The project is set to be base on novels by R. A. Salvatore and design will be assisted by Spawn creator Todd McFarlane.

R.A. Salvatore novels are mainly fantasy based and his biggest hits include the likes of his forgotten realms books and a number of Star Wars novels including Vector Prime.

The developer behind this new project is Big Huge Games whose past titles include Rise of The Nations and more recently the Xbox Live Arcade game Catan.

Could a Oblivion style master piece be on the cards? Let’s hope so.

Most modern day gamers don’t waste their lives on games, instead they embrace the community. Surely anything that brings individuals together, to build communities where people can be appreciated for who they really are can’t be as bad as the media makes it out to be. As a whole, the gaming community is united by one common interest – video games; and it’s this interest which makes us stronger than ever.

Back in the day’, where all we had were Nintendo 64’s, Playstation’s – online gaming was still a dream. But shortly after the release of both the PS1 and the N64 – that dream became a reality – with the appropriately named – Dreamcast. At the time of its release, the Dreamcast was the most revolutionary console the world had ever seen, which by far was way ahead of its time, (one reason, why many believe it ‘failed’), however, this brought console gamers into the world of online gaming.

Communities also stretch to include Video Game Conventions.

Online gaming is what the current generation of consoles is most famous for, behind most chartbusting games, is an awe inspiring multiplayer, in which you can you play against your closest friends, but you can also play against not only a few, – but hundreds of other players, all at the same time, with world shattering games like MAG, in which the player can game with 255 other players, as part of a giant team of 128. Though there may be a large number of players, this doesn’t always encourage the community to communicate (try saying that when your drunk!).

Other games, which rely mainly on teamwork, such as Left 4 Dead & Battlefield Bad Company, where winning the game can pretty much depend on communication & tactics, are a big hit with social gamers, (in particular Left 4 Dead 1 & 2), as chances are, you’ll more than often be paired up with a chatty, talkative who will be more than happy to discuss strategies. – Though this isn’t always the case; as you’ll no doubt encounter abusive players, who take pleasure out of ruining the game for others. But trash talking is a part of online gaming, and you will come across it – a lot. Best thing to do, is either ignore it – or become good at it, and outwit your adversary with a series of sharp, humorous taunts, which insult both their intelligence (what’s left of it anyway) and their pride.

But being social to your fellow gamers doesn’t end at online gaming – oh no; – in fact, ever since the dawn of time (well, since video games have been a part of popular culture anyway) – gaming conventions have been around. Not only do these events call for real social interaction; but they also allow gamers to express themselves, in more ways than you could possibly imagine – many even go to the extreme, and come dressed up as their favourite video game characters (this is commonly known as ‘cosplay’).

Video game conventions are a fantastic way of meeting similar minded people (though can more often than not, be rather costly), who share a love of gaming, and not only are video game conventions a great way to meet other gamers, there are also plenty of opportunities to meet those who have a vast knowledge of making games, or even those who make and develop games themselves. With a large array of video game celebrities, competitions and electrifying tournaments in which even laid-back gamers, with only a small amount of gaming experience can still partake in, and enjoy the ride.

Forums are both great resources, as well as a good place to meet similiar gamers.

As the gaming community grows (with over 60% of people in the UK who play some sort of video games) as do the events that follow. With every big game release, usually follows a big midnight launch, where many gather to buy the new game as the clock strikes midnight, and the stores are authorized to sell the new release. – And unlike most gaming conventions, it costs nothing to tag along (though of course the game isn’t free). Midnight launches are arguably a better way of meeting fellow gamers, as you can pretty much guarantee that everybody lining up is a fan of the game series that’s being released, or in general, a big fan of the genre.

For many years, the gaming community has been shunned by countless sources, which more often than not, show the gaming world in a negative light, in which video games are blamed for violent, anti-social behaviour, and where gamers are portrayed to be unhealthy ‘video game addicts’ who cannot control their excess gaming. I for one, oppose these views – and all views similar to them, because not only are most of them highly over exaggerated, but

But today, with hundreds of ways to chat with fellow gamers – be it over forums, social networking sites like Twitter or Facebook, or over Playstation Network & Xbox Live itself or at real life events – you will unquestionably find hundreds, if not thousands of avid gamers, who’ll happily welcome you as a fellow member of the gaming community. – A community, which I am certainly proud to be a part of.

Wait, did he just say that the downloadable content will only be available for the Xbox 360?

It seems PS3 and PC users will have to mourn, as it appears this news is true. Though, before you go doing anything drastic, there is a silver lining – In a subsequent Twitter update, Bowling said new maps for the PC and PlayStation 3 will arrive at a later date.

Also worth taking note of, this announcement was followed by news that the number of unique players checking out Modern Warfare 2 online has topped 25 million worldwide.

Here at GamerEuphoria we’ve got 1 copy of Final Fantasy XIII to give away to a lucky reader. All you have to do is answer one very easy question about the game…

What is the name of the main character shown on the US and Europe Box Art of Final Fantasy XIII?

If you think you know the answer follow our Gamer Euphoria Twitter Page – @GamerEuphoria – and reply to this Tweet with the answer the above question and the hashtag #GamerEuphoriaComp. The competition will close on Sunday 21st  March 2010 at 21:00 GMT so you have a fair amount of time to enter and tell your friends about this exciting opportunity.

If you are the lucky winner we will send you a DM back congratulating you and an e-mail address so that you can tell us which console you would like to have the game on, which region the game will need to be and your details so we can send the game to you.

Good Luck!

RULES

You must be 16+ to enter this competition and you are only allowed one entry. The winner will be randomly picked shortly after the deadline stated of the competition and notified promptly. If the winner does not respond within 72 hours of winning a new winner will be selected. GamerEuphoria  staff are not eligible for entry.

The game is set to be released this “holiday season” which usually means November/December. The game is said to revolutionise the music game scene and follow on from the success of Rock band, Rock Band 2 and The Beatles: Rock Band. Nothing more about the game ahs been said at this stage.

This is no great suprise really but it’s great news nonetheless.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Lady Gaga is coming to Rock Band next week. So, in the privacy of your living room, break out the Rock Band Mic (thats all you really need, right?) and get your jam on to “Poker Face” in typical Eric Cartman fassion.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Lady Gaga Pack 01 (560 / $7)*:

• “Bad Romance” (160 / 200 Wii Points / $1.99)
• “Just Dance” (160 / 200 Wii Points / $1.99)
• “Monster” (160 / 200 Wii Points / $1.99)
• “Poker Face” (160 / 200 Wii Points / $1.99)

Individual Tracks:

• Eric Cartman – “Poker Face” (160 / 200 Wii Points / $1.99)

Machinarium places you in control of video gaming’s cutest robot, just as he is coldly flung into the trash. Over the course of the game, you aim to stop a bomb from exploding, save your girlfriend and get back home just in time for dinner, consisting mostly of what I imagine to be robot cuisine – nothing new here. However, what really struck me and left me open mouthed, gawking at the monitor, were the visuals and the audio. The hand drawn, steampunk influenced backgrounds and the inventive character designs really compliment and work off of the dreamy, electric soundtrack. Tomas Dvorák’s composition’s are easily some of the best I’ve heard in recent games, stamping out most of that generic orchestral tripe. Anybody who worked on this game deserves a hand shaking of the highest calibre

A key component of Machinarium, as with the rest of the point-and-click world, is item collection, and putting these items to the proper use. Amanita Design have implemented a system where, once you have used any item in the right situation, it is tossed away to prevent unnecessary clutter of the inventory. At first, I was slightly bemused as to why this was implemented, as I had come across certain situations where items I previously had in my inventory would have helped me pass troublesome puzzles, however, after a few moments of thought on the matter, I came to the conclusion that this would eliminate certain degrees of difficulty.

And that leads me to this startling discovery – Machinarium is not an easy game. A variety of publications have stated that the well above average level of difficulty blocks Machinarium from being as fun as it could be, and, while I do disagree with that, I will say that this game is not for those who are prone to childish fits of rage. To remedy this, Amanita Design have added two in-game guides. Both located on the top right corner, the first is a relatively vague, stylized hint, presented in speech bubble form (similar to how all of the robots communicate in this game), the second being, to my surprise, a full in-depth picture guide to the specific level you are on. Both have proven to be very helpful, and I applaud Amanita Design for telling us “hey, you don’t even need to alt-tab if you’re stuck!”

However, having said all of that, the game is not without faults. The only major annoyance is that once the robot has his direction given to him via a mouse click, it is impossible to stop him. Accidental mouse clicks became quite the bother. There are a few minor faults, such as only being to investigate within a radius of about one foot, however, these are less of a problem relating directly to the game and more of a nitpicking problem on my part.

In conclusion, Machinarium is, quite simply, the best point-and-click adventure game I have ever played, able to stand up to the big studio games with ease. While it does, in fact, harbour a few faults here and there, it easily makes up for this with sheer creativity oozing out of every single orifice. Anybody with access to £10-$15, the internet and Steam needs to play this.

Thanks to Amanita Design for supplying a Reviewer Copy.

Today at the Jefferies Annual Global Technology Conference in New York City an exciting piece of news was let loose. Microsoft’s Chief Financial Officer of its Entertainment & Devices Division, Mindy Mount, was speaking on a number of subjects including Project Natal.

Mount had only briefly touched upon Natal but, in doing so, she revealed the launch line up for Natal would be shown at E3 2010.  Mount announced that support Natal will receive from both Third part and First party developers will be very strong. She added ”Needless to say, we’re putting some of our best people on coming up with great game ideas for this, and we’re going to have some great stuff.”

There are a number of developers confirmed to be actively working on Natal; this list includes some major names such as EA, Lionhead, Square-Enix and Bethesda. The list was shown at 2009 Toyko Games show but since then the list has grown to just over 70% of total game publishers worldwide.

One title that has been confirmed to incorporate Natal is Lion Head studios Fable3 and is so far the only confirmed title to use Microsoft’s new hardware.

E3 2010 is currently scheduled for June15-17^th and is to be held in the Los Angeles Convention Center.

After Valve hinting at it for ages, it’s now been confirmed that the Steam Platform will be coming to Mac. As an added bonus, it’s first game to be released simultaneously on Mac and PC will be the newly announced andhighly anticipated Portal 2. Furthermore, Valve is rolling out something called Steam Play, which is a backend feature that will allow players to play games on Windows or Mac for one purchase price. Again, Portal 2 will support this, along with Steam Cloud, so your saved games will transfer between platforms.

This could be a great opportunity for all Mac and PC users so it’ll be one to watch for any PC gamer.