Rumors have gone around that LMNO, Steven Spielberg's game in development, has kicked the bucket. Bought the farm. Checked out. Bit the dust. What have you.

Well... it's not true. The game is alive and well, pictured holding up today's newspaper.

Command and Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath (Xbox 360, PC) is getting its first update and EA wants to celebrate it this weekend. In addition to the enhanced online experience that Patch 1.01 will bring in, EA has lined up a bunch of cool activities for both Xbox 360 and PC players. Take a peek at the full article and get in on the details.

This just in: 11-year EA veteran Neil Young left his position in the company. Details were kept pretty vague, but the word is that he's out for a "new project." Why did he leave and who's going to take his place? Details after the jump.

Electronic Arts is pulling out all the stops for Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath. The upcoming expansion pack for Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars (Xbox 360, Windows PC) will feature an all-star celebrity cast for its live-action video sequences.

Natasha Henstridge, best known for her roles in the Species movie trilogy, will play the part of Alexa, while Alias' Carl Lumbly will play Marcion. Command & Conquer veteran Joe Kucan will reprise the role of the megalomaniacal Kane.

Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath will introduce six new sub-factions as well as new units, structures, and powers to the armies of the Global Defense Initiative, the Brotherhood of Nod, and the alien Scrin. The game's Xbox 360 version will debut a new radial interface designed specifically for console gamers.

EALA's Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath will ship in Spring 2008.

 

Together with the official debut of "Command & Conquer Battlecast Primetime", Electronic Arts LA (EALA) has opened up avenues into new developments of the Command & Conquer lineage. Among many community featurettes, EALA has revealed three important things: a new expansion to Command & Conquer 3, an official modding SDK, and an experimental Battlecast Viewer.

Rumors of the C&C3 expansion began when a mysterious screenshot (see image to the right; do click on the thumbnail) was discovered by the community. But in the first episode of the Battlecast Primetime, it was revealed to be a capture of the expansion to Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars (Xbox 360, Windows PC on DVD) officially announced as Command & Conquer 3: Kane's Wrath.

Expansion facts were highlighted as follows:

• Domination meta-game: a RISK-style mode "on steroids," where units can be moved strategically on a global scale; encounters move to the classic C&C tactical mode for skirmishes
• A story dating back to the Second Tiberium War, extending past the Third Tiberium War
• New characters to accompany Joe Kucan (Kane)
• Additional units and content
• New selection interface (featured in mystery screenshot) for Xbox 360 gamers
• Expansion to release simultaneously on Xbox 360 and PC
  

Patch 1.07 should be coming soon in August, which, aside from solving more balance issues with game units, will also break down walls in modding restrictions. An exclusive modding software development kit (SDK) will provide modders with the ability to create their own units, customize them, and integrate them to the core game easily.

And lastly, the Battlecast Viewer was also announced to be in the works. Even without a copy of the game, fans will be able to watch recorded battles from anywhere in the world. Platform details are sketchy, but the Viewer will be available for download on the official Command & Conquer website once its ready.

Keep your eyes glued to this space: more developments in the C&C scene as they come rampaging by.

Buy: [Command & Conquer 3 (Xbox 360)]
Buy: [Command & Conquer 3 (PC)]

Granted, the video game console is rapidly becoming saturated with the same genres: shooters, action, sports, sandbox. Innovation did happen, but a lot of it was stove-piped, locked within the genre rather than in the greater world of console gaming itself.

Brave is a title that bucks conventions and is willing to take risks. One more recent development was bringing the traditionally PC-centric real-time strategy genre to consoles, which until games like Full Spectrum Warrior and Battle for Middle-Earth II, were rather clunky and painful affairs. But now, we have Command & Conquer 3, and Ensemble is spinning Halo Wars up to speed.

In the same vein I'm taking another PC-centric game genre and looking at its chances in console gaming. Except this time, unlike RTS games, I'm less confident about its chances - not because it can't be done, but out of the fear that just like innovation, interests in console gaming are rather stove-piped as well. And for the most part, the console is locked to shooters, action, sports, and sandbox.

Pity, really. Consoles could be a potential breakout ground for the submarine simulator.

Thar she blows up, Cap'n. Appreciation - and cynicism - for console subsims after the jump.

The latest iteration of the Medal of Honor series - Medal of Honor: Airborne - is slated to land Europe on August 31. Electronic Arts (EA) will be releasing the game on three different platforms: the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and the PC.

The installment is considered significantly different from previous MOA games. It's billed to have free-roaming gameplay style which offers players more options on where to stage their assault. The game also boasts of five different operations such as Operation Husky and Operation Market Garden in which the American airborne division of the time took part in. EALA">Neil Young, Vice President and General Manager of EALA, has this to say about their game:

Medal of Honor: Airborne is a new direction for the franchise introducing innovations that redefine the series as well as impact the FPS genre as a whole. We can’t wait for August when everyone can experience the new Medal of Honor, the first WWII game that allows the player to land anywhere and truly fight the way they want to.

So far the game has not yet been rated by PEGI or the USK, so we're not sure (although we doubt) that young children should be allowed to play the game. Fans of the series should really be watching out for this, because this may mark a turning point for the series.

Although if they're going to charge 150 points for the Scrin Unit theme, screw it, it's going to take them pointing one of their Tiberium stink bugs in this writer's direction before he forks over the hard-harvested cash. Major Nelson announces that there are new Command & Conquer 3 trailer, Picture Pack, and the theme available on Marketplace. GDI Trailer's free, and the Scrin packs will cost points.

Darned aliens. They always come to suck our resources dry.

Name: GDI Characters Trailer

Price: Free

Availability: Not available in Asia

Dash Details: Meet your GDI allies - Grace Park as Lt. Sandra Telfair, Jennifer Morrison as Lt. Kirce James, Michael Ironside as General Jack Granger, and Billy Dee Williams as GDI Director Redmond Boyle.

Name: Scrin Unit Picture Pack

Price: 160 Points

Availability: Not available in Asia

Dash Details: Download this set of 8 gamerpics featuring the bizarre, irresistible weaponry of the Scrin alien invaders. Includes the Annihilator Tripod, Assimilator, Corruptor, Mothership, Shocktrooper, Disintegrator, Devastator Warship, and Buzzers.

Name: Scrin Unit Theme

Price: 150 Points

Availability: Not available in Asia

Dash Details: Who are the Scrin? What do these alien invaders want, and how are they connected to Tiberium? One thing is clear: their invasion force is the most devastating power this world has ever seen. Download this theme featuring Scrin artwork created by the development team behind Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars.

About a couple of months ago, I decided to give the idea of real-time strategy (RTS) gaming on a console setup a quick survey, in anticipation of both the PC and Xbox 360 versions of EALA's Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars. Well, a couple of months hence, EALA finally releases the anticipated Xbox 360 demo of C&C3 - and now, just like its predecessor Battle for Middle-Earth II, it's time to see if EALA can rise to the challenge of console RTS once again.

The short version is, if you believe that BFMEII-360 was a decent effort - and it is - then C&C3-360 also makes the grade. It's a little more finger-twisting, because its PC brother reintegrates the classic C&C sidebar interface system into the post-Warcraft III/Starcraft interface introduced in C&C: Generals, but no less inaccessible with the 360 controller.

No, the sidebar doesn't come in this game, you should know that by now if you have the demo. The popup trigger bars from BFMEII make a comeback, but this time it has been augmented to implement the build-from-anywhere ease of the classic C&C sidebar. To do that however requires a two-level command tree: select the build/command tab, select the command to give. That wouldn't be too bad - just hope your D-pad ain't wonky.

Anyway, thank God for Boot Camp. It's more than enough to introduce you to the basics of the augmented control system. Easy inputs for critical commands like Attack-Move takes quite a load off of your star-laden shoulder boards, but elements like having to select the building, and then opening its popup menu to repair it, detract. Those common commands, which need to be plugged in quickly on the battlefield, have to be assigned to a (relatively) one-click command.

Commander, the demo impression continues when you hover the cursor over the Full Article link and click A... okay the left mouse button, just like on the PC.

Electronic Arts Los Angeles (EALA) dropped us an email today stating that the PC version of Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars has finally shipped to retail stores across North America and will be available for US$ 49.99 on March 28. The Xbox 360 version of the video game is expected to ship as well in the next couple of months.

EALA VP and Executive Producer Mike Verdu is quite proud of Tiberium Wars, and he should be. The game features a fluid gameplay, an exciting single player campaign, online battles transforming into a spectator sport, and full-motion video sequences. Even the 360 version is compatible with the console's Live Vision camera. Verdu stated,

We've taken the mix of explosive action, deep strategy, and rich storytelling that sparked a genre to the next level. Even better, the series is returning to its roots in the Tiberium universe. players can take command of the futuristic armies of the Global Defense Initiative, fight for Kane and the Brotherhood of Nod, or control the alien hordes of our third new faction, the Scrin. I can't wait for people to get their hands on this game.

Aside from Joe Kucan, who plays the the baddest bald dude ever known as Kane, a lot of other Hollywood actors and actresses will be appearing in the said live action video sequences. Some of these people came from acclaimed movies like "Star Wars The Empire Strikes Back" and "The Return of the Jedi", "Battlestar Galactica", "Starship Troopers", and even TV series "LOST".

Finally, you might want to know that there is a collector's edition for Tiberium Wars (Kane Edition) that contains a bonus DVD featuring several content like behind-the-scenes documentary, deleted scenes, blooper reel, and a series of gameplay strategy videos among others. The supply for the Kane Edition is rather limited and it will be priced for US$ 59.99.