I had no idea what Nier was when I first read Square Enix's E3 2009 lineup. Now I know a few things about it thanks to this teaser video. Well, three things actually, and the most notable is that it definitely seems to owe quite a bit to God of War. Check it out after the jump.

Last year, Square Enix dropped a lot of jaws when it was announced that Final Fantasy XIII would also be coming to the Xbox 360. This year they're planning to make another big splash.

We're still waiting on OPM to finally reveal this mysteriously new Square Enix game, but before that happens, this bit of info looks to be a pre-cursor to that eventual announcement. Following news of a "Front Mission Evolved", we hear that another new trademark has been filed by the RPG giant - a trademark for a "Vanguard Storm". What could it be?

Remember the other week when a rumored mysterious screenshot supposedly hinted at a new Square Enix game? Well, we got that screenshot now! And true enough, the guy shown in the picture is most definitely not Sephiroth!

Square Enix sure has a lot on their plate right now - to now hear them come up with yet another new franchise is quite surprising. Nonetheless, it seems that that just might be the case if recent rumors from Japan are to be true. A screenshot has surfaced showing something completely new, something completely mysterious - yet something quite familiar too.

We can't open the week without some speculation, now can we? Today we hear of the latest batch of rumors from UK's OPM publication. Though this batch of rumors come from the Official PlayStation Magazine, they do touch on some cross-platform franchises. (EA, I'm looking at you!). PSP 2 rumor, check. Rumors of sequels, check. Rumors of spin-offs, check.

Ex-Capcom director and producer Shinji Mikami had some stinging words for Resident Evil 5. Apparently, he doesn't quite feel all warm and fuzzy inside with the direction they're taking his baby to. Fact of the matter is, he might not even play RE5 at all.

One of the most anticipated FPS titles this year is Haze (PS3, Xbox 360, PC), but Free Radical has more in store for fans of new and old. The latest IP is sure to attract a wider audience, but loyal followers of TimeSplitters also have something to be happy about. After OPM UK revealed that a new TimeSplitters is in the works, Free Radical's Rob Yescombe confirmed that they're working hard on the fourth installation in the series.

"In the past TimeSplitters has been very satirical at the expense of movies, this time it will be satirical at the expense of video games," Yescombe told Kotaku. What crazy ideas they're planning with this promise, we do not know.

The game is still in very early stages of development, so no confirmations on which platform it will come out yet. All Yescombe could say was they're "unsigned at the moment." As long as the monkeys and hilarious weapons are back, we're all good.

Free Radical's Haze (PC, 360, PS3) is shaping up to be one of the most anticipated titles this generation. We already found out that the game is aiming for a very immersive experience by throwing emotions at the players. That said, we're still talking about the developers in Timesplitters fame here. Awesome weapons and cool vehicles are bound to be there, along with other nifty features.

Free Radical promised some eye-candy through parallel processing, and it looks like they'll deliver. OPM got their hands on the game and caught some details. Flames burn on the grass and buildings, action is faster than it was on E3, stages can be so big that just walking around can take more than an hour - Haze is definitely not lacking on the aesthetics side.

Among the vehicles revealed were APCs and buggies, while the remote-controlled grenade took most interest from the weapons department. Whoever played the game for OPM sure got emotions, or rather frustrations while trying to cover civilians.

Finally, scriptwriter Rob Yescombe stated that the game's story is inspired by Metal Gear Solid. The writer admires Hideo Kojima's complex ideas and how he gives people something to think about.

More info as they come, so watch this space.

A couple of days ago, we got a preview of Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3, 360) from The Official PlayStation Magazine (OPM). Today, we get the details from its Microsoft counterpart in publication, The Official Xbox Magazine (OXM). The gta4.net website was able to scrape out the new info from the publication and drafted the list of details that you guys might be dying to know.

We've paraphrased the whole list below:

• GTA IV is now 66% complete.
• Crosshairs pop up when Niko pulls out a gun. This could imply manual aiming in the game.
• When using your mobile phone, the camera will show a zoom-in panel of the mobile phone's interface at the bottom-right corner of your screen - allows you to view your address book for "jobs" and view other contacts.
• Exterior fire escape staircases are accessible; some meetings will happen high up in skyscrapers too - which could lead to you throwing people off the building from that height. Rawr.
• Hand to hand combat will feel "much more natural" and is currently being reworked.
• Camera angles can be changed even while in a car, but this feature is still being experimented on. Rockstar promises to make it more practical and functional though.
• Getting to control boats has been confirmed, steering them is "really nice." Huh?
• Central Park has also been confirmed to be in the game. The fictional name though hasn't been revealed yet.
• Dan Houser confirms that Liberty City in GTA IV is the biggest GTA city they've done so far. He says that details are a big thing.
• Houser also says that they're evolving how the radio works into the game, as well as how police behavior reacts to the things you do.
• The Rockstar developer studio in Scotland has been asking the NYC studio about more specific information on buildings and traffic flow in the Big Apple.
• There's an "Eastern European-sounding" dance station in one of the radio stations.
• Rockstar's "69" humor is back. There's a sign for a "69th Street Diner" and a building called "Twitchins" - that's GTA's version of Brooklyn's Domino's Sugar Factory. Easter eggs!
• "Fun ridiculous" weapons are also in the game because they don't really want to be too "naturalistic".