If you happen to be one of the proud owners of Project Sylpheed or Vampire Rain, you're in luck! Major Nelson reports some free content headed your way, and it's definitely something worth having.

Fans of Project Sylpheed will be able to enjoy additional missions and weapons. In fact, you'll be getting six new missions for free, as well as six new super weapons you can use with your ship. For the competitive folks out there who love getting kills against other players, you'll also be glad to know that Xbox Live Leaderboard support has been enabled, allowing you to track your ranking against other Sylpheed players.

Vampire Rain fans will also enjoy some added gameplay as a new rescue mission is up for players to download. According to the description of the content, it'll be a gathering mission where you get to play as Dwayne Hanson. In it, you'll be tasked with finding out how quickly you can pick up your equipment in a specific stage.

In any case, make sure you check out the Xbox Live Marketplace for more information on these free goodies. Enjoy!

Buy: [Project Sylpheed]

 

If you've been penny-pinching to save up for upcoming games, here's a little primer on US retail releases this week, starting July 2.

Eye catchers of the week (for the grown-ups) would be Ninja Gaiden Sigma for the PS3 and Vampire Rain for the 360. We've been covering both games for quite some time now, and the anticipation is fit to burst through Rachel's black leather suit.

Moms and dads may also want to get Platinum Sudoku or Vegas Casino for those quiet times when the kids are busy with Marvel TCG and Taito Legends 2. (More about these and other games in our Full Article).

What a way to start the month of July! New month, new week... new games!

Ninja Gaiden Sigma. The demo for this ninja action adventure title was one of the few demos that actually lived up to its hype. For those who are old enough to crave challenges and gameplay more suitable for mature audiences, this PS3 exclusive is a must-buy.

• PlayStation 3 - July 3, 2007
• US$ 59.99
• ESRB M (Mature)
• Tecmo and Team Ninja

Vampire Rain. Take on the role of John Lloyd, the government's vampire hunter, as he purges Los Angeles of the vampire threat. We're hoping that this horror action adventure game will cast new light on the vampire game genre with its stealthy "high-tech Buffy meets Sam Fisher" gameplay.

• Xbox 360 - July 3, 2007
• US$ 59.99
• ESRB M (Mature)
• Microsoft Game Studios and Artoon

See the other game releases by clicking on the Full Article link below!

Want some space action? Maybe a bit of ninja stalking? Or perhaps a dash of vampire hunting fun? Which ever you choose, Europe will be getting all three by the end of this month.

The Xbox 360 line-up for June 29 will be Tenchu Z (from From Software), Vampire Rain (from AQ Interactive), and Project Sylpheed (from Square Enix). The three titles share a part of the Xbox UK website called Master your Environment which contains information about each title. The demos for Tenchu Z and Project Sylpheed are already available at the Xbox Live Marketplace while the Vampire Rain demo will get released on August 7.

Anyway, if you want to know more about the three titles, you can go ahead and click the Read link below.

Two new gameplay videos (as well as a downpour of screenshots) of Vampire Rain headed for you in this new batch of eye candy fresh for Xbox 360 owners. We get you the skinny on what's to look forward to the third-person shooter that has everyone talking.

The first video shows a brief moment of frantic multiplayer action - so frantic, that the player dies within four seconds. It's that fast, and no doubt it's going to be a race to see who frags the other player first if it's anything to go by in terms of multiplayer. The second video is a tad longer, letting us look into the scope of a sniper rifle used to pick off targets from afar. It's to note that the HUD is thankfully non-obtrusive and minimized, and from the ease of the kills, using the sniper rifle will be pretty much a breeze (good thing for those of us who easily get motion-sick while aiming).

A third-person stealth shooter with supernatural vampire horror? We thought we'd never see the day, but Artoon's Vampire Rain for the 360 looks like it could satisfy those of us who want a dash of horror in their espionage games. More updates about Vampire Rain as soon as we get them. In the meantime, enjoy the screenshots and the videos!

The boxshots and the two videos after the jump!

The battle of man against vampire seems endless, but it looks pretty cool as depicted in Vampire Rain. Swords, whips, massive guns - we've seen them all used against our bloodsucking friends. If you haven't tried the demo out yet, here's a video on how things go.

It's undeniable that Vampire Rain looks a lot like Splinter Cell games, and word has it that it plays a lot similar too. John Lloyd walks like Fisher, moves like Fisher, aims his rifle like Fisher, climbs like Fisher, and even zips through phone lines like Fisher. We can give him props for jumping a lot higher and being much more capable in hand combat, but even his look is a lot like the stealthy Sam.

This isn't to say the game is bad, definitely not. The graphics may not be groundbreaking, but the amount of action more than makes up for it. Vampires are attacking from all sides, with a company of creatures that don't resemble any humanoid form you know of. Find out for yourself on the video below.

Want some free love from Microsoft? Well, you're just in time because the Xbox Live Marketplace has just been updated with the addition of two new free demos. The two video game titles are Vampire Rain and Tenchu Z and the demo sizes are approximately 844.7MB and 641.8MB respectively.

First off, Vampire Rain was created by Artoon and will be published by AQ Interactive. The title itself is kind of a mix between survival horror, stealth, and shooting. Here, players are tasked to lead a black ops unit and eliminate the deadly Nightwalkers while keeping it secret the whole time.

When you get the demo, you should be treated to two full missions as well as two experience trials. Quite interestingly, it also comes with an Xbox Live multiplayer experience unlike any other where you can experience the power of a Nightwalker first hand. The download is available for members in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Mexico, New Zealand, and Singapore.

Then we have Tenchu Z, the localized version of hit Japanese title Tenchu Senran from From Software. The demo is available in all markets around the globe save for places in Asia. It includes a single player mission and pre-selected ninja accessories from the full game.

Tenchu Z has recently gone gold and will be available in stores this coming June 12.

It's been a while since we last saw Vampire Rain screens, but IGN featured seven new ones and we thought we'd post them as well. These screens are exclusively for the Microsoft Xbox 360 game console and they're looking pretty scary indeed.

The story places you in the combat boots of a special forces operative whose unit is tasked to hunt down the bloodthirsty creatures of the night before they can get their hands on the public and plunge the world as we know it into chaos.

Using clever and modern weaponry, your primary mode of operation is to determine where the vampires dwell, take your assault rifle, make their rib cages the new home of your bullets, and make them wish they stuck to blood banks for their needs. We'll fill you in when new details are at hand.

  
  

  

Microsoft continues to gain support from Japanese developers, as three new titles are scheduled to be released in Europe on June 29. Players will be able to encounter hundreds of enemy craft in space, become a ninja in the dark age of feudal era Japan, or try to survive a rain-coated city filled with hideous creatures.

First off is Project Sylpheed, a 3D space-shooter developed by Game Arts and published by gaming giant Square Enix. Engage in intense out-of-this-planet combat while being involved in a gripping story true to the developer's name. Add more than 50 minutes of pure CG cutscenes to that for the complete space-shooting experience.

Next is Tenchu Senran, another installment to the long running ninja series developed by K2 and published by From Software. Just like its predecessors, stealth will play a major role as you do what ninjas do best - strike from the shadows with extreme accuracy. Run (or swing like Spider-Man with Tenchu's signature hook weapon) around feudal era Japan while utilizing ninja techniques. May it be on land or water or rooftops, just make sure your fingers are fast on the trigger as sword-based combat will also be involved.

Last but not the least is Vampire Rain, a survival action game developed by Artoon and published by AQ Interactive. Move around a rain-soaked city in 3rd person view while trying to watch out for Nightwalkers, or else you'd be food for these vampire-like creatures. Your best bet for survival? Pray that rain will fall, these monsters are weakened by rain somehow. Don't forget your Necrovision to distinguish Nightwalkers from humans, or else you'd be dead before rain drops.

With these Japanese-made titles expanding the 360's library, rest assured that more quality gaming time are yet to come. The interest of Japanese developers in making games for the box is also very promising for the future of Microsoft's console.

Just like marriage, gaming is all about timing. In this case, after the confirmation comes a date for the deed, right? Well, that's what we found on GameSpot recently with regard to the much-awaited Project Sylpheed game, as well as Vampire Rain.

In this case, Microsoft announced that Project Sylpheed and Vampire Rain are now scheduled for a summer release date in America. There's no word on an actual release date for the summer, but knowing it's just a few months away does give us all time to save up some cash for these two new video games.

For those who haven't heard of the two games. Project Sylpheed is an update of the arcade shooter known as Silpheed, while Vampire Rain is a new stealth-based shooter, focusing on the exploits of a vampire hunter as he shoots his way through swaths of vampiric monstrosities.

Set to make its way to the Xbox360 and PS3 is the Artoon-developed thriller game Vampire's Rain (also known simply as "Rain") where, as we've mentioned earlier, will have players literally grappling in the dark trying to make out which ones in the crowd are blood-thirsty fiends and which are just plain... pale-skinned. (Or something.)

Anyhoo, players will get to take on the role of special operative John Lloyd as you try to wipeout them vampires (operative word is TRY) lurking in suburban L.A. And since this is essentially a vampire-hunting game, expect a lot of dark elements to come bleeding through your screens. If you wanna get a preview of just how dark and taunting this game will be, here's the Nightwalker Stalking gameplay vid courtesy of GameTrailers to give you that much needed quick-see of the game. Enjoy!

If the video doesn't work, just go through the "Via" link below and head on over to GameTrailers.