According to Jim Lee, executive creative director for DC Universe, their superhero MMO for the PC and PS3 is a "kick-ass hybrid between a traditional MMO and a first-person action console game".

Players will get to create their own superhero or villain, and even get to choose specific powers. While you may be able to fly at first you won't be able to perform any moves or mid-air attacks until you level up. While players can't be any of the established characters from the DC Comics world, you can interact with them. Thus you might find yourself saving the Flash or Green Lantern from some prickly situations. Metropolis and Gotham City are the only two shared environments revealed thus far. Instances and raids will exist but they'll be focused on fast-paced gameplay rather than grinding. PvP arenas will also be available, with some interesting interactive twists. In some cases PvP battle will morph into PvE boss battles that will take the resources of everyone involved.

Things seen and done in the MMO may turn up in other DC properties, including plot crossovers. "We can tie-in future DC tentpole events and translate the stories for the gaming world, and have them occur simultaneously," said Lee. This would be very interesting to see. DC Universe is slated to come out sometime next year.

Kevin Unangst, Games for Windows global director, gave an upbeat speech today regarding PC gaming. He used all the right buzz words (i.e., "exponential growth") and tossed out some impressive numbers (PC gaming made $11.3 billion while consoles raked in $14 billion) that seem to indicate PC gaming is anything but dead. Standard stuff for the most part.

What wasn't normal was the praise Unangst lavished on Valve's digital distribution network, Steam. Sure, it started off as backhand praise ("There were some rough edges early on, they took a beating,but they've done a good job."), but praise is praise. Unangst went on to say that their role is to improve the gaming experience by adding community connectivity, achievements, and "where it makes sense to add commerce on--whether it's full game distribution, whether it's selling add-ons to games, et cetera."

During the speech he addressed the 900-pound gorilla of PC gaming -- piracy. Microsoft is looking at it hard, and while they definitely want to do something about it they're just not sure how to go about doing it. Unangast mentioned how well Stardock's Sins of a Solar Empire is doing, but doesn't think the no anti-piracy feature "is the end-all, be-all answer." He assured gamers that we'll be hearing a lot more from Microsoft after E3. Let's hope so.

Raph Koster knows a thing or three about gaming. Specifically, online virtual words. He should since he was the lead designer for Ultima Online, the creative director behind Star Wars Galaxies, and is the founder and president of Areae, where he's working on a platform for online games called Metaplace.

All that aside, Koster tallied up some very interesting comparative numbers on his personal blog today. With all the hullabaloo about how gaming is taking over Hollywood, how people want interactive entertainment instead of passively sitting in front of a boob tube and soaking up reality TV... one has to ask: what are the real numbers? After Sulake's announcement today that their virtual world Habbo hit the 100 million avatar mark, what does that really mean? Koster gave us some numbers:

• There are 20,000,000 Habbo users worldwide
• 28,800,000 viewers watched the #1 show on US television (sadly, that was American Idol)
• 2.4 million viewers watched the 150th ranked show (Gossip Girl)
• North American World of Warcraft users total 2.5 million
• 1.4 billion movie tickets were sold in the US in one year

That last one is billions... with a "b." And who said video games were taking over Hollywood again? There are several more intriguing numerations on his list so be sure to check it out. Thanks to Raph we now have a better understanding of where gaming ranks within the American entertainment landscape.

Details for Crysis Warhead have emerged on Tiscali Games, a Czech gaming site. They're actually taken from the latest PC Gamer magazine, but hey... we're not quibbling.

The game begins with Nomad (the hero of Crysis) and Sergeant Sykes (a.k.a. "Psycho") parting ways, but follows Psycho until the two reunite on board the aircraft carrier. Warhead's storyline runs parallel to the one seen in Crysis and takes place on the other side of the same island. It will be much less linear and provide more of a sandbox feel. The incredible nanosuit returns and has all the same functions... along with a few surprises. The game's single player campaign, a completely stand-alone product, will last for 8 - 10 hours. Two new weapons (grenade launcher and double SMG) along with two new vehicles (Armored Scout Recon and a hovercraft) will be introduced. Both will be available in multiplayer games as well. Speaking of... there will be a new team-based MP mode that's much less complex than what was seen in Crysis.

As has already been mentioned, Warhead will have improved enemy AI, will be optimized to run faster, won't require DX10 for max details. The game's story and dialog is written by Susan O'Connor of BioShock fame. Finally, a Crysis 2 sequel will rely heavily on Warhead's sales. So buy this game!

[via ShackNews]

It may not seem like big news to hardcore gamers who frag and gib with the greatest of ease, but don't dismiss the fact that 100 million avatars now exist in the virtual world of Habbo (formerly called Habbo Hotel).

What makes it big news is the fact that 9.5 million users visit the 2D, user generated content world of Habbo every month. In the last six months user registration has increased by roughly 20 million. Seventy percent of all of Habbo's users are between the ages of 13 and 16. This means that a huge portion of the globe's current generation of kids are growing up in virtual worlds.

Gaming as we know it hasn't been around for very long. Many of us didn't have these virtual worlds to experience when we were young, and what we have today has been created by a very small number of individuals who -- despite being called geeks -- were raised on video games. Gaming today is cool, hip and as mainstream as Hollywood. Imagine the enormous impact these legions of kids will have on the gaming industry as they get older? It's likely that many will get jobs in the industry, and the proliferation of gaming greatness we'll see in the not-too-distant-future will be nothing short of amazing. The Matrix and Star Trek's Holodeck may not be that far off after all.

Our fellow gamers across the pond don't have to worry about the GC Developers Conference in Lepzig going anywhere soon. Leipziger Messe boss Wolfgang Marzin shot down rumors by saying, "The GC – Games Convention is not moving."

And why would they? Project director Peggy Schönbeck told Next-Gen earlier this month that GC '08 will be the biggest show they've ever had with more than 500 exhibitors expected to attend. And the business area is set to expand by 40,000 square meters (a 25% increase over last year).

Rumors began when German publishers association BIU agreed to a deal with Koelnmesse to host GAMESCom, a new Cologne-based games trade show. based on this agreement it was believed that '08 would be the last year that the GC would take place in Germany. So rest easy mein freunde! This years Leipzig GC will be held from August 20 - 24.

American McGee has been involved with some great games (Doom 1 & 2, Quake 1 & 2 and Alice) over the years. But the last game he laid hands on -- Bad Day LA -- was so bad it gave everyone pause. With Grimm, he's going back to his specialty -- tweaking the crap out of fairy tales in his own bizarre way.

McGee was interviewed by 2024.org at length about what he calls a "transformation game." There are no other games like it, thus by American's rule -- it defines its own genre. Grimm's NPCs and AI serve only two purposes: to communicate the story, and to stop Grimm from turning their fairly tale world dark. Whatever you do and wherever you go you'll have a direct impact on their world, and the world's inhabitants resist those actions by literally "cleaning" the darkness Grimm spreads. Oh boy... this definitely sounds like typical (in a good way!) American McGee!

Grimm is set to release on July 31exclusively on GameTap and will have 24 thirty minute episodes. Each new episode will be released once per week in the same pre-determined time slot -- just like a television series. According to McGee, it is the first "true" episodic game. We're anxious to find out how this all plays out and whether American has returned to his ingenious game making ways.

[via Blue's News]

Yesterday we mentioned that it appeared as if Crave Entertainment was leaving the ESA, but today we have some details. According to a statement given to Next-Gen, the impending sale of their company was the reason behind their decision not renew its membership with the Entertainment Software Association. "Crave's departure from ESA at this juncture is not a statement against the value provided by our longstanding membership, but rather was motivated by our need to focus on the impending sale of our company."

Crave is the now the fifth publisher in the last two months to bail out of the ESA. In the statement they also confirmed that they will be exhibiting at July's E3 Media and Business Summit.

Well, well... a new screen shot for the long in development Duke Nukem Forever suddenly appeared on 3D Realms' website today. Granted, it's very small and virtually devoid of any details, but at least it's something new for those of us who still hold out hope that the Duke will return.

Ironically, this new screenie appears with a "Help Wanted" ad. What can that possibly mean?! Hopefully it's not for DNF. Because if 3D Realms isn't done yet... it might be time for Duke to hang up his one liners and call it quits. This breadcrumb like teasing is getting a bit old. After elevnty years how about something solid guys? Quit dropping a minuscule trailer here, a screen shot there. We want something we can really sink our teeth into! You don't want people to start thinking this game is vapor ware do you? Oh wait...

So Big Downloaders... tell us what you think. Do you care about the Duke anymore? Are you looking forward to this title? Or are you done with the whole mess? Let us know!

[via Shacknews]

Matt Hooper, lead designer at id Software, was recently interviewed by Next-Gen during the Paris GDC and had a few things to say about user created content and their upcoming game, Rage.

Simply put: user generated content is "not a huge consideration for us right now." By that Hooper means they are focused on making the best game possible with the new idTech5 tools. Granted, user created content has always been part and parcel of id games, but they are first and foremost dedicated to creating a game that pushes the visual and gameplay envelope. Fitting in the ability for gamers to create content is more work than they are willing to commit too at the moment. Hooper stated that conversations about Rage gameplay elements like automatically connected maps, user ranking system, and other mods happen all the time... but none of it has been implemented. They're simply focused on making a great game.

His wording suggests that tools to allow user generated content are not out of the question. And given that the game is still early in development, it wouldn't shock us to see them added prior to release.

[via Blue's News]

Cevat Yerli of Crytek says that Europeans look at first-person shooters and action/adventure games as "evil." During an interview with Forbes, Yerli -- who is the chief executive of a company that makes some of the best first person shooters in the world (Far Cry, Crysis, and the upcoming Crysis Warhead) -- stated that there is a great deal of difference between American and European gaming habits.

Apparently guns and gore don't sell in Europe like they do here. Europeans prefer short, casual games that they can play on trains and subways while on the way to work. The long, epic hours upon end type of games simply don't fit into the European lifestyle.

Interesting. We here at Big Download wonder what European gamers have to say about that wholesale generalization since we see packed EU servers on virtually every online FPS we play. So, we'd like to hear from our European readers about this. Is this true? Let us know!

[via CVG]

Just as they have done with iTunes, those in control of The Beatles music have been holding out on video gamers the world over. Until now. According to several sources (Financial Times, GameSpot), MTV Games and Activision are duking it out for the rights to bring The Beatles into the video game revolution.

As everyone knows, Activision publishes the Guitar Hero games, series, which includes Guitar Hero World Tour (the multi-instrument version) due out this autumn, while MTV Games publishes its rival, Rock Band. Obviously both would do just about anything to secure the rights to The Beatles massive back catalog of mega hits.

The Financial Times cites that a deal could be done in just a few weeks; a deal that will in all likely-hood be worth several million dollars. However, final approval would have to come from both EMI (who owns the master recordings) and Apple Corps (who watches over the band's business affaris). With that many levels of red tape, and the fact that Apple Corps has been insanely protective when it comes to releasing their music to digital licensing... let's hope we see it happen in our lifetime.

[via X3F]

It's the very beginning of summer and there's still snow on the mountains in some parts, but it's not too early to start thinking about snow boarding. Outspark just announced that they're accepting applications for the Project Powder closed beta.

Project Powder is an online multiplayer snowboard racing game set in the not-so-distant future of 2146 AD. Apparently global warming got the best of us, melted the Earth's ice caps, and now winter is a thing of the past. Mankind's unexplainable lust for snow and pristine powder led them to create warp gates which took them to virgin planets blanketed in the cold, white stuff. Sounds flimsy, but hey... it's a racing game! Based on the screen shots, the graphics looks interesting (almost cell-shaded), and might be fun for a casual change of pace. And who doesn't like to beat their friends, right?

Closed Beta will let players choose from three of the four characters and race through six of the game's thirty-three courses, while competing in three different game modes. Beating opponents levels up your character and earns currency to buy new gear and snowboards. You can also use Project Powder's trick tree to customize movesets and new tricks. All in in a low gravity atmosphere. Registration is now open, but beta space is limited (servers open on June 24). Those who get accepted will be notified via email.

As we mentioned earlier today The Princess Bride Game from Worldwide Biggies is finally available. It really does look like an interesting casual game, and based on the fact that there has never been a Princess Bride game almost assures it some degree of success.

If you're not sure about plunking down the coin for a casual game though, give the demo a spin which is available right here on Big Download. The timed demo lets players romp through the opening levels of all 5 Episodes for up to 30 minutes. If you like it enough to buy it, links within the demo will allow you to purchase the game immediately, providing an instant code to unlock the full version. What's more, progress made in the trial version will be saved and ported over to the full version.

Hello! This is a no lose scenario... so download the demo and find out if you're prepared to die!

According to Oleg Yavorsky, GSC GameWorld's PR director, that's exactly the case. Yavorsky said in a recent interview with Eurogamer that while they try to appeal to a broad audience, their games (S.T.A.L.K.E.R.) appeal to Europeans more than players in North America and Asia. Yavorksy noted that aside from basic cultural mindset differences, little things like the colors used to create the game world makes a difference. It would seem Americans tend to like flashy, bright games whereas European developers make dark ones.

What's more, Yavorsky mentioned that their games have always been aimed at hardcore players who don't need to be handheld, something they have struggled with with publishers about. From their perspective "big companies always want you to make your game as easy as possible, so that any really non-intellectual person can play it." That means all kinds of tutorials that guide the player through the game, something GSC has always been resistant to. So Mr. Yavorksy... to use a phrase from Redd Foxx (Sanford and Son): Are you calling us Americans a bunch of big dummies?

Just kidding! Personally, we loved S.T.A.L.K.E.R. here at the Big D, and can't wait to get our hands on Clear Sky. A great many of us enjoyed the dark, post-apocalyptic atmosphere that was created. We weren't so much turned off by the palate as we were the technical bugs, especially for a game in development for six years. And forget playing it on a rig running the Vista OS. Let's hope this next installment clears all that up.