Eurogamer brings word that developer Croteam have been working on a re-imagining of Serious Sam: The First Encounter using a new version of their CroTech Engine.

The original developer of the game is said to be using the power of the Xbox 360 to upgrade the first entry in the hilariously over-the-top first-person shooter series with full HD graphics, along with four-player co-operative play over Xbox Live. The price is rumoured to be 1,200 Microsoft points.

“We are really excited to update our hero and recreate Sam in stunning high definition for Xbox LIVE Arcade players,” said Roman Ribaric, CEO of Croteam. “The fans have lobbied us hard to do this, so we are stoked about bringing Sam back as big, bold and bad as he ever was.” - Kotaku

The image at the top of the page shows what the game will look like upon its release this summer, while the image below shows what the original version looked like (as always you can click on each image to see a larger version). As you can see it’s a pretty drastic change, but it’s also looking all the more better. The hilarious fun of the original combined with a graphics upgrade may just make this one hell of a decent download for Xbox Live. I have fond memories of playing this with one of my friends while growing up (especially the gigantic monster that appears near the end of the game, making my jaw literally drop open), so if one of the best co-op experiences I’ve ever had can be successfully re-created on the Xbox 360 then I’m putting down the cash for it right now.

The game is also said to be coming back to its birthplace, the PC, but what about the Playstation 3? Croteam CEO Roman Ribaric told G4 that a PS3 version was originally planned but was shelved because the developer didn’t have enough time or money to release the game on PSN at the same time as the Xbox Live version. Realistically the game could still come to PSN somewhere down the line, but Ribaric doesn’t think it’s that likely unless demand from PS3 owners becomes high.

(Images source: Eurogamer)

I apologise for missing this last week as it just slipped my mind. However, let’s not concentrate on the past and take a look at what’s coming out this week.

It’s not actually a bad week, with something coming out for everyone. Boxing fans have Fight Night Round 4, while RPG fans can pick between Monster Hunter Freedom Unite and Tales of Vesperia. There are a truck load of other releases, so take a look below to see if anyone takes your fancy.

Fight Night Round 4 (PS3, X360) 26/6

Fight Night Round 4 makes punching Ricky Hatton in the face even more realistic than last time. There’s a huge roster of fighters, new fighting styles and the introduction of the legacy mode; which is basically a re-titled version of the career mode which allows you to create your own boxer or choose from legends such as Mike Tyson or Lennox Lewis.

Overlord II (PC, PS3, X360) 26/6

The first Overlord was pretty well received, even if the sales weren’t great. However, it was marred by technical problems - such as long load times and low frame rates - that Overlord II hopes to avoid. The plot is penned by Rhianna Pratchett (Terry’s daughter), who recently did the plot for Mirror’s Edge, and follows the events of the first game. As for gameplay the game apparently “massively increases the scope of the original concept” (source), which means improved minion intelligence and destructiveness and the ability to carry out tasks such as riding mounts and sailing warships. Sounds like fun to me!

Anno 1404 (PC) 26/6

The RTS and city building series continues, or rather goes back in time to 1404. This installment features a new interface, gigantic islands and worlds, a modifiable sandbox and a host of other features. Oh, and there’s the (English gentlemen mode commence!) absolutely splendid graphics you can see above.

Spore Galatic Adventures (PC) 26/6

Spore’s first proper expansion pack (the first, Spore Creepy & Cute Parts Pack, simply contained some new body parts) adds some much needed meat to the game in the form of custom missions. The player can customise planets, add flora and fauna, new vehicles, buildings and other objects while also defining various goals for the mission; such as having to defeat a particular enemy or collect a certain object. It should add some much needed variety to a game that got stale pretty damn quick.

Other releases:

• Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (PC, PSP, PS2, PS3, Wii) 26/6
• Monster Hunter Freedom Unite (PSP) 26/6
• Tales of Vesperia (X360) 26/6
• Dynasty Warriors 6: Empires (PS3, X360) 26/6
• Lego Battles (DS) 26/6
• Resident Evil Archives: Resident Evil (Wii) 26/6
• Guitar Hero: Smash Hits (PS2, PS3, X360, Wii) 26/6
• Superstars V8 Racing (PC, PS3, X360) 26/6
• Street Fighter IV (PC) 26/6
• Overlord Minions (DS) 26/6
• Fuel (PC) 26/6
• Music (DS) *Out now*
• CustomPlay Golf (PC) 26/6
• Ico Soccer DS (DS) 26/6
• Pool Hall Pro (Wii) 26/6
• Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (DS, PC, PS2, PS3, X360, Wii) 26/6
• Diabolik: The Original Sin (DS, PC, Wii) 26/6
• Story Hour: Fairy Tales (Wii) 26/6
• Guitar Hero On Tour: Modern Hits (DS) 26/6
• Skyscraper (Wii) 26/6
• Deus Ex Complete (PC) 26/6
• Valhalla Nights 2 (PSP) 26/6
• Another Code R: A Journey into Lost Memories (Wii) 26/6
• Bigfoot: Collision Course (DS, PC) 26/6
• My Friends (DS) 26/6
• Fritz Chess (DS, PS3, Wii) 26/6
• Story Hour: Adventures (Wii) 26/6
• SimEarth (Wii) 26/6
• Conflict Collection (PC) 26/6
• Party Pigs: FarmYard Games (Wii) 26/6
• Pro Cycling Manager 2009 (PSP) 26/6
• The Big Deal (DS) 26/6
• Rock Band 2 (Wii) 26/6
• Overlord: Dark Legend (Wii) 26/6
• DC Universe Online (PC) 26/6
• Prinny: Can I Really Be the Hero? (PSP) 26/6

(Images Source: Gamespot)

Forget about Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars being exclusive to the Nintendo DS because Rockstar have now confirmed that they’re porting it to the PSP in time for autumn.

The PSP will reportedly take advantage of the PSP’s more powerful hardware, meaning a graphical update and new story missions. Rockstar will also offer a downloadable version for the PSP Go!, alongside the regular UMD release.

“Rockstar’s work with the GTA series has been an enormous part of the success of PlayStation platforms,” said Jack Tretton, President and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment America. “We’re excited to welcome the critically acclaimed Chinatown Wars to the outstanding line-up of great games headed to the PSP platform this fall”- Kotaku

I think Chinatown Wars is an amazing game, and it’s probably the best game available on the DS, but maybe the DS wasn’t the right platform when it comes to mature games as the sales seem to reflect that. These poor sales have obviously prompted Rockstar to look to other platforms to make a profit, or maybe they were planning this all along - who knows? Whatever the case it’s good news for those that only have a PSP, but I’m curious about whether or not the touch screen mini-games will lose their appeal with you obviously not being able to use a touch screen.

LucasArts, creators of classic games such as the Monkey Island series and Full Throttle (which gave me an excuse to post the glorious gif above), believes that the increase in developers using digital distribution to release games has also increased consumer interest in retro games.

Craig Derrick, producer on the upcoming download only Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition, told Destructoid that LucasArts decided to update the title due to fan demand, and also because making new IP is “very difficult”.

“We’re experiencing a remarkable increase in retro gaming and nostalgia thanks in part to the digital distribution of games on Xbox Live Arcade, PSN, Wiiware, Steam and iTunes, he said. “We’re seeing that gamers are looking for new experiences, even if they’re found in classic games.

“The age range of the average gamer has significantly broadened and people are open now more than ever to different types of game genres.” - Destructoid

The beauty of releasing old games on any digital distribution platform means that not only those that grew up playing them can relive the good old days, but it also means that quality games are exposed to a new generation. Some gamers may like hunting down dusty copies of old games, but I just prefer easy access on modern platforms. That doesn’t mean I think they should be updated though, and to be honest I prefer the original visuals in Secret of Monkey Island rather than the new HD update on PC and Xbox Live Arcade (thankfully you can switch between the two). However, there are other options available such as the excellent Good Old Games website. Not only does GoG provide a large stable of classic games, but it’s also extremely cheap to boot!

Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition lands 7 July on PC and Xbox Live.

PEGI, which stands for Pan European Game Information, has been named by the UK government as the sole game ratings board for the country. This means that the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) will no longer rate video games and will instead stick to rating films and DVD’s.

The BBFC previously claimed that the UK would be better served by a local ratings board rather than a European one. The problem with this was that games released on the continent had one sole PEGI rating, while games released in the UK could either be rated by the BBFC or PEGI. For the sake of having clear uniform ratings across Europe the government chose PEGI, which should make things less confusing for customers.

The Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), who largely represents the video game industry in the UK, were pleased at the decision, issuing a statement from its Director General Mike Rawlinson:

“The Government has made absolutely the right decision for child safety. By choosing PEGI as the single classification system in the UK, British children will now get the best possible protection when playing videogames either on a console or on the internet. Parents can be assured that they will have access to clear, uniform ratings on games and an accurate understanding of game content.”

There’s no doubt that the BBFC’s age rating icons are far more recognised amongst the British public, largely because every film and DVD release carries the marks, but having one sole rating should make things more clear for parents. It’s not like the PEGI ratings are hard to understand, and if parent’s check the box like they should be doing they should already be familiar with the age ratings; whether they be PEGI or BBFC.

Whoever does the ratings on the package doesn’t really matter, because if parents don’t check or ignore the age rating to begin with then a violent game is then in their child’s hands. I feel we need a big advertisement campaign to advertise this fact, because some parents just don’t realise the content their children are being exposed to through video games.

(Image source: 1UP)

Although I’ve had my own Twitter account for quite a while now I figured that it was time to follow the lead of ButtonSmasher’s US counterpart and set up a dedicated Twitter feed for the site. The feed, which is ButtonSmasherUK, will be automatically updated whenever I post something new on the main site; so you can keep track of the site through your mobile phone when you’re on the move. I will also be updating it with brief comments about the latest news and the games I am currently playing.

Click here to follow us, or in future just click the”Follow us on Twitter!” link located in the blogroll.

If you’re not interested in using Twitter you can follow ButtonSmasher updates through our RSS feed. Don’t have a clue what RSS is? Find out here.

Earlier this week over 15,000 fans formed a Steam community group with the aim to boycott the upcoming Left 4 Dead 2 launch. Left 4 Dead 2 was a surprise announcement at E3 – especially for Valve, a company that tends to take a long time to release a sequel – annoying many fans as they felt that Valve had promised to offer continued support and new content for Left 4 Dead. By releasing a sequel only a year after the first game gamers were starting to feel a bit short changed, as Left 4 Dead doesn’t have a great deal of content and the idea was that more would be added (only the Survival Pack has been released so far). Valve has now responded to these protests.

Speaking to Kotaku Valve founder Gabe Newell defended plans for the sequel, saying that its release would not change plans for the continued support of the first game

“Doing a sequel in one year is new for Valve. But providing ongoing support for our titles after the initial launch isn’t - it has been part of our philosophy since Half-Life was released ten and half years ago,” said Newell.

“We see no reason to change that and will continue to support the over three million customers in the L4D community. Some in the community are concerned that the announcement of L4D2 implied a change in our plans for L4D1. We aren’t changing our plans for L4D1.”

“In addition to the recently released Survival Pack, we are releasing authoring tools for Mod makers, community matchmaking, 4×4 matchmaking, and more new content during the coming months for L4D1,” Newell claimed. “We also agree with our customers that there needs to be an interoperability plan for players of L4D1 and L4D2, as multiplayer games are driven by the cohesiveness of their community.”

While it’s refreshing to hear that Valve will still be supporting Left 4 Dead I still don’t understand why Valve couldn’t have just released Left 4 Dead 2 as an expansion pack instead of a fully fledged game. It’s not looking much different from the first game anyway, so it could have just been a new campaign instead. I understand that Valve need to make money but that can easily be done by charging for new content, just like the Burnout Paradise developers do.
Gabe Newell can justify it all he wants, but I’m still not sold. What’s the point in updating two products that are incredibly similar? I’m willing to bet that Valve stop creating new content for Left 4 Dead a few months after the sequel is released.

There is only one big release this week, and that’s Rail Simulator 2: Railworks Platform! Tipped to be one of the most exciting games of the decade Rail….ok, who am I kidding? Prototype is the only ‘hyped’ big release this week; with pirates, Harrison Ford and John McEnroe also competing for your money.

Prototype (PC, PS3, X360) 12/6

Amnesia has been used as a plot device in thousands of TV programmes, films, games and books but has I doubt it has ever been used as a way to explain why Alex Mercer has suddenly got devastating super powers and is out to kill hordes of people. This not only includes the ability to run up the sides of buildings or crush a tank, but also the ability to summon spikes up through the ground that impale anyone unlucky enough to be standing in their way. Check out these vidoes for more grisly awesomeness.

Grand Slam Tennis (Wii) 12/6

Grand Slam Tennis is one of the first Wii games to work with the new Wii MotionPlus, which means that it will be coming bundled with the device for a limited time. It always disappointed me that when playing Wii Sports you could get the same result by only flicking your wrist rather than using the Wii Remote like a tennis player would a racquet. Thankfully MotionPlus has fixed this, meaning that our arms will now hurt more than ever when watching John McEnroe and his superb hair go crazy at Wimbledon.

Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings (DS, PSP, PS2, Wii) 12/6

It has been a while since we had an Indiana Jones game, and coming so long after the latest film you have to wonder if anyone really wants a new Indy game. LucasArts is taking a punt at it anyway, taking Indy around the world to kick that Chinese guy’s ass (above) and possibly solve a puzzle or two. While it doesn’t sound all that appealing to me the inclusion of the classic PC game Indiana Jones and The Fate of Atlantis (Wii version only) does make it somewhat more appealing. You have to wonder why LucasArts didn’t just release Fate of Atlantis on WiiWare though.

Pirates Vs. Ninjas Dodgeball (Wii) 12/6

Ah, the age old question. Who would win in a fight: pirates or ninjas? Thankfully you can now solve this question; although you will have to do it with balls instead of swords and nunchucks. The game was already released on Xbox Live Arcade last year, and back then reviews cited a lack of content and, erm, fun. Maybe Gamecock has improved it for a Wii release, but don’t hold your breath.

Other releases:

• Dragonica Online (PC) 10/6
• Guitar Hero: Metallica (PS2) 12/6
• Chronicles of Mystery: The Scorpio Ritual (PC) 12/6
• Rail Simulator 2: Railworks Platform (PC) 12/6
• Barnyard Blast (PSP) 12/6

(Images source: Gamespot)

When a Crackdown 2 trailer (here) appeared at Microsoft’s E309 press conference plenty of people - including myself - got immediately excited. Unfortunately it was little more than a teaser trailer, with absolutely no information at all. Thankfully Microsoft has seen fit to correct this, filling us in a little on what the sequel has to offer.

Microsoft says that the sequel to 2007’s underappreciated open-world riot will support four-player co-op and sixteen-player competitive multiplayer. Apparently this will take “multiplayer gaming to unprecedented levels”, but whatever the press blurb says it should add even more fun to the world of Crackdown 2; providing the game is actually good of course.

I had a lot of fun with Crackdown’s two-player co-op; so four-player co-op should theoretically be fun, right? I do have some concerns with how the game will handle four-players causing mayhem in a big rendered city, as the first game suffered from occasional lag problems even with two. Fingers crossed the developers will be able to make it work without too many problems (I know GTA IV had more than four players in a big city, but if you threw a lot of exploding cars, gunfire and players into a single area the game played like a slideshow).

Crackdown 2 should be with us sometime next year.

(Image source: VG47)

In all the excitement of E3 I forgot to tell you about this weeks releases until now. It’s always a risk releasing games in June - especially during E3 as everyone is talking about future releases - as this time of year is usually a notorious dry season for games. Thankfully things are a bit different this year, with some top quality releases for you to enjoy when you’re not out tanning yourself (hopefully we’ll get the weather for it this year).

All the releases below should be available in shops from today.

Red Faction: Guerrilla (PS3, X360)

This game arrived in the post from Amazon today, and I have to say that I’m quite enjoying it so far. You may not be able to blow through rock anymore, but to be honest was that ever useful anyway? Instead any structure you come across can be totally destroyed, its various supports and reinforcements flying everywhere at the touch of a missile. Look for a full review soon.

The Sims 3 (PC)

EA has tired of releasing The Sims 2 expansion packs and is moving on to a fully fledged sequel. To be fair I’m glad of the direction EA has decided to go in, with the game now playing as an entire town and not just loosely connected individual lots. One thing that always annoyed me about The Sims 2 was being frozen in time. For example, if you played one house for a few hours and your child grew up to eventually become an adult his friends would stay as children, which obviously isn’t realistic. The Sims 3 makes everyone age together, plus you can jump between houses and other lots at will with no loading times.

Fuel (PS3, X360)

Fuel is not only the biggest racing game of all time, but also the biggest console game of all time. The open-word environment of Fuel boasts 5,560 square miles of free to roam terrain, which is a hell of a lot of playing space. The post-apocalyptic setting of Fuel also means that you have to contend with some nasty weather while you’re racing, with tornadoes and sandstorms only part of the mix.

Star Ocean: The Last Hope (X360)

I never managed to get through Star Ocean: Till the End of Time, because that game literally took until the end of time, but maybe I’ll give Star Ocean: The Last Hope a try. Star Ocean: The Last Hope features a heavier emphasis on sci-fi, which is good because I felt that Till the End of Time just threw me into the world of swords and monsters when I was expecting more space travel. I still don’t understand why the hero’s in JRPG’s have to be kids though.

Other releases:

• Sacred 2: Fallen Angel (PS3, X360)
• Restaurant Empire II (PC)
• Trash Panic (PS3)
• Age of Pirates 2: City of Abandoned Ships (PC)
• Wolfenstein 3D (X360)
• New Play Control! Donkey Kong Jungle Beat (Wii)
• Jillian Michaels’ Fitness Ultimatum 2009 (Wii)
• Simon the Sorcerer 5  (PC)
• Personal Trainer: Walking (DS)
• Medal of Honor: 10th Anniversary Edition (PC)
• Left Brain Right Brain 2 (DS)
• Ar Tonelico II: Melody of Metafalica (PS2)
• History Great Empires Rome (DS)
• Coraline (PS3)
• Rock Band Track Pack Volume 3 (PS2, PS3)
• Rock Band Track Pack: Classic Rock (PS3, Wii)
• Real Madrid: The Game (PS2, PSP)
• GTI Racing (PC)
• Vertigo (PC)

(Last weeks releases)