Is This God of War Brett Ratner Confirmation?

Those early rumblings just might be true. Back in May, rumors swirled that filmmaker Brett Ratner was directing the God of War movie. In a MGM press release for the new RoboCop movie, there's this bit of info:

David Self’s credits include 13 Days and Road To Perdition. He wrote God of War for Universal, to which Brett Ratner is attached to direct, and was a writer on Universal’s Wolfman currently in production.

That press release is obviously incorrect. It should read: "He wrote God of War for Universal, to which Brett Ratner is attached to direct and fuck up."

Brett Ratner Confirmed? [/Film] [Pic]

Is This Guitar Hero: World Tour's Setlist?

Console wars are so last season. Now we've got setlist wars for music games. When Rock Band 2's formidable list was confirmed during E3 week, we uttered a low whistle for all the catching up Guitar Hero: World Tour would have to do to to keep it a competition.

Now, via the Something Awful forums comes what purports to be a leaked list of World Tour songs by their respective sections. Now, we know now that Rock Band and Guitar Hero are somewhat different in terms of who plays them and what their motivation is, and a great Rock Band song might've made a boring Guitar Hero III song. But are all bets off now that we've got band sets for both games?

And if so, let's play pretend for a sec, and imagine that what follows after the jump is actually Guitar Hero: World Tour's list. If it is, then who do you think's winning now?

Rumor: Wii Music Dated for Japan, Different Colored Straps In-Coming

Not confirmed, but Nintendo-centric Japanese blog Rambing Man has a street date for Wii Music: The game will apparently be released on October 16th for ¥5,800 (US$54) as part of the Touch Generation Series and will have Wi-Fi. Other details floating include a Japanese release date for Captain Rainbow (August 28th for ¥6,800 or $63) and Valkyrie Profile DS (October 2nd for ¥5040 or $47). Oh, new Wii-mote straps, too. Make that new, colored Wii-mote straps. Priced at ¥300 a piece, they'll come in white, pink, blue and green. All four will be available for ¥1,000. Those will be out this September, says Rambling Man.

Quick show of hands: Who's interested in picking up Wii Music? Who's keen for new strap colors?

Wii Music 発売日決定 [Rambling Man via Jonnyram@GAF] [Pic]

E3 09 Opening Its Doors to the Public?

The only thing there was more of at E3 than games were complaints about E3's new, tidy, business-like format. Everyone from company execs to game developers to the working press seemed to have something unhappy to say about the show.

Coasting right there along with the complaints was a building buzz that next year's E3 was going to have to undergo some mammoth changes. Just how mammoth? According to a number of well connected sources I spoke with during the show, there's considerable thought going into opening the doors, this time officially, to the public at next year's big event.

Reached for comment earlier today, the Entertainment Software Association had this to say:

"Major" PS3 Exclusive To Be Announced In August?

The PlayStation Lifestyle blog promises that on August 3rd, a "MAJOR" PlayStation 3 exclusive will be announced that makes MAG, Killzone 2 and inFAMOUS look like "NOTHING" (yes, the author seems to like all-caps).

The blog also says it'll offer three hints on Saturday, July 26th, stressing that it is a "new" PlayStation 3 "exclusive." In this case, it's the author, not I, who put those words in quotes — does that make anyone else a little leery?

Right now, all that's up in the post is a reminder that the announcement is unrelated to Square Enix's event over the same August date. Uh, oo-kay? Oh yeah, and they've got three words listed, all of them crossed out with strikethrough:

The Dark Knight is out. Where's the game? In an interview with G4 TV, thespian Gary Oldman let it slip that a Dark Knight game is "in the works." He described how Lieutenant Gordan is in a small scene on top of the Major Crime Unit building when Batman "jumps off the building and opened his wings to fly away and save the day" — "so it doesn't stop and start," says Oldman, "like you're watching a movie." In the now since pulled interview clip, Oldman did not mention the developer or release date. Rumor has it that Pandemic is working on the title. Neato.

'Dark Knight' Game Leaks [The Feed]

SEGA's President Casually Mentions Resident Evil 5's Wii Release

When we talked to SEGA of America president Simon Jeffery at E3 last week, he showered us with knowledge and know-how. He also threw in a quick mention of a game we hadn't heard anything about — officially, that is — Resident Evil 5 for the Wii. To say that we were surprised to hear it mentioned would be an understatement, despite our non-reaction if front of Mr. Jeffery.

We followed up with a couple folks about the on camera slip of the tongue, starting with Nintendo's Reggie Fils-Aime.

More Shots Of The Rumored PSP-3000

Additional "spy" photos of the alleged PSP-3000 hardware update that we posted last night have come to our attention, again courtesy of the PSPChina.net message board. These shots show off what appears to be a working prototype of the PlayStation Portable, said to have built-in microphone support, among other alleged new functionality.

Hit the jump for exciting photos of the new thinner PSP ring, another look at the PS button and one more cosmetic change. While you do say, chant "This is a rumor, this is a rumor."

Alan Wake At TGS? "Not An Announcement"

Remember when we told you to pencil (yes, pencil) in upcoming Remedy title Alan Wake for the Tokyo Game Show? As Kotaku's own Mike McWhertor pointed out a mention that it would be at TGS appeared in a Windows branded contest that actually dates from last year. Over on the Alan Wake Forums, Remedy has posted:

The Microsoft Vista promotion referring to TGS took place in 2007, and is old news - we've had the winner over for taking the pictures already.

Sorry for the confusion and possible disappointment, but this was not an annoucement that Wake would be shown at TGS 2008. Remedy's team is just getting back from a bit of holiday and we haven't had time to chat with Microsoft on upcoming shows/showings yet.

Oh. Question: Then why didn't we see it at E3?

How far has Remedy comed on Alan Wake [Alan Wake via VG247]

Posters on the PSPChina BBS are claiming that Sony is planning on releasing a hardware update to the currently available PSP, model number 2000, one that includes a built-in microphone, updated buttons, a few cosmetic changes and possibly even cell phone support.

As can be seen in the picture above, the Home button on the original and current PSP models is now occupied by a PS button, similar to the one on the PlayStation 3 controller. One could assume that Sony would have made the Home to PS change in an attempt to prevent confusion with its Home service. The purported microphone is to the right of the volume buttons.

More pics after the jump.

Rumor: Prank Results in Half-Assed "Confirmation" of GTA IV for PC

Not sure what to make of this. Bullshit radar says "proof of nothing" because there's no reason for tech support to be looped in on a game in development. That said, two guys worked up an extremely patient, social engineering prank that had 2K Games support believing, or at least suspicious of the possibility of a hacked Grand Theft Auto IV demo on pirate sites. And in the back-and-forth, it turned up this reply from tech support:

"The PC version of GTA IV has not even been announced for release and is still in development so is not about to be released on a website."

Soulcalibur IV Start Screen and Character Selection

Reader Sourside21 found four Photobucket images of Soulcalibur IV breaking the street date by about 10 days. Well, maybe. It looks like these guys are playing it in the back of a store, so maybe they're employees (or friends) playing with the stock after hours. Naturally, we don't see any gameplay. But we do see the character selection page and Kratos ain't on it. "We'll probably be getting a lot of information on how each of the characters play soon," Sourside21 surmises. Good bet. All the full size photos are on the jump. Officially, Soulcalibur IV drops on July 29 in North America, July 31 in Japan, Australia and Europe, and Aug. 1 in the UK.

Rumor: Slim, Sub $100 Nintendo DS Coming

IGN is currently running a rumor sourced from "trusted insiders" that Nintendo may be planning to introduce a new, slimmed-down, sub-$100 Nintendo DS minus a GBA slot at its media briefing tomorrow morning. The new DS, the outlet writes, may come with a built-in accelerometer, bringing motion control to Nintendo's dual screen handheld. That news is paired with alleged details on an Activision designed accelerometer cart for the portable.

It would be surprising, considering the Nintendo DS Lite is just two years young and still moving through retail at a rate equal to hotcake sales. Still, after the Wii Remote Motionplus hardware announcement earlier today, it just goes to show you we never know what Nintendo will do next.

E3 2008: DS Accelerometer / New DS Forthcoming? [IGN]

Bungie.net Teases New Game Announcement

The official Bungie web site has been "interrupted" with a new cryptic splash page with imagery from what some have been calling The Superintendent, rumored to be a new 2D platforming game featuring a flat, plunger wielding hero obsessed with cleanliness. Can we expect an announcement today?

That game obviously wasn't announced at Microsoft's press conference earlier, nor was any other Bungie-helmed project. However, EA's press conference happens later today. Might want to keep your eyes peeled on that one, just in case the two happen to be related.

Just in case.

Earlier this month, we heard a rumour that Microsoft were going to be unveiling a new Halo game at E3. A new Halo game with a twist: there'd be no Master Chief. That rumour's just picked up a little more steam, with GameSpot reporting that - according to "a source with knowledge of the studio's development slate" - Bungie will be announcing a new Halo game "sometime this year" (so not necessarily at E3). This game will be a "darker, grittier" Halo game, featuring a squad of human soldiers and gameplay that's "a cross between Ghost Recon and Gears of War". If Bungie are developing, that's exciting! But we'll wait for confirmation before popping the champagne corks, thanks.

Next Halo squad-based, Master Chief-free? [GameSpot]

The house that Lucas built has filed for a handful of new trademarks, all Star Wars related, all potentially new names for the oft-rumored Knights of the Old Republic 3, the one that continues to pop up as a new BioWare developed MMO. LucasFilm recently filed trademark applications for Star Wars The Old Republic, The Old Republic, Star Wars Sagas and Star Wars Legends, all of are described as "video game software" and "entertainment services provided on-line by means of global and local area networks."

While that certainly sounds like a new Star Wars MMO and it all matches up nicely with what we've heard from former LucasArts employees, we'll call it rumor for now.

Thanks to BearThing for the pointer!

Motus: It's Up To The Console-Makers To Make Motion Control Announcements

This morning, Motus Games officially unveiled its Darwin motion controller on its website, with videos including one showing the Darwin being used as a lightsaber with LEGO Star Wars. It had us wondering - is this the long-rumored Xbox 360 motion controller?

"We're leaving it to the console-makers and publishers to announce whatever they want to announce," said Motus chairman Satayan Mahajan. "There's a lot of rumor — some of it true, some of it not true."

Wii Getting Animal Crossing AND Punch-Out?

The fine folks over at N-Europe have gotten their hands on the latest issue of British Nintendo magazine NGamer, which contains some tasty information about the big N's E3 presence. Not only does it contain yet another mention of the all-but-confirmed Animal Crossing for the Wii, it also suggests that the Punch-Out series will be making its triumphant return. Punch-Out Wii supposedly will use the Wii Balance Board for ducking and weaving, while maintaining punching controls similar to Wii Sports Boxing and Rhythm Boxing from Wii Fit. The mag also explained that according to their sources, Animal Crossing Wii has been finished for some time, and while it isn't an MMO as previously rumored it does utilize Wi-Fi sharing.

While AC Wii is almost a certainty, Punch-Out is still firmly planted in rumor-land. Even though it sounds perfect, I wouldn't get my hopes up too high before Nintendo's E3 press conference. Now if only they could find away to combine Animal Crossing and Punch-Out...

News: Animal Crossing & Punch-Out!! Wii Detailed [N-Europe]