A little bit of bad news for you PS3 owners waiting to get your hands on Ubisoft and Tetsuya Mizuguchi’s Child of Eden (you were waiting for this gorgeous game, weren’t you?). Child of Eden will be releasing September 27 (a week later than previously expected), but this minor delay promises to bring the game to the PS3 equipped with support for both PlayStation Move and 3D.

Child of Eden received high scores and praise across the gaming blogosphere when it released in June but met a very cold reception from the gaming community only selling 34,000 copies. Hopefully, when the PS3 release drops, the numbers won’t be as dismal.

Along with Move support and stereoscopic 3D, Eden will include a new “Trance” option. The mode allows a player to sync up to 7 controllers and have them all vibrating in tandem. Consider it a way to have others plug in to the experience or simply an enhancement of the overall sensory enjoyment this game delivers. If you love music games, really consider adding this game — which is the spiritual successor to Rez — where your objective is to save Project Lumi, an artificial personality created inside of Eden, which is near completion from a virus attack. If finished, Project Lumi would reproduce a human personality in Eden, the artificial intelligence inside which Rez took place.

The online multiplayer returns this time around with more modes, maps and characters.

“Delivering the final chapter of the Ezio trilogy is an important milestone in the Assassin’s Creed franchise for us and for our fans,” said Alexandre Amancio, Creative Director at Ubisoft Montreal. “Assassin’s Creed Revelations includes lots of new features and some significant surprises. We can’t wait to show our fans what we have in store at E3 this year.”

Play as Jade, a young investigative reporter, and expose a terrible government conspiracy. Wary of her government’s promises to repel the aliens for good, she sets out to capture the truth behind the prolonged war. Armed with a camera, a dai-jo staff, and fierce determination, it’s your job to save your planet and its inhabitants. Beyond Good & Evil HD will also be coming to the PlayStation Network later this year.

Developed by Ubisoft Blue Byte studio in Düsseldorf, Germany, the game separates overall fitness routines into six core elements — core body, upper body, lower body, cardio, balance and flexibility — that help you focus on getting fit and reaching your goals.

For the Wii system the USB camera will provide a picture-in-picture view that enables players to compare their own movements to the in-game coach for a more accurate replication of exercises. For the PlayStation 3 system players can upload music to their PS3 and perform workouts to the beat of their favorite songs. The PS3 analyzes your playlist and suggests the music that suits the right rhythm for each workout.

Former Ubisoft Creative Director, Patrice Desilets will join THQ next summer to form the new studio. There he worked on Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and the Assassin’s Creed franchise in the role of Creative Director.

This studio will be tasked with creating and developing new IP for THQ. It’ll be interesting to see how this works out in the next couple years.

Starting today, gamers are encouraged to submit their personal photos for consideration by visiting the Child of Eden website (www.childofedengame.com). Examples include smiling faces, beautiful nature shots, stunning landscape views, and other happy and positive images. The deadline for submissions is November 20, 2010. All approved photos will be featured in the final level of Child of Eden.

“I need your help to convey these positive emotions, so please send us pictures that give you good vibes so we can include them in the ending of the game,” adds Mizuguchi-san.

This isn’t the first time Tetsuya Mizuguchi has themed a game in a way that goes against the grain of what’s typical in the industry. Expressing positivity and making players feel an emotional connection to his games and characters is what he’s been after ever since he created Space Channel 5 around the theme of wanting to make gamers feel love for the character Ulala.

Child of Eden is scheduled for release on both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in 2011 with support for the Kinect Sensor.

The comic book features a cover drawn by artist, Jock (The Losers, Judge Dredd, Batman). Illustrated by Greg Scott (Gotham Central, Case Files: Sam and Twitch) and written by David Lapham (Stray Bullets, Sparta USA, Young Liars), the Driver comic is set after the cliffhanger ending of Driv3r and just prior to the events of the upcoming DRIVER San Francisco video game.

A special “Issue 0” preview edition of the Driver comic will be given away at Comic-Con International 2010 in San Diego this week July 22nd through July 25th at the Ubisoft (#4245) and DC Comics (#1915) booths. Jock will be at the Ubisoft and DC Comics booths signing free copies of the preview issue. The signing sessions will take place at the following times and locations:

• Thursday, July 22nd, 2–3pm, DC Comics booth (#1915)
• Friday, July 23rd, 11am–12 noon, Ubisoft booth (#4245)
• Friday, July 23rd, 4–5pm, DC Comics booth (#1915)
• Saturday, July 24th, 3–4pm, DC Comics booth (#1915)

Developed by Eisner Award nominees and Shuster Award-winning illustrators Cameron Stewart (Batman & Robin, Seaguy and Catwoman) and Karl Kerschl (Superman and The Flash), the Assassin’s Creed comic mini-series will be unveiled during a panel to be held on July 22, 2010 from 3:30–4:30 p.m. in Room 7AB at Comic-Con International: San Diego.

Moderated by G4TV’s Morgan Webb, the panel entitled “Assassin’s Creed: Behind and Beyond the Brotherhood” will include details of the new comic series and the upcoming Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood video game release. Featured panelists will include Stewart and Kerschl, along with Jeffrey Johalem, Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood video game scriptwriter.

It was a spirited discussion as the PopCultureShock Crew goes in on James Cameron’s most ambitious project to date. Is AVATAR a cinematic achievement, or is this 12 year, 237 million dollar effort, the death of 3D film making before it ever truly begins?

Threading issues of race, ecology, and spiritualism with good old fashioned sci-fi fun, James Cameron has created, if nothing else, the most TALKED about movie of the yuletide. Have YOU seen AVATAR yet?

Click any title to jump into our full debate on that topic!

Ernie: “I’m not even going to get into the debate about race, because to me the issues at hand aren’t about race at all, they’re much bigger than that, and if you’re trying to focus on one specific group rather than what everyone has done as a whole, then you miss the point of the film.”
read more

Quick Links:

1. Was the movie worth the 12 year wait? How does this rank on the Cameron scale?
2. Was the movie was an unqualified success?
3. Did the movie really usher in the start of the 3D era?
4. The movie’s nothing if not controversial. Half of the people complain about James Cameron’s ‘tree-hugging’ liberal slant while the other half of movie goers are sick of the ‘white guy saves the natives’ tone. Do you guys feel that it’s all overblown?
5. Haven’t we seen this movie already this year? Wasn’t it called District 9?
6. There’s Oscar buzz, but is the oscar talk from the performances, the CG, or an acknowledgment of the astronomical 237 million dollar budget?

As always, welcome your feedback — post your thoughts on the ongoing debate by leaving a comment below!

Conviction is a story of how elite government agent, Sam Fisher, turned the bitterness of his past into the fuel to drive his quest for answers. For years, Fisher has been off the grid and on his own, chasing his daughter’s murderer. But the trail leads him to Washington D.C. – the last place he ever wanted to see again. Now Sam must stand against vast, faceless enemies and battle the corrupt government agency that made him into the merciless warrior he’s come to be. Free from constraints, he must now outwit, outmaneuver, and outgun his enemies to get what he’s seeking: the truth.

The first piece of DLC is titled ‘Battle of Forli’ and is slated to release in January. The second is named ‘Bonfire of the Vanities’ and is scheduled to release in February. Both will be released on Xbox 360 and PS3 and require about 1 GB of storage each. No pricing details have been released.

Scott Pilgrim creator Bryan Lee O’Malley’s posted the following thoughts about the game and announcement (along with the official press release itself) on his Destroyer Zooey LiveJournal:

Some of the gaming sites mentioned XBLA or PSN but they were apparently just guessing, because no platform has been announced yet.

You probably won’t hear much about this game for the next few months. The game is still in the very early stages (we only officially “did the deal” in the past few weeks and it’s maybe 3-4 weeks into development right now). It’s going to be very cool and I’ll be very involved. And there will be other exciting announcements as development rolls on.

The most important thing is that it’s being made by huge fans of the books and it’s a passion project for a lot of people (including me, obviously)! So just sit back and wait and every time they announce some information you’ll be like “OH MY GOD WOO”

Mal also tweeted the following: “can’t tell you anything about scott pilgrim game but it takes place on the moon, will have killer squad-based tactical combat”

Okay, it’s a day late and we’re very apologetic. Perhaps the editing schedule was a little ambitious with two back to back podcasts. This adjusts the schedule appropriately, but you’ll still get our PopCultureShock.com gaming podcast every Monday (except this time), only now in the evening. We’re making the shows a little shorter, but fuller, so check it out…

This week it’s all about Red Dead Redemption, Beyond Good & Evil 2, and if anybody cares about graphics anymore. Listen and chime in on our 1 (888) 817-5766 telephone number, and/or shoot an email over to PCS@popcultureshock.com

So you’re a Real Time Strategy (RTS) fan. Starcraft 2 is looming in the distance and Warhammer 40K Dawn of War 2 is waiting to eat your free time up as well. But what about how you’ll get your fix on your console? With Halo Wars just a few months away, you still have to ask the question: how well can an RTS be adapted to your standard console controller.

Anyone who has played an RTS on a console before has seen firsthand the intuitiveness a controller is lacking over your standard mouse and keyboard configuration. Many would even argue that a mouse and keyboard are the preferred method of control for FPS games as well. RTS titles here and there have tried to overcome this limitation in the past, streamlining the controls and simplifying things. Still a better solution may have been found by Ubisoft in Tom Clancy’s Endwar title.

Tom Clancy’s Endwar takes the idea of how to control a RTS on a console to the next level. With voice commands using your Xbox 360 or any Bluetooth (PS3) headset you can control every aspect of the game including unit actions and camera controls. To be honest this control mechanism performs quite well. Now this isn’t really new or groundbreaking technology. You may remember that Rainbow Six 3 on Xbox and PC allowed for voice command albeit fairly limited commands. The technology has however been refined here.

This is obvious from the get go when you begin the surprisingly useful and necessary tutorial. Commands are pretty much based off of four categories which are strung together into command phrases. It’s impressive just how comprehensive the selections of commands are. Sometimes it is necessary to raise your voice or annunciate your words to get a command to go through clearly but most of the time things work without a hitch the first time. The only downsides I found to voice control were that it seems to limit the amount of units one could effectively control and you’ll understand that after trying to remember exactly what unit is where when they aren’t on screen and you’re losing soldiers left and right. The other downside is looking like a complete moron shouting at your headset and screaming when your units tell you they can’t obey you.

Other than the new control scheme Tom Clancy’s Endwar proves to be a fairly traditional but solid RTS. The visuals are adequate if at times a bit drab but if realism was the goal that can be understood a little. Units move fluidly especially infantry, and weapons of mass destruction show off some impressive effects. The sound effects are nice but unfortunately rarely noticed when you’re yelling at your units and jumping around the map checking in on various skirmishes.

This brings me to a frustrating aspect of Tom Clancy’s Endwar for me: the camera. I often found the only good way to view the battlefield was by attaching my camera view to air units. Although the global view available from the command unit is quite useful, the ability to zoom out and see the whole battlefield from a top down view would have been nice.

There aren’t a whole lot of unit types either but this does at least allow the game to be balanced. There are three main factions, each with their own specialties and weaknesses; your standard RTS formula. Each unit type is effective against another and vulnerable to another. Engineers will take down air units, but fall victim to rifleman. You get the idea. Knowing what unit does what is the key to the game.

Online this is imperative, however sometimes this may not matter due to opponents having upgraded units. You begin the multiplayer Theatre of War by choosing a faction and army specialty (i.e. mobility or armor). Then you’re presented with conflicts your faction is currently involved in to maintain its territory that you may participate in, think Chrome Hounds minus the mechs. Single player campaign will prepare you for theatre of war but a word to the wise, pick a specialty and upgrade those units until you can’t anymore.

What Tom Clancy’s Endwar lacks in depth and flash, it makes up for in solid competitive game play. Tom Clancy’s Endwar is one of those titles that after a few hours there is no reason why you shouldn’t be able to pose a challenge for someone with ten times the play time. Voice command is functional though not perfect, and the only thing that didn’t really live up to expectations in Tom Clancy’s Endwar for me was the story but let’s be honest here: Clancy probably has as much do with the stories for these newer titles as Gene Roddenberry does the new Star Trek. This one is a little bit tough to recommend during this holiday season with the plethora of new game releases. Definitely worth a look if you can put down Fallout 3.