During a Tecmo press event held in Japan yesterday, the publisher announced that it is bringing the much-loved Tecmo Bowl franchise out of retirement with a brand new game: Tecmo Bowl 2008. While no specific platform was announced, the game was said to be coming to one of the new current-gen systems and is not a port of a previous Tecmo Bowl game.

Following the release of the original Tecmo Bowl on NES in 1989, additional games in the series were developed for NES, Super NES, Genesis, and Game Boy, with the NES game appearing on Wii's Virtual Console earlier this year.

Tecmo Bowl 2008 is being developed by Team Tachyon, a new internal Tecmo team whose formation was announced during the event. Helmed by Fatal Frame series producer Keisuke Kikuchi, Team Tachyon will be one of Tecmo's marquee developers along with Ninja Gaiden producer Tomonobu Itagaki's Team NINJA.

No gameplay footage or screenshots of the new game were shown. As its moniker suggests, Tecmo Bowl 2008 is planned for release in 2008.

Tecmo plans to revisit its Rygar series of action/adventure games on the Wii, the publisher announced at its Tokyo press event yesterady. Currently known by the working title Project Rygar, the new game will feature a revamped protagonist design, new enemies, and new locations--but will retain the iconic chained shield for which the titular hero is known. Of course, the motion-sensitive Wii remote will control the swinging weapon.

Tecmo's original Rygar was released for arcades in 1986, with a followup game developed for NES and numerous other console and PC platforms in 1987. No new entries in the series were created until 15 years later, when Tecmo released Rygar: The Legendary Adventure for PlayStation 2 to a warm response in 2002.

No release period was given for Rygar, but Tecmo expects to show more of the game in the coming months.

According to numerous reports from gamers, including threads on Shacknews and the official Crackdown forums, Realtime Worlds' recently released and admirably expansive downloadable content for Crackdown (X360) suffers from a bug that deletes users' save games in certain situations. Apparently, joining a cooperative game in one of the newly added game modes, then leaving the game, will completely wipe out the save game, which includes character progression and completed boss missions.

A Crackdown team member going by the alias "Agent G" stated that Realtime Worlds is looking into the problem:

"hey guys - just so you know, we are aware of the situation and working on it. as soon as we have a fix or workaround i'll let you know. i'll post info right here on these forums, I'm just waiting to hear from the guys on the test team about a solid fix or workaround."

When contacted for comment, a Microsoft representative responded, "We are aware that the recently released "Crackdown" DLC is causing some gamers to experience a reset of their saved games when they engage in co-op play. We have identified this problem and outlined instructions to avoid the issue, which can be found by visiting the official 'Crackdown' site. A permanent solution will be released with the game's next Title Update, which will be available in the very near future."

To ensure that a save file is protected after downloading the new content, perform the following Microsoft-provided steps:
- Sign-in to Xbox Live
- Start Crackdown and receive new Title Update (if you haven't already)
- Begin a Single Player Campaign game
- Once loaded, press Start and choose "Quit"
- Reboot Crackdown (soft reboot or hard reboot of console)

There is no way to restore data lost due to the glitch.

According to an unnamed source cited by GameSpot, Harmonix Music Systems' upcoming peripheral-based music group simulator Rock Band is heading to Wii as well as the previously announced PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The source, which GameSpot claims has a track record of reliability, was allegedly part of a Rock Band focus group which was told that Rock Band is being developed for Wii.

The source also put forward the encouraging rumor that all tracks included in the game will be based on original artist recordings rather than cover band recordings. Harmonix's Guitar Hero (PS2) and Guitar Hero II (PS2, X360) consisted of largely cover recordings, with a few original master tracks.

Finally, the reader noted that focus group participants were asked for their reactions to various bundle price points for Rock Band. Session organizers proposed a bundle containing the game, a wireless guitar controller, a drum controller, and a microphone controller at three potential prices--$200, $175, and $150. Based on the unconfirmed prices released by retailer GameStop last month, such a package would run $259.96 if its individual components were purchased individually.

Electronic Arts plans to ship Harmonix's Rock Band this fall.

Though already confirmed, Namco Bandai officially announced the latest entry in its Soulcalibur series, Soulcalibur Legends for the Wii. Scheduled for release this winter, Legends' third person action adventure gameplay sets it apart from past iterations of the fighting franchise, which began with Namco's 1995 arcade fighter Soul Edge.

Telling the tale of 16th century empire on the verge of ruin, Soulcalibur Legends follows the actions of Siegfried and other characters, both new and familiar. Performing what today's announcement described as "orchestrated slashes and movements" with the Wii Remote and Nunchuck, players will fight their way through a number of enemies, bosses, and gameplay modes.

An Xbox 360 demo of Midway Studios Austin's first person shooter BlackSite: Area 51 can now be downloaded from Xbox Live Marketplace. Set in the small town of Rachel, Nevada, the single player demo showcases the effects of high-powered military weapons when used against a variety of alien lifeforms. Along with the demo, Midway also released a several new screenshots.

Microsoft revealed that next week's Xbox Live Arcade Wednesday release will be Silver Creek Entertainment's Soltrio Solitaire. Featuring 18 different types of solitaire, the game includes a single player campaign that has players pursuing custom card designs as well as two-person multiplayer over Xbox Live and system link, with support for the Xbox Live Vision camera. In versus mode, opponents compete against one another to finish the game first. Meanwhile, co-op has players working together to finish the game as fast as they can.

Set to hit Xbox Live Arcade on May 16, Soltrio Solitaire will sell for 800 Microsoft Points ($10).

Tor Books has unveiled details on Halo: Contact Harvest, the fifth book based off Bungie's Halo franchise. Unlike past Halo novels, which were written by Eric Nylund and William C. Dietz, Contact Harvest comes directly from Bungie lead writer and first-time novelist Joseph Staten.

Slated to arrive in bookstores on October 2, 2007, Halo: Contact Harvest details the beginnings of humanity's conflict with the Covenant from the perspective of the ever-demanding Staff Sergeant Avery Johnson.

"It goes without saying that Joseph has great, intimate knowledge of the Halo universe, so who better to tell the harrowing tale of humanity's first contact with the Covenant?" explained Tor Editor Eric Raab. "In the novel, Joseph not only reveals exciting nuances of known events and characters such as Sgt. Johnson. But he also breaks new ground--takes readers on an action-packed journey to a little-known but vital part of the Halo universe: the far-flung, ill-fated word of Harvest."

Last November, Microsoft announced that Bungie was developing two new Halo 2 multiplayer maps that would be available in spring 2007 only for those playing the Xbox game via the Xbox 360's backwards compatibility feature. Today, Microsoft identified the maps and revised its prior claim, stating that the maps would be available on April 17 as paid content for Halo 2 players on either Xbox console.

First up is the sublime Hang 'Em High, which Microsoft claims is "the most requested Halo multiplayer map ever," and rightly so. Known as Tombstone in its Halo 2 incarnation, the map has received various tweaks to its design as well as a fresh coat of paint that replaces the original cool blue look with a grittier stone and aged metal texture set. A single screenshot is available here. Pro tip: There is no finer map for Team Crazy King.

Also en route is the tiny indoor arena Derelict, which is receiving a Halo 2 remake as Desolation. Originally an indoor map, the new Desolation appears to be set in a forest outpost, and has received a similar palette change to that of Hang 'Em High/Tombstone. Check out this screenshot. Pro tip: This is where you play Oddball.

Tombstone and Desolation will be available via Xbox Live on Xbox or Xbox 360 for $4 starting April 17.

It has long been known that current Ninja Gaiden franchise developer Team NINJA has a Nintendo DS game in the works, but the title has remained under wraps. This week, Tecmo officially announced Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword, an action game in the long running ninja series. Unusually for the genre, Dragon Sword is played with the DS held sidways in a book-like configuration, and features full stylus control. Several Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword screenshots are available.

"We're very excited to be bringing Ninja Gaiden back to a Nintendo platform," said marketing manager Yoh Watanabe. "The Nintendo DS will allow gamers to control Master Ninja Ryu Hayabusa slash for slash with the use of the DS Stylus in a way never possible in previous iterations of the game. Dragon Sword will be the definitive ninja title for all DS owners to experience."

Tecmo plans to ship Team NINJA's Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword for Nintendo DS in North America this October.

Konami this week confirmed that longtime Solid Snake voice actor David Hayter will reprise his role as the now-aged mulleted action hero in Kojima Productions' highly anticipated Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots for PlayStation 3. Other series veterans making a return for MGS4 include Paul Eiding (Roy Campbell), Christopher Randolph (Hal "Otacon" Emmerich), and Quinton Flynn (Raiden). The cast will be directed by returing voice director Kris Zimmerman to deliver a script written by Metal Gear creator and overlord Hideo Kojima and MGS4 director Shuyo Murata.

"I couldn't be more excited about this game. What I've seen of Metal Gear Solid 4 has absolutely blown me away. To bring the focus of the story back to Solid Snake, and to work with Kris Zimmerman and many of the amazing actors that provided iconic voices for the previous games, is like coming home," said Hayter, also known as the screenwriter of X-Men and X2. "I'm so proud and grateful to have been involved with Mr. Kojima as the voice of Snake, for nearly a decade, on this legendary video game series. This game is going to plunge players into the ultimate Metal Gear experience. And personally, I can't wait to play it."

Kojima Productions' Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is expected to ship for PlayStation 3 later this year.

Sony this week sent word that the PS3's online PlayStation Store has been stocked with a playable demo of Kush Games' PlayStation 3 version of Major League Baseball 2K7. It is freely downloadable now.