The next generation of consoles may be a way off yet, but Epic Games’ has revealed that its latest tech, Unreal Engine 4, is up and running right now. Wired has got the first batch of screenshots, as well as a lengthy interview with Epic’s Tim Sweeny involving a number of subjects, such as the history of Epic, and what sort of effort was involved in building their latest middleware powerhouse.

And a powerhouse it is poised to be, as it may even force Microsoft and Sony to rethink the amount of power they’re putting into their next consoles. They’ll need to at least be fast and powerful enough to run the engine and handle its more demanding properties.

Rampant speculation alert: Way back in 2004, when Epic first revealed Unreal Engine 3, those assets turned out to be from Gears of War, though the game itself had not been announced at the time. It’s likely that these new assets are also from an as-yet-unannounced game that is currently in production. If I were a bettin’ man, I’d wager that the game in question is a new, console specific version of the Infinity Blade franchise which has been so popular on iOS devices.

In any case, with E3 right around the corner, I expect Epic will have even more to say about Unreal Engine 4 very soon.

CCP is finally inviting the general public to sign up for a chance to participate in the closed beta for Dust 514. Sign-ups have been available to active Eve Online subscribers for a while, so this is the first time beta access has been available to those who haven’t already experienced CCP’s spaceflight/economy simulator MMO. Those interested in trying out Eve Online’s FPS sibling can head over to their registration page and get on the list.

CCP hasn’t given word on when the beta is expected to begin, or when players will receive confirmation of their access to the testing. 

For Eve Online subscribers who have already registered, beta tickets are being sent out today. So go check your inboxes!

Alongside the recent news of Activision trying to spy on and fire Jay West and Vince Zampella six months before Modern Warfare 2 came out, GamesIndustry is reporting that they have also settled with EA over their suit which claims that EA stole West and Zampella away from Activision. They’re probably unrelated.

Activision was initially seeking $400 million in damages over West’s, Zampella’s, and 40 other employees’ departures as a counterclaim to Zampella’s and West’s lawsuits against the company for unpaid bonuses and contract termination.

The settlement on this suit has no bearing on West’s and Zampella’s suit. Meanwhile, EA remains somewhat involved and has promised to support West and Zampella in their case against Activision.

According to a press release by 2K Games and Gearbox Software, Borderlands 2 will come with two tiers of special limited editions. While both will come with collectibles and in-game items, the Deluxe Vault Hunter’s Collector’s Edition will sell for $100 and the Ultimate Loot Chest Limited Edition will sell for $150.

The less expensive special edition comes with the game, a Borderlands 2 art book, stickers, a map of Pandora, a digital comic, bonus DLC (the nature of which was not disclosed), and a Marcus Kincaid bobblehead. The more expensive Ultimate Loot Chest comes with all of the above, a scaled replica of a red loot chest, steel book case, an ID chart of the Creatures of Pandora, a lithograph postcard set, field notes from Sir Hammerlock, a cloth map of Pandora, and a numbered certificate of authenticity.

“Point and click adventure games are dead” carries no weight, going by Amanita Games’ release library. The Czech indie developer churned out five short point and click games between 2003 and 2008, and more recently, the full-length hit Machinarium in 2009, and most recently on April 19, Botanicula.

And, Botanicula has won over the wallets of a lot of people already, despite some awkwardness between pre-orders on GOG and the Humble Bundle.

Botanicula’s largest competition is really only other Amanita titles, as other point’n'click titles, like Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP (which Jeroen reviewed earlier this week) appeal to a different audience. As their website puts it, Botanicula is a “relaxed game perfect for hardcore gamers, their partners, families and seniors.”

With such a large target audience, reviewing Botanicula requires an adjusted metric. Expectations will be different for every type of person who picks it up, so I aim to look at Botanicula’s ability to appeal to a diverse audience, as well as its merit against other Amanita titles.

It seems like Activision is making the most of their James Bond license by trying to emulate some Bond villain-style hijinx – and not one of the cool Bond villains either. Called “Project Icebreaker”, Activision heads employed the head of their IT department to get any incriminating evidence he could from the computers of Jason West and Vince Zampella while they were heading up Infinity Ward.

Giant Bomb received the court filings from a PR rep for West’s and Zampella’s attorneys that revealed the ridiculous plot in question. Six months prior to the release of Modern Warfare 2, Activision’s chief legal officer at the time, George Rose, told then director of IT Thomas Fenady to “dig up dirt on Jason and Vince” because “[they were] sick of dealing with these guys, their ego… [they] just want to get rid of them.” And when Fenady showed hesitation, he was told that the order “comes from Bobby [Kotick] directly.”

Our intrepid editors have taken it upon themselves to slog through the world of Diablo III and provide you, the reader, with a daily update on their progress. With all three playing as different classes (as seen above) you’ll be privy to three very different updates. Prepare yourself for the drama, the perils of fighting demons, and the mystique that accompanies a journey into the depths of evil. Oh, and explosions. Tons of explosions.

In a few days, I’ll be interviewing Joesph Nix of Gentleman Studios. He is currently in the process of creating an action RPG entitled RAiN and is looking to fund the project via Kickstarter. RAiN will be an action RPG in the vein of classics such as Secret of Mana and Secret of Evermore. The game’s ending(s) will depend on a variety of factors such as player decisions as well as how you develop your character’s personality.

While I have questions that I’ll be asking, I’m here to see if anyone has anything in particular they would like me to ask him.

From the Kickstarter page:

RAiN marks the exciting rebirth of 32-bit action rpgs, re-imagined as a player centered experience! Take control as you develop each of the three playable character’s personalities and behavior! Everything a character says and does changes they way they act and the pacing, direction, and message of the storyline. Additionally, players will have to utilize quick, on-the-fly thinking and lightning fast reflexes to master the monstrous inhabitants of Ara. Switch between characters and utilize their strengths to overcome complex and ever-changing enemy attack patterns in fast paced, real-time action combat!

Oh my God, they killed the South Park game’s 2012 release date. You bastards!

That’s right, struggling publisher THQ has decided to push the release of their South Park game back into a time unknown to Mayan calendar makers. It’s now set to be released within their fourth fiscal quarter, which begins on January 1, 2013.

They didn’t seem keen on giving a reason for the delay, but looking at Obsidian’s last few releases, I’d say giving them a little more time to hammer out the bugs would likely be for the better.

For those of you who may not have heard, Diablo III had a pretty rough launch. A combination of downed servers and an “always-online” requirement has left many players fuming, so much so that some of them have taken to venting their frustrations by bombing the game’s Metacritic user scores.

At the time of this article, the game currently holds an average user score of 3.6/10 (compared to the 87/100 critic score) and has amassed 987 negative reviews out of a total 1569. Many of these reviews stressed the fact that users had been unable to even play through Diablo III’s single player mode, thanks to the game’s always-online requirement.

“The intrusive access control known as DRM (Digital Rights Management) is what really is hurting the game here,” one reviewer wrote. “Not only due to the train-wreck of a launch, but because you can not even play this game without an Internet connection.”

Regardless of what you may think about the increasingly common practice of “metabombing”, the angrier, less grammatically correct reviews are always good for a chuckle or two. Hopefully for Blizzard’s sake, the reviews will eventually even out, especially now that Diablo III’s servers are back up and running smoothly.

Excited for Hawken, but disappointed by its planned release as a PC exclusive? Fear not, your mech-loving prayers have been answered! Meteor Entertainment, the publisher for Adhesive Entertainment’s mech-FPS Hawken, is partnering with Nvidia and cloud-based gaming service Gaikai to bring Hawken to tablets and Smart TVs.

Gaikai will open streaming of Hawken to PCs and Smart TVs shortly after Hawken’s debut on Dec. 12, 2012. As Hawken is planned to be free-to-play, anyone can get in and try out the streaming service. Adhesive will also explore touch-screen controls after Hawken’s launch to bring it to portable devices later on. As Jason Hughes, producer at Adhesive Games, explained, Hawken has an even greater potential to reach a wide audience by utilizing the streaming service.

Devil’s Third, the much anticipated first project from Tomonobu Itagaki’s Valhalla Game Studios, will no longer be published by THQ, with the ailing publisher citing financial concerns as well as a number of unforeseen difficulties with the title. Rather than drag the title down with them, however, THQ is shopping the IP around to other publishers, so it may yet see the light of day.

The last time we saw or heard anything substantial about Devil’s Third was way back in 2010. Having been dark for such a long time, it started to seem more and more likely that there was trouble in the house that Itagaki built. Specifically, the company from whom Valhalla had licensed the game engine being used for Devil’s Third went under recently, effectively cutting all engine support and sending Valhalla scrambling to come up with a replacement.

The other trouble has more to do with the appreciation of the Japanese Yen compared with the US dollar. Given THQ’s current financial state, it was simply becoming too expensive to fund the game’s continued development. Give the fact that Itagaki and friends have never exactly been known for their timeliness, a protracted development cycle could have cost THQ a pretty penny indeed.

With any luck, Devil’s Third will find a new publisher soon and get back to business as usual, though there has been no word yet about any buyers in particular.

Details and trailers have slowly been trickling in about Naughty Dog’s upcoming survival game, The Last of Us, and today we get a brand new trailer.

The trailer focuses on protagonists Ellie and Joel as they drive through town to scavenge supplies. After taking a detour, they come across a sickly man and while Ellie wants to help, Joel senses an ambush. As it turns out, fungal zombies aren’t the only thing you need to fear in a post apocalyptic Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

The trailer also brings up some interesting gameplay thoughts. Knowing Naughty Dog’s love for cinematic gameplay sequences, I’m guessing we’ll be seeing a few moments where we play through scenarios similar to the one presented in the trailer.

The Last of Us is currently slated for a late 2012/early 2013 launch and will be exclusive to the PS3.

You can check out the trailer after the break.

Sony’s Hong Kong site may have accidentally hit the switch on some Mass Effect 3 DLC a bit too early. Posted briefly on their site was information on a Rebellion DLC package for Mass Effect 3. Here’s the official description:

The Rebellion Multiplayer Expansion opens two new fronts against the Reapers: Firebase Jade’s jungle reservoir and Firebase Goddess on Thessia. In-game reinforcement packs now include three new weapons as well as equipment, consumables, and six new classes: Quarian Engineer and Infiltrator, Vorcha Soldier and Sentinel, Phoenix Adept and Vanguard. The battle continues – hold the line!