Here's a little something we don't see everyday: An update on the upcoming Microsoft Xbox 360 exclusive Too Human. In the video up ahead, you'll see and hear Silicon Knights boss Denis Dyack talk about how storylines make a game great and how Too Human was built around that philosophy. All that and more after the jump!

Will Too Human finally see its release this year? Very likely. Did Silicon Knights make the wait worth it? That seems to be the case, which we believe more and more every time we hear of how the game is shaping up after almost a decade of development. This time, we look at the game's four worlds, automatically adjusted monster levels, and summons. Hit that jump!

Now that it's the start of the year 2008, corporate bigwigs are now doling out some pep to make sure their employees stay happy and motivated for the rest of the year. In Microsoft's case, the internal pep email not only gave some dose of hot-blooded motivation, but also a peek at what's to come, such as Resident Evil 5 (PS3, Xbox 360). Details in the full article!

Merriam Webster defines "berserker" as "an ancient Scandinavian warrior frenzied in battle and held to be invulnerable." That certainly seems to be the case with the class of the same name in Too Human, as Silicon Knights president Denis Dyack will tell you. In fact, Mr. Dyack has more information and a video waiting for you after the jump.

An update has just arrived regarding the ongoing legal tussle between developers Silicon Knights (SK) and Epic Games. As a recap, it will be remembered that SK's ongoing lawsuit against Epic involves the Unreal Engine 3 that was intended to be used for SK's Too Human title for the 360.

Epic had reportedly given SK a poor version of the engine, and kept a better version for themselves, which was used for Gears of War. SK has since considered Epic's alleged actions an act of sabotage, and followed up with a lawsuit.

Epic has since retaliated with their own counter-suit seeking to dismiss SK's claims. Both SK and Epic have just confirmed that the latter's dismissal request has been denied by the case's presiding judge. As Epic Games VP Mark Rein elaborated:

[The Judge] put the discovery process in motion, which will allow the lawsuits to move forward. Epic had asked for the entire case to be dismissed. Judge Dever denied this request, which is not unusual. Often these requests are denied. It is important to note that this was not a decision on the merits of Silicon Knights' claims. We are confident that the evidence will show Silicon Knights breached its license with Epic Games and violated our copyrights and trade secrets.

On the side of the matter, Christopher T. Holland, SK's attorney for the case, stated that the company's initial claims would be kept for the upcoming trials, which have yet to be scheduled. As Holland stated regarding this latest turn of events:

We're a long way from a verdict in this case, but certainly as a plaintiff we're pleased that the court has recognized the merit in our claims and we're happy that we can now proceed as planned with all the claims we brought for discovery and trial.

It remains to be just how this legal battle will affect Too Human's release, which was last set for next year.

Despite all the legal hullabaloo happening between Silicon Knights and Epic Games, the upcoming Norse Mythology-meets-cyborg technology game Too Human is thankfully still in production, and by the looks of things the game is looking pretty snazzy. We've already seen how great of a game Too Human would turn out to be in a previous gameplay trailer, but this new exclusive video from Gametrailers truly shows off the sparkle in this upcoming Xbox 360 title.

Here we'll see Baldur hacking and slashing his way through hordes of Norse robots, and shows off the powerful animal spirits that he summons to aid him in his fight (if your eyes are sharp enough to spot them). And oh, look out for the severed head being carried around by some bloke. Certainly looks interesting, that.

What are you waiting for? Just click on the Play button to check out this exciting trailer. More updates to come!

The implications of the lawsuit filed by Silicon Knights against Epic Games may be more than either  - or anyone - bargained for. It could affect parties in the gaming industry who aren't even involved in the lawsuit. According to a lawyer who has expertise in the gaming industry, middleware providers as a whole may suffer depending on who wins the case.

 

The lawsuit filed by Silicon Knights involves the Unreal Engine 3 for its game, Too Human. It claims that the version of the product provided by Epic Games wasn't as good as the one Epic kept for itself. SK further claims that this is an effort to sabotage its video games, while games from Epic will benefit from a properly working version of the engine.

The counter-suit filed by Epic claims that its warranty does not involve "the operation of the Unreal Engine … will be bug free or error free in all circumstances, nor that any defects of the Unreal Engine … can or will be corrected." Should SK win the lawsuit, the lawyer (who wishes to remain anonymous) believes that all disclaimers like this will lose credibility in court, and middleware providers will lose their exclusions for liability. The lawyer states:

If the licensee got as far as trial, that party has then overcome what the licensors have always thought as their line of defense in those exclusions from liability, including the exclusion of the scope of how much the damage can be.

Furthermore, if Silicon Knights does win the case and receive more money than it paid for the Unreal Engine, middleware providers everywhere will have a reason to be worried. SK winning would mean that if a game bombs, developers could take legal action and dump the failure on middleware providers. The lawyer adds:

Say I've licensed this [engine] to all the big developers that have multi-million dollar projects going, and if their projects go south and they're all able to blame me for it, then I could lose my company. [...] I think the impact, if the licensee were to win, would be phenomenal--a real shakeup, a major breakthrough. If, on the other hand, the licensor were to win--Epic or whoever--it would sort of be business as usual.

However, if Silicon Knights wins the case through legitimate evidence of its claims, then developers would gain their own line of defense against middleware providers who didn't live up to their contracts.

 

In his latest post, Henry Sterchi of Silicon Knights talked about "Teh Phat Lootz" of Too Human. Let's face it; we battle through hordes of minions and get into the game so much we forget to have dinner, the least it could do is drop an omega weapon or something. Well, that's what Sterchi, Director of Design of Too Human, discusses.

In Too Human, players will have access to a variety of weapons and armor, and rightly so. You can't have a story about cybernetically enhanced humans set in Norse Mythology and not have a kick ass arsenal.

The game will have swords, hammers, and staves - all of which will come in one or two-handed forms. Then there's the pistols, rifles and cannons which come with different ammunition types including slug, plasma and laser. There will be six pieces to make up armor in Too Human: helm, shoulders, gloves, chest plate, leggings and boots.

Too Human will employ a similar system to the materia-slots of FFVII weaponry and armor. Slots in the gear will accommodate Runes which give stat bonuses. There are over 100 types of Runes to maximize your gear. There's even a Rune to change the color of the item the Runes are fused into.

There's also Runic Charms which gives abilities to your weapons and armor. The effect of the charms range from freezing enemies to draining health points. Rune Charms require a task to be completed to be activated, but they can also be combined to form more elaborate forms.

That's it for this update, except for three new screenshots featuring robots with an attitude and a big ass laser cannon:

  

"It is always darkest before dawn," said Silicon Knights founder Denis Dyak on their forums. This comment was directed at the fans of Too Human who have been waiting for the game's release.

According to Dyak, Too Human will be hitting the Xbox 360 next year. He also promised loyal followers of the game that details, as well as a playable demo, should be available for them soon. The game has been delayed due to many factors, but the game's publisher Microsoft said that the most recent legal battles will not affect the its release.

If you're not familiar with Too Human, the storyline is loosely based on Norse mythology (gamers play as Baldur) with the premise of Norse Gods existing in the past as cybernetically enhanced humans. As the son of Odin your job is to protect the human race from an invading army of machines aiming to eradicate all human life.

Dawn is indeed forthcoming for fans of Too Human who feel that they've been waiting forever to play the game. Patience is a virtue, my brothers.

  

Even with all the buzz surrounding Silicon Knights and Epic Games as they banter over Unreal Engine 3, Too Human will still be hitting the shelves next year. Or at least Microsoft says so, in an email that website Next-gen.biz received.

To be exact, the email read "Regarding development of Too Human, we are still on track for a 2008 release date, as we announced most recently at E3 2007." Giving just the year is quite a wide swing, but very feasible. We can't imagine what kind of court troubles can push the game's development for more than a year and a half.

Silicon Knights also recently stated that Epic's counterclaims won't affect Too Human's development. It's been almost eight years since we saw the game at E3 back in '99 - here's hoping the Devil May Cry-esque RPG will finally see some light. After watching the latest trailer, our hands are itching for Baldur.