It’s the return of the musical war montage trailer with a new Gears of War fan video that looks as good as anything official that we’ve seen.

After a glimpse of the horrors of war from the Cole Train’s perspective, we get to see a wave of gears complete with Marcus and Dom charging a line of various locust behemoths such as the ever familiar Brumaks, before the screen fades with a reminder that the series is coming to an end.

The very convincing trailer (that is labelled as Gears of War 3) was made using a mod for the PC version of the original Gears of War and some very creative flair. It’s well worth checking out, even if it is in no way official.

Gears of War 3 still has a fair way to charge towards us, with the return of chainsaw bayonet revving coming to Xbox 360 in April next year.

King of the Iron Fist meets the man with fireball wrists as two of gaming’s great titans collide for the first time in two different games for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Street Fighter X Tekken was announced at Comic Con over the weekend to the excited screams of many fans.

The first of the two games which share the same title is being developed by Capcom and uses similar technology from Street Fighter IV. Characters from the Tekken universe will be given the Street Fighter makeover and placed in the game’s universe to do battle on a 2D plane.

The trailer above shows Kazuya and Ryu having a tense stand off right before some kind of kicking begins we assume. Nina Williams has also been confirmed as a Tekken character making the jump to the Street Fighter Universe.

Much less is known about the other game apart from that it has the same title and is being developed by Namco Bandai of Tekken fame. It is assumed that in this title, characters from Street Fighter will make their way to the 3D fighting grounds of Tekken with a more realistic lick of textures applied to them.

No release date has been confirmed yet but this is definitely one to watch. This is probably the biggest cross over project we have seen yet, with two different worlds colliding in two separate games by two veteran developers. Fight!

Today we are proud to announce the launch of Soapbox Gamers, a place where Critical Gamers are given a platform to have well mannered, polite and disciplined conversations. Or flame wars. That’s right, it’s a forum.

To help commemorate the launch of our official forums we will be running a small competition for all our members. If you are interested in taking part please read the rules below and then head over to http://www.soapboxgamers.co.uk/ (or press the forum button at the top of the page).

Rules:

• Visit the forum and register as normal.
• Read the forum rules.
• Go to the Site news section to find the ‘Introduction Competition’ thread.
• In the guise of a video game character of your choosing, write an introduction post within that thread.
• Try to be as creative as you can and being funny would help. For example: an Italian plumber heavily addicted to magic mushrooms.
• One entry per person.
  
• Any entry deemed inappropriate by the staff will be deleted.

Prize:

The prize will be a redeemable code for one copy of Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo HD Remix (Xbox Live account and internet connection required to claim). Our thinking is that getting in some practise beating people to a bloody pulp will serve the winner well once some serious flame wars erupt on the forum. The winner will be chosen from all eligible entries by the staff. Losers will be given a metaphorical shoulder to cry on.

Small Print:

Hello. This is quite small, isn’t it?

Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment has revealed new screenshots and character renders from Lord of the Rings: Aragorn’s Quest. The game, to be released in September for PS3, PSP, DS and Wii, puts the player in the role of the legendary ranger as he fights through the most iconic battles of the trilogy.

Boasting a line up of recognisable support characters, two player co-op and a colourful and fresh rendition of Middle-earth, Aragorn’s Quest is one to watch for any fan of the trilogy.

The screenshots below are from the PS3 version of the game. More information and media can be explored on the official website: http://aragornsquest.com

Adventure game fans will get their first playable taste of Jane Jenson’s latest, Gray Matter, at this year’s GamesCom. Jensen is best known for her critically-acclaimed adventure series Gabriel Knight, and Gray Matter marks her long-overdue return to the genre.

With companies like Telltale and Lucasarts revitalizing the genre for a new audience, they’ve paved the way for genre superstars like Jensen to make a comeback. The game, developed by French developer Wizarbox, is slated for an October 2010 release on PC and Xbox 360.

Grey Matter’s publisher dtp plans to feature several other titles at their booth at GamesCom including Black Mirror III, Drakensang: Phileasson’s Secret, TNT Racers, and Summer Challenge – Athletics Tournament.

Names sell games, or at least that’s what EMI Music and Nordic Games are hoping for with the release of We Sing Robbie Williams on the Wii, which is meant to allow fans to celebrate 20 years of popular hits.

If you’ve ever wanted to deafen neighbours with your underrated singing talent that would get you shoved into the comic relief auditions on the X Factor then here is another chance, with the game letting you sing 25 of Robbie’s finest, complete with the original videos.

Rafael McDonnell, Senior Vice President for Brand Partnerships, Licensing & Synchronisation at EMI Music, said: “EMI has been at the forefront of working with the gaming industry and recorded music, with artists such as Robbie embracing this important format. We are really proud to be able to offer the opportunity for all of Robbie’s fans to get the chance to sing along to their favourite hits with this new and exciting game, and celebrate Robbie’s 20 years in the music industry.”

The songs that will be available for us to butcher are still under wraps, with the press release being delightfully vague about what will be on offer. “The full tracklisting for We Sing Robbie Williams is still to be announced but with a vast array of tracks to choose from, such as Angels, Rock DJ, Let Me Entertain You, She’s The One and Old Before I Die, it’s sure to appeal to fans of all ages.” So at the moment we know what might be on there because Mr Williams has sung a lot.

We Sing Robbie Williams is set to headline on the Nintendo Wii stage this October.

Stepping away from the dark depths of criminal insanity in Arkham Asylum, Batman will be making his way to the Wii and DS for side scrolling beat ‘em up action in Batman: The Brave and the Bold.

Basing itself in the animated series’ universe, it’s back to bright colours and uplifting soundtracks with Batman wandering through the world beating up criminals with the help of playable allies such as the Green Lantern, Robin and Blue Beetle in this co-op adventure.

The comic, arcade like pleasures of Batman: The Brave and the Bold will be available later this year on September 10. Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na Batman!

Microsoft has finally put the definitive rubber stamp on the price of its venture into arm waggling game control, with Kinect set to hit the shelves at a staggering £129.99.

The steep price tag for the motion sensing camera comes as a double ouchie to us in the UK, with the US price set at $150. We’re not banking mathematician superstars, but we’re fairly sure that isn’t the fairest currency conversion rate in the world.

Trying to put the expensive device into context, an analyst from EEDAR (Electronic Entertainment Design and Research), Jesse Divnich says; “Kinect should not be viewed as a typical video game peripheral that is retired from one’s active playlist after 90 days, but rather a consumer enabling device that has the potential to revolutionize the way we interact with all forms of media on a daily basis.”

So as well as being an arm flailing game controller, it could also be a limb floundering DVD remote.

It’s going to be interesting to see how Kinect will be taken up by the majority of Xbox 360 users, especially with the casual angle that Microsoft played up at E3. The release date is slowly creeping towards us, but so far there have been no concrete announcements of more hardcore games that involve Kinect in a major way.

Having said this, it was reported yesterday that ‘hardcore’ games for the device are apparently 18 months away. Only 18 months people! That’s definitely put our mind at ease…

The Hello Games team strike a victory pose

Over 500 games industry creatives stormed Brighton the other day for the Develop Awards, now in their eighth year of celebrating the very best in European games development.

Several rising studios left with high honours, with teams such as Hello Games, developers of Joe Danger, walking away with the Best New Studio and Micro Studio awards, and the developer behind iPhone game Angry Birds, Rovio, taking Best New Download IP.

More familiar names taking awards included Quantic Dream, taking the Best New IP award for Heavy Rain, and Arkham Asylum developer Rocksteady Studios nabbing the award for Best use of a License or IP.

“This year’s role-call of winners is truly impressive,” said Michael French, editor of Develop. “Despite the challenges and changes currently making things very tough for the development sector across the globe, those who have taken home awards tonight have demonstrated the resilience and talent that continues to thrive in the UK and Europe.

“The 2010 list of nominees was incredibly strong, making the accomplishments of these companies and individuals even more impressive. We’d like to offer our congratulations to all the winners and the other finalists.”

Below is a list of the winners in full:

Creativity

Best New IP
Heavy Rain (Quantic Dream)

Best New Download IP
Angry Birds  (Rovio)

Best Use of a Licence or IP
Batman: Arkham Asylum (Rocksteady Studios)

Visual Arts
Split/Second (Black Rock Studio)

Audio Accomplishment
DJ Hero  (FreeStyleGames)

Publishing Hero
Channel 4

Technology and Services

Technical Innovation
Unity Engine (Unity Technologies)

Tools Provider
Hansoft

Engine
Unreal Engine 3

Services
Testology

Audio Outsourcer
Side

Visual Outsourcer
Axis Animation

Recruitment Company
Amiqus

Studios

Best New Studio
Hello Games

Micro Studio
Hello Games

Handheld Studio
SCE Cambridge

Business Development
Sony XDev

In-House Studio
Rocksteady Studios

Independent Studio
Quantic Dream

Special Awards

Development Legend
Andrew Gower & Paul Gower (Jagex)

Grand Prix
Unity Technologies

Rockstar San Diego, the team that brought us the western smash hit Red Dead Redemption, has announced that they have cut “about” 40 employees from the dev team.

Responding to the cuts, Rockstar San Diego studio manager Steve Martin said; “As is typical with game development, our team sizes have always fluctuated over the course of the development cycle. 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.”

Red Dead Redemption is still staying strong with a lot of us, and the recent announcement of four DLC packs due for release over the next few months shows that the title still has plenty of life left in it.