, Spider-Man 2099, Spider-Man Noir, and the black-suited symbiote Spider-Man. The creative director of the game talked about a brainstorming session where the developers were trying to decide which iteration of Spider-Man to build the title around. They had a handful of ideas they liked, but it was only when someone suggested that they put all of them into the same game that it clicked.

In addition to having all those different Spider-Men to control, players will hear different--but familiar--voice actors for the roles. Activision has enlisted the voice actors from Spider-Man cartoons in the '80s, '90s, '00s, and today to voice the four different versions of the webbed wonder. The most prominent of the voice actors is Neil Patrick Harris (Doogie Howser, M.D., Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle), who voiced the short-lived MTV computer-generated Spider-Man cartoon. In addition, Marvel legend Stan Lee will be providing the voice-over narrative.

In addition to the four main Spider-Man versions, Activision is including a handful of alternate costumes for each of the dimensions, like Cosmic Spider-Man, Iron Spider, Scarlet Spider, and Negative Zone Spider, all of which will be retailer-exclusive preorder incentives. Spider-Armor and Mangaverse Spider-Man suits will also be in the game, but as normal unlockables instead of incentives.

The next game up is Marvel Super Hero Squad: The Infinity Gauntlet, a kid-friendly version of the story arc in which Thanos collects six gems of reality-shaping powers and uses them to kill half of the living beings in the universe as a sacrifice to his love, Death. The second season of the Marvel Super Hero Squad also takes its premise from the comics but makes it significantly more whimsical.

The game's producer, Jason Gholston, and writer Mark Hoffmeier also discussed Marvel Super Hero Squad Online, the new browser-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game based on the cartoon and set for release next year. Gholston pointed out that it is the first online take on the Marvel Universe, with the goal of the game being to allow players to tell their own stories in the comic book world with their friends. Although it's primarily targeted at kids, Gholston stressed that the team is taking an "all ages" approach with depth, tactical strategy, player-versus-player, and things to foster wide appeal.

Capcom's Seth Killian was up next to talk about Marvel vs. Capcom 3. Instead of a trailer, Killian showed footage of a match featuring the newly announced characters Super Skrull, Dr. Doom, and Chun Li. Killian narrated the fight, pointing out the various techniques and super combos as they were performed. As in the Capcom panel earlier, Deadpool drew the biggest reaction form the crowd, with plenty of applause for his Ryu-like shoryuken attack.

After the footage, Jefferson said Capcom often sends Marvel gameplay footage for approval, but the footage invariably shows Capcom characters trouncing the Marvel stars.

"I'm sorry the Hulk can't stand up to Chun Li," Killian said. "It's real life. We tested it out; it's science."

Killian talked about the enduring appeal of Marvel vs. Capcom, and he stressed it wasn't nostalgia. With three-on-three matches and players able to choose one of three different assists for each character, Killian said there were about 1 million different matchup permutations in Marvel vs. Capcom 2. As a result, he said diehard players are still finding new things in the game all the time.

For Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Killian said they are trying to retain and surpass the hallmark of its predecessor, the sheer insanity of the battles. The developers are trying to make it so button mashers can pick up the game and instantly make some fireworks fly, but they're also hoping to create something that will have people playing it competitively for the next decade.

A second gameplay clip showed off another new character, Thor. Sporting his recent look from comics rather than the upcoming movie, the god of thunder pummeled opponents with hammer and lightning attacks, including a Ruby Heart-esque comet attack, a cascading super attack like Captain Commando's, and a cyclone super move a bit reminiscent of Jin.

Speaking of Thor, Baker brought the panel to an end by showing off a trailer for Sega's movie-based Thor game, due out in the summer of 2011. The incredibly brief teaser showed a third-person view of Thor from behind, standing on a cliff overlooking Muspulheim. Jefferson said the film's director, Kenneth Branagh, is providing input on the game, right down to that teaser trailer.

Quote: "Oh, my herald, find me a planet that is light on ice cream. I am lactose intolerant." Hoffmeier, doing his best impression of George Takai as Galactus.

The takeaway: Besides the unveiling of Thor in Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and the teaser trailer for the movie game, the biggest message of the panel was that Marvel isn't slowing down its gaming endeavors one bit.

Who knew?: Hoffmeier said boys didn't like the idea of the Infinity Gauntlet's Infinity Gems, so they had to be called Infinity Stones instead.

In a Q&A session after the panel, Killian confirmed that Capcom is working on a new joystick for Marvel vs. Capcom 3 along the lines of its Tournament Edition FightSticks but that the publisher is "looking to elevate [its] game."

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Comic-Con 2010: Mega Man franchise's paterfamilias explains pricing behind Dead Rising 2: Case Zero content, talks Zombrex.

Who was there: Keiji Inafune--executive producer at Capcom and the "father" of Mega Man--joined Shinsaku Ohara--producer on the original Devil May Cry, Resident Evil 4, and other major Capcom games--to talk about anything and everything related to Dead Rising 2 at a Comic-Con panel. Unfortunately, members of Blue Castle games (the development team behind the game) weren't able to attend as they're currently finishing up the game.

Inafune holds court at Comic-Con.

What they talked about: Inafune kicked off the panel by talking about the origins of Dead Rising 2. Of course, the original Dead Rising was incredibly successful for Capcom, so there was ample reason to start work on a sequel, but Inafune stressed that they wanted Dead Rising 2 to have a more Western feel. As such, they worked with a North American development studio--Blue Castle Games--to get the project done.

After that, Inafune and Ohara spoke extensively about some of the gameplay details surrounding Dead Rising 2, as well as its Xbox Live-exclusive prequel, Dead Rising 2: Case Zero. Inafune announced that it would be available on August 31 for a price of 400 points ($5). That price was of special note to Inafune who said that he had to fight with the company to get the Dead Rising downloadable content priced at that level.

Inafune explained that it could've just as easily been 800 points ($10), but that he wanted as many people to play it as possible. He also stressed that the free demo is also pretty fun and that "killing zombies for hours and hours never really gets old anyway." But those who do purchase it will be able to carry over experience points and costumes into Dead Rising 2.

The panel got a little more interesting when Inafune went into some behind-the-scenes details about Dead Rising 2. Interestingly, he said that because the original game was set in a mall and Japan doesn't have many of those types of structures, the team had to make numerous trips to the states to investigate them and spend money. Along those lines, the development team thought that if they set the next game in a Las Vegas-like setting that they would be able to take numerous trips to the infamous city on the company's dime. Unfortunately, he said, not many members of Capcom Japan got to make the trip to Vegas, baby. Vegas.

Additionally, the team contemplated putting Dead Rising 2 against the backdrop of a Disneyland-like amusement park. Inafune noted, in particular, that the irony of the situation--the violence of an M-rated game contrasted with a family theme park--would've been fun to work with and that the team would've enjoyed taking trips to amusement parks for research purposes. However, Dead Rising 2 does maintain some of this contrast in the form of Pokemon-like trading cards that feature the different weapons you can construct in the game.

Next up was a little bit of information and background on Inafune's directorial debut with the Dead Rising-themed movie called Dead Rising: Zombrex. He explained that he's a huge fan of the low-budget horror movies from the 1980s, and that he attempted to replicate the look with this film (and it certainly shows). He went onto detail the experience of directing Japanese actors to act as zombies, which he found to be difficult because many of the extras didn't quite understand what a zombie was.

And finally, there was time for one question. A person in the crowd asked Inafune if Frank West (the lead character from the original game) would be making a return. Unfortunately, Inafune said that while he knows Frank West is an incredibly popular character, he's currently taking a break, but we might see him soon.

Quotes: "We're not copying Avatar. We thought of this first," joked Keiji Inafune in reference to the lead character in his film who happens to be in a wheelchair.

"We Japanese don't often use duct tape, but we're aware of the American duct tape phenomenon," Inafune said while demonstrating a real-life version of one of Dead Rising 2's weapons.

The Takeaway: While we already know a great deal about Dead Rising 2, it was definitely nice to hear some of the behind-the-scenes info on the game, and if anything, the entire panel just reaffirmed how much Inafune likes zombies.

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Voice actors bring the Joker, Batman to life in Sony Online Entertainment's upcoming superhero MMORPG; additional voice actors include Adam Baldwin, Gina Torres, James Marsters, and Michelle Forbes.

Despite laying off 4 percent of its staff recently, Sony Online Entertainment has kicked off the beta registration for its upcoming massively multiplayer online role-playing game, DC Universe Online. In addition to providing gamers with an avenue to an exclusive first look into the game, the publisher today announced a star-studded cast of voice actors for the MMORPG, which includes Mark Hamill and Kevin Conroy, who will bring two of the game's most prominent characters to life.

Conroy is actually behind the mask.

Conroy (Batman: The Animated Series, Justice League Unlimited, Batman: Arkham Asylum) will bring the voice of Batman to life in the upcoming PC and PlayStation 3 title, and Mark Hamill (Batman: Arkham Asylum, Batman: The Animated Series) will enunciate the Joker's shrill laugh.

The rest of the voice cast is fairly prominent as well. Adam Baldwin (Dutch from Halo 3: ODST, Firefly) will voice Superman; former Firefly star Gina Torres will voice Wonder Woman; James Marsters of Smallville, Buffy, and Torchwood will bring life to Lex Luthor; and Michelle Forbes (Dr. Mossman in Half-Life 2) will create Wonder Woman's adversary, Circe.

Set within the DC Comics world, DC Universe Online will let players create a superhero or villain and fight alongside or against iconic comic book characters, such as the Joker, Batman, Superman, and others.

DC Universe Online is currently scheduled for release on November 2 for the PS3 and PC. For more on the game, check out GameSpot's most recent preview.

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Three-game compilation of remastered PlayStation 2 titles updated with 3D support, PlayStation Move minigames, and trophies.

Last year, Sony brought the God of War Collection to retail, a bundle that included God of War and God of War II remastered with high-definition graphics and trophy support. This fall, Sony will again delve into its history, but this time, instead of reviving a muscled god slayer, it'll pull a raccoon out of its hat.

Sly sneaks back to retail this fall.

Sony today announced that The Sly Collection will come to retail bearing a $40 price tag with updated versions of the three original Sly Cooper titles: Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus, Sly 2: Band of Thieves, and Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves.

Each PlayStation 2 title in the collection has been remastered with 720p visuals, 3D support, trophy incorporation, and a range of PlayStation Move-enabled minigames. Sony didn't announce anything further than the miniscule games' inclusion in the package and promised more details on the bite-sized motion-controlled games "soon."

For more on the updated rerelease, check out GameSpot's hands-on preview with The Sly Collection.

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EA boxing sim series returns to the ring next year for Xbox 360 and PS3 with a "grittier" take on the sport; EA Canada studio handling development.

While EA Sports' Fight Night series of games has traditionally touted itself as a straight-faced simulation of a strategic sport, the next installment will apparently showcase the sour side of the sweet science. At its Studio Showcase today, EA announced Fight Night Champion for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 and gave an indication that the series is heading in a new direction.

Pacquiao has seen better days, considering he likely can't see much with that eye swollen shut.

While the sport of boxing is inherently rough, EA Sports' Andrew Wilson promised a "grittier" and "darker" game with animations and player damage that "truly conveys the brutality of the sport of boxing." The publisher released a screenshot in support of those comments, depicting a bloodied and battered Manny Pacquiao.

As far as gameplay goes, EA is promising a refined physics-based animation system and a new "Full Spectrum Punch Control" scheme. The publisher didn't mention the game's Online Pass-limited multiplayer features, instead focusing on a single-player mode intended to re-create the dramatic and emotional aspects of the sport.

Fight Night Champion is being developed at EA Canada by the team that put together last year's Fight Night Round 4. It is set for release sometime next year. For more on its predecessor, check out GameSpot's review of Fight Night Round 4.

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New superhero strategy RPG to be released by NIS America this winter; publisher also prepping retro dungeon-crawler Cladun for portable, teases next Disgaea for PS3.

While Nippon Ichi Software is best known for its Disgaea line of strategy role-playing games, the publisher's ambitions extend beyond that brand. For example, today the publisher announced a new intellectual property from the Disgaea development team and a downloadable retro-styled action RPG. The company also had something for those who would prefer more Disgaea, as the series' producer teased a new PlayStation 3 installment in that line would be announced before long.

Z.H.P. will let players customize their heroes with drill hands, wheel feet, and other unique characteristic.

Starting with the new intellectual property, NIS America will be publishing the PSP superhero strategy RPG Z.H.P. in North America this winter. Known in Japan as Zettai Hero Keikakuin, Z.H.P. lets players create their own heroes and bases of operations, then do battle with the forces of evil on randomly generated maps.

NIS America's other newly announced game uses both its name and its subtitle to describe the game. Cladun: This Is an RPG is a "classic dungeon" action RPG set for release as a downloadable-only PSP game this fall. The game will feature retro-styled pixel-art characters, with players able to create their protagonists from scratch. As with Z.H.P., NIS America is touting the game's character customization features and randomly generated dungeons.

At a NIS America press event revealing the games, Disgaea series producer Souhei Niikawa underscored the importance of both titles to the company. Nippon Ichi Software has decided to limit the number of titles it launches in a given year in order to focus more on quality, Niikawa said, and Z.H.P. and Cladun are products of that philosophy. Z.H.P. in particular was made "to surpass Disgaea," Niikawa said, adding that the team is as excited about the project as it was when making the first game in the company's flagship franchise.

Speaking of that series, Nippon Ichi Software will be returning to the world of Disgaea soon. Niikawa said that the next Disgaea game will be released in Japan for the PS3 later this year, with a full reveal of the title expected by the time the Tokyo Game Show kicks off in September.

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Publisher confirms downloadable PS3 and Xbox 360 game including crossovers with Street Fighter, Ghouls n' Ghosts, more.

In 2008, Capcom took its original action game mascot back to his roots with Mega Man 9 for downloadable services on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii. That game succeeded in part because of its slavishly faithful take on the original franchise formula, but today, Capcom announced a new retro revival for the Blue Bomber that will apparently push the envelope a bit further. The game in question is Mega Man Universe, the title for which the publisher trademarked in April.

Mega Man Universe will see some familiar faces.

A teaser trailer for Mega Man Universe (embedded below) shows the hero blasting the minions of Dr. Wily in multiple art styles (including a 2D pixel-art version and a stop-motion animated miniature wearing the blue-and-yellow getup from the original Mega Man NES box art). Naturally, the cannon-armed cyborg assimilates the abilities of others in order to get the job done. But in addition to swiping the boomerang blade-arm of the evil robot Cut Man, Mega Man turns completely into versions of other Capcom characters, like Street Fighter's Ryu and Ghosts 'n Goblins' Arthur.

The clip suggests Mega Man Universe will contain more Capcom crossovers, as it features a dream arcade of the publisher's efforts, including 1942, 1943, Final Fight, Magic Sword, Darkstalkers, and Bionic Commando, as well as cabinets for games starring Ryu and Arthur. The teaser ends with a logo for the game and the tagline, "Your world. Megafied."

"This is something that you have never seen before, and we have included some hints into this teaser trailer," Mega Man series producer Kenji Inafune told GameSpot. "If you take a look closely, you will be able to imagine a lot of different possibilities. So try and use your imagination, and you may figure out what makes this game special."

Beyond the cryptic promises, Capcom released few details. The game will launch on Xbox Live and the PlayStation Store, and the publisher has promised it will deliver "the core experience fans want," on top of its innovations. Despite the Mega-moniker in the title, the publisher also proclaimed that "imagination is the star of the game."

No release date or pricing has yet been announced for Mega Man Universe, but more details are expected at next week's San Diego Comic-Con. For more on the game, check out GameSpot's interview with Inafune.

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Rockstar confirms staff reductions at its San Diego shop following release of quintuple-platinum Western, cites realignment of resources.

Rockstar San Diego scored a substantial hit with Red Dead Redemption, garnering rapt critical praise and selling some 5 million units worldwide within a month of its May 18 debut. In the US alone, the action adventure Western shifted 945,900 units on the Xbox 360 at retail during its first month on store shelves, with the PlayStation 3 edition selling an additional 567,100 copies. However, strong sales and positive reviews haven't saved the studio from layoffs.

Red Dead Redemption vets have ridden off into the sunset.

Rockstar has confirmed for GameSpot that it has enacted a round of layoffs at its San Diego studio following the launch of Red Dead Redemption. According to the Take-Two subsidiary, the layoffs were a result of the studio wrapping development on its latest blockbuster game.

"As is typical with game development, our team sizes have always fluctuated over the course of the development cycle," Rockstar San Diego studio manager Steve Martin said in a statement. "As Rockstar San Diego transitions from the launch of Red Dead Redemption onto future projects, we are realigning our resources in order to continue to develop games as effectively as possible."

"We are ensuring that all employees who are affected by these changes are being treated with care," Martin continued. "While we have no announcements to make regarding a sequel to Red Dead Redemption, the team here are hard at work on the development of downloadable content for the game."

Rockstar did not indicate how many employees were affected by the layoffs. However, it is not the only Take-Two-owned studio to experience downsizing in recent weeks. Earlier this month, the publisher trimmed about 20 positions from Civilization V developer Firaxis, also in an effort to "realign its development resources."

The Rockstar San Diego layoffs also follow on from reports of oppressive working conditions at the studio. In January, someone claiming to be the spouse of a Rockstar San Diego employee accused the shop of a number of quality-of-life offenses, including forcing its employees to work extended hours at least six days a week. This touched off a flurry of rumors that the Midnight Club racing series had been canceled.

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NPD reports Rockstar's Western sells nearly 1 million as Xbox 360 tops Wii; Tiger Woods 11, Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker fail to crack top 10; industry down 9% year-to-date.

Game industry watchers must be feeling a sense of deja vu today. Two weeks after the NPD Group reported Red Dead Redemption was May's top game, the NPD Group reported that Red Dead Redemption was June's top game. Rockstar Games' critically praised open-world Western sold 582,900 units on the Xbox 360 and 380,300 units on the PlayStation 3, for a total of 963,200 units--down just over a half-million units from its overall haul the month before. The figure now makes it the best-selling game of 2010 to date, according to NPD.

Red Dead Redemption is turning into a Grand Theft Auto-sized hit for Rockstar Games parent Take-Two Interactive.

That wasn't the only way the two months resembled each other. May saw overall US sales of game software, hardware, and accessories fall 5 percent, an unexpected drop. June saw overall game sales of $1.1 billion, a 6 percent slip from the prior year's $1.17 billion haul.

That's where the similarities end, however. While May saw hardware sales fall 20 percent, June saw them rise 5 percent, thanks to the introduction of the new slimline Xbox 360. Though still behind the DS's 510,700-unit tally, Microsoft's console sold 451,700 units, beating the Wii's 422,500-unit total. The PlayStation 3 was in fourth with 304,800 units, followed by the PSP with 121,000 units.

"Hardware sales saw a notable uptick from May on an average sales per week basis, and all three current gen console systems saw unit sales increases over last year; in particular, the Xbox 360 and the PS3," said NPD analyst Anita Frazier. "The Xbox 360 experienced its second largest non-holiday month after September '07 when Halo 3 launched, and the PS3 has now garnered 11 consecutive months of year-over-year unit sales increases."

Also in contrast to May's 4 percent software spike, June saw software plummet 15 percent. A major factor in this was weak sales of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11, which failed to even crack NPD's top 10. Also MIA were such June releases as Green Day: Rock Band, Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker, and Transformers: War for Cyberton.

"The new Tiger Woods release sold only 32 percent of what last year's release sold in its introductory month at retail," summarized Fraizer. "That said, last year's game saw a huge sales increase over previous versions, but still, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 did not break into the top 10 games for the month."

Indeed, NPD's top 10 looked a lot like May's, with the Xbox 360 version of Red Dead Redemption riding high. Behind it was Super Mario Galaxy 2 with 548,400 units, followed by the PS3 edition of Red Dead Redemption. In fourth was New Super Mario Bros. Wii, which sold 200,900 units eight months after it was released last November. Another release from that month, Ubisoft's Just Dance for the Wii, rounded out the top five with 174,800 units.

The final five of the top 10--which NPD does not provide sales figures for--were Wii Fit Plus, Toy Story 3 for the DS, UFC 2010 Undisputed for the 360, Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 for the Wii, and UFC 2010 Undisputed for the PS3.

June 2010 US GAME SALES

OVERALL DOLLAR SALES
Games: $1.1 billion (-6%)
Hardware: $401.7 million (+5%)
Software: $531.3 million (-15%)
Accessories: $169.6 million (+6%)

HARDWARE SALES
DS: 510,700
Xbox 360: 451,700
Wii: 422,500
PlayStation 3: 304,800
PSP: 121,000

TOP 10 GAMES (by SKU)
Title / Platform / Publisher / Release Date / Units sold
1. Red Dead Redemption / 360 / Take-Two Interactive/ May-10 / 582,900
2. Super Mario Galaxy 2 / Wii / Nintendo / May-10 / 548,400
3. Red Dead Redemption / PS3 / Take-Two Interactive/ May-10 / 380,300
4. New Super Mario Bros. / Wii / Nintendo / Nov-09 / 200,900
5. Just Dance / Wii / Ubisoft / Nov-09 / 174,800
6. Wii Fit Plus (with Balance Board) / Wii / Nintendo / Oct-09 /
7.Toy Story 3 / DS / Disney Interactive Studios / Jun-10
8. UFC 2010: Undisputed / 360 / THQ / May-10
9. Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 / Wii / Warner Bros. / Jun-10
10. UFC 2010: Undisputed / PS3 / THQ / May-10

Source: The NPD Group. Sales numbers only provided for top five titles.

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Develop 2010: Double Fine president and founder talks about stillborn heavy metal sequel, publisher relations, and the move to smaller games.

Who Was There: Double Fine Production's Tim Schafer is well known for classic games such as Monkey Island, Full Throttle, and Grim Fandango. His most recent works include 2005's Psychonauts and last year's heavy metal-infused Brutal Legend, which was released to critical acclaim. He is also known on the development circuit for his outspoken opinions and sense of humour.

The cancellation of Brutal Legend's sequel triggered change at Double Fine.

What He Talked About: As a veteran developer, Schafer had much to say about the changing nature of his Double Fine Productions and its relationship with publishers. Much of his talk focused on the studio's move away from AAA titles to smaller, more manageable projects. This was brought about by the cancellation of a sequel to Brutal Legend, much to the chagrin of Schafer. He said, "Apparently when [the publisher] said it was a done deal, there was a deal, and it was done."

The studio subsequently went on to split off into four smaller teams, each working on small "indie-style" games, which Schafer likened to holding an independent games festival within the company. Four of the best projects were shopped around to publishers, and within months, all four were signed, turning Double Fine Productions into a multi-project studio for the first time.

Though firm release dates details were not revealed, Schafer hinted that that we may see some of the games this year, in both retail and downloadable formats. He also mentioned what might be in store in terms of gameplay, saying that splitting off into smaller teams allowed the studio to experiment with different genres, licenses, and demographics (such as kids' titles), giving them "more chances at having a hit game." Many of the staff members who worked on Brutal Legend are heading up the new projects, two of which will focus on both retro and innovative new gameplay mechanics.

Schafer also offered advice to budding game studios on how to start up, create new ideas, and deal with publishers. "When starting a company, don't use your own money--use someone else's," he said. "A lot of developers don't get second chances." He likened the relationship between developers and publishers to that of a "parent and child," cautioning that a developer can become too reliant on a publisher for money.

Schafer also advised developers to be mindful of what they say about publishers in interviews, referring to his recent comments about Activision CEO Bobby Kotick. He warned that often developers may end up pitching a game to people that they've burnt bridges with, and likened the experience to the scene in The Empire Strikes Back where Han Solo suddenly finds he's meeting Darth Vader for lunch in Cloud City.

Quote: "Remember, the microphone is always on."--Schafer, offering developers advice in light of his recent interview.

Takeaway: Schafer was keen to emphasise how developing smaller titles had given the studio a burst of creativity, resulting in "less compromise." He also touted the virtues of shopping around for publishers and changing them often. This allows a studio to retain intellectual property rights and get out before being hurt from the destructive nature of mergers, acquisitions, and other "strange things" he said can happen to big publishers.

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