Sometimes being nosey really does pays off. A Peeping Tom was snooping around the Smash Bros. Brawl disc when they came upon 25 tracks that, for some unknown reason, went unused in the game. The list is rather impressive, featuring sound effects from Melee, original titles, and full length remixes of classic tracks. The tunes are available for download over at the link below and await your music player of choice.

EditorArtist
via TheTanooki and Infendo

What we heard: It’s no secret that Sonic the Hedgehog has been a bit off from his heydays of running the 40-meter dash in .7 seconds flat. Recent years have seen the blue streak headline in sequels or one-off installments that for one reason or another fail to live up to Sonic’s side-scrolling adventures on the Genesis. However, even though its little blue mascot is down, Sega hasn’t shown any signs of counting him out. Not content with just breaking bread with former archrival Nintendo with Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games and Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Sega commissioned preeminent role-playing game aficionados BioWare to create a Sonic-themed RPG for the Nintendo DS.

With Sonic once again rising to prominence, Sega’s Team Sonic may be readying its iconic hedgehog for a comeback tour. Following a trademark filing for Sonic Unleashed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office, forumites who frequent ESPIOKaos discovered a plethora of screenshots on Sega’s press site, which were subsequently plastered all over myriad sites before Sega realized its gaffe. The leaked screenshots quickly found company with a video containing what appears to be in-game footage taken from the actual game. In it, Sonic appears to be running on rails through a variety of colorful 3D environments.

And then the Internet happened. Sega enthusiasts The Sonic Stadium kicked off the rumor mongering, saying “Sonic Unleashed will be the next Sonic ‘canon’ game, if you will, intending to follow on from Sonic 06’s Iblis disaster (in more ways than one), hence the weird unimaginitive [sic] dark creature git in the screenshots this morning. You see Super Sonic attempting to stop Eggman once more, but a new trick up his sleeve results in Sonic having to deal with a rather unnatural curse. A werewolf. Sonic has to fight a werewolf alter-ego of himself.” The Sonic Stadium also said that a brand-new face will be added to the franchise’s roster.

The Sonic Stadium then passed off the rumor torch to German Web site Sega On. There, a mysterious Sega employee known only as “Dennis” apparently “confirmed” that Sonic Unleashed would see a multiplatform release on, at least, the Xbox 360 and Wii. Game On then extrapolated on this info thanks to an inside source, saying that Sega would make its big reveal during a Gamers’ Day in May, and the game would be added to the holiday free-for-all this November. According to Game On’s sources, “SEGA is launching SONIC UNLEASHED with A HUGE production budget.” The site noted that development teams from Japan, the US, and Europe will be assisting Team Sonic with the allegedly massive undertaking.

Although a lot of information is floating around about the project, it is important to note that absolutely none of it–save for the screenshots pulled from its press site–are from Sega. All other information is attributed to nebulous “sources” or lack attribution outright. Some information, such as Sega Unleashed having some kind of “werewolf” mechanic, appears to ring true based solely off of the released images, but the game remains unannounced and therefore any info is far from set in stone.

The official story: Sega had not responded to requests for comment as of press time.

Bogus or not bogus?: Not bogus that Sega has donned its warmers for Sonic Unleashed, as evidenced by the patent filing coupled with the leaked screenshots and video. As for specific details about the game, all else runs the gamut of utterly fabricated to plausibly speculative.

War rages on in the fourth edition of Activision’s acclaimed war game. For the first time in the series, Call of Duty moves away from WWII to the modern battlefield. Armed with an arsenal of advanced and powerful modern day firepower, players are transported to treacherous hotspots around the globe to take on a rogue enemy group threatening the world. As both a U.S Marine and British S.A.S. soldier fighting through an unfolding story full of twists and turns, players use sophisticated technology, superior firepower and coordinated land and air strikes on a battlefield where speed, accuracy and communication are essential to victory. The epic title also delivers an added depth of multiplayer action providing online fans an all-new community of persistence, addictive and customizable gameplay.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare Game of the Year Edition includes a token to download the Variety Map Pack, a series of four multiplayer maps exclusively for Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft.

Developed by Ubisoft Shanghai, Tom Clancy’s EndWar will arrive on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 within the company’s next fiscal year, which runs April 1, 2008 to March 31, 2009.

This Monday you’ll be able to find one of the absolute best adventure games to come out on consoles in recent memory, Dreamfall: Game of the Year Edition. This Funcom developed game was originally released in April of 2006 on both PC and Xbox. It is backwards compatible on the 360 if you have a copy of the Xbox game, so it might be worth checking your local GameStop before you drop 1200 Microsoft Points ($15) on a digital copy.

• Unparalleled variety: Use your brains or your brawn—sneak, fight, or talk your way through the many challenges the game offers. Be polite or rude, threaten or sweet talk—in Dreamfall you make the choice, resulting in a game where you never quite know what to expect next.
• Three characters: Experience the story from three separate perspectives, and learn how their destinies blend together in an epic finale. Each character has unique abilities and world views, giving you constant gameplay variations.
• Three worlds: Dreamfall spans three beautifully realized worlds, multiple chapters, and a stunning number of detailed locations. Travel across a futuristic version of our earth, journey into a magical fantasy realm, and unravel the mysteries of the Winter.
• Unique interaction: Bridging the gap between the classic “point and click” adventure game (where you could click on any given point at the screen) and the action adventure (where you need to move up to an object to interact with it), Dreamfall introduces the brand new focus field feature. In this easy-to-use context-sensitive interface, scan your entire visible environment as seen by the characters, and use it to get information on far away objects and trigger remote gameplay opportunities.
• Thrilling story line: Dreamfall delivers a mature and compelling story line that mixes the futuristic, fantastic, and spiritual with a tale of murder, deceit, and a conspiracy threatening our very existence. Bringing the classic adventure game into the world of the modern action game, Dreamfall is a rare and special story experience.
• Stunning sounds: Listen to an emotional and epic soundtrack in 7.1 Surround Sound. Hear gripping voices as recorded by more than 50 professional actors, and enjoy soundscapes bringing you to the edge of your seat. The MTV nominated soundtrack brings you an emotional and epic musical journey in 5.1 surround sound.
• Wide-ranging appeal: With its cinematic approach, believable characters, mature story line, and easy-to-grasp interface, Dreamfall is a game that any mature gamer can pick up and enjoy, regardless of their gaming background.

The Blu-ray 2.0 spec (or BD-Live) is just days from launch. Sony just announced that the next PlayStation3 firmware updated — v2.20 — will add the new interactive features to your PS3. As such, PS3 owners should expect downloadable video content, ringtones, interactive movie-based games, and the always intriguing “more” when the software is released in “late March.” In other words, in the next 11 days. The update will also allow you to copy photos and music playlists over USB from your PS3 to your PSP. The rest of the new features after the break.

– “Resume play” will enable PS3 system to start playing a Blu-ray disc
and DVD at the point it was stopped, even if the disc had been
removed.(*1)
– “Audio Output Device” will be a new Remote Play setting, enabling PSP
to serve as a remote control for music played through PS3.
– PS3 system’s Internet browser will be enhanced: Video files directly
linked from a Web page will be able to be streamed, and the browser’s
view speed will be improved.
– DivX and WMV format videos that are larger than 2GB will be playable.
– “Mosquito Noise Reduction” will be added as an AV setting in the
control panel of the DVD/BD player for improved movie playback.(*2)

*1 BD-J format disc is not supported.
*2 BD discs recorded with BDMV format are not supported.

 by materials of: http://www.engadget.com/

Details on the latest Sims sequel have finally poured out of Electronic Arts, though most of what they revealed does little to differentiate it from previous The Sims games.

The game looks fantastic (owing mainly to its “brand new engine that has been in development for nearly three years”) but the other key points that EA highlighted in revealing this information such as the “Character Creation” system and “Realistic Personalities” sound more like evolution instead of revolution.

Most impressive was the revelation that the neighborhoods in the game will finally be seamless. In past games you had to endure loading screens any time you went somewhere other than your home, but EA says The Sims 3 will let you wander freely around the community.

The Sims 3 is scheduled for a worldwide PC release in 2009.

Images courtesy Electronic Arts

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