New Prince of Persia named and dated (Prince of Persia (next-gen))

A few tidbits of information have sneaked out regarding the new Prince of Persia game, including the title and launch window.

The new game will be known as Prince of Persia: Heir Apparent, according to the latest issue of Game Informer. Without any other information, we can’t even hazard a guess as to what that’s supposed to mean, if it means anything at all.

Meanwhile, Ubisoft has confirmed that the game will launch in its third fiscal quarter, meaning we can expect it between October and December. We’re penciling it in.

PS Store search feature, video store glimpsed (PlayStation 3)

A recently-released PS3 promo video offers a glimpse of what could be the next iteration of the PS Store, packing a search feature and video content.

At one point in the ad, screens of the PS Store whoosh past, revealing a search feature along the bottom panel of the Store that isn’t in the current version.

In another fly-by shot, it also shows a video download page donning the logos of TV networks NBC, HBO, Cartoon Network (yes!) and MTV, among others. Could this be the first glimpse of what Sony has in store for PS3 video downloads?

Shots of PS3 F-Zero clone Voltage speed in (Voltage)

These are the first PS3-specific shots of Lexicon’s futuristic racer, Voltage, which looks an awful lot like another hover craft racer from Nintendo.

The F-Zero-alike is the usual affair: “Voltage takes the rush and thrill of speed racing to a new level. Races take place far in the future on the planets of the Solar system, where players compete in the fastest and most technologically advanced races, to acquire the supreme title of the Solar System’s Best Racer.”

Grid multiplayer detailed (Race Driver: GRID)

Grid, the amazing next-gen racer, is boasting 12-player events with full car damage online, Codemasters has revealed. New multiplayer shots have also been released. Check ‘em here.

Taking out some of the long-windedness of having to find games online Codies says, “players can rapidly find the event they want and a slick voting system, matchmaking mechanism and seamless host migration”.

There’ll also be the usual rankings and leaderboards available online to record your fastest lap time, just in case you thought they’d forgot.

Another sweet MGS 4 trailer (in English) (Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots)

We’ve lost count of how many Metal Gear Solid 4 trailers Konami has pumped out, but we don’t care. They’re all awesome.

The voice we call Trailer Voiceover Man has turned up to provide the commentary for this typically cinematic trailer, in a language we can all understand, for a change.

It talks about the new Big Brother-style technology in the game, and the crisis that Snake faces.

Needless to say, if you’re one of those subjecting yourself to a complete MGS4 plot blackout, you probably shouldn’t watch the footage. But for the rest of us:

GameStop: GTA IV 360 claims 64% of sales (Grand Theft Auto IV)

The Xbox 360 version of Grand Theft Auto IV has heavily outsold the PS3 version at North America’s largest specialist videogame retailer.

According to sales data obtained by Level Up, 64 percent of the copies of Grand Theft Auto IV sold at GameStop during the game’s first week of availability were for Xbox 360, while the remaining 36 percent were for PS3.

According to pre-April NPD sales data, Microsoft’s Xbox 360 had an installed US base of 9.9 million units, compared to a PS3 installed base of 4.1 million units. Of the combined total of 14 million hardware units, Xbox 360 commanded a 70.7 percent market share and PS3 a 29.3 percent share. Arguably therefore, the Xbox 360 version of the title has underperformed at GameStop, while the PS3 version has exceeded expectations.

Lord of the Rings goes Star Wars: Battlefront (Lord of the Rings: Conquest)

First details have emerged on Lord of the Rings: Conquest which is being developed by Mercenaries crew Pandemic.

Reported on IGN, Conquest is a bit like Star Wars: Battlefront with players able to fight it out Rings style in battles taken from Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movies and combat grounds created especially for the title.

Judging by the info, Pandemic’s aiming to have every man, dwarf, elf, orc, troll, good guy, bad guy, hobbit yadda yadda you can think of the from the story and chuck them into mass confrontations that can support 150 on-screen characters.

Siren goes episodic (Siren: Blood Curse)

Siren: Blood Curse is coming to PlayStation Network in twelve “TV-style, suspense-packed downloadable episodes this summer,” Sony has confirmed. Pricing, or a specific start date, has yet to be made available.

The official line on the story is: “The horror-survival title is set in the Japanese village of Hanuda, where a TV crew from America arrive to research the legend of the Vanished Village where human sacrifice is said to have taken place thirty years ago.

CoD 5 not set in WWII? (Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare)

The next Call of Duty game may not delve back into familiar WWII territory after all, as Activision CEO Mike Griffith reveals that the fifth game will take the series to a “new military theatre.”

Despite rumours and strong reactions that the series would be returning to the over-used WWII era, Griffith revealed: “We’ll bring the intensity of the recent Call of Duty: Modern Warfare title to a new military theatre to engage our significantly larger user base which nearly doubled last year as new users came into the franchise,” according to Gamespot.

WWE Legends of WrestleMania revealed (WWE Legends of WrestleMania)

THQ’s no stranger to wrestling games and its latest kicks off a new property for the publisher.

WWE Legends of WrestleMania is in development for PS3 and Xbox 360 and is due out in March 2009.

It’s being developed by JAKKS Pacific, but there’s no other information on the game at present. However, there’s a big clue as to what it’ll all be about in the title.

“JAKKS Pacific is pleased to introduce a new WWE videogame property to the fighting genre,” said Nelo Lucich, senior vice president of interactive, JAKKS Pacific.