Alan Wake has been spotted... in Tokyo. According to a Microsoft promotional flyer the highly anticipated psychological thriller will make an appearance at the Tokyo Games Show in September. But there's more.Microsoft held a competition last year called "WOW - Win Experiences Money Can't Buy" that gave one lucky winner the chance to be "digitally made-over and inserted (virtually of course) into a blockbuster game!" That game being Alan Wake. Whoever the lucky winner was flew to Finland where they were digitally mastered and inserted into Wake's world. Well, a year is a long time to wait to see the finished product, but the second part of the prize will come to fruition in September when the winner will be flown to the 2008 Tokyo Games Show to finally see themselves on the screen.It looks like the hype meter for Alan Wake is set to go red-line later this year....

During an interview at E3, Valve's Doug Lombardi revealed that the company hopes to add a movie making function to Left 4 Dead at some point after the launch of the core game. He loosely described features that would allow players to record, edit, play back, and possibly share their virtual near-death experiences. Sadly, that functionality probably will not be available for a while; we didn't see it in our own hands-on experience with the game.Lombardi also mentioned that Valve went to Microsoft, Yahoo!, and RealNetworks when it was first conceptualizing Steam, but was told by all that such a service would only exist "10, 15 years in the future." Of course, now Microsoft operates the separate and struggling Games for Windows Live service, which shares some features with Steam.And yes, we know the above screenshot features the old, now-replaced Left 4 Dead characters. But how about a little nostalgia?...

Though PC previews and news has been trickling steadily from this year's E3 Media and Business Summit, nothing compares to the tidal wave of console and handheld news and info.IGN spoke with Games for Windows global director Kevin Unangst about the decreased presence of PC gaming at the annual show, a decline the GFW advocate readily acknowledges. "At the end of the day, E3 is the battle of the consoles," said Unangst. "We know that's predominantly what people are interested in, that's what the air time is about. And so, rather than try and raise a volume level that's five minutes out of an hour and a half keynote, we said 'you know what, let's give PC its due'."The PC's "due" was manifested to PC-specific events such as the recent Games for Windows showcase held in San Francisco, explains Unangst. " We did an event in San Francisco two weeks ago, it had a whole separate rollout, we talked to folks, we showed some of the great new games coming up. And then here tonight we're having our own dedicated event for the people who truly care about the PC and are tracking it. That was a decision on our part that says the consoles are going to fight it out, I'd rather have a dedicated event where we can talk, where we can showcase the news. There's going to be even more."Unangst noted next week's Gamefest as an event that will allow Microsoft to dedicate a solid block of time to PC gaming. "We're talking about [PC gaming] at Gamefest next week. If we did it the other way, you'd be saying why was there only five minutes of Games for Windows during an hour and a half? Don't confuse a focus on the console at E3 with a lack of news or impending announcements coming from us on the Windows side. E3 fundamentally is a console show and do you want to compete and rise above the din or do you want to go on the cadence that we think is important to communicate that out."...

In a major surprise at Microsoft's Xbox 360 press conference at E3 today it was announced that Square Enix would release a PC version of their upcoming console fantasy RPG The Last Remnant. The game, which uses Epic's Unreal Engine 3, was first announced as an Xbox 360 and PS3 title but the game will indeed also be released for the PC/Games For Windows platform.While the Xbox 360 version of The Last Remnant will be released this November, a release date for the PC version has yet to be announced. Of course we will give you more info on this new RPG port as we receive it....

Many people wondered exactly why Microsoft decided to cancel plans to make a MMO based on the Marvel Universe staple of super hero characters. The game was supposed to be developed by Cryptic Studios (they moved on to their own super hero MMO Champions Online. Now a new interview with Marvel Comic scriptwriter Brian Michael Bendis on on Comicmix reveals there is a (sort of) copy of the Marvel MMO somewhere out there.Bendis is one of Marvel Comics' most prolific writers and has been responsible for titles like Ultimate Spider-Man, Daredevil, New Avengers and crossover mini-series like House of M and the new Secret Invasion (Bendis is also the writer of the Halo: Uprising mini-series which has only had two of its four issues published due to issues with Bungie with the storyline). As it turned out Bendis was also working on the Marvel Universe MMO before it's cancellation: Well, you're talking to one of the executive producers of the ill-fated Marvel MMO that went away. I have my laptop here, and on it I have the "X-Mansion" level fully completed that only I and five other people have access to play. It's gorgeous and fantastic and no one will ever see it. So I feel bad, because I think that MMO was a phenomenal idea that was extremely well executed and it went away because some guy at Microsoft who we'll never know pulled the plug on it before it even got underway. [Via Kotaku] ...

In the US, when a game is released for the PC and Xbox 360 at the same time (BioShock is a good example), the Xbox 360 version always outsells the PC version by a huge margin. But that's not the case in Germany, according to a rep from Microsoft Games Studios Europe. In an article at Gamesindustry.biz Peter Zetterberg, business development manager for MGS Europe, says releasing an Xbox 360 game alongside an PC port doesn't work in GermanyAccording to Zetterberg, "If we launch a game that is on 360 and PC simultaneously, we basically shoot ourselves in the foot by allowing the German market to choose to play the PC version – because they are more likely to buy that than spend their money on the Xbox 360. If we launched a Halo game on PC and 360 in Germany simultaneously, 80 per cent of sales would be on the PC."Wow. 80 percent? That's almost hard to believe. Clearly there's no such issue like piracy or hardware issues in Germany like there is in North America in terms of selling PC games. Zetterberg also states Microsoft is looking into developing smaller and more independent PC games as well as titles that have some kind of social networking features, " . . . not an MMO but a social network, where you play games, you meet, and interact – that's definitely something we're looking at."...

Two Blizzard bigwigs -- SVP Rob Pardo and COO Paul Sams -- criticized Microsoft for not doing enough to support and propagate PC gaming in Windows, according to Gamasutra. At GDC Paris, Pardo said: "With Microsoft, I think they have a bit of lip service with PC gaming. They have their own game system now, so I don't think it's really in their best interest to support [PC]." He also suggested that Apple might step up to the plate that Microsoft has allegedly abandoned.In a yet-to-be-published interview with Gamasutra, Sams continued where Pardo left off. "I kind of look at it and say to myself, and I think similarly to Rob, is that it would be great if they put more emphasis on the Windows operating system, certainly probably the most prominent operating system in the world. Even more so than console boxes," he said. "I think that there's more that can be done."So add their voices to the increasingly discordant choir of developers simultaneously singing about the life and death of PC gaming. It should be no surprise that Blizzard is committed to the platform, though. Its recently-announced-megaton-of-a game Diablo III will be exclusive to Windows and Mac computers....

Last month Valve head honcho Gabe Newell invited a bunch of journalists from around the globe to their HQ in Seattle. Part of the reason was to hype Steam Cloud, their service for remote storage of game data. But there was another reason. They wanted to spread the word far and wide that the PC is the gaming platform of the future. Period. Dot. Exclamation point.He was quick to point out that the big guns like Intel and Microsoft should be the ones trumpeting the greatness of the PC, not companies like his, Blizzard or GameTap. It's no secret that Newell doesn't much care for the whole Games for Windows concept, or rather Microsoft's apparent lack of promotion and backing for their own initiative. Perhaps it was Newell's goading that made Microsoft respond as they did yesterday in San Francisco....

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....

In an open letter to PC gamers, Microsoft's John Schappert, Microsoft's Corporate VP of LIVE, Software and Services, affirmed his belief that PC gaming "has never been stronger."Schappert is confident that "Every major region will see PC gaming continue to grow in audience, game revenue and hardware purchases for the foreseeable future," and that "this trend will continue in the years to come." Schappert sites part of PC gaming's ever-blossoming success to the Games for Windows brand, "which adds prominence, a quality and technical bar, and a consistent look and feel to the retail PC gaming experience."While the past year saw the launch of successful titles such as Crysis, Age of Conan, Sins of a Solar Empire, and The Lord of the Rings Online, Schappert believes that future developers will be just as supported by the Microsoft crew via the XNA Game Studio, a suite of free and accessible game development tools. "Our goal is to assist a growing community of more than 1 million students, hobbyists and independent game developers realize their potential and enhance the Windows gaming ecosystem through their ingenuity," said Schappert.John Schappert's full letter to PC gamers can be found after the break. ...

Microsoft has been pushing its Games For Windows branding for PC games for over a year now and today the company is holding a press event in San Fransisco to let the media know about their continued commitment to PC gaming while showing off eight third party PC games to the press. Big Download will be there to report on the event. Two of the games, Kung Fu Panda and WALL-E, have already shipped to stores. The other six are Capcom's PC ports of Devil May Cry 4 (due out in early July) and Bionic Commando, 2K Games' Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization, Activision's Call of Duty: World at War, Vivendi Games's Ghostbusters title, and the long awaited Gas Powered-Sega title Space Siege. Microsoft also plans to show off new PC s with graphics cards from AMD/ATI and Nvidia chips at the event. In addition, Microsoft has announced that 16 PC games will now have the Games for Windows brand on their packaging and marketing: Battlestations: Midway (Eidos) Battlestations: Pacific (Eidos) Borderlands (2K Games) Call of Duty: World at War (Activision) Crysis Warhead (Crytek/EA Partners) Dawn of War 2 (THQ) Devil May Cry 4 (Capcom) Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Sierra Entertainment) Quantum of Solace (Activision) LEGO Batman: The Videogame (Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment) Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa Video Game (Activision) Mafia II (2K Games) Project Origin (Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment) Red Faction: Guerilla (THQ) Saints Row 2 (THQ) Zoo Tycoon 2: Ultimate Collection (Microsoft Game Studios) ...

Microsoft Corp. announced earlier today that Michael Delman, currently serving as corporate vice president of the Global Marketing Communications Group at Microsoft, will be assuming the role of corporate vice president of global marketing for the Interactive Entertainment Business (IEB) in the Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft."I couldn't imagine a more exciting time to be joining the IEB team," said Delman. "I look forward to applying my experience in global marketing to extend the reach of our products and propel the business into the next phase of growth."According to a press release issued this morning by Microsoft, Delman will report to IEB senior vice president Don Mattrick, and will be responsible for driving "initiatives to market Microsoft Game Studios games, grow the Xbox and Games for Windows platforms and brands, lead global marketing for Xbox LIVE, and manage customer insights and relationships.""Michael's global experience and work in Europe is a strategic asset as the Interactive Entertainment Business gears up for the next wave of growth and audience expansion," Mattrick said.Delman will be assuming his role with the IEB effective this August....

Is the PC gaming industry dying? According to a recently revealed new non-profit organization, the answer is a resounding "No!". The PC Gaming Alliance was first announced last February at a press conference at GDC with companies that normally compete with each other. Hardware companies like Intel, Nvidia, AMD, Acer, Dell and Antec are full members and game software developer/publishers like Microsoft, Epic Games and Activision are also members of the group (contributors include Capcom, Razer, Logitech, the Guildhall at SMU, Wildtangent, and the Entertainment Merchants Association).So what is this diverse group doing to promote PC gaming? The organization is aiming to come up with ways to improve marketing for PC gaming, trying to fight new ways to combat PC game piracy and looking to do research into PC game revenues beyond the normal retail sales. Perhaps their most important mission is to establish a minimal hardware requirement for a PC to run most games and to create guidelines for game developers to have their games run well on that minimal platform.While the PC Gaming Alliance is still working on these matters (they are planning to announced their first study results in August), Big Download wanted to get an update on the organization and its progress. We sent some questions to the group's president Randy Stude (who in his day job is the director of the Gaming Program Office for Intel) to see if we can get a sense of what the organization is doing and how they feel about recent criticism from game developer Valve Software. ...

A few weeks ago we were wondering when, or even if, we would hear any news about the planned 2008 edition of the E For All Expo consumer gaming event. Well, today our wait has ended . . .sort of. The organizers of the event, IDG World Expo, finally revealed one exhibitor, Microsoft, will be attending the event from October 3-5 at the LA Convention Center.Unfortunately that's all the news that has been released so far from the show. We are now less than four months away and there is still no word on when registration for the 2008 edition will begin, what tickets will cost and what other exhibitors will be attending. Stay tuned......

Back in February at GDC the PC Gaming Alliance was first announced. The non-profit organization of game publishers like Activision, EA, Microsoft and hardware companies like Intel, Nvidia, AMD and others was charged to defend the PC as a gaming platform via efforts to create a hardware standard for developers to use and to find out how big the market actually is. Little info on the PC Gaming Alliance has been revealed since the February launch. Today News.com chatted with the organization's president Randy Stute who revealed that they plan to announce their first results for their inital look in the industry in August.Those results will include a more comphehensive look at global PC gaming hardware and software sales as well as a timeline to reveal when the organization will announced the mimimal PC gaming hardware specs. In the interview Stute pretty much slams the reporting of the NPD Group for until recently underreporting the extent of PC game revenues. Recently the NPD Group revealed that there was $1 billion generated for online revenues in gaming and Stute stated, "So if you add the billion dollars they claim to have found in annual subscription revenues on top of the $920 million that they were previously reporting in retail, suddenly the PC game piece of the pie is closer to a quarter of all software revenues generated in North America. That's one platform out of eight that's generating a quarter of all the revenues."...