We know you don’t need an incentive to whip out your DS and join our LAN…but just to heat things up a bit Core Gaming has sponsored some cool prizes for our next get together.

So better start warming up your stylus because we have awesome Wii lanyards and Wii peak caps up for grabs.

Join us at the Twin Falls Spur in Kloof this Friday, the 29th of August at around 7. See how you fair against the El33tonline team and the Rebound crowd in Mario Kart Wii, Metroid Prime Pinball, Tetris and even Brain Training.

And remember, if it looks like fun, it is fun!

Hudson’s classic TurboGrafx-16 Alien Crush series is set to debut on WiiWare with Alien Crush Returns.

Alien Crush Returns is a sci-fi pinball game with game play spanning two screens, giving players enough room to rack up points, multipliers and bonuses. Players will play the game across multiple boards, each featuring an alien landscape and waves of enemies that will try to prevent you from scoring.

Alien Crush Returns is the only pinball game for WiiWare that lets players compete head-to-head online. The game also includes online leaderboards and Hudson promises online tournaments too.

Hudson has yet to date or price the game.

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Hudson’s popular Bomberman series will be arriving on WiiWare soon. Bomberman Blast will include staples like online multiplayer battles and various arenas as well as new features such as the use of Mii support and eight person online multiplayer.

Players will be able to compete against Bomberman fans worldwide, either solo or as part of a team, thanks to eight player multiplayer online battles. Players will also be able to use their own Miis in the game.

Up to four players can join in the online fun on the same Wii and compare their scores via the online leaderboards. Hudson will also offer Bomberman Blast online tournaments.

Bomberman Blast has yet to be dated or priced.

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A BBFC listing has revealed what content will be included on the Gears of War 2 bonus disc.

To prevent spoilers, head over to the BBFC website to check out the content yourself. Gears of War 2 was given an 18 age rating, and this with no cuts being made to any content on the disc.

Gears of War 2 will be released exclusively on the Xbox 360 on the 7th of November.

Capcom’s upcoming real-time multiplayer strategy game Age of Booty has been priced at $10.

In a post on Capcom’s Unity Blog, Daryl revealed that after checking out the final version of the game two of his friends said they would buy it for $10 while one said he would fork out as much as $20. The lucky friends only got to see the multiplayer game play over LAN, so the single player mode, map editor and match ranking system are still under wraps.

Although we don’t know an exact release date yet, Capcom recently announced that Microsoft is taking a look at the build for Xbox Live Arcade and that Sony would soon get their hands on the PlayStation Network version. According to a comment by Daryl on the blog, the game is expected to arrive in early October.

Daryl promised more information on the demo soon but he did confirm that the XBLA and PSN trials will be available on release day.

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In case you didn’t notice, our NAG/SACM subscriptions competition is now closed and we have drawn the lucky winners.

Congratulations to our eight winners, who each walk away with a 6 month magazine subscription to either NAG or SACM. Happy reading!

NAG

• Prashanth Ramawtar
• Theuns Dirschen van Schalkwijk
• Sugan Naiker
• Abdul Banwa

SACM

• Zia Sirkhot
• Cobus van Zyl
• Ilan Pillemer
• Pranesh Sewpershad

Thanks to Tide Media for sponsoring these great prizes.

The three lucky winners in our Unreal Tournament III competition are Faranaaz Parker, Tina Kraemer and Mark Botha.

Congratulations and good luck in your quest to defeat the Necris!

If you didn’t get lucky this time, make sure you check out our review of UT III to see why you should add this game to your 360 collection.

Unreal Tournament III had a lot riding on its shoulders with the first person shooter’s debut on the Xbox 360. We were thrilled with it, from the sheer variety of modes, beautiful and varied maps to the 360 exclusive split screen mode.

The storyline is always of paramount importance in FPS games (tongue-in-cheek), and in this case the campaign sees the Necris threatening to destroy humanity, with only a few brave soldiers standing in the way. Although the cut-scenes are visually pleasing, the plot is really only there to scantily tie the missions together. They do a decent enough job but there’s no Oscar material here. Not that there should be either, while I do enjoy a good tale of humanity’s woe in their final hour of doom, a good FPS is really all about the action and that is something that is not lacking in this game.

Continue reading El33tonline’s review of Unreal Tournament III.

SCEA have taken the wraps off the “mystery game that [it] had up its sleeve.” Savage Moon is a downloadable PS3 title that will be coming exclusively to the PlayStation Network this fall.

Described as a “frantic, action-packed tower defense game in a gritty sci-fi setting,” Savage Moon tasks players with protecting mining facilities from space bugs. Not only will you need firepower to keep the bugs at bay, you will also need to use your best strategy to survive the onslaught.

Each level of the game is set on a living asteroid known as an Imoon. Humanity needs these Imoons to survive since they are rich in mineral deposits, however, deadly creatures known as Insectocytes will stop at nothing to end your mining endeavours.

Players start with machine gun towers but can expand their arsenal to various weapons and artillery to defend the mines. Your strategy will dictate when you upgrade, add new towers or save your money, ultimately deciding whether you survive the waves of bugs or if your mines will be destroyed.

Place your towers defenses optimally to kill the different kinds of Insectocytes most effectively, earning points as you kill which you can then use to upgrade the size and firepower of your defenses as well as develop new weapons and technologies.

According to SCEA’s Producer, Daimion Pinnock, “Savage Moon is addictive and the action is relentless, making it fun no matter what your skill level is. The action is intense, but you also have to think and have a solid strategy to survive. The best players can even post their scores to the online leader boards to see how they stack up.”

More details were promised soon.

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Sierra Online’s Red Baron Arcade will be released on the PlayStation Network on the 18th of September.

Red Baron Arcade is an arcade air combat game featuring online multiplayer capabilities. Set in WWI, the game sees players manning the gun turrets on an aircraft as they take on pilots in dogfights and seek to rise through the ranks of the Red Baron’s squadron.

Battle AI or pit yourself against up to seven players online in Deathmatch, Team-Deathmatch and Capture the Flag modes.

A free demo of Red Baron Squadron will be released on the PlayStation Network on the 18th of September. Download the demo and jump into the multiplayer action with up to eight players online in a special battle arena available in the game – a PlayStation Network first.

The All Formats Top 5 remains the same this week, with Mario Kart Wii at number 1 for a second week and Wii Fit at number 2. Sales of both Nintendo titles are up 12%.

Sega’s Beijing 2008 and Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games stick it out at numbers 3 and 4 with Wii Play at number 5.

According to Chart Track, party and mini-games dominate half of the All Formats Top 10. Take 2’s Carnival: Funfair Games re-enters the Top 10 at number 6 thanks to the DS version launching while THQ’s Big Beach Sports and Wall-E both climb up the ranks this week, Big Beach Sports is at number 7 and Wall-E moves up two places to number 9.

Nintendo’s Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training earns its 80th week in the All Formats Top 10, beating Tomb Raider which recorded 79 weeks. Brain Training moves up one place to number 8 while Activision-Blizzard’s Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock drops four places to number 10.

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The Xbox 360 exclusive Too Human will be released on the 29th of August. Developed by Silicon Knights, Too Human tells the story of a cybernetic Norse god, Baldur, trying to protect humanity from machine armies.

The demo for the game proved to be popular on Xbox Live, with over 900 000 downloads recorded as at the end of July. If you are looking forward to the release of Too Human this Friday, check out this Q and A with the games lead designer Henry Sterchi to learn more about the length of the game, emphasis on RPG elements, the storyline and co-op mode as well as achievements and DLC.

Kudos to the Xbox Community Network for the interview.

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Hot on the heels of Capcom’s announcement that Bionic Commando Rearmed scored 130 000 digital sales in just 7 days, here is a Q and A with the games producer Ben Judd.

Bionic Commando Rearmed is Capcom’s remake of the classic 1988 NES game. The game is on Xbox Live Arcade, the PlayStation Network and on PC.

If you want the low-down on DLC and new levels, what makes the game better than the original as well as co-op play and achievements, check out the discussion below. Thanks once again to the Xbox Community Network for the interview.

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Halo Wars, the real-time strategy game based on the Halo franchise, is being released next year exclusively on the Xbox 360.

The game sees players controlling the armies of the UNSC warship ‘Spirit of Fire,’ using both new and familiar units to battle the alien coalition known as the Covenant.

Currently in development at Ensemble Studios, Halo Wars also allows players to command the alien forces in multiplayer skirmishes for up to six players.

For more Halo Wars goodness check out these screens in our previous coverage.

Earlier in the month we reported that The Xbox Lounge had been replaced by the new Gamer Lobby. With the first phase of the new website and name change under their belt, Gamer Lobby today announced that it is now a multiplatform site.

This means that whether you are an Xbox 360, PS3 or PC gamer, you can head over to Gamer Lobby to create or find a match.

Head over to Gamer Lobby to check out the new site and hook up with other gamers for the 360, PS3 or PC.