Assassin's Creed: Revelations Revealed

Last year’s release of Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood was almost exactly one year from the release of Assassin’s Creed II. At the time, Ubisoft Montreal’s Jean-Francois Boivin told Eurogamer that they intended to give the series a year off and that there wouldn’t be a new Assassin’s Creed title in 2011.

Some where along the way things changed, because today GameInformer unveiled the cover for their June issue, revealing Assassin’s Creed: Revelations. The first screenshot released can be seen above.

The new game will feature the main characters from previous Assassin’s Creed games, Altaïr, Ezio, and Desmond, and how each character ties together the story. Ezio will travel to a new setting in the city of Constantinople during the reign of the Ottoman Empire. Revelations will also introduce new weapons and tools, changing the way combat and travel work in the game world. New customizable options for the returning multi-player are also hinted at.

Very little details were given but we know that Assassin’s Creed: Revelations will be coming for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 with simultaneous release on the PC sometime this November.

New Assassin's Creed Coming Soon?

Similar to the reveal of last year’s Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, the newest title in the Assassin’s Creed series may have been revealed early.

Last Friday, Enosh on the NeoGAF forums took a screenshot of the Assassin's Creed Facebook page, showing marketing material to promote a new Assassin’s Creed title. The materials were promptly pulled, but not before the image above was found, and speculation began.

Earlier in the month, Ubisoft said a new entry for the franchise would be coming this year, but has yet to official say what the new game will be.

Assassin's Creed production manager Azaïzia Aymar took to Twitter to promote the Facebook page, suggesting that more details will be released as the page gains more “Likes.” Current speculation says the new title will see the return of Altair, though beyond that is unknown.

Today Ubisoft released three obscure videos on the same page, tempting fans to discover their meaning and share them through various social media outlets. More information is sure to come over the next few months as more details are released.

Valve is Giving Away Portal 2 DLC this Summer

When downloadable content first began to become prevalent, it was called paid downloadable content. However, the ratio of paid versus free content was so lopsided that the P in the naming scheme was dropped to just DLC.

Valve, in their pattern to go against the grain, is releasing extra content for Portal 2 for free. The downloadable update will be simply titled, Portal 2 DLC #1. Details so far include new test chambers, leaderboards, a challenge mode for single and multi-player modes and more.

Microsoft has been resistant to allow Valve to distribute free content for the Xbox 360 (such is the case of no console updates for Team Fortress 2 after the release of The Orange Box). Normally Valve releases their downloadable content for free for the PC, but Portal 2 DLC #1 will be free for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC this summer, for science.

Jurassic Park Delayed, Telltale Coming to Xbox 360

In case you didn’t notice today is Wednesday. Games, along with other types of media, are usually released on Tuesday. Yesterday was the last Tuesday of April, which means we won’t be seeing the first episode of Telltale’s Jurassic Park: The Game this month like previously announced.

Telltale Games sent an email to all pre-order customers stating the will instead be pushed to a fall release. Telltale CEO Dan Conners notes the extra time will be spent to change the game from the heavily-inspired Heavy Rain gameplay, saying it would be “moving in new directions,” and pushing game mechanics and storytelling “beyond anything you’ve seen from us before.”

Alice: Madness Returns to Include Original Game as DLC

In an interview with CVG, Spicy Horse head American McGee detailed some of the DLC that will be coming for the Alice sequel. “There will be DLC in the form of dresses that the player can download and Alice can wear. Those dresses come with special abilities and enhance how you play through the game.” He also revealed that Alice: Madness Returns will include a code that will allow console players to download and play the original hit PC-exclusive game. “There's also going to be pretty significant release which is the original Alice brought over to the consoles so that a person who's purchased Madness Returns gets a download code and is able to bring Alice 1 onto their console and play through the entire original game alongside playing Madness Returns.” Alice: Madness Returns will be available for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC on June 14.

Thanks to IGN for the video.

New Nintendo Console to be Unveiled at E3

GameInformer confirmed yesterday through its sources that Nintendo will be revealing a new console this year. The console will be unveiled at this year’s E3, or possibly sooner, and is expected to utilize full HD-capable graphics. In terms of processing power, it is unclear whether the console will rival the current generation’s frontrunners, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Speculation about a new console gained momentum when a rumor surfaced about a price drop for the Nintendo Wii. According to Joystiq, an inventory list from Kmart listed the console as $149.99 starting May 15th.

According to sources, Nintendo is already showing the console to developers and publisher, hoping to attract their interest for the new console’s software. At a press conference for the Nintendo 3DS, Satoru Iwata, President and CEO of Nintendo, stated, “We need to decrease the concern that only Nintendo software can sell well on Nintendo platforms and third-party software cannot sell in the same volume. We feel a need to have closer ties to our third-party developers from the beginning.” The console is expected to launch in late 2012.

No information about online support was revealed. However, IGN is reporting that the new console will feature backwards compatibility with current Wii titles. CVG is reporting that the console’s controllers won’t simply be an upgraded Wii remote, but may contain a built-in HD screen.

It is still unknown if the console will continue the branding of the Wii, or change the name in favor of something new. More information will become available over the coming months as we head towards E3.

Mortal Kombat: From Rebirth to Legacy

What originally started as a favor among friends has now finally come to fruition. Mortal Kombat: Legacy, the web-series from Kevin Tancharoen, was released today exclusively to Machinima on YouTube. Almost a year has passed since the leaked YouTube video was first seen as a peek into Tancharoen’s vision of the Mortal Kombat universe.

Twisted Metal Coming October 4

Information has been scarce since the surprise announcement of Twisted Metal during Sony’s press conference at E3 2010. However, the Eat Sleep Play game was recently featured on last week’s episode of GameTrailers TV with a brand new trailer and revealing a release date of October 4.

This will be the eighth game in the Twisted Metal series, which started back in 1995 on the original PlayStation and quickly become one of the console’s greatest hits. You can watch the full trailer for the game below. Twisted Metal will be available on October 4 for the PlayStation 3.

BioWare Sequel Celebration

Since its release less than two weeks ago, BioWare’s Dragon Age II sold over 2 million copies, and now BioWare wants to reward their fans. Being called the BioWare Sequel Celebration, everyone who purchases a copy of Dragon Age II and activates its online pass by 11:59 PDT on April 30, 2011 will be given code to enter at the BioWare Social Network. The code will enable a free copy of the PC version of Mass Effect 2 through the EA Download Manager.

"Thanks to gamers like you, Dragon Age 2 is off to a great start - breaking the one million mark in less than two weeks and faster than Dragon Age: Origins," BioWare said. "We appreciate your support. As a special thank you for helping with the game's early success, BioWare would like to present you with a download code for 2010's Game of the Year, Mass Effect 2 on PC."

In addition to Mass Effect 2, the code will also grant access to the Cerberus Network, the system Mass Effect 2 uses to distribute its DLC, which includes Zaeed - The Price of Revenge, Cerberus Weapon and Armor, Normandy Crash Site, Cerberus Arc Projector, and Firewalker Pack. Be sure to check the site’s FAQ for full details.

More Black Ops Coming in May

An accidental flyer was posted this morning on Game Australia’s website revealing the next map pack for Activision and Treyarch’s Call of Duty: Black Ops. Titled Escalation, the map pack will be released on May 3 according to the flyer. An Xbox Live banner is also shown, hinting that it will be hitting Microsoft’s platform first, similar to the first map pack, First Strike. The flyer has since been pulled from the website, but you can see a picture of it below.