Screen Play, the gaming and tech blog of Australian news site, The Age, managed to get their hands on the new 120GB drive for Microsoft's Xbox 360, and they inform that included in the drive are the following 16GB worth of stuff:

• Around a dozen trial Xbox Live Arcade games.
• A full version of Hexic HD.
• demos of Call of Duty 3, Lego Star Wars II and Tony Hawk's Project 8.
• A Halo 3 video documentary
• And several high-definition trailers of Bioshock, Halo Wars, Fable 2, Forza Motorsport 2 and Mass Effect.

The drive should cost Aussies around AU$ 229 or US$ 187.51 . Is the drive worth the price? Well, here's two things to think about:

First, The Age claims that there's still no word on when the Elite - which already comes with a 120GB drive AND and HDMI port - is going to be released. Second, Microsoft still doesn't like you modding your own Xbox 360, since some of you are probably thinking about just getting a Western Digital 2.5" SATA drive and install it in your current 360 HDD enclosure.

If you're an A/V geek and you really want space for those HD video downloads, we suggest waiting for the Elite (we've got reports saying that its "confirmed" for Winter 2007). If you really need the space, well, unless you're willing to put a SATA drive into your 360 enclosure, the official Microsoft HDD should keep you on Microsoft's good side.

Big titles like Gears of War which sold a lot for its mother console are bound to get awards from all places. A good example is Entertainment Merchants Association's (EMA) Video Game Home Entertainment Awards 2007, in which Gears of War racked up four awards.

GoW bagged "Xbox 360 Game of the Year", "Shooter/Military Game of the Year", "Best Game Graphics of the Year", and the ultimate "Game of the Year" awards. All games released between April 1, 2006 and March 31, 2007 were eligible, but GoW took the cake.

For handhelds, Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories grabbed "DS Game of the Year" and "PSP Game of the Year" awards respectively. Lego Star Wars II' PS2 edition also took the win in its own category.

Resistance: Fall of Man dominated the PS3, while launch title Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess was branded the best game on Wii. WoW: The Burning Crusade took both "PC Game of the Year" and "RPG/Strategy Game of the Year" awards.

Here's the rest of the list:

• Most Innovative Game of the Year - Guitar Hero II
• Casual Game of the Year: Guitar Hero II
• Fighting Game of the Year - WWE Smackdown! vs RAW 2007
• Racing Game of the Year - Need for Speed
• Sports Game of the Year - Madden NFL 07

Retailers and distributors from EMA's roster nominated and selected the winners. Their criteria on choosing, we would love to know. When Lego Star Wars II and WWE Smackdown! vs RAW 2007 are up there as creams of the crop, you know something special is going on.

LucasArts and Telltale Games announced today that they are collaborating once more to come up with a new installment to the LEGO Star Wars video game franchise. The new game will be called LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga and will be released Fall 2007 on platforms PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, and DS.

Well, the game is not new in the traditional sense. The movie series' Episode 1 to 6 used to be divided into LEGO Star Wars I and II. LucasArts mentioned that this is not a simple re-compilation as it also includes new characters and features as well as revamped levels. TT Games Director Tom Stone commented,

LucasArts was an amazing partner on LEGO Star Wars II, and working with them on The Complete Saga continues to be a great experience. We're also thrilled to be focusing on next-generation consoles and creating content that plays to the strength of each system.

Speaking of which, the 360 and PS3 versions will both have online capabilities that will allow cooperative two-player, drop-in and drop-out gameplay. The DS and Wii versions, on the other hand, will be focused on the platforms' unique control schemes. All versions will feature 36 Story Mode levels.

Lastly, Telltale mentioned that the Prequel Trilogy characters can now be mixed and matched with those from the Original Trilogy. That means we will finally be seeing the ultimate chick from the mother-daughter tandem of Princess Leia and Amidala, albeit in Lego form.

 

Cooperating with the Official Xbox Magazine, Xboxic alerts the intertubes about several details regarding Namco's much awaited Beautiful Katamari.

After a short background on what Katamari Damacy is all about - the Prince of all Cosmos rolling stuff from matchsticks, and Lego blocks all the way to islands, hopes, and dreams - it is noted that the all-new VS mode should allow you to fight three friends simultaneously online, with each of you trying to achieve that stage's goal.

It was also revealed that, compared to the previous games having only about 1500 different objects to pick up, this latest installment should allow the Prince and his cousins to pick up a variety of objects now numbering up to 5000. What's interesting about the report is that it notes that a Wii version is currently being "researched." This means that there's still hope for those singing "na-na-nana-nana-na-na-Katamari-for-the-Wii..."

The June issue of the Official Xbox Magazine should hit stands come May 8, hopefully featuring more details and previously unseen screenshots for the game.

Lego-philes, rejoice! After the huge success of Lego Star Wars and the sequel it spawned, Warner Bros. and Lego has signed a deal to produce a Lego Batman title. According to Variety, Warner Bros. also managed to nab TT Games, the studio that developed the two Lego Star Wars titles.

Lego Batman will follow the familiar Lego Star Wars template (picture Lego Batman sliding down the Lego Bat-pole and out of the Lego Batcave) and will be a family-friendly title. It is currently slated for a 2008 release date on multiple videogame platforms. If you guys remember, this title was announced for the Xbox 360 last year.

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment will finance and publish the game, while TT Games will reprise its Lego Star Wars role and develop Lego Batman. North American distribution will be handled by Warner Bros. as well.

Comic Relief is a charity organization that raises money for the poor countries in Africa and the disadvantaged people living in UK. Now, what does this group have to do with LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy and TT Games? Well, a lot. Especially now that the publisher just proudly announced that it is supporting Comic Relief's Red Nose Day.

To those not familiar with this occasion, Red Nose Day is a special date for UK because this is the one day that the whole nation raises money for good cause in the name of comedy. Speaking of which, this is where TT Games comes in. According to the publisher, there's a hidden cheat for the game that unlocks red noses for all characters including Darth Vader himself.

Since this is all for a good cause, we won't be telling you the code. If you want red noses for LEGO Star Wars II, head over to the game publisher's official site (via the Read link below) and think about donating to reveal the cheat. We really hope that you guys will support this.

See, we even attached the images above to further entice you. Happy Red Nose Day!

Thanks in part to some pretty aggressive price-slashing, EA's FIFA 07 and Need For Speed: Carbon have once again worked their way to the top of the UK videogame charts, getting the number one and number two positions respectively. In third place is another football (soccer for us folks in the U.S.) title: Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer 6.

THQ's recently released strategy title for the PC, Supreme Commander, has taken the number 4 slot, while THQ's Avatar: The Legend of Aang sits at number 5. For the rest of the top ten for the week ending February 17, check out the list below.

1. FIFA 07 (EA)
2. Need for Speed: Carbon (EA)
3. Pro Evolution Soccer 6 (Konami)
4. Supreme Commander (THQ)
5. Avatar: The Legend of Aang (THQ)
6. The Sims 2: Pets (EA)
7. Battlestations: Midway (Eidos)
8. Lost Planet (Capcom)
9. New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo)
10. Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (LucasArts)
    

 

After the successful Lego Star Wars I and II, TT Games promised more Lego-licensed games in the future. Jonathan Smith, head of production at the UK-based company, coyly teased Lego Star Wars fanatics with the promise that "we are definitely...working on more Lego-licensed games. We are working on another Lego project right now." Although he refused to give more information on what they're working on and when it's going to be released.

Some concern on these kind of titles is that it's primarily made for children, and that most hardcore gamers would choose to ignore it. This is what Smith said regarding it:

I think that a game that is made for children, which children genuinely enjoy, will also be enjoyed by older players as well, because it will appeal to the child in us all. The more you make games for an 8-year-old boy, the more you'll make a game for everyone

When asked about what he thinks would not work as a Lego game, Smith answered that "one of the amazing things about Lego is that it can be literally anything." So what would be next, then? Lego Batman? Lego LOTR? Lego Spongebob?

Imagine a nomadic race who have traveled the galaxy far and wide on substandard starships (wait, must remove Homeworld from thoughts) that rivals a 3-year-old's newest Lego masterpiece. Okay, we're kidding about the Lego bit. But they do travel on salvaged starships. Why? Well that's a long story. But we'd better not be spotting Zs.

You see, these humanoids created what the Mass Effect universe dubs as a synthetic sentient threat: the geth (they ran out of names, so what?). The geth were created by the Quarians to serve their masters in manual labor (sounds a bit Star Trek: Elite Force 2-ish don't you think?). When the geth began to question the Quarians, the Quarians decided to put them down. Unfortunately, the geth struck back at their masters and drove them out of their home planet.

Grabbing whatever they could, the Quarians abandoned their homeworld and sought refuge in the emptiness of space. Now their flotilla of salvaged ships roam the galaxy, showing the price they had to pay for bringing a dangerous lifeform into the universe. Their appearances leave much to be desired: their short, masked, and rather drab image might cause one to pity them.

Now while this story leaves very little to the imagination - some of you sci-fi fans have seen them all - but the storyline itself promises to be very deep. Add to that the amazing graphics and a potential music score to boot, this Xbox 360 game might just be the success it looks to be - once it gets released, that is.

While Lost Planet stands relatively strong in XBLA as last week's number five, Capcom's latest 360 shooter is doing even better in the UK sales charts, as it once again takes the lead in recent reports. Tailing in at #2 is Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer, with FIFA 07 following closely at #3. The Wii makes its presence known here as well, with WarioWare:Smooth Moves making it in at #4, and EA's multi-platform NFS: Carbon powering in at #5. Check out the list for the first half of UK's top 40:

1. Lost Planet: Extreme Condition (Capcom)
2. Pro Evolution Soccer 06 (Konami)
3. FIFA 07 (Electronic Arts)
4. WarioWare: Smooth Moves (Nintendo)
5. Need For Speed: Carbon (EA)
6. The New Super Mario Bros. (Nintendo)
7. The Sims 2: Pets (EA)
   
8. Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy (Lucas Arts)
9. Call of Duty 3 (Activision)
10. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Nintendo)
    
11. WWE Smackdown vs. RAW (THQ)
    
12. World Snooker Championship 2007 (Sega)
13. World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade (Vicendi)
14. Gears of War (Microsoft)
15. Football Manager 2007 (Sega)
16. Rainbow Six: Vega (Ubisoft)
17. Star Fox Command (Nintendo)
18. Rocky Balboa (Ubisoft)
19. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (Take 2)
20. Animal Crossing: Wild World (Nintendo)