Late Night Consoling

Developer Nihilistic Software will be creating an action adventure game set in Robert E. Howard's world of Conan the Cimmerean, publisher THQ announced today. Referred to in today's press release only as "the Conan video game," it will apparently feature a "deep and gratifying combat system that offers a variety of deadly weapons, fighting styles and interactive environments to battle hordes of enemies." So too will it "deliver a cinematic game play experience." Conan is headed to PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Nihilistic's first game was the RPG Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption (PC), published in 2000. Following that, the studio was enlisted by Blizzard to develop StarCraft: Ghost, though development switched to Swingin' Ape Studios (now integrated into Blizzard) in 2004; work on the game has since been put on hold. Most recently, Nihilistic released the superhero fighting game Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects (PS2, Xbox, GCN, NDS, PSP).

Conan is becoming well acquainted with the digital realm, as developer Funcom continues work on its MMO Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures. Age of Conan is currently on track for a Q4 launch on Xbox 360 and PC, meaning it is likely to beat Nihilistic's game to market if it keeps its schedule.

"The strength and diversity of the Conan brand lends itself extremely well to the interactive format," said THQ worldwide studios executive VP Jack Sorensen. "Through intense combat, familiar environments and next generation visuals, we believe Conan fans and action adventure enthusiasts alike are certain to embrace this future addition to the Conan universe."

THQ expects to ship Nihilistic Software's Conan for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in early 2008.

It is no secret at this point that Electronic Arts is working on a new version of The Sims for Wii and Nintendo DS, with the most recent confirmation coming via EA's latest financial release. Today, the publisher officially announced the game as MySims, the first in what is apparently a new spinoff series of Maxis' bestselling franchise.

MySims has the player creating a Sim character with a variety of appearance and clothing options. The character is taken to a run down town that the player is able to improve, reshape, and expand. In addition to the player-driven growth, the town becomes inhabited by numerous additional characters who give the player optional tasks.

"We want MySims to provide a creative play experience like never before on a video game system," said executive producer Tim LeTourneau. "By giving players the tools to create literally any kind of world they want in MySims, we're reinforcing the idea that the players create the magic. Will the town support a plethora of spooky, mysterious townsfolk--or buzz with the laughter and smiles of fun-loving Sims? It's your call! In MySims, what players make... makes all the difference!"

Previous screenshots of the Wii version of the game (unfortunately poorly compressed) are available here.

The Behemoth's long awaited Xbox Live Arcade port of Alien Hominid, originally released on PlayStation 2, Xbox, and GameCube in various territories, will finally be released this Wednesday. Redubbed Alien Hominid HD in honor of its reworked high definition 2D graphics, the game now features four-player online multiplayer in its PDA mini-games. Cooperative play remains same-screen for two players. Check out a few screenshots.

Alien Hominid HD will be released at 1:00am Pacific Time on Wednesday, February 28 for 800 Microsoft Points ($10).

Nintendo today released three more titles to Wii's Virtual Console, drawing from an equal number of legacy systems. First up is the much demanded The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Nintendo 64, 1 player) with which most gamers are at least passingly familiar. Like other Nintendo 64 games currently available on the Virtual Console, Ocarina of Time will render on the Wii in 480i or 480p rather than the N64's original 320x240, giving the game a significantly cleaner look. It is available for 1000 Wii Points ($10).

Sega offers Bio-Hazard Battle (Sega Genesis, 1-2 players), a sidescrolling shooter that has players choose between four different Bioship craft in an attempt to save the world from mutants. It runs the standard Genesis price point of 800 Wii Points ($8). We've got some screenshots.

Finally, Hudson delivers Chew Man Fu (TurboGrafx-16, 1-2 players), an action puzzler featuring players attempting to sort colored orbs while staving off enemies and obstacles. It is priced with its TurboGrafx-16 companions at 600 Wii Points ($6). Screenshots are available here.

Reports and screenshots coming from far and wide across the internets suggest that Konami's classic cooperative arcade game Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is in the works for Xbox Live Arcade. As one would expect, such a Live Arcade port would add in standard 360 trappings such as online support and Achievements.

Neither Microsoft nor Konami has yet made mention of the game, and with Xbox Live Arcade's notorious leisurely release pace it may be a while before we see it on the Marketplace, but it appears to be on the way.