This September the DS's action library will grow a bit with Commando: Steel Disaster.  A single player side scroller with influences of Contra and Metal Slug, publisher XS Games promises the game will have some of the best 2D visuals on the console.  It will also ship at a competitive $19.99, so it should make a good end-of-summer bargain. [READ MORE]

Here's the new trailer for Dead Space:Downfall, the prequel to EA's upcoming sci-fi survival game Dead Space. The movie will fill in all of the plot details that lead up to the game.  If you've been tracking the game there aren't a lot of surprises here but it does flesh things out a bit.

Over at Edge (formerly Next Gen), Chris Charla has an outstanding editorial on why we need another category of gamers to the mix.  He argues that we need a "mass market" category of gamers that sits between the definition of casual games (online flash/mini-game collections) and hardcore (or core) games.  This category is where games like Rock Band sit as they don't really fit into the casual game category (too expensive to buy/play) and they don't fit into the hardcore category (broad appeal). 

Personally I love this definition as a lot of games and corporations are trying to label games as either casual or core games when there seems to be something in the middle.  What do you think?  Leave your thoughts in the comments

A lot of people (myself included) have thought that gaming on the iPhone was going to be a fad at best but given the amount of development dollars being thrown at the device I'm starting to think it might become a serious platform. 

Adding further fuel to the fire is the announcement that GarageGame has added iPhone support to their Torque game engine which means game developers now have a solid engine to start building games with.  Time will tell if this really catches fire but if I'm Sony or Nintendo I might start to watch my back. [READ MORE]

The Bizzare Creations Facebook page has word that Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 will be released on July 30th, a full week earlier than expected.  I'm interested to see how the multiplayer works as I really loved the single player side of the game.

Demos, Patches

• X Motor Racing v1.08 Demo [Indie racing simulator]
• I-Fluid Demo [free trial for this original platformer]
• Frontlines: Fuel of War v1.1.1 Dedicated Server, v1.1.0 to v1.1.1 Patch (US, Europe), listing of all patches.
• Sword of the Stars: Born of Blood v1.5.3 Patch
• Depths of Peril v1.012 Patch (Windows)

Videos

• Darkness Within: The Dark Lineage Teaser (WMV)
• Monster Madness: Grave Danger Trailer #4 (WMV)
• The Last Guy Trailer (WMV)
• Perimeter 2: New Earth Exodus
• Florensia Avery (WMV)
• King's Bounty: The Legend "Tales from Endoria" Ep. 3
• NBA Live 09 Dynamic DNA Trailer #2
• Tier Woods PGA Tour 09 Club Tuning
• 1942: Joint Strike Gameplay Video #4, #5 (WMV)
• Ancient Quest of Saqqarah Cinematic Trailer
• Too Human Defender Class Armor, Commando Class Armor, Champion Class Armor, Bioengineer Class Armor, Berserker Class Armor (WMV)

Screenshots

• MAG (PS3)
• Too Human (360) [pre-order exclusive armor sets]
• Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, Episode 1 (PC, Mac)
• I-Fluid (PC) -- I already said there's enough crap out there starting with "i" in its name. 
• Kickster Online Street Soccer (PC)
• King's Bounty: The Legend (PC) ["Tales from Endoria" Ep. 3]
• Dokapon Kingdom
• Sarah's Emergency Room
• Big Kahuna Party (WiiWare) -- and can we also stop putting "Party" into every friggin' Wii game title?  Come on.
• Izuna 2: The Unemployed Ninja Returns (DS) [NA launch]
• Mister Slime (DS) [launch day shots]
• Requiem: Bloodymare (PC)
• Dream of Mirror Online (PC) [new Dragons Den map]
• futureU (Mac, PC, DS shots) -- Okay, fine.  I'll settle for "u" instead of "i".
• Pain Military Vehicles by DS

Articles

• Digit-Life examines two interesting families of Intel processors in "Conroe vs. Wolfdale: To the Limit."
• They also go after the Lower- and Higher-End Phenom X3/X4 Processors.
• This is new -- AtomicGamer is running a contest for a chance to win a 30-point card for the free fantasy MMORPG, Wonderland Online.
• "The real win is having a $300 card."  Here's TheTechLounge review of the Palit HD 4870 512MB Video Card.
• Preview exactly what it's like to be Left 4 Dead on the PC.
• ...And then you might just pay a visit to Saint's Row 2 on the 360.

Thanks to AtomicGamer, Digit-Life, and TheTechLounge for today's news roundup.

EA and Hasbro are continuing their partnership by bringing the classic game Operation board game to the PC in September.  The game is called OPERATION Mania and it will allow you to play Dr. Humerus (*sigh*) as he tries to build his surgical reputation by admitting, diagnosing, and treating patients.   The real heart of the game (pun intended) is the micro-games that are based on the classic board game action.  Personally I think this would be kind of a cool use of the Novint Falcon as the vibration feedback  would do a fantastic job of recreating those vibrations you got from the old board game.   [READ MORE]

"The days of paper draft boards are over," according to EA Sports.  The web-based EA Sports Fantasy Football is free, and players interested in the new Live Draft Tracker can buy the application through Xbox Live (400 points/$5.00) or Playstation Network for 50 cents.  Quite the price discrepancy. [READ MORE]

The Xploder cheat service is now offering cheat saves for Super Smash Bros. Brawl.  Xploder is a web community that offers exploits, transferred to your Wii  through  an  SD  card.  You can get the saves for a small fee at their website, or at retailers.   I know Nintendo looks down on cheatsaves, but without any Gameshark or Action Replay devices on Wii, this might be the only option for now.  Use at your own risk. [READ MORE]

I've been playing 1942: Joint Strike on our debug for the last couple of months and if you're a fan of the series you're in for a real treat with the new game.  The graphics and gameplay have been updated without losing the feel of the old game.  If you like top down shooters the game really is worth your $9.99/800 MS points to play the game. [READ MORE]

"...women are more endowed with abilities that are beyond the natural, and they have become the best elven magicians."
And so with these words the class of Archon in the game Disciples III: Renaissance is revealed. The Archon is kind of the elvish take on the moTre traditional RPG class Paladin but with a elven and magical twist. The Archons are the elite of the elvish battle mages and have some pretty nifty special armor and magical abilities.
Anyway check out the WEBSITE  for the concept art and more details about the class and the up coming game by Akella.

Cyril loves him some Puzzle Quest and there's about to be more as the expansion Revenge of the Plague Lord is available on Xbox Live Arcade for 700 points. You can now play as a bard, rogue, ranger, or warlock exploring the new area on the Southern Map. You'll have access to 50 new spells and can collect more than 40 new items. All in all, there's a lot of new content to be had if you're a fan of Puzzle Quest. I'm sure Cyril will be all over this.

OK so E3 08 wasn't that great from what a lot of the media is saying. E3 07 wasn't that much fun either. Third time's a charm for a format change right? Well Gamespot has word that another E3 is planned for next year but the specifics aren't known yet of course. For a little bit before the show I was sad I missing out but as the show went on and I read some of the people's experiences I felt a lot better for missing out. While I'm sure everyone has their opinion on how they want E3 here's my quick take. Go to a show the size between the original and this years. Double the width of the aisles between each booth. This will fill up the halls a little more with the decreased amount of vendors showing. For the first three days, only let press through. The final two days let anyone in. Or, limit the number of public in the first few days in. That's a few of my suggestions, what's yours?